Chapter Two
The sky was a blanket of stars.
Ryoko stretched out atop the roof of the Masaki home, leaning back on her elbows as she gazed up above, a dreamy, relaxed expression in her golden eyes. Somewhere in the depths of space, she was sure she could see the vapour trail of a shuttle as it made it's slow way across the galaxy. The moon shone with unusual vigour, almost in it's full shape as it glinted off the water of the nearby lake, and there was a feeling of serenity that seemed to touch every corner of the landscape.
It was late now, she knew. Everyone else was asleep in their beds, but she had not been able to settle into rest. They had returned to the Earth only two days before, and despite the chaotic events on Jurai, she felt at ease. The battle with Haki and it's traumatic mental aftermath seemed a lifetime away, something that had happened to another person and not to her. This peace and quiet, with the beauty of the Japanese mountains and the quietness of the stars was her world, and the way she always wanted it to be.
The sky did not care how she had come to be, or what secrets lay in her long forgotten genetic past. Somehow she liked it that way.
The sound of scrabbling at her feet alerted her to the fact she had company, and she glanced down, smiling as Ryo Ohki clambered up beside her, uttering a soft mew as she curled herself up against her mistress's body. She raised questioning eyes to her companion, and Ryoko met the gaze with a warm one of her own.
"Sometimes I wish you didn't know everything I was thinking, you know." She murmured, reaching out a slender hand to ruffle through the cabbit's short dark fur. "But at other times, it's nice knowing I don't have to explain everything to you. You know me better than I know myself sometimes, Ryo Ohki. What do you think of all this? Are we on the Earth for good now? Is this our future? Or will things change again? We seem to have been through so many things in the last few years...do you think it's even possible for us to settle anywhere, now?"
Ryo Ohki raised her head sleepily, resting it on her paws as she gazed up at the slender woman. She mewed softly, licking her paw and beginning to wash the tips of her long, feathery ears. There was a gentleness in her expression, and Ryoko laughed, tickling her friend under her chin.
"You think I've gone soft, and maybe I have." She owned. "But you must be bored of chasing across space and destroying and looting...mustn't you? It's funny to think how I am. I'll always have time to fly through the stars with you - that's never going to change. But I don't want to be the hunted any more. That's past now. I'm not going to become Haki, or follow in my father's footsteps. I've got a new life now. A new life with Tenchi, so long as I don't blow it."
She hesitated, raising an eyebrow at her companion.
"Do you think I'll blow it?"
Ryo Ohki eyed her for a moment. Then she returned to washing herself, and Ryoko snorted.
"Gee. Thanks." She scolded. "Don't you think I can hold onto anything for any length of time, Ryo Ohki?"
She sighed.
"Although, I guess my track record isn't so brilliant in that department." She acknowledged. "And I've never actually had someone there who I know feels something back. There's too much at stake for me to mess it up. He said so much to me on Jurai, and I babbled out way too much junk to him, thanks to Washu's truth serum. But I'm afraid to rush into anything and scare him off. He said he didn't like it when I got pushy and when I took things too far. So now...well...how far is too far for an earthling, anyway? I guess I'm clueless about this planet in the ways that matter."
Ryo Ohki's mew sounded almost like a laugh, and Ryoko batted the cabbit playfully across the ears.
"Don't you start with me." She warned. "You don't know anything more about earth men than I do, so don't pretend you do. And at least I haven't gone soft over a creature like that Ken Ohki...I always thought you'd have better taste."
Ryo Ohki yowled, ruffling up her fur in indignation, and Ryoko laughed.
"So you can dish it out but you can't take it." She teased. "Well, we may never see them again, you know. Not now the reward for my head is no longer active. Nagi can't hunt me across space and hope to claim anything for doing so, not now. And if she was to come after me, and more, to kill me...well, that would be murder, and the courts would soon deal with it. I doubt she's interested enough in chasing someone just for the honour of fighting me again. She hasn't beaten me yet...not decisively. I doubt she'll want to come back for more now."
Ryo Ohki looked mournful, dropping her head back down onto her paws, and Ryoko shook her head.
"You'll get over it. You'll see." She said reassuringly. "And you do like the Earth, don't you, Ryo Ohki? I mean, you don't want to leave?"
Ryo Ohki rubbed her head up against her mistress's arm, and Ryoko nodded.
"That's what I thought." She murmured. "All right. Then we'll stay here for a while and see what happens. Time is what Tenchi and I need. Time now Ayeka is married and now it really is just the two of us. We've taken a gamble, bringing things out in the open and being serious with our feelings for the first time. I won't rush him."
She leant back, gazing up once more at the stars.
"And hey, who knows. I might even do some chores around the house, if it gets me futher into his good books." She mused. "What do you think? I might make a good housekeeper...especially since I can reach all the places he can't."
She shrugged, stifling a yawn.
"Oh well. Plenty of time for that when the sun is up." She decided, more to herself than to the cabbit at her side. "For now, it's just you, me and the moon, Ryo Ohki. I can live with that."
-------------------
Silence.
