Chapter Fourteen

"Ryo Ohki!"

Back aboard Yagami, a sudden howl echoed around the bridge of the ship, as the small cabbit threw herself bodily at Tenchi, clawing and yowling at him in a frenzied panic. "Ryo Ohki, what's gotten into you? What's wrong? Calm down! Ow! That hurts!"

"Ryo Ohki, stop it!" Ayeka hurried to Tenchi's side, doing her best to prize the tiny claws away from his skin. "What are you trying to do? You'll hurt Tenchi! Ryo Ohki? Ryo Ohki!"

Ryo Ohki stopped pawing, letting out a long, mournful yowl as she raised golden eyes to Tenchi's, and a lump rose in his throat.

"Ryoko." He said softly. "That's what you're trying to tell me, isn't it, Ryo Ohki? Something's happening to Ryoko...or maybe something's happened. I don't know."

"Do you think they're still bonded?" Ayeka still clutched the creature tightly, preventing her from going into another fit of rage. "Ryoko left us without her. I wondered about it at the time, Tenchi. It's what I said...the gems have driven her over to the dark side. And they're turning poor Ryo Ohki mad too, at the same time."

"I don't know." Tenchi got to his feet, reaching out a hand to touch the cabbit's ears. Ryo Ohki flinched away, letting out another heart-rending yowl of pain. "No, Ayeka. It's like she's in pain...she's trying to tell us something. Something about Ryoko. And something aboard Haki's ship."

"We're detecting huge energy emissions from the deck of Karasu." At that moment Washu pushed open the door, stepping out onto the bridge as the door disappeared behind her. "It just messed up everything that I was working on. Does anyone have any idea what's going on over there?"

"No, but Ryo Ohki's gone crazy." Ayeka held the small creature out, and carefully Washu took her, stroking her fur gently.

"Your bond with Ryoko is augmented by the gems, isn't it?" She murmured. "You know what she's going through better than any of us."

She raised her gaze to the Princess.

"I'd say that whatever is happening aboard that vessel, Ryoko is probably going to need some help." She added. "She's flown solo for long enough - shouldn't you people be thinking about donning armour and heading on over there to help out?"

"Help Ryoko?" Ayeka blinked. "But surely..."

"But surely...?" Washu mimicked. "Well, it's your call. I just want to get back to my work...but if you do decide to go, well, I think I've got something that might help you get aboard."

"Ayeka, we have to go." Tenchi grabbed the Princess by the wrist, and Ayeka frowned.

"Go back there? After the way that man treated me?" She demanded. "Never."

"But Ryoko!"

"Tenchi, that girl causes nothing but trouble." Ayeka shook her head darkly. "Why should we help her when she's probably beyond our help anyway?"

"Because she bartered her life to save yours." Tenchi said softly. "And it isn't the first time she's done it, either. Ryoko is my friend, Ayeka, and whether you come or not is up to you. But I won't leave her to fight Haki on her own, whatever you decide."

He reached down to pick up the Juraian sword, glancing at it, then clutching it more tightly in his grip. "Okay, Washu. I'm ready when you are."

"Ayeka-san?" Washu raised a questioning eyebrow at the Princess, who sighed. She nodded her head slowly.

"All right." She agreed quietly. "I'll come. But I still say this mess is her own doing."

"Then you'd both better step into my lab a minute." Washu said with a shrug. "Come on. Quickly! I do have other things to do, you know, and judging by the little gal here, Ryoko needs you both pretty badly right now!"

Ryo Ohki let out another shriek, bounding out of Washu's grip and up onto Tenchi's shoulder, gripping his shirt tightly. She flattened her ears, letting out a low hiss.

"I think she wants to come too." Tenchi said in surprise. Washu shrugged.

"Well, it's only natural." She said simply. "Ryo Ohki and Ryoko are bonded, Tenchi. Like Ayeka is to Ryu Oh or...well, just like that. Of course she wants to go help."

She reached out her hand, petting the angry cabbit affectionately.

"And her breed are especially known for their loyalty." She added. "Yes, Tenchi, take her aboard. If nothing else, she might be your escape route out of there if things don't go to plan."

"All right." Tenchi nodded his head. "Then I guess we're out of here."

--------------------------

"And whatever else happens, he must never, ever find her."

