Tenchi’s Valentine

Author’s Note: I don’t own Tenchi or any of the other characters, AIC and
Pioneer do.  I just enjoy writing stories about them.  Please don’t sue me;
I don’t have any money anyway.

By mr spock (mr___spock@hotmail.com)

        Tenchi opened his eyes, and the world began to come into focus.  He
saw
Ryoko napping peacefully, floating above him with her long, soft cyan hair
flowing over her perfectly curved body.  Tenchi smiled to himself at the
tranquility of the scene; sometimes Ryoko would fall asleep while she
watched over him at night.  It made her feel better, not to be alone after
the Kagato incident, so who was Tenchi to argue?  He dragged himself out of
bed and began to dress, lightly brushing Ryoko’s shoulder.
        “Uhhhh…,” he sighed.  “School again, today.”  Ryoko stirred, and
after
seeing that Tenchi wasn’t in bed, she frantically began to search the room
until the beautiful golden globes that were her eyes fell upon him.
        “Ohayo, Tenchi!”  Tenchi only had a moment to react before Ryoko
phased in
front of him and hugged him tightly.
        “Ohayo, Ryoko, “ he replied.  Sighing, he said, “Please, Ryoko.  I
really
need to get ready for school.”
        “In this weather?”  Ryoko looked out the window and stared at the
white
flurry of falling snowflakes.  She shrugged.  “Oh well, have fun, Tenchi.”
As she began to teleport down to breakfast, she noticed Tenchi’s calendar.
“Hey Tenchi…,” she said in a sultry voice.  “Why is this pink heart here?
Is it for me?”  She moved closer to him—a little too close for comfort—and
began to draw circles on his chest.
        “Uhhh…Ryoko?  Please.”  She reluctantly released him.  “That’s just
for
Valentine’s Day.”
        “Valentine’s Day?  What’s that?”
        “Well, it’s a special day when you give flowers or candy or presents
to
your true love.”
        “Oh REALLY, Tenchi.  Maybe you and I could do a little something
after you
get home from school, “ she said seductively.
        “Uhhh…Ryoko…”  Tenchi was beginning to feel like a helpless animal
cornered
by a predator.  Without warning, he quickly fled out the door and headed
downstairs.  Ryoko let out a disappointed sigh and phased through the floor.
        After Tenchi had departed, Ryoko had a moment of inspiration.  She
raided
Tenchi’s desk and borrowed some construction paper, crayons, glue and other
materials.  Spreading her work out on the living room floor, she began her
Valentine card for Tenchi.
        Soon, all the other girls in the household noticed what Ryoko was
doing,
and after she explained it to them, they began to make their own as well.
        “Wow, Ryoko!  This was such a good idea!  This is fun.”  Sasami
giggled as
she cut a small red heart out of construction paper.
        “Yes.  It’s not every day that that demon woman thinks of something
like
this.”  Ayeka was lying down on the wood floor as she instructed Azake and
Kamidake to help her, despite the fact that they did not possess arms nor
hands.
        “Ah, you’re just jealous ‘cuz you didn’t think of it first,” Ryoko
muttered
under her breath.  Even Ryo-Ohki and Washu joined in.  Instead of actually
making it with her own hands, Washu began to type on her computer and let it
do the work.  Mihoshi was having trouble figuring out which end of the
scissors to hold, and she ended up getting tangled in a mess of half cut
construction paper and glue.
        Finally, everyone finished, and only a few minutes later, Tenchi
arrived
home.  Putting his school books down, he was surprised to see all the women
of the house smiling and gathering in one room.
        “What’s the occasion, everyone?  Is it someone’s birthday?”
        “No, silly!  We just want to show you the Valentine cards that we
made for
you.”  Sasami giggled and held out her card as everyone else did the same.
Tenchi developed a twinge of nervousness, seeing five beautiful women plus
one cabbit giving him tokens of their love for him.
        “Uh…Ok, thanks everyone.”  He took them and looked at them one by
one.  The
first was cut into the shape of a carrot.  Tenchi folded open the red cover
and could only read, “Myaa!  Myaa meow, meow meow!”  “Uh, thanks a lot,
Ryo-Ohki!”
        “Oh, Tenchi.  It just compliments you,” Ryoko explained.
        “Oh, well thank you, Ryo-Ohki!”  The small cabbit meowed and hopped
in the
air.  Tenchi looked at the second card; it was plain red, and when he opened
it, he saw a picture of Tsunami’s royal tree.  “To Tenchi, from Sasami and
Tsunami.  We love you.”
