So I lied. Sue me.


The Blink of an Eye
*******************
A Tenchi Muyo! TV Series fanfiction

Tenchi Muyo! In all its incarnations are the property of AIC/Pioneer.  Don't
sue me, OK?

***

Ryoko stared through the windows at the blue-green planet that rotated
below.  The pure delight she felt was only betrayed by a slight smile and a
sparkle in her eyes.  She was finally back.  After a whole year, she was
back to Earth, back to Tenchi.

"Take us down, Ryo-Ohki!"  *Oh, Tenchi...*

***

Hiryu looked around the path up to his house nervously.  He had the oddest
feeling he was being watched.  "Hello?  Is there is someone there?" he asked
tentatively.

"Tenchi..."  the voice, low, seductive, and unmistakably female drifted over
the slight breeze.  Hiryu spun, looking for the source, and found himself
looking into the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  Cyan
hair set up in a somewhat wild cut, golden eyes, a figure both voluptuous
and athletic, and an outfit that showed it all off.

"Uh...hi?" Hiryu said hesitantly, then yelped as the woman threw her arms
around him and embraced him tightly.  "H-h-hey!  Leggo!"  The woman began
rubbing his cheek with hers, and his mind short-circuited.

Ryoko relished the feeling of Tenchi in her arms after so long.  His strong,
wiry build, his heart pounding as she held him. She rubbed her cheek against
his and moaned his name again, smiling as his brown hair ticked her
nose...brown hair?

With an angry roar, Ryoko shoved the imposter away from her, sending him
flying into a tree.  He yelled in surprise and shock and stared at her in
confusion as she stormed over to him and lifted him up by his shirt.  "Who
the hell are you?" she demanded.  "Where's Tenchi?"

"H-h-hiryu," the boy stammered.  "Y-you're looking for g-g-grandfather?"

"Grandfather?" Ryoko repeated in a dead voice, and released his shirt.

The boy nodded frantically.  "He's up at the shrine!"  He pointed towards
the building as he backed away from her.  "Just go that way!" he yelled as
he ran down the path, away from the crazy woman.

***

The shrine was just as Ryoko remembered it, maybe a little more worn.  She
flew into the yard, calling Tenchi's name.  A man came out of the main
building and walked towards her slowly.  Ryoko flew to him quickly, and
froze as his face came into focus.  "Yosho," she growled.  "Where is he?
Where's my Tenchi?"

Yosho shook his head sadly, and beckoned for Ryoko to follow him. "Come."
He led her around the back of the shrine to the family grave, and indicated
a largish tombstone.  "Here."  Ryoko looked at the name on the stone.

 Masaki Tenchi
 1975-2052

"Dead?" Ryoko whispered, and then shook her head angrily.  "NO! He can't
be!"  She collapsed to her knees and held her face in her hands as tears
dropped from her eyes.  "How?"

"Age," Yosho murmured.

"I was only gone for a year!  A damn year!"

"A Juraian year?" Yosho asked softly.

"Of course!" she snapped.

Yosho bowed his head sadly.  "Ryoko, humans only live for about 70 years.
Earth years."

"So?" Ryoko sobbed.  "He was only seventeen!"  Yosho lifted her up and took
her away from the grave and into the shrine.  "He was the same age as me!"
She let him sit her down on a cushion, too devastated to fight him.

As he sat beside her, Yosho took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "A
Juraian year is roughly 66 Earth years."

Ryoko looked at him in disbelief, but only saw truth in his eyes.  "You
mean..."

"I'm sorry," he said simply.  He stood and went to his desk, from which he
got an envelope.  "Here," he said, giving it to her.  "Tenchi wanted you to
have this."   She stared at it for a moment, before opening it and unfolding
the papers inside.

 Ryoko,

 You were right, those days were like a carnival, every day
 a new adventure.  I cherished my memories of those days
 for my entire life.


 Grandfather tells me that you probably haven't aged at all
 since you last saw me.  I'm glad, in a way, to know that
 the beautiful pirate, princesses, scientist, and police of
 my youth are the same even now.  That so much time has
 passed and you're just like I remembered you.

 I wonder, did you all know?  Did you all know that it
 couldn't work?  Is that why you fought so hard over me,
 because to you, I would be gone in a blink of an eye?

