Disclaimer:I don�t own any of these characters.. I�m just a poor 
College student/otaku. AIC/Pioneer owns all these characters, so 
Please don�t sue me! I don�t have any money!

Tenchi Fanfic
Love's Labor Lost
part 1:dreams made real

It was a bright sunny day at the Masaki house, birds sang in the warm 
summer air, as the morning sun light glistened across the lake. "Ah, 
another beautiful day, wouldn't you agree, Kamidake?" asked Asaka.

"Indeed, it is. On a day like today, surely nothing can go wrong. 
Everything seems right in the world." replied Kamidake. 

Suddenly  a crash could be heard inside the house, quickly followed by 
several female voices raised in anger. A large sweat drop formed on 
each of the wooden guardians...


Tenchi stared hard at his breakfast, steadfastly trying to ignore the 
chaos erupting around him. <why me?> he asked himself. <Don't they 
EVER get tired of fighting?>

Aeka stepped back and covered her face with her sleeve, giving a 
maniacal laugh. "Oh ho ho.. I see Ryouko-san, you�re jealous of how 
close Tenchi-sama and I are!"

Ryouko leapt to her feet. "What the hell is wrong with you anyway? 
Tenchi was just taking pity on you because he didn't want to see you 
married to that Serriyo fop!"

"Oh, is that so? Well Tenchi doesn't even want you around! He just 
can't seem to get rid of you!"

Ryouko flew over and glomped on to Tenchi. "That's not true, ne 
Tenchi? Tell this arrogant baka that it's her that you really want to 
leave. After all, after she's gone you and I can..."

"Let go of him Ryouko-san! I can not allow you to take such liberties 
with my Tenchi-sama!" yelled Aeka, turning an interesting shade of 
red.

Tenchi felt the heat of his blush creep up on him again at the 
uninhibited way Ryouko threw herself on him, but at the same time he 
couldn't believe these two, fighting over him like a piece of meat, 
always assuming they knew how he felt. They'd never asked of course, 
and would never let him finish when he tried to explain it to them. Not 
that it really mattered, he suspected that if he told either of them that 
he didn't like them, they still wouldn't leave him alone... 

Aeka had had enough. <How dare that insolent *criminal* cuddle with 
_her_ Tenchi! I'll make her pay..> quickly she shut her eyes and began 
creating the force field...

Seeing that the coming battle was about to erupt around them, 
everyone quickly moved off, except for Mihoshi who blithely 
continued eating. Sasami, seeing what was about to happen from 
where she was watching near the kitchen, called out "No Oneesama, 
not again..."

But Aeka was beyond hearing. Ryouko released Tenchi and stood up, 
preparing her own ball of  power to blast Aeka to pieces. Things were 
quickly reaching a major-destruction level when suddenly Tenchi 
stood up.

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR FIGHTS!" he yelled. 
Both of the girls just stood there flabbergasted, not knowing what to 
do. Ryouko's ball disappeared with a quiet "pop" and Aeka's logs 
faded from view. 

"Tenchi.." Ryouko started.

"T-Tenchi-sama.." stammered Aeka.

"Bah... what's the use of talking to you two anyway? All you ever want 
to do is fight! Just leave me alone..." and with that Tenchi turned and 
stalked up the stairs. Already he could hear the beginnings of a fight 
starting back up again downstairs. "This is all your fault Ryouko! 
Making Tenchi upset...""why you..." He just hoped they'd take it 
outside so they wouldn't cause anymore damage. Tenchi stepped out 
on the balcony. The newly (and constantly, 'cause of all the damage) 
renovated house took some getting used to, (especially since 
Washu and his father were constantly adding to it and changing things 
around). His favorite place though had to be the balcony. Up here, on 
the top floor, he could look out across the lake and everything seemed 
so peaceful. He heard a crash from down stairs and shuddered. <If 
only they could get along, or at least not do some much property 
damage..> he thought. 

Once more he turned his gaze to the peaceful lake. Its deep blue 
seemed to go on forever, in infinitely many different shades, like the 
color of her hair... At that thought the memories crept back to him, of 
awakening surrounded by light, with this beautiful ethereal woman 
standing before him.. the tingly sensations that ran up his spine as 
she'd pressed her forehead into his. "Have faith in your own power" 
she had said... She was the first one to ever believe he was anything 
special. Ryouko had fawned over him like a protective mother, but 
the blue hared goddess.. she alone had encouraged Tenchi to find his 
own strength. 

