Disclaimer: I Don't own Tenchi or any of the characters in this story. I'm not making any money off of this story. The Garden Ryoko knocked on Tenchi's door. He came to the door yawning and wearing a long white robe. "Yes, Ryoko?" "Tenchi, you said to meet you downstairs fifteen minutes ago." Ryoko reminded him. Tenchi slapped his forehead and begged a few minutes to get dressed. Ryoko leaned up against the wall outside Tenchi's room. So many memories to go through, it was so overwhelming. She remembered Washu as her Mom now and all the other memories. For now, she had blocked them off. She preferred to let the memories be sparked by something in her current life, rather than have a waterfall of them at the moment. "Ryoko?" Tenchi asked coming out of his room. "Yes, Tenchi, I'm ready." Ryoko and Tenchi went downstairs and took a bus into Tokyo. After they got off the bus, Tenchi looked at Ryoko and smiled. "I hope it's okay if I have our day planned for us." Tenchi asked. Ryoko smiled gently and nodded. "It's fine, Tenchi. I'm just happy to be around you." *** Washu peeked out the door. "No one's home. Heh, heh." She went back in her lab. She had gotten Ayeka to take Sasami and Mihoshi to town and they wouldn't be back until tonight. Ryoko and Tenchi were off on a date. Washu cackled. Tenchi was in on her plan and so were the others. All except... her daughter. *** "What's this place, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked. They were in front of a dull building with no ornamentation on it at all. Ryoko wrinkled her nose at what Tenchi considered entertainment. "Something Washu said you would like." Tenchi shrugged. "After she mentioned it, I thought I'd like it as well." "In that case," Ryoko grabbed his hand and dragged them inside. "Two please." Tenchi told the cashier and paid their way in. "What is this, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked. She had looked around for some sort of clue, but hadn't found one. "You'll see." They walked down a flight of stairs. "Go through there," Tenchi pointed. Ryoko followed his instructions and went through the doors. "Ohh," she breathed. "Do you like it?" Tenchi asked from behind her. Ryoko nodded. The place was covered with gardens. A nearby sign said it was an exhibit of American style gardens. Tenchi and Ryoko started to slowly walk around, admiring each of them. Ryoko made notes in her head on how to change this in her garden so it looked like that garden and so forth. *** Washu sighed. "Now to move it all outside." She mumbled. Her laptop came up and she perused the available area to set all the equipment down in. "Perfect!" *** "Ayeka, I'd like to go to the comic store." Sasami tugged on her sister's sleeve. "Oh, yes, me too! Maybe they'll have the latest comic! I just love those girls comics." Mihoshi said. Ayeka sighed and started off toward the comic store. *** Tenchi and Ryoko strolled through one garden that had paths through it. "Isn't this wonderful?" Ryoko turned her head in every direction. "Wow, you sure are loving this, Ryoko." Tenchi commented. Ryoko nodded, not ready yet to tell him about her garden or her memories being back. Ryoko tripped over a slight crack in the floor of the gazebo they had just entered and fell into Tenchi's arms. Tenchi grinned at her and kissed her swiftly. Ryoko looked at him shocked. Tenchi made sure she had her footing and immediately went to look at something else, leaving Ryoko wondering if she had done something wrong. Tenchi professed a need to use the bathroom, so Ryoko hung around her favorite garden. It had a gazebo in the center with three pathways leading up to it. Daffodils and hyacinths lined the pathways. It was beautiful... "Ryoko?" Tenchi asked from behind her. Ryoko turned. "Here," he said. He offered her a live pot of daffodils. Ryoko took them, sniffed, and smiled at him. "Thank you." "You looked so pleased over that garden, I thought you might like to have some flowers of your own to grow." Tenchi looked happy with himself. Ryoko was just planning on where to plant them in her garden, when Tenchi suggested putting them in the house. Ryoko sighed mentally and agreed with him. *** After lunch and the bus ride home, Tenchi and Ryoko walked up the path toward the house talking about their trip. Washu was waiting up ahead for them. "Can you come with me for a minute?" She asked cutely. Tenchi and Ryoko went with her, Ryoko clutching her daffodils. The field was set up with equipment. "Geez, Washu, what'd you do, move the whole lab out here?" Ryoko asked. Washu replied, "No, just the necessary equipment." She gestured to Tenchi. "Ryoko, you stand there. Tenchi, come with me." Once they were far enough away, Tenchi whispered, "Do