Chapter Six
On the Earth, everything was still.
In the expansive, dimly lit laboratory, machines whirred and whispered, processing files and data with every passing second. In the furthermost corner of the room, a petite, dark haired girl sat hunched over her desk, a look of concentration in her pale lilac eyes as bit by bit she processed the computer readouts.
"Yume?"
At the sound of the voice, the girl turned, a smile touching her lips as she got to her feet.
"Washu-san." She murmured softly. "I'm glad to see you. I have a lot to report."
"There's only one thing I want a report on right now, Yume." Washu looked tired, the droid realised, as she undid her cloak from around her shoulders, dropping it carelessly down atop a computer unit. The machine whirred its objection to the extra weight, but Washu paid it no heed, and Yume frowned.
"On that, I have little to say." She admitted. "Washu, she's no worse...but I can't say she's any better, either. I did all the things you suggested I do, but it hasn't seemed to make any difference. Ryoko is stable, but she doesn't seem to be responding on any level."
"Not at all, huh?" Washu's lips thinned, and she crossed the floor to the slim pallet bed that had been pushed carelessly up against the wall. On the floor beside it were blankets, marking Yume's dedicated vigil, but even so the droid felt helpless. She shrugged, watching her mentor approach the bedside, placing a finger to the cheek of the woman who lay there. She closed her eyes, and Yume knew that the scientist was not far from tears.
"First Tokimi, now Ryoko." She whispered. "I really am cursed."
"There's nothing in my database which suggests curses are either logical or possible." Yume said gently, coming to join her companion. After a moment of hesitation, she slipped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Washu-san, this isn't your fault. None of it is. And she lives. She breathes. Like as not she was stunned by the blast...her biology is strong, and she probably just needs a day or two to recover her wits."
"It may not be my fault directly." Washu said pensively. "But if I'd had my magic, Yume, I would have been able to protect Ryo Ohki from that pirate's attack. As it is, my daughter lies in a coma, her spaceship is badly hurt from the blast and if it hadn't been for Nagi, we'd not have made it to the Earth at all. I swear, sometimes we owe that woman more favours than I can ever repay - but she's always there when we need her the most."
"Nagi's ship was also bruised in the blast." Yume reflected. "But I think Ryo Ohki's recovery is impeded by Ryoko's lack of contact. She can't break through either, Washu-san. She's tried, because I found her in here this morning when I woke up, scratching at Ryoko's bed and whining. Wounded as she is, I can't make her rest for long. She's not used to the bond being broken, and it scares her."
"It scares me, also." Washu admitted. "It takes a great deal to forcibly break the bond between Ryoko and Ryo Ohki, Yume. I know, because I designed both of them. I've only seen it happen once before, and that time Ryoko lost her life briefly aboard the pirate ship Karasu. Tsunami's magic brought her back then - but this time we don't have Tsunami."
"Ryoko isn't dead, Washu." Yume said softly. Washu spread her hands.
"Maybe not, but Nagi did say when she first drew her aboard Ken Ohki that she didn't seem to be breathing." She admitted. "I'm still not completely sure myself what happened out there. That pirate ship's beam was powerful, that's for sure - and Ryoko was foolhardy, facing it like she did without knowing what she was up against. But even so, with her powers as strong as they are...it just doesn't make any sense to me. And if it hadn't been for Tenchi's Light Hawk Wings, we'd probably all have been blown to smithereens. As it is..."
"Tenchi." Yume's expression became sad. "The way he was last night, Washu - through all of the last six months, I've always felt that we were friends - that I could talk to him and he to me. But last night it was like I had never met him before...like he was some stranger, unable to speak or think clearly. I never saw him raise his voice to you or to Lord Katsuhito, when you forced him to leave this room. I never saw him so...so..."
She faltered, unable to find an adequate word in her vocabulary.
"Well, Tenchi and Ryoko are close." Washu said heavily. "Perhaps too close. Who knows? Maybe Tenchi will be the thing to pull her out of this stupor of hers. But in the state he was last night, I couldn't let him stay. I needed to concentrate - we both did. And Tenchi was in no condition to help. Like you, I've never seen him lose his cool so easily. It was almost scary."
She spread her hands.
"It was bad of me, but I resorted to sedating him last night." She admitted. "And I may do the same again tonight, if he can't be more rational. It's bad enough that we have to deal with this, without all of this emotion. I need to hold it together if I'm going to work out what I'm doing, but since I lost my magic, I've felt less fiercely in control of my emotions. I've not had to rein it in so much, I suppose...and Tsunami's magic has affected me the way it affects everyone. I feel things more deeply in some respects - in ways I've not let myself for centuries. Like my life has been switched back on - and right now, I heartily wish it had not. I find it hard to think of Ryoko as science some days. This is one of them."
