Hello, everyone.  I'm really inexperienced at writing fan fiction, so 
please, please, PLEASE send me comments and criticism, or I'll never be 
able to improve my writing.  Also, if you'd like to post this story on 
your site, please ask me first.  

Legal disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and its characters are property of Pioneer
and AIC.  This story, however, is mine.  Please don't sue me, because 
I'm just writing this for fun.  (Actually, I'm supposed to be studying 
right now.  Shhhh...)

With my love always
By Literary Eagle (literaryeagle@hotmail.com)

Part 1: Spring

My beloved,

	It never stops hurting.  I miss you so much.  How I long for the 
day when we can be together again!  Do you know how much I cried when you 
left?  I'm sorry ... I just wish I could find the right words to use.  
It's impossible.  I could write forever and not even come close to 
expressing what I feel right now, and what I've always felt for you.  

	It's spring again.  The cherry blossoms riding the breeze look so 
much like snow, I can't help but think of Christmas.  Can you imagine 
that?  It's spring, and I'm thinking about Christmas!  Isn't that 
something?  

	I'd love to see some of those cherry blossoms in your hair right 
now.  Do you remember the day when I finally told you that I loved you?  
It was on a spring day much like this, wasn't it?  You were sitting 
outside, braiding your hair.  I sat down beside you, and then ... I don't 
know why I did it.  Maybe there really is such a thing as "spring fever", 
maybe it was the way your soft hands were moving through that shining 
hair, or maybe it was that beautiful song you were singing.  

	Whatever the reason, I just knew at that moment that I could no 
longer deny it: what I felt for you was more special than what I felt 
for anyone else.  I mean, all of the girls who have stayed at my house 
are the best friends anyone could ask for, but the one I loved was you.  
That was when I just snatched several cherry blossoms from the breeze and 
helped you braid them into your hair.  That was when I told you.  But you 
had already known that I loved you, didn't you?  You had just been 
letting let me wait until I was ready to tell you.  You were so patient 
with me.  

	I can't stand that we're apart now.  I wish that you could come 
back home to me.  I'm being unrealistic, aren't I?  I guess I have to 
wait for when I can go to you.  I'm sorry.  It's just that I miss you so 
much.  But I guess you knew that too, didn't you?  

	I have to go to work now.  It's going to be another long day.  
Tonight, if I dream of anything, I hope it's of the day when I can see 
you again, and see the cherry blossoms in your hair.  

                                             With my love always,
                                             Tenchi

Part 2: Summer

My beloved,

	If only you could see how Sasami has grown, in just a few months!  
I guess it goes without saying that she misses you, too.  She's been 
doing very well in school, much better than I ever did.  Sasami still 
hopes to become a doctor someday.  I don't need to tell you why.  

	It's summer, the time of year when the days are the longest.  
This means that the days I have to spend without you are even longer than 
before.  Sometimes I still look out the window and expect to see you 
standing on the front walk, feeding the birds.  But it's Mihoshi and 
Kiyone who do that now.  Kiyone told me that, even if you aren't here, 
someone has to feed those birds, because they have come to depend on us 
for food.  She said that they need us.  

	Sometimes I wonder if the birds miss you, too.  It still hurts 
that you're not here anymore.  I know that you wouldn't want to see me 
like this.  I want you to know that I have been carrying on.  It doesn't 
matter where you are.  You will always be my inspiration.  You know what?  
I think I'm going to ask Mihoshi and Kiyone if I can feed those birds 
from now on.  

                                             With my love always,
                                             Tenchi

Part 3: Autumn

My beloved,

	Ryo-Oh-Ki and Mayuka sure were having fun today!  They were 
jumping into all the leaf piles that Dad had made just for them.  
Grandpa said that he'd never seen anybody with that much energy.  
That's pretty amazing, considering all the warriors that Grandpa has 
fought, huh?  

	I watched my daughter sending all those leaves flying, and 
laughed.  I know that you'll be happy to hear that I have learned to 
feel joy again.  But it still doesn't lessen my longing to hold your 
hand while watching those leaves, and to hear you laugh with me.  

	Leaves certainly can turn a lot of different colors.  Some of 
them are almost the same color as your eyes, but not quite as intense, 
and nowhere near as beautiful.  No leaf can ever mirror the deep 
understanding that your eyes held, gentle and moving as an unvoiced poem.   

	Can you guess who has been helping me through these difficult 
times the most?  Dad and Washu.  I kid you not.  They've provided the 
most wonderful support over the past months.  Washu hardly ever stays in 
her lab anymore.  I guess I really shouldn't be too surprised.  She and 
Dad both understand what it's like to be separated from a loved one.  
They don't even have to do much.  It's enough that they're there to 
listen when I need to talk to someone.  Of course, everyone else has been 
really supportive, too.  I don't know how I could manage to raise Mayuka 
without their guidance.  

	We all wish that we could see you again.  I know that someday we 
will.  I don't know when that is, but I assure you that I will try to 
find some joy in the days that must pass before "someday" comes.  

                                             With my love always,
                                             Tenchi

Part 4: Winter

My beloved,

	I can see the snow falling outside my window, and can't help but 
think of cherry blossoms.  Sasami and Ryo-Oh-Ki are playing out there 
with Azaka and Kamidake.  How can you have a good snowball fight with a 
pair of logs that have no arms?  They seem to be having fun, though.  
Sasami may be 16, but she hasn't forgotten how to throw a good snowball.  

	Just this morning, Ryoko came up to me and asked if I was okay, 
if I thought that I could ever be happy again.  I mean, really and truly 
happy.  She's been such a good friend.  I know that it's been hard for 
her to see me like this, and especially hard for her to know that I can 
miss no one as powerfully as I miss you.  She is more capable of 
compassion than I ever gave her credit for.  

	I told her that I am alright, as I told you that I am trying to 
experience joy again.  But it's hard.  It's so hard, and sometimes I feel 
as if I just can't go on if you're not here.  There are still many nights 
where I just lie on my bed and cry.  I miss you!  I miss you so much more 
than any of these pitiful words can express!  

	I wish that you hadn't gotten sick.  I wish that there had been 
something more that I could have done for you.  I will never forget those 
final days we spent together, last year.  I had tried my best to comfort 
you, but in the end, you were the strong one, not me.  I sat by your 
bedside and cried, and you reached out and held my hand and ... smiled at 
me.  That comforting smile was the last gift you ever gave me, and also 
the most precious.  

	I was never able to give you a gift before you departed.  It was 
this spring, when I saw the cherry blossoms and thought of your hair, 
that I began preparing these letters.  My final gift for you.  Tonight, 
I will bury them by your grave.  

	My name means "Heaven and Earth".  Perhaps you are no longer on 
this Earth, my beloved, but even in Heaven, you are still a part of 
me.  You always will be.  And someday, we will be able to read these 
letters together, won't we?  Until then, I will try to live my life as 
best I can, always remembering the cherry blossoms, your gentle but 
strong hands, your voice whispering a Juraian prayer to the moon.  

	I will look forward to what life still has to bring, but I will 
continue to look forward to the day when we shall be together again.  
That will be the most wonderful gift of all.  Until then, these letters 
will be stored in a safe place beside you, along with these dried cherry 
blossoms that I have been saving.  

	Merry Christmas, Ayeka.  

                                             With my love always,
                                             Tenchi


	Author's notes: This is only my second attempt at a fan fic.  
I hope it came out all right.  (I wrote this thing in one night.)  
I'm actually one of those people who thinks that Tenchi + Ryoko = Love, 
but I'm already exploring that in my other fan fic, a series called 
"Confess to You" (shameless plug).  Like I said at the beginning, I'm 
very new to this fan fic stuff, so please send your comments and 
criticism on this story, and also on "Confess to You" (shameless plug) 
to me at literaryeagle@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading!  
Also, special thanks to AleeN, my proofreader.  

Text copyright 1998, Literary Eagle
(But the characters belong to Pioneer and AIC)