Chapter Three
"Well, so this is where you're hiding."
Tenchi stood in the entranceway to the Royal Maze, casting his eye across the grass towards the shadow of a figure curled up against the thick, densely grown thickets. She glanced up at his voice, and even though much of her expression was hidden from him, he was aware of a smile crossing her face. She got to her feet, flickering and blurring into nothing then reappearing at his side, grasping him playfully by the hand.
"Tenchi!" She exclaimed. "Were you looking for me? I thought you were bogged down with all that Juraian stuff, and I needed to get away from it. So many boring, stuffy people...bleh."
"I wanted to make sure you hadn't got yourself in trouble, throwing bets with palace guardsmen again." Tenchi said ruefully, turning her to face him and examining her expression in the dim light of the Juraian moon. "I remember Ayeka's wedding, and how you almost got yourself in big trouble for it. How you didn't get yourself caught then I'll never know - but I wasn't sure how much you'd had to drink tonight and I know you like a challenge."
"I'm not drunk." Ryoko dismissed his concern with a careless flick of her hand, offering him a smile. "I just got fed up with being gawked at and whispered about. There are some really offensive people at Azusa's court, and I'd had enough. It's nicer out here. The stars are better company, and there's nobody to bother me. Or, well, us."
"Ryoko, if you're thinking..." Tenchi began, but Ryoko laughed, shaking her head.
"I know where your room is and I can always come see you later, if I'm that bored." She said carelessly. "But the sooner we leave Jurai again, the happier I'll be. My blood might tie me here in part, but Earth is my spiritual home, without a doubt."
"I feel a bit bad for Sasami - like I abandoned her to the masses." Tenchi admitted ruefully, leading her across the grounds towards the shelter of an elderly tree, and pulling her down beneath it with him. "She was all set to come looking for you with me, but she got accosted by her mother who wanted her to play hostess with some family or other from the planet's southern hemisphere. Thirteen seems so young to be considered adult - even if it's only the first stage of the process. But don't you think so? Sasami's got enough on her plate without half the Juraian nobility trawling for her hand in marriage."
"Sasami has more sense than to fall for their blustering and posing." Ryoko said firmly. "Besides, not everyone is a kid at thirteen. And you've seen Sasami's future, Tenchi. You saw her as Tsunami - we all did. She's not such a child, not really. It doesn't seem that odd to me - although I'd hate the idea that I was on the open marriage market as soon as I reached that age. It's one thing Haru has some sense over, if you ask me."
"But she can't be politically involved in the Council until she's eighteen." Tenchi objected. "Yet she can be married off and all of that kind of stuff now? It doesn't seem quite...well...logical. She can be a political pawn but she can't have a say in how things are run. Don't you think it's even a little bit messed up?"
"Sure, but Jurai is messed up." Ryoko snorted. "And Sasami has a say in things...Azusa is too scared of Tsunami now not to listen to her. So it works out. She's a smart kid, anyway. She's not a baby and she's not a fool. She'll be fine, Tenchi. This is the world she grew up in, after all. Claustrophobic it may be for you or I - but she can handle it. She's always had to, just like Ayeka. And look how her situation worked out - she's got power, influence and a husband on her arm which takes her neatly out of my way. Couldn't be better!"
"Ryoko, you're not still fixating on Ayeka as competition, are you?"
"No, Ayeka's not competition." Ryoko shook her head. "But when she was betrothed to Takeru, it took her out of my mind as such, in some respects. And then you and I had our talk and everything changed between us. I don't find things to fight about with Ayeka now...it's weird, like we've buried it between us because there's nothing left to fight over. We've had more in common than we have in opposition since she married Takeru and I had you all to myself. Funny, really...but it's worked out for the best for everyone. I mean, you wouldn't have been happy as King of Jurai, so you couldn't ever have had Ayeka, anyway."
