Washu sat at her computer, she stared into the screen, lost in thought. "Keep your head together, Washu," she told herself. "Your interest in him is purely scientific." Washu knew that was wrong. Maybe when she had first seen the tattoo her interest was only scientific. But there was something about this man. During the past day she had watched him, his suit monitoring almost everything that had happened. There was something mysterious about him, maybe it was the look in his eyes when he was alone. Maybe it was the way he never allowed himself to show any signs of weakness. How even when his world was all but collapsing around him, he took it in stride. Yet somehow, she could tell, the look in his eyes showed years of regret, years of pain. There was something about him, he seemed to eminate strength, but only because it had been demanded of him. She had a feeling that in his mind a war was raging on, he was struggling to keep himself in check. His body was being destroyed by its need for input, yet he would not allow it. He knew not to allow it. When she had checked his thoughts, they had been clouded, vague. Pictures of his past, but seen out of focus. As though he were struggling to not even remember them for fear of what they could bring with them. Washu leaned back in her seat. She muttered a curse under her breath. "I was so close." Ayeka rolled over in her bed. She just couldn't fall asleep. She turned and looked at her sister. Sasami was lying asleep, her gentle breathing just barely audible. Aeka watched her for a moment, she sighed, envying her sisters comfort. But sleep would not come. No matter how long she closed her eyes and inhaled the sickly sweet summer night air, her mind would not pause long enoug to relent to sleep. She was thinking. Looking at the signs of affection she had shown Tenchi. She remembered the time in the shed, when she had first opened up to him. Then she paused. There was that one night last spring, when she and Ryoko had battled over him so heatedly. But she had done little more then Unless she counted it as a sign of affection everytime she greeted him. Then she thought of all the times Ryoko had shown him signs of affection. For a moment she didn't think of any. All she could remember were Ryoko's signs of lust. Throwing herself at Tenchi like a street-corner whore. Then she remembered what Aeon had said. "She loves Tenchi, just as you do. She only has differant ways of showing it." She knew he was right. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she knew she would have to be blind to not acknowledge that Ryoko cared about Tenchi. Clearly not as much as she did. But she did care for him. She thought again of any sign of Ryoko's interest in Tenchi. She could name numerous ones from dinner alone. "I guess it is kind of foolish of me to expect Tenchi to walk up to me and throw his arms around me," Aeka thought to herself. What was it Aeon had said? "Tenchi is young, and his heart is not sure what it wants yet..." That was it. She had slowly been realizing since she arrived here, that Tenchi was not the kind of man to take the initiative. He was shy, and clearly indecisive. Aeka smiled as she remembered how he had looked away in embarrasment when she has ran into his arms in the shed. "But I can't just throw myself at him like she does. That would be below a princess of Jurai." Aeka lay there in silence for a few moments. Sasami's gentle breathing the only thing piercing it. "What can I do to help him decide?", Aeka wondered. She considered making him a gift, then remembered what had happened the last time she tried something like that. "Perhaps, I could take him out to a romantic dinner." she contemplated it for a moment, "No, Ryoko would never allow that. Besides, I couldn't ask him out, It wouldn't be proper." Aeka lay there, for hours, trying to think of ways to subtely show her interest in Tenchi. Eventually, the warm night air began to get to her, and her eyelids fell slowly down as she drifted into a light sleep, dreams of Tenchi flowing through her mind. Ryoko was not having nearly so pleasant a sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed as her nightmare haunted her. She was watching a battle between two swordsmen. In the darkness she could only make out vague figures. The combatants were locked in a one sided battle. The shorter of the two clearly defeating his opponent. Ryoko drew near, unable to look away from the battle. She held her blade aloft as a light. The taller man was fighting valiently, but was clearly no match for his opponent. And after only a few minutes of combat, he had been disarmed. His opponent approached him, holding his sword aloft, and with a sudden