Chapter Twelve
So, this was it.
Tenchi cast one last look at the Masaki shrine, a pensive expression in his brown eyes as he did so. Either he'd come back successful, he told himself fiercely, and bring Ryoko too, or he wouldn't come back at all. He clenched his fists, determination welling up inside of him as he contemplated the mission ahead. Strangely, despite the risks, he did not feel afraid. At least, he reasoned, this way he was doing something. Even if he failed, he could say he had tried.
He gazed down at his hands, running his index finger across his palm absently as he remembered their conversation outside the Royal Palace of Jurai, and the subsequent one with his father. Noboyuki had spoken then about creating bonds, he recalled, a wistful smile touching his lips. He had not spoken to Ryoko about it -he had not had a chance before she had been plunged into this world of ghosts, and somehow he found himself regretting it. The ring still sat in it's worn black box, hidden in a drawer among his socks, waiting to be retrieved. He swallowed hard, his throat feeling dry. He only hoped that the connection he and Ryoko already had was enough to break through the blood bond of a pirate - after all, there was no way to change what had already been.
"Well, I guess we'd better be moving, then." Washu's voice broke through his musings and he glanced at her, nodding his head.
"I'm ready when you are, Washu-san." He said quietly. "The sooner we go, the better Ryoko's chances are, right?"
"I hope so." Washu bit her lip. "You're sure you want to go through with this? I'd go myself, but someone needs to monitor the machines, and Yume has to stay here for Ryoko's sake."
"You already said your magic wasn't up to it, Washu. And I'm fine. So let's go already." Tenchi said impatiently.
"Tenchi?" Yume grabbed a hold of his hand, anxiety flickering in the depths of her lilac eyes and despite his urgency he faltered, offering her a smile.
"It will be fine, Yume. Have faith." He said softly. "I'll be all right and so will Ryoko. You'll see. It'll be fine."
"I hope so." Yume bit her lip, and Tenchi could see the tears she was holding back. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Tenchi-kun. You mean a lot to me...I don't want you to be...be gone."
"Well, I won't be." Tenchi squeezed her hand. "I'll be back and you take good care of Ryoko for me...that's the best thing you can do for both of us. All right?"
"All right." Yume's expression became one of resignation. "Good luck, Tenchi. I'll do my best for Ryoko, so you make sure you do come back safely."
"I will." Tenchi nodded. Then he glanced at Washu.
"Nagi will want to take off." He added. "We shouldn't keep her waiting."
Washu raised a hand to the hovering craft, grasping hold of Tenchi's wrist as a thin beam of light spread across the ground, illuminating them in it's flare. Within moments they were aboard the compact cabbit ship, Ken Ohki uttering an impatient yowl as they got their bearings. Nagi raised an eyebrow at them, but made no comment. Instead she ran her fingers over the controls.
"Well, you know where we're going, Ken Ohki." She said finally. "Let's not waste any time getting there."
"Thank you for helping us Nagi. Again." Tenchi said haltingly, and Nagi ran her eyes over him, a searching look in her expression. At length she smiled.
"I may have underestimated you, Tenchi Masaki." She said grudgingly. "I thought you had no spirit, but to walk into the unknown willing to die takes courage and dedication. Perhaps Ryoko has better sense than I thought she did...maybe you're the one who's been ruined."
Washu chuckled despite herself, and Tenchi managed a rueful grin.
"Ryoko and I have something of an unusual relationship." he said ironically. "This kind of thing is pretty much normal for us. It's not a good week if someone hasn't almost died trying to save existance."
Nagi looked amused.
"Well, Ryoko always did attract disaster. That's the pirate in her - or maybe it's the demon." She added as an afterthought, her gaze flitting to Washu. "Either way, it makes for an interesting life."
"Do you miss her? I mean, fighting her?" Tenchi corrected himself hurriedly, aware that the bounty hunter's demeanour could turn on a knife edge. "I know you had some pretty fearsome battles...before she came to the Earth. Do you ever miss that?"
