The Best Kind of Friends A Fanfic by EmpressGalaxia Aw, hell, I still don’t own anybody. Wassup wid dat? This is after the episode "Ryoko Muyo". Praise, flames, and crib notes for the latest Mass Media exam can be sent to fluffywoodchuckqueen@hotmail.com. So this is it; this is death. I always thought I would go gloriously in the middle of battle. Maybe a suicide right before the Galaxy Police arrest me. Just something grand. Unfortunately, it’s not happening like that. I’m dying alone in my spaceship. No one will probably find me, and no one will care. Hopefully Tenchi will wonder what happened to me. But probably not. He’ll most likely think that I ran away because he chose Aeka. I’ve spent my life running; what would change that now? But now there’s no more time for thinking. Every part of me feels heavy: my arms, my eyelids, my entire body. Coldness rushes over me...I wonder if there’s an afterlife. If there is, where would I go? I’ll find out soon enough. Goodbye everyone... I feel warmth. Immense heat. My forehead is soaked; I’m sweating. My eyes slowly open and I see fire. So I’ve gone to Hell. I’ve handled myself in other situations, I suppose I can handle myself here. Maybe I’ll take over. From now on, children will be frightened by the monster Ryoko, and all the books will be rewritten so Hell will be ruled by me. Not so bad. Right? I open my eyes further. The fire is coming from a fireplace. There’s a wet cloth on my forehead. I look around and see a grand home. I’m not in Hell; is this Heaven? Who screwed up and sent me here? I prop myself up on my elbows. Pain. I’m still alive. This isn’t an afterlife; it’s life. But how did I get here? And where is here? "You’re in a lot of pain. Stay down or you’re just going to hurt yourself further." I know that woman’s voice, but it puzzles me that she’s my saviour. "Nagi?" "You guessed it." "Where are we?" "Although it’s probably stupid to bring you here, we’re at my home." "This is your home?" "You’d be surprised at how much money you can amass acting as a bounty hunter." "Maybe I should try it." "Absolutely not. If I didn’t have a mortal enemy, where would I be?" Although I hate to take orders from her, I lie back down. It hurt too much to try and move, anyway. "That’s better." She walks into the room. Yup, there’s the woman who has been my enemy for so many years, now handing me a cup of tea and a bowl of rice. "Here, you need this." "Thanks." It hurts to use my left arm for anything, even holding a bowl; I’d rather suffer than ask Nagi for help. The food has given me a little strength, and I feel slightly better. She trades the cloth on my head for a new, colder one. "How did I get here?" "Ken-Ohki heard a distress signal from Ryo-Ohki. Like I said, I don’t want anyone else to have the honour of killing you. So we found your ship and I decided to fix you up." "You’re saving me so you can kill me?" "That’s about right. Plus, you’ll have the shame of knowing that I saved you." She smiles smugly. I’d like to hit the smile right off of her face, but doing so would hurt me more than her. She’s right, I am ashamed right now. Dying alone in the expanse of space now seems like an attractive option. "Where are Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki?" "They’re somewhere around the house being small, cute animals. Too bad we’re not friends, or they could spend more time together." I smile at the thought. "Yeah, too bad." What are we? We’re enemies with a respect for each other. This is something very rare, in every stretch of the galaxy. We’re enemies who save each other from dying at someone else’s hand, because we want to kill each other ourselves. Simply put, we’re the best kind of friends. Nagi just doesn’t know this yet. Or maybe she does, and that’s why she saved me. ########################################### Days, weeks, months, I don’t know anymore, but time has passed. I’m better than I was, and Nagi knows this because I refuse to let her help me in things that I can do by myself. Pride, like always, has gotten me into trouble again. Nagi will want to fight and try and kill me again now that she knows I’m in proper fighting condition. If I die, there’s someone I want to see first. Early in the morning, I hunt down Ryo-Ohki, and find her sleeping next to Ken-Ohki. Poor thing. "Hey, Ryo-Ohki, kiss goodbye, because we’re out of here." She opens her eyes and gives me a sad, pleading look. "Mow?" "Yeah, c’mon, we gotta go now." She stretches and licks Ken-Ohki on the head. We sneak out of the mansion and I board Ryo-Ohki, now in spaceship form. "Let’s go to Earth, babe. There’s someone we have to see!" "Mow!" We soar through space. Don’t worry, Nagi. I know you’ll find me. Or maybe I’ll hunt you down this time. You know, we have to let our kids play together while we fight to the death. Too bad you never got to know Tenchi really well; I would have enjoyed fighting you for him. It would have made a spectacular show.