Disclaimer: I don't own Tenchi, but I think I may have recently spoken to someone with a life-sized Ryoko cutout. Don't ask. It might give you nightmares. "Wherever You Will Go" is by The Calling and is property of them and whatever label publishes their CD. Author's note at bottom, rather like fruit on bottom yogurt. ************************** Ryoko sat on the sturdy limb of Tenchi's favorite tree and watched the tangerine dappled sunset reflected over the peace of the lake. She habitually ate faster than everyone one else in the household, and now she was glad that it afforded her the opportunity to slip away for her own private moments. Nearly a week had passed since the final confrontation with Yugi, and in that time Ryoko had returned to Okayama with the rest of the Masaki family. She noticed no changes to the out of the way shrine or the red roofed house which the Masaki's called home. Everyone around her slipped easily back into their daily routines with the minor addition of Yugi sound asleep in the small cave behind Katsuhito's shrine. Ryoko watched Sasami cheerfully visit the cave every afternoon to report the daily events to Yugi, while Ryoko secretly visited the cave every night to make a report of her own. It seemed a more appropriate resting place than some nameless chunk of ice orbiting a frigid sun eons away. Ryoko wondered how her life could be exactly the same as it had been months ago yet feel completely different. She tried to behave exactly the same, but niggling details crept into her mind constantly and ate away at her beneath the detached fa‡ade. She'd decided earlier to bring the subject of Sakuya up to Tenchi, but the conversation had been unenlightening at best. Tenchi avoided her questions and when asked he never made a move to kiss her. Perhaps that itself spoke volumes. Ryoko fiddled with the locket around her throat as she prepared to make her nightly visit ahead of schedule. "Hey, Ryoko!" called a deep female voice at the base of the tree. Kiyone stood there in the fading light with her hands cupped around her mouth. Upon seeing Ryoko look back, Kiyone waved up at her as though trying to flag down the preoccupied pirate. "Ryoko, I need to talk to you for a few minutes," Kiyone called up, "I just need you to answer a couple of questions to finish my paperwork. Why don't you come inside and have some tea?" "Apparently, my visit is going to have to wait," Ryoko whispered, casting a quick glance towards the cave. A warm breeze blew Ryoko's bangs forward, and she pushed them out of her eyes as she turned back towards Kiyone. Ryoko grinned down at the teal haired officer. "Well, if I'm going to be forced to help with paperwork, I need more of a reward than just tea..." Ryoko drawled, as she waited to see what more Kiyone might have to offer. "Sasami made cookies," Kiyone replied, anticipating the pirate's response. "We'd better hurry though, before Mihoshi and Ayeka eat them all on us!" If that didn't get Ryoko moving nothing would. Ryoko's competition with the Jurian princess was the stuff of legend. Kiyone couldn't hide her smirk as Ryoko leapt from the tree and phased to the ground beside her. "Well, what are we waiting for then?" Ryoko cajoled, as she grabbed Kiyone by the sleeve and dragged her towards the lights of the house. The blue haired woman laughed like a little girl, who'd just been offered a chance to play her favorite game. "It's not like Ayeka needs anymore cookies, or her butt might become the size of a whale! This is a public service issue!" the pirate snickered, exuberantly. "C'mon! C'mon! You know what a cookie-hog she is!" "There you are, Ryoko!" chimed Sasami brightly, as Ryoko raced into the house with Kiyone still in tow. The little brown cabbit perched on the shoulder of her blue kimono chirped an enthusiastic greeting of her own, as Sasami danced around the pair happily. "Ayeka and Mihoshi are in the living room, and I made plenty of cookies for everyone. They're my best batch yet!" the little princess exclaimed proudly, as she puffed up her chest. "Don't forget to save some for Washu! I'm just going to bring a plate up to Tenchi!" she giggled, giving Ryoko one of her beatific smiles before disappearing up the stairs with her long blue pigtails trailing behind her. Kiyone propped herself up against the wall and gasped for air, as they entered the comfort of the living room. She looked up to see Ryoko plopping down next to Mihoshi on the couch and happily helping herself to a cookie, while Ayeka poured the tea with a roll of her eyes. As the first strings of bickering began, Kiyone realized that she needed to get her interview over with before an argument erupted and distracted them all. Kiyone hobbled over to the sectional and seated herself at a right angle to Ryoko. She was starting to catch her breath now, but it still felt heavenly to collapse into the softness of the large sofa. "Thank you, Ayeka," she