downward strike, gave the killing blow. His sword shimmered for a moment before fading away. Slowly he turned away, he was facing Ryoko, but the shadows still concieled his face. Something caught Ryoko's eye, behind the victor, the fallen warrior was stirring. He began to burn with a furious white light, silhouetting the man before Ryoko. Ryoko wanted to shield her eyes, to turn away from the blinding illumination. But she found she could not. She watched the fallen warrior struggle to his feet. Then he stood up, the brilliance burning around him, as if he were being consumed by it. Behind him, Ryoko saw massive wings grow, flowing out behind him. They shimmered as if they were merely a mirage, an illusion in the brilliant light. Then as suddenly as they had appeared they were gone. The light subsided to a gentle glow, piercing the air around the man. He still shone with a brilliance that masked his features, but the air around him only glowed with a gentle warmth. Ryoko blinked, her eyes adjusting to soft light filling the area. Then Ryoko recognized the shorter man. "Tenchi!" she cried out as she reached for him. Tenchi didn't seem to hear her, but turned around and looked at he resurrected opponent. Quickly the sword in his hand sprung to life again, and he charged at the figure before him. Effortlessly, the figure tossed the Tenchi-ken aside and grasped Tenchi around his neck. His eyes burnt with fury as he lifted Tenchi into the air. "Tenchi!" Ryoko cried again, she began to run to him, but a young woman stepped in her way. Ryoko looked as long metal arms took hold of her, and held her back, as she struggled to run to Tenchi. She watched as Tenchi kicked helplessly at the figure. She saw the figures grip choking the life out of him. "Washu! Let me go! I need to help Tenchi!" She screamed, as she fought in vain against her bonds. The older Washu looked at her daughter sadly. "Im sorry Little Ryoko, but you must not interfere." Washu commanded, her voice full of concern. "What are you talking about Washu!" Ryoko shrieked, thrashing wildly in her bonds. "That thing is Killing Tenchi!" "It is only natural Ryoko, things must live and die. The strong must kill the weak for evolution to occur. If we exist in a changing environment but do not change ourselves, we will quickly become obsolete. Survival is determined by the ability to survive. If we interfere and cause the weak to destroy the strong, we sow weakness into a system. It leads to slow death. The human consciousness is one that demands conflict. Without conflict, the need for evolution would be removed. That leads to stasis and an eventual degradation. A devolution, if you will. We must breed the strong with the strong. It does no good to breed the strong with the weak. As then with each successive generation, the blood gets weaker and weaker. When you introduce a challenge to a system, it will either rise to overcome the challenge, this is evolution. Or it will be destroyed by the challenge, this is natural selection. Both are necessary in order for a more perfect entity to be formed. You are now witnessing the latter." "What the hell are you talking about Washu! He's killing Tenchi! Let me go!" Ryoko watched as Tenchi's kicks became weaker and weaker. She looked at Washu. "Please, Washu." Ryoko saw Washu turn and watch, as Tenchi's kicks finally stopped. And the figure dropped his lifeless corpse to the ground. He turned and looked at Ryoko, his lips parted just slightly and she could see him smile cruelly. Washu bowed her head, "Forgive me, Tenchi. I tried to stop it." Ryoko screamed. Ryoko jumped up, sweat covering her. Her eyes wide with fear. She looked around, she was home, in the Masaki house, in bed. She breathed a sigh of relief. "But, it was so real." she whispered. She quickly phased into Tenchi's room. He was lying in bed, sleeping peacefully. His gentle snoring comforted Ryoko a little. She phased back into her bed. Closing her eyes she tried to fall alseep again "But it was so real." she whispered again. Aeon opened his eyes, squinting as the morning light hit them. He stretched out, his muscles begging him to stay down, to just go back into the blissful sleep which he was casting off as though it were a nuisance rather then a comfort. He dragged himself up, and sat on the edge of the bed. His head was pounding. He put his hand against it, he could swear he could feel the blood pulsing through it as he sat there, each heartbeat like a drum sounding inside his brain. He looked around, next to the bed he saw two wine glasses resting on a small table. He vaguely remembered Washu setting them there. He looked on the bed beside him. His nights companion lay there, cold