Chapter Eight

Marriage.

Tenchi closed his eyes, burying his head in his pillow as he contemplated the situation he now found himself in. Inwardly he berated himself for not better understanding the ways of a planet such as Jurai, and then he sighed.

He wasn't from this planet. That was the whole problem. Whatever choices he made, he would never quite belong.

He rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling as he pictured the Jurai landscape, dotted with trees and green for miles around. He had never seen a world more full of natural beauty and calm than this planet, and the immensity of it both awed and humbled him. A civilisation so far ahead of his own, and yet, in amongst their developments and quests for power, they had succeeded where Earth faltered and failed. They had learned to understand nature – and had ultimately been rewarded for it.

"We are having fun, aren't we?"

At the sound of her voice, Tenchi started, turning his head to glance around him. For a moment he half expected to see her cheeky, playful smile, hands on hips as she mocked him for worrying about her.

But the room was empty, and Tenchi knew it had only been his imagination.

He closed his eyes, but instead of seeing the Jurai tree-scape, another image came unbidden to his thoughts. Rows and rows of different trees, heavy with autumn leaves lined the pathway to his grandfather's shrine. As the image of the Earth became more and more vivid, he thought he heard her voice again, drifting through his mind like a restless ghost.

"Every day here is like a dream. I hope it's going to be like this forever."

"Ryoko." He murmured. "Are you haunting me now?"

He sat up in bed, pushing back the heavy covers and walking across his room to the balcony, stepping out into the moonlight. A soft bluish haze coated the distant hills, and for a moment he just stood there, looking out at the view. By day, the planet seemed warm and welcoming, but in the dim light of evening, there was an austerity to it that he had not seen before.

He shivered, glancing back at the coverlets, but he knew that it wasn't cold that had touched him. It was the memory of a happy time – a free time, back on the Earth, before any of this had even begun.

Before he had discovered that he was a Prince of Jurai.

He sighed, padding back towards the bed and slipping slowly beneath the covers, drawing them tightly around his body in an attempt to get warm. He closed his eyes, but her face floated in front of him, so close that he almost felt he could touch her, if only he reached out his hand. Images flooded through him – reminders of the many adventures they had all shared before Jurai's military had descended upon them, changing their lives irrevocably.

Now their party was safe, but it was breaking apart bit by bit, and in all the celebrations, the absence of one member had been painfully evident. Had she truly made the ultimate sacrifice in his name? Or had the lure of piracy just called to her too strongly – had she headed into the cosmos to start her life anew?

He swallowed hard, shaking his head.

"This isn't right." He whispered. "This isn't who I am. The Earth is my home – it's always been my home. No amount of primping and fine clothing can change that. It doesn't matter what my bloodlines say. I want a choice in my destiny – and a choice in where I spend it. If I stay here, with Ayeka, no choices will ever be my own. My life will be governed by protocol and politics and that's not the life I want."

"Tenchi?"

As if in agreement with his words, her voice echoed once more through his mind, but now he knew it was no more than an illusion, and he sighed, forcing the thought away.

"Ryoko is dead, if I believe Washu." He murmured. "There's no going back to that life now. Am I stupid? Leaving here, leaving Jurai – at least if I stayed I'd be with Ayeka and Sasami. Mihoshi and Kiyone would be within reach and I know that Washu has a habit of appearing when you least expect to see her. If I left here, all those connections would be left behind also. Earth has no space links with this world. Can I really go back to my lonely life there, isolated in the mountains?"

"Tenchi…"

Ryoko's voice seemed to carry reproach this time, and Tenchi covered his ears with his hands.

"Stop it, Ryoko! Stop haunting me!" He exclaimed. "What are you trying to tell me? Why are you in my head…what are you trying to say?"

Silence greeted his words, and he sighed, the frustration rushing out of him as soon as it had arrived.

"What am I doing?" He murmured. "Arguing with a ghost? Ryoko isn't here. She isn't anywhere. This is about more than a silly memory…about things she said, and dreams unfinished. This is about me and my future, not the future of other people. And I know what I have to do about it."

He bit his lip.

"I only hope Ayeka is going to understand."

----------

The room was long, thin and narrow, lit along the ceiling by white strip lighting against creamish panelling. As Ryoko blinked, struggling to bring the swaying chamber into focus, her brows knitted together, panic flooding her senses as she returned more and more to consciousness.

"Where am I?" The thought darted across her senses, and then, from somewhere in the depths of her brain came an answering impulse - one word, but one that gave her comfort in her dazed state nonetheless.

