Tenchi Muyo! (C) 1998 AIC * Pioneer LDC, Inc. * Tenchi Muyo
Committee

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                        Presenting-
             An original Tenchi Muyo! Fanfiction
             by: Mark Eymer (saotome@micron.net)

               Tenchi Muyo!: A Candle, a Flame
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        Fire is a magical thing. Perpetual motion, something
mankind has been trying to create for countless generations,
yet has never been able to. The infinite mystery inherint in
a single, burning flame evades our limited understanding. We
know how it works, chemically, physically, yet we can not
reproduce anything at all resembling it.

        Truly, a work of nature so simplistic, yet so
enigmatic at the same time. Fire could be considered alive,
or so some say. It possesses all the basic aspects of life.
It requires food, to fuel it's existence. It also requires
shelter from the elements, water, wind, and earth are all
capable of extinguishing flame. Likewise fire requires air,
oxygen, which also acts as food, fuel to keep it burning.

        Reproduction is also present, for fires tend to
spread, do they not? Also like all life, we humans attach
certain significant meanings to a kindled flame. Many say
that love is like a fire; it threatens to engulf a person,
totally encompass them in it's relentless heat. Love also
grows like a flame, where a small spark is capable of
setting an inferno of passion and affection alight.

        Much like fire, though, love also needs to be
rekindled. A love that runs out of fuel may extinguish, and
long experienced, familiar feelings may vanish in a sudden
puff of smoke. Yet even as the fires of passion have burned
to a slowly smoldering ember, another simple spark can set
off another such inferno.

        Many such thoughts passed through the mind of one of
the Galaxie's most reviled criminals, the infamous space
pirate, Ryoko. The lithe female sat quietly, watching in
rapt fascination as the fire atop a single blue candle
danced around the wick.

        Sighing deeply, Ryoko closed her eyes, allowing the
gentle warmth of the swaying flame to wash over her face.
A faint yellow glow emanated from the tip of the candle,
highlighting the room in it's soft light.

        Moments like this were few and far between for the
troubled pirate. Reopening her eyes, Ryoko focused her
attention not on the candle in front of her window, but on
the moon floating in the night sky. Silently speaking a
prayer to the disc of silver, Ryoko emptied her soul to the
night sky above.

        God how she hated this meager existence. She, the
person who had almost destroyed the entirety of the planet
Jurai, had been reduced to nothing more than a bickering,
love sick, woman. And for nothing more than a room in the
house of the man she loved, a man who didn't return that
love.

        A tear streaked down Ryoko's cheek and was quickly
and vehemently wiped away. No, she would not allow herself
to show weakness. Countless nights before she had sailed
through that starfilled sky, oblivious to the lives of
others. But here, on this backwater planet, something had
changed. Whether that was for the better, Ryoko was not
certain.

        For the first time in her entire life, Ryoko was
questioning her own actions. It was becoming harder to wake
up to a new day, harder to face the people in her life. It
was becoming harder to continue living.

        Every morning, Ryoko passed a mirror on her way to
the bathroom, and every morning, Ryoko hated what she saw
within the reflection. She was forced to face the acts she
had committed. Terrible, evil acts.

        More than anything else, Ryoko hated herself. She
hated herself for the things she had done in her life. Even
as the realization that Kagato had been at fault for much of
her deeds, Ryoko pushed the thoughts away. Even if Kagato
had controlled her then, Ryoko controlled herself now. And,
she also clearly remembered the crimes she had committed.

        It weighed heavily on her conscience, indeed. People
in this very house had been hurt by her past actions, Sasami
had almost died when she attacked Jurai. Grief, like nothing
she had ever experienced, coursed through Ryoko at that
moment. She had almost killed one of the few people she
loved; one of the few that made life worth living.

        She couldn't imagine her world without the young
princess' smile. And yet, she had stolen a million similar
smiles from a million similar faces a million times before.
Killing was not new to her, no. Ryoko had known how to kill
as long as she had existed. The new part was the guilt she
felt over the deaths she had caused. Intentionally caused.
That's what brought the most grief.

        And now, in the presence of her lone candle and the
ever vigilant moon, Ryoko understood something. Clarity
washed over her senses as she considered the implications of
what she'd done in years past. Had Yosho not entrapped her,
Ryoko surely would have continued her killing. Her senseless
killing.

        Shaking the thoughts from her head, Ryoko felt
herself sinking into the grasp of despair. She knew,
realistically, that she could never expect Tenchi to love
someone like herself. She didn't deserve him, and she never
had. Mustering a final breath, Ryoko blew out the candle.

        While the smoke lazily rose from the extinguished
wick of an old candle, Ryoko laid her head on her arms and
cried. All of the pent up emotion, all of the guilt and
grief caused by her own actions was released in that one
cleansing action. She had not cried in seven hundred years,
and the feeling was like none other.

        That night, Ryoko cried until she fell asleep out
of sheer exhaustion. And yet, even in the grips of sleep,
Ryoko wasn't released from the prison she had created for
herself. Tumultuous feelings haunted her dreams, and later,
in the wee hours of morning, Tenchi would remember hearing
what he thought to be a whimper escape from Ryoko's room.

        But then again, the sound could have simply been the
passing breeze, as it lazily blew through the open window of
Ryoko's room.

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Chapter Notes:

        I don't know WHAT the hell this is... Kind of a
stream of consciousness type experiment that I don't think
turned out too terribly well. I vear off topic in a few
areas and that alone is enough to bug me about the story.

        Comments are welcome, flames will promptly be blown
out. I'm just trying to work on my writing.

Special thanks go to:
-Pioneer Entertainment for releasing this wonderful series
 over here in the States, as well as AIC and the Tenchi Muyo
 Committee for creating this universe.
-Anyone who has preread or even read this for that matter. I
 need the C&C.
And to:
-White Wolf and Tybalt, Admins of the FFML, as well as all
 of the good people of the FFML who've put up with my work.

Thank you for reading,

Mark Eymer (saotome@micron.net)