[FFML] Tenchi Fiction

[Paul Parten]

Morpheus the Reaper

*Dream an Endless Dream...*

*All characters, settings, and trademarks are owned by Pioneer and not by
the author*
------------------------------

The sun shone down brightly on the Masaki shrine as Tenchi swept the leaves
from the ancient stone courtyard. The birds chirped sweetly in the trees
surrounding the serene mountainside and the young man sighed and wiped his
forehead, smiling at the work he had done as he leaned on his broomstick.

Over the soft sounds of the forest and mountain he heard footsteps coming
up the stair.

The house had been empty for almost a week, what with the princesses Sasami
and Ayeka having recently left for a special Juraian council meeting, and
Ryoko and Washu off performing a series of endurance experiments with
Ryo-Ohki. Mihoshi had been called back to the GXP headquarters on tribunal
to do something about her mounting damage claims.

Somewhat puzzled by the unexpected visitor, he shouldered his broom and
walked towards the staircase and peered around the bordering foliage.

To his surprise, there was no one walking up the ancient staircase. He let
out a derisive little chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "Guess with
the house so quiet recently I'm starting to hear things. Heh, I must miss
everyone running around all the time more than I thought."

He sighed and turned around to resume his work, then let out a yelp and
fell roughly onto his rump, the broom falling with a clatter. Directly
behind him had stood a person wearing an odd, ornate robe with a deep cowl
pulled over their face. Tenchi found it hard to look at the person as they
seemed to jerk and shift, but never actually moved, their body almost
appearing to be made of a flickering light.

"W-who are you?" He asked, standing slowly and picking up his broom.

"*You know me Tenchi.*" The voice sounded like half a dozen people talking
at once, seeming to yell and whisper at the same time. The youth pulled
back, wincing at the sound.

After a moment the figure reached up gloved hands and grasped the edges of
its cowl and pulled it back. A cold sweat broke out over Tenchi's forehead,
his eyes wide with fear and an odd sense of recognition. The face revealed
could hardly even be called as such, a shifting, vague suggestion of
features and tone, the edges seeming to phase in and out, jerking into
sharp lines before fading back to normal and then going fuzzy again.

"*Tenchi…you need…to WAKE UP.*"
------------------------------

Tenchi jerked awake, his eyes wide, laying half-off his bed. He relaxed,
realizing he was home and sighed, coughing into his hand as he pulled
himself slowly into a sitting position. He sat there for a moment, knees
bent with his face in his hands, rubbing at his bleary eyes.

*That dream again… *He let out another sigh and scratched at the darkening
stubble on his cheek.

Almost fifteen years since he'd seen that place. Almost fifteen years since
he'd been anywhere near Japan. He let out a groan as he stood, stretching
and shuffled across his cramped, dingy apartment and opened the curtains.
With a sad chuckle he leaned his forehead against the cold glass, looking
out over the city.

*Raining again…*

It had not been anything but that terrible gray since he could remember.

When had he moved to this city of shadows? It was almost a lifetime ago for
him, and the reasons still didn't fit together right.

Nineteen, almost his twentieth birthday, he had made a choice. It was the
only one he thought he had at the time. How did that old song go? "*If I
knew then, what I know now…*" Tenchi looked at his alarm clock in the early
morning half-light of the city. Four A-M, two hours before he should be
awake,

*Might as well get ready for work…* He thought, groaning as he turned on
the low-watt lights in his drab loft, their dim glow only serving to throw
the shadows into greater contrast.

He straightened his tie and shrugged on his smoke-colored jacket, taking a
swig of his quickly cooling coffee before pouring the rest of the mug out
into the sink and heading for the stepped out into the drizzling rain,
pulling his jacket closer around his body as he adjusted his grip on his
grey briefcase.

It took five minutes to walk from his loft to the rail station, but in this
city of ash and shadows five minutes could seem like an eternity. In the
center of a crowd of people Tenchi made his way to the staircase, walking
down the rain-slicked steps, taking a look up at the drab, cloudy sky,
feeling the misting rain cold on his skin.

He chuckled broken-heartedly and felt his eyes prick with old memories
before he shook them away and continued down the stairs.

The train rocketing by filled the rail station with noise and vibration,
muting the sparse conversations and phone calls of others awaiting the
morning train.

Tenchi yawned, shaking his head as he tried to focus on the workday ahead
of him. *That dream…What the hell is wrong with me? I feel like I'm trying
to walk through molasses… *The northbound train shot through the station
and Tenchi looked up, seeing the people flashing past him through the
windows, wondering briefly what their day held in store.

In the final car passing the rail station he could swear he saw a figure
sitting amongst the somberly dressed business folk, dressed in a white robe…
------------------------------

"*MASAKI!"*

Tenchi jumped in his seat, startled awake. *Shit, I dozed off! Guess I'm
still tired… *Rubbing his eyes he looked around himself. *Hope I wasn't
snoring…I…wait…I'm at work? When did I get here…? *

"Er, Yes, sir?" Tenchi called back, realizing his manager wasn't standing
over his shoulder.

"Masaki! I'll need those reports on my desk by the end of the day!" The
voice bellowed from within the office at the end of the aisle.

"Yes sir, Mr. Murdock!" Tenchi replied, shaking his head and redoubling his
efforts on his computer terminal *Rotten old bastard didn't even come out
of his office. Taskmaster… *He sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

As he worked, his eyes unfocused and Tenchi saw himself in the shadow of
his computer screen. He wasn't eating as well as he should have been, and
had lost his slim physique, now much scrawnier than he had been. His hair
had grown little thinner, a bit of grey at his temples, and he had sheared
off his ponytail for the office dress code.

The years had stripped the youth from Tenchi's face, replacing them with
the angles of age and the wrinkles of lost dreams and hard times. Even now
as he stared at his computer screen Tenchi hardly recognized the old man in
the shadow of his monitor. Thirty three years old this year and he looked
like he was pushing a good forty.

Shaking his head again he forced himself to hammer on his keyboard,
crunching data and fitting it into bills and claims and sales. Invoices
filled his day from eight thirty A-M till five P-M, the glorious life of an
accountant in this city that never seemed to sleep.

The walls of this office were obviously white at one time, but Gregory
Murdock's constant cigar smoke and time had changed them to a dusty
yellowish grey. Not even a window pierced the murky walls

*Not that it would provide anything to look at…*Numbers, numbers, numbers.
His office-mate, Trent Horrace, leaned around the partition wall, smirking
past his horn rimmed glasses, his light colored hair slightly ruffled

"Pssst! Tenchi!" Trent hissed, his eyes sparkling.

With a half-smile Tenchi looked over at him. "Yeah Trent? What's up?"

"I'm heading over to the Silver Hog tonight if you want to meet up, grab a
brew?"

Tenchi sighed, remembering this morning and shaking his head. "I…I don't
know. I'm not feeling so hot today."

Trent pulled a face. "Come on man, when was the last time you had any fun?
This city has a way of sucking a man dry if he's not careful." With a grin
he added "And you look pretty dried up to me." Tenchi shook his head,
sighing and finished up the form he was working on.
------------------------------

The Silver Hog was one of those horrible little hole-in-the-wall bars where
you know the liquor is watered down, the beer is going to be warm, and
they've only got bud light to boot.

Tenchi pulled his jacket tight as he stood outside the bar, hunkering down
against the steady downpour of mist that while it was falling like a
feather, was so dense that it had already almost soaked his shirt. With a
sigh he shook himself, only serving to get himself wetter, and stepped
forward into the dive.

Trent was sitting at the bar, nursing a pint of beer so light it was almost
clear. "Hey, Tenchi!" He toasted his co-worker and took another drink.
Tenchi popped his coat, shaking the water off and took a seat beside his
friend, the bar almost empty. "Glad you could make it man." He smiled,
motioning the bartender over to get a beer for Tenchi.

"Well, I almost didn't, I mean, I haven't felt up to doing anything for
quite a while." The glass was set before Tenchi, beads of condensation
streaking down its side to pool against the polished bar.