"Safe." It told her, and at once she was aware of something small, warm and furry rubbing itself up against her ear. She turned her head slightly, meeting Ryo Ohki's big golden eyes with heavy ones of her own. The cabbit was sitting on her pillow, mere inches from her head, and as they made eye contact, the small creature let out a purr, flicking her ears and settling herself more comfortably on the soft white surface. Something in Ryo Ohki's relaxed attitude reassured Ryoko, and she offered her friend a slight smile.

"Where?" She transmitted the thought faintly, still struggling against the tendrils of fever that locked her brain into confusion. Ryo Ohki lifted a paw, beginning to wash herself, but she paused at the message, cocking her head to one side as she surveyed her mistress thoughtfully. Then, with a mew, she resumed her cleaning. As she did so, the answering message came.

"Safe." it repeated, followed by. "Rest now."

Ryoko turned away from her companion, gazing back up at the light once again. The brightness dazzled her vision, making her feel nauseous and, as she lay there, she realised how dry her throat was. She shifted slightly, searching the room for water, and as she did so, a sharp, searing pain darted up her side. She let out a cry, and immediately she felt Ryo Ohki's concern burrowing at her senses, urging her to relax and to resist the urge to panic. She took a ragged breath into her lungs as the agony faded to a dull ache, closing her eyes briefly as she brought her body back under her control. Beads of sweat littered her brow and she bit her lip, fighting the desire to scream again. Somehow, she knew, it would only cause her more discomfort, and she had yet to determine where she was.

She furrowed her brow, focusing her thoughts once more.

"What happened?" The message was faint and brief, but Ryo Ohki's ears perked up as if she had spoken the words aloud. The small cabbit hopped down into her mistress's line of sight, reassuring her by her very presence. Pictures flashed into her mind, images of a battle, garbled and confused as they darted across her senses. As memory slowly returned, she swallowed hard, wetting her lips.

"Kagato."

The word was barely more than a hoarse whisper, and Ryo Ohki made a funny movement that could have been a nod, laying down on her front and resting her head on her paws. Ryoko's eyes narrowed.

"That son of a bitch." She muttered. "What in hell did he do to me? And why...why am I wherever this is? What's this about, Ryo Ohki? And why can't I remember? Tell me what's happening, please! Tell me what's going on!"

A look of guilt flickered in the depths of Ryo Ohki's eyes and Ryoko had a faint sense that her small friend was keeping something from her. She drew another breath into her battered lungs, wishing that her tired brain could reason it all out, but keeping a coherent line of thought was about as much as she could manage. For a moment there was silence between them, then, at length, Ryo Ohki tilted her head, sending another wave of images across their telepathic connection. Ryoko grasped at them, desperately trying to fit them together into some kind of sequence. As they finally fell into place, she closed her eyes, tears pricking at the edges.

"Tenchi." She whispered. "I left Jurai...I left him with..."

She did not finish her sentence, and Ryo Ohki whimpered sympathetically, nuzzling her nose against her mistress's fevered body. Ryoko chewed down on her lip.

"I was hurt." She murmured. "I left...when I left...I had no...there wasn't any way that I could...who would help someone like me? Who's got us, Ryo Ohki? Where are we...why aren't I aboard you and why are we on some planet instead of deep space? I can see sunlight through the slats of the blind...is it the Galaxy Police?"

Fresh waves of panic flooded her senses at that thought and Ryo Ohki was quick to shake her head, the same look of guilt in her expression once again. Ryoko fought the rising hysteria, taking a deep breath as the impulse calmed inside of her. Then she eyed her companion quizzically.

"No, if it was them, they'd have confined you. They wouldn't have left you to run loose around my sick room." She reasoned slowly. "That wouldn't make any sense. But who else would help me, Ryo Ohki? Who else would want to help a wanted criminal except the Galaxy Police, preparing me for trial?"

"Well, so finally she wakes up."

The voice was familiar, jarring through Ryoko's senses and the pirate visibly jumped at her strident tone, jarring her injury and letting out a moan of pain. Hot, dry fingers strayed across the coarse, thick blanket to the source of the discomfort, but someone was there before her, grabbing her wrist in a decisive grip and pushing her arm back down by her side.

"No, you fool. You'll upset all his good work if you start playing around."

Ryoko swallowed hard, struggling to bring the speaker into focus.

"Nagi!" She managed at length. The woman nodded, casting her a cool, cursitory glance.

"Who else would help a space pirate?" She asked mockingly. "Well, now you know, I suppose. Surprised to see me?"

"I don't need your help!" Ryoko retorted, feeble flickers of light dancing across her palms, but Nagi shook her head, letting out an amused chuckle.

"Really, you're quite pitiful at the moment. It would be an insult to both of us for me to rise to you right now." She said calmly. "See sense, Ryoko, and stand down. You've precious little energy to fight your fever, let alone try and fight me. I suggest you drop your hands and submit."