said sincerely as the princess passed her a steaming cup of tea. "You're very welcome, Kiyone," Ayeka responded graciously. She immediately fixed Ryoko with a disdainful glare. "That, Ryoko, is what courtesy sounds like!" she goaded. "It certainly wouldn't hurt you any to improve your manners, and just how many cookies do you intend to stuff into your giant maw? Isn't that the third one in less than a minute? These are supposed to be for everybody!" Ayeka's prim chastisements continued, as though she--like Ryoko-- were trying to make up for lost time. "Thank you for agreeing to help me Ryoko," Kiyone interrupted, as Ryoko stuck out her tongue in retaliation. "I'll try to keep this really short, but Mihoshi and I just have to tie up a few loose ends before your pirating exploits can be put to rest. I guess I should start with what happened after you and Hotsuma fled the new GXP fleet..." Kiyone rambled as she shuffled through a large stack of papers on the wooden coffee table. It seemed that the right paper was never where it was supposed to be, and she was forced to spread the papers out over most of the shiny free surface around the cookies and tea set. "Oh, yes!" tittered Mihoshi. "That was all so exciting! And you and Hotsuma did seem to be rather cute together. I think he really liked you, Ryoko," Mihoshi sang out, while she nudged Ryoko with her elbow. The blond woman's often-vacant expression was replaced with a knowing wink, and she giggled behind her hands as though her knowledge about Ryoko and the blond pirate was embarrassingly intimate. "Oh, no!" Ayeka sighed dramatically, as she sat on the end of the maroon couch beside Kiyone. She cocked her head to the side as she held her hand-painted porcelain teacup between her fingers. "Don't tell me we're going to have to listen to all your exploits with some kinky space pirate!" she groaned, still trying to get a rise out of her prey. Ryoko bristled immediately and a crackle of energy danced through the air near her skin. "That kinky space pirate had a name, Pri..." she began with a growl, but the last word seemed to catch in her throat. Her eyes widened, registering a mixture of surprise and pain, and she quickly cleared her throat and used her blue and white teacup to hide her expression until her control had returned. The crackle of energy subsided as quickly as it had started, and Ryoko seemed withdrawn and much smaller than her usually greater-than-life self. "Princess," she finished quietly. "Besides there really isn't much to say" Ayeka and Kiyone exchanged a worried glance before turning back to Ryoko. Ayeka hadn't expected this reaction from Ryoko. If anything she should have just blown it off with a comment about Tenchi being her only interest or possibly a, "Hey, I can't help it if men find me so gorgeous that they follow me across the entire universe." Ayeka would have even settled for an, "Ayeka, stop trying to pawn your kinky fantasies off on me!" The only thing in the room more obvious than Ayeka's chagrin was how terrible Ryoko was at lying. "Well that'll just make my report easier to file," Kiyone covered smoothly. Kiyone tucked a troublesome strand of hair behind her ear so that she could see her forms clearly. She smiled superficially at Ryoko, and picked up her pen, pressing it to the paper in readiness. "Do you know the current whereabouts of the space pirate Hotsuma?" Kiyone asked in her most efficient tone, as she studied Ryoko for any sign that she was holding back. The pirate turned herself to stare out through the sliding doors leading to the porch. "You don't have to worry about Hotsuma, Kiyone. He won't be causing any further problems for the Galaxy Police," Ryoko answered emotionlessly. She fixed her sharp, golden eyes on a point somewhere outside the glass, as she spoke--not bothering to look at any of the other women in the room. "And how can you be sure of that, Ryoko?" Kiyone demanded in frustration. She wasn't asking a difficult or even personal question, but Ryoko was already getting evasive. At least Ryoko could have the decency to wait until Kiyone asked something even remotely invasive before getting defensive. Kiyone tapped her pen on the form as she waited for a response. Ryoko gave her an appraising glance without turning to face the annoyed detective, and a sly smirk spread across the pirate's soft features. "Well," she said reaching into the large wooden bowl on the table and turning her mischievous grin upon the teal-haired officer. "You know, while we're on the subject of missing people, I'd give a cookie for the whereabouts of the space pirate Aicheron, Kiyone..." she replied, and she raised one of her arched brows expectantly at the other woman. Watching Kiyone flush, Ryoko leaned in closer. "But if you told me that he wasn't going to cause anymore trouble, I'd accept it." She added, handing Kiyone the chocolate-chip treat and relaxing back into her own