Tenchi Muyo! is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I own only
the writing.

Confession

	"Bye, Chi!"  Ameko called out to the retreating bus as it
started down the road.  Her best friend waved back from the rear
window.  The fifteen year old student turned to the shrine steps
and sighed, brushing a stray lock of her long, purple hair from
her eyes as she prepared for the half-mile hike up the steps to
get home.  She sighed again and started forward.  "Come on, feet,"
she said.
	As she started up the stairs, she thought about her day.
Another A in physics.  Grandma Washu would be pleased.  She had
come out on top in kendo practice.  Grandpa Yosho would be pleased.
	She frowned as she thought about the date she made with Hikaru.
Her parents thought she was a little young to date.  They would
take a little convincing.  Espcecially her mother.  She could be
a little overly protective of, "her little princess," but her
father kept her from making Ameko a total hermit.
	She was so wrapped up in her reverie that she almost bumped
into the woman without seeing her.
	"Hi, there," she said.
	Ameko blinked in startlement.  "Um...hi.  Are you here to
pay your respects to the shrine?"  she asked politely.  She
sometimes helped her grandfather tend the shrine.  Part of that
was helping lost visitors find the place.
	"Actually," the woman said, floating into the air.  Ameko
gasped.  "I'm here to see you."
	Ameko got over her shock fairly quickly.  "Me?"
	"You're Ameko, right?"  the woman asked.  Ameko got a good
look at her.  She was tall, with yellow eyes and spiky, bluish-cyan
hair.
	"That's right."
	The woman smiled tiredly.  "I'm Ryoko."
	"*You're* Ryoko?!"  Ameko asked in shock.
	Ryoko blinked.  "Yeah."  She mistook Ameko's surprise for fear
and held her hands out.  "I won't hurt you or anything!"
	"You're really her?"  Ameko asked again.
	"Um...yeah,"  Ryoko replied suspisciously.  "I guess your mom's
told you all about the evil demon, huh?"  she asked with a sigh.
	Ameko blinked.  "Demon?  Um...No.  I mean, they told me all
about you!  I've always wanted to meet you!"
	Ryoko blinked in shock again.  "You have?"
	Ameko nodded.  "Dad used to tell me stories about you.  Like
how you and Mom took on Kagato alone."
	Ryoko couldn't help but smile.  "Yeah...well..."
	"Well, come on!"  Ameko said, rushing up and taking her hand.
"Mom and Dad are going to be so jazzed to see you!"
	"Wait!  Stop!"  Ryoko ordered, pulling away.  Ameko looked at
her in puzzlement.  "I...I can't..."  Ryoko told her.
	"Why not?"
	Ryoko took a breath and sat down on the steps.  "I didn't come
here to see them...I...I *can't* see them...him..."  Ameko sat down
next to her.  "I came here to see you, Ameko"
	"Me?"
	Ryoko nodded.  "You see...I love your father."  Ameko just
blinked.  "I've loved him all my life.  When...when he chose your
mother over me...I couldn't take it.  I felt so...so...hurt by it...
I ran off.  But it still hurts....and I still love him."  She bit
her lip and took a breath.
	Ameko didn't know what to say.
	"Your mom and I used to fight constantly over him...It could
get pretty vicious at times.  I...I half expected you to go running
in fear when I told you who I was.  I wouldn't have blamed her one
bit if...if she had *warned* you to stay away from the evil demon.
I..."  She smiled nervously.  "I kind of told her off before I
left...told them both off..."  She blinked back a tear.  "I *hated*
your mother so much that day.  It wasn't her fault, I guess.  I
found out about them by accident.  I walked in on them...I saw
their first kiss," she said in a haunted whisper.
	"I...I'm sorry,"  Ameko told her.  She didn't know what else
she could say.
	Ryoko smiled.  "Don't be sorry about it," she told the girl.
"If they hadn't kissed...well...you wouldn't be here."  Ameko smiled
at that.  Her mother often had trouble talking about how she and her
father had gotten together, and even more trouble talking about
intimacy.  Her first discussion about the birds and the bees had
