Chapter Eight
It was another long, dreary day.
Tenchi sat back against the tree in the campus grounds, watching with little interest as classmates and fellow students greeted one another, exchanging stories and anecdotes as they hurried to their next classes. He glanced down at his lunch, barely picked at despite how carefully Yume had prepared it, and he sighed, pushing it absently back into his bag and gazing up instead at the cloudless sky. It didn't matter where he was or what he tried to do, his mind was still locked into Washu's laboratory, back home in the mountains.
"Tenchi-kun?"
He glanced up at the sound of a voice, offering a faint smile as he registered the presence of Sakura Ito, one of his classmates and friends. She hesitated for a moment, then sat down beside him, curling her feet underneath her as she shot him a quizzical glance.
"Where are you today, Tenchi?" She asked softly. "Because it's not on Planet Earth, that's for certain."
"I'm not sure I'm in the mood for the twenty questions, Sakura." Tenchi said tiredly. "It's a long week - that's all. A very long week. And this is the last place I feel like being at the moment."
"Something's happened." Sakura deduced, eying him keenly. "You're not eating?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Then something has definitely happened." Humour glittered in Sakura's dark eyes. "But you know you can trust me, Tenchi-kun. Don't you?"
"Yes, but I don't want to freak you out any more than I already have done this school year." Tenchi sighed. "And besides, I don't know exactly what to tell you, to be honest. It's all still a bit of a blur in my head."
"Does this have something to do with the trip you took over the holidays?" Sakura eyed him curiously. "Weren't you going to...to that planet Jurai for some reason or other?"
"Yes." Tenchi nodded his head. "And we did. To my cousin's Seijin No Hi celebration. But..."
He faltered, glancing at his hands.
"It all got a bit complicated. And like I said, I don't want to scare you."
"Tenchi, since last autumn, you've introduced me to a girlfriend who flies, walks through walls and blows things up with her hands." Sakura said ruefully. "You've revealed to me that you're part alien and that your grandfather - the shrine priest - was almost Emperor of the most powerful planet in the universe. And if that wasn't enough, Earth is now spinning on a different time axis - although I don't feel any difference - and we're suddenly involved in all this interstellar contact and communication. If all of that hasn't turned me grey and sent me running for the hills, I doubt much else will. I can take it, I promise. I've had time to get used to the fact your life is only a little bit shy of total insanity."
Tenchi glanced at his hands.
"We were attacked by pirates on the way back home." he admitted softly.
"Pirates?" Sakura frowned. "I thought they sailed the seas, not surged through space. Although, come to think of it...didn't you say Ryoko was a pirate, once upon a time? How come they attacked you?"
"Space Pirates, Sakura." Tenchi fought down his impatience. "Violent looters and thieves who patrol deep space looking for easy targets. And Ryoko might have been one, once. She isn't, now. Besides, different pirates belong to different gangs - or so she said. Although if you ask me, it was more a case of they saw us and wanted to blow us to pieces. Just for fun."
"I really hope your girlfriend wasn't that kind of pirate." Sakura frowned, and Tenchi shook his head.
"Ryoko isn't a monster. I told you I didn't want to freak you out." He said reproachfully, and Sakura sighed.
"I'm not freaked out." She said, holding up her hands in surrender. "Actually, I quite like Ryoko, now I know she's on the good guys' team and isn't about to kill us all. She's odd and all, but I guess that's all right. I mean, when it comes down to it, you're pretty odd too. Living in the mountains and zipping through space and all of that."
"Right now, that isn't helping."
"So what happened, then?" Sakura softened her tones. "You obviously made it back here, so you escaped the pirates - didn't you?"
"We did, but Ryoko was hurt trying to protect Ryo Ohki." Tenchi sighed. "She's been unconscious since we got back and even Washu hasn't managed to raise her. I don't know what's wrong, Sakura. But I do know that I'm scared. I think we all are...but I didn't realise how much I really would miss her now, if she didn't come back."
"I see." Sakura's expression softened. "I'm sorry, Tenchi. But have you taken her to a hospital? Perhaps someone could help her better there. I know you like to keep things private, up in the mountains, but..."
"Ryoko isn't from the Earth." Tenchi shook his head. "They wouldn't know where to begin. Besides, there's nothing any doctor on Earth could do that Washu couldn't do in her sleep. Unfortunately this time even she seems to be stumped - and she knows Ryoko's biology better than anyone."
