Hi, welcome back!  Thanks for reading Chapters 1-3!  (An extra big 
thank-you to those who sent comments and criticism!  Keep it coming!)  
Listen up, Ryoko+Tenchi fans: the chapter after this one will have 
plenty of stuff devoted to them!  I can tell you're happy now!  ^_^

Legal disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and its characters are the property of 
Pioneer and AIC.  This story, however, is mine.  Please don't sue me, 
because I'm just writing this for fun.  Besides, I don't have any money.  
The last time I went into #FanFics, my wallet was assimilated by the 
Cabbit Collective.  

[Wallet-Oh-Ki: We are the Cabbit Collective.  Resistance is futile.]

Er... anyway, if you want to post this story on your site, please ask me 
first.

Special thanks go to my prereaders: AleeN, author of "Tenchi Muyo: in 
Return to Jurai", the writing duo of Max Gilliland and Rhys Doyle, 
authors of "Best Friends", and Lost Magi, author of "For the Love of 
Heaven and Earth: A Journey Beyond"!  

Last chapter: One year after the events of Manatsu no Eve, Tsunami asked 
Ayeka to begin an important journey, one of self-discovery ... and great 
sacrifice.  How will the others react to the loss of their friend ... 
and family member?  

Confess to You: Chapter Four - Remembering and Learning
By Literary Eagle (literaryeagle@hotmail.com)

	Tenchi stared at the spot on the ground where Ayeka's body had 
been discovered ... a spot that was now bare, empty.  In other words, a 
spot that seemed to perfectly mirror some part inside of him.  
	Ayeka was gone.  No warning, no goodbye, nothing.  Just a 
lifeless, pale body, and even that had disappeared...
	Turning his head, Tenchi gazed at the tree Funaho.  He remembered 
a time, several years ago, when he had stood there with Ayeka.  She had 
offered him Yosho's sword, Tenchiken, saying that it was rightfully his.  
She had actually asked him - Him! - to use it to protect her and Sasami, 
despite his insistence that he was no good at handling that sword.  She 
had believed in him.  
	She never stopped believing in him, either.  Tenchi understood 
that.  Why else would she choose to stay on Earth, even when her family 
had come to take her home?  Why would she give up the royal life?  Why 
would she, a princess, want to stay here and do laundry and weed 
the flower beds, smiling at him all the while, unless...
	Tenchi had known for a considerable time that she was in love with 
him.  And although Tenchi had admired her gentle strength, for lack of a 
better description, and saw many other wonderful qualities in the 
princess, he had never loved her as more than a friend, or an important 
part of his family.  But he had never told her that.  
	And ... and ... when Ryoko had begun to win his heart (he wasn't 
quite sure exactly when that started but the important thing was that it 
HAD), he still had not told Ayeka exactly how he felt about her.  He had 
been afraid of hurting her ... and in all his foolishness he had not 
seen that living a lie would only make matters worse for Ayeka when she 
found out.  And find out she did.  So what had he done?  Left the house 
the next day for a fishing trip with his father, completely forgetting 
about her.  He had returned, but by then it was too late.  
	Tenchi was uncertain of what had transpired during his absence, 
but it boiled down to Ayeka, alone and distraught ... and some kind of 
horrible accident borne out of utter misery and dejection ... so that 
now his beloved Ryoko was blind, and one of his closest friends was 
gone.  
	She had believed in him.
	He had let her down.  
	Tenchi couldn't understand just what had happened to Ayeka 
yesterday, but he knew that he should have been here to prevent it.  
Despite what Sasami, only semi-conscious, had murmured to him just this 
morning ("Tsunami takes care of her own"), he couldn't simply accept 
whatever fate had befallen Ayeka.  He wanted to know, NEEDED to know, 
if he could have done something.  Something, anything!  
	Perhaps Sasami would be able to provide a clearer explanation 
eventually.  But for now, she was still asleep in her room.  She had 
slept most of the time since the disappearance of Ayeka's body yesterday 
afternoon.  
	A slight rustling sound informed Tenchi that he was no longer 
alone in Funaho's clearing.  Tenchi whirled around, and saw Ryoko 
carefully making her way towards him.  Her arms were full of 
reddish-purple flowers, and Ryo-Oh-Ki was nowhere in sight.  
	"Ryoko..." Tenchi said softly, "You shouldn't be wandering around 
by yourself like that..."
	Ryoko did not reply.  Instead, she stopped before the spot where 
Ayeka's body had been, knelt, and placed the flowers there.  
	Tenchi recognized them as the wildflowers that grew around the 
stairs leading to the shrine.  It was only now that he noticed how they 
were the same color as Ayeka's eyes.  Ryoko turned her bandaged head in 
his general direction.  
	"Let's go home, okay, Tenchi?"  Ryoko said softly.  
	Tenchi almost nodded, but quickly remembered that Ryoko would not 
be able to see it.  "Sure," he said instead, helping her to stand.  
	Taking Ryoko by the hand, he led her out of the clearing.  Ryoko 
suddenly began to walk faster, so that she was leading Tenchi through 
the forest instead.  Tenchi blinked in amazement when he saw that she 
managed to avoid bumping into any of the trees.  "How..." he began.  
	"It's like some kind of new intuition," she replied softly, "Mom 
says my body is adapting to the blindness by creating new senses.  It's 
how I got to the clearing by myself.  As for the flowers, I gathered 
them by scent.  So don't worry about me, okay?"
	From the way Ryoko had said that last sentence, she sounded almost 
angry.  Tenchi knew why.  Frustration.  Ryoko was frustrated, that she 
had not been with Ayeka when...
	Tenchi bit his lower lip so hard that it almost bled.  
	"Tenchi," Ryoko whispered suddenly, "Don't blame yourself, okay?  
Sasami said that, whatever's happening now, it was Ayeka's choice.  We 
just have to trust Tsunami..."
	Tenchi shook his head, even though Ryoko could not see it.  He 
couldn't bring himself to say anything, though, and the two of them 
walked the rest of the way home in silence.  

	Ryoko screamed as she swung her energy sword through the 
projectile that came her way.  Hearing another one being launched, she 
whirled in its direction and swung.  She grunted in satisfaction when 
she heard her sword destroy the object.  
	Another of her mother's combat robots fired three projectiles at 
once.  Ryoko let out a scream of frustration and rage.  Her intuition 
faltered, so she settled for swinging her sword wildly.  She missed one 
of her targets, and it hit her in the stomach.  Ryoko fell over in 
surprise, but not before another projectile struck her shoulder.  
	There was a clicking noise as someone shut off the combat robots.  
Ryoko recognized her mother's scent.  
	"What are you doing here?" Washu asked.  
	Ryoko turned her head in Washu's general direction.  "Please leave 
me alone," she said quietly.  
	"Ryoko, do you like being in pain?" said Washu, "Come on, don't do 
this.  Talk to me, okay?"
	Ryoko sighed.  "I don't know what to do anymore, Mom!  I ... I 
tried so hard to learn how to fight without eyesight, and I still can't 
keep things from hurting Tenchi!  I'm afraid that I'll lose him ... I am 
losing him, I just know it..."
	Washu put her arms around Ryoko.  "Sweetie, Tenchi didn't fall in 
love with a bodyguard."  She helped her daughter to stand.  
	"It's so hard to know what to do..." Ryoko whispered.
	"I know," said Washu, "I know that Tenchi is hurting right now, 
but just give him time.  When he's ready for you to comfort him, then 
just be there for him..."
	"'Just give him time'?" Ryoko muttered, "That's what you told 
Tenchi to do with Ayeka..."
	"I-I'm sorry, Ryoko..." Washu said sadly, "I guess I just don't 
have much experience dealing with people, either."  She laughed 
humorlessly.  "I guess what we have here is a classic example of..." she 
stopped abruptly when she realized what she was going to say.  
	"A classic example of the blind leading the blind?" Ryoko finished 
for her.  Ryoko's bandage flexed slightly as she raised an eyebrow.  
	Washu felt a sudden urge to hit herself over the head with 
something.  _Damn,_ she thought, _Some genius I am._
	From her floating crib, Mayuka began to cry.  
	Washu and Ryoko both moved towards the baby at the same time.  
	"She's hungry," said Ryoko, "I can tell by the pitch of her 
cry..."
	"Impressive..." Washu replied, "Well, let's take her to the 
kitchen, then.  I gotta make lunch, anyway."
	Ryoko took Mayuka in her arms, and the two women began to make 
their way out of the lab.  "I remember when Ayeka and I are were trying 
to feed Taro," said Ryoko, smiling at the memory, "We got into an 
argument and started squirting milk at each other ... we ended up 
getting more milk than the baby!"
	Washu gave her daughter's arm a gentle squeeze.  
	"She's all right, you know," Ryoko said as she tried to calm 
Mayuka, "Ayeka's all right."
	"How do you know?" Washu asked.  
	"I trust Tsunami," Ryoko said firmly, "When Kagato ... when he 
killed Tenchi ... Tsunami brought him back to me.  I trust her."
	Mayuka abruptly stopped crying.  
	"I trust her," Ryoko said again.  

	Kiyone carefully watered the bright red and purple flowers in the 
garden.  Although the garden was one of her favorite places at the 
Masaki home, she was not getting the enjoyment that she usually did from 
tending the flowers.  
	The detective sighed.  Lunch, which was normally a happy time at 
this household, had been too quiet for her tastes.  Sasami still slept 
most of the time, and Mihoshi and Ryo-Oh-Ki had stayed with the young 
princess in her room.  They had been staying with her since yesterday.  
Meanwhile, Tenchi had refused to leave his room, and Katsuhito had 
stayed at the shrine.  And of course, there was Ayeka...
	That left Ryoko, Washu, Nobuyuki, Mayuka, and herself to spend 
about twenty awkward minutes playing with their food.  Washu's cooking 
had been delicious, but no one really seemed comfortable eating with so 
much of the family missing.  Even Mayuka had wanted less milk than usual.  
	_It's also too quiet here,_ Kiyone thought to herself.  Usually, 
she was never alone in the garden.  She often tended the garden with 
Ayeka, who liked to talk to her about flowers and the weather and the 
latest news on television ... and just about anything else, really.  
Ayeka had been very welcoming when Kiyone had first joined the Masaki 
household.  Perhaps she had been glad to have a friend who didn't make 
any passes at Tenchi, and who could hold a more sophisticated 
conversation than Mihoshi.  Whatever the reason, Ayeka had been a good 
friend to Kiyone, and the garden wasn't the same without her.  
	Kiyone smiled at a memory of last year, when Ayeka told the 
sixteen-year-old Mayuka that she could join the family, too, and 
celebrate Christmas with them.   Ayeka had done that despite the fact 
that Mayuka seemed to be a rival for Tenchi's attention.  It was that 
kind of graciousness, and not some title, which made Ayeka a true 
princess.  
	Someone put a straw hat onto Kiyone's head, startling her out of 
her contemplation.  
	"You shouldn't go under the summer sun without a hat," Nobuyuki's 
voice sounded from right behind her.  
	Kiyone turned to him and smiled weakly.  If it wasn't Ayeka 
accompanying Kiyone in the garden, the next likely person to be with her 
was Nobuyuki.  He had told her how much he and his wife had hoped to 
have both a son and a daughter ... and it was pretty obvious that he saw 
her as a big sister to Tenchi.  Certainly she did feel a certain 
protectiveness towards Tenchi, and to be honest, Tenchi was very much 
like a younger brother to her.  
	Nobuyuki returned Kiyone's small smile, but turned serious a 
moment later.  "I was just on my way to talk to Tenchi..." he said 
softly.  
	Kiyone knew that Nobuyuki was asking for advice.  "Tell him," she 
said, "that this isn't his fault.  It's nobody's fault.  No one could 
have known..." Kiyone's hand instinctively went to her forehead, to her 
red headband.  _Father..._  She shook her head.  "Sometimes you just 
can't know, and it's no one's fault when that happens."
	"Thanks," said Nobuyuki.  He gave Kiyone a quick hug, then turned 
and headed back towards the house.  
	"I don't want you to blame yourself, either," Kiyone called out 
to him before he went inside, "You're a good father.  Don't ever think 
otherwise."
	Kiyone went back to watering the flowers.  Suddenly turning off 
the hose, she watched the drops of water left on the flowers and leaves.  
Some stayed in place, looking like little shining jewels, or stars 
captured in the centers of the flowers.  Others began to run down the 
leaves in little rivulets.  The resulting designs looked almost like 
writing.  Had Ayeka's story ended?  Countless other stories were 
affected by hers.  What would happen to those stories now?  
	"What will happen now?" Kiyone whispered.  
	She heard no response, although it was not like she had expected 
any.  
	It was too quiet in the garden now.  

