Disclaimer: I do NOT own ANY of these characters or ANY other character in ANY of the Tenchi Series OR Movies. If I did own them, then the whole series would be shot to hell and would have never ever been popular. The characters in this story are property of AIC and Pioneer. Please do not pick me out of the pile to be sued. I can not afford to be sued. This is my FIRST time writing a fanfic EVER and I'm not usually drawn to these kinds of things, but I haven't written in a LOOONG time and I like the Tenchi series so this sparked my interest. Anyway, sit back and enjoy the story. Oh yeah, any resemblance of this story to any one else's story is purely coincidental! And REMEMBER.PLEASE DO NOT SUE ME! Information: As I mentioned earlier, this is my first time writing a fanfic of any kind (I plan for this fanfic to be particularly long). I would really appreciate it if you would e-mail me your thoughts on my particular story. You can E-mail me at hwnboy7@hotmail.com. Keep in mind the characters' voices, attitudes, feelings, actions, and the way they would say every word in here. If you do this, the story will come to life. Thank you very much and enjoy. The Choice Is Yours.Tenchi Part Two Tenchi saw everyone at the table getting ready to eat with the exception of Washu. Tenchi figured that she was still in her lab and continued toward the bathroom. As he entered, Tenchi realized that with everyone at the table, the girls' bathhouse was empty. "Finally," thought Tenchi. "It's about time I get to use that thing without any distractions." He quickly sneaked into the bathhouse that Washu had made for the girls. Tenchi slowly immersed himself into the water. The warmth of the water seemed to relax his whole body. He laid his head back and let the comfort of the water take him away. "Well, well, well. I didn't know you were going to join me for a bath," said a voice next to him. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa.?!" yelled a startled Tenchi. He slowly glanced to the right and was surprised at who he saw. "W-Washu?! What are you doing here?! I thought I was by myself!" yelled Tenchi as he turned away. He had turned red from the incident and a nosebleed had already started. "How long have you been there?!" asked Tenchi frantically. "I was here long before you, Tenchi," said Washu with a smile. "In fact I've been here for about an hour or so." "Then how come I didn't see you when I came in and sat down?!" asked Tenchi. "I guess you were too calm to notice. Or maybe you did notice, but didn't want to say anything. You're such a naughty boy Tenchi!" said Washu devilishly as she started to move closer to Tenchi. "Wha?! I'm not naughty and you weren't here when I came in!" yelled Tenchi as he got up to leave. "You came in here unannounced on purpose and you know it!" "Maybe. Maybe not." Washu said slyly. "It's time for breakfast anyway. See you downstairs, Tenchi. Naughty boy!" With that, Washu disappeared. "I'm never coming in here again," thought Tenchi. He decided to get dressed and eat breakfast with everybody. He had a long day ahead of him. The table was full of Sasami's cooking. Everyone was gathered at the table. Aeka was helping Sasami set the plates while Kiyone was constantly jabbing at Mihoshi with her finger in order to wake her up. Washu was quietly reading the newspaper while drinking her tea. Ryoko was trying to hold back her hunger. She tried stealing a couple morsels of food, but was caught by Sasami. "Nobody eats until Tenchi comes down." Sasami said firmly as she smacked Ryoko's hand. "Ha!" laughed Aeka. "That's what you get for being an impatient hog!" "What did you say?!" said an angry Ryoko. The two started to stare each other down angrily. Ryoko had already materialized a ball of energy while Aeka started to form a barrier. They were interrupted by Tenchi as he came down the stairs. "Good morning everybody!" Tenchi happily said with a smile. "Good morning, Tenchi!" the girls said in unison. Tenchi took a seat between Mihoshi and Sasami. He figured that as long as he didn't sit next to Ryoko or Aeka, they wouldn't fight. "Okay, everyone! Now you can eat!" said Sasami. Ryoko's plate was already full by the time Sasami was finished speaking. Everyone else took their time and Tenchi couldn't help but chuckle at Ryo-Ohki, who was having trouble finding a place to sit. "Ryo-Ohki," called out Tenchi. "There's a place for you right here." Ryo-Ohki happily smiled happily and took her seat next to Tenchi. "Ryoko I think you should slow down a bit," said Tenchi. "Whatever for my dear Tenchi?" asked Ryoko in the midst of chewing a mouthful of food. "Don't wor. Oh, how sweet. You were worried about me weren't you Tenchi? Worried that your lovely Ryoko wou." Before Ryoko could finish, she was cut off by Aeka. "What foolish nonsense!" said Aeka. "Lord Tenchi would never worry about a