Chapter Fourteen
"It's a beautiful night."
Ryoko glanced down from the branch of the tree she was carefully perched upon, taking in the speaker with a thoughtful look of her own. She nodded her head, blurring her form and re-materialising down on the ground below, tilting her head to one side as she surveyed her companion.
"I haven't decided if I want to make small talk with you yet, Washu." She said quietly. "You did a hell of a lot to me, you know. Putting me through this. All the time I've been someone else's tool - your weapon. Kagato's weapon...designed and built for a battle I didn't know was even coming. It's not fair. I had a right to know the truth about myself. You should have told me, the first time we met."
"Before or after I turned you into a sprite for swinging me around like a maniac?" Washu raised an eyebrow, folding her arms and leaning up against the massive trunk of the palace tree, shaking her head. "No, Ryoko. I think it would have been better if you'd never known. Your life was complicated enough without me. Besides, you are emotionally unstable. That's beyond dispute. Whether you like to admit it or not, you're far too driven by how you feel, not by how you think. Had you known that you had been born in a laboratory, well, it probably would have scarred you. And you'd have been no use to me as damaged goods, now would you?"
"I see." Ryoko's eyes flickered. "So that's the bottom line? Now I've done what you wanted from me, you can chalk me up as a successful experiment?"
Washu eyed her for a moment. Then she spread her hands.
"If you had been raised in the way I hoped, you would have had the mother and the childhood that you seem to think you need to be a whole human being." She said softly. "You would have been trained in your magic to a point where you would have had no trouble fighting an enemy like Kagato. Kichi would have seen to it that you were loyal to her and that he was your sworn enemy. You would have been so much stronger so much sooner."
"I'm sorry I disappoint you so much." Ryoko glanced at the ground, kicking idly at a stone as she watched it clatter and spin against the wooden trunk. "But I am who I am, Washu. That's not going to change, you know."
"No, I know." Washu acknowledged. "And in some respects, I wouldn't want you to. I know," As Ryoko shot her an incredulous look. "You make for bad science. Your results are sloppy and unpredictable, your temperament unreliable and quite often completely incomprehensible. Your feelings make you a weak target and you're far too quick to fly off the handle. But..."
"There's a but in all this abuse? You surprise me!"
"Yes, there's a but." Washu's eyes softened. "If you had stayed with Kichi, you would have been the perfect weapon. I guarantee that. But a human being? I don't know. You would have loved her, yes, and she would have loved you like her own child. But the goal of your life, that would always have been number one on the agenda. If she had lived...you would have been stronger, but at the cost of your freedom. In some respects, maybe it's a good thing that you went the way you did. One thing I think I have discovered from this experiment is that science and human nature aren't always compatible. And it isn't an experiment I would repeat, Ryoko-chan. One delinquent daughter is quite enough for this overworked Mom!"
"I'm still not sure I think of you as my mother." Ryoko glanced at her hands. "But I guess I'm not as mad at you any more. I'm still annoyed you didn't tell me the truth. But that's not surprising, because sometimes I think you don't tell anyone the whole truth. At least now I do know the answers to all the questions. Even if I didn't ask for them - at least now I know who I am."
"Yes, you do." Washu inclined her head slightly. "Ryoko Hakubi."
"Yes." Ryoko pursed her lips. "Yes, I suppose so."
"And, for tonight at least, Jurai's true blue heroine."
"That won't last long." Ryoko shook her head. "Sure, they're all sucking up to me tonight, because of all of this. But they don't mean it, Washu. They hate me and I'll never fit in on this stuffy, stuck up planet. I'm even missing Ayeka's company, that's how bad it is."
"You and Ayeka are not the foes you once were, though."
"True." Ryoko shrugged. "I guess we both just needed Tenchi to make up his mind. Men are so bad at that, you know? But he's worse than most."
"And you're too quick to make up yours, Ryoko-chan." Washu looked amused. "Between the two of you, you might find an equilibrium. Though I doubt it."
"Washu...about Nozomi?" Ryoko turned opaque eyes on her companion. "I know it's a lot to ask, but is there any way to, you know, tell if she made it back to her timeline all right? I mean, she died here, but...she wasn't alive in this time, was she?"