"Well I'm sure glad you did, a man's got to wind down every now and again,
am I right?" Trent chuckled, taking a drink. Tenchi smiled again, somewhat
more heartfelt this time, taking a drink of his own beer.

"So, what really made you want to get into accounting, Tenchi?" Trent asked
as he swallowed the lasts of his beer, setting the empty glass down and
gesturing for another.

"It was the only job I could find, really." He replied, nursing his pint.
"You know I moved here fourteen years ago, and I had to do something. " He
chuckled some. "I can't just be a beggar, and all I really knew was farming
from ba….my life before. "

"Yeah, no farms around here." Trent chuckled, missing Tenchi's slip. Tenchi
sighed slightly in relief, dipping back into his pint and looking around.

"Trent…" He began"…Have you noticed that this city is always so grey?"

The other man laughed some, shaking his head "That's how it always is in
big cities. You smash a lot of big buildings together and even the neon
girly signs don't shine so bright."

Tenchi smirked, looking over at his friend. "I know, but I mean…I really
can't remember the last time I saw a splash of life in this town." He
sighed, taking another sip of beer.

Trent nodded, taking a drink of his fresh beer. "I know what you mean, this
place is dying, little by little…" Tenchi sighed, knowing his friend didn't
get what he meant.

"So what's going on, man? You seemed kinda drawn out today." Trent took his
beer and brought it to his lips, taking a long drink.

Tenchi swallowed a mouthful of beer and looked over at him. "I don't know…I
just had a weird dream last night. I hardly felt like I slept at all…"

Trent chuckled, bumping him with his elbow. "Dreaming about those girls
again? Those, what was it, eight women who all wanted your body?" Trent
grinned.

"No…well, not really…" Tenchi shook his head. Over the course of their
friendship Tenchi had mentioned his previous life to Trent, but never
really expounded upon the situation or how their odd, mix matched family
had come to be. Every now and again it felt good to talk about it, but it
never ended well, always leaving Tenchi feeling somber and reserved.

"…It was really just a weird dream is all, nothing to worry about, I'd
say." Tenchi took a drink of his beer, shrugging his shoulders dismissively.

"Well, you seem to have perked up a good bit since this morning. I'm
telling you, you need to come out with me more often. It'll do you good!"
Trent chuckled, finishing his beer. "You'll feel more like a young man
again and you won't be so troubled at night."

Tenchi laughed, eyeing his friend. "Yeah, I'll have too many beers under my
belt to worry about dreaming."

Trent laughed back, nodding. "Exactly!"

Shaking his head, Tenchi got up, pulling a few bills from his wallet and
placing them on the counter. "I'll think about it. But hey, I'll see you
tomorrow at work, alright?"

Trent nodded. "Sure thing, have a good one." Tenchi nodded back, heading
for the door, then stopped, looking back.

"Oh, and Trent? Thanks." The two men smiled at each other for a moment
before Tenchi walked out into the drizzling night.
------------------------------

The rain slowed, and then stopped, leaving the sand-colored sidewalks dark
with moisture in the grey morning light.

Tenchi shook himself some and brushed the drops of water from his hair and
jacket, holding his briefcase over his shoulder as he walked. Trent was
right, he felt great today. No dreams had kept him awake the night before,
and he even found that the sun was shining just a little brighter today,
hidden behind the slate colored clouds though it was. He hummed softly to
himself as he walked towards the rail station, and descended the stairs to
the platform.

The platform was fairly deserted this morning, giving him pause and making
him check his watch. *No…I'm not that early…* He glanced around, taking in
the perhaps two dozen others in varying degrees of business attire. Tenchi
shook his head, wondering just what it was that had kept so many from their
work this morning.

He resigned himself to the scarce population of the rail station this
morning and looked around, seeing a few of the familiar faces he noticed
each morning. Over to one side on the opposite platform motion caught his
eye and he saw a couple of vagrants crouched against the far wall, he
snorted derisively as one of them lit a cigarette.

As they looked up to blow out the smoke, he realized that this was no
vagrant, but a poorly dressed hoodlum, her dark, tattered hoodie pulled up
over a shock of hair dyed a disquieting shade of cyan.

It suddenly became hard to swallow, looking into that familiar, angular
face as the miscreant looked directly at him, taking another slow drag on
her cigarette. Her eyes shone a shocking amber color, flashing briefly in
the fluorescent lights of the station.

*R…Ryo…*Tenchi felt himself drawn towards her, pulled into those large,
striking eyes and took a step forward.

The train horn blared, shocking him out of his reverie and making him
stumble back as the railcar shot past him, barely inches away.

A few people looked up, but most just continued talking on their cellular
phones or reading the morning paper. His heart thundering in his chest,
Tenchi stood with his hand on his chest, panting and covered with a fine
layer of cold sweat, the breeze from the passing train chilling him
further. He looked up and searched for the young hoodlum, but the passing
train made it impossible to see the far platform. By the time the train
passed the woman was gone, cigarette left smoldering on the cracked tile
floor.

As Tenchi rode the shaking train, his mind raced. *First these dreams…now I
see Ryoko…No, I saw someone who LOOKED like her…It couldn't have been…* He
walked out at his stop like a sleeping man, eyes forward but unseeing and
his steps shuffling. He entered his office with barely a glance at Trent,
sliding into his seat and setting his briefcase down, the picture of that
young woman flashing in his head over and over again. *If she wasn't…Then
who…? *

"Hey, Tenchi, you still with us man?" Trent's voice finally got through
Tenchi's thoughts and he jumped slightly.

"Oh, hey, sorry I'm miles away." He said and chuckled as he scratched the
back of his head. "I thought I saw…someone I used to know. This morning at
the train station, and it's been picking at my head all morning." He
smirked, leaning back and looking around the cubicle at Trent. "Hey, thanks
again for last night. I really had a good time."

Trent shrugged, waving Tenchi's remark away. "Hey, no problem man, anytime.
So, hey, this person you saw? Was it a lady?" He grinned lecherously "Was
she hot?"

Tenchi chuckled "Beautiful…" He said it in almost a whisper, reverently.
"Whether it was who I thought it was or not, she was so enchanting that I
almost walked right into the train." He laughed, smirking.

Trent whistled, shaking his head. "Damn, you're a lucky son of a bitch. I
wish I'd seen something so nice this morning."

"If you two stupid sons of bitches would get to work instead of jabbering
all day we MIGHT make some money around here!" The bellowing voice of Mr.
Murock echoed in the small office as Tenchi and Trent flinched back,
turning to their monitors and starting to work. Before he pulled back
completely Trent flashed a grin at Tenchi, who smiled and shook his head,
turning to his reports.
------------------------------

Over the next few days Tenchi found himself at the Silver Hog more than he
had ever visited it before. He and Trent spent their nights talking and
found themselves deep in cups more than once. Despite his recent upsets,
Tenchi found himself opening up more to Trent, even going so far as to talk
about his youth, telling him about his lost mother, his father's work,
helping his grandfather with his shrine and the training he went through.

"So, what, you know kung fu or something?" Trent asked, well into his
fourth pint.

Tenchi chuckled, shaking his head. "No, it was more sword play than martial
arts, but I know how to fight if that's what you mean."

"What der fuck is dis shit, den?" A heavily accented voice sounded out from
the back of the bar, and Tenchi looked over his shoulder to see the owner
holding an oddly shaped bottle, turning it around and around in his thick,
meaty hands.

"Dunno boss, just came with the shipment…" The young bar-back responded,
taking the bottle from the owner. Tenchi's eyes grew wide as he saw what
they held. Forgetting his beer he half ran half stumbled over to the two of
them, snatching the bottle from the owners grasp.

"Oy, watch it now!" The barrel-shaped man snapped.

"W-w-where did you find this…?" Tenchi managed to gasp out.

"Like he jus' said, it jus' came wit da shipment, why?" Tenchi barely heard
his reply as he gazed at the round, corked jug in his trembling hands, the
coarse rope hanging over his hands.