"There is plenty of scum in the universe for me to mop up." Nagi's eyes glittered as she considered his question. "Although it's rare to find any who fought as hard as Ryoko, I'll grant you that. But I don't dwell on things, Prince of Jurai. I have other targets - lucrative, demanding hunts like the one for Tarant Shank. Ryoko may have turned over a new leaf, but most pirates never change. And I'll be waiting for them, to ensure they don't get the chance to, either."
She shrugged flippantly.
"I have a reputation, after all." She added softly.
"I'm guessing by the way you fly your ship that bounty hunting runs in your family, Nagi." Washu crouched down beside her scientific equipment, checking and double checking everything one more time. "I don't know how old you are, and I know appearances can be deceptive from my own experience. But I'm guessing that you couldn't have been that old when you first got into hunting pirates and space scum. Am I right?"
"You know what you're talking about. I'm impressed." Nagi inclined her head in a slight nod, her gaze flitting momentarily back to the expansive space outside the window, then back to the scientist. "My father and his father and his father before that were all in this line of work. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty occasionally, it's a good form of self-employment. My people aren't rich, Washu-san, and I'm not ashamed of having humble roots. I earn my keep by clearing the universe of it's worst - and I enjoy every moment of it. It's as you say - it's in my blood."
She smiled slightly.
"Although you'll notice that the task is normally handed down from father to son." She added. "I was the exception."
"Your father must have been proud of you." Tenchi suggested. "Following in his footsteps."
Nagi snorted.
"My father was a born chauvenist who couldn't rationalise the idea of passing his skills to a daughter." She said reflectively. "Until, of course, he realised that his daughter was more man than his son ever would be. He always treated me like a boy...it was the only way he could placate his conscience about training me to follow his path. And once I had Ken Ohki..."
She shrugged.
"My future was sealed."
"You have a brother?" Tenchi stared. Nagi smiled.
"This is hardly the time for family story swapping, but yes. I have a brother." She agreed. "You'll have to ask Ryoko about him, when all of this is over. She's made his acquaintance, once or twice."
"I didn't know." Tenchi's heart constricted for a moment, and he stared at the bounty hunter in consternation. "Is that why you went after Ryoko? Because she...knew...your brother?"
Nagi stared at him, and for one terrible moment Tenchi thought he'd gone too far. Nagi's hand hovered briefly over her whip, then she lowered it back to the controls, shaking her head as she offered him a droll smile.
"You misunderstand what I said." She responded softly. "Ryoko and Kazuki were acquainted. But not involved. And there is nothing personal in my reasoning for hunting Ryoko down. Money, pure and simple...that's the focus of my profession. You can't get emotionally involved. And I don't. Not ever. After all, it's hard to build up any kind of rapport with someone you're going to seal inside a casket and deposit with the Galaxy Police. They're my paycheque. Nothing more. Ryoko as much as the others."
"I see." Tenchi sighed, leaning against Ken Ohki's jagged frame as he stared out at the passing stars. "I guess there's a lot of things I don't understand about being a pirate or a bounty hunter. It's a whole world away from my world - my life on Earth."
He faltered, then cast Washu a questioning look.
"What if she doesn't want to come back?" He asked hesitantly. "I mean, what if she's realised she wants to be a pirate? What then?"
"Tenchi, you're a fool if you think she doesn't want you." Washu snorted. "The girl has been obsessed like some crazed groupie since pretty much the time she first met you. The most tricky bit is going to be getting you in there without killing you once and for all. I doubt very much that you'll not be able to talk her round. I don't know what it is, this effect you have on women. But whatever it is, Ryoko's succumbed to it wholesale already. That part should pose you no trouble."
"I suppose." Tenchi looked pensive. "It's just...Nagi said that this Hotsuma person was..."
"She didn't tell you she had others, huh?" Nagi asked, amused. Tenchi shrugged.
"I guess I knew. I knew she'd lived and experienced and done things before we met." He said slowly. "But I didn't think about it. I mean...putting a name to them didn't seem..."
"Hotsuma is dead." Nagi said frankly. "I defy even Ryoko to have her way with a ghost."
