Disclaimer: All right everyone. Tenchi Muyo! is the are property of AIC and Pioneer. Tenchi Muyo! and all its characters were created by Masaki Kajishima. The author of this fan fiction therefore only owns the writings. This copyright is 2001 under Devin A. Brown. Ahem: I don't have any money right now, so don't sue me. Besides, this has been kinda fun... ^_^ You do want me to write more, don't you? C&C to: dbrown10028@hotmail.com +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Between Dreams and Reality by Incantrix +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================ Chap 1 - Peaceful Interruptions ============================================ The irony of life is that it is lived forward but understood backward. - Soren Kierkegaard Peaceful, but not for long. He could never get any sleep! Didn't I just put my head down on my pillow? Tenchi thought. I'm just exhausted and my bones are tired. Then is this a dream or is it reality? Was it sitting at breakfast one average morning, drinking some tea and watching? Watching those two girls fight before my eyes, all the time, he just couldn't control himself anymore. Sometimes, he'd try to separate them. Lately, he would lurk away and withdraw from the scene. It's those scenes he dreaded the most. Fighting like the noble family and pirate they are, one of them was going to have to change their stripes or they would drive the passion's away. A switch to another scene. For every morning, it was like regular clockwork. Maybe she would forget. Tenchi wondered, she can be so lazy with chores and cleaning the house, but to miss his eyes opening...alas, it wouldn't be long now... Slowly, undaunted, Tenchi left his unconscious self and emerged into the real world. He refused to open his eyes to the sunlight that streamed through his window. He could tell it was very early, for the low arching sun had reflected off the waxed floor reflecting perfectly into his eyes. "Tenchi..." he heard softly in the distance, from somewhere behind his white bedroom wall. It was a soulful voice, a caring voice, the voice that watched over him. He knew that voice all so well. "Uuggh..." All he could do was stick his pillow over his head. Yesterday, it was hot tea that Sasami had so carefully crafted, it was shame it ended up in his lap, halfway down his pants, burning between his legs. Wow, it still hurts down there. He could never look at tea the same way. Ever since she made the BIG deal the first time he got up in the morning, he couldn't shake her. He tried sleeping outside, but she tracked his down with a little help from Ryo-ohki on a leash. Damn, that little furball could sniff him out for miles. He tried sleep- hiding in the storage sheds where the carrots are kept and Sasami found him instead, gathering vegetables for breakfast. He even retreated to the shrine. It was great sleeping until grandfather showed up and ran him through double sessions of practice before his first meal. Close to giving up, he surrendered to fate. "Tenchi...my darling," reverberated throughout the room, as Ryoko teleported and appeared above him. The cyan haired demon was very excited that it was morning, indeed! "Don't you have someone else to bother?" whined a tired Tenchi. The conversation was already on the top of his tongue, already programmed to go off. "Oh no Tenchi, for it is morning and I want to see you" as Ryoko batted her eyes lids and smiled like an innocent schoolgirl. "Now rise and shine." Why does it have to be every morning, Tenchi thought. When was the last time I got some decent rest around here? The simple please of sleeping a little late would be nice. After all, grandfather had noticed how sluggard he's had been in cleaning off the steps yesterday. At least he's giving me the morning off. But he just couldn't take any more interruptions. Pain cascaded down his back. The fall harvesting season meant pulling up carrots from the ground, for more than a couple of hours a day. Ah, he thought, to grow some other vegetables, like tomatoes. But this was for once, his Sunday to rest. And that meant no troubles, especially early morning ones. And for once, he was real tired of it. Actually, sick of it. Couldn't stand it... "Ryoko!" commanded Tenchi. He heaved his covers off his bed. Ryoko, surprised at Tenchi's