you think it's going to work, Little Washu?" Washu shrugged. "Of course it will! I'm the number one scientific genius in the universe you know!" She tweaked a few dials and levelled a glare at Ryoko. "Ryoko, energy sword up now!" Ryoko's energy sword flared into being. Ryoko's eyes were vacant. She did not move. Tenchi shivered. Washu's eyes were full of tears that she hastily blinked away. She turned back to her machines. *** An hour later, Washu wiped the sweat off her forehead. She had worked her brain hard to find the cure to this. It made her skin crawl to think of her daughter under her command just like Kagato. "Tenchi, take her last gem from her." Washu whispered. Tenchi started. "She won't stop you. Hold the sword toward her and the gem will appear in the sword. Then give it to me." Tenchi complied and soon Washu had a sparkling red gem in her hand. She placed it on a plate and a red light scanned over it twice. Washu held it under the magnifying scope. Yes, the new data was encoded. Washu glanced at her daughter. It was time to set her free. "Tenchi, absorb the gem into the sword and wait for all three to glow. Then give her back one of them." Washu told him. He followed the directions. "How long?" he asked. "I calculated about three minutes. Just enough to for me to explain to-" Washu was cut off. Ryoko shook her head groggily. "You..." Ryoko's eyes burned into Washu. "How could you do that?" Ryoko sputtered. "Ryoko-" Tenchi began. "Save it. This is between me and her." Ryoko cut him off. Her hands fired energy bolts at Washu. Washu yelped and hit the ground. Tenchi leapt in front of her and parried them with the sword. Ryoko stared numbly at him. "Tenchi," she whispered. Ryoko disappeared. "Little Washu, are you okay?" Tenchi asked. Washu slowly got to her feet. "I'm fine. Except my daughter hates me again." Tenchi heard the sadness and despair in her voice and reached out to pat her back. *** Ryoko sat in a cherry tree that was just beginning to bud. How could Washu do something like that to her? She had just gotten her memories back and was beginning to absorb the material, then Washu reminded her of the past years with Kagato. Ryoko violently twisted her head from left to right. It doesn't make sense. Why would Washu want to remind her of Kagato? Except to experiment on her. Ryoko's eyes narrowed. It's always an experiment with you, Washu. I mean nothing to you not even in the first fifteen years. Always just an experiment. Ryoko felt her arms heat up as her rage started to filter down through her body. I'll hurt her for what she's done to me...! Ryoko's body disappeared from the tree branch. *** Washu had gone back to her lab. The equipment had been saved for the most part. In her lab you could never tell what would go wrong, so all of it had to be proofed against firepower, supernova explosions, etc. Washu sat on her cushion. What went wrong? She thought. Her ears twitched. What was that noise? Washu walked toward it and found Ryoko trashing her lab. "Ryoko, no!" Washu cried. Ryoko turned around and grinned evilly. Her energy sword sliced through another tank and the animals inside spilled out. "Let me explain!" Washu begged. Ryoko slowly shook her head from side to side. "No explanations this time, Washu." Ryoko smiled and flew up in the air to get a better target area. She leveled her hand at one of the various computers. "No!" Washu yelled and flung herself in front of it. Not that one, she thought. Never that computer. Not the one that calculates where my missing memories are! The blast singed her right side. Washu cried out and clutched her side. She blacked out for three seconds. A deep rumbling was heard from inside the heart of her lab. Ryoko looked suspiciously around. She hadn't meant to hurt Washu physically and would have gone to her immediately if not for the noise. Ryoko's eyes widened and then narrowed. So, Washu would attack her? The ceilings sprouted guns and started to fire at Ryoko. She evaded them with ease. Is this the best you can do Washu? she thought. Yelling her triumph, she didn't notice the machines in back of her. "AAAHHHH!!" Ryoko cried. The robots in back of her had attacked. Washu's head came up at her daughter's scream. Blinking her eyes rapidly, her face drained of blood when she saw what had been activated. Her defense robots that became active when she was injured in the lab. The most deadly she could build. And they had attacked her daughter. "STOP!" she called. The robots stopped in their tracks immediately, defensive mechanisms still armed. She deal with that later. Right now.. Her heart sank. Had Ryoko survived? Scanning the lab, she found Ryoko lying in a heap on the floor. Her healing powers couldn't