The woman wrapped her cloak more tightly around her thick wavy hair, pausing to glance at the small form in the crib, a tender look in her soft emerald eyes. She reached down a hand, touching the tiny pale fingers and eliciting a gurgle from the child, who waved her own fists at the attention.

The woman's eyes became sad, and she drew her hand away.

"This is the last time I'll come here." She murmured. "It's too dangerous. He's too dangerous. If he knew - if any of them knew what goes on here, then we'll all be in trouble. And if he knew about her, then he'd kill her…the heart that beats inside of her beats with Jurai's strength and it wouldn't take him long to work that out."

"Where do you intend to go, sensei?"

The room's other occupant glanced up from her corner, fixing her companion with a troubled stare. "You know what you ask of me? What you want me to do? Are you really sure this is...what you want?"

"Oh, believe me, I know exactly what I'm asking you to do." The woman's face became grave. "And I know it's what I have to do. I'm asking you to raise my daughter as your own child, to tell her nothing of her true origins, that one day, even if we meet, she won't know me as we pass. I'm asking you to teach her all the things you know she needs to know, and how she should use them to her best advantages, since I won't be here to help her do it. She's important, and her survival doubly so…which is why I can't be a part of her life. If I stay at the Academy, nobody will be any the wiser. I have work there, after all. People would notice, if I were gone. He might notice. And then he'd come looking for me all the more."

"You don't know that he won't come anyhow." The companion pointed out, getting to her feet and lifting the baby up into her arms. "He might. He's a powerful man and he has influence at the Academy. What if he does come? What then?"

"Then you and the baby will be well out of his grasp." Her mentor said quietly. She reached into her purse, pulling out a small capsule and setting it down beside the crib.

"When she's old enough, these are for her." She added. "You know that I took them from under his nose, which is another reason why he must never associate me with her. I really believe they'll augment her power, and if she's trained as strongly and as well as I know you'll train her, she'll be a match for any usurper. What I discovered while on that planet nobody would believe by my word alone - but it will come and I will not take the risk that nothing can be done to prevent it. If Jurai are not prepared, make sure she is. She must not know he is her father. When the time comes, she must be willing to sacrifice all if need be. And she must be willing to kill him without compunction."

She clenched her fists.

"I must end it. With her help."

"Yes, I know." The younger woman sighed, rocking the baby gently as she began to fall asleep. "And I'll do my best to do all you ask of me."

The woman smiled, a sad, haunted smile.

"Most of it will have to be her own doing, Kichi." She said softly. "If her mother's spirit and her father's power stir together inside her, she will make a formidable enemy for anyone to have. Make sure that you guide her on the right side where you can. This world may one day rely on it."

"Ryoko!"

Sasami sat bolt upright, breathing hard as she struggled to regain her composure. She glanced around her wildly, taking in the compact surroundings of Yagami's accomodation quarters, and she let out a heavy sigh, leaning up against the wall of the ship. Slowly she shook her head.

"These dreams need to stop, Tsunami." She said aloud, a plaintive note in her voice. "I can't take it any more. I don't know what they mean!"

A soft breeze blew through the chamber, and Sasami almost thought she felt the brush of a tree's branches touch her cheek. She groaned, burying her head in her hands.

"Tell me what's going on! Tell me why you're making me see all these things?" She begged. "I want to understand, Tsunami...why do you have all these memories? And why do you tell them to me...what are you trying to say?"

There was a moment of silence, as the images from the dream flitted back through Sasami's confused head one by one. As the woman turned her face into Sasami's view, the young girl let out a gasp.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Oh! But Tsunami...what does it mean? If she is really...but how can that help? Because Ryoko is in trouble, isn't she? That's why you're telling me these things! You want me to help Ryoko...but why? Surely Ryoko would be your enemy? Or is it something else? Help me, Tsunami! I don't understand what you want to tell me!"

The breeze brushed by her again, and this time Sasami could clearly hear the rustle of branches, delicate but almost like a voice whispering in her ear. All of a sudden, she understood what the dream had meant.

Determination flooded her young features, and she got slowly to her feet.

"Tsunami, where are Ayeka and Tenchi?" She asked. There was no response, only the sighing of the ship as it navigated it's way through deep space, and Sasami frowned.

"Fine." She said flatly. "Then I'll go speak to Washu. That's what you want me to do anyway, isn't it? I'll go ask Washu. But she's gonna be mad at me...and I don't know how any of this is going to help Ryoko or us to defeat Haki!"