sudden movements, quickly disappeared into the floor. "Ewww...I've never seen you so aroused in the morning, Tenchi. How about some early fun where we..." Ryoko quietly reappeared with her mouth over Tenchi's ear and started whispering the rest of her rather perverted thoughts into his mind. "Cut it out! I am not your plaything to be fooled around with as you see fit!" Tenchi had not totally pulled himself out of bed, instead he used his covers to fend himself away from Ryoko. "But I'm just so..." Ryoko could no longer keep her words in coherent sentences "in to you..." She was delightfully twirling her finger against Tenchi's shirt. "How can I help it if that's how I feel?" "Ryoko, we've had this talk before." In fact, he never really told Ryoko about the morning wake ups, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. The lack of sleep and the button pushing by Ryoko had finally driven his mental state to the edge. Tenchi wanted to yell at her, call her off and away from him. Instead, his mind turned to better judgment of the situation. Ignoring Ryoko, he quickly tucked himself back into a curled sleeping position. "I need my space! Can't you just leave me...alone?" In defiance, he buried his head in his pillows. "Fine. But what if I wasn't here, Tenchi?" Now that was an interesting question. But Tenchi didn't have to think, he just wanted to sleep. Ayeka and Mihoshi were hanging around the base of the stairs, for a Sunday they were both up rather early in the morning. They had already seen Noboyuki go off to work, something about some 'blasted' project under his breath due on his bosses desk by the next morning. Yosho had already left to the shrine. The front door during their exit was left wide open, letting in the fresh air and morning sun into the Masaki house. It certainly was peaceful time. No matter how I compare the beauty Jurai, Ayeka thought, it sometimes pales to the morning sunshine of this temporary home. Jurai had been so maintained for hundreds of years that it indeed was a very beautiful place. Jurdain trees were always in such noble places, countless courtyards of shrubs and flowers; it gave the planet a bit of artificial feel. Somehow, it had lost the sense of soil, home-ness. Being planet bound on Earth was a nice return indeed. The sight of a runaway squirrel gathering nuts for the winter only confirmed the presence of nature. Sasami was exiting the kitchen with a fresh batch of tea, morning biscuits and jelly. The cabbit Ryo-ohki had made herself comfortable in her usual spot on top of Sasami's head. "Some tea, Mihoshi?" asked Sasami, holding the tray carefully with both hands, especially when she was around the GP officer. "Thank you, Sasami," answered Mihoshi to a morning cup. "When are you going to show me the secrets to making such good tea...yummmmm." "Miya." Sasami just smiled at the comment, and let Ryo-ohki do the talking for her today. She had just poured her older sister's cup when their peaceful morning was suddenly over. "Tenchi!!" bellowed upstairs from Ryoko. "Get out!" from Tenchi. Another "Tenchi..." from Ryoko. From there, a succession of screen door slams and other choice curse words. When Ayeka had seen Tenchi yesterday, he in fact looked tired. Taking care of four ladies (and one very hungry cabbit!) under one roof had been too much for poor Tenchi, and he needed a day off. Actually, she was surprised that Tenchi had not accompanied his grandfather to the shrine, but alas, Yosho had made no comment on Tenchi's absence. Ryoko teleported downstairs to near the front door with her head much lower than usual, swinging the open door shut in disgust. "He doesn't want to see me." Ryoko sniffed after her statements, the rest of the group could see Ryoko's eyes were rather red-lined and puffy. "He actually told me to get out..." Ayeka was amazed that Tenchi had made such a statement, especially to Ryoko. She thought that it was about time Tenchi had put his foot down on something. The less than stellar energy and the lack of sleep could even have sharpened his tongue. However, noticing a moment, Ayeka did not waste any time. She dove right into her favorite sparring partner. "Miss Ryoko, why don't you leave Tenchi alone?" Ryoko shot back, ready to defend herself. "Why, so you can have him for yourself?" Ryoko did