Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo and all of the characters in it are property of AIC and Pioneer.
I am not making any money off of this fanfic. Please don't sue me because I have
nothing to give.
"As Night Dawns"
Part 1
By demon_891 'Xerou'
The first signs of day were starting to appear as the sky changed from black to a
dark blue. The orange rays of the sun could be seen ascending over the mountains. The
night was over a new day was beginning. But the events of the previous day were still in
the minds of everyone, the events that happened that never should have. Tenchi looked
out his window; he looked towards the lake and saw the outcrop of the Ryoko's cave. He
closed the blinds so the room was darkened once more. He turned back to his bed and
saw Ryoko sleeping there, his love. Her face was painted with sadness; a sadness that
should not be, she should not be have to be sad on the day she had longed for, the day
that she thought would be the happiest in her life. Tears began to fall remembering the
events of the previous day. It was supposed to be a happy day…
Tenchi slowly opened his eyes and looked at the clock next to his bed. It read
5:30. It was time for him to get up to work on the fields. He closed his eyes for another
quick minute of rest and then rose from his bed. He stretched and then dressed himself.
Yawning he opened the door and walked into the hall. He then made his way to the
bathroom so he could relieve himself. Looking out the window he saw the sun as it begin
to cross the horizon line. The birds were chirping and there was a warm breeze coming
from the slot in the window. It was going to be a good day, he just knew it. There was
just one thing… He walked out of the bathroom and made his way down the stairs to the
kitchen to get something to eat real quickly before he had to get to work. When he got to
the kitchen he was surprised to see Sasami there, she usually wasn't up until 6.
"Sasami? What are you doing up so early?" he asked walking in.
"I woke up a little bit ago and couldn't get back to sleep. So I just decided to get
an early start on breakfast this morning." She replied.
"Oh, ok. Well I just came to get a bite to eat before I get to work," he said
grabbing an apple out of the basket on the counter and making his was to the door. "I'll
be back for breakfast."
"Ok!" Sasami yelled turning away from the stovetop.
As Tenchi was making his way to the fields he felt a warm breeze blowing across
his face. He looked over at the lake and how the sun was reflecting off of it, making it
look at deep orange. Everything seemed in place, but there was still one thing that could
darken this whole day. Yesterday Tenchi had made his decision, the decision that he had
been agonizing over for more than a year. And he was sure that he had made the right
decision. Ryoko was the person that he was sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his
life with. She was the one that made his life feel whole.
But with this decision came something even harder, something that he didn't
know if he was ready for.
He had to tell Ayeka how he felt and that he loved her very much also, but it was
just in a different fashion. He saw her as family and one of the closest friends he had
ever had. He didn't want that to ever change, but he knew that she wanted more.
He sighed as he realized that he owed it to her to tell her today. It was going to be
one of the hardest things he had ever done but he was going to have to do it.
When he got to the field he tried to put all of this into the back of his mind as he
began to work.
Back at the house everybody was just starting to awaken.
Ryoko rose from her bed well rested and happy. She was usually tormented by
nightmares of her past while she slept, but tonight she was not.
The events of the previous day had given her a new energy, one that she had not
felt in so long. She smiled as she put on a nice new blue kimono that she had bought in
town a few days ago. It did not reveal as much of her body as most of her other ones did
but she wanted to try something new for a change, maybe dress up like…Ayeka.
She then remembered what she and Tenchi had talked about the night before, how
Ayeka needed to be told today of Tenchi's decision.
Princess Ayeka, she is the source of all of my anger and my sorrow of late. She is
the greatest rival I have ever had. She has put me down, humiliated me, taunted me and
fought with me more times than I can remember. But she is also something else….
She is the best friend I have ever had. She has always been there to listen to me
when I needed to talk to somebody, sure maybe she would say something mean to me but
I knew she really didn't mean it deep down. We have both exchanged blow after blow in
this fight for Tenchi's love.
And if she really loves Tenchi as much as she says she does, as much as I do….
I know the pain that will strive within her once Tenchi tells her; I know the
sorrow that she will feel, for I have felt such pain in my life.
All those innocent people I killed…
I was aware of what I was doing but could not stop myself. Kagato was using me
for his own evil intentions, his own vendetta. Hundreds, no thousands died at my hands.
I've seen the sorrow of those who had lost loved ones thanks to me…and now.
Now I was doing it again, I was taking a loved one away from somebody…
NO! No Ryoko what are you saying, this isn't the same thing, Tenchi said so
himself that he still loved Ayeka very much. I'm not taking his love away from her, he'll
still be here for her.
Then….Then why do I feel so bad about it.
I feel something on my face, a tear?
How long has it been since I have cried? Not since I thought Tenchi had died
trying to save…me.
I should have known then that he loved me, he was risking his own life to save
my own.
No, he would have done that for anyone. That's just the kind of person he is.
Tenchi…
Suddenly a loud crash echoed throughout the house, it had come from the kitchen.
Ryoko snapped out of her daze and teleported to the kitchen to see what had
happened.
"Sasami? Is everything okay down here?" Ryoko asked appearing out of
nowhere.
"Yes, I'm alright. I was trying to reach some dishes high up in the cabinet and I
guess the chair slipped out from under me," she explained rubbing her head.
Then footsteps could be heard rushing down the stairs.
"Sasami! Are you alright?" Princess Ayeka yelled running into the kitchen and
almost slipping.
"Yes I'm fine, I just made a little mess," she answered looking at the floor.
"Well don't worry kid," Ryoko said bending over to pick up some of the glass.
"Me and the Princess here will help you clean up this mess." She patted Ayeka on the
shoulder.
"Of course we will," Ayeka said with an obviously over exaggerated happiness.
She got down on her knees and started to pick up the pieces of she shattered
dishes.
Ryoko's mood suddenly darkened when she realized what state the person next to
her might be in by the end of the day. She decided that she had to try her best to be nice
to the princess today.
When they were all done Ryoko stretched her arms up over her head and yawned.
"Hey princess, I'm going to take a quick bath before breakfast, would you like to
join me?"
Ayeka nodded. "Sure why not."
They both began the trip out to the onsen.
Sasami watched them go and sighed. She was happy that they were starting to
become such good friends.
"Hmmm, wonder what that smell is?" Sasami was still in somewhat of a daze.
The black smoke started rising. She then realized what it was.
"Oh no!" she yelled and turned to the stove to try and fix what had happened.
Tenchi threw the hoe into the ground and sighed as he wiped the sweat from his
forehead.
"Jeeze, this seems harder today for some reason."
Of course he knew why.
His mind was not on the task at hand; he was to busy thinking about the events of
the previous day and how he was going to tell Ayeka to be worried about working in the
field. He sat down on a nearby rock to try and collect himself.
He looked up at the sky and thought about how he had made his decision. It had
all happened so fast he wasn't sure if he was sure at the time, but he was now.
The sun was beginning to set and Tenchi sat outside by the lake watching the last
rays die away for the night.
*That* time of year was coming around again. He always got in somewhat of a
darkened mood around thing time every year.
Ryoko was lying on the roof of the house watching the sun set when she noticed
Tenchi down by the lake. She knew that Tenchi had seemed a little down lately, so she
decided to go and see what was wrong, so she teleported down next to him by the lake.
"Tenchi?" she whispered.
He turned to meet her face. "Hey Ryoko, how are you?"
"I'm fine Tenchi," she told him turning to look at the lake. There was a long
period of silence before she said something to him.
"Tenchi, are you okay? You've seemed a little down lately."
Tenchi sighed and looked up at the now visible stars.
"Yea I'm fine, I guess I just get a little down during this time of year cause its
when my mother…"
He didn't need to finish the sentence for her to understand.
She looked back over at him and saw the sadness in his eyes. A lone tear could
be seen reflecting the moonlight.
"I'm sorry for brining it back up again," she whispered to him.
He shook his tears away and turned to her and smiled.
"I shouldn't be so sad though, I have more than I could ever dreamed. I live in a
house surrounded by people who love me and people who I love. I have Sasami, Washu,
Mihoshi, Ayeka and….
And you.
Their faces had moved closer to each other's. They lapsed back into silence and
then Tenchi did something Ryoko had not expected.
He moved his lips to meet hers. She was so stunned she didn't even know if it
was really happening. Then what was happening had finally sunk in. She reciprocated
fiercely.
After a minute or so they slowly parted.
"Tenchi…"
"Ryoko, I have made my decision," he said with a serious look on his face.
"Lately I have been looking into my heart to see how I really felt. At first I really
didn't know. And I knew that picking one of you meant hurting the other. But I also
knew that not choosing was hurting the both of you. It wasn't an easy decision for me to
make, but I think that deep down in my heart you, Ryoko Hakibi are the person I desire to
spend my life with."
She was taken with joy. Tears of joy rushed from her eyes.
"Tenchi…I…" she didn't have to say anything before he started to speak again.
"Ryoko, I love you," he said with a smile.
She was completely over taken; this is what she had been waiting for. This is
what she had wished for, what she'd dream about.
"I love you too Tenchi," she couldn't contain herself anymore; she jumped
forward and latched onto him.
"Tenchi…I've waited, waited for 700 years for somebody to say that to me."
He didn't say anything but just held her in his warm embrace.
A cool breeze began to blow across the two lovers.
He looked down at her.
"Its getting starting to get cold out here, do you thin we should go inside?"
She looked up meeting his eyes and said.
"Do you…do you think we could stay out just a bit longer?"
He looked at her and without saying anything pulled her closer to him.
Tenchi still in his daze didn't see the bright spot that had appeared in the sky.
When he finally snapped out of it he heard a faint whistling sound from overhead. He
looked around the sky to see where it was coming from and when he saw the source…
"Oh no…"
He was helpless as he watched the silver space ship crash into the lake in the
middle of the valley. The end result being a huge splash that almost reached the house
itself. Tenchi ran down to the lake to see if Mihoshi needed any help.
Sasami also came running from the house.
They both waited by the lake for Mihoshi to surface. When they saw her crawling
up to the shore Tenchi and Sasami ran in to help her to the ground. They let her catch her
breath a bit for Sasami asked.
"Are you okay Mihoshi?"
Mihoshi coughed up some more water and then said something.
"Yes, I think I'm fine. But I don't know about my ship…"
As she said that an explosion could be seen underwater. Tenchi and Sasami just
stared…
"Well I hope Washu can fix it for me," Mihoshi said while ringing out her hair.
"Why don't we get you inside and dried off Mihoshi?" Sasami said while taking
her hand and leading her back to the house.
Ayeka laid back and let the warm water flow freely over her body. She had had
another wonderful dream last night that she and Tenchi were together and that he said
that he loved her. She closed her eyes and began to daze off.
"Hey Ayeka,"
Ayeka opened her eyes and looked across the room to where Ryoko was sitting.
"Yes?"
"Whacha thinking about?" Ryoko asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Nothing unparticular really," she lied. She had been thinking
about *that* dream about Tenchi she had had. "Any reason you wanted to know?"
"Nah, you just seemed to be in a daze, so I thought something might have been on
your mind," Ryoko explained. She stood up and stretched out her arms. "Well Sasami
probably has breakfast ready by now, we should probably head back."
Ayeka nodded and stood up grabbing a nearby towel off of a hook. She had
stopped wearing a towel in the bath because she had decided to become more open with
her body. She dried herself off and then walked over to where Ryoko was standing and
they both made their way back towards the house.
Tenchi had hurried to the bathroom to take a quick shower before he made his
was to breakfast. Looking out the bathroom window he saw Ayeka and Ryoko walking
back to the house for the onsen.
That's another thing he was worried about. He knew that telling Ayeka that he
had made his decision that he wanted to be with Ryoko would hurt her a lot. But it might
also ruin the friendship that the two were starting to form. He didn't know just how
much Ayeka loved him and if it would out weight the friendship that she was starting to
form with Ryoko. He hopped that she wouldn't be hurt as much as he feared she might
and that it would not destroy her life here on Earth. He didn't want her to leave; he
couldn't imagine his life without her here. She was a big part of his life and he didn't
want that to change. But he knew that things might not turn out as he hopes they will.
All I can do is hope for the best he thought to himself.
When Ryoko and Ayeka stepped into the house the first thing they noticed was
the trail of water the lead to the kitchen. This was nothing new to them; all it meant was
that Mihoshi was home.
They each went to their respective rooms to change into something more suitable
for breakfast.
Ryoko changed into her new blue kimono for breakfast this morning. She looked
into the mirror in her room and marveled at her body and how the new piece of clothing
accented some of her features. She quickly brushed her hair a few times, which really did
nothing to tame her cyan spikes, and then teleported down to the kitchen.
Ayeka looked at herself in the mirror in her room. She looked at her naked body
and wondered if Tenchi thought that she looked as good as Ryoko. Sure, she new that
her breasts weren't as large, but she thought she had her own high points.
Ryoko. It seemed like she wasn't saying much this morning, maybe she just
didn't sleep well last night or had to much sake Ayeka thought to herself.
Though it was a bit odd, she didn't insult or taunt me once the entire time that
we were in there
She shrugged it off and changed into one of her usual kimonos and then opened
her and started for the kitchen. But she didn't make it all the way before somebody
opened the bathroom door in front of her. She stopped and waited to see who it was.
Tenchi walked out of the door in front of her drying his hair with a towel. He
looked over and saw her so he put on a smile for her.