He let out a deep sigh.. "Tsunami...." he whispered. Then he thought 
back to the last time he'd seen her, and once more cursed himself 
inwardly. <Hentai..> he accused himself. He remembered his shock at 
hearing Sasami's tale, at discovering that the beautiful woman who had 
saved his life had been with him all along... as an eight-year-old girl! 
What kinda of hentai was he that he should feel this way for a being 
whose only human manifestation was that of an eight-year-old?

And yet... it was true that Sasami was the most helpful and mature 
around the house, doing enough work to make up for the three 
freeloaders in the house. And it was true that she had been in stasis for 
700 years, but still, she was in the body of an eight-year-old.. it would 
be another 10 years before she was the goddess he'd fallen in love 
with. He just didn't think he could wait that long. And besides... what 
would a goddess want with him anyway?

"Tenchi.." Tenchi spun around, and there, as if summoned up by his 
thoughts was Sasami. He quickly smiled.

"Yes, Sasami-chan?" He replied, trying to imagine her 10 years from 
now...

"Ryouko-neechan and Aeka-neechan asked me to come get you... 
They say that they have something they want to tell you." replied 
Sasami.

Tenchi's face fell. <Oh great, just what I need.>. "Ok, Sasami, I'm 
coming." he said with a sigh, giving one last longing look at the 
peaceful lake, then turned and followed her back downstairs.

***

Ryouko stared at Tenchi as he stomped up the stairs. What was with 
him, anyway? He'd been so dour lately.. Couldn't he see that she was 
just fighting so that he'd be proud of her?  Couldn't he see that she was 
fighting to prove that she would make the better wife?

Aeka seemed pensive for a moment too, she just couldn't believe this, 
that witch had made Tenchi mad at _her_! How dare she! "This is all 
your fault Ryouko! making Tenchi upset.."

Ryouko felt the heat coming back to her cheeks. She didn't know how 
to deal with Tenchi. No matter how much she tried to show him she 
loved him, it always came out wrong. But now, Aeka accusing her, 
_that_ she knew how to deal with... "Why you! How dare you accuse 
me of something that is all your fault! If you hadn't tried to separate 
Tenchi and I why..."

Aeka laughed again, ooo how that laugh got on Ryouko's nerves...  it 
just seemed to set every nerve of hers on edge, like nails on a chalk 
board. "What? You would have forced yourself on him? You think 
that's what Tenchi wants? A _monster_ forcing herself on him? Oh ho 
ho ho... Tenchi doesn't like monsters..."

Now it was Ryouko's turn  to turn red in the face, her fists clenched in 
anger. She could feel the blood red haze of rage begin to settle over 
her...  this time she'd get her, she swore, no more going easy.... But 
then there was another, quieter voice in the back of her mind that 
seemed to penetrate through the haze of rage. "Tenchi doesn't want 
you to fight!" it said. It sounded suspiciously like that goody-two-
shoes Zero. "Remember how Tenchi held us when we escaped 
from doctor Clay? " 

"Held you.. " she replied to herself. Maybe there was something there 
though. If she could convince Tenchi that she was a "nice girl", maybe 
he'd be more open to her kinda fun later.

Ryouko's fists unclenched, and she seemed to sag a little. "Aeka... this 
is just what Tenchi doesn't want, us fighting."

That made Aeka's eyebrows lift in surprise. Was Ryouko actually not 
going to fight her? <Ha, the little witch must have finally seen that I'm 
more worthy of Tenchi's love.> she thought. Still, the idea that Tenchi 
didn't want them to fight did seem to be true, he always did seem to get 
upset whenever they argued. Aeka was sure that was because he was 
concerned for her safety, though she knew that she could beat Ryouko 
any day... "Ok Ryouko-san" she said, relaxing her stance a bit. "If you 
don't want to fight that's fine with me."

Ryouko thought for a second... how long would it take to convince 
Tenchi that she was a "nice girl"? A week? Yeah, that should be 
enough time... "Aeka, why don't we declare a truce. For one week, no 
fighting."