*R-Ryoko….? *

The more he stared the more certain he was that this was Ryoko Hakubi's
sake bottle. He could almost smell her on it, that odd mixture of fresh,
clean earth and crisp autumn leaves, warm and feeling of home.

"….so dere you go, it jus' wound up in our bottles. Don't know how da heck
it got in dere, mus' be some crazy foreign stuff…"

"…How much…?"

"What's dat?"

"How much do you want for it?" Tenchi asked again, dreamlike and far away.

The owner stood back, looking at the bottle and rubbing his chin with one
thick hand. "Well, I dunno…I mean it looks like da good stuff, and it's
definitely imported."

Tenchi smiled sadly, giving the bottle a slight shake, hearing it slosh
"…She always got the good stuff…"

He shook his head, coming back to the present, and dug into his pocket. He
withdrew and pressing a crumpled wad of bills into the owners' chubby palm
"Here, you didn't order it, didn't pay for it, and now you've made a
profit…"He turned away, hugging the bottle tight to his chest as he walked
past Trent.

"H-hey, where are you off to?" Trent called out from the bar, causing
Tenchi to turn quickly and almost making him trip over his own feet.

"I…I'm sorry, I've got to go… S-see you tomorrow?" Without waiting for a
reply he turned and half ran out into the rain soaked streets.
------------------------------

*Ryoko…she's not….no, she's gone. I made sure of that….*Tenchi pounded down
the streets of the city, rain cascading off of his jacket, gurgling in the
gutters and rain-traps along the road. Panting he turned into an alleyway,
leaning against a wall and pulled the bottle out of his jacket.

He turned it over in his hands, the heavy ceramic smooth under his fingers
from constant use, he bit his lip, and tipped the bottle up to see under
it, choking back a sob as he saw it. Ryoko's name, printed on the bottom of
it as clear as the day it was inked.

He almost dropped the bottle then, such a shock from his past as this was
and slumped against the wall, a hand pressed over his eyes as he felt
stinging tears leak past his tightly shut eyelids.

*Gods…why? Why now? What have I done to bring this back? *He choked back
his tears and wrenched out the cork, the sweetly sour smell of rice wine
exploding into the night.

*"It tastes best right from the bottle…" *

He lifted the jar slowly, his tears becoming lost in the rain

*"I got it…so we could drink it together…Tenchi…" *

He put his lips to the mouth of the bottle and started to swallow. Slowly
at first, then fiercely, gulping down the sweet, slightly bitter wine. His
breath came in gasping, ragged sobs every few gulps. Before he knew it, the
bottle grew light, his head spinning as he gasped for air, shoulders
shaking and lips trembling, even beyond tears.

He slipped down the wall, sitting on the soaked ground, letting the bottle
fall to the ground, the taste of sake in his mouth and the smell of Ryoko
in his nose. As the bottle rolled onto the ground a faint tinkling sound
issued from within. His vision blurring as heat suffused his body, Tenchi
managed to grab the bottle on the third try and shook it, the tinkling
sound coming again.

He tipped the bottle up over his hand, the last dregs of the sake poured
into his curled fingers, along with a small, black ball. Blearily he tried
to focus on the ball, rubbing his numb fingers over it. With a soft
crackling sound the sooty black substance flaked off, exposing a small,
ruby sphere, a shimmering beacon of color in the grey night.
------------------------------

The brilliant sunlight burned Tenchi's eyes as he awoke, resting back
against an ancient tree. "Oh wow…I must have dozed off." He stood, dusting
himself off "Looks like Mihoshi is starting to teach me bad habits…." He
chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. He picked up his hoe from where it
had fallen, returning to his fields, stretching and then planting his feet
and striking the soil, tilling it into rows.

"Teeeennnnnchiiii!" A sweet, high voice rang over the fields and he looked
up to see a young, teal haired girl skipping up the path, a carrot-shaped
backpack over her shoulders with a fluffy brown creature bounding after her.

"Oh, Sasami! How are you today?" As she got closer he stumbled back, seeing
her face blank and featureless beneath her light blue bangs. She stopped
and leaned back, wary of his sudden change in expression.

"T-Tenchi? Are you okay?" He shook his head, rubbing his eyes and looked
again, her young features wrinkled with worry.

"Y-yeah…I guess I'm just tired is all. What's up?"

She smiled softly at him, reaching back into her backpack and pulling out a
handkerchief wrapped box "I brought your lunch for you!"

"Oh, thank you Sasami, I'm starving!" Tenchi chuckled, settling down on the
stone wall nearby. "Will you sit and talk with me while I eat?" The little
girl nodded and giggled, hopping up on the ledge herself.

With a jump and a soft *MYAAA *the cabbit Ryo-Ohki pulled herself up onto
the young girl's shoulder, positioning herself to nuzzle against the girl's
cheek. "He he, Ryo-ohki will sit with us too."

Tenchi chuckled as he opened the boxed lunch, taking the pair of chopsticks
out and starting to eat. "You know, not too long ago I caught myself
napping. I don't even remember sitting down… Isn't that weird?" He
chuckled, looking at the young girl.

With a clatter the box fell to the ground, rice and omelet spilling out
onto the dirt.

Where the princess had sat now was the hooded figure, but something was
different than in his dreams. While the face still was featureless, faint
hints of faces seemed to rush past, like faces in the window of a speeding
car. A glimpse of amber, the shadow of magenta, the curve of a lip and the
tip of a nose. The hue began to shift as well, fading from porcelain to
deep tan and several shades between, but never actually resolving as any of
them.

Tenchi stood, stepping back slowly, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"Y…you can't…I don't know you…w-why are you here? What do you want from me?"

The blank face turned to him, and seemed to pinch as if smiling. "*I want
YOU, Tenchi. I want you back. Back with us…*"

Tenchi shook his head, cold sweat streaming down his face and back. "N-no…
I… I don't want that… I can't…"

The figure stood without any motion, simply flowing from sitting to
standing in a blink. "*Then why am I here? I wouldn't be if you didn't call
to us.*" The figure gently pulled one of its gloves off, revealing a hand
that shifted like water, leaving trails in the air as it moved before
condensing again.

"*Come back, Tenchi. Join us. Don't you miss us at all?*" The figure walked
towards him, hand extended and reaching for him.

"I… it's not that…. I can't, I can't do it again… I won't!" He felt a
weight at his shoulder and turned to look, all the while screaming in his
head to run, don't look just run.

On his shoulder sat a brown mass, flowing like some kind of over-sized
amoeba up his back to bunch and form the vague shape of the long-eared
cabbit, turning jet black hollows to look at him, a mouth opening in its
muzzle like a gaping wound* MYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH *

The sound was not so much a meow as an enunciated exhalation of breath, far
too much for such a small form to hold.

With a cry Tenchi shrugged and tried to push the horror from his shoulder,
but the thing grew blackened nails to dig into his shirt, holding fast. The
figure was upon him then, the liquid-like hand caressing his face "*She
likes you…you can tell, right?*" The amalgamation of voices was almost
singsong in its amusement. "*Tenchi…you don't know what you've done… come
back…*"

Tenchi struggled, but couldn't seem to move his feet, the hand on his cheek
starting to spread over his face, the fingers extending like spilling
rivulets over him, winding through his hair and over his brow. "I…Just… WHY
WON'T YOU JUST LET ME BE …."
------------------------------

"….NORMAL?"

Tenchi jerked bolt upright in his bed, panting and soaked with sweat. His
alarm clock was blaring and his head pounded from the night before. As the
events of the last night came flowing back to him he searched frantically,
tearing the bedclothes from his mattress and kicking the clothes from his
floor. He looked up and stopped.