"Good morning Miss Ayeka."
"Good morning to you Tenchi, how are you feeling?"
He couldn't tell her what was on his mind, not yet.
"I'm feeling fine, can you tell Sasami I'll be right down for breakfast?" he said
walking to his room.
She nodded and then walked down the stairs to the kitchen. She was almost there
when….
WHAM!!! The *closet* door hit her right in the face; she just stood there for a
second.
"I"VE DONE IT!!!" Washu yelled running out of her lab.
Ryoko and Sasami came running from the kitchen to see what all the noise was
about.
"Washu, what have you done this time?" Ryoko said crossing her arms across her
chest.
Washu closed the door and Ayeka collapsed to the floor. She looked down at her
and said.
"Where did you come from?"
"Oh….don't mind me," Ayeka moaned from the floor. Washu just smiled at her.
"Well," Ryoko was starting to get annoyed. "What crazy messed up useless thing
have you come up with now?"
"Oh right…IT'S THE WORLDS FIRST CD BURNER!!!" Washu exclaimed.
Everyone just stared at her and the small box in here hand.
"Uhhh…Washu, look I don't mean to be the party pooper here but haven't they
been around for a while now?" Ryoko told her.
"Hah! That's what you think, watch this!"
She pulled a CD from her pocket and inserted it into the small slit on the black
box. She pressed the red button on the top of it and…
And the entire thing suddenly was engulfed in flames. Washu quickly dropped in
to the ground and started to stomp on it. They just stared.
Washu rubbed the back of her head nervously and said, "I guess I still need to
work a few bugs out of it…How about breakfast." She made her way to the kitchen
leaving everybody else staring at the singed carpet and the torched little black box.
Tenchi smelled smoke and ran out of his room downstairs to see if anything was
wrong.
"Is everything all right down here!" he said catching his breath.
"Yes Lord Tenchi, everything is fine," Ayeka told him.
Tenchi looked down to see what everyone was looking at and saw a black thing
with smoke raising from it.
"What…is that?" he asked dumbfounded.
Ryoko, Sasami and Ayeka just looked at him and said in unison,
"Washu…"
That was all that he needed to hear.
Just then she popped her head out of the kitchen!
"Hey what are you all just standing around for, are we gonna eat or look at that
unsightly hole in the rug?"
They all just shook their heads and went and sat down for breakfast.
As they ate Ayeka noticed what Ryoko was wearing. It didn't look like anything
that the space pirate owned. It almost looked like something that she might own. She
thought about all the of the clothes she had and tried and remember if she had anything
that looked like that one. She couldn't think of anything, nope that was defiantly not
hers. But then were did it come from? She also noticed another thing that seemed out of
place. Ryoko hadn't been showing Tenchi her usual affection. And they were still not
fighting at all. Ayeka tried to piece all of these things together in her mind. The only
conclusion she had come up with seemed too good to be true. Since Ryoko had not been
taunting or fighting with her, wearing nicer clothes and not throwing herself all over
Tenchi it could only mean one thing. Had Ryoko given up the fight for Tenchi's
affection? No, she wouldn't give up that easily…there must be some other explanation.
Ayeka pushed the thought from her mind and continued eating her breakfast.
Tenchi was worried, plain and simple. Looking over at Ayeka he could tell that
she was thinking about something but couldn't quite figure out what. It scared him to
think that the calm person sitting in front of him now could be crying her eyes out later
on in the day, or worse!
No! Ayeka wouldn't do that, she has too much to live for Tenchi reassured
himself.
Tenchi knew that she would be deeply hurt, but he didn't think that she would do
anything to hurt herself. She still had her home here, Sasami and her home back on Juri.
Then yet another thought came across his mind. What if she left to go back to Juri and
took Sasami with her? He might never get to see either of them again. He hoped that
wouldn't happen, what else could he do?
Everyone seemed to be looking at everyone else. Ryoko had seen that Tenchi
was looking at Ayeka. And deep down inside of her she still felt some jealousy even
though she knew that he was only looking at her because he was concerned about what
was going to happen to Ayeka after he told her about Tenchi and herself. She then
thought to herself if there was anyway, anyway she could ease the pain that she knew
Ayeka would be feeling soon. She came up dry, even after all the years of pain that she
had experienced, all the torture she had been thought and 700 years trapped alone inside
of a cave on some backwater planet, she could not think of any way to help her friend.
The table was quite. Sasami and Washu just looked around trying to figure out
what was going on.
Washu debated looking in her daughters mind to try and find out just what was
going on, but she decided against it.
Suddenly somebody broke the silence.
"Wow! This is really good!" Mihoshi said with food still in her mouth. "Sasami
how do you do it!"
Everyone just looked at her like she was completely oblivious that she was the
only person talking.
When everyone was done with their breakfast they all went to do their own
things. Ayeka had gone back up to her room, Ryoko had vanished to who knows where,
Tenchi was going for sword practice, and Mihoshi and Sasami were cleaning up the
dishes.
As Tenchi made his way up the long staircase that led to the Masaki Shrine, he
heard a noise in the bushes. He turned around to see what it was, nothing. He got his
bokken in a fighting position and prepared himself for whatever was to come next.
"Aiiiieeee!!"
He turned around just in time to be whacked on the head with a bokken.
"Ouch! Jeeze grandpa! Do you always have to do that!!" Tenchi yelled rubbing
his head.
"Well, I'd think that after I've done it this many times you might learn…Or am I
wrong to think that?" he said smiling.
"Yea, I guess I should. But there has been something else on my mind that I've
needed to talk to you about," Tenchi said with a look of grief suddenly coming over his
face.
Yosho noticed the look on his face and told him.
"Lets go up to the shrine and we'll talk about it over some tea."
Tenchi nodded.
Once they had gotten up to the shrine and Yosho had gotten the tea out and ready
they began to talk.
"So Tenchi, what is bothering you?" Yosho said taking a sip of his tea.
"Well, last night I…made my decision," Tenchi told him nervously.
"Ah, and now you are worried about telling the other of your decision."
"Yea, that's pretty much it…" Tenchi looked like he really didn't know what to
say next.
"Well Tenchi, there is only one thing that you can do. You must tell Ayeka how
you truly feel and that you love her dearly and just as much but just in a different way.
And that no matter what you'll always be there for her no matter what happens," he took
another sip
Tenchi sat there in awe, "How did you know I chose Ryoko?"
"I saw you with her by the lake last night," he replied. "Do you understand what
you must do, you owe her enough to tell her."
Tenchi nodded. "Yes grandfather. Thank you." With that Tenchi got up and left
the room.
He began to walk down the steps to his house. He was going to talk with Ryoko
once before he actually told Ayeka. When he opened the kitchen door he saw Sasami
trying to teach Mihoshi how to cook. He laughed a bit at the site and then moved
upstairs.
He went into his room and found Ryoko sitting on his bed.
"Ryoko, we need to talk…"
Ayeka was all set, she was gonna do this. With help from her mother back on Juri
she had secretly gotten Tenchi a bokken used to train those in the Royal Family. Then
entire weapon was made from the branches of Tsunami so I could not be broken. The hilt
was beautify carved and almost looked like Tenchi-ken, but it was more decorated. It
was a symbol of power and of grace. She knew that her brother had one somewhere but
probably wouldn't use it against Tenchi.
She smiled looking at it and hoped that Tenchi would love it. She had attached a
small card to it and was going to leave it outside of his room for him to find.
She walked out of her room and over to Tenchi's and leaned the sword up against
his door. She was just about to walk away when she heard voices from inside. It was
Tenchi and….
Ryoko!
She was just about to open that door when she heard…
"Tenchi…Will you, will you kiss me again?"
There was no following noise.
Ayeka just stood there staring at the door. She blinked back tear after tear. Her
heart had jus been split in two. But she then thought there must be an explanation to this
when she heard the words she had always longed to her herself.
"I love you Ryoko."
"I love you too Tenchi."
Ayeka couldn't take it, she collapsed onto her knees and hit her hands against the
door when she did.
"Yes?" Tenchi asked from inside.
No reply.
"Who is there?"
Nothing.
He walked over, opened the door and was met with the most horrible thing he had
seen. Ayeka was standing there, tears pouring down her face as she slowly back up away
from the door.
"Te…Te…Tenchi," she whispered.
"Ayeka…I," he didn't know what to say. This wasn't how it was supposed to
happen.
She didn't know what to do, she was lost. Her entire body was trembling so she
did the first thing that came to her mind.
She ran. But before she could get anywhere she tripped.
Tenchi stood there, terrified. He slowly moved over to help her up.
"Ayeka….please," tears were starting to form in his eyes.
She slowly started to get up. When she got to her feet she turned to face Tenchi
tears streaming down her face. And then…
She slapped him, harder than she ever had before. And before Tenchi could really
figure out what was going on she ran once more. This time getting to the stairs and
making it down them. She didn't know what else to do.
Tenchi started in pursuit of her but then was stopped by a feeling on his shoulder.
He looked back to see Ryoko standing there. Tears were running on her face.
"Let her go Tenchi, she needs to be alone right now…"
Tenchi shared a long look with her and then collapsed onto the floor.
She got down on her knees and he latched onto her and began to cry into her
shoulder.
"Shhhh….Tenchi….Shhh. It'll be ok, it'll be ok,"
Ayeka ran.
What else could she do? She really didn't know where she was running to but it
really didn't matter to her now. By now the tears were pouring down her face without
any sign of ceasing. She tripped on a root and came tumbling towards the ground. She
hit with a hard thud and a cry of pain. She tried to get back up and run again as fast as
she could but she couldn't get up. When she tried to get onto her feet she felt a terrible
pain in her legs. So she collapsed back onto the ground and covered her face in her eyes.
She then looked up towards the sky and screamed.
"Dammit!! Damn you Tenchi, damn you Ryoko," she curled up into a ball and
placed her head in her knees. "How could you…how could you do this to me…How!!
What did I do to deserve this from you, how did I push you away…push your love
away."
She was filled with so many emotions inside, so many new feelings that she had
never felt before. So many things she had hopped that she would never feel. She thought
that she had felt pain when she lost Yosho but this blew that right out of the water.
She once again tried to get up, it was painful but she managed. She walked with a
limp towards who knows where. All the time tears pouring down her face with nothing
on her mind but her overwhelming love, hate, pain and fear she felt because of Tenchi,
they were all because of Tenchi.
Sometimes I ask myself, why I do love Tenchi as much as I do. What makes him
different from all the other men that I have met? He has treated me like a woman, not an
object that he can own. But as a person…
He has also been toying with my love! What did I do to deserve the fate that was
given to me? He picked that damned murderer over me!!
What else do I have? He was the only reason I am alive. Without him I would be
as good as dead, what more am I now? All I have been is a bother to Tenchi; I have
imposed on him and insulted him. I am not fit to live here.
Dammi! Dammit! Dammit!! How could he treat me like this! He has no right.
I can't take this pain!! Ican'tIcan'tIcan't!! He must be wrong, he can't mean what
he said….It must just be a misunderstanding, that's all.
No…the look on his face when he came out of that room gave it all away. He has
chosen Ryoko, and what am I supposed to do now! He was everything to me…
I'm lost.
Ayeka was just wondering aimlessly in the woods when she came upon the great
tree, Funaho. She looked down into the pool of water, she saw a broken woman. A
woman who had nothing else to live for…
She closed her eyes as the tears began to fall again. She slowly made her way
across the rocks to the base of the tree. She just looked at the tree for a moment and then
completely lost control and started to beat the tree wildly while screaming.
"Damn you Tenchi!! Damn you Ryoko!! I don't need anyone!! I don't need
you!"
"Dammit! Dammit Dammit Dammit! Dammit all!!" she collapsed to her knees
and curled herself into a ball in front of the tree sobbing wildly into her knees. There she
lay all alone as she cried herself to sleep.
Mihoshi and Sasami stood at the doorway to the kitchen try to figure out what had
happened. All they had seen was Ayeka run out of the house. They didn't know of the
events that had taken place just above them so she shrugged it off and went back to
making lunch.
Tenchi felt horrible, the only time he had ever felt worse was when his mother
had died. His face was buried in Ryoko's shoulder. She was telling him that it was going
to be ok but it didn't make him feel any better. Did he really have the right to do what he
just did?
It wasn't supposed to happen that way he thought to himself.
He was just going to talk to her when it had happened, he knew that this might
have all been avoided if he had gotten to talk to her first and tell her that he meant just as
much to him as Ryoko only in a different way. He wanted to tell her that he loved her as
a sister and that he never wanted that to change.
But now he new nothing would be as it was before. Everything was going to
change. And as it seemed right now it would be for the worse.
"Thanks Ryoko," he said lifting his head.
Ryoko smiled and nodded.
Tenchi then looked over shoulder and noticed something lying on the floor. He
walked over to see what it was. It looked like a bokken of some sorts. The hilt looked
almost just like the hilt of Tenchi-ken. He picked it up and held it; he was surprised
when it didn't weigh as much as a normal bokken. Then he realized that it was the same
weight of Tenchi-ken. This bokken emulated fighting with an energy sword.
As he was looking over it he noticed a small card hanging off of it. Very
reluctantly he tore the card off of the bokken to read it. When he opened it, it read this,
Dear Tenchi,
This is my gift to you to repay you for all that you have done for Sasami and I. It is a
bokken carved from the branches of Tsunami and is unbreakable. I hope that you enjoy
this gift and that it may make your practice a little easier.
