THORNS
by Mink (mink@envy.nu)

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is © Pioneer Entertainment and AIC.  I am in no 
way affliated with them, nor do I own it.   "Thorns" is © 2000, "Mink."
  (Emily Koh.)  Do not repost elsewhere w/o permission.

* This 'fic is based on the Shin Tenchi Muyo!/Tenchi In Tokyo series.

***

  Our fates are intertwined forever now, I could tell from the day 
that Aeka chased my ship into Earth.  Our threads of fate would never 
be separated, you and I were two strangers bumping paths.

  Forgive me, I bumped into you.

  Why am I apologizing?  I've never had to apologize in my life.

  Ever.

  Because I'm the most feared space pirate in the universe.  People 
used to shudder when they heard my name, run for cover, that's right.  
And you!  Did you shudder?

  No.

  You didn't see the monster everyone else saw.

  That annoyed me.

  Wasn't I great as I had said?

  And you defied me!

  You fought me... fought me because of that stupid princess, and...

  I lost.

  To you, a mere Earthling boy.

  And it wasn't a simple wound, it was a shocking wound.  I was held 
prisoner between Life and Death -- where would I go?  The equilibrium 
wasn't balanced, they were pulling me back and forth, and I stretched out 
like a rubber band, ready to snap...

  And somehow, you reached me, in the midsts of the darkness.

  Told me stories of your life.  Of your mother, who died.  How, when 
you were little, you used to crash into telephone poles with your bike, 
and finally, ruined your wheels and you cried your eyes out.

  How you wanted to be a good shrine caretaker in the future.  How you 
wished to take good care of your family.

  And how you wished that none of this had happened!

  I couldn't see you in the beginning, but I began to regain my eyesight.  
But I didn't need that to begin with, your voice was so melodic.

  I couldn't see that well in the beginning, but I didn't need to.  Your 
voice was a light within the darkness itself.  Washu thought I hadn't gained 
consiousness yet, but I did, much earlier than I expected.  Was it you who 
kept me alive?

  You promised to take me to all these places when I would wake up.  To the 
small pond behind the mountains, through the spectacle of forests in Okayama, 
even to Tokyo, a city which I view as the responsible for all my mishaps in 
the past few months.

  Because of Sakuya... that...

  A part of me is glad she isn't alive.

  You would probably hate me if I said that, but it's true.  Sakuya was the 
bridge that you crossed, and we couldn't cross over that bridge; it was a 
special bridge only you could go on.

  The water underneath the bridge -- we tried to float through.

  But... it got deeper.

  And finally, we sunk, suffocating underneath our troubles.

  I gave up to easily.  I allowed myself to suffocate, and I let that creep 
Hotsuma bury my life away too easily.

  Oh, Tenchi... how could I fall for a trap like that?

  But I see why it was so simple.

  The festival.

  The moonlight.

  The kiss.

  After our date? 

  Did that mean nothing?

  Was it only a mere outing with a close friend?

  Because I...

  But it's over now.  I've promised myself that I should put aside what 
happened; because Sakuya wasn't real.  She was a mere creation, or the 
shadow of Yuugi.  And Yuugi, that's who we should blame.  Aeka herself 
was enough for me to realize that Jurains were sly sadists, but Yuugi just 
confirmed my thoughts.

  But there are scars.

  Scars don't hurt anymore, but they're there -- they stay with you for 
the rest of your life.

  And in all the battles and things I've seen...

  This is the deepest scar.

  You know how they say love is like a rose, it's beautiful in many ways, 
but there are thorns in love like a rose? 

  Maybe you won't admit it, but I will.  I feel some link to you, Tenchi.  
Our own rose has too many thorns.

  Yet we've managed to stay steady after each prick a thorn gives us.  
And the pain goes away after the first few trickles of blood.

  Although it's another thing to say that the Aeka thorn isn't gone yet... 
and probably never will be... but that's not my point.

  I don't think there's a bigger crisis I've faced than Sakuya.

  And... I'm glad it's over.

  Because I lived through that.

  And it's a thousand times better surviving that Sakuya phase rather than 
surviving a crucial escape after a robbery, the typical space pirate scene.

OWARI