not like Ayeka's line of questioning one bit. She hovered up a step on the stairs to get a better look over her opposition's head. "Did you every think Lord Tenchi would be tired?" injected back Ayeka. "Perhaps of you, spoiled princess." Ryoko was laying it on pretty thick. "Or you, monster woman!" Ayeka was getting her emotions charged up for an early morning battle. Blue sparks flew into the air, ready to land on opponents. "Oh really, well, we'll just see about that." Ryoko made a grab for the tea serving kit that Sasami had passed around. "Well, I'm bringing him breakfast!" Ayeka was ready but not fully prepared. "Oh, we'll just see about that. When was the last time you made food, even for yourself!" Ayeka seized the other part of the tray while poor Sasami held on for dear life. "Perhaps I could bring Tenchi some breakfast?" questioned in the other princess. Sasami was trying her best to break up the morning argument to no avail. "I spent a lot of time making these fresh jams." Meanwhile, Mihoshi had taken a few morning biscuits for herself and was helping herself to more contents on the tray as well. "Oh! Is that the carrot jelly you made?" she piped. Sasami, desperate to alter the situation, changed the subject gleefully. "YES! I made it-" "Miyaaaa!" Ryo-ohki had heard the magic word 'carrot' and charged for the tray. **SMASH** Piping hot tea, fresh biscuits, sticky carrot jelly, and one furry Ryo-ohki went flying. "Ryoko!" screamed Ayeka. "WAAAAAA!!! Do you know how hard it is to get this stuff out of my hair!" yelled Mihoshi. "Ryoko! Ayeka! Oh both of you!" Sasami stomped. "I think I'll take a walk..." commented Ryoko as she shyly dematerialized through the floor. Washu had been working on eleven projects, at least two could affect the Earth and another one could damage the local star cluster. Still, she wasn't satisfied with the scope of her current projects, they seemed oh, so unimportant. She couldn't deal with an experiment without it affecting the universe at least once week. Oh well, nothing like another normal day of science. She had been up for at least three days now without sleep, working on her latest project. Even though she promised Funaho she wouldn't build any more Ryo-ohki's, she was fooling around with some imported Mass and planning another furry creature. You know, Ryo-ohki could use some friends, she though. "miya.." "Ahhh, I was just thinking of you..." Washu turned her head in the direction of her furry creation. "Oh, and what happened to you?" "mew..." Poor Ryo-ohki's fur was covered head to toe with wet biscuit crumbs. "Oh, you poor thing!" Washu clicked a few button on one of her keyboards. "I've got the perfect fix!" Clicking noises started Ryo-ohki from the lab ceiling. Suddenly, a metallic giant arm came down and grabbed the cabbit before she could escape. "Miya?" "Don't worry, it's just my cabbit washing machine." as Washu could answer any more gleefully. It didn't matter, for a battle-tested cabbit was plenty scared. "Miya! Miya! Meyaa!" "Come on! It's perfectly safe for naughty crystals like yourself!" replied a reassuring Washu. She left her chair and walked over to a suspended Ryo-ohki. The robotic arm proceeded to drop Ryo-ohki in a open chute from the floor. The chute was labeled with <> <> and <> signs. "Meya!...." howled the falling Ryo-ohki. For the next few minutes, scared and tortured 'miya' sounds echoed behind Washu's laboratory walls. *Bing* From the ceiling, our reluctant cabbit hero dropped from another chute landing safely onto the floor. Yes, she was clean, bright, and bushy-tailed. In fact, with a little too much bushy-tailed. Her poor fur had an extreme case of 'fuzzy' from Washu's dryer cycle. Washu was in ultra cute mode by this time. "Awe, is my little furball going to be ok?" "mew..." answered back the tired little cabbit. Ryoko had quietly phased behind Washu and her terminal with her head was facing down. was the thought in her head from Washu. It was only the link in her mind that alerted Washu to Ryoko's presence. Ryoko was now leaning her head high on the glass, her breath visible in the reflection. "I'm lonely..." Her Ryo-ohki, seeing one look at the space pirate, ran into one of the corners of the lab. She did not feel like getting another washing today. "And..." chimed Washu as she