Love Always,
Ayeka
The whole time he was reading this note tears were beginning to fall from his
eyes. He looked at the last line again, 'Love Always' and couldn't take it anymore. New
tears began to fall in the paths of his old ones. He started to shake; he felt the pain
boiling up inside of him and had to let it go.
"Tenchi…What is it?" Ryoko took a step towards him with concern.
He slowly turned to meet her, tearing streaming down his face. They shared a
long stare before he ran forwards into her arms once again.
Cry Tenchi, just cry she thought to herself.
Washu sat in her lab typing on her holotop when she began to get a slight
headache.
"Whoa, must have been staring at that screen to long," she said rubbing her head.
She decided to take a break and go see what was going on in the 'world of the living'.
The headache quickly started to get worse before she even made it out of her lab.
She decided to see if this had anything to do with Ryoko so she opened the link
she shared with her daughter. As soon as she did she was bombarded with thoughts of
pain that her daughter was happening. Her headache seemed to ease up as she tried to
figure out what was going on. Then she figured it out, she figured out what was causing
all of this pain. She knew in an instant what had happened. She ran back over to her
computer to try and run a scan for Ayeka to see if she was still in the area.
She sighed a breath of relief when the scan told her that Ayeka was at Funaho,
alive and well. She tried to think if there was any way that she could help Ayeka get
through this. She knew that Ayeka might not want to talk to either Tenchi or Ryoko right
away so she had to let the princess that she was here for her if she needed to talk about
something. But right now she knew that Ayeka needed some time alone. She sat back
down on her floating cushion trying to decide what to do next.
After about fifteen minutes Tenchi had pulled himself together. He had placed
the bokken into his room and met back up with Ryoko outside of his room. She grabbed
his hand as they started to walk downstairs.
Just as they got down Washu had walked out of her lab. By the look in her eyes
they new that she had found out what happened. She gave them both a quick look and
nodded.
Then Sasami came out of the kitchen again.
"Has anyone seen Ayeka?" she asked.
Everyone had a look of concern on their face and it was starting to scare her.
"Is…Is Ayeka okay?" Tenchi shared a long look with her.
Washu took her by the arm. "Why don't you come with me and I'll tell you?"
Sasami looked from Tenchi to Washu and then back to Tenchi again.
Tenchi just nodded as Washu took Sasami into her lab.
Ryoko and Tenchi sat down on the couch and turned on the TV to try and calm
themselves down a bit. They had looked through the channels and there was nothing on.
Ryoko had leaned her head against his shoulder and fallen asleep some time ago. He
looked down at her and sighed. She was wearing a smile on her face.
He glanced around the room and saw a clock, it was almost lunchtime and Sasami
still hadn't come out of Washu's lab. But then the door to her lab opened. Washu
stepped out with a sleeping Sasami in her arms. She looked at Tenchi and then turned for
the stairs to carry Sasami to her bed. Washu came back down when she was done
tucking Sasami into her bed.
"Is she okay Washu?" Tenchi asked with a concerned look on her face.
Washu sighed. "She should be fine with a little sleep. She was concerned about
Ayeka." She paused. "Come on, I'll finish up lunch up."
He looked down at Ryoko again and gently shook her. "Ryoko."
Her eyes quickly fluttered open and looked up at him. He was smiling at her and
then kissed her.
He broke the kiss and said. "Its time for lunch."
She yawned and stretched up her arms in the air. Looking around she noticed the
clock said 3:30. She was surprised how late it had gotten. They had gone to sleep around
10:30. She followed Tenchi into the kitchen and was surprised yet again.
"Washu? What are you doing?" she asked half awake.
Washu turned her head to meet her daughter. "Why cooking of course."
"How is Sasami doing?" Ryoko asked in between yawns.
"She'll be fine. I think she just needs a little rest," Washu told her. "Now, who's
ready for lunch!"
Ayeka awoke in a field that seemed to be familiar to her. She stood up quickly
and looked around but there was nobody else here. Right then she heard a voice from
behind her. She recognized the voice and quickly turned to meet it.
"Lord Tenchi!" she said happily.
"Ayeka? Why are you still here?" he questioned.
Ayeka stepped back in shock. "I…I…"
"There isn't a place for you here anymore, I think its best for all of us if you go."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, tears began to form in the back of her
eyes. "Lord Tenchi…" He didn't say anything to her instead he turned and began to
walk away from her. What she did next came as a shock to her. She ran forward and
grabbed onto Tenchi's legs. "Tenchi!" she cried. "Please! Please don't leave me here!"
She was now crying her eyes out.
He turned around and looked down at her. "Ayeka, what are you doing? I have
Ryoko I do not need you." He said softly.
"You don't mean that! You can't mean that!" she screamed.
"I *do* mean that, now please let go of me," he pulled himself away from her and
then faded away.
"TECNHI! TENCHI!!" she collapsed onto the ground from her knees crying
harder than she ever had in her life. "How…How can you do this to me? HOW!!! She
screamed. "How…"
Ayeka woke up next to Funaho crying her eyes out. She slowly sat up and looked
around. It was later than it was when she went to sleep. She wiped the tears from her
eyes. And began to think to herself.
What can I do? I can't live with this pain.
Why don't you just end it then?
I can't do that!
Why not? The pain will be gone.
I couldn't run like that, Sasami would be crushed. It wouldn't be fair to her.
I feel something inside of my kimono, what is it? I slowly reach my hand into my
kimono and pull it out. A knife! Why do I have a knife with me??
Ahh, now I remember, I used this knife to inscribe….I can't finish the sentence,
why can't I finish it?? Have I become so pathetic that I can't even say his name
anymore? I feel like I should be crying, but no tears fall. This pain, it fills me I can't
escape it. I glance down at the knife again but throw it to the ground.
"God dammit!! I can't do that, I can't I can't!!!" I can feel the tears begin to fall
down my face, what is the point in this? Why must this happen to me, I don't deserve it!
Are you sure?
Of course I am! What have I done to deserve such a fate? Ever?
What about Ryoko? You've never been nice to her?
SO WHAT!!! She doesn't deserve anything from me! She is a murder and a
thief! Why should I give her any respect!
You know that she isn't any of that anymore. Tenchi was able to look over it,
why couldn't you?
I…I…
And now because of the cruelty you have shown her you have nothing left, you
have lost Tenchi forever. Why don't you end this pitiful excuse for a life.
I grab my head. I can't take this anymore. I just can't take it!!!
"Go away!! Please leave me alone," I cry shaking my head.
No, I am here to stay. You can't doing anything without me.
"Go! Go!!! Just get away from me!! Please! Go away!!!" I scream louder than I
thought I ever could.
Tenchi turned to Ryoko and shared a long stare with her. "I'm going to look for
Ayeka." She looked at him for a few quick seconds and nodded. Tenchi stood up and
walked out of the house.
First he decided to see if his grandfather had heard or seen Ayeka anywhere. He
got to the front door of the shrine.
"Who is it?" he heard come from inside.
He answered. "Its me,"
"Come in," Tenchi opened the door and entered the room closing it behind him.
Yosho looked up at Tenchi and saw in his eyes that he had been crying.
"Grandfather have you seen Ayeka? I've hurt her and I really need to talk to her."
Tenchi told him full of concern. Yosho looked at him.
"No, I have not." He took a sip from his tea.
"Thank you," Tenchi turned and left. As he walked down the stairs he tried to
think of where Ayeka might go.
Would she go to Ryoko's cave? No, I don't think so. So where could
she….That's it!! Tenchi started running in the direction of Funaho.
Ayeka sat, her back up against the tree holding the knife in one of her hands. A
tear fell from her eyes onto the blade of the knife. It then ran off the side onto the
ground. She just sat staring at that knife and crying. She now knew what she had to do,
it wouldn't be easy for her but she couldn't live the rest of her life like this. She heard
somebody running down the path that led to the great tree. She knew it was Tenchi; she
didn't want to see Tenchi. She didn't want to see anybody right now. She lifted her head
and saw him coming nearer.
"Ayeka!" he yelled slowing down a bit.
"Goodbye…Sasami…Goodbye…Tenchi," she whispered to herself trying to hold
back her tears. They were no longer just tears of pain, but tears of fear. She lifted the
knife and turned it towards herself.
"AYEKA!!! NO!!!" He screamed running towards her again. Tears were
starting to run down is face wildly.
"I'm sorry Tenchi…" as she said this she brought the knife back to meet her chest
and then with one final push she pushed it into herself. The pain she felt was
overwhelming, she felt it take over her entire being. She looked up at Tenchi; her vision
was starting to get blurry. She could barley see anything anymore, it was all becoming
black.
"AYEKA!!! AYEKA!!!" Tenchi screamed at the top of his lungs as he made it to
her. Terror filled his voice as he quickly checked for a pulse. She still had one, so he
quickly picked her up in his arms and started running back towards the house.
Two hours later Tenchi was pacing in front of the door to Washu's lab crying his
eyes out. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He had knew that Ayeka would
be hurt when she found out about Tenchi and Ryoko, but he had never though that it
would impact her so deeply. She was actually intent on killing herself. He considered
himself lucky that he went out to search for her when he did, a few minutes later and all
would have been lost. She had still had a pulse by the time that he had gotten her to
Washu's lab but he hadn't know what had happened after that. He just left her in the
capable hands of Little Washu. Sasami was still upstairs sleeping luckily, it would kill
Tenchi to have to tell her that her sister was dead; he wasn't prepared to do that. He
didn't know how much longer he could take this waiting. He heard the door open behind
him; he turned and saw Yosho enter the house with a look of sadness on his face. Ryoko
had told him what had happened and Tenchi guessed he must have wanted some time
alone. He walked in and sat down on the couch next to Mihoshi.
Suddenly the door to Washu's lab slowly opened. Tenchi quickly spun around to
face Washu. She walked out of the lab, her facial features were saddened. This saddened
Tenchi even more.
"Washu…is she alright?" Tenchi whispered to her gravely.
She took in a deep breath and sighed. "I stabilized her, but with the amount of
blood she lost and the organs that were destroyed I don't think she'll be able to live off of
life support."
Tenchi had to fight to hold back the tears. "So…there is nothing we can do?" he
asked, hoping that she would say there was a way, some way to bring Ayeka back to
them.
"There is one thing I can think of, but I'm not completely sure that it will work."
She told him quietly. His head shot up at hearing this.
"What is it Washu? Tell me?!"
"It will be a decision that you and Ryoko will have to make together." Ryoko got
up off the couch and walked over to where they were standing.
"What is it *mom*" Ryoko asked.
Washu looked into her eyes. "If she was given one of your gems Ryoko, her body
would be able to heal the wounds." Ryoko blinked at hearing this. Washu continued.
"The major problem is that I don't know if Ayeka's body would except the gem, if she
isn't there is a possibility of it exploding and killing her." Tenchi lowered his head.
Ryoko spoke up at hearing this. "*If* it were to be excepted would we be able to
remove it?"
"I do not know that either, we may or we may not. I have told you all I know.
I'm sorry" Tenchi lifted his head back up to look at her.
"She'll be alright for the night right?" Tenchi asked.
Washu nodded.
"Can…Can I let you know tomorrow?" he asked softly.
"Yes"
The rest of the night had not been an easy one. Sasami had woken up and they
had been forced to tell her what had happened to Ayeka. She took it pretty hard and was
watching a movie with Mihoshi, Washu, Noboyuki and Yosho to try and keep her mind
off of it.
Ryoko looked around the house trying to find Tenchi but he was nowhere to be
found. She sighed and sat down on a chair and looked out the window.
"Tenchi…" she sighed to herself. "Tenchi!" she saw him sitting out by the lake
just as he had been last night. She teleported out behind him and then slowly approached
him. He looked back as he noticed that she was here.
"Hi Ryoko," he said his voice full of grief. Ryoko didn't say anything but sat
down next to him on the grass. She looked up to the sky and then stuck her hand up
towards a star.
"See that star there Tenchi?" she asked closing one of her eyes. Tenchi looked up
to where she was pointing.
"Yea, I do. What about it?" he questioned.
She smiled a little bit. "That's Juri" Tenchi just looked at it and stared.
So, that's where Ayeka is from. That's always been my favorite star. Tenchi
smiled to himself.
Ayeka…
Ryoko saw that he was completely off in another world. "Hey Tenchi! What are
ya thinking about?" she latched onto him.
He sighed and replied. "Ayeka,"
"Yes, I have been thinking about her a lot to. Things never should have happened
like they did. But don't worry, it will all turn out alright." She smiled at him.
He looked back at her and then pulled her close to him. She sighed and tightened
her embrace closing her eyes.
After a while Tenchi looked at Ryoko and noticed that she had fallen asleep. He
smiled and gently picked her up into his arms. Then he carried her back to the house and
up to her room. When he got to the door he stopped, he looked at the door for a while
trying to decide what to do. Making his choice he continued to his room with Ryoko still
in his arms. He quietly opened the door to his room not wanting to disturb anyone.
Closing the door behind him he laid Ryoko down on his bed. He turned and walked to
the window and looked out of it. The moonlight was reflecting off of the lake and then
was covering the surrounding trees in an eerie blue color. He sighed as he turned back
towards the bed and saw Ryoko lying there.