handle all the damage at once. Her body was covered with blood. Multiple cuts, a laser had cut a swath of her hair off just missing her head, and other things such as broken bones and blood loss could be a problem. Washu noticed that her side was still bleeding heavily. Possible internal damage, she thought. "Medical. Now." She gasped. Both Ryoko and Washu appeared there in seconds. Washu activated her systems, the ones that would start the healing process, from her bed and then fell into a deep sleep. *** Washu blinked. What was this place? "This is my "house", Washu. Do you like it?" a gentle voice spoke. Washu turned around. Tsunami stood there, a smile on her face. "It's lovely," Washu told her. Tsunami's "house" was a garden with lovely trees and flowers. "Ryoko, would love it here." Washu said. "That is why you are here. She will not survive." Tsunami told her. "What? Why?" Washu yelled. "Her injuries are too much accompanied by her turmoil of memories. She knows not what she is yet." Tsunami said gently. "Oh, yeah? And what is she?" Washu parried. "The daughter of a goddess." Tsunami simply said. Washu stared at her. Suddenly, she burst into laughter and clutched her sides. Wiping tears out of the way, she stared at Tsunami. "Oh, that was a good one. I needed that. How can I keep her from dying?" Tsunami stood before her where she had been ten feet from her before. "You will need to summon the gems back to you. Pluck one from her wrist and the other two will fly to you. You'll know then." Washu raised an eyebrow. Tsunami smiled. "Until you remember, sister." *** Washu woke up. She cleared her throat and sat up. Standing up and walking to the next bed, she saw her daughter. Ryoko was not well. Her skin was clammy. Her breath came in short gasps. She tossed fitfully in her sleep. Washu stared at her. Why wasn't she healing? Summon the gems. Washu whirled around. No one was there. She shook her head. Must be the ventilation ducts. The gem sparkled on Ryoko's wrist. Washu was captivated by it. She reached out one finger and stroked it. It fell on the floor. Washu got to all fours and went after it. Grabbing it from where it had rested up against a wheel of the bed, she backed out and stood up. Holding it in her palm, it flew up to her outstretched fingers. Two more gems came zooming to her hand out of nowhere. Washu closed her eyes. Unconsciously, her clothes transformed into a black dress overlaid with red with flower petal sleeves. The cloak was around her with puffed sleeves and a high collar. Gold circlets were around her throat, upper arm, and wrists. The gems floated above her outstretched fingers. Her body went to adult form. Ryoko's body started to glow. The gems went to her and hovered above her forehead. Two dots of red came into being in the center. Ryoko's body regained it's color, stilled, and breathed slowly. The gems flew to Washu, who opened her eyes. Her eyes were full of wisdom, mystery, and above all protective. Two gems disappeared with a pop!, the other flew back to Ryoko. Washu smiled gently. It seems that we both have memories to sort through now... my little Ryoko-godchild. *** Ryoko opened her eyes. Washu stood at the foot of the bed, childform back and Science Academy uniform in place. She snarled and tried to get up. "I wouldn't. I took the precaution of restraining you." Washu said mildly, her arms crossed over her chest. Ryoko sulked. Washu continued, "Now you didn't let me explain. I arranged with everyone for them to be out of the house today. Ayeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi went to the mall and Tenchi took you to Tokyo. Everyone knew that I had planned this." "Experiment you mean!" Ryoko snarled. Washu looked at her daughter. So much anger toward me, my little Ryoko, Washu thought sadly. "No. A cure. Since Kagato, I have been working on a solution to everyone with the right sort of mind and power being able to control you. I had worked out the equations and had built the machinery, but I still didn't have the necessary data. I needed to know how to control you by personal experience, not secondhand. So I worked out a time frame to get everyone out of the house, moved the equipment outside, controlled your mind, and cancelled the effect." "In english?" Ryoko said. "No one can control you, Ryoko, not even me." Washu said simply. Ryoko's eyes remained wary. Washu sighed. "Ryoko, energy sword now!" she called. Nothing happened. Ryoko smirked. "Now you can't control me." "I never did. Not even when you were a child." Washu reminded her. At Ryoko's blank stare, Washu smiled. "Didn't remember that, now did you?" Ryoko opened her mouth to speak, but the door to the lab opened. "Little Washu?" Tenchi