"I think if you truly love someone, you do whatever you have to do to keep them." Tenchi said thoughtfully. "I don't know, Ryoko. This is new for me too. But when I think of all the things we've been through and the sacrifices and changes we've both made, it's a lot of stuff to handle. Yet here we still are - playing hooky from Jurai's social scene, under the stars once more. Somehow this seems pretty much like our world, don't you think? Undefined in so many ways, but it makes sense anyway."
"You're philosophical tonight." Ryoko observed, sending him a look of amusement. "Maybe it's you who's been drinking."
"No, not really." Tenchi coloured. "But you know what I mean. At least, I hope you do."
"I think so." Ryoko relented. "And you don't have to abstain on my account, Tenchi. Drinking is good for the soul - at least, a little bit doesn't hurt anyone. Besides, tonight is a party and tomorrow we go home. Might as well enjoy yourself, while you can."
"We're out here, and they're in there." Tenchi objected, but Ryoko's eyes twinkled and she slipped her hand into the trunk of the tree, pulling out a bottle of sake and setting it down between them as she flipped it open. Tenchi stared at it, then up at her in disbelief.
"Did you take that from the palace?" He asked at length. Ryoko nodded, taking a healthy swig of the clear liquid.
"I figured that it was a nice night to drink under the stars." She agreed. "But it's even nicer to share it with you, Tenchi. You thirsty? It's not like you'd be breaking any laws."
"You're flying tomorrow." Tenchi eyed her doubtfully. "Are you sure you should be drinking tonight?"
"My body processes alcohol more quickly than yours. I'll be fine and besides, Ryo Ohki has flown with me pretty much on the floor before now." Ryoko's eyes danced. "With the exception of my original crash to Earth, we usually get around it. Don't worry, Tenchi. This is only one bottle and besides, I'm going to share with you. So here. Try some. For Juraian alcohol, it's not too bad."
Tenchi sighed, but took the bottle from her, taking a contemplative sip as he did so.
"You're a bad influence on me." He said resignedly, and Ryoko laughed.
"And you're a good one on me. It balances." She told him playfully. "We go together pretty well, all things considered."
"Well, it's been six months since Tokimi was defeated, and you and I are still together. That has to count for something." Tenchi acknowledged, placing the bottle back down on the grass. "We've had no worlds to save or spirits to defeat or anything of that nature to handle in that time. Sure, we've been called to the Earth's aid - you more than me, in truth - but all in all we've had as normal a six months as we're probably ever going to have. It's a good sign, I think...that we can still function as a couple even when disaster isn't on the horizon."
"I know." Ryoko looked pensive, retrieving the bottle and taking another mouthful. "To be honest, a little part of me worried about that. I mean, we get so much craziness involved in our world...you wonder whether half of our connection is an adrenalin rush and not anything else. But it's as you say. Earth's been pretty quiet all in all. I even have a job, such as it is - even though I'm not sure how long I want to stick it. It's quite scary, in a way. We're almost committed."
Tenchi grinned, nodding his head.
"Makes you think." He agreed. "And as for your job, Ryoko, I'm not sure the Earth knew quite what they'd got. The fact you'd saved a lot of human lives in that Osaka night club went in your favour, but I don't think they totally absorbed what space pirate meant. Still, at least you can openly admit to your magic without having to hide it away. They've accepted your being on the Earth and you have all the paperwork you need now to stay there safely. And you're being paid for your trouble, too - you should like that. Being paid to zip through stars should be right up your street."
"Yeah, guess it is." Ryoko dimpled, nodding her head. "All right. You have a point. I'm just not sure I'm cut out for positions of responsibility. Still, we'll see. It is nice, having my own money. It means that nights - and days - in Osaka are a lot less dull when you're in class, that's for sure."
"Term starts again soon." Tenchi remembered. "Time seems to pass so quickly sometimes – even considering what Washu's done to Earth's time axis, it still seems to speed along."
"At least not all of your friends think I'm hellspawn now." Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Just some of them – and I can live with that."
