Subject: [FFML][GSOT]Chapter 7: Through Another's Eyes...
From: Ronoken@aol.com
Date: 7/18/1998, 3:14 AM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com



"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
                                                                             -
Anais Nin

BGlanders presents...

The Gentle Sound of Thunder

Chapter 7: Through Another's Eyes...

*****

Sasami

***

She didn't even say goodbye.

I watch from the window of my private room as we took off from Earth.  Mother
and aunt Funaho are in the next room consoling each other.  I told them I
wanted some time alone.  They said sure.

I never thought I'd have to leave like this.  I always thought I'd leave when
I was ready too, with Aeka.  I always thought I would get a chance to say
goodbye to Tenchi and Ryoko and the others.  I always thought...

Ohh, I don't know what I always thought!  I never tried to think about
leaving!  That was something I never thought I'd do.  I never wanted to, I
never try to think about bad things, like death or being alone or going away
or anything.  And now here I am, speeding away without my sister.  Here I am,
and I didn't even get a chance to tell Tenchi goodbye.  Here I am.

Mommy doesn't understand why all this has happened.  She couldn't figure out
why Aeka was dead or why her little girl couldn't be buried on Jurai, 'like a
princess'.  I wish I could make mom see that Earth was just as much of a home
as Jurai was.  On Jurai, we were treated like we were made out of glass.  No
one played with us, everyone treated us like we were going to break if we were
handled wrong.

Tenchi was different.  He treated us like human beings.  He treated us like
friends.  He was the first person that ever talked to us without being afraid
of our titles.  He was special, and he treated us special too.

After awhile though, I started to get lonely.  I had friends here and family
too, but there was no one my age to play with.  Sure, Ryoko was fun to watch
TV with and we did do lots of neat stuff together, but it wasn't enough.  I
wanted a friend who was the same size as me.  I know Washu tried to cheer me
up from time to time, but she was the oldest one there.
 
Then came Ryo-Ohki.  She was like a pet to me, and then after that time with
the Mass, she was like a sister.  We did everything together.  We'd go
exploring, or cook together, or even just play a game.  She was my best friend
on Earth, and I loved her with all my heart.

Now I'm leaving forever and she didn't even say goodbye.  I searched
everywhere and I couldn't find her, net even in the carrot fields.  She knew I
was leaving, I know she did.  Why didn't she see me off?  I wanted to see her,
just one last time, I just wanted to tell her I love her very much and that
I'll always remember her.  I just wanted� Just wanted to...

I just wanted to say goodbye.

The Earth looks so small now, like a little blue ball.  I know that somewhere
on that little ball is Tenchi.  I know that my sister is somewhere down there,
resting forever.  I know that the little blue ball was my home.  I know that
it will never be my home again.  

Goodbye Tenchi, goodbye Mihoshi and Washu and Grandpa and everyone.

I love you.

***

Tenchi

***

It's only been a couple of days, but it seems like forever.

Only a couple days ago, I was at home with my family.  Only a couple of days
ago, I was around those that I love.  And now...

Now here I am, alone in a world without Ryoko.  Here I am, leaving those that
I loved the most.  And why?  Because I made a mistake.  I made a choice, and
in one fleeting moment I lost someone who meant the world to me.  I made a
choice, and now there's nothing I can do about it.

I couldn't stay, I had to leave.  I couldn't look into their eyes day in and
day out and know that it was my fault that they would never see their friend
again.  I know that what Aeka and Ryoko did was a tradition, but I don't
pretend to understand it.  I know that they felt they were doing 'the right
thing' when they tried to kill each other, and I know they did it because of
me.

I never asked for this, this carnival.  I always thought I'd live a normal
life.  Then I found Ryoko in that cave and everything just started moving at a
mile a minute.  I never minded, but I never seemed to stop complaining.  I
just wanted them to stop, for just one minute.  I wanted to enjoy time with
the both of them, not as a lover or as a prize to be won, just as a friend.

They could never understand, all I ever wanted was their friendship, but they
always were after something more.  For them it was all or nothing.  They
couldn't understand that I loved them both, but not in the way they loved me.

Now Ryoko's dead and I can never go back.  I can't bear to look into Sasami's
eyes, knowing I'm the one responsible for her best friend's death.  I can't
live with them, knowing what I've done.  I don't care if it was my fault or
not.  The fact is I did it.  

I killed her.

And now I'm here, on the docks with my travel bag on my shoulder.  I have to
get away.  I have to leave this place.  There's just too much here, too many
memories.  Everywhere I look I see something that reminds me of them.  

Something that reminds me of her.

So I'm going.  I'm leaving Japan.  I don't know where I'll end up or if I'll
ever come back, but I know that this is the only thing I can do.  If I don't
leave, then I'll always be guilty.  I don't care if the other's forgive me.  I
have to be able to forgive myself.

The ship looks old.  There's a lot of rust on the equipment and the others in
line are all a lot older than me.  I finally get to the man with the book and
he asks me my name and where I'm headed.  I tell him, 

"My name is Tenchi Masaki, and I don't care where we're going."

He nods and scribbles in his book.  I know what he's thinking.  He thinks I'm
a runaway and that I'm looking for a life of adventure or something like that.
He thinks that I'm out for fortune and glory, and that I've got a big lesson
to learn about hard work and humiliation.

Adventure?  No thank you.  I've had enough to fill several lifetimes.
Humiliation?  I don't have a problem with that either.  Fortune and glory?

I'd rather have Ryoko back.

As we leave, a fog bank starts to roll in.  I stand on the deck and watch as
the Kyoto port gets smaller and smaller, and then it vanishes completely.  I
know now that this is the end of the line for the crown prince of Jurai.  

This is the beginning of Tenchi Masaki.

***

Mihoshi

***

This has been a really bad week.

I mean, I'm just watching TV and everything's great and then Ryoko and Aeka
have to go and do the Jenna-Hotaru and then Tenchi interferes and Ryoko dies
and Tenchi leaves and then Aeka kills herself and Ryoko comes back and.�

Huh?  Oh, sorry Yukonojo.  I didn't mean to ramble.

It's just that so much has gone wrong in the last couple of days.  I can't
help thinking that I could have done something to prevent all this.  After
all, I'm a Galaxy Police person and my job was to watch over the Princess
Aeka.  And now she's dead and Washu can't fix her and and and.�

I have to remain calm.  I have to be calm for the commander when he asks me
what happened.  I know that I'll be reassigned for this, I'm sure of it.  I
know that there's no reason for me to stay on Earth anymore, so I'll probably
be sent to the Batlath system or some other remote place for not doing my job
right.

I never mean for things to turn out like this, they always just seem to
happen, you know?  I mean, I could never stop Ryoko and Aeka from fighting,
but after awhile I knew that they were just playing around.  I never thought
they would ever try something as dangerous as the Jenna-Hotaru.  I never ever
thought Aeka and Ryoko would both die, or that Tenchi would feel so guilty
that he would leave.  

I always thought of Tenchi as my destiny.  I know it sounds silly, but I
always hoped, somewhere in the back of my mind that he would choose me
someday.  I knew he wouldn't though.  I mean, if he was going to pick, he
probably would have picked Aeka or Ryoko, but not me.  I was never as close to
him as the others were.  I was always the ditzy blonde who could never do
anything right...

Oh darn it!  Where did I put that control cube?  Huh?  Oh, thank you,
Yukonojo.  What would I do without you?

Anyway, I always felt like I was incompetent around them.  They were always
putting me down and making fun of me, but Tenchi never did.  He was always so
kind and nice to me that I always used to let myself think he was courting me,
but I knew he wasn't.  He was one of those kind of people that you never meet
anymore. 

He was an honest to goodness nice guy.

He and Sasami always treated me with kindness and I tired to repay that as
much as I could.  Sasami especially.  I mean, she's a princess and I'm just a
police officer, but she always treated me like an equal and we always had fun
together.  She cared about me, she really did, and so did Tenchi.

And Washu, she always used to sit and talk with me about this and that and
what was going on in the universe down in her lab.  We would sit and jabber
for hours about the latest criminal cases or the best scientific discoveries,
although I could never really follow her too well on the science part of it.  

I know I will miss them all, and that as soon as I can I'll pay a visit to
Sasami and Washu and everyone.  

I just hope that they will still remember me.

Yukonojo, plot a course for the main vessel.  It's time to go.

***

Ryoko

***

The Earth is gone now.  I can't distinguish it from the other stars out there.
I don't want to.  I'm doing this for a reason; I need to get away.  I have to.
There's nothing left for me on that planet, not even..

Not even Tenchi.

I told Ryo-Ohki to just fly.  I don't care where she takes us, I just want it
to be somewhere far away, where the rain can't fall forever and the friends
you make don't die.  I know that's just a pipe dream, though.  Friends die.
Rain falls.  You get hurt, but you always have the choice of going on.  I've
been knocked down countless times in my life, but I've always been able to get
back up again.  I never look back, I can't afford to.  There's always
something ahead, but there's also always something to make you turn around.

I thought that this was different, that I had found my dream, my never-ending
carnival.  I thought that life was perfect and that for the first time ever, I
was happy.  There was no more death, no more hate,

No more Daddy.

I thought that I had found happiness with people that loved me.  I thought
that I had found out what love is, and all in the form of a boy.  

Tenchi.

Ryo-Ohki's slowing down now.  I can feel it.  Her thrusters are slowing to
impulse speed.  Why?  Is there trouble?  Is she hurt?  What is going on here?

"Ryo-Ohki!  Why have we slowed?  Are you hurt?"

Suddenly the screen before me comes alive and I see a ship I never thought I'd
see again.  It was the Masaki and it is hailing us.  I know who it is, it's
the Emperor.  He wants to confront me about his daughter's death.  He wants to
blame me for what happened and he's probably right to do so.  If I hadn't
accepted that challenge in the onsen than none of this would have happened,
but I did.  And now there's nothing anyone can do.

I feel so helpless right now.  I feel just like I did back on Kagato's

Daddy's

ship when he would do his tests on me.  I feel like I did when he would beat
me for no reason and I wanted to fight back, oh God how I wanted to, but I
couldn't because that was wrong and if I did something wrong he would do the
bad thing and I I I...

NO!  Damnit that was 700 years ago!  It's over and done with and that
bastard's dead now, so drop it Ryoko!

Let's see what this bastard wants now.  I order Ryo-Ohki to answer the hail
and I brace, ready for the onslaught from Emperor Azusa.  I expect his eyes to
burn into me like two dark slits and his whole body to be shaking with rage,
but instead...

Instead I see two happy pink orbs blinking at me.

Instead of an angry king, I see a freckled face with blue hair and a happy
smile peering back from the viewing screen.

Sasami.

"Hi Ryo-Ohki!  Hi Ryoko!  I didn't think I'd ever see either one of you
again!"

A crystal floats beside me and suddenly pops into humanoid form, complete with
a little carrot dress.  I swear, Ryo-Ohki's cuteness can be almost too sweet
to see sometimes.

"Myia!  Myia Myia!"

Ryo-Ohki is jumping up and down now and her eyes are so shiny I think I'm
going to go blind.  Sasami is giggling on the viewer and I even catch myself
starting to grin a bit.  

"Hi Sasami.  I'm sorry we couldn't see you off, but we� We had to leave.  I
hope you understand."

I look into those eyes and I know instantly that I'm forgiven.  I look into
those eyes and I see why I'm not the same person I was 700 years ago.  It was
Sasami and the others that taught me what strength is.  I don't mean crushing
rocks or throwing a plasma ball, that's easy.  I'm talking about strength of
the soul.  They taught me how to love and how to open up.  And even now, I
feel I'm learning something from her.

Look at her.  Her entire world has just come crashing down around her, and all
it takes is the sight of Ryo-Ohki and myself and she's smiling again.  I pray
that someday I'm that strong.

"It's okay, Ryoko.  I know that you wanted to.  So where are you two going
now?"

I take a deep breath and try to draw some strength from her.  I try to keep my
voice steady.  I try to remain Ryoko.

I do a decent job, too.

"We're just out to see you off, Sasami.  I thought, since Ryo-Ohki and I
couldn't say goodbye on Earth that we would.."

She nods and I look into her eyes.  I suddenly see that she's forcing the
smile and that tears are welling up, but she won't cry now.  No, she'll wait
until we can't see her before she breaks down.  She wouldn't be much of a
princess of she showed emotion, or would she?

"Ryoko?  Are you and Ryo-Ohki gonna be there when I come back to visit?"

I hear a tremor in her voice, and I do the only thing I can.

I lie.

"Of course we will.  Don't you worry, Sasami.  Washu and Ryo-Ohki and myself
will be there whenever you visit, I promise."

Her face lights up again, and in my mind I hear Ryo-Ohki's thoughts.  I know
that she's scolding me for lying to Sasami, but she keeps quiet about it.  Let
Sasami have her moment.  She needs it.

"Yay!  I'll come back as soon as I can, okay Ryoko?  I'll be there with you
and Grandpa and Washu and we can pretend things are just like they were
and..."

I see her catch herself and now I know she's losing the battle of tears.
Behind her I can hear someone coughing and I know it's Azusa.  That bastard.
Does he have to listen in on this, of all conversations?  Sasami straightens
up at the sound of his cough, and says,

"I have to go now, Ryoko.  We have to go back to Jurai."

"I know, kid.  You take care now, okay?  You promise to keep out of trouble?"

She smiles at me, and says in a shaky voice,

"I'll try Ryoko.  Goodbye, Ryo-Ohki!  Now you stay out of those carrot fields
until Tenchi comes back to plant some more, do you hear me?"

Ryo-Ohki gives out a myia and I can tell she doesn't want Sasami to go.  I can
hear her in my head, screaming for her not to leave.  A thousand images
suddenly flood my mind, images of Sasami and Ryo-Ohki. I see all the times
they had together, all the fun and secrets they shared.  I know that Sasami's
thinking the same thoughts as well.

"Ryo-Ohki?  Before I go I want to say I love you very much.  You've been like
a sister to me, and I'll never forget you.  Ryoko?  I love you too, and I hope
I see you both real soon.  You two were always so nice to me and I�I�"

"Goodbye Princess Sasami."  I bow to her and she bows back.  I can see her
starting to cry, so I do the only thing I can.

I shut off the monitor and turn Ryo-Ohki around.

I drop to my knees and just let the tears flow.  I can't take it anymore.  Her
leaving, Tenchi's leaving, Aeka's dying, it's all setting in now.  Everything
that's happened, up until now I guess I've been trying to convince myself that
it's all a bad dream, and that if I just sit and wait, it will all go away.  I
hug my knees and try to will it all away, but I know it won't happen.  I know
that I'm alone.

No, I'm not.

A tiny hand touches my shoulder, and I look up into to shiny, yellow eyes.  I
pull Ryo-Ohki close and hug her tightly, feeling her body convulse with sobs.
The bridge is very quiet now, and the only light is from the stars shining
through the dome.  We head towards Earth until the Masaki leaves our sensor
field and then change course.

"Just promise me that you'll never leave me.  You hear me, Ryo-Ohki?  You're
all I've got left."

I feel her hug me tighter and I can hear her thoughts in my head.  I know that
if nothing else, I'll always have someone, no matter what.  I know that I'll
never be truly alone, not so long as I have my friends to turn to.

In my head, I can hear Ryo-Ohki speaking, and as she does, I start to smile.

"I love you, Ryoko."

***

Washu

***

He's still there.

I go outside and he's still standing by the lake, staring out at the Funaho.
I walk across the wet grass and come to a stop at his side.  We don't say
anything, we just stand and stare out at the tree in the middle of the lake.
It really is something else.  Jurain trees are the smoothest, most perfectly
shaped plants one could ever hope to see.  No science could produce something
as beautiful or as complex as that.  No, that was a work of magic.

"Did you take care of everything inside?"

I nod.  I know instantly that he knows what I've done.  I don't know how, but
he seems to always know exactly what I'm about to do.  No matter how
outrageous it may be, he can always second-guess me, and for the life of me I
can't figure out how.

"It's done."

He turns at the sound of my voice.  It's deeper, more adult.  He turns and I
see his eyebrow raise in either surprise or interest, or maybe a little of
both.

"I see you've shed your disguise."

He turns his gaze back towards the water.  I do the same.  I could start to
ramble on about why I did it and the possible consequences.  I could present
theories and facts about how ironic it is that a 20,000 year old being was in
the body of a 12-year-old.  I could act exactly like a Little Washu should.

But I'm not Little Washu anymore.

"When will you, Katsuhito?"

He sighs, and out of the corner of my eye I see him tense slightly.  An aura
of light surrounds him and when it vanishes, I see him.  The real him.  I see
Yosho the way he looked when he was younger, when he was still a Jurain.  I
see a young man with strength in his body and wisdom in his eyes.  

I know that we're the last.  I know that the others won't ever come back.
Eventually Mihoshi will forget about us, Sasami will grow up and Ryoko...  I
don't know what will happen to Ryoko.  They may visit once or twice, but come
back?

Never again.

That chapter of our lives is closed.  We played out our roles and now it's
time to move on.  They all have their whole lives ahead of them, lives that
have no place for people like Yosho and myself.  They will go on throughout
the universe, but we, we will remain here.

And why?  Well, for Yosho, this is his home.  He had his time among the stars,
and he choose to leave it all behind.  This is his life now, and this is how
he wants it to remain until he dies.  As for me?  I've been alive 20,000
years.  I've seen more than I ever hoped to, and all the while I wanted more.
Now, after everything that's happened, I think I've had my fill.  It's time
for me to stop hoarding life and to start enjoying it.  

I lean against him, and I feel him put an arm around me.  It's been several
thousand years since I've opened up to someone, but now I think I'm ready to
try, at least for one moment in time.  I know he doesn't love me, and that's
okay.  I don't love him.  We just happen to be two old souls who wound up
together, and that's good enough for now.  If something ever comes of it, I
wouldn't mind, but for now...

For now, I am content.

I look across the water, and then my eye catches a glimmer.  A ray of sun
peeks through the clouds and hits the surface of the lake, causing it to
sparkle.  As we stand and watch, I see the clouds slowly starting to break up.
After two days, the storm is finally over.  

I rest my head on his shoulder, and realize that for the first time in my
life, I have no idea of what will happen next.  I realize that I can't
theorize about the future anymore than I could change the past.  For the first
time in my life, I'm about to head into the great unknown, but I know that as
long as I have my strength, and as long as he has his, then I'll never have to
fear it.  I close my eyes, and ask him a question.  I know we don't know the
answer, and right now, I don't really care.

"So what happens now?"

*****

Tenchi and Co belong to AiC and Pioneer

All C@C to BGlanders@aol.com