continued to type away on her holographic keyboard. "Butt-out..." Ryoko sighed. "You didn't come down here for the scenery, for I have none." Washu had stopped typing at her terminal and was up and about. "I know why your down here." Ryoko was going to have shut out Washu more to her feelings. Its bad enough the first time they met, Washu had her pegged for her feeling about Tenchi. In closing off her mental link, it also cut her train of thought. "How can I...ahhh...errr..." For once, Ryoko was without words. Washu was now standing intently behind Ryoko, whispering into her ear. "How about a bath, we haven't had any mother-daughter talks in a while." "Washu.." Ryoko's head was still buried beneath her upright arms and the glass wall. "I'll wash your back?" "Washu!" Ryoko pointed out from her manmade cave. "I'll bring some sake?" At this point, Washu was really enjoying this. "WASHU!!!" hissed Ryoko. Oh yeah, Ryoko reflected, like some sake is open my trap to you, Washu. "Come on, I'm not an idiot; after all, I am the greatest mom in the universe." Washu was now smiling and really quite proud of herself. Ryoko couldn't believe her ears. "Why you, how could you say..." A bit of reality hit Ryoko, and after a quick stutter she knew at that moment there was no choice, no words to describe her feelings. The emotional burden of this morning consumed her heart. Ryoko's whole body lacked its needed strength and she fell into a jumbled heap on the floor. Dripping with emotional loss, she was close to tears. "I...I...I just can't deal with Tenchi anymore," sniffed Ryoko. "He doesn't care about me, he doesn't feel..." Washu put her hand on her daughter's cyan mane and combed her hair down. "There, there, my little Ryoko." Ryoko continued after a long pause, sinking her body into her lap even closer to the ground. "It's that blasted Ayeka, she is up to something, I just know it." Washu, in response to trying to cheer her daughter up, was definitely not letting Ryoko off the hook. "As I suspected for some time." Ryoko looked with her head up, rather horrified. "What! Are you kidding me? You've never said there was a chance that Tenchi and Ayeka would be together...are you sure?" "Well..." Washu was still thinking about the point as she put her fingers on her chin. Ryoko had now picked herself off the floor and was alert as a bear near honey. She grabbed onto Washu's collar and stared into her eyes. "Washu, you have better tell me the truth." "Let's see," Washu managed to slip quickly away from Ryoko's grip. She turned to a new terminal that phased into existence. A few lines of code popped on the screen. After a few seconds of keystrokes and observations... *Bleep* The computer binged out a response like it had a dozen biscuits ready in the open. "According to this, Tenchi and Ayeka have a 12.78 percent chance of getting married," flatly reported Washu. "WHAT!! I'm going to kill that hussy Ayeka!" Ryoko's eyes just let up with energy as her hands threatened to latch onto the next poor passerby. *Bleep* "Whew, the odds just jumped to 13.19 percent, I wonder what caused that?" Ryoko was just plain furious. "Well! I'll show HER..." Ryoko had pushed Washu away from the computer and was grabbing the side edges with rather frightening energy. "Now take it easy..." Washu chimed in. Damn, Washu thought, why did I have to use a regular terminal instead of the one that just phases in and out of existence? Ryoko had managed to get a pretty good grip on the terminal, and with all that that extra emotional fuel that Washu supplied, Ryoko let it out. After all, all that energy wasn't just going to disappear. *Cracckkk* Ryoko had managed to rip the terminal off its platform. She raised the defeated screen like a championship trophy in the air. "So, what do you think of those odds right now." Then, she heaved the terminal into the corner, smashing it into pieces of useless metal and glass. "Feel better?" asked Washu. She was worried for her daughter and not so much for the terminal anymore. Ryoko was still breathing heavily from here so recent actions. "Not really..." She sighed as the emotional fire quickly left her eyes. "Ryoko..." pleaded Washu. Ryoko had already turned around and had started to sulk slowly to the exit door. "...I'm sorry, Mom." she answered back, sincerely as