seat. "Ryoko I'm not asking for anything that detailed here!" Kiyone barked back, as she snatched up the cookie. Aicheron had been nowhere on the lists of captured or killed pirates, but Kiyone still felt an anxious leaden feeling in the pit of her stomach at the mention of his whereabouts. She'd bundled his gear along with hers and Mihoshi's, and kept it stored in a trunk in her room. She found it rather comforting to know it was there, a solid presence in the corner of the room. On the official reports she'd sited him as an indispensable informant and contact, in hopes that it might mitigate the circumstances of his involvement with Ryoko's gang. His official status was listed as missing. "If you say he won't be a problem, that's fine! But you could at least give me SOMETHING to put on this report!" "He probably left her, because she was just to vulgar to be believed," Ayeka interjected with an air of wisdom, as she took another sip of her tea. She ignored the shocked looks from Kiyone and Mihoshi. She knew better than anyone how to bait the temperamental bandit. It was a strange friendship between them perhaps, but as a result of their incessant bickering the pair knew each other's vulnerable spots with unerring precision. In addition, Ayeka could get away with saying things to the space pirate that nobody else dared. Mihoshi stared at the outnumbered pirate with tears filling her huge, brilliant eyes. "Oh, Ryoko!" she cried between sniffles. "That's so sad," the blonde wailed, "Did Hotsuma really leave you? I mean I know you snore like a bear and you aren't the tidiest person, but really... that's so mean!" Mihoshi bumped the cookie bowl with her elbow as she lunged forward to hug her "abandoned" friend, and Kiyone quickly jumped out of her seat to catch the bowl before it could spill to the floor. Ryoko gritted her teeth as she tried unsuccessfully to peel the overemotional detective off of her. In the background of the room Ayeka and Kiyone were discussing the way Hotsuma would have broken off with her. "Enough!" Ryoko bellowed, tensing her entire body with the attempt to keep herself from blowing up the nearest convenient target--which at this moment was Mihoshi. "Deceased. Just put deceased, Kiyone," she said, as she finally managed to get the blubbering bubblehead pried free. She caught Kiyone's speechless stare and immediately added, "It's none of your business beyond that." Ayeka silently bit into a cookie, while she watched Ryoko compose herself across the table. She had the advantage of years at court, and when not provoked by Ryoko, Ayeka could mask her thoughts better than anyone else in the household. She had also learned to read people with surprising accuracy--a talent that would prove invaluable to any future ruler of Jurai. "It looks like that trip away from the Earth was even more eventful than anyone expected," Ayeka thought to herself, "including Ryoko." "Alright," Kiyone continued. She tried to hide how nervous this interview was suddenly making her. "For the most part, the GXP has tracked down the stolen goods. There are still a few pieces that have outstanding claims filed on them. Do you know the present location of the royal throne of Elerostra? Or maybe the smiling goddess of Tier138?" Kiyone excitedly wrote in the coordinates for the second base as Ryoko rattled them off as the most likely location. "Wonderful!" Kiyone beamed. Despite her current lowly assignment, perhaps Kiyone could garner some recognition and even a raise with this information. "Now there's only one item from your early jobs that still has a large outstanding complaint on it," Kiyone plowed ahead, "Do you have any information on The Princess's Heart? It was a holo-locket that was among the crown jewels of Polidis. It apparently has great sentimental as well as monetary value." "I wouldn't know about that one," Ryoko answered woodenly. It took all her resolve not to reach up to the locket around her neck. Even with the high collar on her black dress the jewel encrusted heart wasn't hidden. She crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her legs, as she sat straight backed and defiant before her friends. Kiyone could have everything else, but this piece Ryoko would never part with. She hadn't taken it off since her return to Earth. Mihoshi looked up at Ryoko from the photograph that she was studying. She drew her brows together, studied Ryoko carefully, and chewed her lip thoughtfully. Her expression brightened as she glanced back and forth between the picture and the space pirate, and Ryoko felt a sinking feeling of premonition. Mihoshi giggled and slapped Ryoko on the back good-humoredly. "But Ryoko you're wearing it, see?" she said, as she held up a picture of Ryoko's locket around the neck of the crowned princess of Polidis. "Wow! And people think I have a bad memory!" she exclaimed with a silly laugh. "This is just a memory locket," Ryoko