She glanced up.
"Yume, will you leave me with her for a while?" She asked. "I want to run some tests of my own, and I need the peace and quiet. Besides, you need a break. You've been down here pretty much the whole time and even though you were built to withstand a lot, it's not fair on you. I did tell you that you wouldn't be my servant if you stayed here with us - and I'm breaking my word unforgiveably."
"Well, Ryoko and I were never friends at first glance." Yume cast a look at the still patient, then shrugged. "But we've grown to accept one another, since then. And I don't mind helping, Washu-san. I owe you much more than I can ever repay...it's no bother."
"You are a godsend." Washu flashed her a smile. "And what I'd do without you now, I don't know. I'm glad that one of us still has the ability to be logical and rational. It helps."
"I try." Yume returned the smile. "Don't work too hard, Washu-san. I still believe Ryoko will be fine."
She hesitated, then turned on her heel, flicking a switch as the door of the lab materialised before her, and stepping through it into the hallway of the Masaki house. There was noone in evidence, but the sound of soft voices drifted across to her from the lounge and she made her way in that direction, pushing open the door and slipping into the room. The two occupants – bounty hunter and shrine priest – glanced up at her entrance, Katsuhito sending her a sober smile. He gestured for her to join them and Yume did so, casting his companion a wary look. Nagi met her gaze for a moment, then she raised an eyebrow.
"Well?" She asked softly.
"There's no change and Washu is going to run some tests." Yume said slowly. "Nagi-san, we're all very grateful to you for…for…"
She faltered, and Nagi offered her an emotionless smile.
"For almost blowing up my own spaceship up trying to rescue her?" She asked, irony in her tones. "Yes, that was clever of me, wasn't it?"
"Ken Ohki isn't badly wounded, Nagi." Katsuhito said quietly. "And he's in the right hands with Washu and Yume. I'm sure he'll be fit to fly in a day or two – and meanwhile, you're always welcome to stay as long as you need here. I know my son in law and my grandson would agree."
"It doesn't look like I have a lot of choice." Nagi acknowledged matter of factly.
Katsuhito smiled, seemingly un-offended by his houseguest's brusqueness. He stood, glancing up at the clock on the wall.
"I must return to the shrine." He said regretfully. "Life must go on, regardless of what it throws at us."
With that he withdrew, and Yume found herself alone with Nagi.
It was the bounty hunter who broke the silence first.
"And Ryo Ohki? How long before she'll be airborne again?"
"I don't know." Yume spread her hands. "Washu's tended to her, but Ryo Ohki doesn't want to leave Ryoko alone for very long. It's not helping her to rest or heal."
Nagi was silent for a moment, mulling this over. Then she shrugged her shoulders.
"I wouldn't expect any less from her." She admitted. "She has a lot of loyalty."
She glanced idly at her hands, turning them over as she did so.
"I almost had Shank, that time." She added darkly. "I don't know when I'll next have such a good chance to run him aground. With Daidalos damaged, he's easy pickings for anyone who knows how to trace him – but by the time Ken Ohki is space-worthy again, he'll have long since vacated the sector. I can't pretend I'm pleased. I always take great pride in securing the heads of the Daluma…but his in particular."
"So that's what you do? You go round space killing criminals and selling their bodies to the Galaxy Police for the reward?" Yume looked startled. Nagi looked amused.
"You make me sound barbaric." She responded, although Yume felt that her strange companion saw it more as a compliment than a slight. "But yes. I suppose that's what I do."
"Then that's how you know Ryoko." Yume frowned. "But how did you come to be friends with her? It seems illogical."
"Friends?" Now Nagi was clearly offended, for she was on her feet, one hand straying to the whip that still clung protectively to her belt. Yume flinched back, clenching her fists as she prepared to throw a forcefield around her body, but the bounty hunter seemed to relax, releasing her grip on her weapon and leaning idly back against the panel wall. She smiled, and Yume could see a rueful amount of acceptance in the woman's eye.
"Ryoko and I are not friends." She continued more calmly, pursing her lips as she spoke. "But nor are we the deadliest of enemies. We were…yes, once we were. But I have more sense than to become tangled in the affairs of a planet such as Jurai. And Ryoko has learnt there are other ways to make money than to pillage the universe. As such, there is no longer bounty on her life, and the costs of bringing her to battle would far outweigh the reward. I'm not foolish."
"But you did help her. So you must care if she's alive or not." Yume looked confused. Nagi laughed.
"Ken Ohki is very good at talking me into things." She admitted. "And he cares for Ryo Ohki. That's all. I'm here because I'm too fond of listening to the whims of lovesick cabbits. Not out of any real affection for Ryoko."