"Washu-san is Ryoko's mother, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is." Tenchi rubbed his temples. "Let's just say the atmosphere back home isn't exactly chirpy right at the moment."
"So if you're so distracted, why are you in class today?" Sakura asked gently. Tenchi grimaced.
"Because Washu says that if the Earth finds out one of their newly appointed liasons was gunned down by pirates en route from Jurai, they might take fright and stop all communications." He said darkly. "Earth are still skittish about the whole long distance thing and it wouldn't take them much to pull back and stop trusting Jurai. It's bad enough that Washu has been so distracted from her own duties - this would be even worse. So...we have to keep it a secret. People here still don't know if they like the idea of alien alliances or not. If they think there's danger, travelling so far, they won't want to know."
"Well, it's not endearing me to the idea of travelling so far this summer." Sakura admitted. "Are there a lot of pirates in space, Tenchi?"
"Probably, but this was the first time we've been properly attacked by any." Tenchi grimaced. "Galaxy Police, Jurai military, rogue ships piloted by resurrected lunatics - maybe a different matter. But a direct attack by guild pirate ships? Not really."
"Maybe the Earth would be better off without space travel, then." Sakura shivered, glancing up towards the sky. "I mean, if all those things are out there..."
"But they've always been there." Tenchi reminded her. "Washu's argument is that the work she and her team are doing will help to protect Earth from outside attack. And of course, if Earth can accept Jurai's help, then it will accept Grandfather and Ryoko and Washu and I living here."
He frowned, biting his lip.
"Providing Ryoko survives. Sakura, I'm worried...and Washu won't even let me see her. She says I'm too emotionally unstable, and I'll upset her concentration."
"Are you going to class this afternoon?" Sakura asked gently. Tenchi shrugged his shoulders.
"I should." He admitted. "But whether I'll concentrate is anyone's guess. History of Art is not exactly top of my priorities at the moment."
"So go home." Sakura squeezed his hand. "I'll take notes for you, and you can catch up from them later. Really. If you're upset like this, you shouldn't be here. Ryoko might wake up and need you - mightn't she?"
"Chance would be a fine thing." Tenchi responded, but he cast her a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sakura-chan. I appreciate it."
He got to his feet, scooping up his bag and swinging it idly over his shoulder.
"Then I'll go and see if I can find a train to Kurashiki. You're right that I don't feel like being here. And I'm not going to learn anything if I stay. If anyone asks, tell them I wasn't feeling well. Nothing else...just that. Okay?"
"It's more than half true, so I will." Sakura nodded solemnly. "You can count on me, Tenchi."
"I know." Tenchi looked pensive. "I'm glad at least that you and Ikeda have come around to the whole extra-terrestrial idea, anyway. Bye, Sakura. I'll probably see you tomorrow...or the day after."
"All right." Sakura nodded her head. "Take care, and wish Ryoko my best, all right? Although she was tough enough to fly through a club fire. I'm sure she just got concussed and she'll be fine."
"That's what Yume said, but I wish I could believe it." Tenchi sighed. "Thanks at least for trying."
He raised his hand in a parting wave, then heading across the campus courtyard, heading across the city to the busy railway station and fumbling in his pocket for loose change as he did so. Though it was more than three hours journey to get home, he knew that staying in Osaka was more than impossible at the moment.
"She's not back at the apartment, and I've got used to having her there when I'm at school." He mused, kicking idly at a stone and watching it roll into the gutter. "I'll speak to Washu. See if we can come to terms. After all, Ryoko is important to me and she'd want me to be there. Maybe I'd make a difference. Who knows? It's worth a try."
It was already dark by the time he reached his mountain home, and he pushed open the front door, dropping his bag down on the floor and leaning up against the wall. He glanced at the door of the store cupboard that had successfully hidden Washu's lab from sight for so long, and frowned.
"Washu?" He called. "Come out of there, will you? I want to talk to you."
There was a moment of silence, then the door swung open and the scientist poked her head around it, wild red hair pulled back beneath a scarf and a mixture of curiosity and irritation in her green eyes.
"And what are you doing home?" She scolded. "What did I tell you this morning, Tenchi? You need to be in Osaka. They need to see everything go on as normal. And there's nothing you can do here except get in my way!"
"I don't care what people think. Things aren't normal and it's doing noone any good pretending that they are." Tenchi said firmly. "I want to see her, Washu. I'm not going to freak out, or throw a fit, or yell. I just want some time with Ryoko and I don't think that's unreasonable."