"No, she wasn't. Her death here would not affect her own timeline." Washu agreed. "But you have to understand, Ryoko, time itself is not static. Every single decision, every moment of our lives dictates what will happen in our future. Like I said before, the future Nozomi came from was one of several possible futures, none of which are decided absolutely until they come to be. By defeating Kagato, you and Tenchi have irrevocably changed that timeline. Even if I was able to find out what timeline had replaced it, there's no telling what might alter it again in a year or even less than that. It's too unstable. Nozomi may exist in a future world, or she may not. It's not in her hands to decide."
"No, I suppose not." Ryoko looked pensive. "I just wondered. It's fine. It's no big deal."
Washu shot her a sidelong glance.
"It's not easy for a mother when her child is out of her reach." She said softly. Ryoko shot her a startled glance, then she shook her head.
"I don't think of myself as her mother. If I even really was - like you said, the future is changeable." She said with a shrug. "Just she had courage. And I'd like to know she's okay. Even if she exists in another time and space without any connection to Tenchi or I - it would just be nice to know. That's all."
"Well, I still believe that some things are better off not being known." Washu said pensively. "You did a good job today, by the way. You and Tenchi both. Sasami got very excited when you took Kagato down...I knew then that you'd be all right, although I wasn't quite clear on how."
"At your service." Ryoko said wryly. "He had me on the end of a rope, to be honest. I don't know how I came back to myself...it's still a bit of a mystery, all told. Washu, you've read through all those piles of Juraian manuscripts. Did they ever mention anything about forcefields and white blades?"
"Yes. Sasami mentioned that, too, earlier on." Washu looked thoughtful. "She suddenly jumped up and shouted 'The Light Hawk!" and I had to get her to calm down before she could explain it all to me. It's a bit obscure, Ryoko. I don't even understand half of what she told me - and I'm a genius, so there's not much hope that you will."
"Thanks." Ryoko pulled a face. "Could you at least deign to try? Because whatever it was, it fixed my gems and made them a part of me, instead of something I was fighting. I'd just like to know what it was, that's all. I know Tenchi's spoken to Sasami about it, but still. I wanted to know from you, and he didn't really know how to explain."
"Well, in the simplest terms I can manage, you know that there are a few members of the Royal Line who are blessed with the Jurai Power?" Washu asked. Ryoko nodded.
"Yes. Like Tenchi, and Azusa, and Yosho-dono, as well."
"And Ayeka." Washu nodded. "Yes. To claim the throne, you must have this power in great enough quantity to be able to display it before the assembled council of Jurai. No Emperor - or indeed, Empress - is allowed to ascend to the throne without being able to undertake this task. It's a way to determine true claimants to the throne."
"I know all of that." Ryoko looked impatient. "When Kagato assumed control of Jurai, we already had that history lesson. Get to the good part, will you?"
"Always in such a rush, aren't you?" Washu shook her head resignedly. "Hotheaded and impulsive - no manners at all. Really, we need to work on that, my girl."
"Oh, stop it with the mother routine." Ryoko snapped. "What about Tenchi's blades?"
"Actually, they're not blades. They're wings." Washu offered her a smile. "The Wings of the Light Hawk, to be exact. If the Jurai Power itself is rare, the Light Hawk Wings are even rarer. It's said that one in every millenium may possibly be born with this power - but even those who are rarely know how to awaken it inside of them. They merely live their lives with the highest level of ordinary magic, never quite breaking through to the divine."
"The...divine?" Ryoko stared. Washu spread her hands.
"It's Tsunami's magic." She said simply. "A power that she possesses and - if you believe Sasami - bestows on very few people that she deems worthy at birth. Tenchi is one such - but then his name should tell you that. Heaven and Earth. Same as the sword."
"You mean Tenchi is some kind of God among men?" Ryoko sank back against the trunk. "Is that what you're telling me?"
"Not exactly." Washu shook her head. "But he is an incredibly powerful young man capable of wielding divine power if he really puts his mind and soul to it. Today he did. He brought it out of himself at a time when it looked like he was about to be defeated. It's clever, really. Of course, Tsunami's Light Hawk has ten wings, and you said that Tenchi's only had three. But he is only human. I guess three has to do."
