Chapter 6
Aeka was folding laundry, working on towels at the moment when Tenchi appeared. "Oh Lord Tenchi!" she said with a huge smile. It's nice to see you up and about."
"Thank you Aeka. I'm feeling much better now." He returned a friendly smile. "I did get the chills and had a fever last night but both seemed to have passed."
"I'm so relieved. I was afraid that you'd be laid up for days having to deal with Ryoko hounding you the whole time."
"It wasn't anything like that Aeka. She was very considerate."
"Hmm," she replied, unconvinced. "Then what was she doing to you when I entered your room? She had you pinned down on your bed… kissing you. I would hardly describe that as being considerate. Just the opposite."
"I think I can explain that," he said silently thanking her for the opening to initiate his conversation. "How about we go to my dad's study so we can sit and talk? Okay?" The study was close, with a couple of seats, and had a door for privacy… and was a spur of the moment choice on his part.
"Alright Lord Tenchi." she said smiling. She finished folding the towel in her hands and set it on the finished pile. Even with the smile, Aeka felt a slight unease at his suggestion of them talking privately, It seemed a bit… formal and quite unlike him.
Tenchi smiled and motioned for her to go ahead in the general direction of the study. As they approached the door, he noticed a feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, caused not by anticipation as it had with Ryoko, but by pure dread. His smile faded a little.
Aeka was uneasy. She hadn't expected Tenchi to want to 'explain' Ryoko's actions. In past similar situations, he had dismissed them as part of Ryoko's nature, usually accompanied by an irritated shake of the head. This was different. He seemed as though he wanted to defend her actions. Her intuition, more strongly than ever, was warning her that something HAD changed… and that she was not going to be happy when it was revealed. She desperately hoped that it was wrong.
He slid the study door open allowing her entry, walked in behind her and slid it closed. Tenchi gestured to his father's reading chair for Aeka to sit, grabbing the desk chair for himself, sitting down a a few feet in front of her. She sat there with her hands together resting on her lap. He thought, for a moment he saw an unsure look in her amethyst eyes, but when he blinked, she was once again the model of calmness and propriety.
Tenchi began, "What you saw last night wasn't Ryoko forcing herself on me. It was caused by something I did." He paused briefly.
"What did you do?" she asked with a steady voice.
Swallowing hard but still looking into her eyes he replied, "I gave her back her gems last night. What you saw was her reaction when she realized what I'd done."
Aeka was stunned… stunned because she believed him. Knowing Ryoko as she did, she understood how she could have reacted like that. Tenchi had restored the parts of her being that she had been missing since her last battle with Yosho 700 years ago. Ryoko's reaction made perfect sense for her. But the bigger question was …
"Why did you do that?" She somehow maintained her controlled tone in asking her question.
"There were a couple of reasons," he stated. "I thought she deserved to have them back. Since I've known her, through everything she's done, she's more than earned the right to have them back." His smile disappeared and his face lost some of its color.
"More importantly it was my way to try to apologize… to make it up to her for having to wait…" He looked away for an instant then quickly looked back into her eyes. "… making her wait for me to be able to tell her how I really felt about her…"
With a herculean effort she asked her next question… a question in which she already knew the answer, but had to hear it from him. Her words were measured:
"What did you tell her, Lord Tenchi?"
Keeping firm eye contact with Aeka, so that there would be no doubt, he replied steadily, "I told Ryoko that I realized I was in love with her." He took a huge breath and let it out.
Aeka sat there, her expression unchanged, her posture unchanged, while the world disintegrated inside her. It took every bit of effort that she could muster to maintain her demeanor: She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to tear out her dead heart… but she said nothing for about 5 seconds.
"Was there anything else you wanted to tell me, Lord Tenchi?"
Tenchi was taken back by her lack of a reaction. "I-I'm sorry Aeka… sorry for hurting you like this... for making you wait so long just to hear this." His eyes were full, his tears on the verge of escaping. "I never wanted to hurt either of you so I didn't say anything for so long... too long. Last night I finally faced it." He looked down. He could no longer hold her gaze.
"I don't expect you will and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, but I hope you can forgive me someday."
After a few more seconds she rose gracefully from her seat. "If that is all, I must still tend to the laundry. If you'll excuse me, Lord Tenchi." She moved to the door.
Rising quickly he pleaded, "Please don't blame Ryoko for this! She hasn't done anything wrong."
She stopped at the door and, without turning, replied, "I don't blame Ryoko, Lord Tenchi. I don't blame her at all." She then left the study on her way back to the laundry.
He knew whom she blamed. And she was right. Tenchi had hurt her, perhaps irrevocably. Her lack of emotion made it that much more apparent. He didn't and never would feel shame or guilt for the way he felt about Ryoko, but he felt both more than ever for hurting Aeka, for making her feel the way he knew she must be feeling, despite her refusing to show it. He had deeply hurt someone he truly cared about, someone he loved as a close friend and family member. He had asked her for her forgiveness but he wondered if he would ever truly forgive himself.
He slowly sat back down, the tears that she refused to show streaming down his face as he stared at the floor.