"I really don't need you in my hair, Tenchi." Washu frowned, and Tenchi could see the tiredness in her expression. "Although I suppose I can't lock you away from her forever. But you can't stay here - I mean, you must go back to Osaka tomorrow. People will notice, and we don't need more questions being asked than already are being."
"Then find me a way to get there without needing to stay in the city overnight." Tenchi said frankly. "Because I'm not staying alone in that apartment. It's not fair, Washu - you know Ryoko always comes back with me, now. I can't go back there and try and act like everything is fine."
"All right." Washu sighed, but nodded her head. "I'll rig up some kind of dimensional doorway so that you can get to Osaka more quickly while this is going on. If you want the truth, I need a break from Ryoko's brain for a few hours, anyway."
She hesitated, then held out her hand to him.
"Come on in." She added. "It's all right - my trigger only works if you come in uninvited."
"Thank you." Tenchi took her hand, allowing her to lead him into the dark expanse of her lab. "Are you still stumped? You always work things out so quickly, Washu - I don't like that this has you as confused as the rest of us."
"No, not really." Washu ran her fingers through the stray wisps of hair that framed her face, shaking her head. "I know what's wrong with Ryoko, Tenchi. I finally figured that out at the very least."
"You did?" Hope flickered in Tenchi's heart. "Then you can help her?"
"I don't know." Washu admitted, and Tenchi could hear the unguarded frustration in her voice. She banged her hand down hard on the nearby computer unit, making him jump at her sudden loss of temper.
"I don't damn well know!" She added crossly. "And it's driving me to distraction that I can't find a way to bring her back!"
"And you told me to calm down." Tenchi looked startled. "Washu, this isn't like you!"
"I know." Washu acknowledged bitterly. "But I'm angry, Tenchi. Up till six months ago I had the magic to go in and resolve all of this, but I never thought about it then. Never used it. Never even cared that it was there. Now, when my daughter damn well needs me to muster it, it's no longer there. The one time in my whole life when I've needed my Kii ancestry and I don't have it to call upon! Wouldn't that make you mad, if you needed the Light Hawk Wings and they suddenly weren't there? This is Ryoko's life in the balance, and dammit, science can't save her!"
Tenchi eyed her keenly.
"Kii magic could help her?" He asked at length. Washu sighed, taking a deep breath as she fought to calm herself.
"In a manner of speaking Kii magic caused it." She said darkly. "Tenchi, Ryoko isn't suffering from concussion. In fact, she's not even unconscious - not really. What we've been interpreting as symptoms of a shock induced coma are actually not that at all."
"Then what?" Tenchi approached the bedside, sitting hesitantly down as he sought to take the patient's slim hand in his. "If she's not comatose, what is wrong with her?"
"Ryoko is half Kii...and she inherited a random sweep of magic from me when I created her." Washu said heavily. "I was far more focused on her father's side of the equation at the time, because I wanted to be sure she could carry those gems and use them against him. But she's fifty percent my DNA as well as his. Her teleportation, her phasing, her light energy - all of them were powers Kagato possessed, but I don't know what dark spirits he rose to use them. They're also skills possessed by the Kii priests and priestesses - so Ryoko got a double dose. Are you with me so far?"
"Yes, all that makes sense." Tenchi nodded. "But it doesn't explain why she's not waking up."
"I'm getting there." Washu snapped. "When Tokimi manifested Kihaku's magic, she had all of those powers but also other things as well. Things which I had but always ignored...and things that Ryoko obviously inherited, although neither of us ever realised it."
She sighed, dropping down into her chair and folding her arms across her chest. In that instance the vibrant, cheeky scientist looked older than Tenchi had ever seen her, and despite his own anxiety he felt a pang of sympathy for his companion, who had always put such faith in science to solve all of her problems.
"Have you ever heard of near death experiences?" Washu's question startled him back to himself, and he stared at her, nodding his head.
"Yeah, I think so." He said, surprised. "People talk about seeing white lights or whatever...or seeing their bodies below them...and then they wake up and it was all like some weird dream?"
"Sort of." Washu nodded. "You're part way there. Science on your planet hasn't really managed to define these events yet, so they tend to confine them to the box marked paranormal or unexplained. However, they aren't near death experiences so much as trauma-induced astral projections. The mind and the body are two seperate entities confined in one space. Usually they operate within distinct perameters, but in the event of a sudden shock or disaster, they can be unmeshed and this is what happens when a person experiences such an event."
