And finnally...

Love's Labor Lost
A Tenchi Muyo Fanfic
By Ryan Anderson
Chapter 3: The Mother of Lies

---

The morning was only just beginning to lighten as Tenchi 
slowly awoke. Sending a sleepy glance out the window, it 
was all Tenchi could do to keep from curling up and going 
right back to sleep... It was just one of those days that 
felt like it would be better off spent in bed.

Intending to do just that, Tenchi rolled over, but found 
himself unable to return to the blissful unconsciousness.  
For the first time in what seemed like eons, he hadn't 
dreamt of Tsunami last night. 

It was strange, but for the last couple of months, every 
night like clockwork he'd had a reoccurring dream where the 
goddess Tsunami had come to him. It seemed especially odd 
that now would be the time for those dreams to stop, right 
when it looked like he might actually get to see the 
goddess again.

That thought sent a shiver down his spine... could it be 
that Tsunami was really coming for him? He didn't dare 
hope... surely if she was going to all the trouble of aging 
Sasami faster, she was doing it for some greater purpose, 
not just for him... but it still made him shiver in 
anticipation that maybe, just maybe there was a chance....

Smiling a large goofy grin, he curled up in a tight ball 
within the covers, hugging them around himself. He couldn't 
help but indulge himself in a wonderful fantasy where 
Tsunami, with her long, flowing blue hair, walked through 
his door, a smile on her face....

And as if conjured up by his thoughts, there was a sudden 
knock on Tenchi's door. Feeling almost guilty for even 
thinking that a goddess could possibly like him, he slowly 
sat up.

It was probably just Ryoko, come to try her version of 
"waking him up". Bracing himself for the worst, he called 
out, "Come in..."

... And got the shock of his life, as Tsunami stepped 
slowly into the room. 

Or rather, Sasami, but a Sasami so changed that it almost 
didn't seem right to call her that anymore. No more was the 
bubbly eight year old who he knew, the girl who stood 
before him seemed to be a strange cross between Sasami and 
Tsunami... and he definitely liked what he saw.

She looked to be about 16 now, not quite as old as the 
Tsunami who had rescued him after Ryuu exploded, but she 
had her hair pulled back in the same two long ponytails. 
She was also slightly shorter than Tsunami, but a lot 
taller than Sasami had been. All of these details Tenchi's 
mind noticed only really in retrospect, as most of his mind 
had chosen that moment to seize up completely as blood 
threatened to pour from his nose... because of what she was 
wearing...

...which wasn't very much at all.

It seemed that though she had grown a tremendous amount 
overnight, her wardrobe had not. Consequently, the kimono 
she was wearing was *way* too short, barely covering her 
newly-acquired assets. 

It took an iron will, but slowly Tenchi pulled his gaze up 
to meet Sasami's eyes, and was surprised to find her 
blushing quite cutely.

"Ohayo, Tenchi..." No 'niichan' suffix this time he noted 
idly... "um... I was wondering... do you think maybe we 
could go shopping after breakfast? I uh... seem to have 
grown out of my old clothes."

Some foggy part of Tenchi's mind vaguely grasped that he'd 
been asked a question, and he needed to answer... "uh... S-
sure... Tsu-Sasami-chan..." both of them blushed and looked 
away as Tenchi stumbled over her name, trying to decide 
what to call her now. 

He finally managed to look back at her, only to discover 
that she had the most radiant smile on her face... one 
which just seemed to light up the whole room to Tenchi.

"Thanks Tenchi-kun!" She called out as she left the room, 
which suddenly seemed a very dark and lonely indeed to the 
remaining occupant.

***

The morning dawned in brilliant hues of reds and yellows, a 
magnificent display of the beauty of nature painted with 
such vivid colors that no artist could ever hope to 
match...

Yet it was lost on the one who seemed to be watching it 
most intensely. Ryoko sat cross-legged on the roof, her 
face turned directly into the bright morning sun, but the 
warm light of the dawn didn't seemed to touch her dark 
visage.

All night she'd been there, seeking an answer for the 
problems of her life. Thinking wasn't something Ryoko did 
often... usually if she had a problem of this magnitude, 
all it took was a little brute force and some well placed 
sword-swings and it was no longer a problem... but this one 
was different.

