Part 25 Hello, my name is Akina Makibi, currently I work as a Shrine Maiden for the Masaki Shrine, but in reality, I am one of the four Legendary Ratixian Warriors, it is fabled that our power could rival or even surpass that of the Jurai. That is all well and good, but we merely want to live our lives peacefully on this beautiful blue planet..... Kioko sat in her class room and opened her lunch. "Yeah! Sasami always makes my favorite!" She smiled and looked over at Juro. "Man, why do I have to go to school?" He thought then saw a lunch bag in front of him. "Where's your lunch?" Kioko asked. "I forgot it." "Here." She opened hers up and handed him the chopsticks. "You can have some of mine." Juro stared at her and blushed slightly. "Uh, thanks." He smiled and ate. "So how do you like school?" "Huh....um, it's okay." he smiled. "Hey Kioko?" Nami peered over her shoulder. "This your boyfriend?" Another one of her friends asked. "BOY FRIEND!?" Kioko blushed. "WHAT!?" Juro shouted. "Don't pull that with us Juro." Nami grinned. "I saw you staring over at her all through English!" "Huh?" Kioko turned red. "It's true it's true! I saw him too." Haru grinned. "Ah.....er.....well........" Juro blushed. "He's blushing!" Nami giggled. "Cut that out!" Kioko demanded. "I'm just kidding with you two." Nami smiled. "Whatever!" The two groaned. Akina walked out of the temple wearing a red and white kimono. "Well, look at you." Ryoko complemented. "Ryoko." Akina smiled. "I think you're suited for this job, much more peaceful than working for the damn forces." Akina stared at her for a minute. "I'm still working for the forces, but, how come you're being really nice all of a sudden?" Ryoko folded her arms across her chest and groaned. "There's a whole other side to me that not many people ever notice." Akina picked up a broom and shook her head. "That's not entirely true." She smiled and started to sweep. "IYAAAAA! I CAN'T STOP THIS THING!" A voice cried. "Eh?" Ryoko and Akina's heads shot up. Trees were tumbling over and soon Mihoshi's mecha came crashing towards the temple. With a flash Ryoko held out her hand and stopped it. "Mihoshi, what the heck are you doing?!" Kiyone came running through the path of destruction and quickly deactivated the suit. "MIHOSHI! I told you not to use that!" The hatch opened and tears came flowing out. "I'm sorry! I was just trying to learn to use the suit better!" "Mihoshi, don't cry." Akina smiled. "WHAAAA! BUT KIYONE'S MAD AT ME!" She wailed. "M....Mihoshi I'm not mad it's just that......you shouldn't have used the suit." Kiyone sighed then looked at Akina. "Hey, you're a shrine maiden." Akina nodded then looked at the path of destruction. "Poor trees.....they were in full bloom too." she put her broom aside and hulled one tree back onto it's trunk. "There's a remainder of energy and hope within." She helped it reattach itself and went on to help the other trees. "I wonder...." Ayeka came over to the group. "What's that Ayeka?" Ryoko glared down at her. "Lady Akina has lost most of her power since she finished off the last of Tanaka's minions, however Yukio, Kioko, and Juro still have theirs." "And?" Ryoko groaned. "So how is it that she can do that?" "Help the trees you mean?" Kiyone asked. Ayeka nodded. Ryoko shook her head. "It's so simple, and yet you don't see it do you princess?" "Oh hush, you don't know Ryoko!" "Of course I do." Ryoko floated down to the ground. "Kohana merely wanted Akina to be happy now that Tanaka is dead, so she left and took the rest of her energy with her." "Well I can see that." "It's too hard to explain Ayeka, it's all a matter of how powerful her hope and belief is." Kiyone said. Ayeka looked back to Akina and could see it, the glowing aura of hope that surrounded her body. "Lady Akina." "There." Akina healed the last tree and felt a certain cabbit jump onto her head. "Miya miya Mreeow!" "Everyone! Dinner's ready!" Sasami called from the house. Meanwhile on Jurai. "Hiroshi?" Araumi came into his apartment to find everything neatly clean. "Are you here?" She stared around and it became obvious that he wasn't. "He must be at.." "SURPRISE!" "GAAH!" Araumi shot onto the ceiling then stared down. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming!?" Hiroshi laughed. "I wanted to surprise you.....Oh Hiroshi!" she jumped down and hugged him. "I've missed you SO much!" "I've missed you!" He smiled and ran over to his fireplace mantle. "Look." He took a picture frame and pointed at the picture. "That's us when we went to the beach!" Araumi smiled. "How long are you going to stay?" He asked. "As long as you want." "Then it's settled." "Huh?" "Araumi." He took her hands. "I want you to move in with me, whenever you leave all I can think about is when you'll get to come back." Her face turned bright red and tears shot out of her eyes. "You were thinking of me!!!" "So will you!?" He asked again and was practically floating off the ground. "YES!" "ALRIGHT!" Hiroshi cheered and gave her a kiss. Not to far from Jurai, Yukio was on his home planet and in the forest that he lived when he was a child. "So many memories..." He thought as he walked to a spring. *Flashback* "Yukio! I've got something!" The seven year old Akina struggled with her fishing pole and tried to lure out whatever was caught. "Holy! What exactly did you snag!?" Yukio grabbed on and began to help her pull. in a matter of minutes, a tower of water shot up and a monstrous sized fish shot out. "YAAAIIEEE!" Akina screamed. "KIN HAAAAA!" Yukio quickly fired a golden beam and destroyed the fish as it fell towards them. "Is it gone?" Akina had buried her face in his chest. "Uh.....y...yeah..." Yukio blushed. Akina quickly stared around at the fried fish chunks around them and gulped. "Yukio, you saved me!" "Uh....well....." "Thank you so much! Yukio you're my hero!" She gave him a small kiss on his cheek. "Gaah! Cooties!" Yukio frowned. "Hey!" "Ever since then Akina never fished again." He laughed and pulled her engagement ring out of his pocket. "Tonight......I have a feeling about tonight." he clutched it then floated off the ground and shot into the sky. Couple of hours later on Earth. "Good bye!" Kioko waved to her friends. "See ya on Monday Kioko! Bye!" Haru called. "Juro, now's your chance to take Kioko on a date!" Nami called. "NAMI!" Kioko shouted but felt Juro's arm wrapped around her side. "Thanks Nami, I will." At that moment all of her friend's mouths dropped. "W......wha.....what?" "What's wrong Nami? Jealous, let's go babe." Juro winked at Kioko then they walked off. "N....no way.....they......they really are.." Haru blinked. "I wanna boyfriend!" Nami and the others cried. Kioko and Juro came into the forest and burst out into laughter. "It worked!" They peaked through the trees and saw the group crying. "This was a good plan Juro." Kioko smiled. "Heh, one of my best." he then felt like his stomach was twisting. "Gah, let's get home I'm starving." "Okay, boyfriend!" Kioko giggled then shot off. "B...boy...friend......?" He blushed then felt his stomach twist again. "HEY!" Tenchi walked up the temple steps and was surprised at how cleanly swept they were. "Kobanwa Tenchi." Akina greeted as he came to the temple. "Huh....oh, Kobanwa." Tenchi blushed and bowed. "How was college today?" "Hard as usual, but it's a living." He smiled. "Well, I hope my being a shrine maiden helps out with your studies, this way Lord Katsuhito can't bother you." "Y....you're doing this for me?" Tenchi blushed. "That too, I need to lug my families weight around here too you know." She put her broom away and looked at Katsuhito's clock. "Kioko and Juro should be getting home about now, are you going to stay here and study?" She asked. "For a little while." "Okay, I'll come get you when supper is ready." She started to walk away but Tenchi stopped her. "Akina....." "Tenchi?" "When.....when you first came.....I couldn't help.....but fall in love with you." "Tenchi." "I know you love Yukio but, I just......" He let her hand go. "....I just wanted to let you know that.....I probably fell for you because I....don't have enough nerve....." Akina shook her head and turned to face him. "To tell the girl who you really care for that you love her?" She smiled. Tenchi blushed. "You really should let her know how you care Tenchi, don't let her love be in vain." "But what about.." "She will understand eventually, Tenchi, don't lead her to false love for all eternity." Akina