She looks so calm. he thought to himself. He walked over to his bokken and
laid down on it next to Ryoko. Tenchi heard her mumble something as she clung onto
him.
"…Tenchi…" He smiled and looked at her for a second before closing his own
eyes.
Washu sat in her lab staring at screen after screen of data trying to find out if there
was any other ways to bring Ayeka back that she had not thought of. She was worried
that the gem might react with Ayeka's body and explode killing her. The problem was
that she didn't know what would happen. She typed a few more keys on her holotop but
there was nothing. She was the greatest scientific mind in the entire universe, she had
mapped out vast dimensions and unknown parts of the universe but she couldn't save
somebody from dying.
"Dammit!" she swore at the computer screen. She sighed and looked over to the
bed where Ayeka was lying. She got up and walked over to the floating bed. There was
one other thing that she couldn't figure out. By all means Ayeka should not have
survived more than a few minutes after she had stabbed herself. So how then did she
survive Tenchi carrying her all the way back to the house. Did it have anything to do
with the fact that Ayeka had royal blood? She then walked back to her holotop and
looked at a chart showing how much blood Ayeka had lost. This confirmed what she had
thought, Ayeka *should* not have survived. Washu typed a few keys on her holotop to
run a search to see exactly what Ayeka's blood had in it. After a few moments a screen
popped up.
"Xaneron…That's how she was able to survive, somehow the royal family of Juri
has Xaneron in their blood," Washu whispered to herself. "If only her organs were not
damaged, we could have just given her some blood." Washu sighed and sat back on her
seat. She decided that she should probably get some rest; Ayeka would be okay tonight
by herself and tomorrow was going to be a long day for everyone. She set the system to
alert her if anything were to happen while she was sleeping and then departed for her
usually lonely bed.
The first signs of day were starting to appear as the sky changed from
black to a dark blue. The orange rays of the sun could be seen ascending over the
mountains. The night was over a new day was beginning. But the events of the previous
day were still in the minds of everyone, the events that happened that never should have.
Tenchi looked out his window; he looked towards the lake and saw the outcrop of the
Ryoko's cave. He closed the blinds so the room was darkened once more. He turned
back to his bed and saw Ryoko sleeping there, his love. Her face was painted with
sadness; a sadness that should not be, she should not be have to be sad on the day she had
longed for, the day that she thought would be the happiest in her life. Tears began to fall
remembering the events of the previous day. He walked back over to the bed and lay
back down next to Ryoko. She quickly cuddled up next to him taking in the warmth
coming from his body.
Tenchi sniffed the air hoping to smell breakfast in the air telling him that Sasami
would be okay but it was absent. He thought that Sasami must have cried herself to sleep
last night and he was intent on trying to make her feel better through all of this. But that
would be hard because at the same time he was trying to make her feel better he could
use somebody to help him feel better. He really didn't want to get out of bed, he didn't
want to face what the day had waiting for him. Wiping the tears from his eyes he knew
that he had to, for Ayeka. He knew that he had to be strong for her and that giving up on
her would be a crime against her.
He slowly got himself out of bed and dressed. He was going downstairs to make
the best breakfast in his ability for anyone who wanted it. Sure it wasn't going to be as
good as Sasami's but it wouldn't be fair to ask her to make it. Anyway he had a feeling
that not many people were going to be hungry. He got down the stairs and made his way
to the kitchen. When he got there he was surprised by what he saw.
"Dad?" Tenchi stared.
"Oh, good morning Tenchi. I'm just making breakfast." Noboyuki said turning
away from the stovetop.
"I though you were in Tokyo for two weeks on a meeting?" Tenchi asked still
surprised.
Noboyuki sighed and walked over to Tenchi. "Well son, I head about what
happened and I thought it best if I come home to support my family."
Tears began to form in the back of Tenchi's eyes as his father reached out anf
gave him a hug. "It'll be alright Tenchi, you'll see."
When they broke the hug Tenchi looked up at his father. "Thanks Dad."
Noboyuki just looked at him and smiled. "So are you ready for breakfast
Tenchi?"
"Yea, I guess I am." Just then the door to Washu's lab could be heard opening
and then closing. The diminutive scientist walked into the kitchen, sat down on a chair at
the table and sighed.
"Good morning Little Washu" Tenchi said looking at her. She looked like she
had been up pretty late last night.
She yawned. "Good morning Tenchi," Everything was quiet at the table for a few
moments before Tenchi spoke up.
"…Little Washu…How…How is Ayeka doing?" the pain was apparent in his
voice. Washu sighed and looked him in the eyes.
"The life support system is still keeping her alive but I wasn't able to get any new
data about placing the gem in her body." She paused for a second. "But she can't stay on
life support forever, it will slowly kill her vital organs." Tenchi closed his eyes in pain.
He looked at Ryoko who nodded and then back at Washu.
"We…We will use the gem," he said softly.
Washu nodded. "Okay, I will have to get things set up," she looked at Ryoko.
"Ryoko you will need to be the one to give her the gem, in the scenario that the gem
explodes you will be able to heal yourself from the blast," she looked back at Tenchi.
"Tenchi, you will have to give Ryoko a gem to give to Ayeka."
Tenchi nodded. She walked over and placed a hand on Tenchi's shoulder.
"I'll do everything in my power to make sure that we get Ayeka back."
"Thank you Washu," he said trying to hold back tears.
Tenchi decided that he would go work in the carrot fields to try and take his mind
off of Ayeka. This new day was not as forgiving as the day before. The air was full of
humidity, it felt like it could rain at any second but the sun was beating down on him as
he worked. After some time he realized that this wasn't working very well so he decided
to go back to the house.
On his way back he heard crying coming from the near by forest. He changed
direction to see who was crying. He moved a few bushes out of the way and saw a little
girl clinging to a little dog like a life preserver. She was crying into its fur while the dog
licked her. Tenchi stepped a little bit closer and the dog noticed him. It raised its ears up
high in the air. The girl looked up from the dog, terror in her eyes. "DON'T HURT
ME!!" she screamed. Tenchi took another step forward.
"I won't hurt you," he said calmly. "What are you doing out here all alone?"
She backed up a little bit and cried. "My…My p…parents where k…k…k" she
didn't finish the sentence. Tenchi looked down at the ground, he felt sorry for her, and he
knew what it was like to lose a parent. He walked over to her and reached out his hand to
help her up and asked.
"What's your name?" She hesitantly took his hand and stood up.
"K…Kashira and…and this is my puppy Kushiro," she said still crying.
"Well it's nice to meet both of you, why don't you come back to my house with
me and we can get you cleaned up? Tenchi started walking and then he turned to make
sure that the girl was following him. She slowly started to follow him back to the house.
Ryoko looked out the window and saw Tenchi coming back, with a young girl following
him? She walked over to the door and waited for him to enter. The door opened and
Tenchi and his new companion walked into the Masaki houses living room. Ryoko first
looked at Tenchi and then to the girl following him.
"Tenchi? Who is that?" Ryoko asked.
Tenchi looked at Ryoko with concern on his face. "I found her out in the forest
with that dog, her name is Kashira. They were all alone." He explained. Ryoko looked
back at the girl. Her face was dirty and her clothes were ripped in various spots. Ryoko
crouched down in front of the girl.
"Hello, my name is Ryoko."
The girl looked at Ryoko for a few seconds. "H…Hello"
"Ryoko," Tenchi said looking down at the girl. "Can you clean her up and get her
some new clothes? I need to talk to Washu."
Ryoko nodded and then took the girls hand. "Why don't you come with me and
we'll get you cleaned up." Ryoko led Kashria and her little dog to the bathroom to get
cleaned up. Tenchi gave a sigh and then walked to the door of Washu's lab and knocked
on the door. It simply said 'Come in'. Tenchi walked into the lab and saw Washu typing
on her holotop.
"Hello Little Washu," Tenchi said softly. She turned to meet him.
"Hey Tenchi," she stretched her arms up in the air. "Well I have some goo
news." Tenchi was surprised to here this.
"What is it!?"
"The chance of the gem exploding on contact with Ayeka's body is only a 20%
chance. This doesn't mean that it couldn't but that it is less likely to exploded."
Tenchi sighed, he was hoping for something a little better but this did make him
feel a little better about his decision. "When can we do it?" he asked not really wanting
to know the answer.
"Whenever you and Ryoko are ready, the sooner we do it the better," she told
him.
"I'll…I'll go talk to her now."
She nodded and turned back to her holotop.
Tenchi opened the door of Washu's lab and walked back into his normal
dimension. He had meant to tell her about Kashira but he really didn't feel like it. There
was already way too much on his mind right now. Tenchi looked up and saw Ryoko
coming down the stairs alone.
"Where is Kashira?" he asked.
Ryoko finished walking down the last few steps and said. "She's asleep. She
seems to be fine but wouldn't tell me anything about herself."
"She told me that her parents were both killed…" he said with an uneasy tone in
his voice.
Ryoko's facial expression changed to horror. "That's horrible."
Tenchi nodded.
"So what are we going to do with her?" she asked, her voice full of concern.
Tenchi shrugged. "I guess she can stay here for now and we can try and find her
a permanent house sometime soon."
Ryoko looked at him and nodded. "How is Ayeka?"
Tenchi looked at the floor and then responded. "She is still alive because of the
life support, but Washu says that the life support will eventually end up destroying her
vital organs and that the sooner we give her the gem the better," he paused for a second
then continued. "She also said that there is only a 20% chance of the gem exploding."
Ryoko sighed. "Well I guess we should probably hurry up then. Are you ready?"
she asked.
Tenchi nodded. Ryoko walked over in front of him as he held the hilt of Tenchi-
ken out towards her. They both closed their eyes and then one of the gems that was
embedded into the hilt started to glow. Then the gem disappeared off the hilt of the
sword and reappeared on Ryoko's right wrist. She felt the power rush into her body,
power she had not felt for hundreds of years. She liked the power but knew that this gem
was for Ayeka. She sighed and opened her eyes. "I'm ready."
Both Tenchi and Ryoko walked into Washu's lab a few moments later. She heard
them come in and turned to meet them. "Are you ready then?" she asked.
They both nodded.
"Okay, Ryoko see that door over there? Right over the…"
"I SEE IT!!" Ryoko interrupted. Washu just smiled.
"Tenchi you can come over here with me to this screen to watch," she lead Tenchi
over to a screen that was coming out of the floor. Ryoko walked towards the door and
then entered. When she did she saw Ayeka, she was attached to all sorts of equipment.
Her face was pale and had a saddening expression on it. A blanket covered her up so
Ryoko could not see the bloodstains on her kimono. A tear ran down Ryoko's face. This
was the person that she had fought for countless hours with. The person that even though
she probably didn't want to, risked her own life to come and save her, the only person
that she could talk to when she was feeling down and the only person who really knew
how much she loved Tenchi. For it was her own love for Tenchi that had put her in this
state.
"Ayeka…" Ryoko whispered to herself. She wiped the tears from her face.
Then she heard something coming over a speaker. "Okay Ryoko, you know what
to do."
Ryoko nodded and then closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and then started
to concentrate. She held her hands out towards Ayeka and the gem on her right wrist
began to glow. The glowing intensified until the gem vanished. The glowing orb then
appeared on Ayeka's left wrist. Tenchi and Washu watched all this happen on the screen.
Washu quickly looked over at the monitor showing Ayeka's vitals, the effects were
showing all ready. Her vital signs were rising quickly, she then slowly hit a key on her
holotop and a message appeared on the screen. It read 'Life support disabled'.
"It's working!" Washu yelled jumping to her feet. Tenchi looked up at the screen
that showed Ryoko and Ayeka, the gem was in Ayeka's wrist and her vitals were rising
considerably. Tears started to form in Tenchi's eyes, but these were tears of joy instead
of the earlier tears of sorrow. He smiled; he knew that she would be all right now.
Ryoko opened her eyes, all the power that she had received a few moments ago was now
gone. She looked at Ayeka, the gem on her left wrist had stopped glowing and she
looked at the monitors next to her bed and saw that things were returning to normal.
"Ryoko," Washu's voice came over the speaker. "You and Tenchi go have fun, I
need to run a few checks on Ayeka." Ryoko sighed and walked out of the room.
"So she's really gonna be ok okay Washu?" Tenchi asked getting up out of his
seat.
"Yup, as long as she wants to…" Washu said the last part softer.
They both shared a long stare before Ryoko came up to them.
"Comon Tenchi, lets tell Sasami," she said grabbing his arm and pulling him
towards the exit. Washu heard the door slam behind her. She walked towards the door
and then paused for a second before entering. When she entered the room she walked
over to the computer next to Ayeka's bed. The computer told her that she was still
unconscious but that all of her vital organs had been healed. Washu walked over to her to
inspect the gem, it seemed that it her body had accepted it well enough, now she was just
going to have to see if they could remove it.
Authors Notes: Well that's all for chapter 1, I was originally going to have this be a one
shot fic, but I wanted to get some response from people letting me know if I should
continue. I decided to stop here because I need some more time to think about what is
going to happen next. I am a big Ayeka/Tenchi fan but I thought that I would do a
Ryoko/Tenchi fic because I thought that I would try something different for a change.
My next fic is going to be a big A/T fic for all you Ayeka fans without much to read. If
you find spelling/grammar errors please let me know! Please let me know what you
thought of the fic
Send C&C to
demon_891@yahoo.com
I am not making any money off of this fanfic. Please don't sue me because I have
nothing to give.