All night long her thoughts had circled around and around, 
always seeming to come to a dead end. Tenchi didn't love 
her, probably never had, she could see that now, and knew 
there was no use denying it, no matter how much it hurt. 
However, what to do about it simply alluded her. Every 
scenario she came up with inevitably ended with just making 
the situation worse... She felt completely helpless, and it 
was a feeling she hated.

What was wrong with her?? Was she ugly? She didn't think 
so, and people had told her before that she was 
beautiful... but then why then would Tenchi never look at 
her unless he was angry? Did he really hate her? But if he 
did, why did he come rescue her from Kagato? Or let her out 
of the cave at all??

It just didn't make sense... Ryoko had no answers for any 
of her questions and each one just seemed to drive her 
deeper into this dark spiral of depression. The more she 
thought about it, the more useless and frustrated she felt. 
She wanted to hit something, badly... but that was just it: 
if she did, it would only make things *worse* not better. 
She'd promised Tenchi she wouldn't fight anymore, not for a 
whole *week*, and *still* he wouldn't even smile in her 
direction... not a real smile anyway.

For what seemed like the millionth time, Ryoko's hands 
balled into fists as she struggled to hold back the flood 
of tears. Slowly though, as her fingernails bit into her 
palm, the chirping of birds began sounding around her, and 
the realization sank in that it was indeed dawn, and time 
for breakfast.

She almost shuddered at the thought. Dinner last night had 
been hard enough, but to go back and face Tsunami/Sasami 
now? She just wasn't sure she could take it. Still, it 
would mean that she would get to see Tenchi... maybe he'd 
had a change of heart... or maybe he'd been joking or 
something when he talked to Sasami the other day... yeah, 
that was it... but deep down she knew it wasn't true. She 
couldn't really even lie to herself anymore....

Slowly standing and taking a deep breath to compose 
herself, Ryoko disappeared into the house.

***

Washu groaned inwardly as she came to sit down at the table 
for breakfast. Ever since she'd combined Ryoko and Zero, 
her link with Ryoko had been greatly dulled, but the 
strength of Ryoko's emotions had a bad habit of turning 
that tiny link she still had into a rushing torrent of 
emotions. And, at the moment, it made Niagara look like a 
leaky faucet.

Washu did her best to put on a cheery face as she took her 
place at the breakfast table, it was the least she could do 
since it seemed few of the others had anything to smile 
about... 

Stifling a yawn, Washu sent a scathing glance toward her 
youngest sister as she walked in, then mentally winced as 
she felt Ryoko's reaction to seeing the much-aged Sasami. 
It wasn't enough that the girl had to keep her up most of 
the night with her depression, but it only seemed to be 
getting worse... Washu hadn't thought it was *possible* to 
be that depressed...

Briefly she pondered the thought that perhaps she had made 
an error in the construction of Ryoko, making her too 
emotional, but she quickly dismissed the idea. Not only was 
it far fetched that she'd have made such a mistake, but it 
was far more likely that Ryoko's feelings and wounded 
psyche could be attributed to her harsh upbringing... which 
made Washu feel even worse, since in many ways she was 
responsible for that too...

It was a painful lesson, having a love one stolen away from 
you, but it was a lesson that Ryoko just had to learn... 
Washu herself had learned that one all too well, and it 
hadn't been just a boyfriend she'd lost, but a husband and 
a son... Angrily Washu crushed that thought. Apparently 
Ryoko's depression was effecting her more thoroughly than 
she had thought, if it could cause her to dredge up such 
painful a memory that she'd so long ago buried. 

Still, as she struggled to maintain a cheerful outward 
demeanor towards the stony silence of the breakfast table, 
one thought consoled her...

Soon Azuza... Very soon now....

***

Tenchi frowned as he glanced around the table. Why were the 
girls taking this so hard? Geez, he thought, Aeka I can 
understand being upset, she probably thinks that her sister 
is being taken away from her... but Ryoko? 

Tenchi glanced over at the cyan-haired pirate. She was 
sitting across from him at the table, barely even making a 
pretense of playing with her food. Her head was tilted 
forward slightly, just enough for her bangs to fall over 
her feline eyes.

Something was obviously really bothering her... Maybe I 
should go talk to her about it? I can't just let her sit 
there and suffer alone... thought Tenchi. And he was just 
about to act on that thought when Tsunami spoke up.

