"Penguin Masaki" "No Need for an Inner Conflict" A Tenchi-Ryoko fic. Disclaimer: Um... the characters dont belong to me... and... um... Pioneer... and all that other stuff, and um... yeah... Ryoko lounged sleepily on the couch, watching reruns of an old TV show. "Hmph, wonder where everybody went," she muttered, glancing around the deserted living room. "Ohhhhh Ten-chiiii!" she shouted sweetly, "Tenchiii! Come cuddle with me, Tenchi!" No response. She sat up and called, "Is anyone home?" Still no answer. "Eh, well, guess it's just me and the TV..." Unbeknownst to Ryoko, another person was home, and he was the one person Ryoko wanted to see... Tenchi stood in the doorway, gazing at his love. He'd never really admitted it to himself before- at times he'd thought he was in love with other girls- but he'd finally stopped arguing with himself. One day it had been Ayeka, the next Ryoko, the next Ayeka again... for a while, it had even been Sakuya... but he'd finally come to his senses and realized that Ryoko was the only girl he could truly love. Sure, he loved Ayeka, Sasami, Washu, Kiyone, and Mihoshi, but he loved them like family. His love for Ryoko was something greater, something deeper... he loved Ryoko as he loved no other. He held a small box in his right hand and started to take a step into the living room, then drew his foot back uncertainly. His indecisiveness was catching up with him again. He couldn't let that happen... He wondered what Ryoko would do or say if- when, he reminded himself- when he finally go himself to ask her. Would she be surprised and disbelieving, or would she welcome his love with open arms? He looked again at Ryoko. Her golden eyes, intent on the TV. Her cyan hair, spiked to perfection. He loved everything about her. All he needed to do now was make himself go into the room. Make himself ask her a question. One simple question. Then he'd be home free. But the hardest part wasn't asking the question- he must have practiced in front of the mirror in his bedroom a thousand times. The hardest part was getting himself to go into the room, to sit on the couch next to her. A week ago, this would have been the easiest thing in the world for him- but now that he had a purpose, now that he was trying to ask her this life-changing question, he couldn't even lift his feet off the floor. He wished he could stay here forever, just gazing at his Ryoko, but he knew that was impossible. Come on, do it now, he told himself every time a commercial came on. But even when he convinced himself to do it, he couldn't move. Sounds came from the kitchen. They were back from the shopping trip. Ayeka's voice, asking if anyone knew where Tenchi was. He knew that Ryo-ohki would be hopping in soon to find him. This was it. He had to do it, and he had to do it now. He took one step into the room, then slowly and silently took another. Ryoko didnt't even look up. He gently, quitely tiptoed over and positioned himself behind her. Still, Ryoko sat entranced by the TV. Quite unlike the Ryoko I know and love, Tenchi thought, normally she'd be all over me by now. He started to reach out to tap her on the shoulder. Inches from her back, he stopped, uncertain again. He considered running back to the safety of the doorway, up to his room, hiding the box under his pillow where it had been for so long. He thought about giving up; he pictured himself surrendering. He wondered if Ryoko would propose to him. Then she'd be the one in this situation, not him. But he looked into his heart and saw that he couldn't just surrender. He loved Ryoko and he almost knew for sure that she felt the same way. He couldn't just wait. He couldn't just leave it to her, the way he wanted to. If he wanted Ryoko to love him, he couldn't be a coward. It was either ask her and (assuming she said yes) love her forever, or just give up, make Ryoko do it. And what if he did give up, and Ryoko never proposed? He'd have to do it sooner or later... what better chance than this? If he waited, Ryoko might even give her heart to someone else... He had his mind made up. With a new determination, he reached farther and gently touched Ryoko's shoulder. Her head snapped around, her cyan hair never moving, and she looked up at Tenchi in surprise. "Exactly how long have you been there?" "A while. Can I sit down?" "If you don't mind watching this crap," she replied, gesturing to the TV. Tenchi smiled and sat next to Ryoko. Her eyes soon turned back to the TV, but Tenchi sat there for a while, just looking at her. At first, Ryoko didn't notice, but eventually she turned off the TV and turned to face Tenchi. "What's up?" Tenchi realized this was his chance. It was now or never. "I wanted to... uhhh... ask you something..." "What would this 'something' be, Tenchi?" He loved her innocent gaze, looking straight into his eyes. She obviously had no idea what his purpose was. Probably because it's so unlike me to be doing something like this... "I uhhh... wanted to ask you... um..." he hesitated before throwing caution to the wind and saying hurriedly, "Willyoumarryme?" "What did you just say?" Ryoko asked, surprised at what she thought she'd just heard. He took a deep breath before repeating more clearly, "Ryoko, will you marry me?" and held out the little black box. Ryoko's eyes widened in surprise. Then she shoved the box aside, threw her arms around Tenchi, and passionately kissed him. she thought. "Oh, Tenchi, I thought you'd never ask! Of course I'll marry you, yes yes yes yes yes!" Ayeka heard Ryoko's response and came running into the living room. "Lord Tenchi!" Tenchi looked up from Ryoko to see Ayeka's angry face. "Yes, Miss Ayeka?" "You... you two... you're... you're... Ryoko... not me..." Ayeka said, dumbfounded by Tenchi's sudden interest in Ryoko. She burst into tears and ran upstairs. "Miss Ayeka! Please come back! I can expla-" Tenchi shouted, silenced as Ryoko put a finger to his lips. "She'll get over it, Tenchi. Until then, stay with me and enjoy the moment." Tenchi looked torn for a minute between the two girls, but soon his heart won out. He sighed. "I'll stay with you, Ryoko," he reassured her. "Here, take this." Tenchi picked up the box from the floor. She opened it, seeming to take an eternity, to find a traditional engagement ring: a gold band with a diamond on it. "Tenchi, put it on for me," she said holding out her right hand and the ring. He picked up the ring and gently slid it onto Ryoko's ring finger. "Oh, Tenchi! I've never been happier in my life!" Ryoko said, her eyes welling up with tears of joy. <_I'm_ going to _cry_??? I'm happier than I thought!> She kissed Tenchi again. "We'll get married, and have lots of children, and grow old together... and just like in the fairy tales, we'll live happily ever after..." *~*~*~*~*~*~*~* To quote one of my favorite fic writers (as well as one of my good friends), Camikyra, "Holy Achika, mother of Tenchi," that was not a very long fic at all. But that's not the point here. What is the point? I really have no idea. Well, I think what I'm trying to say here is, tell me what you think of my fic. It's the first fic I've ever written (Tenchi or otherwise) and I really hope everyone likes it and stuff... well, if you liked it, let me know at strawberrypenguin_9@yahoo.com. And if you didn't like it? ... Well, I guess you e-mail the same place then, don't ya? Although, if you didn't like it, I'll probably have to slap you with a wet fish... but that isn't the point here... is it?