"Sakura's always been too curious for her own good – so I guess I'm not surprised she relented in the end. Not once she realised the Earth was accepting you as a good guy, and all of that." Tenchi looked thoughtful. He smiled sheepishly. "And Ikeda just wants to know if you have any pretty alien friends he can get together with. Honestly, if I have to deal with one more conversation about what alien girls are 'like'…"
Ryoko chuckled appreciatively.
"So that's how his mind works." She said, a twinkle in her amber eyes. "Did you tell him, Tenchi?"
"What do you think?" Tenchi raised his eyebrow. "I told him they were more than he'd ever be able to handle."
"And so we are." Ryoko said pensively. "It takes a special kind of guy to hold our notice for more than a minute."
"Well, if Jurai and Earth continue to foster this friendship, he might eventually find that out for himself." Tenchi shrugged his shoulders. "Always assuming any Juraians will want to come stop on the Earth. Grandpa was a special case…I'm not sure it holds much appeal for most people."
"I don't know. Everyone likes a relaxing holiday in the back of beyond." Ryoko smirked. "Who knows? Perhaps you're right."
"We'll be back flitting between Osaka and the mountains again for a few weeks, once term begins." Tenchi observed. "You sure you don't mind tagging around with me, Ryoko-chan?"
"Of course not." Ryoko shook her head. "I think I'm nomadic by nature, anyway...must be all that tribal blood Washu pumped into me. Either way, I get restless easily - that's why I like space travel so much as I do. Travelling to Osaka and back is nice, and I suppose the pirate instinct is always there. It's never good to have only one base to hide out in - this way, I have two."
She grabbed him playfully by the hands, kissing him and taking him off guard as she pushed him back onto the grass. "And both of them have you, which is an added bonus."
"What are you doing?" Tenchi fought to sit up, but Ryoko laughed, holding him down and touching the tip of his nose with a teasing finger.
"Do you think I'm so drunk or so brazen as to seduce you right here, where anyone might see?" She asked playfully. Tenchi raised an eyebrow.
"Actually, yes." He admitted, finally managing to work himself free and pulling himself upright once more, leaning back against the tree trunk. "And sometimes I find it very hard to say no to you. So if you don't mind, we'll stop right there. You know we have to keep it down whilst we're on Jurai."
"You're so finicky when we're here." Ryoko sighed, eying him reproachfully as she scooped up the sake again, taking another gulp. "As if it matters that the Emperor is your great grandpa. When it comes to it, Tenchi, he's my great uncle, albeit a couple of times on the wrong side of the sheets. I'm not fussed what he makes of us...why are you? It isn't like you're in line to the throne now."
"No, but there are certain things I'd rather not make a public exhibition of." Tenchi told her gently. "Regardless of where we may or may not have taken our relationship when we're at home, Ryoko - even if there's noone around, this is an exposed spot and I won't embarrass Ayeka or Sasami or anyone else by abusing their hospitality."
"Blah. You're so Juraian sometimes." Ryoko looked resigned. She held out the bottle. "Here. You might as well drink up - you need to relax. I mean, seriously, Tenchi - it's just you and me and noone else is here. Everyone else is locked up in that stupid function room, and it's so nice, under the stars. Don't you think it would be romantic?"
She proffered the bottle again, and after a moment Tenchi took it.
"You're not getting me drunk." He warned her, taking a sip then setting it down. "It's warming and nice, but...Ryoko, you're teasing me, aren't you?" As he caught sight of the gleam in her eye. Ryoko laughed, leaning back against the tree as she nodded her head.
"Oh Tenchi, you're so much fun to play with sometimes." She said affectionately. "Even I'm not so forward as to try and seduce you in Azusa's front garden. I mean, seriously...even space pirates have their limits."
"I should have guessed." Relief coursed through Tenchi and he shook his head slowly, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "Even after all this time, I'm still too gullible to your tricks and your games."
Ryoko grinned unrepentantly.
"But that's the fun of it." She told him. "Eventually you'll learn - but till then I have to have my fun."