	Somehow, a dragonfly had gotten inside Tenchi's room.  Tenchi lay 
on his bed, staring at the ceiling, watching the dragonfly in flight.  
He used to chase dragonflies when he was young.  He would catch one, and 
then he and his mother would admire the pretty insect before setting it 
free.  
	Mother.  
	Shortly before her death ... he had told her that he hated her.  
	Tenchi thought back to his school days, when he would usually 
refuse to say anything back to classmates who teased him.  His friend 
Amagasaki would shake his head and say, "Geez, Tenchi, you're such a 
wuss!" whenever that happened.  Tenchi could almost hear that small 
voice that had stayed in the back of his mind all those many years, that 
secret fear which had said, "Better to be a 'wuss' than to let that 
happen again.  Yes, better that, than to say something harmful again..."
	What he had said to his mother, that nightmare which was not a 
nightmare, had been half-forgotten, but never completely gone...
	Better to be a "wuss" than to do harm again...
	Killing Kagato with the Light Hawk Sword, though ... he hadn't had 
any regrets about that.  It had been to protect his friends, to protect 
the universe from a tyrant who had already brought about massive 
destruction, and who had made Ryoko and countless others suffer.  
	His creation of the Light Hawk Wings during the threat from a 
black hole had not bothered him, either.  Although he could not 
understand this power of his, he had used it to protect.  Tsunami's 
reassurance ("Have faith in your own power") and the confidence that 
Ayeka and the others had in him, had helped to convince him that this 
ability should not be seen as something to shy away from.  He remembered 
the applause and congratulations that the entire household had given 
him, on the day when he created the Light Hawk Sword at will for the 
first time.  
	What the others had not known was that, earlier that day, Tenchi 
had visited his mother's tombstone, and made a promise to her.  He had 
promised her that he would try to treat people with the same altruism 
that she always had, and that he would spend the rest of his life using 
the power for that purpose...
	Then came the day when Tenchi battled Yuzuha.  Ayeka had appeared 
in the air, shining like an angel, clad in her lavender nightgown, and 
holding a branch that would allow him to use his power in the Dimension 
of Darkness.  And so, Tenchi had confidently plunged his Light Hawk 
Sword into Yuzuha, knowing that he was using his powers for good.  Yes, 
he was using them to protect his friends again, to fulfill his promise 
to his mother, and to destroy this evil monster who had killed 
Mayuka ... that was when he saw the secret in her heart.  In his 
outrage, in what he had thought was righteous anger, it had not even 
occurred to him that Yuzuha had a heart.  But she did.  And it had been 
broken, because she had loved ... she had loved Yosho.  
	Suddenly, Tenchi no longer saw a monster, but a child, a sad and 
lonely child.  A dying child, for he had struck her with the Light Hawk 
Sword.  
	"Imagine, the darkness in love with the light..." she had said, 
her dying, tear-filled eyes gazing sadly into his.  
	_I abused the power,_ Tenchi said to himself, _It shouldn't have 
ended for Yuzuha like that.  What I did wasn't justice.  It wasn't right.  
It wasn't right at all._
	Yuzuha.  
	Mother.  
	Ayeka.  
	Tenchi's right hand twitched.  The hand, he reminded himself, that 
had slapped Ryoko last summer.  Tenchi turned over on the bed, burying 
his face in his arms.  He longed to go to Ryoko.  It was killing him to 
not be with Ryoko right now.  But he just couldn't face her.  
	How could someone like Ryoko love him?  
	How could someone like Ayeka believe in him?  
	There was a sudden knock at his door.  Who could that be?  Was it 
Ryoko?  Part of Tenchi hoped that it was, but part of him thought that 
the sight of her bandaged head would be too much right now.  Tenchi sat 
up.  _No,_ he told himself, _What happened to Ryoko is your fault.  
You're going to face it, and you're going to do everything you can for 
her._
	"Come in," he said softly.  

	Hearing Tenchi's voice saying to come in, Nobuyuki slid the door 
open and stepped into his son's room.  Tenchi was sitting on his bed.  
He seemed surprised at the sight of his father.  
	"Hi, Dad..." Tenchi said uncertainly.  
	Nobuyuki sat down beside Tenchi on the bed.  Tenchi looked 
terrible.  His eyes looked slightly red from crying, and there were 
dried tears on his face.  Nobuyuki desperately searched his mind for 
something to say.  He just didn't know where to start!  His wife had 
been so much better at this sort of thing.  
	"Do you want to talk about it?" he finally said.  
	Tenchi was silent for a time.  "It's like with Mom, all over 
again," he said finally, "When I didn't think to tell her that I loved 
her before she..."
	Nobuyuki nodded.  
	"I didn't say a word to Ayeka before we left home," Tenchi 
continued, "And now she's gone.  I can't tell her how ... I can't tell 
her anything."
	By this time Nobuyuki was really struggling to find something to 
say.  But Tenchi was already speaking again.  
	"I ... I never wanted to repeat the mistake I made with Mom, but 
now I've gone and done it again!  I've tried ... all these years I've 
tried to ... I mean, I hoped that maybe Mom could see that I ... I 
wanted nothing more than to follow her example."
	Tenchi stared at his hands, as if he expected to see something 
there.  "I used to have this dream a lot..." he said, "I would see Mom 
scrubbing blood off the floor.  I'd look down at my hands and find blood 
there.  I'd look up again, but Mom would be gone.  I'd go and scrub at 
the blood that she had tried to clean up, but the pool would just get 
bigger and bigger, no matter how hard I tried to..."
	Tenchi stared at his hands for another moment, before wringing 
them tightly.  "I should have been here for Ayeka," he sobbed, "If it 
had been Mom, she would have been here.  This is my fault, I know it 
is..."
	Nobuyuki was very near tears himself.  This was the kind of moment 
when he missed his wife the most, not so much for himself, but for 
Tenchi.  He put his arm around Tenchi.  "Not everything's about you, 
Tenchi..."
	"And just what the hell does that mean?" Tenchi snapped, although 
he immediately seemed to regret his outburst.  
	"I'm sorry, that didn't come out right," Nobuyuki said quickly, 
"What I meant to say, Tenchi, is that you can't blame yourself every 
time something bad happens to someone you care about.  No matter how 
much we don't want bad things to happen, they do, and sometimes it's 
nobody's fault."  _Thanks, Kiyone,_ Nobuyuki added silently.  
	Tenchi sighed and leaned his head against Nobuyuki's shoulder.  
They remained silent for a time, the ticking of Tenchi's alarm clock the 
only sound in the room.  
	"Sasami," Tenchi said suddenly, "I should go to her ... make sure 
she's all right."
	Nobuyuki nodded in understanding.  
	"Thanks Dad," Tenchi said.  
	"Anytime, okay?" he replied.  He stood to leave, and patted Tenchi 
on the shoulder.  
	Tenchi suddenly stood and hugged him tightly, then stepped out of 
his room.  Nobuyuki followed him out into the hall, then headed for the 
stairs.  
	Tenchi, meanwhile, stood before the door to Sasami's room.  Sasami 
and Ayeka's room.  He took a deep breath and tried to remember Ryoko's 
embrace, or his father's arm around him, anything but those dark shadows 
of the past that he felt swirling around him, and closing in...