"As Night Dawns"
Part 1
By demon_891 'Xerou'
The first signs of day were starting to appear as the sky changed from black to a
dark blue. The orange rays of the sun could be seen ascending over the mountains. The
night was over a new day was beginning. But the events of the previous day were still in
the minds of everyone, the events that happened that never should have. Tenchi looked
out his window; he looked towards the lake and saw the outcrop of the Ryoko's cave. He
closed the blinds so the room was darkened once more. He turned back to his bed and
saw Ryoko sleeping there, his love. Her face was painted with sadness; a sadness that
should not be, she should not be have to be sad on the day she had longed for, the day
that she thought would be the happiest in her life. Tears began to fall remembering the
events of the previous day. It was supposed to be a happy day…
Tenchi slowly opened his eyes and looked at the clock next to his bed. It read
5:30. It was time for him to get up to work on the fields. He closed his eyes for another
quick minute of rest and then rose from his bed. He stretched and then dressed himself.
Yawning he opened the door and walked into the hall. He then made his way to the
bathroom so he could relieve himself. Looking out the window he saw the sun as it begin
to cross the horizon line. The birds were chirping and there was a warm breeze coming
from the slot in the window. It was going to be a good day, he just knew it. There was
just one thing… He walked out of the bathroom and made his way down the stairs to the
kitchen to get something to eat real quickly before he had to get to work. When he got to
the kitchen he was surprised to see Sasami there, she usually wasn't up until 6.
"Sasami? What are you doing up so early?" he asked walking in.
"I woke up a little bit ago and couldn't get back to sleep. So I just decided to get
an early start on breakfast this morning." She replied.
"Oh, ok. Well I just came to get a bite to eat before I get to work," he said
grabbing an apple out of the basket on the counter and making his was to the door. "I'll
be back for breakfast."
"Ok!" Sasami yelled turning away from the stovetop.
As Tenchi was making his way to the fields he felt a warm breeze blowing across
his face. He looked over at the lake and how the sun was reflecting off of it, making it
look at deep orange. Everything seemed in place, but there was still one thing that could
darken this whole day. Yesterday Tenchi had made his decision, the decision that he had
been agonizing over for more than a year. And he was sure that he had made the right
decision. Ryoko was the person that he was sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his
life with. She was the one that made his life feel whole.
But with this decision came something even harder, something that he didn't
know if he was ready for.
He had to tell Ayeka how he felt and that he loved her very much also, but it was
just in a different fashion. He saw her as family and one of the closest friends he had
ever had. He didn't want that to ever change, but he knew that she wanted more.
He sighed as he realized that he owed it to her to tell her today. It was going to be
one of the hardest things he had ever done but he was going to have to do it.
When he got to the field he tried to put all of this into the back of his mind as he
began to work.
Back at the house everybody was just starting to awaken.
Ryoko rose from her bed well rested and happy. She was usually tormented by
nightmares of her past while she slept, but tonight she was not.
The events of the previous day had given her a new energy, one that she had not
felt in so long. She smiled as she put on a nice new blue kimono that she had bought in
town a few days ago. It did not reveal as much of her body as most of her other ones did
but she wanted to try something new for a change, maybe dress up like…Ayeka.
She then remembered what she and Tenchi had talked about the night before, how
Ayeka needed to be told today of Tenchi's decision.
Princess Ayeka, she is the source of all of my anger and my sorrow of late. She is
the greatest rival I have ever had. She has put me down, humiliated me, taunted me and
fought with me more times than I can remember. But she is also something else….
She is the best friend I have ever had. She has always been there to listen to me
when I needed to talk to somebody, sure maybe she would say something mean to me but
I knew she really didn't mean it deep down. We have both exchanged blow after blow in
this fight for Tenchi's love.
And if she really loves Tenchi as much as she says she does, as much as I do….
I know the pain that will strive within her once Tenchi tells her; I know the
sorrow that she will feel, for I have felt such pain in my life.
All those innocent people I killed…
I was aware of what I was doing but could not stop myself. Kagato was using me
for his own evil intentions, his own vendetta. Hundreds, no thousands died at my hands.
I've seen the sorrow of those who had lost loved ones thanks to me…and now.
Now I was doing it again, I was taking a loved one away from somebody…
NO! No Ryoko what are you saying, this isn't the same thing, Tenchi said so
himself that he still loved Ayeka very much. I'm not taking his love away from her, he'll
still be here for her.
Then….Then why do I feel so bad about it.
I feel something on my face, a tear?
How long has it been since I have cried? Not since I thought Tenchi had died
trying to save…me.
I should have known then that he loved me, he was risking his own life to save
my own.
No, he would have done that for anyone. That's just the kind of person he is.
Tenchi…
Suddenly a loud crash echoed throughout the house, it had come from the kitchen.
Ryoko snapped out of her daze and teleported to the kitchen to see what had
happened.
"Sasami? Is everything okay down here?" Ryoko asked appearing out of
nowhere.
"Yes, I'm alright. I was trying to reach some dishes high up in the cabinet and I
guess the chair slipped out from under me," she explained rubbing her head.
Then footsteps could be heard rushing down the stairs.
"Sasami! Are you alright?" Princess Ayeka yelled running into the kitchen and
almost slipping.
"Yes I'm fine, I just made a little mess," she answered looking at the floor.
"Well don't worry kid," Ryoko said bending over to pick up some of the glass.
"Me and the Princess here will help you clean up this mess." She patted Ayeka on the
shoulder.
"Of course we will," Ayeka said with an obviously over exaggerated happiness.
She got down on her knees and started to pick up the pieces of she shattered
dishes.
Ryoko's mood suddenly darkened when she realized what state the person next to
her might be in by the end of the day. She decided that she had to try her best to be nice
to the princess today.
When they were all done Ryoko stretched her arms up over her head and yawned.
"Hey princess, I'm going to take a quick bath before breakfast, would you like to
join me?"
Ayeka nodded. "Sure why not."
They both began the trip out to the onsen.
Sasami watched them go and sighed. She was happy that they were starting to
become such good friends.
"Hmmm, wonder what that smell is?" Sasami was still in somewhat of a daze.
The black smoke started rising. She then realized what it was.
"Oh no!" she yelled and turned to the stove to try and fix what had happened.
Tenchi threw the hoe into the ground and sighed as he wiped the sweat from his
forehead.
"Jeeze, this seems harder today for some reason."
Of course he knew why.
His mind was not on the task at hand; he was to busy thinking about the events of
the previous day and how he was going to tell Ayeka to be worried about working in the
field. He sat down on a nearby rock to try and collect himself.
He looked up at the sky and thought about how he had made his decision. It had
all happened so fast he wasn't sure if he was sure at the time, but he was now.
The sun was beginning to set and Tenchi sat outside by the lake watching the last
rays die away for the night.
*That* time of year was coming around again. He always got in somewhat of a
darkened mood around thing time every year.
Ryoko was lying on the roof of the house watching the sun set when she noticed
Tenchi down by the lake. She knew that Tenchi had seemed a little down lately, so she
decided to go and see what was wrong, so she teleported down next to him by the lake.
"Tenchi?" she whispered.
He turned to meet her face. "Hey Ryoko, how are you?"
"I'm fine Tenchi," she told him turning to look at the lake. There was a long
period of silence before she said something to him.
"Tenchi, are you okay? You've seemed a little down lately."
Tenchi sighed and looked up at the now visible stars.
"Yea I'm fine, I guess I just get a little down during this time of year cause its
when my mother…"
He didn't need to finish the sentence for her to understand.
She looked back over at him and saw the sadness in his eyes. A lone tear could
be seen reflecting the moonlight.
"I'm sorry for brining it back up again," she whispered to him.
He shook his tears away and turned to her and smiled.
"I shouldn't be so sad though, I have more than I could ever dreamed. I live in a
house surrounded by people who love me and people who I love. I have Sasami, Washu,
Mihoshi, Ayeka and….
And you.
Their faces had moved closer to each other's. They lapsed back into silence and
then Tenchi did something Ryoko had not expected.
He moved his lips to meet hers. She was so stunned she didn't even know if it
was really happening. Then what was happening had finally sunk in. She reciprocated
fiercely.
After a minute or so they slowly parted.
"Tenchi…"
"Ryoko, I have made my decision," he said with a serious look on his face.
"Lately I have been looking into my heart to see how I really felt. At first I really
didn't know. And I knew that picking one of you meant hurting the other. But I also
knew that not choosing was hurting the both of you. It wasn't an easy decision for me to
make, but I think that deep down in my heart you, Ryoko Hakibi are the person I desire to
spend my life with."
She was taken with joy. Tears of joy rushed from her eyes.
"Tenchi…I…" she didn't have to say anything before he started to speak again.
"Ryoko, I love you," he said with a smile.
She was completely over taken; this is what she had been waiting for. This is
what she had wished for, what she'd dream about.
"I love you too Tenchi," she couldn't contain herself anymore; she jumped
forward and latched onto him.
"Tenchi…I've waited, waited for 700 years for somebody to say that to me."
He didn't say anything but just held her in his warm embrace.
A cool breeze began to blow across the two lovers.
He looked down at her.
"Its getting starting to get cold out here, do you thin we should go inside?"
She looked up meeting his eyes and said.
"Do you…do you think we could stay out just a bit longer?"
He looked at her and without saying anything pulled her closer to him.
Tenchi still in his daze didn't see the bright spot that had appeared in the sky.
When he finally snapped out of it he heard a faint whistling sound from overhead. He
looked around the sky to see where it was coming from and when he saw the source…
"Oh no…"
He was helpless as he watched the silver space ship crash into the lake in the
middle of the valley. The end result being a huge splash that almost reached the house
itself. Tenchi ran down to the lake to see if Mihoshi needed any help.
Sasami also came running from the house.
They both waited by the lake for Mihoshi to surface. When they saw her crawling
up to the shore Tenchi and Sasami ran in to help her to the ground. They let her catch her
breath a bit for Sasami asked.
"Are you okay Mihoshi?"
Mihoshi coughed up some more water and then said something.
"Yes, I think I'm fine. But I don't know about my ship…"
As she said that an explosion could be seen underwater. Tenchi and Sasami just
stared…
"Well I hope Washu can fix it for me," Mihoshi said while ringing out her hair.
"Why don't we get you inside and dried off Mihoshi?" Sasami said while taking
her hand and leading her back to the house.
Ayeka laid back and let the warm water flow freely over her body. She had had
another wonderful dream last night that she and Tenchi were together and that he said
that he loved her. She closed her eyes and began to daze off.
"Hey Ayeka,"
Ayeka opened her eyes and looked across the room to where Ryoko was sitting.
"Yes?"
"Whacha thinking about?" Ryoko asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Nothing unparticular really," she lied. She had been thinking
about *that* dream about Tenchi she had had. "Any reason you wanted to know?"
"Nah, you just seemed to be in a daze, so I thought something might have been on
your mind," Ryoko explained. She stood up and stretched out her arms. "Well Sasami
probably has breakfast ready by now, we should probably head back."
Ayeka nodded and stood up grabbing a nearby towel off of a hook. She had
stopped wearing a towel in the bath because she had decided to become more open with
her body. She dried herself off and then walked over to where Ryoko was standing and
they both made their way back towards the house.
Tenchi had hurried to the bathroom to take a quick shower before he made his
was to breakfast. Looking out the bathroom window he saw Ayeka and Ryoko walking
back to the house for the onsen.
That's another thing he was worried about. He knew that telling Ayeka that he
had made his decision that he wanted to be with Ryoko would hurt her a lot. But it might
also ruin the friendship that the two were starting to form. He didn't know just how
much Ayeka loved him and if it would out weight the friendship that she was starting to
form with Ryoko. He hopped that she wouldn't be hurt as much as he feared she might
and that it would not destroy her life here on Earth. He didn't want her to leave; he
couldn't imagine his life without her here. She was a big part of his life and he didn't
want that to change. But he knew that things might not turn out as he hopes they will.
All I can do is hope for the best he thought to himself.
When Ryoko and Ayeka stepped into the house the first thing they noticed was
the trail of water the lead to the kitchen. This was nothing new to them; all it meant was
that Mihoshi was home.
They each went to their respective rooms to change into something more suitable
for breakfast.
Ryoko changed into her new blue kimono for breakfast this morning. She looked
into the mirror in her room and marveled at her body and how the new piece of clothing
accented some of her features. She quickly brushed her hair a few times, which really did
nothing to tame her cyan spikes, and then teleported down to the kitchen.
Ayeka looked at herself in the mirror in her room. She looked at her naked body
and wondered if Tenchi thought that she looked as good as Ryoko. Sure, she new that
her breasts weren't as large, but she thought she had her own high points.
Ryoko. It seemed like she wasn't saying much this morning, maybe she just
didn't sleep well last night or had to much sake Ayeka thought to herself.
Though it was a bit odd, she didn't insult or taunt me once the entire time that
we were in there
She shrugged it off and changed into one of her usual kimonos and then opened
her and started for the kitchen. But she didn't make it all the way before somebody
opened the bathroom door in front of her. She stopped and waited to see who it was.
Tenchi walked out of the door in front of her drying his hair with a towel. He
looked over and saw her so he put on a smile for her.
"Good morning Miss Ayeka."