In the shade of a tree, a sole figure crouched, dazed and disorientated as she tried to put together everything that had just taken place. Glancing down at her hands, she saw traces of red still tinting the tips of her fingernails and a shadow touched her expression. Yes, she remembered all to clearly. She had been aboard a spaceship...and then she had been hurtling through an expanse of nothing, held together only by the comforting tendrils of Tsunami's waning magic.
So this was it.
Her past.
She struggled to her feet, rubbing her stiff arms and legs as her body protested at the sudden movement. Every limb and joint felt out of sync, like she had been pulled all ways on her journey here, but she gritted her teeth, ignoring the twinges and aches as best she could. Above her head, an owl hooted, fluttering out of the tree's branches and making her jump. She raised a hand, light glowing at the edges of her fingers as she assessed the potential danger, but she could see nothing.
With a sigh she fell back against the tree trunk, closing her eyes. She needed to calm down, and try and remember clearly all that the Goddess had told her. Snippets of their final conversation dashed through her head, dancing and teasing at her tired senses as she struggled to make sense of it all.
"This is not Jurai." She murmured at length. "But this tree...this tree is a tree of Jurai nonetheless. Tsunami's magic connects her to all Jurai life...but what is a tree of Jurai doing on such foreign soil? Is this the Earth she talked about? The distant world Sasami-denka loved so much when she was a small child?"
She took a few cautious steps forward, into the moonlight as she surveyed her surroundings. Although it was dark, the moon's glow bathed the area in a soft light and she could see the peaceful, untroubled terrain - the soft grass beneath her feet and, up ahead, the stone steps that led up the mountain to a structure the like of which she had never seen. Strange characters adorned the gateway, too distant for her to make them out, and she frowned.
"I don't understand." She muttered. "Why did she send me here?"
Turning her back on the steps, she continued along the pathway, cherry trees flanking her path. As she walked, delicate pink petals dropped around her in the breeze, giving the effect of a sudden snowfall. To the young woman, the effect was both confusing and disturbing, and she brushed them quickly off her, speeding up her pace as she hurried through the landscape.
With all her experience of trees, she knew better than to trust the fruit or flower of a stranger.
At length she reached the end of the path, and as she rounded the corner, a settlement loomed out of the blackness, stark and alone and nestled in the shelf of the mountain face. For a moment she stood there, just staring at it's unfamiliar structure. Then she pursed her lips.
"Where am I?" She asked herself helplessly. "Tsunami, I wish you were here to answer my questions! I at least thought you were sending me to a time when you would be there to guide me. Instead I'm lost in the wilderness of a planet I've never visited, among a culture and a people I know nothing about. What connects Jurai to this strange land? Other than the fact it shared Jurai's fate under the Darkness...I don't see how being here could have any kind of impact on Jurai and the future of my world. Kagato and Souja are on Jurai - I don't understand!"
As she drew closer to the house, she was aware of a silhouette on the roof, shaded against the moon's light and instinctively she flickered out of view, taking refuge behind a nearby tree as she squinted in the direction of the stranger. Whoever they were, she decided, they were unaware of her presence. She knew little about life on this strange planet, but she knew that it was as well to be wary. If her short life had taught her anything, it had taught her to be on her guard against potential threats, and she drew her fingers together, sparks of light glimmering at the tips as she debated whether to make herself known or to risk being ambushed. This was strange terrain, after all.
She glanced up at the sky, taking in the foreign shape of the Earth moon as it shone over the landscape. Despite herself, she shivered. She was cold and alone, miles and years from her home, and on a mission which could see her erased from existance completely. In the blackness, it was a sobering thought, and for a brief second she considered reneging on her word and fleeing into the night, creating a new life amongst this world of quiet and trees and beauty. Then, as if bidden by the Goddess herself, an image of the dead woman in her arms flickered across her consciousness and she frowned, drawing her brows together in determination.
"No." She said quietly. "I won't let them down. Have strength, Nozomi. Tsunami is relying on me. I won't forsake her trust, not when she's spent so much of her own energy sending me back here."
"Well, we have a visitor, do we?"
A voice echoed out of the darkness, startling her and, berating her lapse in attention she wheeled around, fingers sparking with golden light as she faced the speaker. With her back to the moon, the woman's features were concealed from view, but there was no mistaking the veiled warning in her tones.
A bolt of light glimmered out of the darkness, missing Nozomi's feet by inches and she caught her breath in her throat, narrowing her eyes.
"Who are you!" She exclaimed. "What do you want? Why are you attacking me?"
"I should be asking you those questions." The stranger's voice, disembodied and eerie came back. "You can't tell me you mean no harm, when you're poised and ready to fire at me within a moment's notice. "You should know now that I'm not someone you want to fight. Take that as a friendly warning, and drop your hands."
There was a moment of hesitation, then Nozomi lowered her fingers, pursing her lips.
"Good choice." Her companion's silhouette flickered and blurred out of view, and for a moment she thought she was alone. Then she felt hands on her shoulders, and she let out a yell. There was the sound of soft laughter not far from her ear, and with a jerk she found herself lifted bodily off the ground, shooting up into the sky towards the stars and the strange silver moon.