dirty, manner-less, and not to mention ugly space pirate like you Ryoko!" "OH YEAH?!!" yelled Ryoko as she shot up from the table. "YEAH!!!!" Aeka screamed back. Little sparks between the Aeka and Ryoko started to appear. "Uh." Tenchi started, but was quickly cut off by Ryoko. "Look here, Princess! Tenchi would rather choose me than a snobby little brat like yourself!" shot Ryoko. "Whaaa.?!!!" screamed Tenchi. "I thought I made it clea." again Tenchi was cut off, but this time by Aeka. The other girls had moved a safe distance away from the table and started watching the scene like a soap opera. "How dare you say that?!" Aeka quickly shot back. "Tenchi and I were meant to be! Ever since the day we first met, I knew Tenchi was the one for me and I'm not going to lose him to the likes of you, Ryoko!!!" "That's it Princess!" said Ryoko angrily. "I'm through talking!" "Now, now." said Tenchi. He could see where this was leading and decided to try and stop it before any serious damage was done. "Go ahead!" replied Aeka. At this time, the other girls had stopped eating and were waiting too see what would happen next. "Who do you think will win this time Kiyone?" asked Mihoshi. "Are you joking?" replied Kiyone with a slight laugh. "They always end in a tie with both of them ending up hurt." "Or with us getting hurt," interrupted Washu. They had been affected by Aeka and Ryoko's battles countless times and were never able to avoid it. "You're right," Mihoshi said while staring at Tenchi who was trying to calm things down between Aeka and Ryoko. "We'd better leave before things get ugly. Come on Ryo-Ohki," said Sasami as she got up. "We be should be safe in my lab," suggested Washu. The girls quickly followed Washu as the argument between Aeka and Ryoko intensified. There was a long silence between the two girls and the spark between them was growing larger by the second. Tenchi, who had given up on trying to calm them down, was frantically looking for a way to get away since he was standing between Aeka and Ryoko. He slowly started to move backwards, but stopped when both girls let out a scream of anger in unison. All Tenchi saw was a bright flash. When he got up, he was surprised to see that everything around him was intact. Aeka and Ryoko, however, were on the ground with smoke rising from their bodies. Tenchi examined himself and found that half his shirt was missing. When Aeka and Ryoko arose a few seconds later, they saw Tenchi and immediately came to his aid. "Tenchi! Are you alright, my love?!" Aeka and Ryoko said in unison. They stared at each other with hatred and within a few moments another spark was formed between them. "YOUR love? How many times do I have to tell you that Tenchi is mine!" they said in unison once more. "ENOUGH!" yelled Tenchi angrily. "How many times do I have to tell you that I love all you girls equally! Washu and the others get it, but why can't you two? You two fight almost everyday and I'm always caught in the middle! I'm sick and tired of it!" "I'm sorry Tenchi," Ryoko apologized. "It's just that this pig-headed, snobby little princess can't see how much you and I are in love." "WHAT?!" yelled Aeka angrily. "Stop it you two!" said Tenchi before any other damage could be done. "Ryoko, I'm not in love with you! I can't handle this anymore! I.have to go." Tenchi started upstairs to replace his shirt. "But Tenchi." called Ryoko. "Tenchi, please don't leave us!" Aeka said worriedly. "Whatever it is that's wrong." "Would you please stop?" interrupted Tenchi as he put on a white shirt. "I'm just going for a walk. I need time to think. You just stay here. I'll be back soon. And don't follow me Ryoko!" As Tenchi closed the door behind him, Aeka started to follow. "What do you think you're doing?" asked Ryoko. "Lord Tenchi told YOU not to follow, but he never said anything about me!" Aeka said as she moved toward the door. Just as she was about to open the door, it swung open with Tenchi standing in the doorway. "The same goes for you too, Aeka!" yelled Tenchi. "But Tenchi.!" Aeka pleaded. Before she could finish, Tenchi had slammed the door shut. "I.I just don't know what to do anymore." sighed Tenchi. He decided that something had to be done and thought a long walk would help him out. Back at the house, Aeka was still standing in the front of the door with tears streaming out of her eyes. She had turned pale after Tenchi had told her not to follow. Ryoko decided go to back to her room. She tried to hold back her tears, but couldn't and she wasn't about to let Aeka or anyone else see her cry. Washu, Kiyone, Mihoshi, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki were watching the whole thing on one of Washu's screens. "Gosh, Kiyone," Mihoshi said worriedly. "Do you think it's serious this time?" "I don't know," replied Kiyone. "I thought I saw a tear trickle down Ryoko's