"So Tenchi, where can we go shopping?" Tenchi looked over 
at her startled, blushing slightly as their eyes met. She 
seemed to have finally found an outfit that fit, probably 
by stealing from Aeka, not that Aeka even came *close* to 
filling it out as nicely as she did... at least to Tenchi's 
admittedly bias eyes.

"Hmm... well, I suppose we could go to that new mall...The 
Tennoji Mio shopping center I believe its called. I've been 
wanting to go check it out for a while now anyway. They're 
suppose to have this really cool arcade..."

The sudden smack of a pair of chopsticks being slammed down 
on the table interrupted Tenchi's description, as three 
pairs of eyes turns to watch Ryoko stand up. For a moment 
she just stood there, as if frozen by indecision, but then 
her resolve firmed, and with one last look toward Tenchi, 
she disappeared.

Tenchi just sighed. Ryoko could be so rude sometimes... He 
was about to turn back to his conversation with Tsunami 
when Aeka beat him to it.

"Sasami, wouldn't you like to go shopping with me instead?" 
The tone of Aeka's voice made it quite clear that it was 
really more of a command than a question.

Sasami paused for a moment, looking back and forth between 
Tenchi and Aeka, then said, "Thank you, Aeka-oneesama, but 
I want to go with Tenchi-kun."

Aeka's reply was similar to Ryoko's... slamming her 
chopsticks down on the table while glaring daggers at 
Sasami.

"The meal was delicious" she said shortly, heading out of 
the room. Tenchi began to stand up as well, but Washu was 
faster. 

"You stay, Tenchi... go on your date, I'll... I'll handle 
things here."

D-d-date?? Tenchi felt the heat rising, as he was sure he 
turned beet red... Out of the corner of his eye he shot a 
shy glance over at Tsunami only to find her blushing just 
as much... but she wasn't denying it! Could it be?

***

Ryoko stared out across the vastness of space, the 
incredible cold of lower earth orbit providing an 
appropriate background for the way she felt... empty and 
alone.

She should move on, she thought... distract herself with 
glorious adventure while riding the stars without a thought 
or care in the world... But dammit, that wasn't what she 
wanted! She'd had her fill of adventure... all she wanted 
now was....

"Love".

It wasn't a voice that carried the word to her, not in the 
void of space, but she heard it all the same, as she felt a 
presence pop into existence behind her.

Faster than a normal person could see, her energy sword 
flashed into existence as she spun, the glowing wave of 
death crashing toward the one who dared intrude upon her 
sorrow. But her quarry just floated there, waiting to meet 
her fate with a grim look on her face. 

Quicker than the eye could follow the blade cleaved easily 
through her breast, the two remaining halves of her body 
separating in a gore-filled vision, even as the blood froze 
as it poured from her body. 

Ryoko was not amused.

"Its what you wanted, isn't it?" Her mother's voice came to 
her.

Ryoko cursed as best she could without sound, spinning to 
find Washu standing beside her. A chunk of the Tsunami 
corpse-popsicle floated past, which Washu wrinkled her nose 
at. "Of course its not what I wanted!" Ryoko mentally 
screamed back at her mother.

Washu looked up carefully from the corpse, her gaze serious 
as she peered into her daughter's tortured eyes. For the 
moment that that look lingered between them, an unvoiced, 
even through telepathy, communication passing between them. 
Finally Ryoko relaxed her clenched fists, while Washu 
merely nodded. 

"You've changed, Ryoko. Once, not so long ago, your anger 
would have been sated by such an act."

"Che. It was only one of your mannequins anyway."

"True."

The absolute silence of space closed in around them once 
more, as both became lost in their thoughts. Finally, Ryoko 
spoke.

"How can I do it, 'Kaasan? How can I win Tenchi's heart." 
Ryoko's telepathic voice sounded as pathetic as she 
looked... desperately hoping that there might still be a 
chance....

Washu looked down at her feet (and the earth circling 
below), and slowly began to shake her head.

Ryoko grabbed her, shaking her. "There must be a way! There 
has to be! Tell me how!" The tears were flowing now... a 
few ice crystals falling like pearls from her eyes toward 
the monstrous planet below.

"Alright, alright already! Let me go!" Ryoko reluctantly 
released her grip, as Washu glared at her. "But you have to 
be *absolutely* *sure* that this is what you want! I can 
tell you how to win his heart, but things maybe worse in 
the long run if you do!"

"I. Don't. Care!" Ryoko shouted back. "Just tell me 
already!"