and empty. "No wonder I have a headache, I don't remember drinking all of it." Aeon said as he stood up, pausing for a moment as hsi hangover threatened to send him crashing to the floor. He sighed, and slowly dragged himself towards the bar counter, resting the empty bottle on its side. He saw his gun and holster lying next to his hand, and slowly began to remember what had happened after Washu had left. "Damn," he muttered. "I guess I didn't drink enough after all. Stupid resilient braincells." He looked at the gun for a moment, considering whether he should bring it with him, eventually deciding not to, remembering what he had planned to do today. He finally stretched and looked around. He saw a small door he hadn't noticed before. he took a few steps towards it, as his eyes slowly fell into focus on a small sign hanging on it. "Baths," he read. I guess I probably should take a bath before I leave. He looked over at the door leading out of his room. He remembered where that exit would take him and he worried. He knew that he would have to apologize, do something. But not now, he couldn't face her now. Slowly, he walked up to the baths and slid the door open. Stepping inside, he could barely believe his eyes. The bath stretched out as far as he could see, with countless pools stretching out across the landscape. He looked to his right and saw a waterfall, steam rising from the drain it poured into. To his left was a small shelf with soaps and shampoos, and hooks hanging towels and a long white bathrobe. Walking up to the rack, he began to peel his shirt off. Ryoko lay awake in bed. She hadn't been able to fall asleep since her dream had woken her. She lay there worrying about Tenchi. She wanted to go and watch over him. She wanted to stay with him always, never leaving his side, just in case he wasn't there when she returned. But she knew she couldn't. She remembered how he had felt the last time she had tried to guard him. His hurtful words played over in his mind. The disgusted way he had spoken, "Don't tell me you were in my room all night... I don't ever want to go through anything like that again." Ryoko felt a sting of pain as she thought of all the times Tenchi had turned away from her in disgust. How he had treated her like she were a bother to him. How he had acted like the very thought of her touch repulsed him. She knew that it wasn't that, he was just shy. She knew he cared about her. "But, does he love me?" she wondered. She shuddered at the thought of never having Tenchi return her love. "Wil it go on like this forever?" Ryoko asked herself. "Me and Aeka fighting over him, while he shakes at the thought of either of us showing him affection for fear of what the other might think..." Ryoko paused, remembering the damage she and Aeka had caused during some of their fights. "or do." Ryoko loved Tenchi, he was the first person she could ever remember caring about. She could not imagine ever living without him. After all, he was her liberator, her knight in shining armor. After her life of pain, existing only as anothers tool, a weapon used for anothers will, Tenchi had come. She didn't want to remember anything before. The centuries locked in that horrible cell. That cold, dark pit. She shivered even thinking about it. And before that, when she was a weapon of Kagato. A slave to his will. Bound to serve him, and destroy any and all who stood in his way. Ryoko felt a tear roll down her cheek. She could not remember any of her victims. Only the sounds of their screams rang through her ears. Ryoko curled up and grasped her knees. Then her mind wandered towards her last days in the cave, when she had learnt how to seperate her astral body from her physical body. She could only escape for a few minutes at a time. But after years of darkness, those minutes were beautiful. And she remembered seeing Tenchi, just a baby then. She remembered how he had looked at her, his eyes filled with fascination. She smiled a little. She remembered watching him grow up, from that young babe into the man he was today. She paused for a moment, a sly grin appearing on her face. "While... almost a man." Ryoko looked outside. She could tell that it was nearing dawn, the hint of morning light just barely piercing the night air. "Tenchi would be up soon," Ryoko thought happily. Then her mood darkened slightly. "So would Aeka." She looked outside again, not really looking at anything. "What if Tenchi never does decide?" She asked herself. "What if I have to live forever, with Tenchi within my grasp, but never knowing what it feels like to hold him in my arms, and have him hold me back." She vaguely remembered him holding her in Dr Clays ship. But she also