She sighed, gazing up at the tree's spreading branches.
"It's nice, our life together on the Earth." She murmured. "Don't you think so? Of all the futures I could have imagined when I was a pirate, Tenchi, this was never one of them. To think I'd be living with an absconded Prince of Jurai on the most remote planet the universe has to offer. That I'd give up raiding and looting to settle down and be respectable...even responsible for communications between the Earth and planet Jurai. I wouldn't have seen it, not in a million years. But somehow, it seems right that this is where I am. With you...like it's where I was always meant to end up. Somehow crashing onto the Earth was fate at work...I really believe that, sometimes."
"And I thought you just said it was too much sake that made you crash Ryo Ohki into the mountains that time." Tenchi eyed the bottle, then glanced at her. "Hey, how much of this did you drink, Ryoko? It's almost empty."
"Some." Ryoko dismissed it with a shrug. "And besides, fate works in mysterious ways, my Tenchi. Who's to say it wasn't fate that made me get drunk that day, and crash my ship to the Earth? If that's so, this stuff is probably verging on sacred or something. In which case, drinking it can't be a bad thing. Can it? After all, it's part of the reason we're together now - right?"
"Sometimes you are impossible." Tenchi eyed her in amusement, taking a final sip from the bottle and handing it back to her. "Here. If it's so sacred, you should finish it off. At least I know from past experience that it usually takes more than one bottle to send you to sleep."
"Yes, much more than one bottle." Ryoko agreed absently, obediently draining the vessel's contents and then returning it to the inner core of the tree. "There, and now noone will ever know. But all joking aside, Tenchi, I mean what I said. I didn't even really stop and think about love or that side of things until I met you. And then for a while it was all I could think about."
Tenchi flushed red at this, shaking his head.
"I've never completely understood what it is you see in me." he admitted. "I don't complain about it - but I don't always get why you gave up so much just to stay on the Earth. I know you had so much fun as a pirate."
"Had. Past tense." Ryoko shook her head. "It's empty when you know there's something else. I could take everything I ever wanted, Tenchi. Noone could catch me or get in my way. But you know what? After I left you on Jurai that first time, when I thought I'd never see you again, I just felt lonely. I didn't want to raid or steal or do any of those things I'd always got a kick out of. I just wanted company. Yours, to be specific. Can't explain how or why, but you changed everything - just like that."
She shrugged, looking rueful.
"Or maybe it was all that Earth sake." She acknowledged with a sheepish grin. "Either way, it's true. I think that you understood me better than anyone had before, and tried to give me the benefit of the doubt. You were good to me and that's something I never had before."
She touched his cheek pensively.
"You were the first man to ever love me." She murmured, shuffling closer to him as a cool wind whipped through the tree's branches. "And the first man to ever steal this pirate's heart, too. You see what I mean, Tenchi-kun? It really was fate."
She kissed him gently, and Tenchi slipped his arm around her shoulders, a warm glow settling inside of him at her words. Strange as his life had become, he reasoned, he knew that he wouldn't change it for anything now.
"Tenchi!"
The sound of a voice broke them apart and Tenchi glanced around him anxiously for the speaker, pulling back from Ryoko's embrace as he struggled to see through the darkness. Ryoko sent him a long-suffering look, then flickered out of view, re-appearing level with the tree's branches as she drew her hands together, light sparking from them and illuminating more of the surrounding area. As she did so, Tenchi could make out the form of his father heading towards them and he sighed, pulling himself to his feet and dusting down his formal clothing, all too aware suddenly of the dust and leaf litter that clung to him.
"Tenchi? Ryoko? Are you out here?"
"I'm here, Dad." Tenchi raised his hand in a wave. "What is it? Is something wrong?"
"There you are." Noboyuki reached them, casting a glance up at Ryoko, then offering his son a smile. "Ayeka asked me if I could find you. The Emperor is going to make some kind of a speech and I think she feels you should both be there...I think it has something to do with the links with the Earth, although I really have no idea."