There on the counter in his little kitchenette, the sake bottle stood.
Swallowing hard he walked over to it, placing a trembling hand on the side
of it. Suddenly his senses seemed to explode with pent-up memories. The
fresh, hot, humid air of the onsen, the slightly antiseptic, chemical smell
of Washu's lab, the feather-soft feel of Ayeka's hair, blossoming rose
petals and cinnamon that was Mihoshi's perfume, the slight smell of ozone
when Ryoko teleported…

Behind his back he heard the odd, shimmering sound of molecular
teleportation. Turning swiftly, his heart racing and chest heaving, Tenchi
scanned his apartment.

Empty.

He took a slow, deep breath, trying to calm himself. *It's just old
memories… I can't go back, and they won't come for me. *He sighed, running
a hand through his hair, bending his wrist and wincing from the sharp,
unexpected pain.

"What the…" He looked at his wrist, an inch or two down his forearm there
was a swollen bulge, red and inflamed. He touched it and winced again, the
flesh tender and hot to the touch. *What the hell is this…first I find this
bottle, and …was it? ...No…*He shook his head and reached into his pocket,
taking out his pen knife, flipping open the blade. Trembling slightly and
biting his lower lip, Tenchi dragged the razor just above the edge of the
bulge, fresh blood trickling down his arm as the flesh parted into a nasty
gash.

Swallowing hard he pulled the cut open slowly and looked inside. An alien
glimmer greeted him.

Wincing, he put his thumb against the swelling and pushed. Gritting his
teeth as he pressed, he felt the bulge give and pain shot up his arm as
something round and hard popped out of the wound with a small squirt of
blood. He quickly slammed his hand onto it to keep it from skittering off
the countertop, panting from pain and panic.

As he lifted his hand he saw, sitting in a small pool of his blood, a
scarlet gemstone; perfectly round and very recognizable. Tenchi could
almost hear his blood pounding in his ears as he picked the gem up with a
sweaty hand, letting the stone roll back and forth across his palm. *One of
the gems from the master key… *He remembered the soot-covered gemstone in
the sake from last night, but how had it gotten into his arm?

The last thing he remembered was the alleyway, and then that awful dream.
More than that, where had it come from and why was it in the bottle of
sake? He shook his head, trying to calm these thoughts, holding the stone
tight in his hand as he looked out over the grey city, blood trickling down
his palm to drip off of his fingertips.
------------------------------

Tenchi checked his watch and swore under his breath. *Late…Again.*

He sighed, redoubling his efforts to squeeze through the crowd of people
heading down into the subway station. The arched tunnel always made him
think of some great underground monster, luring people in to their doom.
Maybe that was just what the big city did to you, made you see monsters
everywhere and sucked away the life and color from everything.

He took a look around and took in the towering grey monstrosities that were
the skyscrapers around him, businessmen and businesswomen scuttling to and
fro like frenzied ants. For a moment he stood still in that sea of ties and
charcoal business suits, thinking of himself as a point of dwindling light
in this shadow city.

He chuckled and shook his head, knowing deep down that the light in him had
died long ago. Tenchi started back down the stairs when a smear of
brilliant teal flashed in his peripheral vision, making him stop and stare.
*What…? *

He turned against the wave of people and fought his way back up the stairs.
Someone's briefcase struck his arm as he pushed past, making his newly
bandaged wrist ache slightly but he didn't care. Within moments he reached
the top of the staircase and pushed through the throng of people, but
whatever it was he saw was gone. He stood there, panting for a moment,
feeling rather silly.

*I've got to get a grip on myself. I'm starting to lose it… *He ran the
back of his hand across his forehead, letting out a long, slow breath to
calm himself. He felt something shift in his pocket, and grow warm against
his thigh. Simultaneously the wound at his wrist began to sting fiercely.
Wincing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the gemstone, feeling it
hum and pulse in his hand, a faint glow shimmering from between his caged
fingers.

Realizing he was out in the open, holding a glowing gemstone Tenchi
clenched his fist and dashed into a nearby alleyway, feeling his heart
speed up. He opened his hand again and saw that the glow was stronger,
ebbing as he moved his hand to and away from the alley.

He looked around, making sure that no-one was looking and picked up the
gemstone between two fingers, peering into it. The glow suddenly spiked,
growing brilliant and a flash of teal ran across the surface.

*A reflection?* Tenchi looked around, putting the glowing gem in his
pocket, spotting movement at the end of the alleyway.

Forgetting how late he was for work, he pounded down the alleyway, his
dress shoes splashing in puddles as he followed the glimpses of movement
through the maze of alleys.

A familiar, nostalgic smell wafted down a nearby alley, making Tenchi's
eyes sting with longing. "….S-Sasami?" He turned the corner and tentatively
followed the smell, walking down the trash strewn alleyway, what light
there was in the alley drowned out by the towering buildings. As he neared
the end, the smell of food was almost overpowering, leading through a
ragged curtain at the end of the alley.

Tenchi moved a shaking hand to the curtain, pulling it aside to reveal a
small, groomed courtyard, stunningly bright and hemmed in with lush
shrubbery and flower boxes. A flowering cherry tree was planted and
flourishing in one corner, set in the center of a stone Zen garden. Sitting
against the far wall of the courtyard was a small shack with a row of
stools in front of the high counter.

"Irashaimase!"

Tenchi jumped, startled by the young woman standing behind the counter. He
blushed slightly as she giggled at his reaction.

"I'm sorry to startle you." She said, smiling warmly as he walked closer
and took a seat. "We do not get many visitors, and you seemed sort of
lost…" Tenchi just nodded, looking at the young woman.

She was likely in her early twenties, probably five foot four, slim, but
with subtle curves. Her face however was what struck him the most. Her
smooth black hair was pulled under a white scarf, but her bangs hung over
her forehead, hiding it from view. *If she had grown like a human, Sasami
might look like this now…*

"Sir?"

Again Tenchi jumped, pulled out of his thoughts by the young woman's voice.
"You were staring… are you okay?"

Tenchi coughed and nodded, smiling slightly, his cheeks flushed in
embarrassment as he took a seat on one of the stools, setting his briefcase
down beside it. "Ah, yes, you just….remind me of someone I once knew."

The girl smiled, her own cheeks flushing slightly "Oh? Was she special to
you?"

His smile faded slowly, turning sad. "She was, very." The girls smile
faltered slightly, then renewed as she pulled out a cup and filled it from
a steaming pot.

"Sounds like a long story…." She smiled wider, brushing a strand of hair
out of her eyes, leaning over the counter. "What brought you here anyways?
Like I said, we really don't get many visitors…"

Tenchi sat up and took a sip from the cup, smiling over at her "Your
cooking smelled so good, I had to follow it to the source."

The girl laughed and nodded, handing him a stiff canvas menu. "I like a man
with an appetite. My name is Kiyo."

Tenchi took the menu and blinked hard, chuckling softly. "It…it's been a
long time since I read Japanese…" He looked up at her. "My name is Tenchi."
She just smiled and refilled his tea.
------------------------------

"Woof…." Tenchi set down his chopsticks, wiping his mouth and observing the
half dozen plates before him. He wasn't really that hungry, but he couldn't
stop himself.

For fourteen years he hadn't tasted food like this, it could almost have
come right from Sasami herself it was so good.

"My my…so much!" Kiyo chuckled, gathering up some of the plates, looking up
at the sky past the shed awning. "It's getting late too, I guess time
passes quickly when you're talking with someone so interesting."

Tenchi looked up himself, shocked at the passage of the sun, checking his
watch and cursing inwardly. "I completely missed work… I'm going to be in
such trouble." He smiled over at Kiyo, shaking his head. "Thank you for
such a lovely meal, and helping me have the best day I've had in longer
than I think I can remember."

Kiyo blushed, bowing slightly. "You will come back, won't you? Lord Tenchi?"

He laughed, nodding. "Of course, I don't think I could stay away…." He
stopped suddenly, his eyes wide as he looked over at where Kiyo stood.

Where the young girl stood was not a small shack, or the cooking area, or
even a bar. The brilliant sunshine was gone, replaced once again by the
thick grey pall that covered the city. A bit of crumpled, soggy newspaper
inched across the concrete in a breeze as Tenchi stared at the brick wall,
sitting on a wooden crate, his hands shaking.