	Tenchi knocked on Sasami's door.  
	"Come in," he heard Mihoshi's voice say.  
	Tenchi slid the door open and stepped inside.  Sasami was on her 
futon, still sleeping.  Ryo-Oh-Ki was in her toddler form, watching 
Mihoshi scribbling on paper.  
	"Blue," Mihoshi murmured.  
	"Bloo," said Ryo-Oh-Ki, handing Mihoshi a blue crayon.  The blonde 
detective scribbled some more.  
	"Mihoshi, how long have you been up?" Tenchi asked.  
	"Hmm?" she said, glancing up.  The circles under her eyes more or 
less answered Tenchi's question.  
	Just then, the door slid open.  "Mihoshi!" said Kiyone, "Nobuyuki 
told me you were still here ... I thought you said you were going to 
bed!"
	"Orange," Mihoshi said, pretending not to have heard.  
	"Or-anj" said Ryo-Oh-Ki, handing her the orange crayon.  
	"No oranges, ifs, ands, or buts!" said Kiyone.  She strode across 
the room and took Mihoshi rather forcefully by the arm, making her 
stand, "You were up all night!  Get some sleep before you make yourself 
sick!"
	"But Kiyone, I ... zzzzzzzz..." Mihoshi had fallen asleep standing 
up.  
	Tenchi moved to help Kiyone, but the green-haired woman shook her 
head.  "It's okay," she said, "I've done this before..." 
	Kiyone carefully made her way out of the room while supporting her 
sleeping friend.  Tenchi looked at Ryo-Oh-Ki.  "How could you let 
Mihoshi do that?" he asked, more puzzled than angry.  
	"No want to," said Ryo-Oh-Ki, presenting her little hands palms 
outward, "But Mi-ho-shi say no Mi-zu-ta-ni.  Mi-zu-ta-ni like big 
sis-ter.  Mi-ho-shi no big sis-ter ... Sa-sa-mi no big sis-ter."
	Tenchi sighed.  Sometimes, the way Ryo-Oh-Ki spoke Japanese was 
only marginally more comprehensible than her cabbit-speak.  What on 
Earth did "Mi-zu-ta-ni" mean?  He glanced at the paper that Mihoshi had 
been scribbling on.  It was an incomplete doodle of Sasami, being handed 
some sort of baton by Ryo-Oh-Ki (in cabbit form).  
	"What the..." Tenchi began, when suddenly a pair of arms wrapped 
around his neck from behind.  
	"Hi, Tenchi!" Sasami exclaimed, giggling.  
	"Yaaaaah!" was Tenchi's response.  
	The paper he was holding fluttered to the floor, and Sasami, 
seemingly full of boundless energy, let go of Tenchi and snatched up the 
paper to look at the drawing.  
	Tenchi looked at Sasami's now unoccupied futon, and then looked 
back at the excited thirteen-year-old.  How had she gone from being so 
tired to ... this?  
	Sasami suddenly calmed down and looked serious when something 
seemed to occur to her.  "Oh no..." she said softly, "Was Mihoshi up all 
night working on this?"
	"Working on what?" Tenchi asked.  
	"She must have been trying to finish the story..." Sasami 
murmured, indicating a pile of papers that Tenchi had not noticed 
before.  
	Tenchi looked at the paper on top of the pile, and saw that it 
also appeared to be a doodle of Sasami.  "What story?  Why did Mihoshi 
draw all these?"
	Taking a closer look at Sasami, he saw that her eyes seemed 
unusually bright, and her cheeks were slightly pink, almost as if she 
were feverish.  "Sasami," he said, concerned, "Are you okay?  Do you 
have a fever?"
	Sasami shook her head.  "It's just ... Tsunami, that's all," she 
said.  
	Seemingly unaware that her explanation made no sense to him, 
Sasami sat down on her futon, motioning for him to sit beside her.  
Tenchi did so, and Sasami said quietly, "Tenchi, I know you're upset 
about what happened to Ayeka, but I don't want you to worry about her.  
And you don't have to worry about me, either.  Tsunami has been 
explaining to me, and I know that Ayeka's okay."  She placed one of her 
hands over his and gave Tenchi a small smile.  
	Tenchi couldn't believe it.  He felt as if he was the 
thirteen-year-old, and she was twenty-one, rather than the other way 
around.  Sasami's expression became serious again.  "I still miss her," 
she said, "but I know that Tsunami believes that Ayeka can do what she 
requires of her.  Ayeka's helping Tsunami, and ... I'm proud of her."
	Sasami reached into a wooden storage unit that resembled a log, 
and pulled out a book.  "It'll help me to feel like Ayeka's still here 
if I look at this," she said, smiling.  
	She handed the book to Tenchi.  "You look, too," she said to him.  
Opening the book, Tenchi's eyes were greeted by a lifelike painting of 
Sasami wearing the most ridiculously short skirt he had ever seen.  If 
it weren't for his serious mood, he probably would have laughed.  "What 
is this?" he asked, as Sasami giggled and squeezed his hand.  
	"What is what?" Ryoko's voice said as she phased through the door.  
	Ryo-Oh-Ki changed back into her cabbit form, and scrambled onto 
Ryoko's shoulder with a joyous "Miya!".  
	Smiling, Ryoko sat down beside Tenchi and squeezed his other hand.  
He wanted to say something to her, but she said, "Shhh.  It's okay."
	Ryo-Oh-Ki stared intently at the picture, and Tenchi knew that 
Ryoko must be looking at the book through her cabbit's eyes.  "This is 
Ayeka's signature," said Ryoko, pointing at something written in Juraiji 
at the corner of the page.  
	Sasami nodded.  "Ayeka learned how to paint back on Jurai.  She 
used to write and illustrate lots of books for me during her spare 
time."
	Suddenly, Ryoko began to laugh, squeezing Tenchi's hand so hard 
that he winced.  
	"Ow!  What's so funny?" he asked.  Suddenly, he began to smile, 
even though he didn't get the joke.  Seeing Ryoko laughing despite her 
condition, well... it was wonderful.  Tenchi wrapped his arms around 
Ryoko and hugged her tightly.  She hugged him back, laughing the whole 
time.  
	Sasami watched them, her bright pink eyes shining with delight.  
	"Now, what's so funny?" Tenchi asked again.  
	Ryoko pointed at Ayeka's painting.  "D-don't you remember the 
description in that crazy story Mihoshi told us?" she said, still unable 
to stop laughing, "That ... that's Pretty Sammy!"
	Tenchi blinked.  Good grief, she was right!  
	"That's right!" said Sasami, her smile as bright as her eyes, 
"Ayeka wrote stories where I turned into a magical girl, Pretty Sammy!"
	"So that's where Mihoshi got that from," said Tenchi, chuckling.  
	For the next few hours, Sasami showed a captivated audience the 
many books that Ayeka had made for her.  Sasami read them aloud, since 
Tenchi was illiterate when it came to Juraiji.  Tenchi recognized one of 
the passages as part of the bedtime story that he had overheard Ayeka 
reading out loud, on the night he had told Ryoko what he felt about her.  
He hadn't realized at the time that Ayeka had actually written the story 
she had been reading!  
	The earlier Pretty Sammy tales, the ones that Ayeka had written on 
Jurai, were about a Juraian empress named Tsunami, whose unconventional 
way of doing things often shocked the Juraian nobles, but always managed 
to win the day.  Instead of marrying, this Empress Tsunami had adopted a 
girl named Sammy, who enjoyed using her magical powers to foil those who 
plotted against her foster mother.  
	The stories made a great many references to Juraian culture and 
politics, most of which went right over Tenchi's head, although a good 
deal of these allusions sent Sasami and even Ryoko into fits of 
giggling.  However, Tenchi found himself spellbound by these tales 
anyway, because of the illustrations.  He had never known that Ayeka 
was such an incredibly skilled artist.  The detailed drawings and vivid 
colors often made Tenchi forget that he was looking at a book.  
	His favorite painting was one of Empress Tsunami playing 
hide-and-seek with her adopted daughter in the throne room.  It showed 
Tsunami crawling out from under the throne after her daughter had caught 
her.  Dust bunnies clung to her silken robes and aqua blue hair.  In the 
background stood several Juraian nobles, their mouths hanging open in 
shock at their ruler's behavior.  
	But Empress Tsunami's shining pink eyes and wide smile, which 
seemed to perfectly mirror Princess Sammy's merry eyes and smile, showed 
that she really didn't care what the nobles thought.  Tenchi marveled at 
how Ayeka had captured Sasami's likeness perfectly.  Princess Sammy's 
facial expression was that same open-mouthed smile that Sasami often 
showed before bursting into laughter.  The highlights in Princess 
Sammy's eyes seemed to contain a real spark of life, her hair looked 
like twin showers of water ... why, Ayeka had even remembered her 
sister's freckles!  (Tenchi and Ryoko chuckled as Sasami grumbled about 
that last detail.)
	In the Pretty Sammy books that Ayeka had made on Earth, everyone 
else in the Masaki household had been added to the stories, including 
Ayeka herself.  Washu was Princess Sammy's royal tutor, Ryo-Oh-Ki was 
Pretty Sammy's sidekick ... Tenchi wondered if this was where Mihoshi 
had gotten the idea to cast everyone into her story of the ultra-energy 
matter robbery.  
	Tenchi also noticed how the Ayeka and Ryoko in the stories fought 
quite often in the earlier books that had been written on Earth, but 
seemed more and more like friends in the later ones.  He smiled, but 
then frowned slightly when Sasami turned a page in the last book and 
revealed that the drawing had not been painted yet.  There wasn't any 
text on this page, either.  The sketch showed Sammy surrounded by 
monsters, with Ryo-Oh-Ki nowhere in sight.  No Ryo-Oh-Ki meant no 
magical baton for Sammy to change into the magical girl.  
	"Ayeka never got to finish this one," said Sasami, "so I never 
found out what happened to Sammy."
	"So that's what Mihoshi was doing," said Tenchi, looking at the 
blonde detective's smudgy crayon doodles, "She was trying to continue 
the story."  Tenchi smiled at how sweet Mihoshi could be.  
	"Ayeka did another painting," said Sasami, rummaging through 
another of the log-like storage units, "It's in here someplace..."
	As Sasami searched for it, a beautiful wooden flute fell out of 
the storage unit.  A tiny velvet bag was attached to it.  "Oh, that's 
Ayeka's flute," Sasami explained, noticing the admiring eyes of Tenchi 
and Ryo-Oh-Ki (still functioning as Ryoko's eyes), "Big brother Yosho 
gave it to her as a gift."
	Sasami stopped her search to face Tenchi and the others as she 
talked.  "When he left Jurai," she continued, "Ayeka said that she would 
never play the flute again until she found him."
	"I never knew that Ayeka played the flute," said Tenchi.  
	"Me neither," said Ryoko, and Ryo-Oh-Ki miya-ed in agreement.  
	Sasami's shoulders slumped slightly, "That's because even when we 
found him, she never played it again."
	Silence followed, and Sasami suddenly became busy looking for the 
painting again.  "Here it is!" she finally said, pulling a rolled up 
paper from the storage unit.  She began to unroll it.  "It's a picture 
of Ayeka at the royal court on Jurai.  Our parents and Auntie Funaho 
aren't in it, though."
	Tenchi gazed at the painting, and wondered what felt ... wrong 
about it.  It was as well-drawn and vividly painted as Ayeka's other 
works, but somehow it seemed to have less life in it than the Pretty 
Sammy illustrations.  After a moment, he realized what was bothering 
him.  Ayeka and the other people in the picture all looked rather stiff.  
That was why the picture seemed less alive.  
	Tenchi took a closer look at the flower Ayeka was holding in the 
painting.  It was reddish-purple, just like her eyes.  Wait a minute ... 
it was just like those flowers that Ryoko had left at the spot where 
Ayeka's body had been found.  "That flower..." said Tenchi, pointing at 
it, "What does it mean?"
	"That's a Royal Teardrop," Ryoko replied.
	"Hey, you're right!" said Sasami, looking puzzled, "Why did Ayeka 
draw that?  It's a flower used for sad occasions."
	"What's used for happy occasions?" asked Tenchi.  
	He hadn't really expected an answer, but Ryoko said "Startica 
Bells."
	"Yeah, like these," said Sasami.  She handed one of the Pretty 
Sammy books to Tenchi.  It was open to a picture of Pretty Sammy smiling 
and holding her fingers in a V-for-victory sign.  She had two pink 
flowers in her hair, one at the base of each ponytail.  
	Tenchi took another look at the painting of Jurai's royal court.  
Ayeka, standing stiffly with all those nobles, holding a Royal Teardrop.  
Then there was the picture of Pretty Sammy, a girl in a dress that no 
Juraian princess should be caught dead wearing (Heck, Ayeka's UNDERWEAR 
looked more respectable than that dress!), but smiling and wearing 
flowers that symbolized joy.  
	"Oh, Ayeka..." Tenchi whispered sadly.  

	The sun was beginning to set.  Katsuhito wandered aimlessly 
through the forest, having just left Funaho's clearing.  Someone had 
placed a small heap of Royal Teardrops at the spot where Ayeka had been 
found.  He sighed as his thoughts inevitably drifted to something that 
had happened over 700 years ago, back on Jurai.  
	Ayeka, a small girl back then, had made two wreaths out of berries 
and leaves.  She had placed one upon her head, and given the other one 
to him, to pretend that they were already married and had become the new 
rulers of Jurai.  His heart had sunk at that, for he had felt that he 
could not bring himself to tell anyone that he had no intention of 
staying on Jurai, let alone becoming emperor.  Certainly he was not 
going to tell that to a little girl.  In complete innocence, Ayeka had 
offered him a Royal Teardrop, the flower that Juraians used for sad 
occasions.  It had reminded him of the unhappiness that he was sure 
would fill his life if he stayed on the planet...
	Katsuhito sighed again, picturing the heap of flowers that had 
been left near Funaho.  The flowers were the same color as his eyes, as 
well as Ayeka's.  He remembered how hurt and betrayed her eyes had 
looked when she had discovered that he had been hiding his true identity 
as Yosho.  
	Shaking his head sadly, Katsuhito wondered at what he should have 
done differently.  He had kept secrets from her up until the end...
	His thoughts wandered again, this time to his late wife, and his 
daughter, who had died when Tenchi had still been very young.  Could it 
be... could it be that he had now outlived his sister, as well?  
Katsuhito had always been quite content to spend much of his time in 
solitude, but he suddenly felt very lonely.  
	"Miya!" Ryo-Oh-Ki's voice called out.  
	Katsuhito turned to see the little cabbit bounding towards him.  
She appeared to be coming from the direction of Funaho's clearing, which 
he had just left.  Seeing that she had been noticed, Ryo-Oh-Ki used one 
of her ears to gesture back towards the holy tree's place.  
	The cabbit turned around and began to bound back where she had 
come from, then paused and looked back at him.  "Miya!" she called.  
	Taking the hint, the priest began to follow the cabbit back to 
Funaho.  Once they had reached the clearing, his eyes came to rest on 
the heap of Royal Teardrops ... but what was this?  The flowers were no 
longer reddish-purple, they were pink, like  ... like Startica Bells, 
the Juraian flowers used for joyous occasions!  How could such a thing 
be?  
	His answer came a moment later, when, upon walking closer to the 
flowers, he saw that the pink petals were folding and unfolding, without 
the aid of any breeze.  Butterflies.  The Royal Teardrops were all 
covered with pink butterflies.  On some tacit agreement between the 
delicate creatures, they all took to the air at once, swirling around 
and around in the air in an intricate dance.  
	"Yes, I see..." a voice said behind Katsuhito.  He turned around 
and looked at Sasami, who appeared to be studying the butterflies' 
movements very carefully.  Her eyes took in the sight of them, and she 
had an intense look on her face as if she were straining to hear 
something.  A few minutes later, the triangles on her forehead began to 
glow with a silvery light.  Once this light appeared, the butterflies 
flew directly towards Sasami, surrounding her in their continuing dance.  
	The butterflies then flew out of the clearing and out of sight, 
and Sasami's expression became serious again.  "Tsunami just told me," 
she said softly, "I know what to do with that tree branch now..."

