I don't own Tenchi Muyo or any related characters ect ect. Plot IS mine though! No takies!--------------------
Ryoko opened her eyes, her sight blurring and moving crazily about until she found she could actually focus on the dark brown ceiling. Moaning aloud she shifted and then turned to her side. Once again everything became distorted and she closed and opened her eyes several times to stop it.
"Where am I?" she whispered, confused by the dark woodish color of the walls. Everything was indistinct. Had she ever remembered anything? Closing her eyes and swallowing back the phlegm in her throat she tried to focus. It almost hurt to think, but she made herself piece it all together. Then it suddenly hit her, like a breaking wave.
"Tenchi." She gazed around the room, taking it in now with renewed clarity. She could remember it all; being arrested, transported to the main Jurian ship and being injected with serum only moments after being put in her cell before it all dissolved to black.
Ryoko lay there for a moment looking around the cell and getting angrier by the moment. Angry and confused. More than anything she wanted to grab up a guard and shake the information out of him. But she couldn't hear anyone, and the door in the far corner of the room had no window. Flexing her hands with frustration brought her attention to the handcuffs that were still around her wrists; faintly glowing a golden light with a thin metal chain between them.
Once again the remnants of the serum she'd been given caused her vision to blur and her mind to cloud. After a moment on the edge of consciousness everything snapped back into view.
With a loud sigh Ryoko returned to lying on her back and stared at the ceiling, accepting being too intoxicated to do anything. The silence was unnaturally loud, buzzing and humming. She zoned for a while until the door across the cell opened suddenly, and a man stepped in. The man, seeing she was awake, sneered at her.
"Good to see you 'ave joined us. I 'ave your meal 'ere."
Ryoko blinked at him, and sat up to the best of her ability, leaning on an elbow. The man was solid with dark hair and pale scars across his face in several places. He wore a white and blue uniform and seemed to have a cross disposition. Behind him another person stood. This one was a woman with a cook's uniform on, her white hair pulled into an intricate knot at the back of her head.
She entered the room fearfully, refusing to look Ryoko in the eye. On the small table beside Ryoko's bed she set the tray she was carrying down before retreating out of the room as if she had been stung. Ryoko looked over at the bowl of watery soup and the slice of bread and a few small vegetables.
"I could have sworn that the people of Jurai were so much more hospitable to their guests, even prisoners." She spat the last word out, glaring up at the man who still stood in the doorway, glaring.
"Not for murderers 'ey don't," he scoffed.
Something in Ryoko snapped. Murderer? It seemed to have become her new title. Rolling off the bed she charged at the man. "I am not a murderer!" She cried, stumbling on unsteady feet. "I am not!"
The man seemed shocked by her outburst but recovered quickly. He reached down to a golden colored chain that hung from his belt and grasped the charm on it. Ryoko suddenly felt a sharp pain through her entire body originating from the cuffs around her wrists, and fell forward, smashing her shoulder and forehead on the floor.
"We're landin' on Jurai in an 'our." the man said as he looked down at her. Without another word he left, the door clicking several times as it locked.
Ryoko remained on the floor, unable to move. Her entire body was numb, even to the extent that she couldn't roll off her shoulder and onto her back. The only good part about this was that the places she had hit in her fall were numbed to the degree of a dull ache. Ryoko could see blood droplets on the floor before her eyes.
Murderer... It seemed like such a dirty word. She had been many things recently, but murderer was not one of them. The word seemed so much filthier when she tacked the other word with it. Sasami. Murdered Sasami.
Ryoko closed her eyes to the ever increasing pool of blood in front of her eyes at the thought. Sasami was a sweet girl, mature and beautiful. She was so talented with her cooking and cleaning. Ryoko felt her throat tighten as gruesome pictures filled her imagination. Murdered Sasami. Dead.
She remembered the last time she had seen Sasami. Visiting Jurai, she had found the young Queen in one of the palaces many gardens, sitting under the large tree that fanned out over the rest of the plants. She looked striking and traditional in her large kimono and the cloak that covered it. Her head was turned away from Ryoko and she was playing with a tassel that had fallen from one of the two buns she kept her hair in.
Ryoko sat beside the young woman, leaning forward and clearing her throat gently. Sasami had turned to look at her with an empty, court-trained expression, her rosy colored eyes unfocused. But seeing Ryoko there, her face had changed to a look of welcome.
"Lady Ryoko," she greeted with all her Queenly formality. Ryoko bowed her head.
"Lady Sasami," she replied. Sasami smiled sadly and looked away, resting her hands limply in her lap.
"How are you Ryoko? Do you leave soon?"