"What is wrong with me…Why…why is this happening? Why now?" He fished out
the small gemstone from his pocket, the ruby sphere dark, almost black in
his palm.

Furious and confused, he clenched his fist around it and stood in one
motion, swinging his fist at the brick wall. In a brilliant flash of
scarlet he felt the masonry buckle and he was thrown back, skidding on the
dirty, trash strewn ground.

Panting, he looked up at where he had struck the wall, shaking slightly as
he observed the hemispherical impression and the web of cracks leading out
from it. *So…it is real…one of Ryoko's gems…* He shook his head, and
stumbled to his feet, running back out into the alleyway, the torn curtain
flapping behind him.

Such was his rush to escape this nightmare he didn't even notice the cherry
blossom petals littering the ground or the short figure hidden within the
shadows at the edge of the courtyard.
------------------------------

The next couple of days passed without much incident, and Tenchi tried to
forget about Kiyo, the gemstone, and the events of the past week.

He managed, with a little bit of creative acting, to convince Mr. Murdock
that he was very ill the day he missed work and even managed to scribble
out a false doctors visit notation as proof. Trent still wondered what was
going on, but didn't press the matter when Tenchi refused to explain why he
had to run off the other night.

As the rest of the week wore on, normalcy began to creep back into Tenchi's
life. He got up for work, completed his shift, had his meager dinner and
went back to bed to start the cycle again, even finding himself sleeping
peacefully. He put the sake bottle in a top cupboard and the gemstone he
put into a small box in his nightstand, unable to throw either away.
Despite the fact that their appearance in his life so suddenly caused him
quite a bit of stress and confusion he could not bear to part with them.

Tenchi had his small television set on for background noise as he washed
his dinner dish and utensils, his work shirt rolled up to the elbows as he
scrubbed.

*"... Sadly the miscreant was not apprehended on the scene, but escaped in
an unmarked car of indiscriminate make. Please be on the lookout for this
person and inform the local authorities if you have any information of the
whereabouts of this criminal..."*

Tenchi glanced over his shoulder, shaking his head at the somewhat fuzzy
image taken by a security camera of a tall form in a hooded sweater that
obscured its features. *Sure, ask us to identify them? Oh, that's
hood-face, my next door neighbor. A bit odd, but more or less a good guy… *He
scoffed, drying his dish with a small towel as he leaned against the
counter, watching the screen*. *

*" In further news, an odd weather pattern is emerging this evening in the
downtown area. Local meteorologists are baffled by the sudden front,
commenting that 'This is a phenomenon that probably has not been seen for
hundreds of years and may not be seen again in this lifetime.' A great many
residents have taken to the streets to watch the display of what has been
dubbed 'light hawk wings' by scientists, called as such due to the odd
shape the lightning takes in its ion path…" *

The dish slipped from Tenchi's hands to crash against the floor as his
knees went weak and he had to catch himself on the counter. He felt his
heart slamming in his chest and his stomach twist on itself in response to
the words "L-light hawk wings…?" The anchor continued on but the sound of
their voice was like a mosquito in his ears compared to his rushing blood.

As Tenchi stood there, transfixed he heard a slow creak sound above his
head, and he jumped to the side just as the sake bottle smashed to the
floor where he had stood a moment before.

Before he could stop himself he had to choke back a sob as the ceramic
shattered and he closed his eyes tightly to keep a tear from falling down
his face. When he opened them again he saw the box with the master key
gemstone inside sitting on the counter, and on the inside of one of the
largest pieces of jug was a smear of writing, still wet, that read: *"Come
to the roof, It's no fun watching the show alone."*

Swallowing hard, Tenchi picked up the shard in trembling hands, touching
the writing, trying to see if it was real. He closed his eyes and let out a
slow sigh as his fingers came away wet and black. He set the piece on the
counter where it rocked slowly back and forth as he braced himself on the
flat surface, taking slow, deep breaths to steady himself.

He opened his eyes and looked at his black stained fingertips, wiping them
on the counter, leaving inky trails. *You're not going crazy… are you? *A
strangled laugh escaped his throat as he considered it.

*Maybe I am…* He grasped the box and opened it, the gem glistening in the
dim light, a faint ember of scarlet brilliance glowing at its center. He
closed the box and slipped it into his pocket, opening his door and headed
for the emergency staircase of his apartment building.
------------------------------

Puffing slightly from the long walk, Tenchi pushed open the roof access
door at the top of the staircase, grunting slightly as he pushed against
the growing wind.

As he stepped out onto the roof he looked up at the boiling black clouds
and stood, mesmerized as a bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens
only to arch back up towards the sky, spreading out into a fan of glorious
blue light before fading away into a tremendous crash of thunder.

"Fantastic, isn't it?"

Despite the wind, the voice sounded out like a bell behind him, cool and
calm in the face of such splendor. He turned around and looked up to see a
small figure sitting on top of the angled roof access, legs crossed. "You
wouldn't believe what it takes to make lightning do that…" The figure
hopped down and landed softly on the rooftop, dressed in a long, heavy coat
of some slick-looking material with the collar pulled up high against a
knitted cap.

"You wrote that note, didn't you?" Tenchi asked, stepping back some. "It's
you, YOU are bringing all of this back, AREN'T YOU?" He found himself
yelling, the stress and confusion and rage and hurt of all the years
boiling up.

"YOU sent the bottle, YOU hid the gemstone, YOU are the cause of all of
this, AREN'T YOU?" He found himself crying, the tears hot against his
unshaved cheeks. All at once the clouds opened up, sending a silver grey
sheet of rain against the city, soaking the rooftop and both its occupants.

His fists clenching and unclenching as he took heavy steps towards the
figure, Tenchi yelled against the wind."Why are you doing this? I left all
of that behind, so why, why are you tormenting me?" The figure stood there,
not saying a word, its face tucked into the collar of the jacket, hunched
against the rain.

His teeth grinding, Tenchi found himself trembling with pent up rage and
frustration, and before he knew it he lashed out, his fist finding the side
of that figures' face, sending them sprawling. "I DO NOT WANT THIS! I NEVER
WANTED THIS! AND NOW YOU COME ALONG AND DRAG IT ALL BACK UP! THE DREAMS,
THE NIGHTMARES, IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!"

He strode to the prone figure and stood over them, fist cocked back to
throw another punch, and stopped, looking down at the small form. It's
shoulders shook and he heard the soft sobs as it looked up at him, knitted
hat fallen aside showing a shock of magenta hair, and the familiar face of
Washu Hakubi looked up at him with tears in her eyes, a trickle of blood
slowly falling from her mouth.

Suddenly exhausted, Tenchi fell to his knees and started to sob. "Why… why
did you have to come back? What have I done? I can't deal with this, not
again…"

Slowly Washu stood back up and wiped the blood from her chin, using her
tongue to feel inside her mouth and make sure no teeth were loose. "I
came... because you called. And…"

Tenchi shot her a look, fierce through his tears. "I NEVER called you… I
made my choice before and I stick to it." Washu's face fell as she saw his
rage, sighing and spitting blood to the side from her split lip.

"You might not have…not knowingly at least, but I felt it… *we* felt it,
Lord Tenchi."

He glared up at her. "Lord… You sent Kiyo to me, didn't you? You made that
horrible illusion…"

Despite the pain, she smiled slightly. The motion caused her quickly
swelling lip to split further, sending a trickle of blood down her chin.
"That was no illusion, and you aren't going crazy… Kiyo is real, or real
enough at least… As real as any character played by an actress can be."

"A-actress?" Tenchi asked, sitting in the chill rain, soaked to the bone.

"Yes…" Washu nodded. "I've been trying to get to you for some time…but
you've got yourself locked here pretty tightly, so I only found a few
cracks in your armor. One was her. She didn't want to come, not at first.
You hurt her too badly."

Tenchi looked up at her, confused. "Hurt? Who?"

