All characters trademark and copyright 1999 AIC and Pioneer.
The Apprentice
by
W*ING Higley
"You're what?' screamed Tenchi.
"Leaving," was Ayeka's simple reply. She tried desperately not
to convey any
emotion, but the sorrow in her voice made her inner pain all too clear.
One qusetion been logn time since I wathced the tenchi movies.
didn't watch series. SO is Ayeka the purple haired girl?
A-yup
"Why.," Tenchi asked, still trying to digest the news.
"For the last 700 years, my sister and I have neglected our
duties as members of
the royal family of Jurai. First it was searching for Yosho, then
staying here on Earth
with you Tenchi. Our father, Azuza, has decided that time is now at an
end. As of today,
Sasami and I are the new Jurian ambassadors to the Republic Senate."
Thought it was durai, another mistake from my part.
"Republic Senate? Ayeka, I thought Jurai ruled the entire
galaxy."
"That would be nice, wouldn't it Tenchi." Ayeka smiled
ironically. "I am afraid
that on occasion our family, Sasami and I included, have had a nasty
habit of
exaggerating the extent of our family's influence."
"In reality, the House of Jurai controls most of the outer
sections of the galaxy,
Sol System included. But we do not rule over all of the Milky Way.
There are many,
many independent empires and self-governed planets. We just happen to
be the most
powerful empire in the Milky Way, but we do not have final say over
everything that
happens in this galaxy."
"But why must you and Sasami become the new ambassadors? Can't
they send
someone else."
"I'm afraid not. It seems that a dispute over the succession to
Supreme
Chancellor of the Republic Senate has erupted. The former Chancellor
was forced to
step down six weeks ago, and there are several parties now vying for
control. In matters
such as these, only members of the Royal Family are fit to weigh in on
who should be the
next Supreme Chancellor."
Tenchi looked at her with deep sorrow. "Ayeka....I...." he
couldn't put what he
wanted to say into words. He still wasn't sure exactly how he felt
about Ayeka, whether
he loved her or whether he loved Ryoko, but he had come to depend on
Ayeka to be the
great calming force in his life, able to give a sense of order from the
chaos that had
become Tenchi's life.
"Will.....will you ever come back?" was what he finally managed
to spurt out.
"I..don't think so, Tenchi." Ayeka's face gained a bittersweet
smile. "Father has
made it clear this will be a somewhat permanent post for Sasami and I.
Ever since my
parents first visited this planet, I knew that this was inevitable. I
simply didn't want to
admit it. I'm sorry Tenchi.'
'When do you have to go?"
"Tonight. A shuttlecraft will pick us up at 9:00 p.m. sharp."
She smiled again.
"At least Ryoko won't be there to gloat."
Tenchi nodded. He, of all people, had been surprised when Ryoko
had asked to
accompany Nobuyuki on his annual fishing trip by the seaside. They
weren't due to
return for another three days.
************************************************************************
That night, many a tear was shed as the Misaki "family" said
goodbye to Ayeka
and Sasami. Mihoshi had been worst of all, bawling her eyes out until
she finally
excused herself, lamely saying she was due for patrol.
Yosho wore his usual mask of indifference. He looked solemnly
at Ayeka. "You
do me proud Ayeka. I could never do what you do now.'
"Thank you.." Ayeka looked at Tenchi. "Take care of him,
brother. He is the
last male of the royal bloodline, and it is important that the House of
Jurai continue."
Yosho nodded solemnly. "I understand. And...I'm sorry. If I
had not shunned
my responsibility so many years ago, you may not now be put in this
position."
Ayeka smiled and shook her head. "Don't be sorry, Yosho. If
you hadn't
traveled to Earth, Tenchi would have never been born, and I would have
never been
given the opportunity to meet him....." she turned to Tenchi, "and
fallen in love with
him."
Tenchi simply stood there, stunned at this revelation. He knew
Ayeka cared
about him, but he always had thought that her declarations of love had
been bluster
spurred on by her fights with Ryoko.
"Ayeka....I...I don't know what to say....I...."
"Shh," Ayeka said, putting a finger to his lips to silence him.
"Don't say
anything, my Tenchi. We were never meant to be, there were too many
forces working
to keep us apart. Goodbye, my love."
With that, she kissed him quickly, then teleported away. Sasami
simply hugged
Tenchi around the waist, then beamed herself too. The shuttlecraft
hovered briefly, then
shot skywards, taking Ayeka and Sasami out of Tenchi's life, seemingly
forever.