possible. Washu chimed in merrily, "Little Ryoko, can you do me a favor?" Ryoko shook her head in approval. "Can you clean up this mess?" Ryoko quickly rematerialized and clutched the broom and dustpan kit that Washu was so brightly holding up. "Err...sure." Ryoko didn't have the heart to transport herself to the scene, instead she shuffled off to the back of the lab. "I can't totally predict the future," answered Washu. But I'm sure hell going to sure try, thought Washu. "Uh-huh," sighed Ryoko. "Your going to be all right, Ryoko," explained Washu. Ryoko heard her mom, but she could not answer for her heart was too low. This is unbelievable, Ryoko thought, that I have to clean up my own mess. Damn that Washu, she can be so right sometimes. I know, I don't usually open up that type of stuff to her, but everyone else is just pissed mad at me right now. Everyone else. At least she understands me. At least a bit. Ryoko had thrown the terminal into a dark corner of the lab. A sign above one of the keyboards have been labeled 'Dimensional Tuner' but Ryoko really didn't pay any attention too much to her surroundings. "Hey Washu, are there any lights around here? I can't find some of the glass shards on the floor," questioned Ryoko. "Just flip the switch on the wall, dear," answered back Washu. I guess she means this one on the left wall, Ryoko thought. She turned it on and some overhead green & blue lights filtered some useable light onto the floor. Why does that Ayeka have to be so impossible, thought Ryoko. She doesn't see it my way at all, I just can't understand it. Why can't I just be with Tenchi? What is wrong with me anyway? This morning was just unbelievable. Why did Tenchi throw me out of his room this morning? She took a quick sniff of herself. All she could smell was carrot jam. Doesn't he want to see me? Does he even care about me anymore? Ryoko's shoulders just shuddered under her own convictions. Ryoko had just a few pieces of glass left to sweep up. Well, that will do. Now, where's that dustpan... Washu was already busy into her next experiment when she noticed the hissing of fresh energy and the colored lights from the far edge of the lab. She turned her stool and attention around. "Be careful in there, Ryoko!" "Huh?!" Ryoko lifted her head up from near the ground. At the same time, the pole of the broom pushed a switch up on the main control panel. Oohhh, that can't be good, deliberated Washu. Little Ryoko just pulled a Mihoshi. Oh well, I better check her for blond genes... Washu quickly jumped off her chair and ran toward her daughter as fast as her little legs could carry her. It was evident that she was not going to make it to her destination in time. Too late! Must reach the portable augmenters before... Because above Ryoko's head, the great machine had awakened from its slumber. Above her head, a blue and green sphere piped with life- giving power and came to life. Infused with energy, the tuner fulfilled its purposeful existence by setting up its possible matrix of variables based upon its input scan. it set up the possible matrix for its purposeful existence. Damn it, He never did answer my question this morning. What if I wasn't here, Tenchi? What would do without me? Yea, what if I didn't exist, or I wasn't known to you, Tenchi. After all, what if Tenchi had never released me from the cave that Yosho had sealed me in? What if my mind- *Click* *Whoosh* "Washu!, did you say-" said a mystified Ryoko. Washu was definitely yelling from the far side of the lab. With her arms flapping around like a chicken, Ryoko couldn't make head or tails on what was going on. The green and blue lights that were previously above Ryoko's head were now shining and focusing into a small laser beam onto Ryoko's forehead. A small golden metallic sphere area dropped from the ceiling and focused its camera module at Ryoko. "Huh? What is it?" Ryoko was startled by the movement above her. If it's Washu trying to put me in another trap, though Ryoko, I'm not going to talk to her for a month. "Ryoko! Before it syncs-" yelled Washu. Lights and screens activated on the controls had now filled the small corner brightly. Energy wildly sparked and unleashed itself into the air. All of a sudden, white fire engulfed Ryoko. "Aaachh!.." Ryoko could see the golden sphere monitor