insisted icily, as she drew back from the inquisitive blond. Ryoko moved her hands up protectively in front of the golden ornament, which dangled openly on its twin ruby and diamond jeweled chains. She sensed a movement behind her, and turned her head to see Kiyone just behind her shoulder grabbing for the glittering charm. "No! I said let go!" Ryoko cried as she felt Kiyone's fingers wrapping around her heart. "Honestly, Ryoko!" Kiyone scoffed. "We're putting our butts on the line to cover for you! The least you can do is let us see the necklace!" She reflexively tightened her grip as Ryoko tried to pull away. "It's an exact match to the picture, Ryoko!" "Kiyone, I think perhaps it would be better not to press Ryoko at the moment," Ayeka broke in. She gracefully rose and placed her hand on top of the detective's. "Obviously, this necklace is very important to Ryoko, so I think it must be exactly what she says." Ayeka gave Ryoko a slight smile. "Besides, what would she need with someone else's memories?" "It's not like I'm trying to take it away, Ayeka," Kiyone justified. "I'm only trying to get a better look at it!" she grunted, as Ryoko tugged at her wrists. Kiyone's fingers slid over the smooth stones, and she felt something give under the pressure of her touch, as a small ruby on the side of the necklace depressed under her fingertips. Kiyone gasped in surprise, as a deep male voice resonated from the charm in her hands. She let go of the necklace entirely, as Ryoko choked back a small sob. "I'm so sorry, Ryoko," Hotsuma's voice said through the locket, as Kiyone slowly withdrew her shaking hands. Kiyone could see Ryoko's defenses and evasions crumbled and in ruins around her as her lost golden eyes stared fixedly at the small hologram of Hotsuma that seemed to stand atop the delicate charm resting in her palm. Kiyone slowly sat on the edge of the table, and Mihoshi gawked at the projection with her wide, innocent blue eyes. Ayeka slid into place next to Ryoko, cradling the normally unflappable pirate like a child, as she released the clasps so that Ryoko could hold the locket at a more comfortable position. Ryoko had played Hotsuma's last message countless times when no one else was around. She could repeat it word for word, if she'd wanted to. Yet, watching it with an audience made it as new and heart wrenching as the first time she'd activated the projection. "When you come back to the base, I have to deceive you for the last time, and it's by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Hotsuma continued. He pushed his glasses up with his middle finger. "I need you to kill me, Ryoko, and I don't have time to convince you willingly. I've been trying for days to tell you everything, but Tenchi is headed to confront Yugi as I speak. My last hope is to be reabsorbed by her and try to work on her from inside. It's the only way I can get there in time. At best, I may be able to interfere with her powers directly. At worst, I'll simply cease to exist." Hotsuma shifted uncomfortably with the admission. "You were right to spare that child, Ryoko. I don't know what's been wrong with me lately, but you were right. Yugi is also just a child, and she deserves the same chance. I'm asking you to make sure she gets that chance. Don't let anyone kill her, Ryoko. I need time to convince her; even if I cease to be, maybe my memories will be enough to... to make her swayable," Hotsuma spoke carefully. Ayeka rubbed Ryoko's arm comfortingly, as silent tears swelled in Ryoko's luminous cat-like eyes. They spread down her pale cheeks in glistening, wet trails, and Ayeka leaned her head against Ryoko's as the pirate wept soundlessly. Hotsuma broke off talking for a moment, clenching his eyes shut and rubbing his left temple as though he were in pain. When he looked back up, he seemed even more earnest. "Ryoko, I've done anything and everything to be by your side-- even if it was just for a short time. I can't regret the things that brought you to me, even though I regret hurting you. Maybe it's impossible to explain, but emotions are complex things. For a time I was the greatest space pirate in the universe--not because of some stack of gold or money-- but because I was able to steal you away from the rest of creation. Being with you was worth everything, Princess. Don't ever forget how much you're worth. In case I don't have another chance to say it... I love you. I've tried to keep all my promises to you, and I guess I just have one left," Hotsuma took a deep breath, and bit his lip nervously. "This was a lot easier with the sake and the karaoke machine," he laughed. He closed his blue eyes under a fringe of thick lashes, as he gathered himself together, then he slowly began to sing. The space pirate sang softly and a cappella, in a rich warm voice, "So lately, I've been wonderin Who will be there to take my place? When I'm gone, you'll need love To light the shadows