"Oh no, I know you Ryouko, you'll just go and glomp all over Tenchi 
and use the agreement not to fight to keep me from keeping you from 
doing it!"

"che.. I wouldn't..." <damn>, thought Ryouko... <how'd she know?>

"How about this, if one of us is doing something the other doesn't like, 
that would normally lead to a fight, the offended person can just say 
"please" and the other must stop doing what they are doing."

Ryouko thought for a moment.. that would certainly make it difficult, 
as Aeka was likely to get mad  at everything she did, but if it would 
make Tenchi happy... "Ok, Aeka, it's a deal." and she offered her hand.

Which Aeka accepted. For a moment both parties glared at each other, 
unwilling to break eye contact first. Then, simultaneously, with a 
"humph" they both spun to face away from each other.

Then Aeka said "We should tell Tenchi that we're not going to fight 
anymore. I'll be happy to go do it."

"Oh no, we'll get Sasami to go get him, then we'll tell him together." 
replied Ryouko.

***

As Tenchi came down the stairs, he was shocked to see Aeka and 
Ryouko sitting at the bottom. They both gave him deep bows 
simultaneously, then Aeka said "Tenchi-sama, as per your wish, we've 
decided not to fight any longer..."

"Yes Tenchi, does that make you happy?" finished Ryouko.

Tenchi looked from one girl to the other, in shocked amazement. Aeka 
and Ryouko _NOT_ fighting?? Was the world about to come crashing 
down around their ears? Had Washu replaced them with robots? Just 
what was going on here? Well, as long as it kept them from causing 
anymore property damage..."Um, yeah, sure Ryouko... I'm uh... glad 
you two could come to terms with each other. " Tenchi thought back to 
the last time the two had cooperated, and gave a small shudder. <well, 
we'll see how long this lasts...> then out loud he said "Well, I'll see you 
both at dinner then. I'm off to work in the fields."

Ryouko and Aeka rose as Tenchi stepped by them. "Oi! Tenchi! Why 
don't I come with you to help, ne?" said Ryouko, a hopeful look in her 
eye..

Tenchi stopped and seemed to consider for a moment, but Aeka got 
their first. "Ah, Ryouko-san, Sasami asked me to run to the store 
earlier to pick up some things for dinner, would you _please_ come 
with me, instead?"

Ryouko was about to give a sharp retort to Aeka's question, but then 
caught herself. Aeka _had_ used the "please" code word, and if this 
was going to work at all, she was going to have to give a little first. So 
she gave a sigh, <so much for getting sometime alone with Tenchi> 
and said to Aeka "oh, uh... ok Aeka, I suppose I can come with you..."

At this Tenchi looked like his eyes were about to bug out of his skull. 
Aeka, and Ryouko, getting along? not fighting? Ryouko 
_VOLUNTEERING_ to go to the store with _AEKA_??! What WAS 
going on? Well, he was sure he'd find out soon enough. He was just 
glad he wouldn�t have to put up with Ryouko's version of "help" in the 
field. "Well, it�s all settled then. See you two for dinner!" 
and he quickly headed toward the fields.

Ryouko watched him go, sadly thinking that he seemed just a little 
_too_ happy not to have her help. As she and Aeka headed out the 
door toward town, she sent one last look toward Ryo-ohki, which the 
little cabbit understood completely and followed Tenchi out the door. 



Later that night, Ryouko sat up in the rafters, staring at the ceiling. Her 
heart felt it couldn't get any lower. Silently she reviewed that evening's 
events. 

She had gone shopping with Aeka, and expedition that had actually 
gone pretty smoothly, but had involved _a lot_ of pleases. Still, she 
kept telling herself it was all for Tenchi's sake, and it hadn't been that 
bad. Dinner had gone equally well, though also with alot of use of the 
"magic word" on both her and Aeka's part. She had managed to 
restrain herself from glomping onto Tenchi, and Aeka had remained 
fairly silent through the dinner. Tenchi, for his part, had kept sending 
both of them puzzled looks, as though he suspect they where up to 
something. None of that had been so bad, however, until tonight when 
she had finally gotten a chance to play back Ryo-ohki's log of  
Tenchi's time while she and Aeka were out.