	The pain was real.  She could not scream, and she could not shed 
any tears, for she had no physical body at the moment.  Even still, she 
could actually feel the darkness clawing at her. She tried to remain 
focused, tried to concentrate on the dim golden light ahead of her ... 
but the pain was becoming unbearable.  
	_Tsunami,_ she told herself, _Remember Tsunami._  She forced 
herself to ignore the pain and remember Tsunami's gentle, sad face 
asking for her help.  She thought of the moment when Tsunami embraced 
her and said that she believed in her.  She would not let the goddess 
down.  She would not let Sasami down.  She would not let her family 
down.  
	Tsunami had placed herself at great risk by using a considerable 
amount of power to clear the way for her.  She knew that the task had 
been more difficult than the goddess had anticipated ... and despite 
Tsunami's efforts, most of the dark power had returned by the time her 
journey began.  
	The light that marked her destination seemed no closer than 
before.  She felt as if she had been trying to reach it for an eternity.  
Even though it did not seem possible, the pain intensified.  
Her inner voice screamed, _I will NOT give in!_
	Something in her spirit was ignited, and just as the pain crested, 
it abruptly vanished.  Suddenly, instead of being surrounded by 
darkness, she found herself in a great expanse of white light, much like 
the place she was in before the journey began.  She saw an image of 
Sasami floating there.  
	"I'm proud of you," the image of Sasami said, "I will always be 
proud of you."
	"I believe in you," said an image of Tsunami, "I will always 
believe in you."
	The image of Tsunami became slightly altered, until she looked 
like Misaki.  "I love you," the image said, "I will always love you..."
	She could almost feel Misaki kissing her palms, and could imagine 
her mother's voice saying, "Now you're holding some of Mommy's love, so 
you don't have to be scared of anything."
	But how could she feel her palms, unless ... ?
	Her eyes flew open, and she coughed as she tried to become 
accustomed to breathing again.  Her head and chest hurt, but she forced 
herself to sit up and look at her new surroundings.  She took a deep 
breath and stood, swaying slightly as she tried to get reacquainted with 
her body.  Taking several more deep breaths, she concentrated until a 
silvery aura formed around her.  With the silver light's arrival came 
the departure of the pain and discomfort.  
	"Tokimi," she whispered, "I am coming for you..."

	Ryoko sat on the most comfortable chair in Washu's lab, waiting 
patiently.  Tenchi sat across from her, holding her hand.  
	"Okay, you two," said Washu, walking towards them, "Sasami 
explained all of Tsunami's instructions about this branch."  She held up 
the gray tree branch that had been found with Ayeka's body.  "Sasami 
gave me the procedure ... apparently, it can be used to restore Ryoko's 
eyesight."
	"Ayeka ...  Ayeka did this for me?" Ryoko asked softly.  
	"According to Sasami," said Washu, "Ayeka did this for everyone."
	The lab became silent except for the hum of Washu's machinery.  
There was no one else in the lab besides the three of them, unless one 
counted the creatures that swam in the tanks or nested in the trees.  
Even though Kiyone was usually Washu's lab assistant, Washu had insisted 
that the detective stay in the room that she shared with Mihoshi, to 
make sure that the blonde got the sleep she needed.  Sasami, meanwhile, 
had decided to watch the sunset with Mayuka and Ryo-Oh-Ki.  
	"First of all," said Washu, "We have to remove Ryoko's bandage and 
clean up whatever mess is under there ... Tenchi, why don't you do that 
while I prepare everything else?"
	"Sure," said Tenchi, as the redheaded scientist wandered to 
another part of the lab.  
	Tenchi carefully removed the bandage wrapped around Ryoko's eyes, 
and saw that her eyelids were covered in some sort of crusty substance.  
Ryoko's face twitched.  "I can't move my eyelids," she giggled.  
	"I'll clean that up," Tenchi murmured.  He picked up a wet 
washcloth that Washu had left for him, and began to gently dab at 
Ryoko's face.  Cleaning the crust off proved to be difficult, since it 
refused to come off easily, and yet Tenchi did not want to rub too hard 
and hurt Ryoko.  
	Once Tenchi had finished, he realized that there was water 
trickling down Ryoko's face and dribbling past her chin and sliding down 
her neck, or dripping onto her clothes.  Ryoko had remained silent the 
whole time, so that he hadn't even noticed, since he had been so 
occupied with his cleaning task.  He quickly grabbed a small towel and 
began to wipe the water away, but Ryoko gently grabbed his arm and 
stopped him.  
	"Leave it for a moment," she said, "It feels like ... it feels 
I'm like crying..."
	"Ryoko?"
	"When my body rejected the prosthetic eyes Mom made for me," Ryoko 
explained, "It seems that I lost the ability to cry after that.  So I 
just want to be able to feel tears again.  Isn't that funny?  I never 
liked to be seen crying before, but now..."  She shook her head and 
laughed softly.  She experimentally opened her eyelids, revealing the 
empty eye sockets they had been covering.  
	Tenchi froze and stared at Ryoko's face.  
	"Tenchi," Ryoko said, "You don't have to look if you don't want 
to."
	He was about to say that it didn't bother him, when Ryoko suddenly 
added, "I could hear you hold your breath."
	"Ryoko..." Tenchi began, but Ryoko gently placed a finger on his 
lips.  
	"Don't worry about me, and don't you dare blame yourself," she 
said softly, "Even if this procedure doesn't work, I can get by.  
There's more than one way I can see you."  
	Ryoko cupped his face in both of her hands, her thumbs resting on 
his cheekbones.  She slowly moved her hands down his face, until the 
heels of her hands met at his chin.  Removing one of her hands, she ran 
her fingers through Tenchi's hair, then stroked the back of his neck.  
She wrapped his little ponytail around her one of her fingers, then 
released it.  But she didn't release Tenchi.  She placed both her arms 
around him, pulling him closer to her.  Ryoko kissed him lightly on the 
forehead, then gave him a longer kiss on the lips.  
	At first, Tenchi had felt that he didn't deserve this attention 
from Ryoko.  He had felt his shadows tightening around him ... but then, 
they had begun to disappear under Ryoko's gentle touch.  She was not 
only seeing him without sight, but saying "I love you" without words, 
and healing him without anything more than her devotion.  It was a 
devotion that said, "I have good reason to love you.  Do not ever doubt 
that".  When their lips finally parted, Tenchi suddenly closed his eyes 
and took Ryoko's face in his hands.  "My turn?" he whispered shyly.  
	He felt Ryoko's head move in a small nod.  With one hand, Tenchi 
caressed the side of Ryoko's face.  His other hand explored her hair, 
which was surprisingly soft for its spiky appearance.  He then somewhat 
clumsily began to feel at the rest of Ryoko's face, gently stroking her 
soft eyelids.  He grimaced slightly at his clumsiness, but then somehow 
he just knew that Ryoko forgave him, and more than that, she didn't care 
if his fingers could not have a touch as delicate as hers, she loved it 
anyway.  In fact, she somehow loved it BECAUSE it was like that.  
Tenchi's hand suddenly felt wet, and he remembered the water there.  
Tenchi carefully wiped it away with his hands, then pulled Ryoko closer 
to him for a kiss, this one lasting much longer than the one before.  

	Washu watched them silently.  She hadn't intended to spy on them, 
but she had accidentally gotten a splinter from the tree branch stuck in 
her palm, and had sat down to try to pull it out.  She had finally 
managed to free the troublesome sliver of wood, and had glanced up in 
time to see them kissing.  Washu had been extremely annoyed at the 
splinter (after all, she had already cut her finger on a razor a few 
days before), but any annoyance had vanished once she saw the couple.  
	"And I thought I was the one noted for peeping in this family," a 
voice whispered from behind Washu.  
	The little scientist turned and looked at Nobuyuki.  "What are 
you doing here?" she whispered.  
	"Just came to check on how things were going," he whispered back.  
He gestured towards Tenchi and Ryoko, who were now holding hands and 
speaking softly to each other.  "I think they'll be fine if we leave 
them alone for a bit, don't you?"
	Washu nodded and set the branch down on a table.  The two of them 
quietly walked off towards another part of the lab.  Settling down in 
front of the tree Ryu-Oh, which was nearly fully-grown now, Washu and 
Nobuyuki sat in silence for a few moments.  Washu's thoughts wandered to 
every kind of tree she had ever known (and that was a great many), and 
she frowned when she decided that none of them could have produced the 
branch that Ayeka had left behind.  Where could the princess have gotten 
it?  Certainly it was not from a tree that grew anywhere in Japan.  
	Washu's thoughts were interrupted when Nobuyuki suddenly said 
softly, "Thank goodness for young love, eh?"  
	"Ryoko's older than you are, young man," Washu replied, winking to 
show that she understood what Nobuyuki meant.  She had felt it, too.  
Seeing Ryoko with Tenchi like that reminded her of all the happy times 
she had enjoyed with her husband.  Although she was still saddened that 
she had lost him forever, the knowledge that her daughter had been able 
to find love ... well, it filled her with a kind of optimism that she 
had not felt for over 20,000 years.  
	Washu took a small sphere out of her hair, one that she had not 
shown to anyone, not even her daughter.  She handed it to Nobuyuki.  
"Shake it," she said.  
	Nobuyuki did so, and the tiny sphere projected an image of Washu 
in her adult form, smiling and standing beside a man with curly blonde 
hair.  In the man's arms was a small baby with the same curly blonde 
hair as the man, as well as eyes that were the same piercing green color 
as Washu's.  
	"Nobuo Mizutani, my husband," Washu said softly, "and Seikou, our 
son."
	Nobuyuki nodded and reached into his pocket.  He wordlessly handed 
her a slightly worn photograph.  Washu gazed at the picture of a 
somewhat younger Nobuyuki, holding hands with a woman dressed in a 
lavender kimono.  The two of them were standing in front of the cave, 
looking into each other's eyes and smiling.  Strapped to the woman's 
back was an infant Tenchi, who seemed to be staring at an empty spot in 
front of the cave with great interest.  
	"Achika," Nobuyuki murmured softly.  
	Washu nodded.  After a moment's silence, the redheaded scientist 
wracked her brain for something to say.  "So ... who took the picture?" 
she finally asked.  _Oh, great thing to say,_ she thought to herself, 
_You REALLY need to work on your people skills, dearie._  She frowned 
and scratched her hand, which was beginning to itch.  
	"Michiko," Nobuyuki said in response to Washu's question, "a 
friend of mine."
	He sighed and fixed his eyes on the photograph that Washu still 
held in her hand.  "She was the one who convinced me to propose to 
Achika," he continued, "I was ... afraid, but Michiko could tell that I 
loved her, and she told me not to wait forever ... because I didn't 
have forever."
	"Whatever happened to Michiko?" Washu asked without thinking.  
_Now what kind of thing to say was that?  That does it honey, you're 
getting out of the lab more often!_  She scratched at her hand again.  
	Nobuyuki didn't reply, and that was all the response that Washu 
needed.  "I'm sorry," said Washu, "I shouldn't have asked."
	Nobuyuki shook his head to show that he hadn't been offended.  "It 
was only afterwards when I found out..." he whispered, "that she had 
been in love with me.  She told me to propose to Achika, even though..."
	Remaining silent this time, Washu put her small hand on Nobuyuki's 
shoulder.  
	"She was ... I guess she was my Ayeka," Nobuyuki finished softly.  
	Something made Washu and Nobuyuki look up at the same time.  They 
saw Tenchi and Ryoko heading towards them, holding onto each other.  
Tenchi kept trying to lead Ryoko, while Ryoko kept trying to lead him 
to show that she could manage.  This resulted in neither of them 
noticing a power cable on the floor, and they both tripped over it and 
ended up a heap on the floor.  Ryoko teasingly gave Tenchi a light smack 
on the back of his head, and Tenchi laughed.  
	"I guess they're ready for us to try the procedure," Washu said, 
trying to hold back laughter, "But first..."
	The little scientist made her transparent black computer 
materialize, and typed in a command.  A floating tray appeared before 
her, with two small cups of sake resting on it.  Washu handed one of 
the cups to Nobuyuki, then took the other one and raised it in a toast.  
"To young love," she said, smiling.  
	"And to those who make sacrifices to let others enjoy that young 
love," said Nobuyuki.  
	"To Michiko," Washu added.  
	"And to Ayeka," Nobuyuki finished.  
	The cups clinked together, and the proud parents watched their 
children pick themselves up off the floor and walk towards them, holding 
hands.  
	A pink butterfly emerged from somewhere in Ryu-Oh's leaves, and 
landed on Nobuyuki's photograph, which had been left on the floor.  The 
tiny creature's antennae brushed the spot in front of the cave that the 
infant Tenchi was staring at.  Neither Washu nor Nobuyuki noticed this, 
but something made them both laugh softly at the same time.  