the energy cocoon around her body. The grip of power on her was unbelievable. She tried to activate her sword to knock out the transmitters from above, instead it reacted with the energy, drained away and died. "Ryoko!" screamed an hysterical Washu, as she saw her daughter jumble over in pain. Tidal waves of energy were now cascading out of the corner of the lab, interfering with the local continuum. Glass shattered. Tables and chairs moved by invisible hands flipped over. Chaos ensued. Ryoko saw Washu ripple in waves like a bad mirror reflection. Her face became distorted and pinched, her hair became drawn out as well as least six or seven feet behind her head. A final undulation and Washu disappeared at a drop of a hat. Seconds later, the white energy built to a crescendo that claimed Ryoko's consciousness. Ryoko awoke to darkness. "What...where...Washu!...get this thing off of me!" Again, she could not move. Pressure was building down on all sides, a strong vice had her body held tight. The pain was almost unbelievable. Ryoko was half expecting to have Washu rip the blindfold off, where Ryoko would find herself strapped in for dear life. "Ryo-ohki, come on, where are you hiding...now be a good girl and for six carrots GET ME OUT OF HERE!" No response. "AYEKA!!!" Ryoko shrieked. Nothing. Ryoko turned her thought pains away at the crisis at hand and was trying to figure out how the hell she ended up in the predicament. It had to be Mihoshi's fault, for Ryoko had no one else to blame. "Tenchi..." A single tear dropped from Ryoko's eye. Her pain quickly turned to despair at the thought of losing her mother and her home. Strange, Ryoko thought, if I was bonded in Washu's lab, then I wouldn't feel the tear down the side of my neck, would I. Where the hell am I then? A soft breeze had started to blow into her face as a background glow embossed an image in front of her. Ryoko then saw it: a perfect reflection of herself about twenty paces away. The detail matched perfectly from her soft hair spikes to her plunging neckline. However, when she blinked her eyes, there was no reaction from the reflection. With her eyes closed and her head tilted lower, Ryoko inferred that 'thing' could not be a reflection of herself. "Hey! Let more out of here..." Surprising, she did not get an answer to her request. "You two-timing phony." The image came closer and closer. Wind currents grew fiercer which ruffed even Ryoko's stiff hair. "So what are you doing to me, don't you think duplicating me has been done enough!!?" Her body double was now on top of her. It flipped around in a quick turn until Ryoko faced the back of her head. Hey, I never noticed the back of my head before...wow, I really do have bad hair days. No wonder Tenchi refuses to give me backrubs. Her mind wandered as her body was about to merge with her new twin. Light cascaded from the edge of her body until the images were matched. Then, energy subsided until there was only darkness once again. With nothing else to see, Ryoko drifted back into subconscious. Ryoko awoke from her darkness to a spring morning. She was looking up at the sky, her body flatly lying on the dry ground. The sun was early in the heavens, it was just getting ready to pierce a fairly high cloud. She could hear the trees sway in the winds and dry leaves tumble down the steps. She was back on Earth. She was home again. "Tenchi...where are you..." Ryoko whispered to herself. Her mind was a total fog, the memory had been temporary put on hold. No matter, for Ryoko knew she had to find him. Her fine ears picked up the sweeping sound of a broom. Ah-ha! thought Ryoko, Tenchi is at the shrine sweeping the front patio. She quickly took off in the air up the side of the hill. Wow, she thought, how quickly I'm flying up the side of the hill. She couldn't believe her inner strength from having just survived that menacing darkness that Washu put her through. Then she saw him. There he was, in that brown coat with his trusty broom sweeping away at the top steps of the shrine. His image became bigger as she flew up... "Tenchi!!!" Unnoticed, Ryoko jumped at him with untapped joy- Only to find her body to phase right through him. At that exact moment, her mind cleared- "NOOOO!!!!" For Ryoko knew her physical body was still trapped in that blasted cave.