It had not been pleasant for her to watch. For a while Tenchi had just 
worked in the field as per normal as Ryo-ohki munched on a carrot, 
then around lunch, just before she and Aeka had returned, Sasami had 
shown up bringing Tenchi his lunch. The two had sat around and eaten 
together, and all seemed innocent enough, until Tenchi had begun to 
question Sasami about Ryouko and Aeka's behavior.


"Sasami, what is up with Ryouko and Aeka? Do you have any idea 
why there suddenly getting along?" Tenchi asked as they sat in the 
fields, Ryo-ohki laying nearby.

"Nope! They seem really set on being friends though, I guess you 
yelling at them this morning really made them think." Sasami replied 
with a smile.

"You think so? I guess its the first time they've ever really listened to 
me. They're always fighting so much, they never listen to a word I 
have to say. I don't think either of them really cares about anyone other 
then themselves." Tenchi confided, looking pensive.

"Oh, I don't know, Ryouko was so upset when she thought you died 
when Kagato attacked, she wouldn't let you out of her sight for days!"

"Well yeah, but she wouldn't give me any privacy either! I mean, 
concern is one thing, but she's gone too far! Treating me like some sort 
of possession. Always fighting with Aeka over me, like I don't have an 
opinion. I know she thinks she loves me, but I don't think she has any 
idea what love is." replied Tenchi

Sasami pondered for a bit, looking much older than her apparent age, 
"Well, she hasn't exactly had a normal life and all. You�re probably the 
first person whose ever even been kinda nice to her."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't excuse her. I mean, she tried to kill me 
when we first met! I know she's apologized a million times and said 
she never would have really hurt me, but if she'd slipped, or if the gas 
had blown up while I was in the room, I'd be dead! It's just plain 
irresponsible of her. And then there's your sister. She's lived a 
sheltered life too, I know, but still, she gets offended at every little 
thing. I feel like I'm walking on glass around her. I mean, neither of 
them really have ever even tried to talk to me! At least with Aeka we 
had that one night in the wood shed, but even that wasn't exactly 
grounds for marriage!" replied Tenchi, looking glum. "It's as if I have 
no control over my life at all. At least I can still talk to you, Sasami-
chan."

Sasami smiled briefly at that last statement, then pondered a bit more. 
"Do you feel anything for either of them Tenchi? You and Zero 
seemed really close."

"I don't know Sasami-chan, I just don't know. That whole Zero think 
was very odd, she was so helpless, so.. sad. I felt the need to comfort 
her, but anything more? I don't know. As much as I know about 
Ryouko and Aeka's past, I don't really know all that much about them, 
and quite frankly I'm not all that sure I really want to. Ryouko was a 
space pirate that I'm sure has done heinous things, even if she was 
controlled by Kagato. And Aeka... she's my Aunt! not only that, 
but she's lived her whole live in the Jurai court, which I really have no 
interest 
in." 

"But Tenchi, you could be a member of that court too! Heck with your 
power, It won't be long before someone on Jurai decides you'd be 
useful and tries to manipulate you into using your power for what they 
want. Yosho has stayed here far too long as it is, I'm sure father will be 
back before too long to make him come home, and I rather doubt 
you'll be too far behind. Jurai's not such a bad place Tenchi....:" 

Tenchi felt frustrated, trapped again. "That's just it Sasami-chan! I 
don't want any part in the politics of Jurai! I didn't ask for this power, 
and I don't think I want it! It was great to be able to defeat Kagato, and 
save Washu and all of that, but why me? What makes me so special? I 
don't want a life of adventure! I just want to settle down, here, on 
earth... " for a moment Tenchi seemed lost in a thought, that last 
statement said a little less convincingly then the rest, as if he 
didn't really believe it himself, but that it was a belief he clung to. 
Sasami stared at him hard for a moment, then relaxed.

"Like it or not Tenchi, you have the power, and the tenchi-ken, and its 
only a matter of time before you are forced to use it again. It's 
probably a very good thing that you don't ask for the power, if you did, 
perhaps you'd be more tempted to use it for your own gains. "

Tenchi looked at Sasami in shock, not believing that such a deep, adult 
statement could come from such a little, sweet girl. As he looked into 
her eyes, he could see the intelligence there of far more than eight 
years....

