Hello all!

This is my first attempt at a non-Ranma fanfic. What anime could I
write a fanfic on, other than Ranma? After scratching off Maison
Ikokku, I chose Useless Tenchi, umm Tenchi Muyo. ^_-

The basic premise is the good old 'what would happen if Tenchi
actually made a choice.' It's also set prior to "The Night Before The
Carnival - Special."

Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction
"The Heart of the Matter"
by Suds-kun (suds1964@tir.com)

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Tenchi Muyo characters are created by Kajishima Masaki
Tenchi Muyo characters are copyright Anime International Co. /Pioneer
LDC, Inc
Published by Kadokawa Shoten Publishing and VIZ Comm.
Story copyright Shaun Schillinger.
Intended for the sole non-profit use of Tenchi fans.
============================================

"Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow."

"What do you want, Ryo-ohki-chan?" Tenchi bent over and scratched the
cabbit's head.

"MeeYOW."

"Hmmph. More carrots, huh? O.K., I'll give you one." Tenchi walked to
the storage shed with Ryo-ohki-chan bouncing in joy after him.

Tenchi sat down on the grass and handed the carrot to Ryo-ohki-chan.
He smiled as he watched the kawaii animal thoroughly enjoy the treat.
He tensed as he felt the presence of someone sneaking up on him. He
relaxed when he recognized the presence.

"Tenchi-sama! I've been looking all over for you." Aeka walked up to
Tenchi and kneeled beside him. "What are you doing?"

"Ryo-ohki-chan wanted a carrot, so I gave her one." He snickered as
Ryo-ohki-chan jumped up and down for another carrot. "I thought you
would want another one, here you go." Tenchi tossed the carrot in the
air towards Ryo-ohki-chan.

Aeka laughed as Ryo-ohki-chan caught the carrot and rolled end over
end.

"Meow?"

Tenchi smiled and then looked at Aeka. "You were looking for me? Did
you need me for something?"

"No, Tenchi-sama, I was just wondering where you were." She looked up
to the blue sky and sighed. "This is such a beautiful day, I wish it
could last forever. Ryoko is away, Washuu is in her lab and Sasami is
engrossed watching tv." Aeka turned to Tenchi, "It's just you and I
here today." She smiled and placed a hand on his arm. "Tenchi-sama,
I.. I.. I've been wanting to ask you something that's very important
to me."

Tenchi looked at Aeka and noticed her blushing and her hesitancy.
"Uh, oh" he thought.

"D.. Do you ... Uhm, that is... Tenchi-sama, I..." Aeka stopped and
took a deep breath.  "Tenchi-sama, I have feelings for you. They're
deep in my heart and are strong. I care for you dearly. I don't know
what I would do with out you. I've worried so much over Kagato and
the others trying to kill you. I don't know if I would be able to
survive without you. I.. I'm rambling. Gomen." She paused and took
another deep breath. "Tenchi-sama, do you have feelings like this for
me?"

Tenchi was in shock. He looked at Aeka and saw the pleading in her
eyes. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and hear it in
his ears.  He looked around to see if Ryoko or Washuu or Mihoshi were
anywhere nearby, waiting to attack. His gaze fell back to Aeka and
he smiled nervously.

"Heh, heh, uhmmm, Aeka... I, uh, Why are you asking me this?"

Aeka took his hand in hers. "I want to know, I.. I need to know if
you care for me as much as I care for you."

Tenchi nervously laughed and smiled at her. He gave her hand a light
squeeze.

Aeka smiled and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Tenchi
didn't move and a large sweat drop appeared on his head. Aeka looked
in his eyes and moved closer. Her lips moving towards his. She
started the kiss and slowly Tenchi responded. This tentative, new
experience tingled through his body. He began to enjoy the sensation,
until the electricity he was feeling started to hurt.

"Wow!" thought Aeka, her hair frizzled.

"Uh, oh." thought Tenchi.

"Nooo!!!!" shouted Ryoko.

Aeka and Tenchi both stood up, blushing.

"Get away from him!"