"no." said Washu quietly. "I'm not going let you waste your 
life on some crush. Give me one good reason why I should 
tell you, because if I do, it will mean giving up 
everything you've ever had, everything you ever will be... 
do you even begin to understand what that means?? I created 
you with a purpose Ryoko, a very specific one... You have a 
destiny that overshadows *any* petty romance, Do you 
understand?? Why should I take that risk??"

Ryoko turned away, unable or unwilling to deal with this 
new revelation. How could she possibly be that important? 
She was just a space pirate! It just didn't make any 
sense... No, it was more likely that Washu was just feeding 
her more lies....

"It doesn't matter" Ryoko said silently through the void. 
"Even if everything in the universe disappears the next 
day, it would be worth it to be with him for just one 
instant... to hear him say he loved me... and for him to 
know that I loved him."

Washu sighed heavily. She'd known the eventual outcome of 
this conversation (how could she not, having felt the 
intensity of Ryoko's emotions?) but secretly she'd still 
hoped... but no, this is how things had to be... "Alright, 
Ryoko-chan... I'll tell you a secret..."

Washu paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, as Ryoko 
looked back expectantly. 

"Tenchi does love you... very much as a matter of fact. 
With hardly a moment of hesitation, he charge off to fight 
Kagato for your life, even though he knew there was no way 
he could possibly win. However, when he was... killed... 
Tsunami took him and implanted part of herself into his 
very being... and from then on, she began twisting and 
manipulating his thoughts and feelings... subtly, with 
dreams and fantasies... she made sure that he was hers." 
Washu could see Ryoko's fists clenching tighter and 
tighter... her eyes now beginning to blaze with righteous 
anger. "But the brain washing job is not complete... 
somewhere in there, baried deep, is the heart of Tenchi 
that still loves you, I'm sure of it, but every time he 
starts to think fondly of you or Aeka, Tsunami interrupts 
him or distracts him."

Ryoko was now clearly struggling to control her anger. 
"What do I have to do?"

Somewhere, deep inside, Washu smiled, although no hint of 
it reached her face. "Get your gems back... with all of 
your gems, you should be able to at least stand up to 
Tsunami, though she'll still beat you in an open fight.. 
and get Tenchi away from her as soon as you can. The 
farther away, the harder it will be for Tsunami to retain 
her link. You've got to convince him of what Tsunami has 
done."  Ryoko nodded, her visage grim with a look of 
determination. Washu looked her over, feeling the full 
weight of the knowledge she carried weighing upon her 
shoulders, wishing she could at least see her again... 
Before Ryoko could react, Washu floated up and embraced the 
much larger girl. "Good luck, my daughter."  and with that, 
she was gone.

***

Tenchi stood around doing the only thing guys can really do 
in a woman's clothing store: look uncomfortable. Trying his 
best to draw as little attention to himself as possible, he 
sat back in the farthest corner and tried not to look 
anyone in the eye.

Now that he had a chance to think, Tenchi couldn't help but 
feel bad about this mornings breakfast... he really should 
have been the one to talk to Aeka and Ryoko, not Washu. he 
was so caught up in the thought of actually spending time 
with Tsunami that he had completely forgotten how hurt the 
both of them had looked.. and now he felt like a total 
heel. Even if he didn't love them, at least, not the way 
they wanted him too, He still thought of them almost as a 
sort of family, and it hurt to think that he might have led 
them on in some way....

"Yoohoo... Tenchi..."

Tenchi line of thought was abruptly cut off (along with the 
flow of blood to his brain.) as tsunami stepped into few, 
wearing a really short, tight, leather miniskirt and a low-
cut blouse.

***

"Tenchi eechi!"

Of course, it was exactly the reaction she'd wanted to 
provoke out of him, although inwardly she was sighing at 
having to resort to such blant control via his hormones. 
Soon though, once this critical stage was passed, she could 
tell him how she really felt about him, and there would be 
no more lies between them. Ever. 

'This is wrong and you know it.'

Tsunami grimaced inwardly. 'No it isn't. Tenchi needs 
someone to lead him. Left to his own devices, he'd only 
make a mess out of things. Besides, He loves us as much as 
we love him, so how can it be wrong to make him see it?'