Suddenly Sasami blinked, and she was back to the normal, bubbly girl 
of eight. "Well, I've got to get back to the house! Aeka and Ryouko 
will be returning soon, and I got to get ready for dinner! Be sure and 
bring home some carrots! Ja ne!" and she turned and ran off.

Tenchi just sat there for a moment, staring off after her. "Ja ne, 
Sasami-chan..."


Ryouko teleported up onto the roof, the warm summer air whipping 
her skirt around her. Silently, a few tears fell. She hugged her arms 
around herself, feeling utterly empty inside. Her one reason for living, 
her Tenchi, whom she would fight through hell and back for, didn't 
love her. The ache inside her grew, until the pain seemed too much to 
bear. She looked up at the sliver of the moon hanging in the eastern 
sky. She should leave, she thought, give up, go back to pirating, which 
she had always enjoyed, the feeling of being invincible as she 
destroyed ship after ship, as she defied death over and over again.   It 
all seemed so empty now, the fighting, the death, for what? She tried 
to remember the rush of power and adrenaline that had been her 
definition of joy before she had met Tenchi...

Before she had met Tenchi.. that brought memories rushing back. She 
remembered first awakening, trapped in the cold darkness of her 
prison, her wounds fresh from her battle with Yosho, feeling so weak 
from not having the jewels. It was as if she had died, and for the first 
time in her life, she had been scared, truly terrified. The cold, dark 
emptiness had gone on forever, all alone, away from any power or life. 
For an eternity it seemed, she lay there, listening, hoping for anything, 
some sound besides the dripping of water, some voice, any voice, to 
speak to her. She had screamed in the dark, pounding on the walls, to 
weak to break them down. She had screamed until she couldn't 
hear any more. Slowly, she began talking to herself, just to hear some 
thing besides the infernal drip of water in that cold prison.

Sleep and waking had slowly begun to blur in to one thing.. emptiness.  
Her dreams were always nightmare visions, from which she would 
wake up screaming, only to find that she could still see them... Their 
after-images still before her eyes which could see nothing else in the 
intense darkness. She felt herself going mad, then after awhile decided 
she didn't care. The cold and darkness went on forever it seemed, it 
was as if she had been consigned to oblivion. It utter hopelessness, she 
had given herself up to the torturous dreams, because at least they 
seemed real. In her nightmares she could feel the pain, see 
images other than just the blackness around her.

Amazingly, it was in the horror of her nightmares that she slowly 
found her salvation. It happened only rarely at first, when a nightmare 
had pushed her sanity so far she felt she wasn't even in her body any 
more. Then, slowly, she had found that in this state she could dream of 
the outside world, her first visions that weren't torn by pain and death. 
She could never get very far from her cave, and she was instantly 
sucked back into her nightmares as soon as she saw the outside, but 
even that second's glimpse gave her hope. Slowly, decade by decade, 
century by century, for hundreds of years she strained against the 
darkness, slowly increasing the length of time she could spend out side 
of her tomb. At last, although she couldn't go very far, she could spend 
almost as much time as she wanted beyond the walls of her prison, 
seeing the life around her, watching the woodland creatures, the grass 
grow, ANYTHING that was life. even though she couldn't feel it, she 
could at least remember what it felt like. Then, one day, while 
watching some birds flying over head, she had felt something.

That day she had looked over and seen a beautiful young woman, who 
seemed oddly familiar, carrying an infant walk by the cave. As they 
came close, the infant's tiny bright eyes had fixed on her. IT HAD 
SEEN HER!!! A feeling she hadn't felt in so long she almost cried out 
at feeling it.. the feeling of hope. More than that though, she could 
feel... something from the child. A power so great that the scent of it 
even passed through the potent wards keeping her from receiving any 
power.  This child was special, she knew it to the core of her being.