"Nagi." Tenchi shot her a reproachful look. "It might be funny to you, but it isn't funny to me. Please. Don't tease me."
"We're almost at Sargasso." Washu observed at that moment. "Tenchi, you'd better come over here so I can strap you onto my pallet securely. I need to keep you as still as possible while you're doing this - and you'll have to trust me, because the stuff I'm going to pump into you is not very nice and highly toxic to Earthlings."
"Will it...hurt?" Tenchi asked. Washu shook her head.
"No. You'll just go to sleep." She replied. "I'm not that sadistic. But your life will literally be in my hands - do you trust me enough to keep you alive?"
"I trust you, Washu-chan." Tenchi offered her a faint smile. "And it's the only chance we have, so I'm game to give it a go."
He settled himself on the stark metal pallet, obediently holding still as Washu carefully marked points on his brow and wrists. Then, she paused, looking at him pensively.
"Would you be calling it harassment if I took off your shirt?" She asked plaintively. Tenchi stared, then smiled ruefully, obediently slipping off his upper clothing and dropping it down onto the floor of the ship.
"In the circumstances, I guess Ryoko would forgive me." Washu observed ironically, as she began attaching sensitive diodes to his skin. "Don't wriggle, okay? I know they're cold - but so is space, so you'll just have to deal with it. I need to have a constant report of your brain and cardiac activity throughout all of this. I don't know if I'll be able to forcibly pull you back - I suspect not, considering our failure with Ryoko, even though you know what you're going into."
"Washu, I have no idea what I'm going into." Tenchi said darkly. "A ghost ship and a world that could be literally anything."
"Well, you have some idea." Washu amended. "That being the case, you need to keep a strong hold on yourself and why you're there. I don't know if Ryoko has forgotten this world - the signals I was getting certainly don't indicate it either way. But she may need help to get back, and it might mean you have to deal with the thing standing in her way."
"You mean I have to kill a ghost?" Tenchi asked. Washu nodded.
"It might seem trite and cliche to you, but if I'm right and Hotsuma is what's keeping her aboard Nagatabi, then somehow you'll have to get rid of him." She replied.
"How am I meant to do that, exactly?" Tenchi raised an eyebrow. Washu spread her hands.
"However seems appropriate. Use whatever methods you can - talking, reasoning...whatever it takes." She said glibly. "Fighting might be hard - but I know you, Tenchi. You'd rather settle things amicably than fight over them as a rule. You'll manage it easily, I'm sure."
"I settle things amicably when people don't push my buttons." Tenchi muttered. "This guy's not top of my friends list at the moment, running off with my girlfriend's psyche and stopping her from coming back to where she belongs. I don't think I'm going to be talking to him in a friendly, calm way, Washu. I want him to leave her alone."
"Well, just be careful and see what you can see." Washu advised him. "We're entering Sargasso space now, Tenchi. Once we pull alongside the Nagatabi, I'll inject this into your vein and the rest is up to you. I only hope Tsunami's magic is powerful enough inside of you for this to work. I know you're strong - but I've never deliberately tried to kill you before. I have no idea what is going to happen."
"With which comforting admission, here we are." Nagi interjected sardonically at that moment, gesturing towards the white, rusting hull of the Nagatabi. "Try and be as quick as you can. Ken Ohki can fly here, but he doesn't like it. Spaceships don't like to be surrounded by skeletons any more than you want to be surrounded by ghosts...and he and I do have other pressing business to take care of, too."
"I'll be as quick as I can, for everyone's sake." Tenchi agreed. "But most of all, for Ryoko's."
He took a deep breath, then lay back against the pallet, closing his eyes.
"All right, Washu." He said softly. "I'm ready. Let's do this."
--------------
They had been fighting again.
Mirei drifted absently across the bridge of the Nagatabi, pausing to put ghostly hands to the glass as she gazed out at the stars. They seemed to change with every visit she made, and yet she knew that they weren't moving, and hadn't been for a long time, now. Memories and thoughts flitted and teased around her mind, as if trying to put together pieces of something she once knew, but try as she may she could not bring all of the fragments into cohesion.