	Much to Tenchi's relief, the procedure had turned out to be fairly 
simple: dripping some sap from the branch onto Ryoko's gem, and making 
Ryoko swallow a drop of the sap at the same time.  After that, she had 
fallen into a deep sleep, and Tenchi had sat by the bed that Washu had 
set up for her.  
	Ryoko sat up about an hour later.  
	"How are you feeling?" Tenchi asked immediately.  
	The cyan-haired woman blinked, and Tenchi caught a glimpse of her 
new eyes.  "Ryoko!" he exclaimed, "I think it worked!  Can you see 
anything?"
	Ryoko stopped blinking and turned to stare in Tenchi's direction.  
He was able to see that Ryoko's new eyes, while feline like her old 
ones, were not golden.  They were silver.  
	"I ... I can't see a thing..." she said, and Tenchi's heart sank.  
	She suddenly stretched her hand out towards Tenchi, keeping it 
just a few inches from his shoulder.  "But..." she said, a strange smile 
on her face, "I can tell that you got your shoulder bruised a few days 
ago!"
	Tenchi blinked in surprise.  "That's right!" he said, "When I was 
practicing with Grandpa..."
	Ryoko moved her hand farther down, still not actually touching his 
body.  "And..." she said, grinning, "I can tell that you didn't leave my 
bedside this whole time, even though you desperately needed to go to 
the..."
	"Ryoko!" Tenchi squeaked, "How...?!"
	Ryoko laughed and held her hand in front of his face.  "My, my," 
she said between giggles, "You're blushing, aren't you?"
	"Fascinating!" said Washu, who was standing a few feet away, "This 
is going to require some testing..."  She broke off and absently 
scratched her hand.  
	Ryoko was still laughing at Tenchi's embarrassment.  "Why don't 
you go relieve yourself?" she said, "I'm going to rest some more ... 
don't worry, I'll still be here!"
	She fell back on the bed and fell asleep instantly.  Washu 
chuckled as Tenchi ran for the bathroom before his bladder exploded.  

	Ryoko awoke several hours later.  Tenchi was asleep by her 
bedside.  She could actually sense his heartbeat without touching him.  
_This is going to take some getting used to!_ Ryoko thought to herself.  
Suddenly feeling the urge to check on Mayuka, she teleported out of the 
lab, into the baby's room.  
	Ryoko's timing was perfect: the infant had begun to cry just as 
she entered the room.  "Oh ... it's okay, Noodles, I'm here." she said, 
taking the baby out of her crib.  
	Moving over to a chair by the crib, Ryoko sat down and gently 
rocked Mayuka in her arms.  She began to sing her favorite song, the one 
about stars and happy dreams, when she felt herself being hit by a 
feeling of immense sadness.  
	_Why, Ayeka?_ she thought to herself, _You didn't have to do this 
for me..._
	She stopped singing and sighed, even as Mayuka continued to cry.  
Taking a deep breath, she tried to resume singing, but her voice kept 
shaking.  Hot tears trickled down her cheeks, but the realization that 
she could cry again did little to improve her singing.  
	"Oh come now, Miss Ryoko, I know you can do better than that!" a 
familiar voice said.  Ryoko jerked her head up and saw a smirking Ayeka 
standing in front of her, dressed in a white robe.  She could SEE her!  
Ryoko glanced down and saw that she could see herself, as well as 
Mayuka, but nothing else, not even the chair she was sitting on.  
	"Ayeka?" said Ryoko.  
	Ayeka put her hands on her hips.  "Are you going to let the baby 
just cry like that, Miss Ryoko?  Really, you can be so irresponsible!" 
she said in mock-anger.  The purple-haired woman then winked at her.  
	Ryoko was completely flabbergasted.  Ayeka looked at her 
expectantly, and began to tap her foot.  Finally, Ryoko tried to resume 
singing to Mayuka, but her voice was still weak and shaky.  
	Ayeka rolled her eyes, but there was a mischievous smile on her 
face.  "Oh dear," she said, "It seems that, once again, it is up to me 
to do the job properly."
	Ayeka began to sing.  Her singing voice never had been as rich or 
as strong as Ryoko's, but nevertheless it successfully managed to weave 
the images of stars and happy dreams.  Ryoko simply stared at her.  
Mayuka stopped crying and blinked her little eyes.  
	Ayeka kept singing.  
	Stars.  
	Ryoko could see a night sky in her mind's eye.  She remembered 
one night, about a year ago, when she had been sitting on the rooftop, 
and Tenchi had come to apologize to her ... she saw, earlier that same 
night, when she had been hiding by Funaho, and Ayeka had come to share 
her feelings with her...
	It had been a small sign of the friendship they had, the 
friendship that they had scarcely ever admitted to.  In fact, when 
Ayeka had confessed her fears, Ryoko had offered reassurance, but 
disguised it as sarcasm.  And there it was.  Ayeka's small, soft voice 
singing ... it was like their friendship had been.  Weak at first ... 
small, subtle ... a trembling, delicate thing...
	Ayeka's voice reached a crescendo, and Ryoko longed to hear her 
voice go higher, but she knew that the princess did not have that kind 
of vocal range.  It was the same longing that she felt, now more than 
ever, about their friendship.  Ayeka had made a great sacrifice for 
her ... but she couldn't do anything in return.  How she wished she had 
told her what that friendship had meant to her, before it had been too 
late!  
	Ryoko began to sing, her voice rich and unwavering.  This was how 
she saw that friendship now: stronger, more important to her than ever 
before.  Her voice reached a crescendo and joined with Ayeka's.  Yes, 
that was how she wanted their relationship to be!  It had grown, and it 
should keep growing!  Her powerful voice sang about stars and happy 
dreams, but her mind was picturing something else ... her strong arms, 
grabbing Ayeka and taking her out of danger during the fight with 
Kagato...
	Ayeka attempted another crescendo, and her gentle voice trembled 
slightly, but did not stop.  Ryoko remembered the princess' small form 
supporting her, holding her gently but firmly as Tenchi fought with 
Yuzuha...
	Their voices joined in perfect harmony, and the song seemed so 
alive and powerful that Ryoko felt that she could reach out and touch 
the melody.  Ryoko's voice had never been so strong before, but then, 
never before had she had Ayeka's voice supporting hers, working some 
sort of wondrous magic that they could only accomplish together.  
	Happy dreams.  
	Mayuka sighed and fell asleep, the song seemingly becoming a 
blanket of warmth and security for her.  Ryoko reached out with her 
hand, as if to touch that blanket, and Ayeka's hand suddenly grasped 
Ryoko's, squeezing it gently as they both stopped singing.  
	Tears streamed out of Ryoko's eyes again.  "Why?" she sobbed, 
"Damn it, Ayeka!  Why?"
	Ryoko suddenly realized that Ayeka was crying, too.  Wordlessly, 
the Juraian woman took Ryoko's hand and placed one of the fingers on the 
flow of tears that came forth from one of her reddish-purple eyes.  
	_Listen to me,_ Ryoko heard Ayeka's voice say in her mind, _Listen 
to me now, beyond the realm of voices, for water plays it own songs, for 
those who know how to listen.  You do not have to say a word, and yet I 
know of your grief, because of your tears.  This pure, simple language, 
I will share with you.  I will teach it to you, as She who sang water's 
first song taught it to me..._
	Ayeka's tears began to slide down Ryoko's finger, but the 
cyan-haired woman made no move to wipe them away.  
	_It is a complex melody that water has,_ Ayeka's unspoken voice 
continued, _After all, one can shed tears of joy as well as sadness.  
Such is the nature of water.  It is just as capable of taking away life 
as it is of sustaining it.  Miss Ryoko, my friend, you know much about 
the power of water already.  The mighty tidal wave that smashes stone 
into sand ... that was you once.  That is the you that I know you are 
still capable of being, if anyone threatens those that you love.  But, 
dearest Miss Ryoko, also know that there are other ways to win a battle.  
Remember, always, the gentle drop of water that can still create many 
ripples in a pool.  Your love for Lord Tenchi and Mayuka and the others 
has taught you something of this other side of water.  This gift that 
you were recently given..._  
	(Here Ayeka gestured towards Ryoko's new eyes to show what she 
meant) 
	...this gift is to help you discover that other side, that 
gentle, nurturing side which Kagato tried to deny existed in you.  
Learn how to use it, Miss Ryoko.  Learn how to use both sides of your 
nature, and you will be better able to protect that which is most 
precious to you.  Learn the many songs of water, my friend, and you 
will be more human than Kagato ever thought you could be.  Such is the 
nature of water..._
	And so, without using her ears, Ryoko listened.  

	Ryoko could feel someone gently shaking her.  "Ayeka?" she 
murmured sleepily.  
	"Ryoko, it's me," said Tenchi's voice from somewhere in the 
darkness.  
	"Mayuka..." Ryoko said, realizing that she was no longer holding 
the baby.  
	"It's okay, I put her back in her crib," said Tenchi, "When I 
woke up and you weren't in the lab, I came upstairs and ... I heard 
your singing.  Ryoko, I don't think I've ever heard you sing that song 
so beautifully before!  I didn't want to disturb you until you were 
done, but when I came in, I found that you had fallen asleep..."
	"Where's Ayeka?" said Ryoko.  
	"What?  Ryoko, are you okay?" said Tenchi, his voice full of 
concern.  
	Finally shaking the last bit of grogginess away, Ryoko stood.  
"Can I try something?" she asked suddenly.  
	"Um ... okay..." said Tenchi.  "What is it?"
	Ryoko stretched her hand out and held it a few inches from 
Tenchi's shoulder, the one that had been bruised.  She imagined the 
injury as a block of ice, and then pictured a warm current flowing from 
her hand, melting the ice into water.  Water...
	Ryoko could sense Tenchi poking at his shoulder.  "It's ... 
better..." he said, astounded, "Ryoko, what did you do?"
	"Ayeka..." Ryoko said, smiling, "she's alive."
	Tenchi sputtered something completely incomprehensible, and Ryoko 
laughed.  She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then sank back into 
her chair and fell asleep again.  