"Okay, now you're starting to lose me." Tenchi frowned. "Astral projections?"
"To put it more simply, the mind loses the body and goes wandering on its own." Washu said quietly.
"And that's what's happened to Ryoko?"
"It's my best guess." Washu shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have a lot of data, which is frustrating to say the least. But as far as I can ascertain, Ryoko's mind is not responding to any of the usual stimuli. Ryo Ohki's connection is broken, which suggests that Ryoko's mind-state isn't in it's usual location. But she's not brain-dead. Her brain is actually functioning at a very high frequency - just not anywhere near what I would consider normal."
She sighed, twisting her fingers together absently in her lap.
"The Kii Priests and Priestesses used to use astral projection as a way to commune with Kihaku." She said slowly. "I can remember a few times when I was a girl that my father would do it, to ask the World for better harvests or milder winters. Tokimi used it to her own ends, to contact Seiryo Tennan and encourage him to do her bidding. Me, I never used it. The science of it was too muddly and inconcise and I never really bothered to pick it apart. And Ryoko..."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Ryoko's biology gives her a natural predisposition towards astral activity." She admitted. "I should have thought of it before, considering everything, but I didn't. The accident happened in the Sea of Sargasso, an area with high levels of spectral energy at the best of times. Any soul can split from their body under intense trauma, and Ryoko's seems to have done just that. Her genetic propensity to be able to do this has just made it happen a lot more easily, that's all."
"So...Ryoko's body is here, but her mind isn't?"
"Exactly."
"But if she isn't here...where is she?" Tenchi squeezed the pale hand between his fingers, eying the scientist anxiously. "I mean, you can bring her back - can't you? If you know what's causing it..."
"I don't know where she is." Washu confessed. "That's what I've spent most of the day trying to figure out. You see, that's the other thing, Tenchi. Near death experiences are usually momentary. A matter of minutes, rather than days. Even given her natural inclinations, Ryoko should have come back by now. It's not normal to maintain an astral projection for this long - even a deliberate one. They're brief snippets in time - a whisper of a world beyond this one. But Ryoko hasn't come back. Wherever she is, something is stopping her from returning. Which makes me suspect that wherever she's been drawn to, it isn't of her own free will. That there's some force preventing her from coming back. Unfortunately that's where my theorising breaks down. I don't know what could have caused that kind of occurance. And I don't have enough data. Ryoko could, quite literally, be anywhere. I really don't know where."
"You mean she might be watching us, even now?" Tenchi glanced around the room. Washu shook her head.
"I doubt it." She said. "Certainly none of my analyses have suggested that the solution is that simple, Tenchi. I don't think she's here at all. In fact, I'm not even sure she's on the Earth."
"Then where?" Tenchi was alarmed. "Still in space? Washu, does she think we've abandoned her to drift somewhere among the stars?"
"Or she's in a world cut off from ours completely."
"I thought astral projections were like walking out of your body - seeing things that were there, not imaginary things." Tenchi frowned. "Am I wrong?"
"No, in general you're not." Washu admitted. "This is part of the problem I'm having too. It's factor X - the unknown quantity in all of this. This is why I'm so sure there's an external force involved. I don't know what it is yet, and it's driving me mad that I can't pin it down. But Ryoko is vulnerable to suggestion and persuasion while in this state. You have to realise that when the mind seperates from the body, it can unleash all kinds of other things into the ether. Memories. Fears. Hopes. Dreams. Heartaches. Nightmares. All of these things spill out into the world and they can't always be reigned in again."
"And that's what's happened?"
"Maybe." Washu inclined her head slightly. "To know for sure, I need to go back up into space - back to where it happened. I don't have enough to work with down here so I can't make an accurate judgement on that."
"But Ryo Ohki is hurt, and she can't fly." Tenchi bit his lip. "How are you going to get up there?"
"Ryo Ohki is nowhere near fit, but Ken Ohki is just bruised." Washu said simply. "I'm going to ask for Nagi's help again."
"And if she refuses?"
"Well, I hope she won't." Washu looked pensive. "But I did create the cabbit ship. And I'm sure I can override her reluctance by introducing him to his creator, just like I did with Ryo Ohki."
