I don't own these characters or profit from them.

The cave
By, Clayton Overstreet

  Tenchi was walking home from an afternoon of studying at the library. He'd 
had a lot to make up after missing six months. The sun had just set, but he 
could still see the lights from his house in the distance. He smiled when he 
thought about all the people there waiting for him.
  Unfortunately one of them had decided not to wait. Just as he started 
towards the house again he felt arms wrap around him. "Hello Tenchi," Said a 
soft voice in his ear.
  Tenchi froze in place and his eyes widened. "Uh... Ry... Ryoko. What are 
you doing out here?"
  Ryoko laughed softly. "Well I got to thinking that you and I never 
finished our exploration of the cave. I thought that now would be the 
perfect time."
  "But the others are..." He started.
  Ryoko shook her head and grinned. "I told them you called and said you 
would be late." She ran a finger down his cheek.
  Tenchi looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "But... but..."
  "Oh you are just so cute Tenchi." She said. "Even after all we've been 
through you still get embarrassed around me. It's enough to make a girl 
blush."
  Tenchi smiled despite himself. "Well, I don't know. I mean what about the 
booby traps. Besides, didn't the whole place cave in last time?"
  Ryoko peeled herself off of him. "Do I have to tie you up again?"
  Neither of them failed to notice Tenchi's thoughtful silence before he 
said, "No."
  She grinned and led the way to the shrine. "Maybe there's hope for you 
after all."
  Tenchi followed after her, setting his bag outside the entrance to the 
cave. He looked up at the cracked boulders of the ceiling. "Are you sure 
this is safe Ryoko?"
  Ryoko smiled and rolled a huge rock out of the way. "Don't worry Tenchi. 
We'll be safe as long as we're together. What could possibly hurt us?"
  Tenchi looked into her glowing amber eyes and couldn't think of a thing. 
"Alright Ryoko."
  Ryoko smiled and took a step into the cave. Almost immediately she was hit 
in the head by a rock with a message tied to it. 'Go back now'. Ryoko sighed 
and headed forward again.
  A half-hour later they had made their way into the chamber where Washu was 
imprisoned. Tenchi began walking along the wall, checking for more tunnels. 
The light from the pod that Washu had been in still filled the cave with 
green light.
  "I guess this really is as far as the cave goes Ryoko. Can we go home 
now?" Tenchi said. When he didn't get an answer he looked back. "Ryoko?"
  Ryoko sat near the hole, tracing her fingers across the edge. She didn't 
even seem to hear him. Tenchi walked up behind her and looked over her 
shoulder. There was nothing in the hole but a pool of water that had 
gathered.
  "Ryoko, are you alright?" Tenchi put a hand on her shoulder.
  Without looking up Ryoko began to talk. "I had a dream like this once... 
after we used the dimension tuner. Only instead of Washu being trapped in 
the cave I was the one. It scared me so much. When I asked her about it 
Washu said that I was experiencing backwash from another me off in some 
other universe." She wrapped her arms around herself and began rocking back 
and forth. "It was just like before."
  Tenchi sat down next to her. "Before what Ryoko?" Ryoko shook her head and 
continued rocking. Tenchi blushed and said, "I'm sorry, it's none of my 
business."
  Ryoko's head snapped up. "No... No Tenchi please! I need to tell someone. 
You're the only person I can." Her hand grabbed at his shoulders and despite 
her emotions, Tenchi noticed that she was controlling her strength.
  He reached up and took her hands in his, then held them softly. "It's 
alright Ryoko. You know you can tell me whatever you want."
  Ryoko smiled and looked down at their hands. "Thank you Tenchi." She 
looked back up to him. "Remember when you told me that I was the one person 
who understands you?"
  He nodded. "I meant that Ryoko. And I meant some other things too."
  "I know that Tenchi. But I want you to understand me too." Ryoko said. 
Tenchi nodded and remained quiet, waiting for her to go on. "You have to 
promise not to tell this to anyone."
  Tenchi squeezed her hands. "I promise Ryoko. You know you don't have to 
tell me if you don't want to."
  Ryoko smiled and nodded. "I know Tenchi, I know." She took a deep breath 
and continued. "When I was a little girl, I was 'found' by a man who 
trafficked in species from outside the solar system. I never knew if he 
actually found me or if her took me too. In fact that's how I met Ryo-oki. 
He had picked up two strange eggs. He sold one to someone I never knew, but 
when he couldn't find a place for the other one I got her.
  "Anyway, one day he wanted me to help him go after some creatures called 
tunnel snakes. They lived down a big crack in the ground." Her voice shook 
slightly and Tenchi rubbed the back of her hand. After a minute she took her 
hands back and continued. "He sent me down, attached to a rope. Back then I 
couldn't fly or anything. All I had was my strength."
  Ryoko turned back to look at the hole. "I don't know if the rope broke or 
if he just decided I was too much trouble to keep any more. The next thing I 
knew I was falling into the crack. It was very deep and by the time I 
finally stopped, I couldn't see the light any more. The rocks came together 
so that I was trapped. I couldn't even move the walls without rocks falling 
on me. I must have yelled for hours before I realized he wasn't coming."
  Ryoko stopped talking again and looked down at the water in the hole. She 
reached down and scooped up a hand full of water, staring at her reflection. 
"For the first day I imagined that the tunnel snakes were there with me, 
just waiting until the right moment to bite off my toes." She opened her 
fingers and let the water drip back into the hole. "By the next day though, 
I was wishing they would. At least then I would have had something in there 
with me. I felt so weak and helpless."
  Tenchi waited for her to continue, but she didn't. She seemed to be 
waiting for the obvious question. "How long were you down there?"
  Ryoko looked up at his eyes. "Five days. It took five days for Ryo-oki to 
find me and dig me out."
  Tenchi hugged her close. "I'm sorry Ryoko."
  Ryoko suddenly let out a laugh, startling both of them. "You have nothing 
to be sorry for Tenchi. Don't worry, I found a way to get over it. As soon 
as I was out of there I went to a field I'd seen on our last stop over. Full 
of flowers and bright sunlight."
  Tenchi started to recognize something. "That's when you met Aeka right?"
  She grinned and nodded. "Yeah. You may find this hard to believe, but I 
may have exaggerated my innocence in that little encounter just a bit."
  Tenchi grinned. "Really?"
  "Oh yes," Ryoko said trying not to laugh. "Actually what happened was that 
I was playing around and suddenly her head popped up and demanded I tell her 
what I was doing there. As you can guess, I wasn't in the mood for that sort 
of thing. I called her a purple haired twit and she called me something 
else. I grabbed the flower crown off her head, and then she grabbed it back. 
Then the guards showed up and I ran for it."
  Tenchi smiled. "I kind of figured it was something like that."
  Ryoko smirked. "Oh really? Some boyfriend you are." She pushed him 
backwards and he fell into the hole. "Serves you right."
  They both started laughing, but then Ryoko gasped as Tenchi splashed 
ice-cold water on her. Tenchi grinned and said, "Now we're even."
  Ryoko growled. "No..." She leaned into the hole and looked him right in 
the eyes. Tenchi gulped loudly. Then Ryoko moved the rest of the way into 
the hole with him and kissed him on the mouth. Tenchi closed his eyes and 
kissed back, wrapping his arms around her back and neck. After a few minutes 
Ryoko pulled back and smiled at him. "Now we're even."

The end

Author's note
  So what did you think? Yet another version of Ryoko's life story. Was it 
any good? Let me know at clayton_n@hotmail.com