Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters,
Pioneer/AIC does. I do not intend to profit from this
work of fiction, so please do not sue me.

Ryoko—Then I'll Have You

I remember the first time you saw me. Your eyes were
small and round, a baby's. You looked up at me from
your mother's arms. She whispered, "Tenchi, do you see
someone? There's no one here. Don't worry. Everything
will be all right." But the expression on your face
was not one of terror. Oh, no. It was something
more...

I remember the first time you talked to me. You
weren't scared at all. You used to come up to the cave
and talk to me. You would tell me about your life. And
the day that Achika died... Oh, I remember that day.
You curled up in her favorite corner of the cave, your
eyes already red from crying, and you cried some more.
You asked me why she had to die, why must your mother
be the one taken from you. Why did you have to suffer?
Why, why, why? I knew that you couldn't hear me, but I
answered all of those questions. I knew you couldn't
feel me, but I wiped away your tears. I knew you
couldn't feel my love, but I cradled you in my arms
and whispered comforting words to you. "Everything's
going to be all right. I promise you, little Tenchi.
Everything will be all right. Your mother's looking
down on you from heaven, I know. My little Tenchi."

I remember the first time you really saw me. You were
exploring the cave, and found a hidden passage. I
watched you as you descended, rather ungracefully,
down the small hole to where I was entombed. I looked
up, not having even the power to move, and watched as
you looked down into the pit where I lay. I saw you as
you reached down cautiously to see whether I was just
an illusion, and by doing so freed me from my seven
hundred years' imprisonment. I remember how you looked
down curiously, and I reached up to you. Our eyes met.
Time froze for a minute with me looking up at you and
you looking down at me. Destiny had met its match.

I remember the first time you hugged me. You had just
defeated someone in one of your battles... your
first-ever battle. I had been standing on the
sidelines, a distance away from Aeka, Washu, Sasami,
Mihoshi, and Kiyone. Throughout the entire battle, I
had been leaning on a pillar, trying to look calm. In
reality, however, my heart was throbbing in
nervousness and love, and I don't think I took a
breath through the entire fight. When you finally
emerged as the victor, you held your sword high in the
air proudly and smiled. You began to walk back over to
us, trying to control your emotions, but in the end
you were running. Running, and running straight toward
me. As you threw your arms around my shoulders my
heart must have skipped several beats. As you pulled
back from me, grinning, you trotted off to receive
congratulations from the others. I stood stone still.
I was feeling a mixed series of emotions: I was
surprised, shocked, overwhelmed, and swept off my feet
all in a split second. That was when I knew you loved
me.

And now, I look back on all these wonderful times that
we've had together, and I am so joyous that I can take
any insult Aeka may throw at me. I can take anything
and come out of it for the better. And the reason? I
am not superhuman, no. It is simply because I know you
love me, and I love you. No matter what anyone says, I
know this one thing is true. And I can manage to sit
here, to wear a smile on my face, and to wait for the
time when someday, sometime, somewhere, you'll tell me
exactly what I want to hear. And then I won't need
happy memories anymore. Then I'll have you.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I really like this fic. It's kinda short, but very
sweet... well, lemme know if you like it. It's only my
second-ever fanfic (Tenchi or otherwise) so I'd
appreciate anything: comments, questions, complaints.
E-mail me at strawberrypenguin_9@yahoo.com. And kudos
for reading!