The voice that was Sasami said nothing but silence in 
response to that. It just felt so good when Tenchi looked 
at them _that_ way, and the blush crept up on her cheeks... 
But something still bothered her about all this. Today had 
been so strange... when she'd woken up this morning, 
everything was different... she was suddenly so much taller 
than before, and had all these weird sensations running 
through her body... it was quite shocking. but even more 
disturbing was the way there seemed to be two of her now... 
and yet they were always one and the same. She was still 
Sasami, but she was also Tsunami... and she couldn't even 
begin to understand the ramifications of that.. just 
thinking about it made her head hurt. She could always talk 
to Tsunami in her mind, but now it seemed like Tsunami was 
also influencing her... giving her these strange impulses 
that at first she thought were her own, but they were so 
unlike her...Their source had to be Tsunami.

And it frightened her. Badly. It wasn't like Tsunami had 
taken control of her, it was more like suddenly she 
couldn't trust her own feelings. And that was the worst... 
The idea that even though she still thought she was 
herself, she just wasn't... and she had no idea what to do 
about it.

Could she even do anything about it? In many ways she *was* 
Tsunami... her very form and being were made up of Tsunami, 
having been assimilated and reconstructed by her power... 
so if she tried to separate, would she die? Could she even 
die, at that? For a moment a horrible fantasy ran through 
her mind where she threw herself off a cliff, ending in a 
broken heap at the bottom, only to *not* die, and lay there 
in agony while her bones slowly reconstruct themselves...

'Do you really think so poorly of me?'

Sasami felt instantly guilty... Tsunami was working for the 
greater good, after all... she was a goddess to her people, 
how could Sasami even consider that Tsunami would let her 
be in such pain? Or was that just Tsunami putting feelings 
in her head again?? She just didn't know... She just wanted 
to curl up in a little ball and cry somewhere, not that it 
would really help anything.... but she  couldn't do that, 
she had to be strong, she was a princess, after all, she 
had help Tsunami with her plan, and she had to be there for 
Tenchi... Yes, that was it, Tenchi needed her. She could 
worry about all those other things later.

'I know you are trying to do the right thing.'

'I love him.'

'I do too.'

***

She had been so cold on that night... Shivering in the dim 
firelight, feeling the dampness seeming to seep into her 
very bones. Millions of light years from her home and her 
life, everything she knew seemed wrong... Yosho was dead, 
she was stranded; there didn't appear to be a reason to go 
on. What did she have waiting for her back on Jurai? A 
cold, loveless politically-arranged marriage, endless 
political wheeling and dealing...

And then the sounds came, adding immediate fear to those 
foggy disturbing thoughts of the future. At first just a 
rustle here, a movement half seen out of the corner of her 
eye, nothing you could put your finger on... but it made 
the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, as every 
nerve became taunt throughout her body. Then _it_ leapt for 
her.... There were no predators on Jurai, in fact, there 
really wasn't any wild life left at all that wasn't in a 
preserve of some sort, and as such she had no idea what it 
could possibly be, on this strange world, leaping at her in 
the dark. 

The terror of that instant had been overwhelming, causing 
her to lose the last scraps of dignity that she was still 
clinging to... With a scream she leapt to her feet, 
instinct and fear forcing her to flee in terror... and then 
she was safe... warm... protected... Just like that. Her 
relief was so powerful she nearly wept as she held that 
wonderfully warm, comforting presence to her... 

It was at that instant that things seem to change in her 
life. Suddenly, this backwater planet didn't seem so alone 
and cold anymore, nor did it seem to be the tragic end of 
her long journey. Now, suddenly, unexpectedly, this place 
was her last hope. Here, she could feel again.

She would love to say that she fell in love with him in 
that instant, love at first *real* sight, since before she 
had only seen him as the implement of her pain. But that 
wasn't the truth... It wasn't then that it happened, but it 
was then that the possibility occurred to her... and that 
the idea took root in her loneliness and began to grow. 
Until one day, which one she wasn't exactly sure, it bore 
fruit, and from then on she knew, just *knew*, beyond any 
shadow of a doubt that she loved him more than anything. 

It was a hard fact to accept, at first... She was suppose 
to be the crown princess of Jurai, high and mighty, always 
above such mundane concerns as love... because of her 
position she had to be strong enough to live a life devoid 
of such feeling, for the good of her people...