on your face." Ryoko let free her first audible sob, as Ayeka rocked her gently. She made soothing shushing noises against Ryoko's hair. "Just let it all out, Ryoko..." she whispered. "And between the sand and stone Could you make it on your own?" "I killed him," Ryoko moaned into the princess's kimono. "If I had done just one thing differently, I could have changed it all! I should have stopped it before it ever came to that," Ryoko sniffed as she continued. "I should have been able to stop the energy blast... or deflect it or...do something...but I couldn't move, and he was just standing there waiting for it. It was as if I had killed one of you!" "And maybe, I'll find out The way to make it back someday-- To watch you, to guide you Through the darkest of your days." Kiyone took Ryoko's other hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "He left you this message, because he didn't want you to blame yourself, Ryoko..." Kiyone assured her. "Well then I hope there's someone out there Who can bring me back to you!" Ryoko shook her head vehemently against Ayeka's shoulder. "Then he was just laying there in my arms, and there was so much blood. I kept thinking this just couldn't be happening, but in just moments he was really gone. Then he started to fade away, and I tried to hold on, but he disappeared right out of my arms... like he simply ceased to be," Ryoko managed between sobs. "I know now, just quite how My life and love might still go on In your heart and your mind I'll stay with you for all of time" "I didn't understand it until after we'd brought Yugi back to Okayama, when her powers were explained to me. The way he just evaporated... what was the point, if he just ceased to be?" Ryoko asked. "If I could, then I would. I'll go wherever you will go. Way up high or down low, I'll go wherever you will go" Fighting not to bawl herself, Mihoshi laid her head upon the pirate's other shoulder, and watched the little hologram in Ryoko's hand. It hurt to see Ryoko this upset, and she had nothing more that she could offer than another loving presence. They were Ryoko's family after all. "If I could turn back time, I'll go wherever you will go. If I could make you mine, I'll go wherever you will go." "Now it's just too late," Ryoko finished. She wiped at her tears impatiently with the side of her hand, and Ayeka passed her a soft handkerchief with the princess's name stitched into the corner. "I wouldn't say that, Ryoko," a high nasal voice broke in. Washu had entered the room unnoticed during the excitement and was now ready to make her presence known in startling Washu fashion. She popped a chocolate chip cookie into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. The diminutive scientist stood unabashedly in the middle of the scene, munching on the sweet and gooey snack. "Yummy!" she exclaimed before turning all business again. "This does help to explain the strange readings I've been getting on Yugi, since she came to rest in the cave. What do you think, Tenchi?" Washu asked, turning her attention to the very pale Earth guardian who, upon entering slightly after Washu, stood in the doorway wiping away tears of his own. Tenchi jerked to attention at her words, and he scratched his head nervously as five pairs of eyes focused on him. "Well, when Yugi took back Sakuya, every picture of her or listing for her vanished too. But that locket still works, so he couldn't have ceased to exist." Tenchi stepped forward, looking rather sheepish still. "When I confronted Yugi in her fortress, she was already hysterical. She was crying about not wanting to go back to the dark and talking about not wanting to be alone. Sometimes I wasn't sure if she was talking to me, or if she was talking to a voice only she could hear. It makes a lot more sense now." Tenchi entered the crowd and knelt to stare into Ryoko's shocked, amber eyes. Tenchi wiped away Ryoko's few remaining tears with the pad of his thumb. He seemed as intensely uncomfortable as Ayeka had ever seen him. She couldn't tell if this was an aching reminder of Sakuya for him, or if he was simply anguished over seeing Ryoko in such grief. His expression grew more pained when Ryoko flung herself into the young shrine keeper's arms while asking him if it were really true, and after an indecisive moment he tightened his arms around her and closed his eyes tightly. Ayeka could see tears clinging to the corners of his warm brown eyes, before he turned his face into Ryoko's hair. "Of course, it's true," he replied. "So you... You should cheer up, Ryoko!" he forced himself to exclaim brightly. Ryoko pulled away to look into the mask of his smiling face. "You've got the number one genius scientist in the universe right here," he said gesturing towards Washu with his left hand. "We'll figure it out somehow, and I'm sure Washu will be able to make things right," he promised her gently. "You'll see, Ryoko." "Yeah," Mihoshi