Washu's face suddenly became very serious. "Sasami." He paled suddenly,
remembering what he first thought about Kiyo, and shook his head.

"That's not…I mean…how?"

"When you left…when you rejected who you were, you rejected her. She loved
you…loves you, Tenchi. Like a brother, like a father, you were her
protector for so long that when you denied what you were and tried to make
it go away…it broke her heart." Washu looked away from him then, looking
out over the city.

"…When she came back, none of us could stop her crying. I'm surprised she
lasted as long as she did…poor girl. She still cares for you, quite
deeply." She shot a fierce glance back at him, her brow furrowed. "You have
warped the world, the universe to what YOU wanted, YOUR selfish, childish
desires and you expect there to be no consequences? That no one would get
hurt?"
------------------------------

The universe in tatters, soon to be repaired by the Triad of Goddesses, the
Choushin, and the boy groomed to be the most powerful being in the
multiverse. A God. An Emperor. Crowned prince of Jurai, the mate and father
of the Goddesses that ruled this universe and others.

Two and a half years ago, he was a seventeen year old boy. Normal problems,
normal life, normal days and normal nights, just like every other seventeen
year old boy on Earth. He did his homework, he blushed when talking to
girls, he tried his best to keep fit and work hard.

The Tenchi two and a half years ago was embarrassed by his father, admired
his grandfather, and hid girly magazines under his bed. His worst problem
was trying to find time from his schoolwork to hang out with his friends on
the weekend.

Everything changed thanks to his grandfather's old stories. Demons,
spirits, great warriors and heroes of honor and grand power, these stories
were fed to Tenchi daily on his visits to the shrine. If only then he had
known they were all lies, or at least modified truths.

Aliens and pirates and ancient races were the fuel for these tales, and his
own foolish actions brought everything to bear.

Suddenly his life was so complicated he barely recognized it as his own. He
was brought up to be an accommodating young man, but enough was enough. He
was to take his place among the planet Jurai's royal family, then to become
a champion and mate to three all powerful trans-dimensional beings, and in
turn become the progenitor of their triad.

In his fight to protect the universe against the powerful Z, for an instant
he became the yang to the Choushin yin, the God at the head of the three
Goddesses, and in turn used this power to reject it, all of it. His
bloodline, his power, the careful preening and pruning of time and space
that the goddesses had performed.

To be normal, just a boy again was all that he wanted. Human again, simple
again. Never to have awakened this unwanted power nor the interest of
all-powerful super women and alien royalty. To undo it all and become just
Tenchi again.
------------------------------

"That's right, Tenchi, you turned your back on us, ALL of us." Now the rage
belonged to Washu, and tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

"You broke our hearts, MY HEART, but more than that, MORE THAN THAT, you
created a schism in time and space! YOU remember being a God, for a brief
instant, but YOU REMEMBER. That alone has split time and space into three
different universes. One where you accepted your responsibilities and
performed as you were expected to, one where none of this EVER happened,
and then there is YOU."

She advanced on him, an admonishing finger trembling with rage and pain.
"You selfish man, you had the hearts of all of us, my daughter the most. I
wanted you for Tsunami and Tomiki and my own sake at first, and then for
myself as I grew to know you, but Ryoko…she ALWAYS loved you! From the
moment you first saw her she ADORED you."

Despite her size she grasped the front of Tenchi's shirt and lifted him
from his knees with ease. "Are you going to sit there and tell me she meant
NOTHING to you?"

Tenchi looked up at her, this furious, ancient woman and let his eyes fall
to the side. "No…Ryoko…she meant so much to me…all of you did…but I
couldn't, I mean…even as a God, for the briefest of moments, I was still
such a boy…I couldn't take it. All the thoughts and emotions and knowledge
at once, it was too much…"

He looked back up at her, his eyes bright. "I couldn't take it. I'm sorry."

Washu studied him for a moment and then let him go with a snort. "I can't
say I blame you…it is a lot to take in. But to act so rashly you have
broken the timeline and destroyed our world."

He looked up, tilting his head some, rain streaming down his face through
his graying hair. "Broken your…how?"

Washu began to pace, throwing her arms into the air. "There is a
Tenchi-shaped hole in our world! There is a place and there are events that
SHOULD have happened but don't because YOU aren't there anymore! And we all
know that they happened but they haven't. Because YOU REMEMBER. YOU WERE
THERE. YOU ARE STILL SUPPOSED TO BE THERE!"

She advanced on him again, pushing him down into the water pooled on the
rooftop. "But NO. You lock yourself away in your psyche, you hide from us,
from ME, and force us to hunt you down to try to put our broken world back
in order and YOU say sorry. Well excuse me but *FUCK YOU*!"

Washu stood there trembling for a moment in the rain as Tenchi stared up at
her. Never before had she raged at him like this. The building tears in
Washu's eyes fell as she collapsed to her knees. "Tenchi…oh Tenchi, my
love…I yearned for you, wanted you, not just to play with, but as a husband
and lover, but to do so would break my sweet Ryoko's heart. She loved you
before me and before us all…to steal that would be too cruel."

She shot him a hard look through her tears. "Crueler than you. We need you,
Tenchi, our WORLD needs you. And when you refused what you were and what
you were to become your mind locked down, your body disappeared but your
mind and soul brought you to this place. This city does not exist but
inside your mind."

She swept a hand at the sky and parted the clouds, letting the second ray
of light Tenchi had seen in more years than he remembered to shine down
upon them. "Come back to us, Tenchi…repair our world and yourself as well."

Wiping her eyes and leaning in, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead
and stood, turning away from him. "To come back to us, you will need a show
of faith. You still hold the spark of the divine inside of you, and your
blood still burns with the power of Jurai, if you let it do so. You and
only you can do this. I can't bring you back, not now."

She walked towards the edge of the building and phased out, leaving only a
shimmer of light in the column of sun and the faint smell of sweet anise
the residue of chemicals. As she faded the clouds returned, bringing with
them the rain to sting and chill the wounds in his heart that his
magenta-haired maiden had torn open again.

Soaked, his heart aching with sorrow and regret, Tenchi stumbled back into
his apartment, barely remembering to close the door after him. He leaned
back against the door, his eyes red and heart pounding in his chest.

He never thought what his decision would do. He knew that once he denied
his birthright Sasami and Ayeka had left, saying things just didn't feel
right anymore and since they were no longer family it was rude to impose on
a stranger, even a friendly one. Mihoshi was re-assigned, the parting a
tearful but short one. Washu was offered her old position back at the
Academy, tenured and financed beyond imagining.

Ryoko was the last to leave. She lingered on, trying to use the privacy to
her advantage, even managing to bed her long lusted-after Tenchi. But soon
she became distant and aloof, disinterested in the prize she had won. She
knew he blamed his release of her from that forsaken, frozen prison as the
start of his troubles and quickly grew to hate him for it.

They all sensed his betrayal, and rejected him for it as he had rejected
them.

A fresh series of choked sobs racked his near middle aged form as Tenchi
recalled Ryoko's final words to him.

"Tenchi…you are a fool and a coward. May you live your life as you see fit,
because it seems you do not find me worthy enough to be part of it. And I
will not play this charade anymore."

She had no softness for him then, no sweet words and no gentle caress.
Straight-forward as she always had been. She knew, as they all knew that he
had cut his ties with not only his royal blood and divine grooming, but
with them as well, subconsciously blaming their presence as part of his
current 'dilemma'.

His eyes strayed to one of his cupboards and he walked forward, opening the
wooden door, reaching within to find a bottle of whiskey he been given as a
gift years ago. He uncorked it, fetching a glass and filling it with the
amber liquid, knowing that normal sleep would not find him this night.
------------------------------

The Masaki residence stood tall and wide, well built on its peninsula of
wood and earth. Tenchi found himself sitting in the main room, hands folded
in his lap.

Rain pounded the earth and splashed into the lake outside, the downpour
lending an almost soothing white noise to the scene. No longer was he the
boy of his youth, but he sat strong and tall, his graying hair combed
neatly and his dress somber.