But the feeling was addictive.... Suddenly, it wasn't so 
hard to forgive and forget that Yosho had abandoned her to 
live on this planet, because suddenly that was all she 
wanted to do to... live a quiet life here with Tenchi. The 
road certainly hadn't been easy, fighting for ever scrap of 
his attention with a girl that might as well have been her 
exact opposite, yet to her mind the outcome was never in 
doubt. She had been shipwrecked on this desolate planet for 
a *reason*, and Tenchi *was* that reason. It was only a 
matter of time, and while Aeka might not have been strong 
enough to resist the temptation of love, she was strong 
enough to wait Tenchi out...

But now this, this *abomination* had occurred. Tsunami... 
the very name held the rancor of a curse to her mind... The 
trees had always been central to Juraian culture, and 
therefore to her as well, but Tsunami was different than 
all the others... The other trees were holy, true, but they 
were quiet, docile... tools, more or less. Her own Ryuu-oh 
was a great comfort to her, as well as a powerful weapon, 
but it was *not* a companion. Tsunami was different...

Tsunami had always been there, a legend among the Juraian 
people, a benign goddess watching quietly from the trees... 
But then she had assimilated Sasami, gaining a human form, 
and the change among the trees of Jurai was tangible. When 
Tsunami made her physical presence known to the Juraian 
Royal court, no one really knew how to react... All 
Juraian's gave lip service to the near holiness of the 
trees, but most of them deep down felt quite threatened at 
the idea that their most valuable tools might rise up 
against them...

But then Tsunami had vanished again, no one hearing word 
one from her for centuries, not until Aeka herself 
discovered the secret behind her sister's fatal fall. At 
the time, Aeka hadn't thought about the fact that the two 
were merged much... She loved her sister and was grateful 
that she hadn't died... but the more she thought about it 
in later weeks and months, the more something about it 
felt... wrong. She had finally figured it out sometime 
back... the way Tsunami had told her that when Sasami grew 
up, she could call her either Tusnami or Sasami, as they 
would both be her. On the surface it seemed great, Sasami 
would get to grow up fairly normally and would still be 
herself as well as Tsunami, but Aeka should have known 
better.... The only way Sasami could become Tsunami was if 
Tsunami manipulated and changed her into becoming who *she* 
wanted Sasami to be, not who she was actually going to 
become... Now that the process had been accelerated, Aeka 
was only that much more sure of it. Tsunami was toying with 
her in a most horrible way, enslaving Sasami to her will, 
and Aeka could hardly think of a worse fate for her 
sister...

Maybe it would have been better if she *had* died during 
Ryoko's raid... it certainly would've give Aeka the excuse 
to have the annoying demon executed. However, The truth 
about Tsunami was even more frightening, in light of a 
message she'd just received from Jurai... Apparently 
Tsunami had made another appearance before the council and 
had asked them to mobilize the largest fleet ever 
conceived... She had given them some story about some 
nebulous evil coming to enslave the galaxy, but whether or 
not that was true it gave Aeka cause to suspect her of even 
more of a dark purpose...

She had to be stopped.

And to that end Aeka was cloistered in side the shell that 
would become Ryuu-oh's new home, using the sapling's 
fledgling power to connect up to Jurai's infosphere, trying 
to glean *anything* that might be of use against the giant 
space tree. She'd already read through several of the 
legends concerning Tsunami, but each was so clearly biased 
in favor of the space tree it was ridiculous... If one went 
by what the historians had to say, Tsunami was the greatest 
thing since sliced bread and was about as dangerous.

"There has to be a way!" she sighed in frustration.

"There is...." a voice said from behind her.

Aeka whirled around to face Washu, who was standing just 
behind her inside the dome. "W-Washu-san! What are you 
doing here?"

"Answering your question..." replied Washu, with a 
disinterested look.

Aeka looked at her quizzically. "What? You mean, you... you 
know a way to defeat Tsunami?"

Washu's only response was to fix Aeka with a pointed glare. 
Aeka immediately started to sweat...

Plastering a fake smile on her face, Aeka tried again. 
"uh.. hehe... Of *course* you know a way, don't you Washu-
chan? Your the universe's greatest genius!"

Washu smiled and nodded "Yes, its true... " abruptly she 
became serious again. " but you'll need to be able to lie 
more convincingly than that in order to wrest control of 
your empire from Tsunami's hands."