"Ryo Ohki loves you because she knows you. Ken Ohki isn't going to turn traitor on Nagi." Tenchi objected. Washu smiled, though the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Perhaps you're right." She acknowledged. "After all, Ken Ohki was only one of my prototypes, and he was stolen from the Academy before I had time to perfect everything. No doubt he's too tightly bound to Nagi to change those things now...such is life, I suppose."
"Nagi stole him from the Academy?" Tenchi stared. Washu shook her head.
"No, I think that was Haki and his Daluma pirates." She responded with a shrug. "The pirates Ryoko said he turned on after he'd heisted the ship from it's docking. There was a lot that went missing that night. I dare say that Ken Ohki fell into Nagi's hands via that route. Bounty hunters do pick up pirates, after all. And they don't always turn in the goods they find aboard pirate ships."
"Nagi would have been too young...wouldn't she?"
"Maybe, but such careers tend to run in the family." Washu said matter-of-factly. "I've no doubt that Nagi came by her furry spaceship because someone in her family snared a pirate, and brought the cute little kitty home for his or her daughter to play with. I didn't spend too long worrying about it at the time, since I was always careful to seal all construction data within the craft - noone could have stolen or replicated it without my notes, even if they had wanted to find out how he was made. And I did say Ken Ohki - or those like him - were prototypes...imperfect. Ryo Ohki was the refined model. On reflection, his was a good basic design, but I always felt the ears were too big and the aerodynamics as a spacecraft were lacking, even if the outer form had a greater overall density."
She shrugged.
"Beggars can't be choosers, so I'll hope Nagi will hear me out." She said simply. "If nothing else, it might give her a lead on Tarant Shank. That might get her interest as much as anything else."
"Well, when you do go, Washu, I want to go with you." Tenchi said firmly. Washu frowned.
"It might be dangerous...I'm not sure I want you." She said reticently. Tenchi's eyes narrowed.
"If it's to help Ryoko, Washu, I'm coming." He said quietly. "I'm not defenceless, and I want to do what I can."
"Well, all right." Washu sighed. "Though let me do the negotiating with our bounty hunter friend, all right? She doesn't seem all too sweet on you."
"Okay." Tenchi nodded his head. "Just please, Washu, make her realise how important this is? We need to bring Ryoko back and if something - or someone - is stopping her, we need to find out what that something is!"
----------
There was so much blood.
As he cradled the small girl in his arms, the pirate felt a mixture of emotions flooding through his body. He clutched her tightly, putting a finger to her cheek as he willed her to open her eyes.
At length she did so, staring up at him with confused and fearful brown eyes. He bit his lip, unable to find words to say.
For a moment they remained there, pirate and child, as if time had stopped aboard the spaceship.
Then the sound of footsteps on the gantry above sparked the pirate into life and he got to his feet, carefully laying the girl down on the floor.
She blinked at him, parting her lips as if to speak, but no sound came out. He swallowed hard, watching as she drew a final, gasping breath. Then her eyes closed for the final time, and all was still.
The footsteps drew closer, and, frightened now, the pirate took a step and then another away from the girl's body, blood still staining his fingers as he turned on his heel, fleeing through the constricting corridors of the vessel. Logical thought abandoned him as he ran, all his usual evasion techniques becoming garbled and confused in his panic to get away.All he could think of was escape...that somehow, he had to get away from this place, and rinse the blood from his hands and his nightmares.
The pounding steps drew closer, and the terrified pirate was aware of the man's yell as he discovered the body of the little girl.
"Mirei!" He exclaimed.
In the belly of the Nagatabi, the girl stirred, anxiety flitting through her as she struggled to process the images that flooded through her mind. For a moment she was unable to seperate them from herself, but then, as each became more vividly clear, she realised that they weren't her own thoughts at all. She sighed, shaking her head at the melancholy that drifted around her.
Now she knew something more than just the fact she existed.
"Mirei." She murmured. "Who is she? Is...is she me?"
Another sensation washed over her muddled senses and she raised her gaze upwards, instinctively knowing that the ship's other passenger was awake and immediately above her. The woman's uncertainty washed over her as clearly as if it were her own, and she frowned, surging determinedly up towards the room that had once been some kind of elaborate sitting room in search of her companion.
As she had expected, the woman was there, rummaging absently through bits and pieces that had been boxed and dumped to one side of the room. As she glanced at the boxes, the girl realised that someone had reorganised the room and this recognition surprised her. She clung hold of the memory, frowning as she struggled to bring it more clearly to mind. Now she knew - the room had not always been so cluttered and unkempt. Once, she remembered, it had been bright and cheery and she had spent time here with her dolls and her games. She had always felt safe in this room, and this knowledge drew a smile to her face.