He pursed his lips.
"Ayeka didn't seem pleased when she thought you'd snuck out." He added, eying his son curiously. "What have you two been up to, to get leaves all over you like that? Come on, Tenchi - you can tell me. After all, if you can't share with your father, who can you share with?"
"We've just been talking, Otosan, that's all." Ryoko dropped down at Tenchi's side. "Sorry to disappoint, but even I draw the line at seduction in the middle of the Jurai Palace grounds."
"Ah, I see." Tenchi stifled his resignation as he saw a look of disappointment cross his father's face. "Oh well, then. You better dust yourself down, or people will start to talk about it, anyway."
"He has a point, Tenchi. You're covered with the things." Ryoko eyed him critically, and Tenchi sighed.
"Well, if you will roll me in the leaf litter as part of your game, then are you really surprised?" He demanded, oblivious to the expression that his words brought to Noboyuki's face. Ryoko smirked, shaking her head.
"Well, you could go change." She suggested. "Or you could let me dust you down, Tenchi...although it might take a while, and I can't guarantee where it might lead."
"Stop it." Tenchi glowered at her, and the pirate laughed, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, don't say I didn't offer." She said, unperturbed. "I'll hover on ahead and tell them you're coming, shall I? That you had an urgent, um, call of nature...or something?"
"Ryoko..." Tenchi began, but Noboyuki nodded his head, casting the pirate a grin.
"That's a good idea, Ryoko." He agreed. "Leave Tenchi to me...I'll make sure he turns up looking presentable."
"All right, then. I'll see you soon." Ryoko hesitated for a moment, resting her hands on Tenchi's shoulders as she kissed him gently on the lips. Then she was gone, and Tenchi found himself alone with his father in the dark once more.
It was Noboyuki who broke the silence.
"Well, my boy, and I didn't think you had it in you." He said. Tenchi sighed.
"Dad, we weren't doing anything." He said wearily. "Just talking, like Ryoko said."
"And rolling in the leaf litter?" Nobyuki demanded. "You don't have to lie to me, Tenchi. I can see from the state of your clothes. Besides, you shouldn't be ashamed. Ryoko's an attractive young woman. You'd be strange if you didn't want to think about those things - even in the grounds of the royal palace."
"Dad." Tenchi shook his head in exasperation. "Oh, never mind. You won't believe me, so I'll save my breath. Can you just help me get this mess off? I'd rather the whole of Jurai's upper classes didn't think I'd been romping around the garden in some wild orgy, anyhow."
"Well, I can try." Noboyuki squinted at his son in the moonlight. "But to be honest, Tenchi, I was looking for you for another reason, also. When Ayeka told me she didn't know where you were, I offered to find you because I knew Azusa's speech was coming up. But it will be a few minutes yet - and I've been thinking on this for some time. Besides, I don't think you're going to get clean here in the dark. Come inside and I'll see what I can do for you. My room is closer than yours, and noone will see us if we take the back way."
"Now you've confused me." Tenchi frowned, his brows drawing together in confusion. "You've been thinking on what, exactly? Stalking me when I'm alone with Ryoko, in case you catch us doing something we shouldn't? Because I don't need a chaperone, Dad...and no offence, but if I did, I'd rather it wasn't you."
Noboyuki laughed, shaking his head.
"Believe me, my son, I see nothing wrong with a healthy young male like you making the most out of life." He said reflectively. "No, it's something quite different. Will you follow me? I've something I want to show you. I brought it with me, because here seemed as good a place as any to discuss it with you. But we've been so caught up in everything - I was half thinking I'd have to take it back home with me, and try and tackle you there."
Tenchi stared at him, and Noboyuki shrugged.
"This way." he said simply, and in silence the two men made their way inside, Noboyuki leading the way into the small, comfortable chamber that had been his refuge since they had arrived on Jurai some days earlier. Tenchi eyed his reflection in the mirror pool, shaking his head slowly.