"I see." Yume did not see, but decided it was safer not to pursue the point. "Well, either way, we're grateful. Especially Tenchi. Even if he hasn't said as much to you yet."
"I don't put much faith in the manners of Juraian princes." Nagi said frankly. "Believe me, I'm not at all bothered about Tenchi Masaki. He marks the downward spiral of Ryoko's life – truly, it's not worth fighting her these days. She's grown soft…and I prefer a challenge."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, since I'm stuck on this planet, I suppose I might as well take a proper look at it from the outside." She remarked off-handedly. "If you want me, Ken Ohki will know how to contact me."
Before Yume could respond, she was gone, and the droid frowned, shaking her head slowly as she tried to process the bounty hunter's enigmatic demeanour.
"Washu said she was a friend, but I find it hard to understand how or why." She reasoned at last, a rueful smile touching her lips. "I suppose I do have a lot still to learn about being human. But even so, and even though Ryoko and I can fight, I'm glad Nagi intervened. I have faith in Ryoko's strength, even if Washu is not so sure. What happened in space was cataclysmic, but Ryoko is not dead. Therefore it seems logical that time is all she needs to heal and recover herself fully."
A sound from the doorway made her glance up, her features softening as she registered the identity of her companion.
"Hello, Tenchi-kun." She said gently. "Everyone is coming and going such a lot today - I didn't realise you were home as well."
"I'm here, for all the good it does me." Tenchi looked sheepish. "Yume-san, I'm sorry for how I acted last night. I...I wasn't thinking quite straight. It was..."
"You're forgiven." Yume shook her head. "And Washu and Lord Katsuhito understand, also. It's a stressful time."
"It was just the shock." Tenchi glanced at his hands, hesitating, then coming to sit beside her. "I knew we'd become close, you know, I just didn't realise how close. These things sneak up on you. We've had such a good time, over the last six months. Like, well, a proper couple. At last I feel like Ryoko has settled on the Earth as herself. She's involved in all the negotiations between Jurai and this planet over security...and she's even proving to be quite good at it."
"Washu says she has a particular talent for arguing." Yume's eyes flickered slightly with humour and Tenchi offered her a faint smile. He nodded.
"I guess she does." He agreed softly. "Thank you, Yume. I appreciate you trying, at least."
"I don't understand what it is you're feeling." Yume admitted truthfully. "But I don't like how Ryoko's accident has made me feel, either. So I can only imagine it's worse for you...and I don't like seeing you upset, Tenchi-kun."
"I'm trying to do as Washu said last night, and be strong for Ryoko." Tenchi ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. "Though how that helps when she won't let me in the lab to see her is anyone's guess. She's put a seal on the door, Yume - and it repels me right back to my bedroom if I try. I think she thinks I'll lose my mind again - but I won't. I want to see her."
He shrugged, glancing across towards the window.
"I tried to take my mind off it, walking in the mountains like I used to when I was a child." He added. "But all I ended up doing was visiting Mother's grave and telling her everything. Which didn't make me feel much better, if I'm honest. It just made me think of something Dad said to me when we were on Jurai - and now things are all messed up."
"Nagi-san is staying. At least for now."
"I suppose with Ken Ohki battered, she's a bit stuck." Tenchi mused.
"I find her hard to understand, Tenchi-kun. She kills people and seems to enjoy it. But...she operates on the side of good?"
"Nagi is Nagi. There's no other way to explain her...she's completely unique." Tenchi frowned. "And she and Ryoko have quite a history. It won't be the first time Nagi's got involved to protect Ryoko's life, but she'll probably never admit to it if you ask her. I don't know what her motives are either, sometimes. But I'm glad she was there. When Daidalos's blast blew us out of Ryo Ohki into space, I wasn't sure I could hold us for long. My magic is so unpredictable and I don't even remember trying to do it...it just happened. But the explosion hurt Ryo Ohki badly enough to make her transform and without Ken Ohki's intervention, we'd have been done for up there."
"Can we trust her?"
"Yes, Yume, I believe we can." Tenchi said quietly. "Whatever else Nagi does and is, she's ruthlessly honest and straight. She believes very rigidly in her code of honour, and she'll stick to it tooth and nail. Whether it makes sense to anyone else or not."
"Then perhaps she will help us again, somehow."
"How do you mean?" Tenchi looked surprised.
"If Ryoko knows her, maybe she can help bring her round."
"Yume, if Washu and I couldn't bring Ryoko round, I hardly think Nagi will." Tenchi said sadly, and a pang hit Yume's robotic heart as she registered the melancholy in his brown eyes. "No, Nagi's done her part and as soon as Ken Ohki is well, she'll leave. But I'm grateful to her, anyway. After all, if she hadn't have intervened, none of us would have survived."
He sighed.
"Least of all Ryoko."