	Sasami slipped silently out of the house.  Everyone was asleep, 
and she didn't want anyone to awaken and see her go outside.  Just in 
case someone happened to look out a window and spot her, she kept her 
back straight and walked with a spring in her step.  _That's it ... 
strong ... cheerful..._
	Once she had reached Funaho, she dropped the entire pretense that 
she had been maintaining all day, and her shoulders slumped and her feet 
began to drag.  Sighing, she watched the fireflies flit about for 
awhile, but they failed to lighten her mood like they usually did.  
	"Tsunami!" she called out, "Tsunami, you can come out now!"
	There was a shimmering in the air, and the glowing white figure of 
Tsunami materialized.  The goddess still appeared a bit weak from 
helping Ayeka to reach the ... other side, and she seemed somewhat 
nervous, as if afraid of facing Sasami.  
	"I don't know why you didn't tell me what you were planning with 
Ayeka," Sasami said, her voice low and unusually harsh, "I don't know 
why you didn't tell me right away!"
	Tsunami actually took a step backward.  
	"You said you loved me, Tsunami!" Sasami almost screamed, "Is this 
how you show that?  By keeping secrets from me?  By making everyone 
think that Ayeka is dead?  What else are you planning to do, huh?  What 
next?  You told me that this was Ayeka's choice ... I want to believe 
you, but how can I?"  
	Sasami couldn't recognize herself as she said this, it was so 
unlike her ... and yet she could not stop.  All the doubts she had about 
Tsunami's motives over the past 700 or so years, all the fears about 
what would happen once the goddess merged with her ... these had mostly 
been kept bottled up inside, and now they were pouring out with a fire 
that frightened her, and yet she could not stop.  
	Tsunami took it all, remaining silent, not saying a single word to 
defend herself.  It was only when Sasami subsided that the goddess said 
softly, "I'm so sorry, Sasami!"  Tsunami sank to her knees and stared at 
the ground.  Sasami had never seen her looking so sad and ... lost.  
	"I ... I didn't tell you because I didn't want to frighten you," 
Tsunami continued, "Our ... your family was so much like what I wished 
mine had been.  I loved my older sisters so much, but I ... I knew that 
things were falling apart, that they would never be the same again!  
W-when ... when one of my sisters left, it was one of the most painful 
and frightening things that ever happened to me.  I was so ... 
afraid ... and I didn't want you to worry about something like that!"
	It took a few moments before Tsunami could finish.  "I thought 
that I would protect you for as long as possible ... but what I did was 
wrong.  I'm sorry, Sasami..."
	"I ... I understand now," said Sasami, her voice scarcely above a 
whisper.  She ran to the goddess and threw her arms around her.  Tsunami 
looked at Sasami questioningly.  
	"You created me when the real Sasami died," said Sasami, "because 
you didn't want Ayeka to be without a sister.  You DO care about Ayeka.  
I shouldn't have doubted you..."
	Tsunami looked stricken for a moment, then began to sob 
uncontrollably, her tears splashing into Sasami's hair as she hugged the 
young princess close to her.  Bewildered, Sasami did the only thing she 
could: she hugged Tsunami back and cried with her.  Pressed so close to 
the goddess, Sasami could feel herself surrounded by Tsunami's familiar 
scent, which was very much like a mixture of Royal Teardrops and 
Startica Bells.  Tsunami's tears began to trickle down Sasami's face and 
mingle with her own tears.  
	_When we assimilate,_ Sasami thought to herself, _We really will 
cry the same tears..._  It was a thought that brought both fear and 
comfort at the same time.  Such was the nature of water.  
	"Nothing like a good cry," Tsunami murmured after a while.  
	"Good cry?" said Sasami, a mischievous grin spreading across her 
features, "That was nothing like a good cry!  Remember when Mihoshi 
helped me to peel onions for dinner, at the exact same time that she was 
trying to watch a soap opera on TV?  Now THAT combo makes for a good 
cry!"
	Tsunami gave a weak smile in response.  
	Sasami pulled away from the goddess and pouted cutely.  "Tsunami, 
if you don't smile better than that, I'll be very mad at you!"
	This time Tsunami could not help but laugh.  
	"Yeah!" exclaimed Sasami, throwing her arms around Tsunami again, 
"Friends, right?"
	"Yeah," said Tsunami, ruffling Sasami's hair.  
	"No more secrets?" Sasami said seriously, "You'll answer my next 
question?"
	The goddess nodded.  "What do you want to know?"
	"Well, Ayeka and Ryoko are being tested ... but what about 
Tenchi?"
	Tsunami sighed.  "Ayeka and Ryoko have been facing their demons in 
order to grow ... in strength as well as in spirit.  Tenchi is ... 
different.  Until he learns to overcome the guilt and self-loathing that 
has lingered within him over the years, there is little I can do for 
him.  When he understands that he really is worthy of Ryoko's love ... 
of all of our love, then he will be ready.  Until then..." she shook her 
head sadly.  
	The goddess and the princess sat in uncomfortable silence for a 
while, until Sasami said softly, "I got the branch, like you told me to.  
Let's get started, okay?"
	Standing, Sasami reached into her robe and pulled out the gray 
branch that Ayeka had obtained.  "It wasn't hard ... I just told Washu 
that I wanted something to remember Ayeka."  Next, Sasami pulled 
Tenchiken out of her robe.  "This was a bit harder ... but luckily, 
Tenchi is a sound sleeper."
	Tsunami began to instruct Sasami, and the young princess bit the 
tip of her tongue in concentration as she set the branch on the ground 
and gripped Tenchiken.  She focused on the mental pathways that Tsunami 
guided her down ... until a tiny blade, like that of a pocketknife, 
sprang from the Juraian key.  Kneeling in front of the branch, Sasami 
looked in fascination as thin beams of light shot out of the tree 
Funaho, tracing patterns on the branch for her to cut along.  
	Moving very slowly and carefully, Sasami carved the tree branch, 
until she had created a sword hilt much like Tenchiken, but with 
different designs decorating it.  Extinguishing Tenchiken's blade, 
Sasami smeared some of the branch's sap along the designs, then sat back 
and waited.  
	Tsunami knelt in front of Sasami, so that the newly carved sword 
hilt was between them.  The two circular markings on the goddess' 
forehead began to glow with a golden light, and the emblem on Sasami's 
forehead began to give off a strange silver light in response.  Sasami 
held her hand over the gray piece of wood, and kept it there until the 
wood had become silver, and the light from her forehead became the same 
golden as Tsunami's.  The golden light from both foreheads finally went 
out, and Sasami excitedly tried to touch the sword, but let out a shriek 
at the burning sensation she felt.  
	"Oh, no!  You can't hold it!" Tsunami said quickly, rubbing 
Sasami's hand until the pain was gone, "Go get Mayuka."
	Sasami nodded, then stood and left the clearing.  Eventually, she 
returned with the infant in her arms.  Mayuka cooed and looked at 
Tsunami curiously.  
	"Use Mayuka's hands to hold the sword," said Tsunami.  
	Kneeling, Sasami carefully placed her hands over Mayuka's and 
picked up the sword, making sure that only Mayuka's skin contacted the 
hilt, and not her own.  
	"Now, concentrate..." said Tsunami.  
	Sasami gritted her teeth until she had managed to will a blade 
into existence.  Not a small, knifelike blade, like she had with 
Tenchiken, but the blade of a full-length sword.  It was a deep 
reddish-purple color, much like a Royal Teardrop ... or Ayeka's eyes.  
The sword's silvery hilt glinted, looking like a moonbeam in Mayuka's 
hands.  
	It was beautiful.  Sasami did not like weapons very much, but she 
had to admit that it was beautiful.  "Is it another Tenchiken?" she 
asked.  
	Tsunami gazed at the sword, it's reddish-purple light reflecting 
gently off her glowing form.  "This is the key that will determine much 
in the future," she said softly, "This is Ayekaken."
	"Ayekaken," Sasami whispered reverently.  

	"Have you seen Ryoko?" Tenchi asked Sasami in the kitchen the next 
morning.  
	Sasami glanced up from the porridge she had been stirring.  "No, 
I haven't," she said, "Is something wrong, Tenchi?"
	"Well, she said something last night that I was hoping she would 
explain to me now..." Tenchi broke off when Ryoko suddenly teleported 
into the room.  
	"Good morning," Ryoko said quickly, "Could you two please get 
everyone else and meet me in Mom's lab?"
	"Huh?" said Tenchi.  
	"Great, thanks!" said Ryoko, her sightless silver eyes gleaming 
with an almost mischievous shine.  She teleported out of the kitchen 
before Tenchi or Sasami could say a word.  
	"I'll go get everyone," said Tenchi, shrugging his shoulders as he 
left the room.  
	"Not a week goes by when I don't have to re-heat breakfast at 
least once," Sasami said, pouting cutely.  From the air came the sound 
of Tsunami's soft laughter.  Sasami winked at her invisible friend and 
giggled.  

	Sasami eventually went into the lab and found that everyone was 
there, even Azaka and Kamidake.  
	"What's this all about?" she overheard Nobuyuki saying.  The 
others began to ask similar questions.  Ryoko and Washu stood there 
wordlessly, waiting until everyone quieted down.  
	"Okay everyone, I have some news," said Ryoko, "I can't really 
explain this, but Ayeka is alive, and she's been talking to me.  
Psychically."  The cyan-haired woman waited for everyone to start 
shouting out a bunch of questions, which they did.  She once again 
remained silent until everyone quieted down.  
	"She had some stuff that she wanted to tell all of you, so she 
told it to me and had me transfer it to Ryo-Oh-Ki's memory."
	Ryoko and Washu stepped aside to reveal Ryo-Oh-Ki sitting in a 
chair with numerous devices attached to it.  Sasami recognized it as the 
machine that Washu used to check Ryo-Oh-Ki's memory when the Masu had 
escaped.  
	"With this," said Washu, "we'll get a replay of the message that 
Ayeka gave to Ryoko.  Ready, Ryo-Oh-Ki?"
	The little cabbit miya-ed an affirmative.  
	Washu activated the machine, and an image of a super-deformed 
Ayeka appeared on a large screen on the wall.  
	"Um," said Washu, "Well, I didn't say that it would be a LIFELIKE 
replay."
	Much forehead-slapping, facefaulting, and sweatdropping ensued.  
	Once everyone had recovered, Washu said, "Play!" and the little 
super-deformed Ayeka began to speak.  
	"Hello to you all," she said, "I must begin by apologizing for 
causing all of you to worry about me.  Let me assure you that I am fine, 
and that what I am about to do, I am doing by choice."
	Here Ayeka paused and took a deep breath.  "I ... won't be coming 
back for a while," she finally said, "Tsunami has given me a purpose 
that I have longed to have for a long time ... only for many years I had 
never admitted to myself that I had wanted such a thing.  I feel that I 
am only beginning to understand myself, even as I am about to become ... 
a slightly different me.  I am about to start off on a dangerous journey, 
but please do not worry about me, for I am starting a new life, and 
nothing worth having is easy to obtain."
	Sasami, who had already known about some of this, could feel tears 
forming in her eyes, and yet there was a proud smile on her face at the 
same time.  
	"I would like to say something to each of you," Ayeka continued, 
"Yosho ... you were right about Jurai's royal life.  I knew it all 
along, although I denied it for quite some time.  I hope that my new 
life will be as fulfilling as yours has been.  Mr. Masaki, I thank you 
for your hospitality, and for raising Lord Tenchi so well."
	Nobuyuki smiled weakly, and Kiyone patted him on the shoulder.  
	"Ms... Little Washu, I thank you for helping to save my Ryu-Oh, 
and I ask that you please take care of my ship-tree for a little longer.  
I hope that you and your daughter enjoy many happy times together.  
Azaka, Kamidake, I thank you for your many years of loyal service, and 
I ask you to be Mayuka's protectors from now on."
	"Yes, ma'am!" the two guardians said, even though the Ayeka they 
were replying to was only a recording.  
	"Kiyone, I am glad to have known you," Ayeka went on, "The 
conversations I had with you in the garden will always be among my most 
treasured memories.  Now, please listen carefully ... one day, you will 
remember certain words, and you must make sure that you pass them on to 
Mihoshi."
	Kiyone's eyes watered, and then she frowned in confusion at 
Ayeka's final words to her.  From the looks on everyone else's faces, 
it was apparent that no one knew what the princess was talking about.  
	"Mihoshi," said Ayeka, "Your cheerfulness and selflessness will 
always be an important part of the Masaki home.  I know for a fact that 
Detective Yuri Mizutani would be proud of you."
	At the name "Mizutani", Washu let out a small gasp, and exchanged 
looks with Nobuyuki, who also appeared surprised.  Mihoshi simply smiled 
and wiped tears from her eyes.  
	"Ryo-Oh-Ki, I will always be grateful to you for the flower you 
gave me on the day of your hatching.  You helped to make me feel like a 
welcome part of this family." Ayeka smiled, "Mayuka ... wave bye-bye!"  
Here Ayeka wiggled her fingers in farewell.  
	Mayuka cooed and wiggled her fingers in response, eliciting soft 
laughter from everyone else.  
	"Sasami," said Ayeka, "I love you very much.  I know that this 
must be difficult for you ... thank you for understanding.  Tsunami 
tells me that you said that you were proud of me.  Thank you, dear 
sister.  That means a great deal to me."
	Sasami smiled, even as the tears that had formed in her eyes began 
to slide down her cheeks.  
	"Lord Tenchi ... thank you." Ayeka said softly, "Thank you for 
your kindness, for your friendship, for ... many things.  It ... it is 
to you that I shall have the most difficulty saying goodbye.  I ... I 
loved you, and I still do ... but please do not have any regrets, Lord 
Tenchi.  You have changed my life, and started me in a new direction.  
Take good care of Miss Ryoko and little Mayuka.  Lord Tenchi ... many 
years ago, my brother gave me a flute as a gift.  There is something in 
the bag attached to the flute.  L-lord Tenchi, I want you to have it.  
When you ... when you feel that the time is right, I ...  I ... I want 
you to give it to Miss Ryoko.  Be happy, Lord Tenchi..."
	Everyone was very silent as Ayeka nearly lost her composure, but 
her royal training finally snapped into place.  She quickly wiped her 
eyes and looked up.  "The rest of this message is for my parents and 
Aunt Funaho.  I ask for someone to please bring Ryo-Oh-Ki to Jurai so 
that they may hear it.  Goodbye, my friends ... my family.  Good luck 
in all that you do."
	"Stop," Washu said softly, and the image disappeared from the 
screen.  There was an awkward silence as everyone just stood there, 
wiping at his or her eyes, or holding someone nearby.  
	Finally, Sasami said quietly, "Tenchi, the flute is on Ayeka's 
futon.  Go ahead."
	Tenchi stood there uncertainly for a moment, until Ryoko said, 
"It's okay, Tenchi."
	He turned and walked away slowly.  Eventually, everyone began to 
leave the lab, lost in his or her own thoughts, except for Washu, who 
sat down and took a small sphere out of her hair.  She shook it and 
looked at the old family portrait that it projected.  