"Now you can tell me your name, or I can force it out of you." The stranger told her nonchalantly. "Call me old fashioned but I don't take too many chances when someone's stalking around the place. Who are you, and more importantly, who sent you? Because you aren't from Earth, that's for sure. You can't pretend you're just another of Tenchi's strange neighbours."
"I don't have to tell you anything."
"I could drop you."
"Drop me then. I don't care."
"I see." There was a moment of silence, then, "So you can fly too, is that it?"
"Maybe I can." Nozomi gathered her wits, wrestling free of the other's grip and launching a blast of golden energy into the sky. "Maybe I can fight back just as well as you can - did you ever stop to think that maybe you're taking on more than you expected?"
"Touche." From the blackness, a volley of orange light countered Nozomi's effort, sending sparks flying up into the sky. "But you'll have to go one better than that to catch me off guard."
"And you'll have to go one better than that to get any information out of me." Nozomi shot back, raising her hands as if to prepare another blast. "Because there's plenty more where that came from, and I'm not afraid of a fight."
"Good. That always makes it interesting." Her companion observed, and shards of orange light glowed and shot across the sky, moulding into one and flaring out into a long blade. "So show me what you've got. I'm waiting. You won't get any nearer to Tenchi's home if I have anything to say about it."
"I don't even know who Tenchi is." Nozomi protested, parrying the blow of the sword with a desperate flood of golden energy. She flickered out of her opponant's direct line of fire, re-appearing in the air behind her and putting her palms together once more as she drew on as much of her magic as she could muster. She was still tired and dizzy from Tsunami's spell, but despite that her fingers flickered with light once more, and she took careful aim.
"Clever...but I'm not so easily fooled." The woman's voice was behind her now, and she gasped, swinging around as the flares of light faded from her fingers. In the dim glow of the moon, she could just make out the widening smile on her foe's face, as hands gripped her tightly once more, holding her fast. "And I'm done playing games with you. Who are you and what are you doing here? And don't lie to me, or it will just be worse for you."
"I'm not saying anything. Not to you." Nozomi struggled, but she could not break the woman's grip. "Let me go!"
"Not until you tell me what I want to know." The pressure around her wrists grew firmer, and Nozomi winced.
"You're hurting me!"
"Good. Then you might answer my question a bit quicker. Who are you?"
"None of your business!"
"Wrong answer!"
With a sudden jolting movement, Nozomi was aware that her captor had changed direction, dropping with speed towards the Earth below. "Last chance, or we hit the dirt and believe me, it's going to hurt."
Nozomi closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact, but with another jerk, the woman stopped midflight, hovering bare inches from the ground.
"Well? Or do I have to bury you in the core of this planet first?"
Flares of orange light flickered around her, and despite herself, Nozomi felt her nerve slipping. She was tired, and it had already been a long and traumatic evening. She bit her lip, struggling to keep her composure, but it was no good. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath into her lungs.
"Nozomi." She managed.
"Right, now we're getting somewhere." The woman seemed pleased. "And where are you from, Nozomi? Because you're not from Earth, are you?"
"And you are?"
"No, I'm not." The woman agreed. "But that's no surprise to you, is it? I expect you know exactly who I am and that's why you're here. Who sent you? Was it Washu? Or was it Nagi, still on my trail after all this time? Well? I'm waiting. Which one was it? It takes more than a girl like you to ruffle my feathers."
"Tsunami-kami-sama." Nozomi blurted out, regretting it the moment the word had left her lips. Much to her surprise, the grip around her wrists loosened, and she found herself free.
"Sasami?" Shock entered the woman's voice. "So you're from Jurai? From Sasami?"
"Sasami-denka!" Nozomi spat out. "Do you have no respect for the Empress of all Jurai?"
"Empress?"
There was a moment of silence, then,
"Sasami is not the Empress of Jurai. She's not even in line. Azusa-heika is Emperor. Sasami is just his niece...just a little girl. I don't know what you think you're trying to pull, but it's growing old, fast. Stop playing games and tell me the truth. Who sent you? Was it Washu?"
Nozomi did not answer, shutting her lips firmly, and there was a sigh from the blackness.
"Very well." the voice sounded resigned, and Nozomi felt the grip on her wrist once more. "Then we'll talk inside. Come with me. I want to get to the bottom of this and I want to know why you're spying on Tenchi's home like this. It's not polite, you know."
Nozomi fought against the grip, but before she could wrench herself free she felt her world flicker and blur around her. Frantically she struggled to get to grips with her own form, but she soon realised that this was not being driven by her own magic at all. Whoever held her had the same matter shifting abilities and no matter how hard she fought against it, she could not break free of the other's spell.
At length the world settled itself into some kind of order and she opened her eyes, realising she was inside the settlement. She shielded her eyes against the sudden light, taking in the panel walls and the strange, sparse furniture that decorated the interior of the building.
"Right. Now I think we have things to discuss, don't we?" The woman's voice came from behind her, and she found herself wheeled around to face her captor for the first time, taking in the bright amber eyes that burned with life and the look of determination on the stranger's face. Defiance became disbelief, and she took a step backwards, lowering the hands she had raised to defend herself.
"I don't believe it." She whispered. "Mother?"