"Submit to you? Never!" Ryoko's brows drew together. "What do you want with me, Nagi? Why am I here?"

Nagi was silent for a moment. Then she shrugged her shoulders.

"Why do you think?" She asked softly. "You owe me a battle, Ryoko. And I do like people to keep their word to me."

"I thought you didn't take advantage of the wounded!"

"I don't." Nagi agreed briskly. "But I can be very, very patient. And persistant. As well you know."

"So you've brought me here to what? Make a prisoner of me till you think I'm fit enough to fight?"

"No." Nagi shook her head. "I'm not such a fool as to believe I could keep you here, if you were fit. But I told you once, I won't let anyone else take you. Not ever. You're mine and I will beat you. If that means rescuing you now, then so be it. I don't back down from a challenge. Whatever it takes to meet it."

A mixture of anger and disbelief crashed over Ryoko's senses, followed by a wave of utter exhaustion as the adrenalin rushed out of her. She sighed, her body going slack against her pillows as she digested her companion's words.

"I don't want to be in your debt." She managed. "Let me go, Nagi. I don't need anything from you. I don't want any help."

"I'd discuss that with Ryo Ohki." Nagi raised a gloved hand, gesturing at the cabbit. "She's the one who came to me for assistance. Take it up with her."

"Ryo Ohki?" Dismay flooded Ryoko's golden eyes and Ryo Ohki let out a sheepish mew of admission. Nagi laughed.

"You see, you really have no argument." She added. "You would be dead if not for me. I won't have that, Ryoko. Not when there's so much left undone. And besides, you're not in my debt. On Venus, you let Ken Ohki and I leave with our lives...defeated but not destroyed. It is I in your debt. Now that debt is repaid. If you feel you need to repay it further, then when you are fit, we will fight and find out once and for all who fights stronger. No, I wouldn't let you die, you know. Not at the hands of a coward who can't even finish the job."

Ryoko's eyes flickered shut.

"You know about Kagato."

"Yes. I know about Kagato." Nagi's lip curled in distaste. "No man of honour would have left you in this state, Ryoko. I have to admit, when I first saw you, I was tempted to put an end to it. To you. Despite our fight...nobody should suffer that way. But..."

She shrugged.

"Ryo Ohki has a way with Ken Ohki, and I listen to Ken Ohki a lot more than I should, sometimes." She added reflectively. "She wanted me to help you, and I gave her my word. I don't break promises, Ryoko - no matter how many times others break theirs to me. And so, here we are. You might as well accept it. It'll be all the more easy for you, if you do."

"I don't like this." Ryoko sent Ryo Ohki a reproachful look. "How could you, Ryo Ohki? How could you do this to me?"

Ryo Ohki sent her companion a mournful look. She uttered a soft miaow, and despite herself, Ryoko felt her anger fading at the heartfelt melancholy in the little creature's eyes. She bit her lip.

"I really mean that much to you?" She asked softly, surprised. Nagi pursed her lips.

"You underestimate her loyalty far too much." She said frankly. "And I have better things to do than talk to you at the moment. No doubt you'll whine less when you're less feverish - at least, I hope that's the case. I thought you had courage - perhaps you need to start proving it."

"I'm not a coward!" Ryoko reacted to this, jerking up in her bed. She let out a gasp of pain as the room swum violently before her eyes, and Nagi muttered a curse, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders and pushing her back down against her pillows.

"Lie still, damn you, or you'll ruin everything." She snapped. "Just do as you're told!"

Ryoko's obstinate nature rebelled against the dictatorial tone in her rival's voice, but all the strength had seeped out of her body and she found herself unable to struggle as the bounty hunter dragged the blanket up to her chin, forcing her to lie still against the pillows. Anger and resentment seared up inside of her, but they were quashed by a wave of dizzy confusion as the world seemed to grow ever fainter.

"Ryo Ohki, make sure she does as she's told." Nagi's voice was a soft murmur somewhere in the background, too distant for Ryoko to properly pick it out. "You have more sense than she does, after all."

There was the soft miaow of assent from the cabbit, and Ryoko was vaguely aware of the little animal curling herself up against the pirate's uninjured side.

"Sleep." The suggestion touched the edge of her senses, and despite herself, Ryoko found herself drifting into sleep, as the cabbit took advantage of her weakened mental defences, forcing ripples of calm through her mind. With a sigh, Ryoko gave up her attempts to fight it, blackness surging across her senses from all angles as she submitted to her exhaustion. There would be time to find out everything when she woke, she mused drowsily, as she slipped into a dreamless doze. Time enough...