"Good morning to you Tenchi, how are you feeling?"
He couldn't tell her what was on his mind, not yet.
"I'm feeling fine, can you tell Sasami I'll be right down for breakfast?" he said
walking to his room.
She nodded and then walked down the stairs to the kitchen. She was almost there
when….
WHAM!!! The *closet* door hit her right in the face; she just stood there for a
second.
"I"VE DONE IT!!!" Washu yelled running out of her lab.
Ryoko and Sasami came running from the kitchen to see what all the noise was
about.
"Washu, what have you done this time?" Ryoko said crossing her arms across her
chest.
Washu closed the door and Ayeka collapsed to the floor. She looked down at her
and said.
"Where did you come from?"
"Oh….don't mind me," Ayeka moaned from the floor. Washu just smiled at her.
"Well," Ryoko was starting to get annoyed. "What crazy messed up useless thing
have you come up with now?"
"Oh right…IT'S THE WORLDS FIRST CD BURNER!!!" Washu exclaimed.
Everyone just stared at her and the small box in here hand.
"Uhhh…Washu, look I don't mean to be the party pooper here but haven't they
been around for a while now?" Ryoko told her.
"Hah! That's what you think, watch this!"
She pulled a CD from her pocket and inserted it into the small slit on the black
box. She pressed the red button on the top of it and…
And the entire thing suddenly was engulfed in flames. Washu quickly dropped in
to the ground and started to stomp on it. They just stared.
Washu rubbed the back of her head nervously and said, "I guess I still need to
work a few bugs out of it…How about breakfast." She made her way to the kitchen
leaving everybody else staring at the singed carpet and the torched little black box.
Tenchi smelled smoke and ran out of his room downstairs to see if anything was
wrong.
"Is everything all right down here!" he said catching his breath.
"Yes Lord Tenchi, everything is fine," Ayeka told him.
Tenchi looked down to see what everyone was looking at and saw a black thing
with smoke raising from it.
"What…is that?" he asked dumbfounded.
Ryoko, Sasami and Ayeka just looked at him and said in unison,
"Washu…"
That was all that he needed to hear.
Just then she popped her head out of the kitchen!
"Hey what are you all just standing around for, are we gonna eat or look at that
unsightly hole in the rug?"
They all just shook their heads and went and sat down for breakfast.
As they ate Ayeka noticed what Ryoko was wearing. It didn't look like anything
that the space pirate owned. It almost looked like something that she might own. She
thought about all the of the clothes she had and tried and remember if she had anything
that looked like that one. She couldn't think of anything, nope that was defiantly not
hers. But then were did it come from? She also noticed another thing that seemed out of
place. Ryoko hadn't been showing Tenchi her usual affection. And they were still not
fighting at all. Ayeka tried to piece all of these things together in her mind. The only
conclusion she had come up with seemed too good to be true. Since Ryoko had not been
taunting or fighting with her, wearing nicer clothes and not throwing herself all over
Tenchi it could only mean one thing. Had Ryoko given up the fight for Tenchi's
affection? No, she wouldn't give up that easily…there must be some other explanation.
Ayeka pushed the thought from her mind and continued eating her breakfast.
Tenchi was worried, plain and simple. Looking over at Ayeka he could tell that
she was thinking about something but couldn't quite figure out what. It scared him to
think that the calm person sitting in front of him now could be crying her eyes out later
on in the day, or worse!
No! Ayeka wouldn't do that, she has too much to live for Tenchi reassured
himself.
Tenchi knew that she would be deeply hurt, but he didn't think that she would do
anything to hurt herself. She still had her home here, Sasami and her home back on Juri.
Then yet another thought came across his mind. What if she left to go back to Juri and
took Sasami with her? He might never get to see either of them again. He hoped that
wouldn't happen, what else could he do?
Everyone seemed to be looking at everyone else. Ryoko had seen that Tenchi
was looking at Ayeka. And deep down inside of her she still felt some jealousy even
though she knew that he was only looking at her because he was concerned about what
was going to happen to Ayeka after he told her about Tenchi and herself. She then
thought to herself if there was anyway, anyway she could ease the pain that she knew
Ayeka would be feeling soon. She came up dry, even after all the years of pain that she
had experienced, all the torture she had been thought and 700 years trapped alone inside
of a cave on some backwater planet, she could not think of any way to help her friend.
The table was quite. Sasami and Washu just looked around trying to figure out
what was going on.
Washu debated looking in her daughters mind to try and find out just what was
going on, but she decided against it.
Suddenly somebody broke the silence.
"Wow! This is really good!" Mihoshi said with food still in her mouth. "Sasami
how do you do it!"
Everyone just looked at her like she was completely oblivious that she was the
only person talking.
When everyone was done with their breakfast they all went to do their own
things. Ayeka had gone back up to her room, Ryoko had vanished to who knows where,
Tenchi was going for sword practice, and Mihoshi and Sasami were cleaning up the
dishes.
As Tenchi made his way up the long staircase that led to the Masaki Shrine, he
heard a noise in the bushes. He turned around to see what it was, nothing. He got his
bokken in a fighting position and prepared himself for whatever was to come next.
"Aiiiieeee!!"
He turned around just in time to be whacked on the head with a bokken.
"Ouch! Jeeze grandpa! Do you always have to do that!!" Tenchi yelled rubbing
his head.
"Well, I'd think that after I've done it this many times you might learn…Or am I
wrong to think that?" he said smiling.
"Yea, I guess I should. But there has been something else on my mind that I've
needed to talk to you about," Tenchi said with a look of grief suddenly coming over his
face.
Yosho noticed the look on his face and told him.
"Lets go up to the shrine and we'll talk about it over some tea."
Tenchi nodded.
Once they had gotten up to the shrine and Yosho had gotten the tea out and ready
they began to talk.
"So Tenchi, what is bothering you?" Yosho said taking a sip of his tea.
"Well, last night I…made my decision," Tenchi told him nervously.
"Ah, and now you are worried about telling the other of your decision."
"Yea, that's pretty much it…" Tenchi looked like he really didn't know what to
say next.
"Well Tenchi, there is only one thing that you can do. You must tell Ayeka how
you truly feel and that you love her dearly and just as much but just in a different way.
And that no matter what you'll always be there for her no matter what happens," he took
another sip
Tenchi sat there in awe, "How did you know I chose Ryoko?"
"I saw you with her by the lake last night," he replied. "Do you understand what
you must do, you owe her enough to tell her."
Tenchi nodded. "Yes grandfather. Thank you." With that Tenchi got up and left
the room.
He began to walk down the steps to his house. He was going to talk with Ryoko
once before he actually told Ayeka. When he opened the kitchen door he saw Sasami
trying to teach Mihoshi how to cook. He laughed a bit at the site and then moved
upstairs.
He went into his room and found Ryoko sitting on his bed.
"Ryoko, we need to talk…"
Ayeka was all set, she was gonna do this. With help from her mother back on Juri
she had secretly gotten Tenchi a bokken used to train those in the Royal Family. Then
entire weapon was made from the branches of Tsunami so I could not be broken. The hilt
was beautify carved and almost looked like Tenchi-ken, but it was more decorated. It
was a symbol of power and of grace. She knew that her brother had one somewhere but
probably wouldn't use it against Tenchi.
She smiled looking at it and hoped that Tenchi would love it. She had attached a
small card to it and was going to leave it outside of his room for him to find.
She walked out of her room and over to Tenchi's and leaned the sword up against
his door. She was just about to walk away when she heard voices from inside. It was
Tenchi and….
Ryoko!
She was just about to open that door when she heard…
"Tenchi…Will you, will you kiss me again?"
There was no following noise.
Ayeka just stood there staring at the door. She blinked back tear after tear. Her
heart had jus been split in two. But she then thought there must be an explanation to this
when she heard the words she had always longed to her herself.
"I love you Ryoko."
"I love you too Tenchi."
Ayeka couldn't take it, she collapsed onto her knees and hit her hands against the
door when she did.
"Yes?" Tenchi asked from inside.
No reply.
"Who is there?"
Nothing.
He walked over, opened the door and was met with the most horrible thing he had
seen. Ayeka was standing there, tears pouring down her face as she slowly back up away
from the door.
"Te…Te…Tenchi," she whispered.
"Ayeka…I," he didn't know what to say. This wasn't how it was supposed to
happen.
She didn't know what to do, she was lost. Her entire body was trembling so she
did the first thing that came to her mind.
She ran. But before she could get anywhere she tripped.
Tenchi stood there, terrified. He slowly moved over to help her up.
"Ayeka….please," tears were starting to form in his eyes.
She slowly started to get up. When she got to her feet she turned to face Tenchi
tears streaming down her face. And then…
She slapped him, harder than she ever had before. And before Tenchi could really
figure out what was going on she ran once more. This time getting to the stairs and
making it down them. She didn't know what else to do.
Tenchi started in pursuit of her but then was stopped by a feeling on his shoulder.
He looked back to see Ryoko standing there. Tears were running on her face.
"Let her go Tenchi, she needs to be alone right now…"
Tenchi shared a long look with her and then collapsed onto the floor.
She got down on her knees and he latched onto her and began to cry into her
shoulder.
"Shhhh….Tenchi….Shhh. It'll be ok, it'll be ok,"
Ayeka ran.
What else could she do? She really didn't know where she was running to but it
really didn't matter to her now. By now the tears were pouring down her face without
any sign of ceasing. She tripped on a root and came tumbling towards the ground. She
hit with a hard thud and a cry of pain. She tried to get back up and run again as fast as
she could but she couldn't get up. When she tried to get onto her feet she felt a terrible
pain in her legs. So she collapsed back onto the ground and covered her face in her eyes.
She then looked up towards the sky and screamed.
"Dammit!! Damn you Tenchi, damn you Ryoko," she curled up into a ball and
placed her head in her knees. "How could you…how could you do this to me…How!!
What did I do to deserve this from you, how did I push you away…push your love
away."
She was filled with so many emotions inside, so many new feelings that she had
never felt before. So many things she had hopped that she would never feel. She thought
that she had felt pain when she lost Yosho but this blew that right out of the water.
She once again tried to get up, it was painful but she managed. She walked with a
limp towards who knows where. All the time tears pouring down her face with nothing
on her mind but her overwhelming love, hate, pain and fear she felt because of Tenchi,
they were all because of Tenchi.
Sometimes I ask myself, why I do love Tenchi as much as I do. What makes him
different from all the other men that I have met? He has treated me like a woman, not an
object that he can own. But as a person…
He has also been toying with my love! What did I do to deserve the fate that was
given to me? He picked that damned murderer over me!!
What else do I have? He was the only reason I am alive. Without him I would be
as good as dead, what more am I now? All I have been is a bother to Tenchi; I have
imposed on him and insulted him. I am not fit to live here.
Dammi! Dammit! Dammit!! How could he treat me like this! He has no right.
I can't take this pain!! Ican'tIcan'tIcan't!! He must be wrong, he can't mean what
he said….It must just be a misunderstanding, that's all.
No…the look on his face when he came out of that room gave it all away. He has
chosen Ryoko, and what am I supposed to do now! He was everything to me…
I'm lost.
Ayeka was just wondering aimlessly in the woods when she came upon the great
tree, Funaho. She looked down into the pool of water, she saw a broken woman. A
woman who had nothing else to live for…
She closed her eyes as the tears began to fall again. She slowly made her way
across the rocks to the base of the tree. She just looked at the tree for a moment and then
completely lost control and started to beat the tree wildly while screaming.
"Damn you Tenchi!! Damn you Ryoko!! I don't need anyone!! I don't need
you!"
"Dammit! Dammit Dammit Dammit! Dammit all!!" she collapsed to her knees
and curled herself into a ball in front of the tree sobbing wildly into her knees. There she
lay all alone as she cried herself to sleep.
Mihoshi and Sasami stood at the doorway to the kitchen try to figure out what had
happened. All they had seen was Ayeka run out of the house. They didn't know of the
events that had taken place just above them so she shrugged it off and went back to
making lunch.
Tenchi felt horrible, the only time he had ever felt worse was when his mother
had died. His face was buried in Ryoko's shoulder. She was telling him that it was going
to be ok but it didn't make him feel any better. Did he really have the right to do what he
just did?
It wasn't supposed to happen that way he thought to himself.
He was just going to talk to her when it had happened, he knew that this might
have all been avoided if he had gotten to talk to her first and tell her that he meant just as
much to him as Ryoko only in a different way. He wanted to tell her that he loved her as
a sister and that he never wanted that to change.
But now he new nothing would be as it was before. Everything was going to
change. And as it seemed right now it would be for the worse.
"Thanks Ryoko," he said lifting his head.
Ryoko smiled and nodded.
Tenchi then looked over shoulder and noticed something lying on the floor. He
walked over to see what it was. It looked like a bokken of some sorts. The hilt looked
almost just like the hilt of Tenchi-ken. He picked it up and held it; he was surprised
when it didn't weigh as much as a normal bokken. Then he realized that it was the same
weight of Tenchi-ken. This bokken emulated fighting with an energy sword.
As he was looking over it he noticed a small card hanging off of it. Very
reluctantly he tore the card off of the bokken to read it. When he opened it, it read this,
Dear Tenchi,
This is my gift to you to repay you for all that you have done for Sasami and I. It is a
bokken carved from the branches of Tsunami and is unbreakable. I hope that you enjoy
this gift and that it may make your practice a little easier.