        “Wow!  Thanks, Sasami…oh, and you too, Tsunami.”  Tenchi patted a
beaming
Sasami on the head as the image of Tsunami appeared behind her and smiled.
After Mihoshi’s and Washu’s valentine, Tenchi finally got to Ayeka’s
beautiful card.  It was magnificent, with royal Jurai symbols and
multi-colored hearts.
        “Wow, Ayeka.  This sure is pretty,” Tenchi remarked.
        “You really think so?”  Ayeka was hopeful, thinking to herself,<Heh
heh
heh.  Mine is so much more worthy for Lord Tenchi than that one that that
devil woman made.>  “Don’t you think it’s more beautiful than the rest?
Even that devil woman’s?”
        “Hey!”  Ryoko glared at her.
        “Ayeka, please.  It’s not fair to everyone.  I’m sure everyone
worked hard,
and besides, I haven’t seen Ryoko’s yet.”  Ryoko’s eyes glowed in hope as
Tenchi lifted Ayeka’s card to reveal Ryoko’s valentine.  It was one of the
most beautiful things he had ever laid his eyes upon.  It was gorgeous,
having laced hearts and detailed pictures on the cover.  When Tenchi looked
inside, he was astounded to see a very moving picture of the two of them
hugging.  As Ryoko watched his startled face, a tear formed, dripping down
her cheek.  Thinking that Tenchi hated it, she quickly phased away.
        Recovering from his moment of indecision, Tenchi yelled after her.
“Wait,
Ryoko.  Please don’t leave!”  Tenchi burst out the door with the valentine
in hand and ran down the snowy path.  As the light snowflakes began to fall
all around him, he wondered where Ryoko might have gone.  <The cave.  She
must be there.>
        Tenchi penetrated the darkness of the prison that once held Ryoko.
Splitting the stone with the master key, he entered the containment chamber
and found Ryoko crying to herself.  He couldn’t understand any of it; why
had Ryoko run off?  He’d never seen her cry before, but the sight of it made
him long to sit beside her and comfort her.  He placed a hand gently on her
shoulder, and she turned around.
        “Tenchi?”  Ryoko wiped the tears away from her wet cheek and face.
Tenchi
looked into her eyes and peeked deeply into her soul through the windows.
(Author’s note: if you’ve never heard of the expression, eyes = windows of
the soul)
        “Ryoko…why did you run away like that?  I mean, your card…it was
just one
of the nicest things anyone’s ever made for me.  Thank you.”  Ryoko blushed
and wrapped her arms around Tenchi.  For some reason, Tenchi didn’t resist,
but instead he pulled her in and held her tight.  He cherished the sense of
her soft flowing hair and her special scent.
        “Tenchi, I love you.  I know that it seems like I just fight with
Ayeka,
but I’ve always meant it.  I hope you can see that.”  A tear formed in
Tenchi’s eye and flowed down his cheek.  They sat silently and stared at the
falling snowflakes outside.
        “Tenchi, do you remember the day your mother died?”
        “Yes.  It was also snowing that sad day.”
        “I was here, Tenchi.  You ran to me, your best friend in the whole
world.
I watched you grow from a young boy to a handsome young man.  I tried to
comfort you but, you couldn’t see me anymore.”
        “That…was YOU?”  Tenchi was shocked.  Ryoko had been his imaginary
friend,
a beautiful girl that he had forgotten about long ago.  Grandpa had always
told him tales of the demon in the cave, but he never really believed them.
        “Y-y-yes.  I learned to project myself weakly outside the cave.  But
one
day you came, and you released me.  My affection grew for you, and I had
always wanted to play with you.  I tried to pull you in for a kiss, but you
were frightened and ran away.”
        “And…the school?  You were just playing?  Oh, Ryoko, I’m so sorry.”
Tenchi
felt a deep pain inside his heart and began to run his fingers through
Ryoko’s hair, caressing it.  After a long moment of silence, he spoke.
“Ryoko…I love you too.”  He pulled her close and kissed her passionately.
Ryoko was surprised at first, but soon leaned into the embrace as tears fell
from her eyes.  They did not part for a long time.
        Tenchi put his arm around her shoulder, and the two lovers stared at
the
snow blanketing the frozen landscape outside the cave.

The End

Author’s note:  So how was it?  That last scene is pretty romantic.  This is
my first fan fic, by the way.  It wasn’t supposed to be since I was working
on another longer one, but it's really close to Valentine’s Day, and I came
up with this idea.  Sorry, I had to rush it, and I probably could have made
it better, but I wanted to get done before tomorrow, which is Valentine's
Day.