called. "Yes, Tenchi?" She called back. "We're over here." Tenchi eventually found them. "Ah, hello, Ryoko! Are you better now?" He asked nervously. Ryoko nodded. He turned to Washu. "Um, Ryoko kind of blasted her daffodils by mistake. Do you think...?" Washu took the pot from him. Poking around in the soil, she nodded. Scuttling off with the pot, she left the two alone. Tenchi ran his hand through his hair. "So did Washu explain?" Tenchi asked. Ryoko nodded and decided. Washu? Yes? Can I show Tenchi my garden? Ryoko bit her lip. She had hurt Washu and destroyed some of her lab. The house was very important to her. How would she react to Ryoko asking if she could bring Tenchi there? Sure! It's your house, too, you know. Washu grinned. She knew it wouldn't be long before Ryoko showed Tenchi her pride and joy. "Tenchi, can I show you something?" Ryoko said suddenly. "Uh, sure." He replied. Ryoko got off the bed and took him to the house. "I didn't know this was here." Tenchi said. "Then I don't know much of Washu's lab." "This isn't Washu's lab anymore, Tenchi. This is the house Washu raised me in." Ryoko said slowly. Tenchi started. "Washu's house?" he sputtered. Ryoko led him inside and let him marvel at the first floor. Taking his hand, she led him toward the stairs. Up the stairs and around the bend to the garden. "Ohh!" Tenchi said. The garden was in full bloom with all its colors. "Did Washu do this?" He asked. Ryoko shook her head. She walked over to the fountain and sat down. Staring at the goldfish, she said, "This used to be my garden before I was kidnapped by Kagato." Tenchi walked over to her and sat down. Ryoko continued. "He kidnapped me from here. Washu ran up the stairs from where she had been teaching in the academy and tried to stop him. He took her with him and encased her in the Souja. The past couple of days that I haven't been outside, I've been here. Washu re-introduced me to this garden and I've been here ever since." "So that's why she said you might enjoy the garden show!" Tenchi snapped his fingers. Ryoko nodded. "On the last day of the three, I touched that black spot over there. That was where I tried to blast Kagato. It brought back all of my memories to me and I went into a coma. Washu couldn't figure out how to bring me out of it. I called for my mother just like I had when Kagato took me and Washu came. The coma broke, I regained all my memories, and now Washu's made sure it can't happen again." Ryoko took a deep breath. "That's why I've been acting a little funny today. I'm trying to let my memories trickle in, not overwhelm me like a tidal wave. I'm still the same person, but I can remember the good things, good memories instead of wave after wave of bad things Kagato made me do." Tenchi was silent. Ryoko made another attempt to talk to him. "So have I been acting weird today?" "No. Well, yes. You're a lot quieter and not so forceful." Tenchi peeked at her. Usually saying something like that would upset her. Ryoko was looking at the goldfish swimming in the pond. Her cyan hair sparkles in the sunlight out here, he thought. "Yes, not so abrupt? Is that what you want, Tenchi?" Ryoko suddenly asked. "I'll try to adjust to you, but only if you do the same for me. I'm not what I was a day ago. I will not change my whole self to suit you. I can't anymore, not now that I've found the missing part of me." "I don't want you to change!" Tenchi blurted out. He sat back and thought for a minute. "You're fine as you are, Ryoko." "So why did you kiss me today?" Ryoko asked. Tenchi turned red. "ummm...." Ryoko patted a lily pad toward the bunch in the center. "I mean, is it being in a gazebo? I think I've got space for one." She grinned at him. He looks so off balance. Ha, ha, I'll give him a break. "So, Tenchi... Want the guided tour?" He nodded so gratefully his head almost fell off. Ryoko stood up and showed him around. When he had seen all there was to see, Washu called from the trellis, "Ryoko!" She turned, saw what Washu was carrying, and smiled. Walking over to Washu, she took the pot of daffodils and set it on the ground. Washu looked at her, confused. "Hey, I made those just for you, you know." "I know." Ryoko said. And then she did an amazing thing. She gave her mother her first hug since Washu had come to live here. Ryoko wrapped her arms around her mother's child body and squeezed lightly. After a few seconds, Washu responded by folding her arms around Ryoko and squeezed back. Tenchi could see that Washu had tears in her eyes and he felt himself start to tear up as well. Ryoko let go just as quickly and snatched up the daffodils. "Now, where should I put these?" she mused, walking away from Washu. Washu shook her head. Same old Ryoko.