"Why? You were the one who left Tenchi-sama, _I_ was here for him."

"What do you mean? I ran an errand for Washuu! Get away from him!"
The air was crackling around Ryoko as she shook with anger, a single
tear running down her cheek.

"Uh, girls. Let's talk this out." pleaded Tenchi.

"You had no right to interrupt us!" shouted Aeka as she moved
towards Ryoko.

Ryoko shot a blast of electricity at the two, knocking them back.  As
they slowly stood up, she used the tendrils of energy to break off a
nearby tree and throw it at Aeka.

Tenchi saw the human sized log flying at Aeka, he leapt and shoved
her aside.  The charred tree crashed across his chest. He bounced
away from the log and landed on his back. He looked up at the sky and
wondered why it was so quiet. His chest hurt and it's starting to get
dark out.

===

Tenchi's grandfather heard the thunder. "There she goes again." he
muttered as tended the flowers.  Suddenly, he grabbed his chest and
fell to one knee. He grimaced and then looked up, pain and fear on
his face. "Oh, no." he said as he began to run towards the house.

When he arrived, Aeka and Ryoko were yelling at each other and
scuffling. He saw Tenchi laying on the ground.  He ran to his
grandson, kneeled beside him and quickly felt for a pulse. A sweat
drop appeared on his head. He listened for any sign of breathing.
Nothing.

He placed his hands on Tenchi's chest, near the sternum and counted
each thrust.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

He leaned over and carefully opened Tenchi's mouth, making sure there
was no signs of an object.  Using his right hand, he pinched the nose
and took a breath.  He placed his mouth over Tenchi's and breathed
into him. He turned his head and watched the chest fall as he
listened to the air escape from the mouth. He began repeating these
steps.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Sasami walked out of the house, toward the two combatants. "You broke
the TV!" She yelled at them.  They ignored her or didn't hear her,
their own screaming was louder than Sasami's yell. She then noticed
Tenchi and his grandfather. She gasped and ran to them. "Wuh, what
happened?" she asked as she started to cry.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

The realization of what the older man was doing caused her knees to
get weak.  She noticed Ryo-ohki-chan nuzzling Tenchi's hand, tears
streaming from its eyes.

"One, _GO_, Two, _GET_, Three, _WASHUU_, Four. _NOW_! Five."

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Sasami ran away crying, screaming Washuu's name.

"He doesn't love you!" Screamed Aeka as she twisted Ryoko's hands
away from her. "He loves me!"

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"NO!" Ryoko's bolt zapped the two as they struggled. "You're
manipulating him, coming on to him like that!"

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

"He kissed ME, not YOU!"

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"YOU kissed HIM! He didn't have a choice!"

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Washuu came running into the yard, Sasami close behind.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"Let's see what we have here." Washuu pointed the hand-held
instrument towards Tenchi.

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Sasami kneeled beside Ryo-ohki-chan and picked up the crying cabbit.
"Washuu is here, Tenchi will be o.k. now." sobbed Sasami as she
hugged Ryo-ohki-chan.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"You've done well. We need to get him to my lab."

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Washuu turned to Ryoko and Aeka.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"STOP!" Washuu yelled with a megaphone.

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Ryoko and Aeka looked at Washuu in surprise.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

"Ryoko! Fly Tenchi to my lab! NOW!" Washuu then ran towards the
house.

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Ryoko and Aeka slowly looked at Tenchi and his Grandfather.
"Tenchi-sama!" Screamed Aeka as she ran towards them. Ryoko flew to
him and arrived there first.

"One, Two, Three, Four. Five."

Ryoko waited for the old man to finish the breathing.

"Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff, Puff."

Quickly, Ryoko gathered up Tenchi and flew to the house, sliding
through the walls. A second tear ran down her cheek, more painful
than the earlier one.

Aeka and Sasami, carrying Ryo-ohki-chan, ran as fast as they could to
keep up.

Tenchi's grandfather slowly stood up and brushed himself off. He then
made his way towards the family shrine.

===

"There!" announced Washuu. "The pacemaker and the ventilator are
working perfectly."