Frustrated, she brought her hands together, sinking down through the ship's levels until she reached the bottom-most cargo bay. It was dark and eerie, empty of anything but dust and cobwebs, and the realisation of it surprised her. Gently she brushed a finger against the webs, watching as it broke beneath her touch.
So there was part of this ship that he hadn't touched, then. For some reason, though everything else had become his own, this deepest, darkest belly of the ship had been ignored. The idea buzzed in her mind for a moment, as she sought to puzzle it out. Spreading her hands, she illuminated the dark bay, powering long dead electric circuits into life as she surveyed the scene more closely.
It was a long room, almost a hallway, she realised, and one that had once been used to store supplies and equipment along the hard, metal sides. Now these storage bays were empty, but somewhere in the depths of her mind a fleeting memory of another time assailed her and she clung onto it, forcing it back through her mind as she fought to focus on the image.
"Once it was piled so high with boxes and crates." She murmured, touching the cold walls gently as she remembered. "And my doll was in the uppermost box, where I couldn't reach it. I came looking for it. I came..."
She faltered, shaking her head as the memory dispersed.
"I don't know." She admitted, frustration in her tone. "I can't remember. Why can't I remember? If this was my ship, shouldn't I at least know something?"
As she hovered there, trying to make sense of it all, she felt a prickle of energy teasing at the back of her mind, startling her to alertness as she realised she was no longer alone.
"Ryoko-san?" She murmured. "Is that you?"
There was no answer, but Mirei was more and more aware of a presence as it grew ever nearer. She frowned, shaking her head.
"I can't see you. Where are you?" She asked, suddenly afraid. "What are you - what do you want?"
This time there was a flicker of acknowledgement from the entity, as if it was reaching out in a gesture of peace. As she watched, a faint, transparent form began to take shape before her, and she found she could make out the hazy, indistinct outlines of a man. Her hand flew to her mouth as she gazed at him, disbelief in her expression.
"But..." She whispered. "You're the one that..."
She faltered, and the man's image flickered dangerously, on the verge of breaking up altogether. Realising he was in distress, Mirei forced her uncertainty out of her mind, drifting towards him and taking him firmly but gently by the hands as she gazed up into his confused brown eyes.
"Ryoko-san dreams about you." She murmured. "Have you come to life from them to claim her?"
"Are you...Mirei?" The man seemed uncertain, as he stared down at her, trying to place his surroundings. "What are you doing? How are you touching me? I thought you were dead."
"I am Mirei." The spectre agreed. "At least, I think so. It's been a long time - I don't really remember."
She clutched his hands more tightly.
"But I want to. And you're strong, like Ryoko-san is." She realised. "You help me focus my thoughts. But you shouldn't be here. You don't belong...you're trying to come somewhere you shouldn't be."
"I've come to help Ryoko, like you said." The man's image was becoming more and more clear with every passing moment, and as his voice gained stability and purpose, Mirei released her grasp. "I know who you are, Mirei-chan. I know that this was your ship and that you were hurt here, a long time ago. I'm sorry that happened to you - I really am. And I wish I could change it. But Mirei, Ryoko doesn't belong here. She's not...she isn't..."
"She isn't dead yet?" Mirei whispered. Tenchi nodded, surprised.
"You knew, then?" He asked. Mirei shook her head.
"Not until I touched your hands and felt your thoughts and memories." She said quietly. "She's hurt and she hovers, not alive and not dead. But I knew she was strong. Too strong. It wasn't right...I wanted to help her."
"You did?" Tenchi stared at her, and at the relief in his eyes, Mirei smiled.
"Of course I did." She agreed. "She's unhappy. The whole ship is full of unhappiness. Can't you feel it? It's everywhere. This ship is wrong. All of it. It's just wrong."
"I...I guess I hadn't..." Tenchi faltered, and Mirei shrugged.
