PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
Feelings Are Blind
Part Nine:  End of Journey 

	Veca screamed as he flew across the room, his extended spike 
crackling with energy.  His path would take him directly to Washu.  She 
would not ignore him this time, or pay the consequences of her inaction.
	Washu simply stood there, staring at her son.  Veca had been a 
good child, always attentive and serene.  What had happened to that 
little boy she had known so long ago?  The one she had forced to leave, 
to see the Universe unconfined.  She thought she had been doing the 
right thing.  Could she have been so wrong?
	Moments before Veca could plunge his weapon into the scientist, 
his spike met a glowing red energy blade.  The two powers came together 
with a sharp explosion.  A shock wave flew through the room, knocking 
everyone to the floor other than the current combatants.  Ryouko pressed 
into Veca with all of her strength.  "You will not hurt her!" she cried.
	Veca grinned, "Ah, dear sister.  Why are you defending her?  She 
left you too, didn't she?"
	Ryouko's blade flickered slightly, then returned stronger than 
before.  "She had no choice!  I know that now!"  She pressed harder, 
beginning to gain ground.
	He chuckled in response.  "Poor, dear sister.  She has brain 
washed you.  Well, I shall not be so cruel, nor shall I punish you."  He 
gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly.  His spike flashed with 
a piercing white light, and Ryouko's sword vanished.  She barely had 
time to register surprise before Veca's glowing spire impaled her chest. 
 He smiled softly as he took the wide-eyed Ryouko into his arms.  He 
looked down at her, and a tear fell from his eye.  "Lay here, softly, my 
sister.  I will return."  He placed her on the floor and pulled his hand 
from her chest, the spike dripping with blood.  
	Washu stared, unbelieving, as Veca stood up fully once more.  
She was still replaying the scene in her head... Ryouko's strength 
breaking under the stress... Veca's dagger piercing her back... and she 
just stood there and watched.  As she began to fall to her knees, a loud 
cry echoed throughout the throne room.  A bright flash of blue light 
drowned out the softer glow from below.  
	"Veca!" Tenchi screamed, the Light Hawk Wings flaring to life in 
front of him.  Ranma took a step back from him, feeling the intense 
power emanating from Tenchi.  The Wings molded to Tenchi's body, 
changing his clothing to that worn generations ago by Tsunami's personal 
guard.  The incandescent blades came to his front and he formed them 
into a sword and shield, completing his arsenal.  "Veca!" he repeated, 
then lunged at the monster who had just killed his best friend.  He 
brought the sword up into the air, the pure energy surging through his 
veins, ready to deal out his ultimate vengeance.
	"Tenchi!  Stop!"
	Tenchi's sword came to a halt a mere inch away from Veca's 
sweating forehead.  He blinked, staring cross-eyed at the humming blade, 
ready to rend him in two.  For a reason he couldn't comprehend he could 
not pull his gaze from it, not even to see what had just saved his 
existence.  
	Tenchi, however, looked over to see Washu, kneeling on the 
floor, her hand extended out to him.  "Please, don't, Tenchi." she 
pleaded, tears streaming down her face.  The shock of this fact alone 
was enough to make Tenchi back down slightly.  
	"B... but... Ryouko..." he said, stuttering.  
	"Ryouko will be fine... just don't kill Veca."
	He looked down at Ryouko, a large gaping hole still present in 
her chest.  "Washu, are you sure she'll be okay?"
	"Yes, Tenchi... as long as Ryouko's mind is in tact I can 
reconstruct her body.  Given time, in fact, her body would regenerate 
itself, but I can speed the process."  She stood up again fully and 
patted herself off.  
	Tenchi looked at Ryouko once more, then lowered his sword.  He 
did not deactivate it, still wary of Veca.  "Okay, Washu, I'll spare 
him, for your sake."  He turned to Veca and sneered, "And only because 
Ryouko will be okay."
	Ranma came up behind Tenchi and stared at him for a moment.  The 
young man that he loved seemed different all of the sudden.  He was 
producing so much chi that Ranma thought it would kill him, but he 
wielded it like a regular bokken.  That much power should also be 
melting him through the ship, killing everyone nearby... yet, it stayed 
self-contained, like a battery.  Ranma had no doubts that Tenchi, at 
that moment, was most likely one of the most powerful entities in the 
Universe.  Veca didn't stand even the beginnings of a chance.  However, 
what bothered Ranma was the change in demeanor that Tenchi was showing. 
 
	Shampoo was almost sitting on the floor in shock.  Ryouko had 
been so courageous, leaping to her mother's defense.  In Amazon culture 
it was the highest honor to come to the defense of your elder, and even 
more so if she was a family member.  Ryouko had tried to save her 
mother, and had been impaled through the heart for her efforts.  Tenchi 
had almost instantly readied himself for vengeance, but was stopped by 
Ryouko's mother.  Shampoo didn't get it, didn't she want him to uphold 
his honor?  Or did she want the privilege of doing it herself?  It sure 
didn't sound like it... seemed like she cared more for Veca than she did 
Ryouko.  What was that talk of healing Ryouko?  In Shampoo's experience 
a chest wound of that magnitude would kill anyone... although, Ryouko is 
alien.  As much as Shampoo wanted to leap up and attack, every instinct 
in her being screamed at her to do so, she exerted supreme will power 
and stayed put.  One of the first things her great-grandmother had 
taught her was to make sure she was fully appraised of the situation 
before leaping into it.  Usually she didn't quite follow that advice as 
well as she should, but it seemed prudent in the current situation.  
	"Veca," Washu began, her voice breaking through the quiet that 
had descended upon the room, "we should talk about this... something has 
happened to you."
	"Shut up!" Veca yelled, making Tenchi flinch, "Why do you still 
play these games with me?  After ten thousand years don't you think I 
know what's going on?"
	"Obviously not," she mumbled to herself, than raised her voice, 
"Look!  I really have no idea what you are talking about, Veca!  What I 
remember of your childhood and what you do seem to have differed over 
the millennia."  
	Veca seemed to be building to attack once more, but the light 
from Tenchi's sword kept him in check.  Though he eyed the blade, as if 
waiting for an opening in his defenses.  The look on Tenchi's face just 
begged him to try it.  He looked back to Washu, "I have not forgotten!  
I can remember it like it was yesterday!  For the past nine thousand 
years I've thought about it!"
	"Nine thousand years ago you left to explore the Universe on 
your own.  I still have the conversation on file, if you'd like to hear 
it?"
	Veca looked disturbed for some reason, as if he were conflicting 
with himself.  Then, he nodded, "I would."
	Washu nodded in return and placed began typing at the air in 
front of her before her keyboards had a chance to make themselves 
visible.  After relatively few keystrokes two voices began to sound from 
no discernable location...