"You have a point. I do look like I've been romping." He said sadly. "Isn't there a clothes brush or something? Dad, give me a hand here? I can't reach the back."
"In a moment, Tenchi." Noboyuki rummaged in the drawers of his oaken cabinet, finally retrieving what he was looking for and sitting down on the bed. He indicated for Tenchi to join him and at length the young prince did so, eying him curiously.
"Well? What is all this about?" He asked.
"This." Noboyuki held out the object he had been seeking, and Tenchi took it, turning it over in his hands. It was a small box, black in hue, and as he examined it he realised it was a jewellery box, albeit old and marked with the name of a store that had long since closed down. He frowned, glancing at his father for a clue as to what to do. Noboyuki gestured towards it.
"Open it." He said softly. Tenchi did so, a gasp of surprise escaping his lips as he registered the contents.
"But...this was Mom's engagement ring." He murmured. "She used to wear it...all the time!"
"It was, and she did, and she'd be gratified you remembered. It's a long time ago, after all." Noboyuki smiled. "Before she died, Tenchi, she entrusted that to me. She wanted me to give it to you whenever I knew the time was right. I'm not sure what made her so certain you should have it - I always felt that she had suspicions about your future, even before we knew about your grandfather's past and what it really meant. Almost as if she had a memory of something - a fleeting hint of things that were to come."
He shrugged.
"Either way, she told me that you should have it, once she'd gone." He added softly, and Tenchi could see the emotion in the back of his father's eyes. "So that one day, when you found the one you wanted to spend your life with, you could pass it on and make a new connection with it. Even though ours was broken, Tenchi, your mother and I were always very happy. I think she felt that, if you had her ring, it would bless your own future bonds in the same way. And, thinking about things as I have been for a while, I think it's time you had it."
Tenchi stared at the ring, for a moment struck speechless by his father's words. Then, very carefully, he removed it from the box, turning it over in his hands.
"Mom...wanted me to...?" he faltered, then, "But Dad, why now? I don't understand. And why on Jurai?"
"Why now?" Noboyuki raised an eyebrow. "I know you've always been slow with women, Tenchi, but surely even you must have noticed that you have a particularly attractive young lady hanging on to your arm these days. One who's risked her life for you on many occasions and who's already taken to calling me Father recently, without either of you even realising it. Please tell me I taught you better than that!"
"Ryoko?" Tenchi stared, then bit his lip. "Dad, we've not even talked...I mean, Ryoko and I have never...that is to say..."
He trailed off, and Noboyuki laughed.
"I know, but it seemed the right thing to do anyway." He said. "And now I've done what your mother asked of me, it's in your hands as to what you do next. I'm not giving it to you in order to tell you what choices to make. I'm giving it to you in case you decide to make choices - now it's up to you."
"I see." Tenchi glanced at the ring once more, then, very carefully, he returned it to the box. "Why here, though? Why not on the Earth?"
"These days you're so busy on the Earth I feel I hardly see you." Noboyuki looked regretful. "And besides, considering your mother's origins, it almost seemed prophetic...to bring it to Jurai and give it to you in the midst of all these celebrations. I've kept it for a long time, Tenchi. It's good to finally keep the last promise I ever made her in this life."
"I had no idea she'd even thought about it." Tenchi looked pensive. "I wonder what she knew."
"Well, I couldn't tell you. She never really said anything at all." Noboyuki admitted. "It was just then, before she...went."
He bit his lip, and Tenchi was aware of his father's emotions once again.
"Maybe coming that close to death helps you see things others can't." He added. "Either way, she seemed to know you'd need it. So I gave her my word, and she seemed happy, then."
"Mother." Tenchi clutched the box tightly in his hands. "I'll take good care of it, Dad. Don't worry about that. And I'll remember what you said, about it being up to me."
"Then I've done my job." Noboyuki looked relieved. "And now that I have, let's see about making you more presentable. Azusa is not the kind of man you want to offend, and we're really going to be cutting it tight if we don't get a move on soon!"