************************************************************************
"Tenchi! Look what I've got!" Ryoko shouted cheerfully as she
and Nobuyuki
got out of the Misaki family van. "I've got some nice blowfish here!"
Her exuberance
was short lived as she saw Tenchi sitting under Funaho, a vacant and
pained look etched
on his face.
hmmm.....
Blowfish? Ouch!
"Tenchi...?"
"Don't bother him now, Ryoko," Washu said.
"Mom, what's wrong with him?" Ryoko was stunned. She had never
seen
Tenchi look this depressed before.
Washu quickly explained the situation to her "daughter."
"I think it would be best if you stayed out of sight for a few
more days, my dear.
The last thing he needs right now if you hanging all over him."
"I...I...yeah, I guess you're right." She was silent for a
moment, doing mental
calculations in her head. "That's alright, I needed to take Ryo-ohki
out of the Sol System
for a few days anyways."
Washu looked surprised. "Oh, any reason why?"
"I have to deliver something to an old friend of mine. In fact,
one of the reasons I
went with Nobuyuki was to get something he requested."
"He?" Washu asked coyly.
"Don't get any ideas mom," Ryoko said, rather annoyed. "He's
just a friend I
made after I left Earth to put myself back together after the bonding
with Zero. He really
helped me sort out my feelings and get my head back on straight."
Washu was silent for a moment. After the battle with Dr. Clay,
Ryoko had taken
Ryo-ohki to "find herself," as she put it. The bonding with Zero had
turned her into a
giddy school girl, and Ryoko became so desperate that it necessitated a
trip into space to
finally return to her old self. Ryoko had never before spoken about
what had happened
during her two month disappearance. Washu would have used the
mind-link, but one of
the aftereffects of the Zero bonding had resulted in the mind-link being
disabled.
"Well Ryoko, you be careful, and when you get back, don't be too
overbearing on
Tenchi."
Whoz zero? Anyways, It'll brobobly a spoiler for me if u tell me
anything. 'm new to this, I only saw 2 of the movies.
b dpqz pg szplp
I shr:ed the letters. this is what Zero was..
************************************************************************
Four days later:
"Tenchi, are you okay?" Ryoko asked worriedly. Since her return
the day before,
Tenchi had avoided her.
Tenchi looked at her for a long moment, as if mentally sizing
her up and making
some decision. "Yes, I think I am, Ryoko."
"Do you need someone to talk to? I know you're upset about
Ayeka leaving."
Tenchi was surprised by this statement. He had figured that Ryoko would
be all over
him, while at the same time disparaging Ayeka. Instead, she had left
and given him room
to think. Think about his future, and who he really cared about.
"I'd like that Ryoko, but I'm not thinking about Ayeka. At
least, not anymore."
Ryoko looked confused.
"Ya know, it's funny Ryoko. When I first met you, I really
didn't think much of
your personality."
Ryoko became embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess chasing you around and
blowing up
your school would do that."
"Please listen to what I have to say. That was then. But now,
now I know
Ryoko."
Ryoko again looked confused. Tenchi gently lifted her chin and
looked straight
into her eyes, straight into her heart.
"I love you Ryoko, you're one of the strongest women I've ever
met. I really
admire that about you. You never gave up on me either, even when I was
"betrothed" by
Grandpa. You were always there for me, even as a little kid when I
would play by your
cave.."
Cave?!
Yeah, The one where Ryoko was trapped by Yosho.
Ryoko was stunned, she had no idea he knew about how she had
watched over
him.
Tenchi smiled. "I've always known about that Ryoko. I could
always feel your
presence beside me when I was at the cave. Always protecting me, always
loving me."
"Tenchi.....I....I"
"Ryoko....I love you."
"Tenchi!" Ryoko cried, tears flowing freely from her eyes.
Tenchi took her by
the shoulders and pulled her to him. Then, all their world consisted of
was the kiss.
************************************************************************
Two weeks later:
"......I now pronounce you man and wife."
The wedding was held under Funaho, with Yosho serving as
minister, Nobuyuki
as best man, and Mishoshi doing double duty as bridesmaid and ring
bearer. To most in
Japan, getting married less than two weeks after you had declared your
love for each
other might have seemed insane, but to Tenchi, it made all the sense in
the world when
the person you loved was a special someone like Ryoko.
The wedding reception was a small, private affair. Only a dozen
or so guests had
been invited. Sadly, the joy of the day would not last.
"Tenchi..." Ayeka looked as if she had been crying for days.
?!?!??!?!!??!?!?