Washu sighed heavily as she walked over to Aeka's tree, 
pulling up her own etheric keyboard. "Beating Tsunami won't 
be easy... but it can be done. In order to defeat Tsunami, 
you must take away the one thing that binds her to Jurai: 
The trees. Tsunami discovered long ago, before your race 
was in existence, that the trees of Jurai are all 
connected, no matter how far apart they are, by a fourth 
dimensional link. This link allowed the trees to flourish 
in a violent and turbulent era in the history of the planet 
Jurai, for when one of the trees was damaged, the other 
trees were able to combine their energy and send it through 
the link, which in turn both healed and protected the 
endangered tree. Tsunami was the first to discover this 
property and soon realized the vast potential that this 
created, and, already a higher-dimensional being, grafted 
herself into the tree's network, allowing her power and 
that of the trees to grow a hundred fold. The tree that you 
know as "Tsunami" is just that: a tree. If it were 
destroyed, if that were even possible, Tsunami's 
consciousness would still live on in the limbo of forth 
dimensional space, to be later given physical form again in 
a new tree... and it would continue to exist in the body of 
your sister. You see, your sister is now an integral part 
of Tsunami's spectral network, a link through which she can 
draw immense power... or have that same power drawn from 
her. It's through this link that Tsunami controls and 
effects her... and she's not the only one." Washu finished 
ominously, giving Aeka a pointed look.

Aeka slowly felt comprehension sink to sink in, but for 
some reason she felt the point Washu was trying to make 
elude her. "How does this help? I already know that Tsunami 
has a hold on my sister! What I need to know is how to 
*break* that hold.  *How* do I cut her link to the trees, 
Washu-san?"

Washu looked away for a moment, then finally, very quietly, 
she said. "You start a war."

"WHAT?"

Washu fixed her with a hard stare, causing Aeka to step 
back half a step under the intensity of the gaze. "That's 
what it will come down to." she said, relenting her gaze 
once she was convinced that Aeka knew she was serious. "I 
have a device which I can give you, and which Jurai's 
scientists can reproduce, which will block Tsunami's 
link... If used on a tree, the tree will be mostly 
powerless while the device is activated... if used on a 
person who's been assimilated by Tsunami, the effect will 
be... a bit more permanent."

Aeka gave Washu a hard look, half thinking this was all 
some sort of twisted joke, and half fearing that what she 
said was true. Start a war? The was madness! Yes Tsunami 
had to be stopped, but the cost in lives... she loved her 
sister dearly, but it wasn't worth her people's *lives* 
for!

Washu could apparently read the confusion behind her eyes. 
"Its much, much worse than you suspect, Aeka-hime. Tsunami 
will subjugate the entire universe in order to get to her 
ends. If she's not stopped here, there will be no force 
great enough to turn the tide..."

"How do you know this Washu?? Why are you privy to the 
plans of Jurai's patron goddess?" Aeka asked incredulously, 
the shock of what Washu wanted her to do jolting her out of 
her anger at Tsunami.

Washu was quiet for many moments, though her fingers never 
ceased flying across her keyboard. Finally she paused, 
making a gesture with her hand the made the screen expand 
in size. "Look." she said simply.

And look Aeka did. What she didn't do was understand. 
Flowing across the screen at an extremely rapid pace 
appeared to be all manner of records... arrests, police 
reports, financial reports, troop movements.. it didn't 
seem to have any pattern or reason to Aeka, appearing to 
just be randomly called up bits of info from all over the 
galaxy. Puzzled she looked at Washu.

"It doesn't seem to make any sense, does it?" Washu once 
more began typing. Now it was medical records flying by, 
tales of people living through horrendous accidents that 
should, by all rights, have killed them... and then she 
started to recognize many of the names flying by on the 
screen... names of heads of industry, highly placed 
officers in Jurai's army, trusted advisors, Galaxy 
Police.... the glimmer of comprehension began to light in 
Aeka's mind.

"Yes... now you are beginning to get it... doesn't it seem 
odd that so many highly placed individuals have had such 
horrendous accidents? and that they all miraculously lived? 
Many weren't more than well placed lackeys when they had 
their accident, but after their "near-death experience" 
they all had renewed drive and fought their way up to be at 
their very heads of their chosen fields... perfect pawns 
laying in wait to unwittingly do the will of the one who 
once saved them... and now enslaves them. Your sister is 
only one of the more important pawns in her schemes...."