Ryoko was soaking in the hot waters of the on-sen, recent events running through her head; Tenchi taking care of her while she was sick, his confession of his feelings for her, the return of her missing gems… their lovemaking. So many things had happened to her in the last 24 hours that led to her current feelings of joy, love, and contentment along with the renewed vision of a wonderful future together with Tenchi. There however was one dark spot on her bright new vista; Aeka.
She was worried about her former rival, worried for her. She could only imagine if the situation was reversed, how devastated she would have been to lose Tenchi. She shuddered at the thought even now. Aeka was going to go through hell and Ryoko wanted to spare her friend that pain.
Friend… she turned that word over in her mind. Yeah we're friends, she admitted to herself. Even though they had been rivals, even to the point of literal combat over Tenchi, they had also grown closer. There were many times when they would both be sitting in here, drinking sake, talking about any number of things, the subject almost inevitably coming back to Tenchi and his long delayed decision. A great deal of both laughter and tears had been witnessed together in this place; in this their neutral ground, their sanctuary. Ryoko thought, I imagine that is what it would have been like to have a sister. She hoped somehow that it could continue. At the moment though that hope seemed doubtful.
Would Aeka leave and take Sasami with her? Probably, she thought. How could Aeka stay here and watch them together, constantly reminded of what she lost? Who the hell could do that? "Not me," she admitted aloud. She wouldn't have been able to stay had he chosen Aeka. She loved him too much to do that. It would have been agony; the slow death of her soul, a little piece dying each and every day. Instead she would have grabbed Rho-Ohki and headed out into space never looking back, never returning; running from the pain as quickly as she could. Nothing could have made her stay. She didn't know of anything that could possibly keep Aeka here either. It seemed hopeless.
Ryoko let out a heavy sigh, sat back in the water and closed her eyes. Then she had a thought.
"Mom?"
"Yes Ryoko?"
"You got a minute?"
Aeka returned to the laundry and continued her previous task. She concentrated on folding each piece meticulously. She focused on each towel as she was folding them, insuring precision and uniformity in all. She blocked all other thoughts. Once she was done, she decided on her next action. She left the laundry heading toward the front door. There she traded her house slippers for her shoes, put on her coat and mittens, and left the house.
The day was bright and clear, the mid morning sun reflecting on the snow causing a glare. As she walked around the lake she thought of how Tenchi had looked, sitting in his father's desk chair, his face handsome but serious as he crushed her hopes and dreams with his kind words. She wasn't thinking on what he said but on his face, his big brown eyes and his body language during the conversation. She thought how he had been on the edge of his seat, leaning a bit towards her, his hands gripping his knees as he plunged his verbal dagger deep into her heart.
If there was one word to describe Aeka at this point, it would be 'numb.' She didn't notice the cold; she didn't see the sun's glaring reflection; she didn't show emotion. She didn't feel… anything. She was on autopilot; she just kept walking… and walking...
Eventually the snow covered ground gave way to uncovered stone steps which she followed up the long hill to the top, paying no heed to her progress. Then suddenly it seemed, she found herself stopped outside the door of the shrine office knocking on it.
She heard the word "Enter," as if it had come echoing from another dimension. She slid open the door, walked just inside of it, turned to close it, and turned again to face the source of the word; the Shinto priest kneeling at his table drinking his tea.
"Hello Ayeka. Would you care for some t…?" He never completed the invitation, the sentence cut off when he saw her face; her blank stare, her expressionless mouth, and her pallid skin. Absent were nearly all other signs of life save movement as she began to walk slowly towards him. He quickly and deftly rose to his feet just as she came upon him without pause, embracing him burying her face in his chest.
After his initial surprise, he looked down at her with concern, gently wrapping his arms about her. "Aeka, what is wrong?" he said delicately. She offered no verbal response. He did feel slight tremors coming from her; she had started to cry. He could see tears beginning to fall, heard her light sobs. All these quickly increased in intensity. Her sobs wracked her delicate frame. Her cries so forceful to cause her to continually shift between muffled wailing and open mouthed silence. He could feel her soul weeping. She was like this for minutes, unabated.
He waited to speak again until she had judged her calm enough to respond. "Aeka… little sister…what has happened?" he pleaded.
With a monumental effort she gave him a one word answer, "Tenchi…"
Worried for his grandson by her answer and her condition he asked, "Did something happen to Tenchi?" She quickly shook her head without removing it from his chest. Somewhat relieved he again focused on his distraught half sister. "Please, Aeka let me help you. Please tell me what is wrong."
Through her crying she said, "Yosho… brother." Then she looked up into his eyes, her face awash with tears; her expression conveying loss, heartbreak, and devastation all at once. "Tenchi… he…" she said her voice once again on the verge of collapse. "He's… in love with Ryoko!" She had just barely been able to say Ryoko's name when she again broke down; again lowering her face into his chest, again emitting heavy sobs and muffled cries.
Looking down upon her with understanding compassion, he held her close, slowly and gently stroking her violet hair. "Oh my sweet little Aeka," he said with a slight shake of his head, holding his heartbroken younger sister throughout her emotional torrent.