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Sasami, her big eyes were red and
puffy from the crying.

"Of course!" stated Washuu, "I'm a genius. Tenchi's going to be good
as new in no time." She smiled at Sasami and waved her away.
Ryo-ohki-chan sighed in relief and snuggled deeper into Sasami's hug.

"Now to check for brain damage." mumbled Washuu. She looked up and
noticed Ryoko and Aeka staring at her. "You two better leave,
Tenchi's going to be fine and I don't need any distractions."

Ryoko and Aeka both bowed and stepped out of the room. They made
their way to the living room and sat down, one on each side of the
room.

Sasami sat next to her sister. "Are you o.k., Aeka?"

"I... oh Tenchi-sama!" Aeka dropped her head into her hands and began
to cry, sobbing uncontrollably. Sasami put her arm around her sister
and hugged her. "He... We... I..." she said in between sobs.

Aeka's crying began to subside and the room soon became silent. All
three looking at their hands or feet, deep in thought.

Ryoko looked up at the two and sneered. "He's going to be o.k.,
Washuu's working on him and he's going to be good as new."

"It's all your fault!" sobbed Aeka in response.

"MY fault?" shouted Ryoko.

"Enough." All three turned to look at Tenchi's grandfather. "This is
not the time to argue or fight."

"That's right." said a smiling Washuu as she walked into the room.
"Tenchi's doing fine and sleeping. It's seems his heart had stopped.
>From what I can tell, he received an electrical shock and then a
sharp blow to the chest, stopping his heart. Thanks to Yoshohito's
CPR, Tenchi doesn't have brain damage."

Everyone gave a collective sigh of relief.

Washuu quietly walked to the center of room and took a deep breath.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" she screamed.

"It's Ryoko's fault," Aeka pointed at Ryoko, "she tried to kill
Tenchi-sama."

"I did NOT! I tossed a tree at you, to get you away from him and he
jumped in the way."

The two glared at each other until Washuu stepped in between them.
She looked at Aeka. "What were you two doing?"

Aeka blushed and looked down. "We, ah, um, we were, um, you see we,
I, he, ummmm. we were csshmm."

"What was that?" shouted Ryoko, "I cant hear you!"

"All right! We were kissing!"

Sasami and Washuu gasped.

"He, he kuh-kissed you?" stuttered Sasami.

"Well, _I_ kissed _him_, but SHE interrupted."

"You were going to seduce him! I had to stop you!"

"What?" Aeka shouted as she jumped up, her face red from
embarrassment and anger.

"Girls, girls. Let's stop this." Washuu intervened. "We almost lost
Tenchi. If it wasn't for his grandfather, we _would_ have lost him.
You two were so engrossed in who owned him that you didn't even
notice that he was hurt, let alone dead."

"Dead?" asked Aeka.

"Yes, as a door nail. His heart _stopped_. The CPR kept oxygen and
blood flowing to his brain." Washuu turned. "Sasami, I'm _very_ proud
of you.  You interrupted me, even when I threatened you to leave me
alone.  Arigatoo." Washuu bowed to Sasami.

Sasami smiled and bowed in return.

Washuu turned back to Aeka and Ryoko. "You two will have to
apologize to Tenchi when he's feeling better. It'll be a week before
he's fully recovered, but you can see him tomorrow." She turned to
leave and then stopped, as if a thought just came to her.

"One other thing. Tenchi is not a thing or toy to be owned. He's
going to choose the one he loves, you can't choose for him." Again,
Washuu turned to leave and walked away, mumbling under her breath.
"If
this is an example of him almost choosing, there won't be anything
left of him when he _does_ choose. Especially if it's not me."

============================================

After reviewing this, it looks like Washuu is bit OOC at the end. :)

Also, I forgot to have Aeka use her whips. ;)

I have no idea where Mihoshi is during all of this, probably in the
bathroom.
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--
suds-kun (Shaun Schillinger)
suds1964@tir.com
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/8222/
"THIS time, we didn't forget the graaavy!" Cat & Mouse to Dog