As the months went by, she watched every day for the child. She didn't 
get to seem him much at first, only when his mother happened to walk 
by, but then as he had grown older, he had begun to come on his own. 
He no longer saw her, but he seemed to always feel her presence, and 
it made her feel good in a way she had never dreamed. She watched 
little Tenchi grow up, and then one snowy day he had come to the 
cave, crying his eyes out, beating his fist on the ground and crying out 
that his mother was dead. For the first time, Ryouko had felt a 
new emotion, that of sorrow. At first she had been so angry that 
anyone could bring pain to this wonderful child, but so frustrated that 
she couldn't do anything for him. Finally she had felt sorrow, the 
feeling of loss the same as Tenchi was feeling. She hadn't understood 
then why she had felt that way, she had just been so sad that she 
couldn't go to him and though she didn't know what she would 
have done if she could have. Yet she had been fairly sure that she 
would have thought of something that would have eased his pain, had 
she been free.

After seeing that, Ryouko made a decision. she HAD to escape, she 
just couldn't stand to see Tenchi in pain ever again. And so, she had 
searched and searched and searched for an escape, slowly drawing in 
every scrap and ounce of power that the wards would let through. For 
years she watched Tenchi grow into a handsome young man, gathering 
her strength. She also slowly found her feelings of protection change, 
as she watched him train, and become a strong, confident young man. 
Her heart broke the day that he came and said a silent goodbye on his 
way to school. She couldn't bare to live without him, she thought, but 
she was given knew incentive to break her bonds so she could go 
and be with him. Running out of power everywhere else, she had 
turned to her own body for the power she needed to escape, sapping 
her strength to the point she looked like a shell of herself. After all, she 
though, once she was free she would have plenty of energy available to 
her to bring her back to normal.

Disaster happened though. One day while she wasn't watching, as she 
was too busy drawing power out of  herself, Tenchi came to her. She 
had felt the wards surrounding her slip away, the door opening, the 
rush of  power flooding in... and then she had seen him, standing over 
her. At last her dreams had come true, Tenchi had come to release her 
and claim her as his own! As he bent down next to the water, she 
reached up and touched him.. her first contact in seven centuries.  She 
had felt elation run through her, at last, at last, she was free! She 
reached up and caressed his beautiful face, bring her face toward him 
to kiss him, to show him how much he meant to her, and suddenly 
piercing light had struck into her, driving her back. Before she could 
recover, he was gone. She saw him, desperate in his fear.. fear of her... 
trying to close the door to her dungeon once more. Ryouko felt her 
heart sink, She had known pain before, but never like this, the feeling 
of rejection hit her in a way like no other pain had. The pain of 
loneliness had been horrible, but this was unbearable. Sadly, 
she closed the prison door, hoping to at least make him less afraid, but 
the wards were broken now, and she could escape anytime she wanted 
to.

That night, after Tenchi left, she had crept out beneath the night sky, 
felt the air, the earth, everything she had been denied for so long... and 
for a moment she forgot her pain, lost in the haze of _feeling_ that 
surrounded her, like a starving man brought to a banquet hall. She had 
sat there, drinking it all in all night, then the next morning she 
pondered what her next move should be. She was still very weak, and 
though not a mummy anymore, she still looked quite wasted. She 
could feel Yosho's presence nearby, stronger than ever, and briefly 
considered going to get her revenge on him. She thought about it, but 
her anger at him had dulled to nothing in the last seven-hundred years. 
She couldn't really blame him, after all, he had given her the 
opportunity to meet Tenchi. 

She had thought about Tenchi for a little bit, and then decided that's 
what she had to do, she had to go find Tenchi. She had traveled to his 
school, watched him from a far for sometime, then decided on the best 
way to approach him. She knew he was strong from his training, and 
he had been mischievous enough to come break into her cave. So.. 
why not play with him? She had been so sure he would find it fun, and 
then she'd beat him, and they'd laugh, then she'd kiss him and......

Ryouko shook her head to clear away the thoughts of that stupid first 
meeting between them, when everything had gone wrong. Was she 
cursed by the gods? Why was everything she really wanted denied to 
her? Well not this time, She vowed. I _will_ win Tenchi's love, no 
matter what it takes. No matter where he goes, or what he does, I will 
_never_ stop loving him. Her face firm with resolve, she sank onto the 
roof and wept.