mused thoughtfully, as she rubbed her chin. "I mean Hotsuma wasn't like Yugi's other shadows at all." "What would you know about it?" Kiyone demanded, as she crossed her arms and stared at her bouncy partner. "Well," Mihoshi began, resting her index finger on her chin and looking towards the ceiling as she spoke. "First of all, that other guy that she created... Tsugaru... well he was totally... um... what's that word? Anhydrous?" "Androgynous," Kiyone supplied, testily. "The word is androgynous, and yes he was." "Right," Mihoshi continued, "But Hotsuma must've passed Ryoko's tests, if you know what I mean. So how could a little girl know so little about men when she made one, but know so MUCH when she made the other?" Mihoshi babbled happily. "Mihoshi," Ayeka said daintily. "The image that you have just seared into my mind will haunt me for the rest of my life." "Shortly after I walked in, it looked like Hotsuma was rubbing his temple," Washu interrupted. "Can you tell me anything more about that, Ryoko?" she asked as her floating cushion and transparent keyboard popped into place around her. "He started having recurring headaches," Ryoko replied. She furrowed her brow in thought. "It started just before the nightmares--around the time that Kiyone and Mihoshi infiltrated the gang." She looked up at Washu, for a sign that this information would help, and she could see the pink-haired scientist was already busily typing away. "Then when we robbed Tier138, he freaked out about a kid, who he told me to kill. He was telling me how important it was to never leave an enemy behind, but he seemed confused as to exactly what made him react so violently. The headaches seemed to get even worse after that." "Interesting," Washu lilted without looking up from her work. "I think I need to access the files from when the ancient Jurians created Yugi, to know exactly what happened. However I do have a few ideas now. Since returning, I've been reading two separate sets of brainwaves in Yugi. There is also a second astral pattern, which she didn't show any evidence of the first time we encountered her. I need to check her complete genetic code to narrow the field of inquiry further, but from what I've learned tonight I suspect that Yugi did not create Hotsuma." Washu looked up and flashed everyone one of her scary grins. She gave a brief maniacal laugh, elated at her discovery and her own genius. "But then who created him, Miss Washu?" Ayeka asked in bewilderment. "Why Hotsuma, of course!" Washu cackled, as everyone stared at her in utter confusion. ************************** Author's Note: Ahhhhhhh! And then there was one. I wish I could have fit in all my ideas for this chapter, but I think this final draft has the best flow. I may try to work some of the things that I wanted to squeeze in here into the next chapter. For those of you who've mentioned how I've been hinting at things in previous chapters, I give you each a Hotsuma plushie. Care and feeding of him is quite easy. Don't forget to cuddle him frequently, as this character seems to miss out on the fans' love all too often. ;) Anyhow the next chapter, Into the Light, should tie up everything that's left. I've had this all planned since last December, and I'm very excited to finally be into a section where I've passed the series end of Shin. It gives me more room to breathe, so to speak. It felt kinda funny to finally get to write all the other Tenchi characters again. I was really having fun with the vibe between Ayeka and Ryoko here, as I view them as being best friends despite themselves. Ayeka and Ryoko often are there for each other emotionally in Tenchi movies, and I felt it was most natural for her to be the main support for Ryoko here. I really love writing the entire ensemble cast, and I have done them before in other fics, so it felt great to pick them up in this continuity at last. I hope I can give each of them a good scene before I'm finished with the story. The first time I heard "Wherever You Will Go" I knew that it had to go into this chapter. Because I didn't want to get too songficcy, I decided to use it in snippets and skip some of the refrains. I concentrated on the strongest lyrics that would support this story, because that was the song's purpose--to suit the story. It expresses Hotsuma's longings and concerns for Ryoko, in a way he wouldn't be able to put into words. I planned this chapter as a mirror to the scene where Kiyone drew the story about Tenchi out of Ryoko as well as a mirror to the way Hotsuma admits his feelings for her to himself in chapter one. Ryoko's total preoccupation with Tenchi could only be shaken by something momentous, which was another reason for Hotsuma's apparent death in the previous chapter. Because of the musical aspect, the title seemed appropriate on several levels, as it is a reprise. The title also hails the shadowy and hidden feelings in Ryoko's heart.