remembered watching him hold a copy of her. She remembered the hurt at seeing him show the affection he had denied her to some android duplicate. Since she had ben assimilated with Zero, she knew it was silly to be jealous of her. But she still was Ryoko after all, and Tenchi had never held her as he had held Zero. "Damn that Aeka!" Ryoko said as she clenched her fist. "Why can't she just leave Tenchi and I alone. She can't love him like I do. Her love is fleeting. Wasn't she chasing Yosho, swearing her love unto him until Tenchi came along?" Ryoko sat for a minute. Her eyes quivering with anger and hurt. A voice in the back of her mind told her that it could also mean that she loved Tenchi so much, she forgot her previous love in his favor. Ryoko shook her head. "No, Aeka doesn't love Tenchi. She just couldn't. Not like I do" .A loud buzz caught Ryoko's attention.. "Tenchi's alarm." She whispered to herself. Ryoko thought for a moment about going to wish him good morning, but decided to instead give him the privacy he always complained that she took from him. She wanted to see Tenchi, to make certain he really was alright again, but she didn't want to make him upset with her. Ryoko hung her head. She couldn't shake the voice that kept asking her "What if he really doesn't love me?" Aeon stretched out in the large reservoir. He leaned his head against a rock resting at the edge and let the gentle waves pull at his body. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, the steam that was rising from the water around him filling his lungs. He tried to remember exactly what had happened the night before. "Ironic isn't it," he thought to himself. "I spent the night drinking to forget the events, and now I'm trying to remember them. I'm not usually concerned with trying to remember my past..." Aeon opened his eyes, his face becoming a little bit paler. "What is happening to me? This isn't like me at all." He sat up, and shook his head violently. Slowly he felt his concern diminish and a feeling of anger arise. "What a fool I have been. I didn't even realize it. I just played along, like a confused child." Aeon clenched his fists. "Its clear now, this place is changing me. I can no longer try to convince myself that this is all a dream, or that it is irrelevant to who I am. I am human, and like all humans I must accept that nothing is forever. All things have a beginning and an end. The world I knew is gone, taken from me. And there is noone to blame but myself. I was like an idiot playing russian roulette. I pulled the trigger again and again until I found the bullet. I have spent my life trying to escape my past. To escape the ghosts that have haunted me as long as I can remember. Finally I find escape. I am given a chance to free myself from the existance I knew. And Seeing it, I run. Cringing in idiot terror, holding tight to the very things I have hated and cursed. Trying to convince myself that I am somehow greater then my reality. To convince myself that I am above the effects of it. We are defined by the things we love and hate. What we accept as reality is what makes us who we are." Aeon felt the water around him beginning to get uncomfortably hot, but he barely noticed it. "My reality has changed and as such I must change. Yet I resist it. Why? Certainly not of any love for myself, I most definately know what self-loathing is. Perhaps fear then. Yes, Im fucking terrified. Im terrified of what it is I might become. Even if I was a monster before, I was at least in control of the monster. I had my own views of right and wrong. My idea's of good and evil. But what if I relinquish control, what if I lose the few strings I have holding me back from the edge? Yes, I'm afraid. And I absolutely dread what I might become if I lose this time." Aeon felt himself calm down a little. A voice began to ring through his mind.. "And what cause have you to believe that you would lose this time? Are you that weak that you fear even yourself? You doubt your ability to control your own destiny? You have lived your life only to prove to yourself that you do control your destiny." The voice began to get angry, and more insistent with every word. "And now you cringe in terror like a wounded kitten. Afraid of what might loom ahead. Don't be ridiculous, Aeon. This is mearly an unexpected development." The voice paused, then calmly resumed speaking. "You must adapt to accomidate it, however, change is something to embrace and accept as a necessary part of development. Not something to fear, as you do. Experience life, drink it, feel it, breathe it in and enjoy it. So you don't control it entirely, chaos is necessary for survival. Without it, man would become