"This afternoon actually, My Lady."
"I see. Where are you returning? The academy? The Dark Zone?" She paused and looked at her hands "Earth?"
Ryoko frowned and looked away watching small chattering birds on a nearby garden wall.
"No, not Earth....the Dark Zone," she said with a small longing sigh. The two were silent, each in their own thoughts. Sasami looked towards Ryoko with gentle eyes.
"I'm sorry if I was being rude asking that Ryoko." Her voice was not so proper, and she sounded much younger. "It's just...at times I miss Earth so much. Jurai is wonderful, I don't deny that, but I loved Earth's simplicity. I am too young for this Ryoko. I grew up too quick and my heart is still on that little planet in the middle of no-where. This castle has too many secrets...too many that I don't like to discover." Ryoko looked back at Sasami, feeling Sasami's sadness in her own heart. She missed Earth too, with all her heart, but Sasami couldn't return while she could.
Ryoko opened her eyes to the cell again, feeling the uninvited tears on her cheeks. Sasami had never returned to Earth. She never had the chance to and never would again. Ryoko gave a quiet little sob as she thought of the girl, and how the terrible deed of her death was pinned on her. She wished she knew why. She wished everything was clearer.
In the silence of the cell Ryoko awaited the landing of the ship. When she had gotten some of her strength and movement back she returned to the cot and picked feebly at the food. It tasted worse than it looked, and she eventually gave up on it, falling awkwardly back onto the bed.
Time passed disgustingly slow and it seemed all too long for Ryoko before the walls of the ship started to shudder with the descent into Jurai's atmosphere. She had never liked the feeling and closed her eyes, though it didn't help her churning stomach. When all sat still she could taste the uninvited vomit in the back of her throat and she worked to keep it there.
It wasn't much longer a wait before three officers were standing in her doorway. Two of them looked nervous and inexperienced, but the third, dressed in the colors of a commanding officer, had a face of stone and cold gray eyes. Without a word the three of them got Ryoko to her feet and out the door, leading her down a blindingly lit hallway and off the ship.
They were in one of the newer Jurian hangers, and Ryoko guessed it was fairly close to the palace, seeing how there were several private spaceships parked on higher levels. All around people were moving, running, walking. The entire hanger seemed to buzz with activity.
Very few people took notice of Ryoko and her guards. Many of the people were in military outfits or Galaxy Police uniforms though a few smaller groups of people in palace clothing walked by, wearing the dark blues, blacks, and grays of mourning. They seemed to be oblivious to the world around them, and Ryoko was thankful, afraid of what might happen if one of these people recognized her.
The guards eventually, on an unnoticed signal, moved Ryoko away from the large crowds and into a smaller room where a transport ship was waiting. It was a lot like the cars of earth, but it hovered and had more of a box shape. Inside were two benches, and Ryoko was seated on one next to the stone-faced officer. The younger two took seats across from her and the driver of the transport ship arrived moments later to shut and lock the metal doors with a satisfied click.
The cabin was swathed in dim light and shadows and Ryoko shifted uncomfortably. She turned her eyes to the only openings, the small barred windows at the top of the ship's doors. She could see cold metal beyond, and hear the world distantly, as if her ear was pressed against the door. It was overall depressing and uncomfortable.
When the ship started to move with a slight jolt, the light trickling through the windows became steadily brighter, until golden rays were falling through the bars and resting in front of Ryoko's feet. She stared at the golden puddle, composed and silent. But inside she was nervous, and angry and still terribly, terribly confused.
The ride to the palace wasn't very long. Ryoko had been correct in assuming that the hanger had been close. They seemed to avoid the crowded areas. Talk and commotion always seemed to be just a few streets away. Then, quite suddenly, the cabin of the transport ship was dark once more and Ryoko knew they had entered palace grounds.
The car stopped a few minutes later with the same jolt it had started with, and seconds afterward the doors swung open and Ryoko and her guards were on the move again. They got out of the transport ship and marched across the almost blinding courtyard to a small door leading into the palace and down a hallway.
Their footsteps echoed on the walls made of a strong marble-like rock and the two younger guards, each holding one of Ryoko's bare arms tightly in their grasp, were almost shoulder-to-shoulder with her in the narrow hall. It twisted on and on until finally opening up in a large room draped in dark blue and gray as opposed to the normally bright colors that Ryoko associated with Jurai.
Dark blue and gray, the colors of mourning. It was all so real.
Across the room, in the tall arched doorway draped with black silks, a woman appeared. She was dressed in an elegant flowing kimono of several shades of gray and a sash of black. Her deep lavender hair framed her face and, not sporting the pigtails it used to, fell around her shoulders and down her back to almost her feet and was set off beautifully by a small tiara.