So she did have a past, and somehow, she knew that past was important.
"It's all you." She murmured, secluding herself in the mirror as she watched Ryoko's restless movements. "You must be in my past. You make me remember...you make me real. But why are you here? And why are you so sad? I want to help you...but I don't know how."
As she watched, Ryoko pulled a framed photograph from a box, pausing as she glanced at it twice. She frowned, dusting off the image, and from her vantage point the spirit could make out that it was an image of two girls. A stab of surprise shot through her ghostly senses as she realised one of them was her. She squinted, trying to bring the other more clearly into focus. Had she known that girl? Somewhere deep inside of her she knew she had. But try as she might, she could not remember the child's name.
She frowned, suddenly sad.
"What use is having a past if I can't remember it?" She wondered. "Why can't I remember it? Why do I only ever see other people's memories...what happened to my own?"
As if she had heard the girl's thoughts, Ryoko turned towards her, and for a moment the two - pirate and ghost - met gazes in the mirror. Then Ryoko let out a yell, dropping the picture to the floor as she sprang back, alarm flickering in her amber eyes. The suddenness of the yell rocketed through the spirit as she felt the strength of the woman's emotions suddenly overwhelm her. With a gasp, she found her form dispersing, forced back down into the depths of the ship as she struggled to fight against the tide.
----
"Ryoko?"
Back in the ship's salon, Ryoko was regaining control of her senses, turning to glare at Hotsuma as he entered the room. She bent to pick up the photograph, sending him an unpleasant look as she fingered the edges of the broken glass.
"I want to know what the hell is going on." She exclaimed. "Who is this girl, Hotsuma?"
"Which girl?" Hotsuma looked blank, and Ryoko thrust the photo at him, putting her hands on her hips as he took it from her, glancing it over. For a moment, a look of anxiety seemed to flit through the pirate's blue eyes, and then he got a grip on himself, shrugging his shoulders.
"How the hell should I know?" He protested. "I stole this ship...I didn't decorate it. It's an old picture...it probably belonged to the family who owned it before I did. That's all."
"That's all, huh?" Ryoko snatched the picture back. "Then tell me something, all right?"
She pointed at the faces in the frame.
"If it's as old as you say it is, how is it possible that that is Princess Sasami of Jurai, and that she's not much older in that than she actually is now?" She demanded. "And, more to the point, why the hell did I just see that girl watching me from the other side of the mirror?"
"What?" Hotsuma stared at her, and Ryoko was aware of that flickering anxiety once again. Then he snatched the photo away, dropping it carelessly down into a box on the side.
"You're seeing things." He said frankly. "People don't live in mirrors, and you must be mistaken about the Princess Sasami. All those royal types are inter-bred anyway...it's probably one of her relatives."
"I know Sasami very well, Hotsuma." Ryoko's eyes narrowed. "In fact, you might say we're close enough to be family. So that won't work for me. I'm not imagining things and I know a face when I see it. Sasami is in that picture, and Sasami's only thirteen years old, even now. And that girl was definitely staring at me from behind that mirror - whether you want to believe me or not."
"Fine." Hotsuma held up his hands in mock-surrender. "I'll go and look in the mirror for you, see if there are any ghosts sneaking around there. Who knows, maybe they get bored and invite princesses over for tea - it's possible, I suppose. Jurai is a strange place."
He smiled at her, but it was a strange smile and Ryoko could not place it.
"Would that help?"
"Don't mock me." Ryoko snapped. "I know what I saw. She was there, Hotsuma...right there in the glass."
"Well, there's nothing here now." Hotsuma shrugged, and Ryoko was almost sure she could hear the relief in his tones as he peered deeply into the glinting crystal. "So I don't know what you saw...but it must have been a trick of the light."
"It wasn't!"
"So you believe in ghosts now?" Hotsuma demanded, raising an eyebrow as he turned to meet her gaze. "Funny. I'm sure you're the same pirate who told me that ghosts were nothing more than drunken pirate hallucinations."
"Well, maybe I've changed my mind." Ryoko responded, exasperated. "Look, whether you believe me or not, Hotsuma, she was there. And it was that girl in the picture. Are you sure you don't know who she is?"