A knocking sounded at the door and he stood, walking to the entrance and
leading in the enrobed figure of his nightmares without a second thought.
The figure bowed slightly before walking in, taking a seat on the opposing
couch.

"*So…you have accepted what you are, and what you were…but can you see what
will be? What will become of you?*"

Tenchi smiled softly and shook his head. "No…but I will find out. This is
all I can be assured of."

The featureless face pinched again, smiling at him. "*Good. I look forward
to seeing you again…" *The figure took off its glove and outstretched its
hand. Tenchi leaned in, offering himself to the creature or spirit,
whatever it was, feeling the chill of its fluid palm touch his cheek,
beginning to spread.

"Know this, I do this out of grief, not duty…" Tenchi said as the odd
sensation crept against him skin.

Again the face pinched at him, amused. "*Perhaps you will change your mind…*
"

As the fleshy fluid covered his face, closing off his breathing and sight,
Tenchi felt almost at ease, as if the covering on his face was a warm
blanket, coaxing him to relax. As it slowly receded and his eyes found
light again, he sat, staring at himself, the symbol of the Light Hawk
emblazoned on his forehead, his robes long and cut in the elaborate Juraian
style. His hair long enough to reach his shoulders and a neatly trimmed
goatee on his chin.

"*Tenchi…**Tenchi…Tenchi…Tenchi…*" The voiced of his family echoed out from
the words of this God form.

*Family*… He thought. *I haven't considered them as such in many years…*

"*You have accepted what you are, or at the least, what you would have
been. I am you. Or perhaps you are me. In either case we are each other,
simply mirror images of the same picture. **Picture…Picture…Picture." *The
God Tenchi chuckled then, as if at a personal joke.

"*What power you could wield, you simply cannot comprehend. The entire
UNIVERSE at your fingertips and yet you balk at the chance to remake the
worlds of the universe as YOU see fit. **Fit…Fit…Fit…" *

Tenchi just smiled softly, shaking his head. "I don't want to remake the
universe. It seems to work well enough as I've seen it. I don't think it
needs much reshaping."

The God Tenchi laughed again. "*But to have the ability to do so if you
wish, is this not a great gift?** Gift…gift…gift…" *

Tenchi nodded, his smile sad. "It is a great gift, but I don't want that.
I've never wanted any of that. Not royal precedence, not limitless power.
That's not what I want from my life."

The God Tenchi furrowed his brow, giving Tenchi a smoldering stare. "*Want
it or not, it is what you were meant for, and what you are.** Are…Are…Are…*"
Tenchi shook his head, meeting the God Tenchi's stare.

"No,* I* choose what I will be, not some cabal of Goddesses, not some high
lord from an uppity planet, and not some divine spark cultivated within me
against my will." Tenchi stood, fists at his sides. "I just want to be
me…and to…to…be with…my family."

The God Tenchi stood as well, a sneer crossing his face "*Family…? You
rejected your family when you rejected your birthright. You bled yourself
dry of Juraian blood and undid the work of countless years when you
stripped me away. What could your family do when you would not take help
from them, take strength and love from them? **Love… Love...Love…?*"

Tenchi shook his head, closing his eyes. "I loved them too…I loved them
all, but I couldn't be what they wanted me to be."

The God Tenchi snorted at him. "*What did they want you to be? What demands
did they make of you but to love them and be loved? Even Washu, one of the
Goddesses who groomed you to join their ranks grew to love you not as the
man who would be a God, but as a friend. **Friend…Friend…Friend" *

Tenchi slowly sat back down, then looked up at the God Tenchi. "They…they
wanted….didn't they?"

The God Tenchi laughed and shook his head. *"You tore your family apart in
an attempt to have some peace, to try to run away from what you thought
they all wanted…when all they wanted was you…**You…You…You…" *With a smirk
the God Tenchi turned towards the door, walking away.

*"And all you had to do to be normal again was one little thing…Remember? **
Remember…Remember…Remember….Tenchi…"* With that the God Tenchi was gone,
slipping out into the pouring grey rain…a grey that seeped into the carpet
and began to fill the house, leeching away all color.

"Remember? Remember what?" The grey reached his feet and began to leech
away his color as well, the chill of the grave seeping into him through the
soles of his feet and creeping up his leg.

As the dream receded, a face pulled out of the shadows, a violet eye
opening from the grey. *"Remember…."*
------------------------------

For once Tenchi awoke without a start from these awful dreams, he simply
opened his eyes, laying there on his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

He felt the presence of a terrifying hangover behind his eyes and his mouth
felt like it had been wrung out and washed on a sandstone board. His head
pounding, he drug himself up and out of bed, the grey light of the city
stinging his eyes as he shuffled into the bathroom.

The dim light cast shadows over his haggard face, his skin pale and slack,
and dark rings discolored his eyes. The faucet squeaked as he turned it on,
and he caught the cold water in his cupped hands. He splashed his face,
wiping it away with trembling hands as his stomach knotted with more than
alcohol induced nausea. Staring into his own cold, dark eyes, he knew what
he had to do.

He dressed and readied himself as usual, taking a handful of aspirin with
his morning coffee, making a face at the thick, bitter taste that now
seemed so foul and inelegant now that he had tasted Kiyo…* No…Sasami's *tea
again.

Tenchi walked to his nightstand and opened the drawer, pulling out the box
that held the gemstone. He stripped off his shirt and sighed, flexing his
arm, looking at the wound he had made before, steeling himself to what had
to be done.

With a deep breath he drew his pen knife across the wounded flesh, grunting
at the sharp, sudden pain. Blood welled out of the deep slash and dripped
down his arm to splatter onto the floor. He opened the box and pulled out
the gem, watching as it blazed a brilliant crimson as he touched it to the
opened wound.

Gritting his teeth he pushed, crying out as the blood lubricated its path
into his flesh, the sphere popping back into the hollow where he found it.

Panting heavily, he reached for a strip of gauze he had cut, but stopped as
he felt his flesh tingle and tighten. As he watched, a scarlet light flowed
out of the wound, slowly dwindling to a pinpoint on his newly formed flesh.
Tenchi let out a chuckle as he flexed his arm, the pain and throbbing gone
as the gem glowed under his skin.

He looked around his drab apartment and sighed, knowing that this would be
the last time he saw it, one way or another.

He descended the staircase and stepped out into the city like a man who had
opened his eyes for the first time. The grey skies of the city had parted,
and for the first time in as long as he could remember, Tenchi saw the city
in sunlight. A sad smile split his face as he looked up at the sun, letting
his body grow warm in the light.

It was a shame he couldn't have seen it lit so brightly more often. As he
walked to the rail station, even the people seemed to be less somber.
------------------------------

"Masaki!" Gregory Murdock passed his smoldering cigar from one side of his
mouth to the other, His overweight form filling the doorway to his office.

"What the hell are you doing? You're two hours late and you look like shi…"
The end of his sentence was cut off my Tenchi's fist ramming into the
bridge of his nose, making a loud, wet crack to sound through the office.
Mr. Murdock stumbled back, his nose a mass of red ruin.

"TENCHI, what are you doing?" Trent stood up in his cubicle, watching Mr.
Murdock fall over his desk, holding his swelling nose with one meaty hand.

"Trent, I need to talk to you…let's go to your place. I want you to help me
with something." Trent nodded dazedly, looking from Tenchi's bloodied fist
to Mr. Murdock and back again.

"Y-yeah, sure…" Tenchi smiled and turned, to walk out of the office, then
smiled and turned back to Trent

"I never noticed how blue your eyes are…" He chuckled and exited the room.
------------------------------

Trent paced his apartment, thinking back to Tenchi's unexpected attack
earlier that day, and then jumped as he heard a knocking at his door,
walking over and opening it with a shaking hand. Tenchi stood there, his
hands in his pockets.

"Hey there Trent, thanks for having me over. I needed some help with
something…." Tenchi said, altogether far more cheerful than he should be
for an unemployed man.