On each side of Ryoko, the soldiers snapped to attention and then bowed, pulling Ryoko down with them. The woman almost overbalanced and toppled over, but the guards held her tightly and instead she painfully tugged her shoulders and winced. Once the guards stood upright again, Ryoko looked to the woman in the doorway.
Ayeka, Crowned Queen of Jurai, looked back steadily, almost icily. Clasping her hands in front of her she slowly walked towards them on silent feet. Her face, pale from the stress of the current situations, was carefully blank. But Ryoko could see past her composure, and she could see that Ayeka's crimson eyes burned with longing, sorrow, and hatred. It was obvious that Sasami's death was like a fire eating Ayeka alive.
"Masaki Ryoko..." Ayeka said as she came to a stop in front of Ryoko and her cluster of guards. The two were silent for a moment, mirroring blank faces at one another. For a moment Ryoko thought that Ayeka would continue with her professional formality, something that both her and her sister had done in the presence of other Jurians when Ryoko had been visiting. But then Ayeka did something no one present expected. She gave a bitter smile, and slapped Ryoko.
Everyone seemed shocked at Ayeka, even the Queen herself as she stared at the perpetrating hand. But some unrecognizable emotion passed over her face and she looked up at Ryoko.
"I...I hate you," she whispered, squaring her shoulders as if she was expecting a rebuttal and clenching her fists.
Ryoko, still recovering from the shock of being slapped attempted to touch the mark with her cuffed hands. She seemed even more off balance by this and stared Ayeka in the eye, trying to look for something other than what she saw. And she did see something. Betrayal was alive in Ayeka's expression and she understood why.
Ayeka believed that she had killed Sasami. She believed that Ryoko had thrown away years of companionship and had taken away her sister. And though Ryoko understood, she still felt just as betrayed and angry.
"Do you really believe all you hear your Majesty?" She sneered; spitting the title out like it was a swear. "I didn't kill Sasami, got it?!" Her face and voice hardened, and she suddenly resembled her space pirate alter-ego like she hadn't in years.
"Why are you lying about it?! All I want to know is why Ryoko!" Ayeka cried back, her own maturity thrown away as her temper flared.
"What I want to know is why you believe this shit Ayeka!?"
"I guess some people never change!"
"Ladies! Please, let us control ourselves." The attention of those in the room was now turned to Kibishii, King of Jurai.
Kibishii was standing in the same arched doorway Ayeka had entered in. He was a tall slender man, dressed in a dark blue kimono with a black cloak draped over it. His hair, thick and midnight black, was clasped in the front with silver rings so that it framed his face. The rest was pulled back away from his orange/brown eyes and clasped with the same type of ring into a long pony tail in the back.
As he approached the small cluster of people, he had the same air of professionalism and custom as the rest of the royal family donned; but behind his mask was a different man, poorly hidden behind his manner. He was playful, and sly and mysterious, even with the obvious stress in his expression it shone through.
"Masaki Ryoko." He gave her a careful smile, and this time Ryoko was ready for the guards as they swept into their bow, and the three together moved like a well oiled machine. Once they were upright again his smile turned into a frown and he said, "I was hoping that the next time we'd meet wouldn't be under occasions like this." Ryoko nodded in agreement, sparing him only a glance before looking again to the Queen.
"Ayeka." The man then turned to his wife, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I understand that we are all under stress as of late..." He paused for a moment, and it was obvious to all what he meant by stress. "But still, you forget yourself."
Ayeka tore her gaze from Ryoko to look at her husband. It was obvious she still wanted to lash out and express the anger she had kept so carefully hidden, but something passed between them, and Ayeka humbled herself and looked away.
Kibishii kept his hand lightly placed on Ayeka's shoulder, giving it a squeeze before he gave his attention to the guards.
"I feel that there is a need for a private word between Miss Masaki and Ayeka and I. You know as well as I-" he gave a sharp glance to both guards "-that her wrist cuffs prevent any use of her powers. The serious treatment of Miss Masaki isn't necessary."
Ryoko felt the men on either side of her loosen their grip, and then they let go entirely. The two of them, along with their senior officer (who'd been hovering behind his charges since they got out of the transport ship) retired to stand out of hearing distance from the royal couple and the prisoner.