"Ryoko, if she's the kind of person who associates with Juraian royalty, I'm hardly likely to know anything about her." Hotsuma said simply. "I don't know how to explain Sasami-hime's presence in the picture, but to me it looks more than likely that it's not Sasami at all - maybe it's her sister, or her cousin, or something like that. Perhaps you hit your head a lot harder than I thought when Shank's ray blasted you. It's not uncommon to imagine you see things, when you've a concussion."
"Hotsuma!"
"Hey, I'm not saying you're crazy." Hotsuma rested a hand on her arm. "But Ryoko, you did take a beating. And you have had a lot of nasty shocks of late. It makes much more sense than ghosts flitting around the bowels of my ship...and you have to realise this picture is far too old to have been taken recently."
Ryoko rubbed her temples.
"It looks like Sasami to me." She whispered. "Explain this to me, Hotsuma. If that isn't Sasami-hime, why is that Ryo Ohki she has with her?"
"Ryo Ohki?" Hotsuma scooped up the picture once more, frowning as he glanced at it more closely. "Now I know you're imagining things. Ryo Ohki probably isn't the only cabbit in the universe - hell, Nagi's ship was testament to that. Didn't you ever stop to think that yours came from somewhere originally? That's a cabbit, for sure. But Ryo Ohki? I don't think so. More likely one of her relatives - you always did tell me that you didn't know where she originally came from. And you did find her on Jurai - didn't you?"
"Yes." Ryoko acknowledged, "But..."
"Then more than likely Ryo Ohki is descended from a long line of Juraian cabbits, and you're grasping at straws because you want to believe you see her in the picture." Hotsuma cut across her, shaking his head. "You're trying to hang on to something that's gone, but what you're saying...it's just not possible, Ryoko."
"Nor is what you're suggesting." Ryoko said flatly. "Ryo Ohki was genetically engineered and I know who by and when, now. There were no cabbits before her and Ken Ohki, and there probably aren't any others now, either. You're the one who's grasping - Hotsuma, why don't you tell me the truth?"
"Ryoko, you should hear yourself." Hotsuma looked resigned. "Listen to me. I have no idea why you think you see your ship and some Juraian brat in a photo that was probably taken at least ten Juraian years or more ago. I don't know Princess Sasami - pirates and princesses don't tend to share acquaintances - and I wouldn't know her from Adam if she was to jump on my head screaming her name. Furthermore, I stole this ship, I didn't inherit it. So I know nothing about the family who owned it before I did."
Ryoko sighed.
"All right." She said at length. "I know what I saw, but I guess I'm sorry. I probably do sound crazy...if I wasn't so sure that it was real, I'd be doubting my sanity also. But she was there, Hotsuma."
"I don't believe in ghosts - and nor do you."
"I know." Ryoko acknowledged. "But she was real, all the same."
She frowned, glancing across at the mirror, then,
"How did you come by this ship anyway, Hotsuma?"
"I told you. I acquired it in a raid."
"Yes...but surely if that's true, there were people on board at the time."
"No..." Hotsuma shook his head, although Ryoko had the distinct impression that he was lying. "Not really. It had been raided already by Daluma, so it was abandoned."
"And the Daluma left all the family's junk behind?"
"Maybe they saw your ghost." Hotsuma smiled at her ruefully. "They're superstitious, after all."
"Not superstitious enough." Ryoko grimaced. "And who knows - maybe they're right."
She moved across to the mirror, touching the glass hesitantly as she did so.
"Maybe the dead can talk." She murmured. "Maybe she was trying to tell me something. Something about Tenchi, even. Something from across the divide...and I scared her off."
"Right. That's enough of that." Hotsuma said firmly, taking her roughly by the arm and propelling her towards the door of the chamber. "You're getting more and more irrational with every word and I'm not going to have it. Besides, I have something I want to show you - something tangible and real and well away from this room and hallucinated spirits."
"I told you, I didn't hallucinate it!"
"Well, I think you did, and I'm fed up with discussing it." Hotsuma said unmovingly. "Come on, Ryoko. Else it will be gone before you get there."
"What will?" Despite herself, Ryoko sent her companion a confused look. "What are you trying to show me?"
"Wait and see." Was all her companion vouchsafed. "Up here...to the bridge. It will be worth it. I promise."
Ryoko frowned, but made no demur and the pirate led her carefully up to the bridge of the ship, guiding her towards the perspex that divided them from the space beyond.
"Look." He pointed, and Ryoko followed his line of sight across the blackness, her breath catching in her throat as she made out the flaming tail of a comet speeding between the stars.
