Hmm... this makes this my eleventh try at writing Tenchi Muyo! 
fanfiction, all well and considering that the highest point I
will achieve with this is finding it in Gensao's archives.

Don't you think it's great?  I suppose I should thank him at
this point... in any case, Gensao (Aldrich Bautista) has his
Tenchi Muyo Fanfic Archive at http://members.xoom.com/gensao/
It has everything in Tenchi Muyo, usually fresh from the FFML.

***

"Leggo, Ayeka!"

"There is -" *hunf* "- no reason -" *rrrgh* "- for me to let GO,
Ryoko!"

Tenchi waved away the deja vu.  "Will you two stop it?"

Heaving, Ryoko pulled away from Ayeka, victorious.  "Hah!"

"You give that back now, Ryoko!"  Ayeka abruptly charged at the 
pirate.

The latter just sidestepped, dodging neatly.  With a turn of
her heel, the aqua-haired woman turned to her antagonist.  "Oh,
no, you're not!  Not until you get the lyrics right!"

The Juraian princess positively bristled, wagging an imperial
forefinger.  "Wha-wha-what do you mean by that?!"

Ryoko pointed, too, but her hand was the one holding the mike.
"I mean that you, Ayeka, do not know the lyrics to this song YOU
said you knew by heart!"

Ayeka seemed visibly flustered.  "B-But, I..."

"No buts, Ayeka!"  At that, Ryoko happily trotted to the karaoke
machine to pick her next song.

"Ryoko," Tenchi started testily, but he trailed off when Washu
pulled on his sleeve.  He was a little surprised - the little one
had been watching quietly.

"You know, Tenchi, you could just get a videoke machine."

Tenchi thought about it for a while, looking at Ayeka regaining 
her wits, and currently wresting with Ryoko.  "Can't we just 
connect the karaoke machine to the TV and the VHS?"

"We can do that, sure," Washu explained, "but there aren't any 
videoke VHS tapes.  You'll have to use a laser disc player or a
DVD player or something."

"I don't think we have one of those, Washu."

Giving the arguing females a significant sidewards glance, Washu
said, "you might just to buy one."

"OUT OF THE QUESTION!"

Everyone turned to Nobuyuki, who had slammed the door open, still
wearing a kerchief over his head.  Somehow, he didn't seem so silly
as very, very ticked.  "NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE AWAY MY DEAR VHS!"

With that, he stalked off, four pairs of eyes following him.

***

Tenchi stared up at the ceiling from his bed.

He had never seen his dad quite as furious as that.  No, he hadn't
seen his father so genuinely angry over anything.  It... it didn't
really scare him, more than intrigue him.  What could possibly turn 
his father to such a deep anger?

Tenchi sat up.  There it was... was it?  Again.  Too loud to be a 
mouse.  Definitely something.  Was it Ryoko again?  Nope... she'd be
floating.  Ayeka?  Naah... impossible - she wouldn't do that...

Deeming it safe, he got out of bed and opened the door carefully.

***

*click*

Static wash suddenly came to life, but was as suddenly toned down.
In another moment, the TV screen was replaced by a field of blue.

Nobuyuki stepped from the VHS, walking as lightly as he could over
to the far corner of room.  After a series of intricate gestures,
he opened a compartment.

Aha, thought Tenchi, well-hidden from view at the staircase.  Isn't
that where he put his perverted videos?  Is THAT the reason why he
was so angry about the VHS?  I should've kno- wait.

After placing a whole stack of tapes on the floor, Nobuyuki stuck
his upper body into the cabinet.  Now what's he...?

Tenchi watched his father very slowly extract himself from the 
niche.  In his hands, there was a tape.  Tenchi watched his father
walk back to the video cassette recorder, then place the tape in it.
The VHS player automatically played the tape.

The scene was their house.  Panning in, the view shifted to the 
laundry lines nearby.  A video about underwear?  Tenchi moved to a
spot behind the couch, where Nobuyuki sat.

Behind several sheets, a face appeared.

Mother?  Tenchi could barely recognize her... she looked so gaunt.
His thoughts were stopped when he heard his father sobbing.

"Achika... you should be inside, resting.  Your smile is so weak...
I-I know... this is for Tenchi."

Tenchi could barely stop from gasping aloud.  "You... you wanted him
to remember you like this... happy, active... so alive."  Nobuyuki
choked lightly, and removed his glasses to wipe his tears.

That's right...  Tenchi could faintly remember this - he *had* seen
this before.  But it was such a faint recollection, why?

Suddenly, his mother had fallen out of the shot.  The shot blurred,
then it looked as though the camera had fallen on its side.  It 
showed Tenchi's mother lying prone.  She was talking to someone,
her arms feebly outstretched.

I don't remember this, Tenchi realized, now riveted.  Nobuyuki gaped
at the screen transfixed and regretful.

It seemed she was trying to push someone away.  In a moment, she was
spasming terribly.

"No!"  Nobuyuki whispered hotly.  "You should've come with me to the
hospital, there was still time...!"

She lay there, deathly weak.  She was talking, but it seemed to be
such a great effort.  Slowly, a younger Nobuyuki knelt beside her,
kissing her lightly on the lips.

Tenchi stood, mimicking what his father had done on tape, leaving his
father mourning his mother's death, his wet face drowning in his hands.

***

Switch
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