just another machine." "There is a nasty correlation in your mind between feeling and weakness. While it does present a vulnerability, it is a necessary part of humanity. Perhaps the only thing that makes life worth living. Feeling is what makes you human. You can experience pleasure and pain, Love and hate, grievance and rapture. To deny yourself these is a crime against your very being. It is this stasis of the very blood of your existance that risks creating a monster, not your acceptance of it." Aeon leaned his head back and closed his eyes. His mind had fallen silent again, leaving him to consider what he had heard. Suddenly he became aware of the uncomfortable temperature of the baths. He lept to his feet and sprung from the water, turning to see the boiling water simmer down to silence. Aeon stood there, staring at the water. His mind kept jumping between what he had been thinking of in the baths and what had just happened. Finally, he focused. "Did that really happen?" he wondered. The pools appeared normal again, a light steam wafting up from them, but the water lay silent. He looked at his skin, there were no burns, a slight redness from the hot bath remained, but he saw no sign of damage, and the pain had already died away. He shook his head gently. Telling himself to get a grip. "I guess it was only my imagination." he thought as he pulled a towel from the wall and began to dry off. Aeon stood before the door leading from his bedroom to Washu's lab. He still was unsure of what he planned on saying to her. The changes that he could tell he were undergoing were troubling him, but he had never been someone to allow his own concerns to cloud his judgement. He felt guilty for what had happened. Though he couldn't quite determine how his actions had been wrong, he knew that it was because of him Washu had looked so pained. And because of that, he knew he had to do something, anything he could to make her feel better. Especially after the way she had treated him. At the time he hadn't thought of it, but he had realized earlier today that he really had not had anywhere to go when she had invited him to stay. And in the condition he was, he certainly would have drawn unwanted attention to himself. Slowly he twisted the doorknob and pressed the door open, steading himself for the uncertain events that would unfold. He tried to plan what he intended to do, but his mind returned a blank. "I guess I'll have to extemporize," he thought as he stepped through the doorway. He looked around as he set his foot down in Washu's lab. This was the first time he could remember noticing the strange feeling he got when he crossed dimensions. The lab was quiet, only dimly lit by a few distant lights. Aeon stood in the dim for a moment as his eyes adjusted. After a few seconds, he could just barely make out Washu's form. She lay stretched out on the cushion where she worked. Her computer let out only a dim glow as red crabs danced across a black screen. Quietly, he began walking towards Washu. His steps fell silently on the metallic floor beneath his feet, his years of training showing through as he crossed silently and sat down a few feet away from Washu. He looked at Washu as she slept. Her small form appearing so fragile to him. The only movement he could see was the slight raising and lowering of her chest as she drew her quiet breaths in her sleep. For a moment, Aeon wished he had something he could draw her with. In the soft light, she appeared almost like a figure of glass, almost unreal. He remembered the night before, how she had changed into a young woman in an instant. "Of course she looks unreal, she is unreal." ran through his mind as he slowly stood up. She was beautiful. There was no doubt. Aeon remembered the days of his youth, when he spent all his spare time in his art trying to create something that he considered beautiful. He had gotten into drawing when he was still young, as well as learning to play several instraments. It was a calming counterbalance for the training in combat he had recieved nearly as long as he could remember. His whole life he had immersed himself in the ugliest parts of reality. His idea of beauty had kept him sane. He knew that there had to be more to the world then what he could see. He refused to accept that the peccancy that surrounded him was all there was to this world. And as he looked down at Washu, he remembered years of dreaming of beauty. He felt tears form in his eyes as he watched her sleeping there. After a few moments he turned away, he had decided what he was going to do. He walked to the door and turned once more to look at Washu lying there before he opened the door and stepped out of the lab.