started down the stairway but stopped. "On second thought, I'll send her up to tell you supper is ready." She grinned and continued her way. Yukio landed on the dock and heard Kioko dart through the forest. "Dad!" She jumped into the air above him. "There's my girl!" He caught her and laughed. "Where did you go?" she asked. "To Ratixia." he put her down. "Aww, when are you and Mom going to take me there?" She whined. "Very soon." Yukio smiled then saw Akina walk from the step way. "Yukio." She walked over to him and gave him a kiss. "Akina, I need to talk to you for a little while." "Okay, just a minute." She hugged Kioko peaked her head in the house. "Hey, I need you to tell Tenchi when Supper is ready." She then closed the door and walked back over to Yukio. Back on Jurai. "Araumi, are you alright?" Hiroshi carried her out of a bar. "Y....yeah, damn that stupid bitch, hit on my guy will she?" Araumi growled then grabbed her head. "Are you jealous?" He grinned. "Of course not......I'm just.....y'know." She mumbled as he carried her into the apartment. "What time is it?" Araumi stared at a clock and grinned. "Here." Hiroshi carried her into his room and put her down on his bed. "I'll sleep on the couch." He said somewhat reluctantly. "Oho no you're not." She grabbed his ankle and pulled him back. Later everyone sat at the table and waited for Tenchi, but curious to why Raikon was grinning. "Raikon." Kiyone nudged him. "Heh." "Why are you grinning?" "You're sister...You'll never believe it..." "What?" Sasami asked. "Akina sent her up to the temple for a reason." "Let's just hope he has the guts to confess." Washu grinned. "So you know too eh?" Raikon smiled. "What are you talking about!?" Ayeka demanded. Ryoko floated up the temple steps and looked around. "Tenchi? Hey Tenchi?" She came to the temple door and slid it open, there sat Tenchi with his books folded and a single candle lit. "Supper's ready." "Sit down Ryoko." He said. Ryoko blinked then sat down. "Um.....did...did I do something wrong?" she gulped. Tenchi shook his head. "I talked to Akina today, and she made me realize something." Ryoko was still at a loss until he reached across the table and took her hand with his shaky one. "It was wrong for me to lead you and Ayeka on for all these years, but now Akina opened my eyes and now I know....Ry...Ryoko....." He smiled as tears began to roll from her eyes. "I love you." "TENCHI!" She reached across the table and hugged him. "I.....I love you too....more than anything." Next thing she knew, she finally received what she longed for, her first kiss.....with the man she loved. Akina and Yukio came to a small moonlit opening in the forest and sat down on a boulder. He put his arm around her and Akina leaned on his shoulder. "You know that I love you right?" He asked. Akina sighed happily. "You know that I love you, right?" Yukio held her close and then released her. "Close your eyes." He stepped off the boulder. After a few minutes passed she felt her clothes morph and then couldn't help but open her eyes, she was wearing a Ratixian engagement gown *similar to a Chinese dress*. Yukio wore a handsomely sewn shirt and pants then walked to her. "I know that we are married by fate, but...." he took her hand. "You deserve to be married by love, Akina." He slid the ring onto her finger. "Will you be my wife?" "Yukio." She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. "Did you really have to ask?" She asked teasingly and kissed him. "It's tradition." "Yukio, I will." ...because on this blue planet, were seven people, and one cabbit, that changed our lives forever. The End Author's Final Note: Sorry if I disappointed you Ayeka fans, but I'm basing who Tenchi loves from the way he treated the girls in the series and movies, if you notice, he and Ryoko usually bonded through talking, arguing, dating, or just plain flirting. In the third movie it was really obvious, Ryoko was the one that kept flashing through his mind and brought him back to reality, I see this clearly as a sign that he loves her. I also hope that you enjoyed my fanfic as much as I enjoyed writing it, someday I might write a short fanfiction about Kioko so keep an eye out for it. Thanks again, Ja ne. =(^_^)=