"Three is plenty good enough for me." Ryoko assured her. She glanced down at her wrists, noticing that the scars from the battle with Haki had faded away completely. "Whatever it was, it healed me and healed the gems, too. I guess I should have known it came from Tsunami somehow. That Tenchi is more connected to Jurai than I ever realised."
"Connected to it, but not destined to rule it." Washu said with a shrug. "Tsunami would never have given power of that magnitude to someone likely to be corrupted by the lure of domination. Tenchi wants none of that. He wielded it today in defence of this world, and in defence of you too, since you were in such dire straits yourself. But he would never abuse it in the way Kagato would have. And so Tsunami trusts it to him. If she needs him, I guess she knows he'll come. But it also suits her purpose for him to live his life far away from Jurai. Too much power can turn people, we both know that. In a sense, it's a good arrangement."
"Well, whatever he is, he's my Tenchi also." Ryoko folded her arms across her chest. "Whatever Tsunami thinks about it. I've fought hard enough to keep him, so she'd better let him alone for a while. I want to leave Jurai and have some time alone on Earth, just the two of us. Work out things between us without random interruptions from mad scientists and crazy dead princes living in twisted old trees. Is it too much to ask for a moment or two of privacy?"
Washu chuckled.
"You want to craft a new destiny for yourself with Tenchi, is that it?" She asked innocently. Ryoko's cheeks pinkened, and she nodded her head.
"Maybe." She agreed. "If everyone else would get the hell out of our way and let us try. Sure. I've done with your plans for me. It's about time I made my own, isn't it?"
"I guess it is." Washu agreed. "And I suppose if you've got Tenchi keeping you out of trouble, it won't hurt to let you have your way. But don't disconnect yourself from people completely, Ryoko."
"Look who's talking!" Ryoko exclaimed. "The woman who lives in a sub-space laboratory by choice!"
"Well, I'm not like you." Washu said evenly. "My science keeps me company and I don't need other people when I'm working on a big project. You and I are different that way, Ryoko - much as you say you don't like too many people around you, you rely on them more than you know. Besides, you have friends here on Jurai, even though you feel the planet as a whole despises you. Sasami is very fond of you, and speaks of you almost like a sister. Her belief in you and in Tenchi today helped you, you know. I'm sure of that, and so is she, given her bonds with the Goddess herself. Ayeka is no longer your foe. You will always be welcome here by them, if not by Lord Haru and his entourage."
"Yeah, I guess so." Ryoko acknowledged. "It would be weird to lose touch with everyone, anyway. Mihoshi and Kiyone are already gone back to the Galaxy Police and that's somewhere I could never visit, so I guess it's fine to come drop by Jurai once in a while, when things are more clear and settled. As it is, I guess I'll only get to speak to them when their patrols bring them by the Earth - which isn't often, not these days. Odd as it sounds, and mad as she made me with her attention to rules, Kiyone did stick by me when I was in prison. I'd like us not to lose touch completely."
"And what about me, Ryoko-chan?" Washu sent her companion an enquiring look, softening her tone. "Or is this to be the last time we see one another, before you embark on this brand new destiny of yours?"
Ryoko opened her mouth to reply, then faltered, pursing her lips as she considered her answer.
"I expect it won't be." She said at length. "Because you have an annoying habit of finding your way into people's lives whether they want you there or not. But...I don't know. On balance, I guess I could live with that."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"You're not my mother, because I don't need a mother and I never really have done." She added. "And I'm stronger now than I've been before - stronger in magic but in other things too, somehow. Maybe it's Tenchi. Maybe it's the gems. Maybe it's a bit of both. But I'm actually optimistic about the future in a way I've never been. It might have only been a possible future, Washu, but that there could be a future in which Tenchi and I were pulled so closely together...I really believe that means there's a way to make things work out for us, despite all our differences. And that makes me happy...happy enough to even put up with your company, once in a while."
Washu's eyes twinkled with amusement.
"That's good to know." She said playfully. "Because now you've absorbed the gems into yourself, Ryoko, there are about a thousand new tests I'm eager to do on your magic and what kind of impact they've had on your metabolism."
"Washu!" Ryoko raised an eyebrow, and Washu shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, in the name of science." She said simply. "Can't hurt to learn more about your new abilities, can it?"