"Is that what you wanted me to see?" She asked softly. Hotsuma nodded.
"I remembered that you always loved pretty things in space." he said gently. "You've had so much bad stuff happen, I wanted to give you something good to focus on, too. Isn't it stunning? I haven't seen a comet's tail blaze like that since...well, I don't know when."
"I do." Ryoko pressed her hands against the glass, her eyes becoming dreamy as she stared out across the darkness. "It was after our haul on the Intergalactic Central Bank, when we'd evaded the Galaxy Police and sent at least one patrol vessel spinning off course. We had just entered Balta space, and there was a comet just like this one, speeding across the sky. You said it was an omen - a sign that we'd made it to safety. And you were right. They never did catch up with us."
She sighed.
"It was just as pretty as this one." She murmured. "They say no two comets are the same, but I'm not sure."
"I'd forgotten about that raid." Hotsuma admitted. "But I think you're right. That was the last time for me, too. Funny, isn't it, how we were together then and we're together now?"
"Maybe." Ryoko shrugged. "I guess I haven't spent so much time in space since we stopped flying together."
"That's not like you, you know." Hotsuma frowned. "You always said that you were only happy when you were speeding between the stars - that having roots could only slow you down."
"That was before I had roots, I suppose." Ryoko said pensively. "It's still hard to believe I'm alone again, Hotsuma. That a universe that can spawn such beautiful things as that comet could be so cold and empty."
"I wouldn't call it cold or empty." Hotsuma looked thoughtful. "Everything exists in space, Ryoko. Planets, stars, meteors. Land, sea, trees and mountains. Everything is here...you can go where you choose and have whatever you want. It's all there for the taking. How can that be empty, when you can have it all?"
"Not everything." Ryoko murmured. An involuntary shiver wracked through her body as a cold chill whipped across the bridge, and she rubbed her arms absently, shaking her head.
"Some things you can't just take." She added. "Once they're gone, they're gone forever."
"Ryoko." Hotsuma frowned, hesitating then sliding his arm around her. "You have to let go."
Ryoko hesitated, a sudden sense of melancholy washing through her as she contemplated his words. Then she sighed, leaning her head absently on his shoulder.
"But I don't let things go. Not when they matter to me." She said succinctly. "Have you had any luck finding the Daidalos yet? I know you were going to try and trace Shank's vapour trail."
"Nothing yet, but I'm still working on it. Nagatabi is a good ship but not as quick or as smart as Gai'En." Hotsuma shook his head. "Don't worry, I won't let you down. Shank's no friend of mine, either, remember. He's a Daluma, and I'm at least occasionally still a Balta."
"Why did Komachi ever let you go?" Ryoko gazed up at him. "You were her best raider...I can't believe she just relinquished her grip on you so easily as that."
"Well, Komachi is a wise woman." Hotsuma rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "She and I, we cut a deal. She knew that I was too ambitious to stay subservient in the guild, so she cut me free. Allowed me to leave and fly under my own steam. But in return, I was sworn not to attack Balta craft, and I've kept that vow. Komachi respected you because you aligned yourself with me - and she knew that I would keep my word to her, whoever else I might lie to."
"I was never cut out for a guild." Ryoko said thoughtfully. "Too much emphasis on mutual slaughter. I just wanted to have fun, Hotsuma. To take things I couldn't buy, and to annoy people who'd hurt me - but mostly I just wanted to have fun. To be the rebel, to create chaos and confusion and to do exactly as I pleased. Forever."
"And now?" Hotsuma questioned. "Do you still want those things, Ryoko-chan?"
"I don't know." Ryoko glanced at her hands. "Too much is still going on in my head to know."
She paused, then disentangled herself from his grip, casting him a smile.
"But thank you for showing me the comet." She added. "You reminded me that not everything in space is bleak and ugly, at the very least."
"I'm glad of that." Hotsuma grinned, and Ryoko could see the mischief flickering in the depths of his eyes. "Because I was starting to despair of you, Ryoko."
"I really did see a ghost, you know."
"Maybe you did." Hotsuma shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "I don't care. If they exist, then they're dead and gone and they can't do anything to hurt us. And dead spirits can't control spaceships. So just forget about what you thought you saw, Ryoko. If it wasn't imagination, then it's irrelevant. And we have more important things to focus on than what you think you've seen in the mirror."
"True." Ryoko nodded, determination flaring inside of her. "Finding Shank."