come from her Grandma Washu, dressed as a professor.
	There had been a lot of graphs and charts during that talk.
	Ryoko stared down at the ground.  "I hated her," she repeated.
"I came so close to just..."  She shut her eyes painfully.  "I don't
want to even think about what I *might* have done.  So...instead...I
ran away.  I just couldn't face them.  I loved him so much, and the
thought that he could choose...someone else...hurt me so much that
I was sure I'd die."  She wiped a tear away.  "I still love him...I
thought that, after awhile, the pain would go away, and I'd be able
to move on, but it hasn't.  I still hurt as much right now as I did
the moment I saw them kiss."
	Ameko reached out and place a hand on Ryoko's shoulder.  She
didn't know what she could possibly say to this woman to make her
feel better.  She couldn't imagine the kind of pain she was in.
	"Anyway...I was in the neighborhood and wanted to meet you.
That's why I'm here."
	Ameko blinked.  "Why?"
	Ryoko looked at her.  "I wanted to tell you that I love you
too."
	Ameko removed her hand and coughed nervously.  "Um...well...No
offense, Ms. Ryoko...but I really don't swing that way..."
	Ryoko blinked, then glared.  "NOT LIKE THAT, YOU BAKA!"
	Ameko blinked.
	"Jeez, you're just as naive as *he* was."  Ryoko said, shaking
her head.
	"Well...What do you mean, then?"
	Ryoko took a breath.  "I wish I were better at stuff like this,"
she said.  "What I mean is, I love your father.  More than anything
else in this universe.  I'd kill myself if he asked me to."  She
faced Ameko.  "And he's a part of you," she continued.  She sighed.
"You're someone *he* loves.  I just wanted you to know...that if you
ever need me...all you have to do is call me."
	Ameko blinked and nodded.  "I don't know what to say."
	Ryoko smiled.  "You don't have to say anything."  She stood up.
"I had better go.  It's only a matter of time until your folks
decide you're late and come looking for you.  I...I really don't
want to be here when they show up."
	"Okay.  Ms. Ryoko?"
	"It's Ryoko, Ameko."
	"Ryoko?"
	"Yeah?"
	Ameko paused.  "I...I overheard my parents talking one night.
They said...that if you ever came back...they'd want you to be my
godmother."  She stopped, searching for some sign of pain or disgust
from the demon.  "Even if they don't know about it...I'd like you
to be my godmother," she finished.
	Ryoko blinked in shock.  "I...I think I'd like that," she said.
	Ameko smiled.  "Please come back to the house with me, Ryoko,"
she begged.  "I know Mom and Dad would love to see you!  And Grandma
Washu and Aunt Sasami too!  Please?!"
	Ryoko shook her head.  "No.  I have to go."  She turned and
started floating down the steps.  Ameko sighed.  "Could you do me
a favor?"  Ryoko asked, stopping a few yards down the stairs.  She
was facing away from Ameko, looking downward.
	"Yeah.  Sure."
	"Could you tell your dad...that I'm okay?"
	Ameko blinked.  "But..."
	"Please?"  Ryoko asked.
	Ameko nodded.  "Yeah.  I'll tell him."  She knew what Ryoko
was doing.  Even now, in pain, her wish was to spare Tenchi guilt.
She wanted Ameko to tell him she was fine...
	Even though she wasn't.
	"Thanks."  With that, Ryoko vanished.
	Ameko sighed and wiped a tear away.  "Goodbye, Ryoko," she
whispered.  She turned and started up the stairs again.

	Ryoko reappeared next to the entrance of her cave.
	"I told you you'd like her," her mother told her, leaning
against the side of the stone wall.
	Ryoko smiled.  "Yeah.  She's a good kid."
	Washu smiled.  "Sure you won't come back to the house?"
	Ryoko nodded.  "I'm just passing through.  I really should go."
	"Ryoko, you're always welcome here.  Please remember that."
	Ryoko looked up at her and smiled again, this time with feeling.
"Oh, I have to now."  Washu blinked in puzzlement.
	"I have to keep tabs on my goddaughter, after all."


Please send C&C to Thomas "009" Doscher
doscher009@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading.