Child's Play Chapter Five: Control Cube Tuesday morning was silent when compared to other mornings. Princess Ayeka refused to come out of her bedroom, no matter how much Princess Sasami and the others tried to get her to come out. All she did was sit on the floor, on a few soft pillows, sobbing. She even refused a kind offer by Mihoshi to get ointment for her sore royal bottom. Ryoko was forced to follow Little Washu around the house, as she was now tied into a toddler's harness, complete with leash. At first she had sulked and grabbed onto pieces of furniture only to find that Mom was more than strong enough to drag her tiny body and accompanying chairs all over the house, including up and down the stairs. After that, she just followed Washu about, looking tired and sad. The guardians, Azaka and Kamidake, had gone to the Shrine with Katsuhito, who seemed to have taken a greater interest in the two robots than normal. Nobuyuki had called Tenchi's school, to tell them that the boy would not be in that day either and than went to work after a large breakfast of banana stuffed French toast which Sasami had made just for him. By noon, Tenchi was allowed to exit the gel tank and walk about, under the watchful eyes of Washu and Mihoshi. Even the tiny Ryo-Ohki, in her toddler form, tried to help. She would walk behind him with her arms out, ready to catch him if he became unbalanced and fell. After about an hour, Washu decided his body was doing OK enough to leave the lab, but she insisted he let others help him with any chores for the next few days. As Tenchi left the lab and entered the main hall Princess Sasami ran up to him and gave him a big hug, "Oh Tenchi! Are you OK? Are you hungry? I made some French toast stuffed with bananas and your dad really seemed to like them." Tenchi chuckled and stroked Sasami's head, "Sure, I'm starving." Tenchi, with Mihoshi's nervous help, sat down at the table, while Sasami happily dashed to the kitchen. Tenchi looked about, "Hey, where are...?" "Princess Ayeka refuses to come out of her room," said Mihoshi, pouring him a glass of fresh 'blue' juice, "and Washu left Ryoko outside tied to a tree." "Tree?" Ryo-Ohki, now in her small cabbit form, peeked out from under the table and said, "MEOW?" "Oh yes," said Mihoshi, as she knelt next to Tenchi, "Ryoko is now wearing one of those toddler harnesses, with the leash. After Washu spanked her, she, that is Washu, decided she needed to keep a closer eye on Ryoko, so she invented the harness. It has everything-" Sasami glided over and placed a huge plate with a pile of French toast covered in blueberries in front of Tenchi. "Your father used up all the syrup, sorry." Ryo-Ohki stood up and sticking her head over the edge of the low table, sniffed at the toast. " -homing beacon, pager and even can delivers shocks-" Tenchi tried to pay attention to both girls (three if you included Ryo-Ohki) and smiled. 'Well, this is better than being fought over anyway.' Ryoko sat on her sore behind and tugged again on the leash, trying to undo it. 'It's hopeless, the damn thing is bonded to the tree.' She sighed and leaned back, getting some enjoyment from the physical pain. Being a sadist had its advantages. "Can you believe it," she muttered out loud, "here I am, formed by what can only be described as one of the most powerful race of creatures within a thousand light years and I am tied to a tree with a BABY HARNESS!" Ryoko was not that upset by the spanking as much as the feeling of helplessness. Not being able to fly, or go through the walls or blast her enemies to tiny pieces. SHIT, her eyes didn't even glow in the dark anymore! Not being able to decide her fate, like she was still a toy. Ryoko hissed at the blue sky. 'A toy to be used, abused, punished for the actions I did while under the command of another.' Ryoko sighed, "Been there, done that." 'Still', thought Ryoko as she started to calm down, 'Tenchi has been hurt by me before, sometimes directly or because of my past. Maybe I do need to be more...careful about my actions. Still, it wasn't like I could do anything about Kagato or Dr. Clay's Zero.' Ryoko licked her upper lip and smiled, remembering the time after she had 'rejoined' with Zero-Ryoko. The feeling of being a giggling, butterflies in the tummy, air-head of a girl waiting for Tenchi to come home had been interesting. No, to be honest, it had been delightful. 'Maybe the Princess is right. Maybe if I sometimes was just ladylike and not so forward. I kind of thought being forward was being honest, but maybe if I turned it down JUST a notch.' Princess Ayeka peeked about the darkness, as she quietly moved through the hallway, Mihoshi's control cube clinched in her hands. 