Trent nodded, looking his co-worker up and down. "Tenchi...I've got to say,
you're kind of freaking me out…you hit our boss, you look awful…I mean you
look really sick."

Tenchi chuckled, shaking his head. "I just drank a bit too much last
night." He sighed, hitching his pants up a bit and smirking. "So, you have
a gun, don't you?"

Trent took a step back "I…wait, what? Why do you want a gun?"

Tenchi chuckled and shook his head, his pale face pulling tight into a
smile as he regarded his friend. "I need a gun because I have to die."

Trent stumbled back, shaking his head. "What the FUCK are you talking
about? You want to die? Why?"

Tenchi shook his head "No, I don't want to, but I need to. You see, back in
Japan, those women I lived with? They were aliens, and so was I but I
didn't know it. But two of them were actually goddesses in disguise who
wanted me to become a god and then the aliens wanted me to be their new
king and the demon woman wanted me to be her husband but the other god
candidate wanted to kill me so that he could be the new god and the
goddesses would resurrect me."

"The thing is when I *did* become a god, I made it all go away because I
was scared, and that broke their time stream into different paths so I need
to die so they can resurrect me and I can become part of their world again
and make everything work the way it needs to again."

Tenchi chuckled, his eyes wild. "So you see, it's very simple."

Trent had gone pale, sweat dripping down his face as he shook his head,
stepping back. "What. The. Hell. Tenchi, man, you're insane…I…I can't just
shoot you…and I won't let you shoot yourself either…"

He stumbled back, pulling the phone from its cradle. "Look, you need help,
man…I…I'll just get you some help, okay?" His trembling fingers punched at
the numbers, but two fingers held down the receiver.

"Trent…" Tenchi sighed. "I'm not making it up, look at me…" He chuckled,
smiling. "I'm fine…here, look." He pulled back his sleeve, showing the
glowing gemstone. "This is one of the jewels of power one of the women
wore. It was part of one of the goddesses and she split her powers and
memories into these three gems, yeah?"

Trent paled and retched as he saw the gaping wound in Tenchi's arm.
"What…what the fuck did you do to yourself?"

Tenchi chuckled, shaking his head. "What do you mean…?" He looked at his
arm, then started to shake, seeing his forearm slashed open, the wound
gaping and inflamed, ringed with dried blood.

"No…it…it was healed…I put the gem in and it…I…" The dark, dried blood
flaked away as he scratched at the wound, breaking it open again and
causing fresh blood to trickle down his forearm.

Trent rushed over, snatching his hand away. "Gods man, what is wrong with
you? Here, sit down, we've got to clean this and get you to a hospital!"

Tenchi pushed away, shaking his head. "You don't understand…I have to do
this…I have to fix what I've done, and this is the only way I know how."

Trent slowly advanced on his friend, smiling faintly. "Look, I don't
understand what's going on, but let me help you… We can figure this out,
man."

Tenchi felt the gem embedded in his arm pulse and begin to grow warm as
Trent's outstretched hand came close. "…No…" Tenchi backed further away,
reaching behind himself for the doorknob. "…She told me I had to show
faith…and I will, with or without you."

He swallowed hard and flashed a sad smile to his friend. "Goodbye, Trent."

He pulled the door open and ran down the hallway, his footsteps echoing on
the hard, tile floor.

"TENCHI! WAIT!" Trent's voice bounced off the walls, following him as he
pounded down the corridor and out into the night.

A soft splattering of rain on the still-warm concrete greeted him as he ran
in the darkness of the city. Breathing hard, he pulled up his shirt-sleeve
as he ran, looking at where the gash had re-appeared, running his fingers
over the new, smooth skin.

*I knew it…it was a trick…* He smiled as he ran in the rain, water
trickling down his face to drip off his chin. *I will make things right,
Washu…I promise.*
------------------------------

The city seemed so small from up here, the wind tugging at his shirt as
Tenchi stood atop the stone retaining wall that enclosed the roof of his
apartment building. The tallest skyscrapers seemed to be but stick-thin
shanties, and the buildings below were but squat, dwarfish things, mere
shadows of what they once were.

*This world…I…I made it? *He chuckled, looking around at the hustle of
activity below him on the street. *I made this world, and now that I'm
about to leave it, it's starting to break down. *

The rain fell in a persistent drizzle, making the sodium lamps on the
street send out halos of light to shine on the faces of the gathered people
below, looking up at their creator. Red and blue lights flashed in the
shadows, looking like distant fireworks on a crisp autumn evening.

The crash of thunder masked the sounds of someone trying to force their way
through the roof-access door, but Tenchi just smiled, knowing he barricaded
it quite securely. A screeching siren made its way through the night,
echoing and dwindling, swelling and fading as it passed through the streets.

*In a way, I'm going to miss this place…But I'm going home now…*

A bolt of lightning split the sky and the crash of thunder echoed between
the buildings. Another crash sounded behind him as the access door finally
gave way, splintering and falling from its hinges.

Tenchi looked back and saw Trent standing beside a pair of fully-kitted
police officers who held the battering ram. Behind them was another pair of
men, these in pale green jumpsuits with white jackets over them. He just
smiled and chuckled as they advanced. "Tenchi! Don't do this!" Trent cried
over the wind, cupping his hands as he yelled. "We can help you!"

Tenchi turned on the narrow surface to look at the men and shook his head.

"Trent…" He sighed, smiling happily to see his friend, his creation, so
concerned. "Thank you. I don't think I could have stood this place without
you here. I'll remember you fondly."

Trent pushed past the officers, his blue eyes sparkling behind his glasses.
"Please, man… just step down… come back down here and everything will be
fine, I promise."

Tenchi shook his head, stretching his arms wide. "Everything is fine…and I
am coming down, and going home…"

The first tilt seemed to take an eternity, falling backwards like an
ancient tree, creaking and crackling in the forest. Everything seemed to be
moving in slow motion.

He saw Trent and the officers start running forward, their feet rising and
falling like men trying to wade through deep snow. He saw Trent's hand
outstretched, reaching for him, his fingertips brushing against his shirt
too late as he felt the wind catch him and swirl around his body. Tenchi's
feet left the stone wall and for a moment he had become one with the sky.

Suddenly the world caught up, and he felt the pull of gravity, tearing him
down and away from the roof. Tenchi smiled serenely, feeling the gemstone
burn at his wrist, glowing with a terrible light through his skin. He felt
the heat of the power burn through his body, filling him up as he plunged
through the night sky, the windows on either side of him falling quicker
and quicker.

Tenchi maneuvered himself to turn over, looking at the distant ground as it
shot up at him, closing his eyes and reveling in the rush of wind past his
ears and through his hair. He felt his blood boil with the familiar feeling
of material conversion and could almost hear his body returning to its
youthful state.

His hands, now free of their heavy veins and wrinkles, his body slim and
muscular once more, his hair jet black and full, even his ponytail seemed
to whistle in the wind as he fell.

"Washu…Ayeka…Mihoshi…Sasami…Noike…*Ryoko*…" He felt his eyes prickle as
tears formed and floated up in the wind, glittering like diamonds in the
night sky.

"I'm coming home…" As the ground neared and he could see the shocked faces
of the gathered crowd, he felt himself slowing, and could feel pairs of
arms wrapping around his body, holding him tight. A warm breath caressed
the back of his neck, and fingers twined themselves in his hair, holding
him tight and close as he began to cry, shaking at the feeling of being
loved, and the touch of those he cared for the most.

"*Tenchi…" *He heard the voices whisper, the words carried to his ear by
sweet, warm breath.

"I…I'm so sorry…I'm sorry for everything…I…I couldn't…." A spectral finger
pushed to his lips and stopped his words as the ground rose to meet him.

Blinding white light enveloped his world, and through the haze, shadowy
figures formed, and words echoed in his ears as he felt something break
inside of him, a tenuous, gossamer thread, snapping in an instant.

"*We forgive you." *
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