	Tenchi ran his hand along the wooden flute, admiring the intricate 
designs that some skilled artist had carved into it.  The little purple 
bag that hung from the flute swayed as Tenchi did this.  Slowly, he 
undid the gold ribbon that held the velvet bag closed, and shook its 
contents into his outstretched palm.  
	Into his hand fell a ring, seemingly made out of thin gold and 
silver vines braided together.  A platinum Startica Bell adorned the 
ring, and in the center of the flower was a diamond that sparkled like 
a dewdrop.  
	"Oh dear God, no..." Tenchi whispered when he realized what Ayeka 
was giving him.  
	"It's the engagement ring I gave Ayeka, 700 years ago," Katsuhito's 
voice said from the doorway, confirming Tenchi's suspicions.  
	"I ... I c-can't accept this...' Tenchi stammered, overwhelmed.  
	"Ayeka wishes for you to have it..." Katsuhito said softly, "I 
want you to have it as well."
	Tenchi stared at the ring in his hand, his mouth still hanging 
open.  Once again, he remembered when Ayeka had given Tenchiken back to 
him, asking him to protect her.  Once again, he saw the trusting look 
in her eyes, the confidence she had that he would do the right thing.  
	"I ... I think I'll go to my room for a bit," Tenchi said quickly 
as he walked past his grandfather and out into the hall.  
	It was only when Tenchi was gone that Katsuhito whispered, 
"Perhaps one day you will honor what that ring symbolizes ... better 
than I did."

	It was evening.  Kiyone was sitting at Nobuyuki's computer, 
looking at the new Winamp skins on her favorite website, when Mihoshi 
entered the room and exclaimed, "Come on, Kiyone!  Sasami's going to 
play a song for us!"
	Kiyone smiled and soon followed her partner downstairs.  In the 
living room, she saw Tenchi and Ryoko sitting side by side, holding 
hands.  Washu was standing near them, feeding Mayuka.  Nobuyuki and 
Katsuhito sat on another couch, drinking tea.  Ryo-Oh-Ki was in her 
toddler form, helping Sasami to push a chair into an out-of-the-way 
corner of the room.  
	"Okay, we're here!" Mihoshi said cheerfully, sitting down.  Kiyone 
sat next to her.  
	"All set, Washu!" said Sasami, smiling excitedly.  
	Washu's transparent black computer materialized in the air, and 
the redheaded scientist tapped a few keys.  A black transparent piano 
appeared in the part of the living room where Sasami and Ryo-Oh-Ki had 
cleared away most of the furniture.  Sasami giggled and sat on a 
floating cushion in front of the instrument.  
	"This week's Music Night is dedicated to Ayeka," said Sasami, 
"who would be really mad at us if we gave up Music Night just for her 
sake!"
	"How mad would she be?" everyone chorused.  
	"Probably THIS mad," said Sasami, beginning to play 'Angry AleeN 
Invasion'.  
	Everyone laughed and clapped in time to the music, singing 
wherever they remembered the words.  (Most of the time, there was a lot 
of "la-la-la-ing".)
	"But since we're not skipping Music Night, she's probably really 
happy," Sasami said, a thoughtful look on her face.  
	"How happy is she?" everyone chorused.  
	"Probably THIS happy," Sasami giggled, playing 'Foxanime and 
Frigidheat's Great Escape from Planet Capshaw'.  
	Fortunately, everyone knew the refrain to this song, and they all 
joined in at that part, "Hell ya, more Earl Grey Tea!/That's the stuff 
for me/Let's drink to being free!".  
	"And finally," Sasami said solemnly, "On this Music Night, we want 
to show Ayeka that we'll never, ever forget her."  And so, Sasami played 
'Lost Magi`s Noble Journey' and there wasn't a dry eye in the room.  
	When the song was done, Sasami stood, and the piano vanished.  
"Good journey, Ayeka," Sasami whispered.  
	"Good journey, Ayeka," everyone repeated.  The room became silent, 
but there still seemed to be a trace of music and hope in the air.  

	Sasami opened her closet and lifted the lid of the shoebox near 
her winter clothes, to make sure that Ayekaken was still in there.  She 
had been thinking during the day that she really needed to find a better 
hiding place, but that would have to wait until the next day, since she 
couldn't move the sword without Mayuka.  Shutting the closet, Sasami 
went over to her futon and lay down.  She closed her eyes...
	Sasami was surrounded by monsters.  Where was Ryo-Oh-Ki?  Without 
him, she couldn't get the magical baton to become Pretty Sammy!  
	Magical baton?  
	Pretty Sammy?  
	Sasami realized that she must be dreaming of the Pretty Sammy 
story that Ayeka had never completed.  As if summoned by that thought, 
Ayeka suddenly appeared in front of Sasami, brandishing the newly 
created sword, Ayekaken.  The monsters fled from the blade's 
reddish-purple light, and Ayeka extinguished the blade, turned towards 
Sasami, and smiled.  Ayeka began to fade away, and Sasami waved goodbye.  
	"Good journey, Ayeka," said Sasami.  

	The stars in the skylight twinkled in perfect time to the music. 
After a few moments, the stars became fish, swimming through blue water.  
Ayeka gazed at them with admiring eyes.  Ryoko blinked a few times, 
taking a few minutes to get used to being able to see again.  If she 
could at least have normal eyesight in her dreams, she decided, then 
she wouldn't miss it that much.  In fact, it seemed surprisingly ... 
limited, given what her new abilities allowed her to do when she was 
awake. "Sasami's having a good dream now," Ayeka said, her eyes seeming 
as if they were focused on something far away.  
	Ryoko looked at Ayeka and winked.  "Oh, I see ... your new power 
is to create magical girl dreams?"
	Ayeka grinned mischievously.  "Careful now, Miss Ryoko, or I may 
turn this dream of yours into a magical girl dream!  My, my, I wonder 
how you would look in a sailor fuku?"
	Ryoko clutched her chest in mock horror.  "You wouldn't dare!"
	Ayeka smiled wickedly, and Ryoko pretended to be afraid.  
	"So ... what did you give Tenchi?" Ryoko finally asked.  
	Ayeka shook her head and made a zipping motion across her lips.  
	"Bitch," Ryoko murmured, grinning playfully and elbowing Ayeka in 
the ribs.  
	"Slut," Ayeka said, smiling just as playfully as she elbowed Ryoko 
back.  
	They laughed for a while, until Ayeka suddenly became serious and 
said softly, "Miss Ryoko, I'm afraid that this is the last time I'll be 
able to appear to you.  As I go farther in my journey, it will become 
impossible to spare the power needed to maintain such a psychic 
connection."
	"Oh, did you have to bring that up?" Ryoko said, pretending to be 
angry, "Stuck-up princess!  Always having to ruin the fun!"
	"Well, of course I have to, you annoying monster-woman," Ayeka 
said, imitating Ryoko's expression of mock-anger, "Someone has to be 
serious around here!"
	As soon as those words were out of her mouth, the two women 
cracked up, laughing so loudly that they drowned out the sound of the 
water fountain, the humming of the machines, and the soft music playing 
in the room.  Ayeka took a last admiring look at her surroundings.  
	"Your birthplace was beautiful," she said, "Thank you for sharing 
it with me, Miss Ryoko."
	"No prob," said Ryoko, giving her friend one final hug, "By the 
way, Mihoshi volunteered to deliver your message to Jurai.  Kiyone will 
be going with her, of course.  So long, princess."
	"So long," Ayeka repeated, fading away before her eyes.  
	The fish seen through the "skylight" changed into birds, flying 
through a bright sky.  Ryoko pointed a finger at the view and 
concentrated, until the birds transformed into pink butterflies.  She 
smiled and let out a tired but happy sigh.  Strolling over to a desk in 
the room, she spotted a newspaper clipping, which she recognized as the 
one that she had tried to read during the first time she had dreamt of 
her birthplace.  
	Remembering that she hadn't finished reading it the last time, 
she looked at it again: "Washu Hakubi and Nobuo Mizutani are proud to 
announce the birth of their first child..."  
	Ryoko stopped reading and wondered what seemed so maddeningly 
familiar about the name "Mizutani" all of a sudden.  After thinking for 
a moment, it came to her.  Hadn't Ayeka said something to Mihoshi about 
a Detective Yuri Mizutani?  
	"Ayeka?" Ryoko called out, "Can you still hear me?"
	There was no response.  
	"Good journey, Ayeka," Ryoko murmured sadly.  

	Tenchi was still awake.  He sat on his bed, looking at the ring 
again.  The diamond seemed to wink at him in the light of his bedside 
lamp.  It wasn't time yet, he decided.  It was just too soon.  He loved 
Ryoko dearly, and he knew that she would be a wonderful mother for 
Mayuka, and yet ... and yet ...
	And yet ... what?  Well, they hadn't yet been able to spend much 
time alone (just the two of them), for one thing.  He didn't want to 
rush anything ... but then, he had already delayed in telling Ryoko how 
he felt about her for a long time, so...
	Tenchi shook his head.  One should not make such important 
decisions while tired.  He put the ring back into its little velvet 
bag, then put the bag into a drawer.  After a moment's thought, he 
opened the drawer and took the bag out again.  Tenchi rummaged through 
his drawer until he found a piece of cord long enough to suit his needs, 
and used it to replace the small ribbon that had been used to tie the 
bag to the flute.  
	Satisfied that he could always carry the bag around his neck, 
underneath his shirt, he placed it with the clothes he would be wearing 
the next day.  Whenever he felt that the time was right, he wanted to be 
ready.  Turning off his bedside lamp, Tenchi decided it was time to get 
some sleep.  