Love Always,
Ayeka
The whole time he was reading this note tears were beginning to fall from his
eyes. He looked at the last line again, 'Love Always' and couldn't take it anymore. New
tears began to fall in the paths of his old ones. He started to shake; he felt the pain
boiling up inside of him and had to let it go.
"Tenchi…What is it?" Ryoko took a step towards him with concern.
He slowly turned to meet her, tearing streaming down his face. They shared a
long stare before he ran forwards into her arms once again.
Cry Tenchi, just cry she thought to herself.
Washu sat in her lab typing on her holotop when she began to get a slight
headache.
"Whoa, must have been staring at that screen to long," she said rubbing her head.
She decided to take a break and go see what was going on in the 'world of the living'.
The headache quickly started to get worse before she even made it out of her lab.
She decided to see if this had anything to do with Ryoko so she opened the link
she shared with her daughter. As soon as she did she was bombarded with thoughts of
pain that her daughter was happening. Her headache seemed to ease up as she tried to
figure out what was going on. Then she figured it out, she figured out what was causing
all of this pain. She knew in an instant what had happened. She ran back over to her
computer to try and run a scan for Ayeka to see if she was still in the area.
She sighed a breath of relief when the scan told her that Ayeka was at Funaho,
alive and well. She tried to think if there was any way that she could help Ayeka get
through this. She knew that Ayeka might not want to talk to either Tenchi or Ryoko right
away so she had to let the princess that she was here for her if she needed to talk about
something. But right now she knew that Ayeka needed some time alone. She sat back
down on her floating cushion trying to decide what to do next.
After about fifteen minutes Tenchi had pulled himself together. He had placed
the bokken into his room and met back up with Ryoko outside of his room. She grabbed
his hand as they started to walk downstairs.
Just as they got down Washu had walked out of her lab. By the look in her eyes
they new that she had found out what happened. She gave them both a quick look and
nodded.
Then Sasami came out of the kitchen again.
"Has anyone seen Ayeka?" she asked.
Everyone had a look of concern on their face and it was starting to scare her.
"Is…Is Ayeka okay?" Tenchi shared a long look with her.
Washu took her by the arm. "Why don't you come with me and I'll tell you?"
Sasami looked from Tenchi to Washu and then back to Tenchi again.
Tenchi just nodded as Washu took Sasami into her lab.
Ryoko and Tenchi sat down on the couch and turned on the TV to try and calm
themselves down a bit. They had looked through the channels and there was nothing on.
Ryoko had leaned her head against his shoulder and fallen asleep some time ago. He
looked down at her and sighed. She was wearing a smile on her face.
He glanced around the room and saw a clock, it was almost lunchtime and Sasami
still hadn't come out of Washu's lab. But then the door to her lab opened. Washu
stepped out with a sleeping Sasami in her arms. She looked at Tenchi and then turned for
the stairs to carry Sasami to her bed. Washu came back down when she was done
tucking Sasami into her bed.
"Is she okay Washu?" Tenchi asked with a concerned look on her face.
Washu sighed. "She should be fine with a little sleep. She was concerned about
Ayeka." She paused. "Come on, I'll finish up lunch up."
He looked down at Ryoko again and gently shook her. "Ryoko."
Her eyes quickly fluttered open and looked up at him. He was smiling at her and
then kissed her.
He broke the kiss and said. "Its time for lunch."
She yawned and stretched up her arms in the air. Looking around she noticed the
clock said 3:30. She was surprised how late it had gotten. They had gone to sleep around
10:30. She followed Tenchi into the kitchen and was surprised yet again.
"Washu? What are you doing?" she asked half awake.
Washu turned her head to meet her daughter. "Why cooking of course."
"How is Sasami doing?" Ryoko asked in between yawns.
"She'll be fine. I think she just needs a little rest," Washu told her. "Now, who's
ready for lunch!"
Ayeka awoke in a field that seemed to be familiar to her. She stood up quickly
and looked around but there was nobody else here. Right then she heard a voice from
behind her. She recognized the voice and quickly turned to meet it.
"Lord Tenchi!" she said happily.
"Ayeka? Why are you still here?" he questioned.
Ayeka stepped back in shock. "I…I…"
"There isn't a place for you here anymore, I think its best for all of us if you go."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, tears began to form in the back of her
eyes. "Lord Tenchi…" He didn't say anything to her instead he turned and began to
walk away from her. What she did next came as a shock to her. She ran forward and
grabbed onto Tenchi's legs. "Tenchi!" she cried. "Please! Please don't leave me here!"
She was now crying her eyes out.
He turned around and looked down at her. "Ayeka, what are you doing? I have
Ryoko I do not need you." He said softly.
"You don't mean that! You can't mean that!" she screamed.
"I *do* mean that, now please let go of me," he pulled himself away from her and
then faded away.
"TECNHI! TENCHI!!" she collapsed onto the ground from her knees crying
harder than she ever had in her life. "How…How can you do this to me? HOW!!! She
screamed. "How…"
Ayeka woke up next to Funaho crying her eyes out. She slowly sat up and looked
around. It was later than it was when she went to sleep. She wiped the tears from her
eyes. And began to think to herself.
What can I do? I can't live with this pain.
Why don't you just end it then?
I can't do that!
Why not? The pain will be gone.
I couldn't run like that, Sasami would be crushed. It wouldn't be fair to her.
I feel something inside of my kimono, what is it? I slowly reach my hand into my
kimono and pull it out. A knife! Why do I have a knife with me??
Ahh, now I remember, I used this knife to inscribe….I can't finish the sentence,
why can't I finish it?? Have I become so pathetic that I can't even say his name
anymore? I feel like I should be crying, but no tears fall. This pain, it fills me I can't
escape it. I glance down at the knife again but throw it to the ground.
"God dammit!! I can't do that, I can't I can't!!!" I can feel the tears begin to fall
down my face, what is the point in this? Why must this happen to me, I don't deserve it!
Are you sure?
Of course I am! What have I done to deserve such a fate? Ever?
What about Ryoko? You've never been nice to her?
SO WHAT!!! She doesn't deserve anything from me! She is a murder and a
thief! Why should I give her any respect!
You know that she isn't any of that anymore. Tenchi was able to look over it,
why couldn't you?
I…I…
And now because of the cruelty you have shown her you have nothing left, you
have lost Tenchi forever. Why don't you end this pitiful excuse for a life.
I grab my head. I can't take this anymore. I just can't take it!!!
"Go away!! Please leave me alone," I cry shaking my head.
No, I am here to stay. You can't doing anything without me.
"Go! Go!!! Just get away from me!! Please! Go away!!!" I scream louder than I
thought I ever could.
Tenchi turned to Ryoko and shared a long stare with her. "I'm going to look for
Ayeka." She looked at him for a few quick seconds and nodded. Tenchi stood up and
walked out of the house.
First he decided to see if his grandfather had heard or seen Ayeka anywhere. He
got to the front door of the shrine.
"Who is it?" he heard come from inside.
He answered. "Its me,"
"Come in," Tenchi opened the door and entered the room closing it behind him.
Yosho looked up at Tenchi and saw in his eyes that he had been crying.
"Grandfather have you seen Ayeka? I've hurt her and I really need to talk to her."
Tenchi told him full of concern. Yosho looked at him.
"No, I have not." He took a sip from his tea.
"Thank you," Tenchi turned and left. As he walked down the stairs he tried to
think of where Ayeka might go.
Would she go to Ryoko's cave? No, I don't think so. So where could
she….That's it!! Tenchi started running in the direction of Funaho.
Ayeka sat, her back up against the tree holding the knife in one of her hands. A
tear fell from her eyes onto the blade of the knife. It then ran off the side onto the
ground. She just sat staring at that knife and crying. She now knew what she had to do,
it wouldn't be easy for her but she couldn't live the rest of her life like this. She heard
somebody running down the path that led to the great tree. She knew it was Tenchi; she
didn't want to see Tenchi. She didn't want to see anybody right now. She lifted her head
and saw him coming nearer.
"Ayeka!" he yelled slowing down a bit.
"Goodbye…Sasami…Goodbye…Tenchi," she whispered to herself trying to hold
back her tears. They were no longer just tears of pain, but tears of fear. She lifted the
knife and turned it towards herself.
"AYEKA!!! NO!!!" He screamed running towards her again. Tears were
starting to run down is face wildly.
"I'm sorry Tenchi…" as she said this she brought the knife back to meet her chest
and then with one final push she pushed it into herself. The pain she felt was
overwhelming, she felt it take over her entire being. She looked up at Tenchi; her vision
was starting to get blurry. She could barley see anything anymore, it was all becoming
black.
"AYEKA!!! AYEKA!!!" Tenchi screamed at the top of his lungs as he made it to
her. Terror filled his voice as he quickly checked for a pulse. She still had one, so he
quickly picked her up in his arms and started running back towards the house.
Two hours later Tenchi was pacing in front of the door to Washu's lab crying his
eyes out. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He had knew that Ayeka would
be hurt when she found out about Tenchi and Ryoko, but he had never though that it
would impact her so deeply. She was actually intent on killing herself. He considered
himself lucky that he went out to search for her when he did, a few minutes later and all
would have been lost. She had still had a pulse by the time that he had gotten her to
Washu's lab but he hadn't know what had happened after that. He just left her in the
capable hands of Little Washu. Sasami was still upstairs sleeping luckily, it would kill
Tenchi to have to tell her that her sister was dead; he wasn't prepared to do that. He
didn't know how much longer he could take this waiting. He heard the door open behind
him; he turned and saw Yosho enter the house with a look of sadness on his face. Ryoko
had told him what had happened and Tenchi guessed he must have wanted some time
alone. He walked in and sat down on the couch next to Mihoshi.
Suddenly the door to Washu's lab slowly opened. Tenchi quickly spun around to
face Washu. She walked out of the lab, her facial features were saddened. This saddened
Tenchi even more.
"Washu…is she alright?" Tenchi whispered to her gravely.
She took in a deep breath and sighed. "I stabilized her, but with the amount of
blood she lost and the organs that were destroyed I don't think she'll be able to live off of
life support."
Tenchi had to fight to hold back the tears. "So…there is nothing we can do?" he
asked, hoping that she would say there was a way, some way to bring Ayeka back to
them.
"There is one thing I can think of, but I'm not completely sure that it will work."
She told him quietly. His head shot up at hearing this.
"What is it Washu? Tell me?!"
"It will be a decision that you and Ryoko will have to make together." Ryoko got
up off the couch and walked over to where they were standing.
"What is it *mom*" Ryoko asked.
Washu looked into her eyes. "If she was given one of your gems Ryoko, her body
would be able to heal the wounds." Ryoko blinked at hearing this. Washu continued.
"The major problem is that I don't know if Ayeka's body would except the gem, if she
isn't there is a possibility of it exploding and killing her." Tenchi lowered his head.
Ryoko spoke up at hearing this. "*If* it were to be excepted would we be able to
remove it?"
"I do not know that either, we may or we may not. I have told you all I know.
I'm sorry" Tenchi lifted his head back up to look at her.
"She'll be alright for the night right?" Tenchi asked.
Washu nodded.
"Can…Can I let you know tomorrow?" he asked softly.
"Yes"
The rest of the night had not been an easy one. Sasami had woken up and they
had been forced to tell her what had happened to Ayeka. She took it pretty hard and was
watching a movie with Mihoshi, Washu, Noboyuki and Yosho to try and keep her mind
off of it.
Ryoko looked around the house trying to find Tenchi but he was nowhere to be
found. She sighed and sat down on a chair and looked out the window.
"Tenchi…" she sighed to herself. "Tenchi!" she saw him sitting out by the lake
just as he had been last night. She teleported out behind him and then slowly approached
him. He looked back as he noticed that she was here.
"Hi Ryoko," he said his voice full of grief. Ryoko didn't say anything but sat
down next to him on the grass. She looked up to the sky and then stuck her hand up
towards a star.
"See that star there Tenchi?" she asked closing one of her eyes. Tenchi looked up
to where she was pointing.
"Yea, I do. What about it?" he questioned.
She smiled a little bit. "That's Juri" Tenchi just looked at it and stared.
So, that's where Ayeka is from. That's always been my favorite star. Tenchi
smiled to himself.
Ayeka…
Ryoko saw that he was completely off in another world. "Hey Tenchi! What are
ya thinking about?" she latched onto him.
He sighed and replied. "Ayeka,"
"Yes, I have been thinking about her a lot to. Things never should have happened
like they did. But don't worry, it will all turn out alright." She smiled at him.
He looked back at her and then pulled her close to him. She sighed and tightened
her embrace closing her eyes.
After a while Tenchi looked at Ryoko and noticed that she had fallen asleep. He
smiled and gently picked her up into his arms. Then he carried her back to the house and
up to her room. When he got to the door he stopped, he looked at the door for a while
trying to decide what to do. Making his choice he continued to his room with Ryoko still
in his arms. He quietly opened the door to his room not wanting to disturb anyone.
Closing the door behind him he laid Ryoko down on his bed. He turned and walked to
the window and looked out of it. The moonlight was reflecting off of the lake and then
was covering the surrounding trees in an eerie blue color. He sighed as he turned back
towards the bed and saw Ryoko lying there.