Tenchi was having the same dream again, He was on the bridge of 
Ryuoh, the tenchi-ken glowing brightly before him, the bright light 
from Kagato's beam racing toward him, he cried out in terror, and 
there was a brief lance of pain, and then everything was still. He lay in 
the forcefield made by Asaka and Kamidake, and the goddess was 
there... she glided to him, and he could see her.. sense her even though 
his eyes were closed. She came close to him, kissing him lightly on 
the lips. Suddenly he was able to move again, and he opened his eyes, 
and she was still there, kissing him. He drew his arms up around her, 
finding himself whole once more, and embraced her, holding onto her 
tightly, as though she might disappear. He kissed her deeply, a tingly 
feeling entering his whole body. then suddenly she drew back, giving 
him a secretive smile.  Behind her the floor of the ship Tsunami spread 
out, and he could see Ryouko in a corner, a bottle of sake in one hand 
and tears rolling down her face. In the other corner of the room, Aeka 
stood, looking angry, whip in hand. "Someday may come sooner 
than you think, Tenchi." Tsunami said. 

Tenchi blinked and sat up. he still had a warm fuzzy feeling all over. 
The dream wasn't an uncommon one, and he'd had it several time 
before, but that last part, where Tsunami drew away was new, as were 
the words. Tenchi shook his head, then went back to sleep, hoping that 
he would have that dream again.


Washu was working in her lab. It was late, she knew that, but she 
didn't particularly care. She was working on a particularly difficult 
algorithm to remap someone's astral body into whatever she wanted. 
She gave a bit of a laugh, thinking about the possibilities if she could 
pull it off. (she quickly stopped laughing when she realized her 
"laugh" sounded a bit like a "cackle"). She already could do this little 
trick, but with this new algorithm, she'd be able to do it without having 
to have both parties in elaborate apparatus. 

Suddenly Washu's furiously typing hands paused in their perpetual 
motion, as she felt the presence of someone behind her. She knew who 
it was. "Tsunami, it's been a long time." she said, spinning around to 
face the glowing apparition.

The beautiful women before her gave a stately bow. "Greetings 
Washu, I am sorry to disturb your work."

Washu sized her up. Somehow, probably using that damn Jurai magic 
of hers, Tsunami had tapped into a holo-projector in Washu's lab and 
was projecting herself through that. "Enough with the formalities, 
Tsunami, you wouldn't have come here if you didn't want something. 
Now, what is it this humble scientist can do for you, hmm?"

"I have come to discuss a rather important matter..." Tsunami began

"Ah, Tenchi.. so tell me,  what plans do you have for the boy? I know 
you' ve been grooming him quietly for something.. Is Jurai going to 
war perhaps? or maybe  your looking to put a new man on the throne?"

"Nothing like that, I assure you. I.." 

Again, Washu cut her off, "So what do you need me for then? I don't 
have any hold over Tenchi, unlike you." Washu said in an accusing 
tone.

Tsunami paused for a moment, eyeing Washu. "I see. " she said sadly. 
"I wish this could have worked out some other way..."

"Oh come now, you knew from the beginning, as did I, that our goals 
were different." replied Washu.

"Well then, I will let you return to your work." said Tsunami,. 
preparing to leave.

"One last thing, Tsunami-sama. I value my daughter's happiness very 
highly."

Tsunami raised an eyebrow. "Oh? really? like how you left her to rot 
for 700 years? or how you left her hanging alone in the dark for hours, 
just so you could video tape her break down, which you knew would 
be triggered by putting her back in a dark, lonely place!"

Washu's eye's narrowed. "I have my own reasons for the things I do 
Tsunami, as do you. We shall see whose methods work best in the 
end."

Tsunami looked sad for a moment, then nodded. "Sayonnara, 
Oneechan."

"Sayonnara."

End part 1.

----
Author�s note:Special thanks to Tenchiken (Josh Prismon) for his help 
pre-reading this, and thanks to all the poeple on the FFML who gave 
me C&C on this, my first fanfic!

The next part is almost ready, in the next part watch for Tenchi and 
Ryouko.. actually talking! Sasami has troubles... and what is Washu up 
to? ;)

C&C always welcome! Thanks for reading!

Ryan Anderson
andersor@cs.colorado.edu
http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~andersor/tenchi/ryoko.html

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Ryan Anderson          
-Shampoo's Avatar!
andersor@cs.colorado.edu
http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~andersor/fanfic/fanfic.html
http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~andersor/tenchi/ryoko.html