 Masaki Tenchi

 PS.  I loved you Ryoko.  I suppose, in a way, I loved
 you all.

Ryoko finished reading the letter, and then stood.  "Then I have nothing
left," she said to herself, and nodded thanks to Yosho.  She walked out of
the shrine, summoned Ryo-Ohki, and left Earth for the final time.

***

Nagi stared at the figure in front of her.  It was impossible to believe
that this was the same Ryoko she had chased across the galaxy.  The Ryoko
who she constantly battled, her greatest adversary, and in some ways, her
only friend.

"Take me in."

"Are you out of your mind?" Nagi demanded.  "You're an A-1 Most Wanted! If I
hand you over you'll be lucky to get subspace imprisonment.  At worst,
they'll execute you!"

Ryoko stared morosely at the screen. "Isn't that what you want?  I'm a
pirate, you're a bounty hunter.  Take me in, get your bounty."  As Nagi
didn't move, her voice rose into a scream.  "ARE YOU DEAF?  TAKE ME IN!"

Numbly, almost reluctantly, Nagi placed the cuffs on Ryoko's wrists that
would render her powers useless, making it possible for Nagi to keep her
captive easily.  "I don't know why you're doing this, but if it's what you
want, I'm not going to complain."  She gently gathered up Ryo-Ohki, and took
the pair onto Ken-Ohki.  "Tell me one thing," she asked as Ken-Ohki rose
form the planet.  "Why?"

Nagi stared in shock as Ryoko broke down and began to sob, repeating the
words "He's gone" over and over...

***

"Are you sure it's safe?" Ayeka asked Kiyone hesitantly.

"Trust us, we've been at this for years," Kiyone said with a bit of sarcasm,
then sighed breathily.  "My apologies, princess.  It's hard to see her like
this, you know?  She's kind of our friend."  She palmed open the door, and
ushered Ayeka in.

It took Ayeka a few moments to connect the person in front of her with the
pirate she had known.  That woman had been wild, full of life and energy.
This...creature in front of her was miserable, beaten.  The bowed head
lifted, and Ayeka was stuck by the sorrow there.  "Hi."

"Hello," Ayeka responded, and sat down in the lone chair.  "Kiyone tells me
you practically turned yourself in, that you requested..." she broke off
suddenly.  "WHY?"

"Did you know?" Ryoko asked softly, an undercurrent of anger in her voice.

Ayeka blinked, confused.  "Know what?"

"That he would die," growled Ryoko.  "That his entire life span was less
than a hundredth of ours!"

"Who?" the princess asked weakly, a sick dread sinking its way into her
heart.

"TENCHI!" Ryoko screamed.  "I went back, and he was gone.  He died of old
age!" she sobbed.  She repeated what Yosho had told her.  As she spoke,
Ayeka was numb with shock.

"One year."  She began to giggle, a sort of hysterical laugh that was as
much crying as mirth.  "The only man I've ever loved, and lived his entire
life in one year."  Tears were running down her face now, and she clenched
her fists, her nails cutting her palms.  "One year."  She regained control
of herself and stiffly stood.

"How were we to know?" Ryoko asked, almost plaintively.

Ayeka bowed to the pirate.  "Thank you for telling me," she said formally,
and turned to walk out the door.  Before palming it open, she turned and
looked sadly at the pirate.  "I understand, Ryoko."  She walked through the
door and let it slide shut behind her.  She leaned against the cold metal,
and whispered softly.  "I'm envious."

***

The news spread slowly among the women following Ryoko's execution, each one
dealing with the loss their own way.  For the rest of their lives, they
mourned the passing of the one man who changed their lives so much...

...in the blink of an eye.

END
*************************

*shudder*  No more late-night pizzas for me.

Actually, there was a combination of things that led to this little foray
into depression.  I was thinking about the life span that people have in the
OAV, when it occured to me that we really have no idea how old Ryoko and
Ayeka are.  Then I read Mr. Cobb's (I think) LUY/AMS crossover where Keiichi
is matched with Lum, and how Lum was 20 in her people's years, and only 16
in ours...when I came up with this, the ultimate in taking things the other
way.

--
Christopher "God-boy" Angel
cja124@mail.usask.ca
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/7040/

"I'm 16. Linoleum turns me on."
"Thank goodness men grow out of that."
"We do?"