"I don't remember a lot of things." She said slowly. "But I know that once this ship was a happy ship. Someone loved it very much. Someone I belonged with. I thought Ryoko might have the answers, because she knew the girl in the picture I have - the girl Sasami. But Sasami-chan visited me after I was already here - I know that now. Ryoko's memories have helped me make sense of it. I can't remember what happened before...and somehow I think I...I need to know. For my sake and for his."
"His?" Tenchi tensed, and Mirei nodded.
"Hotsuma-san." She agreed. "He's sad too. Have you come to help him also?"
"I've come to take Ryoko back to where she belongs." Tenchi said frankly. "If Hotsuma is keeping her here, then no, I'm not interested in helping him."
"He's sad too." Mirei said pensively. "So sad, Tenchi. And afraid of me. As if I'm a dark omen. I only want to help him. Help them both. But when I can't remember and nothing makes sense..."
She shrugged, frustrated.
"I wish I knew better what to do."
"Mirei-chan..." Tenchi hesitated, and Mirei smiled at him sadly.
"I know that I am dead." She said candidly. "Ryoko told me that I was, and I think she's right. I think he is dead, also. The pirate. He doesn't seem to remember things he should remember, like me. But Ryoko-san remembers. That's why she's so strong. She can still remember all the things that are important to her. Including you."
"She hasn't forgotten me?" Tenchi looked relieved, and Mirei shook her head.
"Like I said, she dreams about you." She replied softly. "Your name is Tenchi Masaki and you flew with her on a spaceship - a ship that lived. But she believes the ship destroyed and you and her family killed."
"Ryoko believes...I'm dead?" Tenchi stared at her. "And Ryo Ohki? And everyone? Is that why she's not coming back? She doesn't believe she has anything to come back to?"
"Perhaps." Mirei looked helpless. "I don't know. She talks about vengeance...about hunting a pirate who she blames for your death. But Nagatabi never leaves this place, so she'll never find him that way. Tenchi-san, she spends so much time crying inside of herself, and he hides his fear and his uncertainty in anger and frustration. You have to understand - nobody chooses to be in this place."
"Maybe it's not just Hotsuma keeping her here, then." Tenchi frowned. "But Mirei-chan, someone I know told me that he was responsible for your death. That somehow he killed you and then was killed for it, aboard this ship. That's why you're both here - you and him - because you both died too suddenly. How can you have sympathy for a man who probably took your life away from you? It doesn't make sense. Why help him? I need you to help me - to help Ryoko. Won't you do that instead?"
Mirei sighed, sadness entering her brown eyes.
"I don't think it's so simple." She said softly. "And to help Ryoko, you may have to help Hotsuma, also. They're connected. Bonded. I'm not sure how, but I know that they are. He was never here before she was, and now they're both here together."
"He was always here." Tenchi shook his head. "When you played with Sasami, he was here then. I saw him - or what existed of him - floating around the underbelly of the ship. He's a parasite, that's all - sucking on Ryoko's emotions and her memories in order to recreate his own existance. He's stealing her life - don't you realise how evil a thing that is?"
"But Hotsuma doesn't know what I know." Mirei said, shaking her head reproachfully. "He doesn't know that he's dead."
"He...doesn't?"
"No." Mirei agreed. "He believes that he rescued Ryoko from marauding pirates and that you and your crew were killed. He believes these things with all his heart. He has nightmares and he remembers things - snippets of something he's lost - but not enough to tell him everything. To him, life has just continued as it was before he died. With Ryoko. His memories are hers - all the things he knows he only knows because she remembers them too."
"Either way, I still have to stop him." Tenchi said firmly. "Mirei-chan, I don't have a lot of time. Do you know where Ryoko and Hotsuma are now?"
Mirei hesitated, then nodded her head.
"I know." She agreed. "And I will help you, Tenchi-san. But please, try and understand. He's been through a lot, just as I have. Take Ryoko home, of course - but don't hurt him. Please."
"I don't understand why you're so soft on him, but if that's what you want, then all right." Tenchi sighed. "I'll do my best. Just so long as he lets me have Ryoko back, he can have whatever he likes. But she belongs in my world, and his world is finished. Lead the way, Mirei. I think it's time I had a word with this pirate."