"Ryoko," Kibishii said after a moment, addressing her with the familiarness that she'd been accustomed to at Jurai before this. "I am sure you have as many questions about the current situation as Ayeka and I do." His voice became low and sad. Ayeka grudgingly refused to look at either her husband or Ryoko "But still, now is not the time to ask them. I am afraid that we can't offer you the same hospitality as we have during past visits, but we will attempt to put you in the best location that the current...uh, situation, can allow for."
Ayeka muttered something under her breath and Kibishii tightened his grip on her shoulder. Ayeka then finally met Ryoko's eyes.
"I hope you can forgive me, Miss Masaki, but I must attend to other things now." She said this with all the formality a Queen of Jurai could muster, but her face gave her away. Ayeka didn't want to be anywhere near Ryoko at that moment. But, Ryoko felt her leaving was no great loss either. Taking her husband's hand from her shoulder, Ayeka gave his fingers a squeeze and then turned and left through the same arched doorway that she'd entered through.
"I suppose that means that I should be getting back to my own affairs as well," Kibishii said as the last of the Queen's trailing gray kimono disappeared from their view. "Ryoko, I will be talking with you soon. For now, please try to forgive Ayeka. This entire thing is taking its toll hardest on her."
Ryoko nodded, trying to be agreeable. Kibishii then motioned for the guards to come forward again. In the last moment that they could share a private word Ryoko hissed, "Kibishii, why are you being so agreeable? So...kind?" Despite the friendship that she and Kibishii had, she'd expected him to be just as hostile. His compassion made her suspicious, even though she wished that it was genuine.
Kibishii looked contemplative for a moment, his ginger eyes focusing on her face. He then said, in an equally low voice. "It could be a lot of things. Maybe because I don't know you as well as Ayeka. Maybe my upbringing, or the fact that I was so busy I...I never really had the time to get close to Sasami." His voice was suddenly tinted with regret. "But Ryoko, before this, I had gotten an impression of you being a woman who is strong and brave. A woman who had put her polluted past behind her for the well being of herself and the ones she loves. I know you loved Sasami, and Ayeka. I think I show you this compassion because I don't want to believe that you would give all you have built for yourself away so easily."
Ryoko could feel teardrops on her lower eyelashes, ready to fall. She gave Kibishii a grateful smile. He felt like the only friend she had on the entire planet. Kibishii didn't smile back, but his eye's sparkled at her. He didn't look away.
"Captain." The stone-faced man came to attention, awaiting his orders. "Put Miss Masaki in cell block 5, post two guards outside her door at all times. Make sure she is fed a good meal twice a day. I WILL ask her about her treatment in the prison, so make sure she has nothing to complain about."
"Yes Sir!" The captain obviously didn't agree with his King's orders for Ryoko's treatment, but even after Kibishii had exited through the arched doorway he didn't make his complaints vocal.
Instead, the captain ordered his soldiers through another small door that was behind them. This one led them into another slightly larger hallway. It gradually got bigger until they were marching comfortably in a row of four and still had room.
Ryoko found it difficult to follow where they were going. Right. Left. Right. Right. Straight. Left again. She knew she would never be able to remember the twisting path to the door that they finally stopped at. It was simple, and brown, with a circular window at the top. The captain unlocked the door, and then Ryoko was promptly marched in.
The small room almost exactly matched her cell on the ship, with the exception of a comfier looking bed and the addition of a tiny desk to the drab furniture. Once inside, the captain sat her down on the bed.
"You won't be able to move for a bit after these are removed. If you are terribly uncomfortable in the position you fall in let me know." He then unlocked the cuffs around Ryoko's wrists. As they fell into the mans hand's, Ryoko felt a tingling pain spreading up her arms as if she was dipping them in extremely cold water. They fell heavily into her lap and she stared at them in alarm.
"Policy..." The captain said gruffly in explanation to the question she hadn't asked. "They put you in paralyses long enough for anyone in the room to get out. In case you get violent or something when you are un-cuffed."
Ryoko sneered at him, but said nothing. The tingling sensation was spreading down her back and she found that it was very hard to remain sitting and slumped down onto the bed, lying fully across it. After a moment she looked to the captain.
"I'm fine. You can leave." She felt silly dismissing her guard, and the captain obviously didn't like it either. But with nothing else to do, he left her on the bed, followed by his two minor officers. The doors locked silently as it shut.
Lying sedated on the bed was almost comforting. After a while, it felt as though even her brain was being numbed. She forgot her anger at Ayeka, and her gratitude to Kibishii and even her distress over Sasami. It was an ignorant bliss she fell into, and eventually she lay asleep on the cot, unaware of even her longing to wrap her arms around Tenchi and get away from it all.
-------------------- END CHAPTER 6
This chapter is dedicated to my editor...mommy –heartheart-