Which she prolly had, Ayeka's in love with Tenchi, remember?
"Miss Ayeka, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" Tenchi was
shocked,
Ryoko even more so. They had been in the middle of cutting the wedding
cake when
Ayeka had burst in.
"Tenchi....my father......Emperor Azuza......is dead!"
"What!??!!" For the first time in his life, Yosho lost his
composure.
Ayeka looked at him sorrowfully. "Father has been assassinated.
We don't know
how, but he collapsed at the dinner table and......and...." Ayeka burst
into tears again.
Tenchi rushed to comfort her.
"Is there anything I.....we.....can do for you?" Tenchi asked.
"It is not I you should be worried about, Lord Tenchi." Ayeka
looked rueful. "Do
not forget so quickly that with father dead, you are the new Emperor of
Jurai."
OMG?!
Hmm.. Maybe he was made the crown prince instead of Yosho..
Tenchi suddenly became lightheaded, as the weight of the world
came crashing
down on his shoulders. "I....I'm the new emperor?"
"Whether you want it or not. You have no choice now, you are
the last male
descendant of the House of Jurai." Ayeka then looked at Ryoko, a look
of revulsion
crossing her face.
"And as for you, Ryoko....."
"You mean......"
"Yes, Ryoko. That means that you are...."
************************************************************************
"The new Empress of Jurai" Ryoko shouted triumphantly. It was
some 12 hours
later, and Ryoko sat in the communications room of Ryo-ohki, staring at
the
"shouted triumphantly" This part I can imagine of Ryoko doing. Heh.
Whats Ryo-ohki? Oh wait, don't tell me, I don't really get it....
it'll b another spoiler for me.
It's the cute Cat/Rabbit thing..
holo-viewer's image of a man clad a black cloak, his face hidden.
"Excellent work, my young apprentice. All has gone as I have
foreseen it."
"Thank you, Lord Sidious." Ryoko said to the Dark Lord of the
Sith whose
holo-image was in front of her.
"You have done well, child. Are you sure the new Emperor of
Jurai will do as
you ask?' Darth Sidious asked.
"Tenchi's so shaken up right now, he'll do anything I ask. Once
we arrive on
Jurai tomorrow and are officially installed as the new Emperor and
Empress, we shall
travel to Coruscant and officially give our support to you in your bid
to become Supreme
Chancellor, Senator Palpatine."
Darth Sidious smiled. "Excellent. With the support of the
House of Jurai, that
fool Senator Organa will have no choice but to concede defeat. Finally,
after 3 long
months, I shall take my rightful place as Supreme Chancellor. You have
done quite well,
Ryoko. That blowfish poison was quite useful in dispatching Emperor
Azuza. To think,
for all their sophisticated technology, the Jurians have never been able
to detect
something as simple as Earth blowfish poison."
Gah! She did, didn't he?
Ouch!
Ryoko smiled wickedly. "I did what you asked. And you lived up
to your part of
the bargain, arranging for Ayeka to be called in as the new ambassador.
Now Tenchi is
mine, and mine alone."
"And you will live up to your end, won't you?" asked Sidious.
Ryoko nodded. "Of course. I said I'd do anything to win
Tenchi, and if that
means becoming you apprentice, than so be it. You won't need anyone
else after me,
though. I'll make Maul look like an amateur."
"Don't get too cocky, Ryoko" Sidious replied, eyeing a
holo-image of young
Anakin Skywalker. "Remember, you too can be replaced.."
Hmm, hey, this could have been a great seirous fic, but now its a great,
funny fic. I think you shoudl touch up on it and continue it ^^;
Seems like Ryoko still have love for Tenchi, n' is not after power.
True.. I STILL don't see Ryoko doing this..
Maybe I'm just biased, I like Ryoko.
The funny thing, Juraian royalty, Ryoko, Washuu etc. could kick any Jedi's
or Sith lord's butt..
And whatever happened to Galaxy Police?
Author's Note: Apologies to any OOC that occurred. I'd make the excuse
that this is my
first Tenchi fic, but that would bely the fact that I preferred to use
creative license with
the characters and the dialogue. Aide from the OOC, the biggest glaring
inaccuracies
with this story were the fact that I ignored the "galaxy far, far way"
part of Star Wars and
inserted the Galactic Republic into the Tenchiverse. BTW, this story
takes place about 3
months after The Phantom Menace. C&C can be sent to skywarp@cephiro.com
Thanks.
Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, Anakin Skywalker and Star Wars trademark and
copyright
1999 Lucasfilm, LTD.
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