	It was dark, and the only available illumination shone down like 
a spotlight on a single glass figurine.  Tenchi gazed down upon it, and 
he saw that it was a small statue of his mother.  He held his breath at 
the sight.  It looked so small and delicate and beautiful...
	A horrible sound pierced the darkness.  The figurine trembled 
violently, and finally shattered.  Glass shards flew through the air, 
looking like snow in the spotlight.  Tenchi fell to his knees and put 
his hands over his ears, but the sound had already stopped.  Not that 
it helped any.  He knew the sound all to well, for it had lingered in 
the back of his mind for years, and haunted him in his nightmares, even 
though he often awoke with no recollection of what it was that had 
frightened him so.  But he knew it now.  Oh yes, he knew.  
	It was his voice.  His voice when he was a small child, telling 
his dying mother that he hated her.  
	Several more spotlights appeared, revealing a long series of 
shelves.  Tenchi was afraid to look at them, but the sight of Achika's 
shattered figurine frightened him even more.  He looked at the shelf 
nearest him, and saw that it displayed numerous glass figurines, and no 
two looked alike.  There were many shelves, and Tenchi somehow knew that 
he had met each and every one of the people represented by the figurines.  
There was one of his old friend Amagasaki, and another of his grade 
school math teacher...
	On the smaller shelves were people he had only known in passing: 
someone he had accidentally bumped into in the supermarket, a taxi 
driver that had driven him home once.  Logically, Tenchi should not 
have been able to recognize all of the figurines of people that he had 
met only once, but somehow whenever his eyes fell upon one of the glass 
figures, he instantly knew the person's connection to him.  
	Eventually, Tenchi lost interest in the smaller shelves, and 
walked straight to the largest shelf that he could see.  His closest 
friends and family were all there, the people who were most important to 
him.  There was his father, his grandfather, Ryoko, Ayeka, Mayuka ... 
everyone who currently lived in the Masaki home.  There was even a tiny 
Ryo-Oh-Ki.  
	Just as that realization hit him, soft voices came from the 
figures of Ayeka and Ryoko.  They were Ayeka and Ryoko's voices, of 
course.  The voices increased in volume, until Tenchi could hear what 
the voices were talking about.  
	Him.  They were talking about him.  Not just talking about him, 
but fighting for him, like the real Ayeka and Ryoko used to.  Tenchi 
felt the powerful urge to tell them to stop arguing, but he remembered 
what his younger self's words had done to the statue of his mother, so 
he remained silent.  
	The voices of Ryoko and Ayeka became louder and louder, until the 
figurine of Ayeka began to vibrate.  Tenchi's eyes widened.  He opened 
his mouth to tell the voices to stop fighting, but he was too late.  
The figure of Ayeka shattered, and Tenchi took a step back in horror.  
His shoulder hit a shelf behind him, and two more glass figurines fell 
to the ground and broke.  Turning around, he saw that they were of 
Kagato and Yuzuha.  
	A spotlight suddenly shone down on a dark area that had no shelves, 
revealing a pool of blood.  Kneeling on the floor, dressed in her 
lavender kimono, was his mother, scrubbing at the blood.  
	Tenchi told himself that he was dreaming, and that the dream was 
now turning into that recurring nightmare of his.  He felt his feet 
taking him forward, as they always did.  His mother continued to scrub 
at the blood, and did not look up.  Tenchi had the same sick feeling he 
always did during this nightmare, but this time something seemed even 
more horrible than it usually did.  
	"Tenchi..." his mother whispered, without looking up at him, "What 
have you done?"
	That had never happened before!  
	"You broke the promise you made to me..." she sobbed, scrubbing 
harder at the blood.  Her kimono blackened as it became soaked in it.  
	Unable to bear this sight, Tenchi began to turn his head, when he 
suddenly noticed that there was a stream of blood that fed the red pool 
his mother was scrubbing at.  His eyes followed the stream to the source 
of the blood...
	Yuzuha.  
	The small demoness stood there, her childlike eyes filling with 
tears.  Large, crude stitches formed a line down the center of her face.  
Blood leaked out between the stitches and flowed onto the floor.  Tenchi 
remembered that he had sliced her face in half with the Light Hawk 
Sword ... but Yuzuha had been a hideous monster at the time, not 
this ... this ... child.  
	Tenchi screamed and shut his eyes.  Suddenly feeling a pair of 
hands on his shoulders, he opened his eyes and saw that it was his 
mother, but something felt very wrong.  He realized that the whites of 
her eyes had an eerie bluish tinge to them, and her hands were purple 
claws.  
	"No child should be without a mother," she whispered into his ear, 
"And no mother should be without her child, wouldn't you agree, Tenchi?"
	Tenchi tried to break free from her, but he suddenly felt very 
heavy and tired.  He sank to his knees, and the nightmare mother knelt 
in front of him, never releasing her grip.  
	"Washu left me," the nightmare mother said softly, "and Tsunami 
betrayed me ... then Tsunami had her child kill my daughter.  My poor 
little Yuzuha is dead.  What shall I do with you, child of Tsunami?"
	Tenchi's eyes widened fearfully.  
	The nightmare mother smiled and wrapped her arms around him.  "You 
needn't be afraid of me," she whispered, "I shall free you from Tsunami.  
And the daughter of Washu will join us, because of her love for you.  
And so I shall have you both, and I will have my revenge."
	"N-no!" Tenchi managed to say, trying to break out of her 
terrifying embrace.  She smiled again, and began to stroke his cheek 
with one clawed hand.  
	"We shall be together soon, and no one will be able to stop us," 
she said softly.  
	Tenchi turned his head and bit her hand as hard as he could.  
	Frowning, the nightmare mother grabbed him by the throat with her 
other hand.  "I don't love you," she hissed as Tenchi tried to gasp for 
breath, "But I love the devoted son that you will soon become..."
	Her eyes stared into his, and Tenchi felt repulsed and compelled 
at the same time.  Her eyes were so cold, so evil, so ... so beautiful...  
The nightmare mother's smile returned, and she began to stroke his hair.  
	"Lord Tenchi!" a familiar voice shouted, "Lord Tenchi, you must 
fight back!"
	There was a reddish-purple flash of light, and Tenchi squeezed his 
eyes shut and cried out...

	Tenchi screamed and sat up so quickly that his head nearly 
collided with Ryoko, who at that moment had just materialized over his 
bed.  
	"Tenchi, what's the matter?" Ryoko asked worriedly.  
	Tenchi could not answer.  He just sat there and trembled.  The 
nightmare ... it had been that awful nightmare about his mother and the 
pool of blood again.  But something - no, several things - had been 
different this time.  There were glass statues, and something about 
Tsunami and Washu ... no, that didn't make any sense.  Tenchi shook his 
head.  He couldn't remember, but it had been something horrible.  Cold 
perspiration mixed with hot tears on his face, and he wrapped his 
blanket tightly around himself and let out a small whimper.  
	He saw Ryoko's hand stretching out towards him, stopping just a 
few inches from his chest.  His felt his pounding heart begin to slow 
down, and his breathing become more relaxed.  
	"Better?" she asked softly.  
	Slowly, Tenchi reached out and pulled her hand closer to him, 
until it was actually touching his chest.  Taking the hint, Ryoko 
floated closer to him, and wrapped both her arms around him.  They sat 
there like that for several minutes, until Ryoko moved one of her hands 
and began to wipe away the tears on Tenchi's face.  
	"You feel guilty about something," Ryoko murmured, "You feel like 
you don't deserve to be held by anyone..."  Her sightless eyes began to 
glow with silver light, but did not seem terrifying in the least.  
	Ryoko touched her forehead to his, and Tenchi suddenly saw Juraian 
ships going down in flames, soldiers rushing at him and being thrown 
back by energy blasts that he was firing, causing him to laugh, but not 
with his voice ... it was Ryoko's.  He realized that he was experiencing 
what Ryoko recalled of her attack on Jurai, when she had been under 
Kagato's control.  Children fled from him/Ryoko, their eyes filled with 
fear and hate...
	Suddenly, Tenchi was in his bedroom again.  Ryoko stroked Tenchi's 
hair, and the perspiration actually vanished.  She removed the blanket 
that had been wrapped around him, and ran her hands down his arms.  A 
pleasant tingly sensation erupted under her touch, and a new vision came 
to him...
	Everything was dark, and he felt very cold and alone.  A soft 
light eventually broke through the darkness, and he saw a woman with a 
baby strapped to her back.  He recognized the woman as his mother.  The 
baby turned his little head and saw him/Ryoko, and his eyes did not 
contain any of the fear or disgust that the Juraian children had shown.  
Suddenly, existence did not seem so lonely...
	Tenchi had once seen Ryoko watching him in a dream, but he had not 
known that it had meant so much to her so early in his life.  "I did 
that for you?" Tenchi whispered.  
	Ryoko nodded.  Her fingers danced along his back, lightly at 
first, and then with a bit more pressure as she began to massage it, 
seeming to instinctively know which places needed the most attention...
	He experienced Ryoko's memories from inside the cave, and watched 
himself growing up.  Watching that little boy playing made him/Ryoko 
feel happy and alive...
	Ryoko pressed herself against him very closely, so that her warm 
breath caressed his face, and he could feel her heart beating against 
his chest...
	He saw himself as a little boy, crying that his mother was dead.  
He/Ryoko tried desperately to put a comforting hand on the child's 
shoulder, or wipe away his tears, but it was impossible.  Tenchi felt 
Ryoko's devastation at being unable to comfort someone who had brought 
such joy into her life...  Then Tenchi saw his own death from Ryoko's 
point of view, when Kagato had killed him during his attempt to save 
her.  He felt her grief and helplessness, as she had realized that she 
had been unable to protect him...
	"I hope to make that up to you now ... to make it up to you 
everyday..." Ryoko whispered, the silver light finally leaving her eyes.  
Her breathing was shaky, and Tenchi realized that she was trying very 
hard not to cry.  
	Too moved to speak, Tenchi kissed her on the lips, and he could 
feel her heart beat faster.  His hands explored her back, and she made 
a small sound in the back of her throat that was almost a purr.  
Eventually, they broke off the kiss, and Ryoko fell back onto Tenchi's 
bed.  
	"I'm tired..." she said in a small voice.  
	Tenchi realized that she must have used a lot of energy to share 
her memories with him.  He carefully got out of the bed and slid his 
pillow under Ryoko's head, then covered her with his blanket.  
	"Thank you," Tenchi said, kissing Ryoko on the forehead, "Sleep 
well, my love."
	Taking a spare pillow and blanket out of his closet, Tenchi lay 
down on the floor and listened to the gentle sound of Ryoko's breathing.  
After a while, he fell asleep and dreamt of his mother, which on this 
night was a mixed blessing.  

TO BE CONTINUED

Next chapter: Washu is torn between uncovering the past and leaving it 
alone, while Kiyone reflects on her life as she and Mihoshi head for 
Jurai.  Meanwhile, Tenchi and Ryoko enjoy a peaceful day together ... 
but how long can that peace last?  
Don't miss Chapter 5 of Confess to You, "Departure from the Light"!  

Author's notes: I would like to start with a salute to my pal Lesell 
Charis, an Ayeka fan whose fan fics and drawings have been a true 
inspiration!  (Now hurry up with the rest of "Always Be True to Your 
Heart"!)  ^_~

I would also like to thank David "K'thardin" R. Nolen for his little 
science lesson on the last chapter of this series.  While I'm at it, 
I'd also like to thank him for letting me get away with abusing his 
Cyraqs character so much in the ongoing Ayeka Fan Club story.  
Heh heh heh.  

May the gods forgive me, I just created yet another alternate reality 
for Pretty Sammy!  As if things weren't confusing enough!  Seriously, 
I know that some parts of this chapter were probably too cutesy for 
some tastes, but I just wanted to take a little break before the next 
chapter, when things really start to heat up!  But before that happens, 
I'm gonna have Tenchi and Ryoko spending some quality time together.  
(Finally!  I've been dying to get to this part of the series!)

Anyway, I want to hear from you!  Please send C&C, suggestions, or 
questions concerning this story, or any of my other fics, to me at 
literaryeagle@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading!  See ya next chapter!  

Thought of the day: Whatever happened to Sasami's pet?  Y'know, the 
furry white critter that she had in OAV episode 2?  I suppose it could 
have died in the ship crash, but what if it didn't?  Did it run off 
into the wild?  Did it get a job at an anime studio and draw character 
designs for a new series, despite its' lack of opposable thumbs?  (So 
THAT'S why the Shin Tenchi character designs look so blah!)  Maybe this 
should be a fan fic challenge ... write what you think happened to 
Sasami's pet!  Be as off-the-wall as you want!  Heck, the critter 
doesn't even have to be a pet!  It could be Ayeka's accountant, for all 
I know!  Use your imaginations!  

[AleeN: Um ... Lita, if you've been dying to write Chapter 5, then why 
don't you do that instead of yakking about some animal?]

Oh ... oh yeah.  See ya, folks, I'd better get writing.  ^_^

Text copyright 1999, Literary Eagle
(But most of the characters belong to Pioneer and AIC)