She looks so calm. he thought to himself. He walked over to his bokken and
laid down on it next to Ryoko. Tenchi heard her mumble something as she clung onto
him.
"…Tenchi…" He smiled and looked at her for a second before closing his own
eyes.
Washu sat in her lab staring at screen after screen of data trying to find out if there
was any other ways to bring Ayeka back that she had not thought of. She was worried
that the gem might react with Ayeka's body and explode killing her. The problem was
that she didn't know what would happen. She typed a few more keys on her holotop but
there was nothing. She was the greatest scientific mind in the entire universe, she had
mapped out vast dimensions and unknown parts of the universe but she couldn't save
somebody from dying.
"Dammit!" she swore at the computer screen. She sighed and looked over to the
bed where Ayeka was lying. She got up and walked over to the floating bed. There was
one other thing that she couldn't figure out. By all means Ayeka should not have
survived more than a few minutes after she had stabbed herself. So how then did she
survive Tenchi carrying her all the way back to the house. Did it have anything to do
with the fact that Ayeka had royal blood? She then walked back to her holotop and
looked at a chart showing how much blood Ayeka had lost. This confirmed what she had
thought, Ayeka *should* not have survived. Washu typed a few keys on her holotop to
run a search to see exactly what Ayeka's blood had in it. After a few moments a screen
popped up.
"Xaneron…That's how she was able to survive, somehow the royal family of Juri
has Xaneron in their blood," Washu whispered to herself. "If only her organs were not
damaged, we could have just given her some blood." Washu sighed and sat back on her
seat. She decided that she should probably get some rest; Ayeka would be okay tonight
by herself and tomorrow was going to be a long day for everyone. She set the system to
alert her if anything were to happen while she was sleeping and then departed for her
usually lonely bed.
The first signs of day were starting to appear as the sky changed from
black to a dark blue. The orange rays of the sun could be seen ascending over the
mountains. The night was over a new day was beginning. But the events of the previous
day were still in the minds of everyone, the events that happened that never should have.
Tenchi looked out his window; he looked towards the lake and saw the outcrop of the
Ryoko's cave. He closed the blinds so the room was darkened once more. He turned
back to his bed and saw Ryoko sleeping there, his love. Her face was painted with
sadness; a sadness that should not be, she should not be have to be sad on the day she had
longed for, the day that she thought would be the happiest in her life. Tears began to fall
remembering the events of the previous day. He walked back over to the bed and lay
back down next to Ryoko. She quickly cuddled up next to him taking in the warmth
coming from his body.
Tenchi sniffed the air hoping to smell breakfast in the air telling him that Sasami
would be okay but it was absent. He thought that Sasami must have cried herself to sleep
last night and he was intent on trying to make her feel better through all of this. But that
would be hard because at the same time he was trying to make her feel better he could
use somebody to help him feel better. He really didn't want to get out of bed, he didn't
want to face what the day had waiting for him. Wiping the tears from his eyes he knew
that he had to, for Ayeka. He knew that he had to be strong for her and that giving up on
her would be a crime against her.
He slowly got himself out of bed and dressed. He was going downstairs to make
the best breakfast in his ability for anyone who wanted it. Sure it wasn't going to be as
good as Sasami's but it wouldn't be fair to ask her to make it. Anyway he had a feeling
that not many people were going to be hungry. He got down the stairs and made his way
to the kitchen. When he got there he was surprised by what he saw.
"Dad?" Tenchi stared.
"Oh, good morning Tenchi. I'm just making breakfast." Noboyuki said turning
away from the stovetop.
"I though you were in Tokyo for two weeks on a meeting?" Tenchi asked still
surprised.
Noboyuki sighed and walked over to Tenchi. "Well son, I head about what
happened and I thought it best if I come home to support my family."
Tears began to form in the back of Tenchi's eyes as his father reached out anf
gave him a hug. "It'll be alright Tenchi, you'll see."
When they broke the hug Tenchi looked up at his father. "Thanks Dad."
Noboyuki just looked at him and smiled. "So are you ready for breakfast
Tenchi?"
"Yea, I guess I am." Just then the door to Washu's lab could be heard opening
and then closing. The diminutive scientist walked into the kitchen, sat down on a chair at
the table and sighed.
"Good morning Little Washu" Tenchi said looking at her. She looked like she
had been up pretty late last night.
She yawned. "Good morning Tenchi," Everything was quiet at the table for a few
moments before Tenchi spoke up.
"…Little Washu…How…How is Ayeka doing?" the pain was apparent in his
voice. Washu sighed and looked him in the eyes.
"The life support system is still keeping her alive but I wasn't able to get any new
data about placing the gem in her body." She paused for a second. "But she can't stay on
life support forever, it will slowly kill her vital organs." Tenchi closed his eyes in pain.
He looked at Ryoko who nodded and then back at Washu.
"We…We will use the gem," he said softly.
Washu nodded. "Okay, I will have to get things set up," she looked at Ryoko.
"Ryoko you will need to be the one to give her the gem, in the scenario that the gem
explodes you will be able to heal yourself from the blast," she looked back at Tenchi.
"Tenchi, you will have to give Ryoko a gem to give to Ayeka."
Tenchi nodded. She walked over and placed a hand on Tenchi's shoulder.
"I'll do everything in my power to make sure that we get Ayeka back."
"Thank you Washu," he said trying to hold back tears.
Tenchi decided that he would go work in the carrot fields to try and take his mind
off of Ayeka. This new day was not as forgiving as the day before. The air was full of
humidity, it felt like it could rain at any second but the sun was beating down on him as
he worked. After some time he realized that this wasn't working very well so he decided
to go back to the house.
On his way back he heard crying coming from the near by forest. He changed
direction to see who was crying. He moved a few bushes out of the way and saw a little
girl clinging to a little dog like a life preserver. She was crying into its fur while the dog
licked her. Tenchi stepped a little bit closer and the dog noticed him. It raised its ears up
high in the air. The girl looked up from the dog, terror in her eyes. "DON'T HURT
ME!!" she screamed. Tenchi took another step forward.
"I won't hurt you," he said calmly. "What are you doing out here all alone?"
She backed up a little bit and cried. "My…My p…parents where k…k…k" she
didn't finish the sentence. Tenchi looked down at the ground, he felt sorry for her, and he
knew what it was like to lose a parent. He walked over to her and reached out his hand to
help her up and asked.
"What's your name?" She hesitantly took his hand and stood up.
"K…Kashira and…and this is my puppy Kushiro," she said still crying.
"Well it's nice to meet both of you, why don't you come back to my house with
me and we can get you cleaned up? Tenchi started walking and then he turned to make
sure that the girl was following him. She slowly started to follow him back to the house.
Ryoko looked out the window and saw Tenchi coming back, with a young girl following
him? She walked over to the door and waited for him to enter. The door opened and
Tenchi and his new companion walked into the Masaki houses living room. Ryoko first
looked at Tenchi and then to the girl following him.
"Tenchi? Who is that?" Ryoko asked.
Tenchi looked at Ryoko with concern on his face. "I found her out in the forest
with that dog, her name is Kashira. They were all alone." He explained. Ryoko looked
back at the girl. Her face was dirty and her clothes were ripped in various spots. Ryoko
crouched down in front of the girl.
"Hello, my name is Ryoko."
The girl looked at Ryoko for a few seconds. "H…Hello"
"Ryoko," Tenchi said looking down at the girl. "Can you clean her up and get her
some new clothes? I need to talk to Washu."
Ryoko nodded and then took the girls hand. "Why don't you come with me and
we'll get you cleaned up." Ryoko led Kashria and her little dog to the bathroom to get
cleaned up. Tenchi gave a sigh and then walked to the door of Washu's lab and knocked
on the door. It simply said 'Come in'. Tenchi walked into the lab and saw Washu typing
on her holotop.
"Hello Little Washu," Tenchi said softly. She turned to meet him.
"Hey Tenchi," she stretched her arms up in the air. "Well I have some goo
news." Tenchi was surprised to here this.
"What is it!?"
"The chance of the gem exploding on contact with Ayeka's body is only a 20%
chance. This doesn't mean that it couldn't but that it is less likely to exploded."
Tenchi sighed, he was hoping for something a little better but this did make him
feel a little better about his decision. "When can we do it?" he asked not really wanting
to know the answer.
"Whenever you and Ryoko are ready, the sooner we do it the better," she told
him.
"I'll…I'll go talk to her now."
She nodded and turned back to her holotop.
Tenchi opened the door of Washu's lab and walked back into his normal
dimension. He had meant to tell her about Kashira but he really didn't feel like it. There
was already way too much on his mind right now. Tenchi looked up and saw Ryoko
coming down the stairs alone.
"Where is Kashira?" he asked.
Ryoko finished walking down the last few steps and said. "She's asleep. She
seems to be fine but wouldn't tell me anything about herself."
"She told me that her parents were both killed…" he said with an uneasy tone in
his voice.
Ryoko's facial expression changed to horror. "That's horrible."
Tenchi nodded.
"So what are we going to do with her?" she asked, her voice full of concern.
Tenchi shrugged. "I guess she can stay here for now and we can try and find her
a permanent house sometime soon."
Ryoko looked at him and nodded. "How is Ayeka?"
Tenchi looked at the floor and then responded. "She is still alive because of the
life support, but Washu says that the life support will eventually end up destroying her
vital organs and that the sooner we give her the gem the better," he paused for a second
then continued. "She also said that there is only a 20% chance of the gem exploding."
Ryoko sighed. "Well I guess we should probably hurry up then. Are you ready?"
she asked.
Tenchi nodded. Ryoko walked over in front of him as he held the hilt of Tenchi-
ken out towards her. They both closed their eyes and then one of the gems that was
embedded into the hilt started to glow. Then the gem disappeared off the hilt of the
sword and reappeared on Ryoko's right wrist. She felt the power rush into her body,
power she had not felt for hundreds of years. She liked the power but knew that this gem
was for Ayeka. She sighed and opened her eyes. "I'm ready."
Both Tenchi and Ryoko walked into Washu's lab a few moments later. She heard
them come in and turned to meet them. "Are you ready then?" she asked.
They both nodded.
"Okay, Ryoko see that door over there? Right over the…"
"I SEE IT!!" Ryoko interrupted. Washu just smiled.
"Tenchi you can come over here with me to this screen to watch," she lead Tenchi
over to a screen that was coming out of the floor. Ryoko walked towards the door and
then entered. When she did she saw Ayeka, she was attached to all sorts of equipment.
Her face was pale and had a saddening expression on it. A blanket covered her up so
Ryoko could not see the bloodstains on her kimono. A tear ran down Ryoko's face. This
was the person that she had fought for countless hours with. The person that even though
she probably didn't want to, risked her own life to come and save her, the only person
that she could talk to when she was feeling down and the only person who really knew
how much she loved Tenchi. For it was her own love for Tenchi that had put her in this
state.
"Ayeka…" Ryoko whispered to herself. She wiped the tears from her face.
Then she heard something coming over a speaker. "Okay Ryoko, you know what
to do."
Ryoko nodded and then closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and then started
to concentrate. She held her hands out towards Ayeka and the gem on her right wrist
began to glow. The glowing intensified until the gem vanished. The glowing orb then
appeared on Ayeka's left wrist. Tenchi and Washu watched all this happen on the screen.
Washu quickly looked over at the monitor showing Ayeka's vitals, the effects were
showing all ready. Her vital signs were rising quickly, she then slowly hit a key on her
holotop and a message appeared on the screen. It read 'Life support disabled'.
"It's working!" Washu yelled jumping to her feet. Tenchi looked up at the screen
that showed Ryoko and Ayeka, the gem was in Ayeka's wrist and her vitals were rising
considerably. Tears started to form in Tenchi's eyes, but these were tears of joy instead
of the earlier tears of sorrow. He smiled; he knew that she would be all right now.
Ryoko opened her eyes, all the power that she had received a few moments ago was now
gone. She looked at Ayeka, the gem on her left wrist had stopped glowing and she
looked at the monitors next to her bed and saw that things were returning to normal.
"Ryoko," Washu's voice came over the speaker. "You and Tenchi go have fun, I
need to run a few checks on Ayeka." Ryoko sighed and walked out of the room.
"So she's really gonna be ok okay Washu?" Tenchi asked getting up out of his
seat.
"Yup, as long as she wants to…" Washu said the last part softer.
They both shared a long stare before Ryoko came up to them.
"Comon Tenchi, lets tell Sasami," she said grabbing his arm and pulling him
towards the exit. Washu heard the door slam behind her. She walked towards the door
and then paused for a second before entering. When she entered the room she walked
over to the computer next to Ayeka's bed. The computer told her that she was still
unconscious but that all of her vital organs had been healed. Washu walked over to her to
inspect the gem, it seemed that it her body had accepted it well enough, now she was just
going to have to see if they could remove it.
Authors Notes: Well that's all for chapter 1, I was originally going to have this be a one
shot fic, but I wanted to get some response from people letting me know if I should
continue. I decided to stop here because I need some more time to think about what is
going to happen next. I am a big Ayeka/Tenchi fan but I thought that I would do a
Ryoko/Tenchi fic because I thought that I would try something different for a change.
My next fic is going to be a big A/T fic for all you Ayeka fans without much to read. If
you find spelling/grammar errors please let me know! Please let me know what you
thought of the fic
Send C&C to
demon_891@yahoo.com