'I will stop this. All I have to do it use this device within the zero chamber area and it will break something. I know it will. A monkey wrench in the machinery as it were.' Ayeka glanced down at the cube. It had been washed after the accident with the sauce or, at least, Mihoshi said she had cleaned it. 'How', thought Ayeka, 'did she do it? In the washing machine or the dishwasher?' Ayeka stopped and tilted her head to listen. "My own half-brother, spanking me. Maybe, maybe I am to blame, but still." Ayeka wiped the tears from her face, "If I had had my powers at the time, it would NEVER have happened! Washu should be the one being punished." Princess Ayeka moved on, continuing to stick to the shadows and listening carefully for any sounds that might alert her to Washu's return. She finally found herself staring at the two zero chambers, the steel coffins touched lightly by the white frost and the glow of red status lights. She sat down between them and started to twirl and twist the cube at random. "Tenchi, you promised to protect me. You promised." Ayeka tried to clean her face with one sleeve, as she continued to play with the control cube. As it changed colors and made noises, she developed a smile which slowly became bigger and bigger. For a few moments her feeling of humiliation was replaced by eagerness. 'Soon! Soon I will be free!' "Thanks guys, for helping me work on the carrot fields." "Think nothing of it Tenchi," asked Washu, as she worked with the hoe, a headband keeping her longish red hair out of her face. She was dressed in a simple shirt, pants, sandals combo that made the greatest scientists in the universe look very normal. "Meow." Sasami giggled, as Ryo-Ohki pulled a tiny hoe behind her, the hardest field worker in the bunch. As the four worked Mihoshi could be seen walking up from the house with a picnic basket. Ryoko, tied to another tree, sat and watched while breaking twigs and pulling apart blades of grass. "I wonder where my sister is?" wondered Sasami out loud, as she watched Mihoshi move up the pathway. "Probably crying ALL over her tiny kimono," suggested Ryoko. "Well, she might be eating something," said Tenchi, as he stopped a second to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "Or maybe she is checking out her bottom in the mirror," continued Ryoko. "Sure," added Washu, "she did miss last night's dinner and today's breakfast." "Hi Mihoshi!" greeted Sasami, as the blonde officer finally arrived. "Hi guys! I brought you some cola and tuna salad." "Hey, thanks Mihoshi," remarked Tenchi, as he leaned his hoe against a nearby tree, along with Washu's. "I also have some sticky buns too," continued Mihoshi, "oh, by the way, did anybody see my control cube? I've been looking and looking-" "Anybody listening to me?" asked Ryoko. "-but I can't find it and I figured maybe Washu took it to check on it for me after I washed it in the lake." "You washed it in the lake?" commented Tenchi as he opened one of the plastic containers and sniffed it. "Hey, wait, where did you get THIS much tuna?" "I don't have it," said Washu as she picked out a cola. "Meow?" "Gee Mihoshi," said Sasami, "this is good tuna salad. Maybe you should help me in the kitchen more." "Hello?" said Ryoko, tugging on her leash. "Thanks. I had so much after Ryoko played with my cube. Well, anyway, I figured that maybe Ryoko had it again, being the trouble maker she is," said Mihoshi as she handed Tenchi a cola. "HEY!" shouted Ryoko, waving her arms, "I'm right here! I couldn't have taken the cube, you blockhead!" "But then who would have the cube?" asked Sasami, as Ryo-Ohki sniffed at the ground, looking for carrots. Washu and Tenchi looked at each other. "Oh my God," said Washu, dropping her can of cola, "She won't-" The field exploded with a flash of light, sending dirt and energy splashing in all directions. Even before the dust clouds started to clear and the clods of dirt stopped falling, the tiny Ryoko shaped body of mass was already running down the slope of the hill, towards the house. It felt the need to rejoin the rest, to become whole again now that the capsules had become silent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------- Tenchi Muyo! and related characters were created and are owned and still is owned by AIC and Pioneer. AIC and Pioneer don't live anywhere in my building. I have nothing to do with anything. Don't sue me. I don't have any money. If I had money, would I be making Fan-fiction? This is Chapter Five of my first story, so don't hurt me too much.