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

	"Veca, you have decided to leave and see the Universe..."
	"Yes, mother, I wish to know all there is to know."
	"That's my child... I will not get in your way, just know that I 
am always here if you need me."
	"I will, mother."
	"Ryu-ohki is ready for you, she's a good ship and will protect 
you in the unknown where I can't."
	"Thank you, and goodbye, mother."
	"Goodbye, my son."
 	(Pause)
	"Mother?"
	"Yes, Veca?"
	"I've never seen you cry before..."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

	Washu tapped a button, silencing the recording.  She wiped her 
eyes carefully, taking in a deep breath.  She looked to Veca again, "I 
never forgot that day, I could never forget that day.  I must have 
listened to that conversation a million times, and it still gets me.  I 
even have holographic tapes of you growing up, if you'd like to see 
those as well?  I've watched them all over and over... when you didn't 
come back for six thousand years I finally began construction of 
Ryouko."  She lowered her gaze, "I was lonely."
	"Lonely?"
	Washu coughed and smiled, "Yes, well, it's not easy having the 
greatest intellect in the Universe and having no one to talk to!"
	A plethora of emotions were playing across Veca's face.  He 
seemed to be split between two things, as if he couldn't decide what was 
reality and what was fiction.  He grabbed the sides of his head with 
both hands and screamed, causing everyone in the room to jump.  Washu 
began to scan him for defects and/or mental problems.  The scan turned 
up negative, everything seemed to be in perfect working order.  What was 
wrong with him?
	"Get out of my head!" he yelled toward the ceiling.  Tenchi took 
in involuntary step backwards, coming to rest beside Ranma.  
	Tenchi looked over at Washu, "What's wrong with him?"
	Washu typed furiously, multiple view screens burst into life 
around her.  Information flashed by at an astronomical rate.  "Working 
on it." was all she said.
	The three remaining people felt awfully out of place all of the 
sudden.  Ranma still wanted to know what happened to Akane, but couldn't 
find a place to fit a word in edgewise.  He found Tenchi staring at him 
intently.
	"You're worried about her, aren't you?" he asked, his voice 
seemingly softer than usual.  
Ranma nodded, "She's been my best friend since I arrived in Tokyo, I 
don't want to loose her."
         	Tenchi looked down at Ryouko briefly, then began to 
glow.  He shut his eyes and the light increased.  It spread out from his 
body and flowed throughout the room.  Washu paid it no mind, while 
Shampoo simply stared at the phenomenon.  Ranma blinked as the light 
became almost too much to bear.  As sudden as it came, it went, flashing 
out of existence.  However, unlike before the light, Akane was now 
laying on the ground beside Tenchi.
"Akane!" Ranma cried, running to her side.  He knelt down beside her and 
lifted her head into his lap.  He noticed with infinite relief that the 
head was still attached to her shoulders.  He also noticed her chest was 
rising and falling in a steady rhythm and he could feel the pounding of 
her heart.  He felt his face moisten with tears, but he was beyond 
caring or thought.  
Tenchi, after making sure everything was alright, collapsed to his 
knees.  The resuscitation of the Tendo girl had taken a lot out of him. 
 Veca had not actually removed her head, but in her interrogations he 
had killed her.  He figured that was something Ranma didn't need to 
know, not yet anyway.  The Light Hawk Sword flickered slightly, showing 
the strain on Tenchi's powers even more.
Veca was in no state to take advantage of Tenchi's current weakness.  
However, something else was.  A ripple in the air formed over Tenchi, 
who was breathing hard and staring at Ranma and Akane.  He didn't notice 
as two tendrils of pure darkness came from the disturbance.
Washu, who had all her scanners on full, did notice.  She blinked as 
another power, one she did not recognize, came into being.  It had 
slipped through an uncharted dimension, one Washu didn't realize could 
even be linked with the one they were in.  The position coincided with 
the person who controlled the greatest power in the room.  "Tenchi!" she 
yelled as she turned to look at him.  She gasped as she saw the 
tentacles of night, seeming to originate from nowhere.
Tenchi glanced over at Washu, who had called his name.  His hearing was 
a bit dim at that moment, so he didn't register the urgency in her 
voice.  As he saw her though, he could see it in her eyes.  His own 
widened, and then he felt it.  Above him was an energy the likes of 
which he had never felt before, and a powerful one.  He looked up just 
in time to see darkness fall.
END PART NINE
Well... another cliffhanger.  The next part is promised soon.  The C&C 
for this fic has gotten a little shabby.  Is anyone out there reading 
this?  Tell me, please, not to mention what you think of it.
Thanks for reading,
PMasters (4-29-98)