***

Silence reigned... or, at least, it would have if it wasn�t 
for the TV blaring. However, the noise of the television 
only seemed to more strongly offset the stillness of the 
room�s two occupants. There was no friendly chatter from 
the two figures sitting on the couch, barely an eye flutter 
betrayed the life that still flowed through their veins... 
though a shaper ear might have heard the twin thuds of 
hearts pounding nearly in unison...

And suddenly the stillness was disturbed, ever so slightly, 
by the subtle sounds of a body shifting a little to the 
left over plush couch.

Tenchi�s eyes remained riveted on the dancing figures of 
some music video or other, his mind barely processing the 
visual input as it struggled to keep up with his racing 
imagination....

Again came the low rustle of cloth-on-cloth as the figure 
to Tenchi�s right slid a bit closer....

Sweat began to bead Tenchi�s brow as the figure next to him 
grew closer... She was so close now that their legs were 
nearly touching, and he could feel the heat rising from 
her. Every instinct in him cried out for him to turn to 
her, look deeply into her eyes... or at the very least 
shift just the *tinyest* bit so that his leg would touch 
her's... it wouldn't even look like an intentional gesture, 
his base urges cried out, it would just be an "oh, gee, how 
did my leg get there?" type of move....

*NO*! he practically cried out. That was the kind of thing 
the guys at school would pull. It was the kind of maneuver 
that they always bragged about later having led them to 
"first base" or sometimes farther...

The urge to shift his leg became almost unbearable as his 
imagination helpfully filled in some of the juicier details 
his friends had described from such encounters, only it was 
Tsunami's face he saw.

"Tenchi..." 

Her voice was low and husky as she said his name, 
practically whispering it in his ear she was so close, 
causing him to tremble with excitement. With a rather more-
audible-than-he-intended gulp, he slowly turned to face 
her... and all at once was lost in her huge, luminous, pink 
eyes.

The heat of her closeness seemed to beat upon him as he 
inexplicably drew closer and closer to her, but even as 
some part of him tried to fight against the urge, he was 
overwhelmed by a sense of *rightness* about the action... 
and as their forms touched his doubts quickly faded away 
completely.

And with an inaudible click, the door to Washu's lab 
latched shut, the small redhead standing in the hallway. An 
intently troubled look on her face, she stood peering at 
the young couple's embrace. Finally, with a soft sigh, she 
silently mouthed the word "Sayonnara..." before turning and 
walking away from the scene, unnoticed.

***

Author's notes:

Ah! AT LAST! finally, finally I'm finished!! WAHAHAHAHA!!! 
ok, so its hardly the end of the series, the series has 
only really just begun, but this chapter has been so 
painfully difficult to get out I feel like I've just 
accomplished some great feat.. now if I could only finish 
up the next chapter of PHD...

As you may have noticed, Washu is kinda out of character... 
a far cry from her normal self... but while I've cast her 
in the role of "great manipulator" and rather like how well 
she fits it, I hope to some chapter finally get back to the 
good ol' Washu we know and love. Still, its going to be a 
couple chapters at least.. just bare in mind that I have 
good reason for changing her character so. ;)

Will Tsunami actually end up with Tenchi? Or will Ryoko 
Triumph after all? Even I can't really tell you.. I've 
changed the outline of this story so many times I can 
scarcely remember how I originally intended to end it 
(which is partly why its taken me so long to get it out!) 
but more chapters will be forth coming, of that you can be 
assured. (Although, I intend to devote my full attention to 
PHD 4 now that this one is finished, so LLL 4 will probably 
be quite a ways off yet)

oh, and one of my fans (yes, not everyone's forgotten about 
my humble writings!) actually took it upon himself to MSTie 
this chapter (though he MSTied a copy that ended before the 
last scene was added) and it should have been released even 
before this.. It should be available at GenSao's fanfiction 
archive.

A Preview of things to come:
Ryoko's desperate gamble!
Aeka's power struggle!
Tsunami in a quandary!
Tokimi Revealed!
And Washu deeper under her web of half-truths!

stay tuned for LLL 4... coming someday, I promise!

As always, ALL C&C, even flames, are greatly appreciated. 
Any word to let me know that you've read my story is 
wonderful, even if its just "this bites!" ;) let me know 
you're out there people!

Special thanks to Happosai, Tenchiken, Audrey, and all the 
rest of my pre-readers! 

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



--



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