face as she disappeared. This is the first time I've seen her cry." "Hmm." said Washu. "I wonder what Tenchi is going to say when he gets back." "I don't know, but I'm staying out of it," said Sasami. Her sister still hadn't moved and was still crying softly. Sasami was worried that Tenchi would leave or make everyone else leave. She knew that Tenchi had seen enough of Aeka and Ryoko fighting. He had always tried to calm them down, but Sasami could tell that Tenchi was tired of it. She held Ryo-Ohki tight and silently wished that nothing bad would happen. "Come on," said Kiyone, "We'd better clean up." With that, the girls exited Washu's lab and started cleaning up the kitchen. Washu grabbed Aeka and stood her next to the couch. Aeka was still crying, but her tears were slowing down. For the first time in a long while, the house was completely silent. Only the running water that Sasami was using to wash dishes could be heard. Five seconds later, however, the silence was broken by the sound of glass shattering. "Mihoshi watch what you're doing!" yelled Kiyone angrily. "I'm sorry Kiyone, really!" Mihoshi replied apologetically as she started to cry. "I was just wiping the glass when it slipped out of my hand! I'll be careful next time I promise, Kiyone!" "You're always.!" yelled Kiyone. "Never mind." Kiyone decided that there were enough problems going on already and helped Mihoshi pick up the broken pieces of glass. Ryoko's crying had ceased earlier. She lay in her bed wondering why Tenchi couldn't love her. Tears started to well up in her golden eyes and she slowly wiped them from her face. Ryoko had loved Tenchi since the first time she saw him. She loved his smile and his voice. What she loved most of all was his kindness toward her. No one had ever treated Ryoko, the space pirate, with such kindness. Even when he got angry with her in the past, Ryoko could still see the kindness in Tenchi's deep brown eyes. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Tenchi's eyes warming her and comforting her. This made Ryoko love him even more, but it also made her cry even more. This morning, when Tenchi had yelled at Aeka and herself, the kindness, warmth, and gentleness in his eyes were gone. They were filled with anger and seriousness. She couldn't get that look out of her mind and Ryoko started to weep louder. "I." Ryoko managed to say between sobs, ".love you Tenchi." Ryoko continued to weep, thinking about Tenchi, until she had cried herself to sleep. Aeka had finished crying. She lay quietly on the couch waiting for Tenchi to return. It had been two hours already and he hadn't returned yet. "Ooooh!" she grumbled. "If it wasn't for that Ryoko, Tenchi would have never gotten angry and left! It's all her fault!" "That's not true Aeka and you know it," said Sasami as she sat by Aeka. "If you hadn't made fun of Ryoko, none of this would have happened. You two fight all the time without thinking of the consequences." Aeka took in Sasami's words and quietly examined her previous actions. She suddenly felt ashamed. "Please forgive me, Tenchi." There was a long moment of silence, but it was soon broken by none other than Mihoshi and the television set. "Sorry," she apologized, "but it's almost time for our favorite show!" Mihoshi was soon joined by Washu and Kiyone. Kiyone looked around as if someone was missing. "I wonder where Ryoko is," she said, "she never misses an episode and today is the five hour marathon." "She's probably still sulking in her room," said Washu. "She'll be down soon, don't worry." "It's starting!" yelled Mihoshi happily. Everyone soon dismissed the discussion and glued their eyes to the television set. Hours had passed and the girls were watching the final episode of the marathon. Sasami had fallen asleep and Ryo-Ohki had disappeared. It was now six thirty in the evening and Tenchi still hadn't returned. The only one who seemed to notice was Aeka. "Maybe I should go look for him," thought Aeka. "No. I should do what he said. I don't want to cause anymore trouble." Upstairs, Ryoko was still asleep. Her tears had stopped now and a smile lay upon her face. ".Tenchi." Ryoko said softly. ".Finally." Tenchi had lost track of time. In fact, he had forgotten what he was doing, but suddenly remembered the events that had happened this morning. " I guess I should head back home now," he said. "We don't want to miss dinner, do we Ryo-Ohki?" The cabbit replied with a meow. She had been looking for Tenchi earlier. When Ryo-Oki found him, she decided to join him. Tenchi stopped and turned around to head back home. "Gee." he said while scratching his head, "I didn't know I walked this far. Do you think you think you can give me a lift Ryo-Ohki?" Ryo-Ohki transformed as soon as Tenchi had finished his sentence and had already started to bring him up. Within seconds, they were back home again.