TENCHI MUYO! EXILE "Daughter of Darkness"

Tenchi made his way down the steps from his mother's grave. As he strolled down
them, he didn't see the small girl sitting there in a pretty sundress and sunbonnet.
He was three steps away from her when she stood, smiled, and called to him.

"Daddy!" She laughed, running up and hugging him.

Tenchi stared at her. What was this girl talking about? Mikado was his only child.
Or was he going to have a daughter later on? It would be nice, he reflected, for Mikado to
have a little sister some day.

"Look," he said nervously, "I think there must be some kind of mistake." He didn't wish to
be mean, but if he wasn't her father, he didn't want to lead her on falsely.

"No there's no mistake!" the girl told him. "You are my daddy." She gave him another hug.

Ryoko looked up from the task of nursing little Mikado and saw Tenchi walk in with the
blue haired girl at his side.

The girl stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Tenchi.

Ryoko was at her side a moment later, clutching Mikado to her breast with one hand and
holding the girl by one of her pigtails with the other.

"And just what, pray tell, are you doing with my husband?" She wanted to know.

The girl seemed to consider this for a moment. Then she spun around and hugged Ryoko.

"MOMMY!" She squealed.

*****
Trakal was back in Draalthi form, resting on the sofa, while little Tanteiko played with
one of his ears and Mitsuku slept peacefully on his chest. He wanted his children to get
used to his true form so they wouldn't be afraid of it.

One of his ears twitched as he thought he heard someone there who ought not to have been.
He openned one eye and cautiously scanned the room. There was no one else there, but he
could not shake the feeling that he was being watched.

*****

"Huh?!" Ryoko's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Just WHAT makes you think Tenchi's your
daddy?"

"I know he's my daddy!" the girl replied, hugging Tenchi. She looked down at the bundle in
Ryoko's arms. "Oh wow!" she giggled. "I have a brother!  He's so cute!"

"Thanks." Ryoko started. She cut herself short. "WAIT A MINUTE. You're not getting out of
this that easily. Now you tell us who you really are."

"I'm Tenchi's daughter. SO THERE!"  She looked up at Tenchi. "Isn't that right, daddy?"

"Well, um..." Tenchi hedged. "Look, why don't we go back to the house and work this out?"

"Okay!" the girl giggled as she hugged Tenchi.

Ryoko growled, but followed them back to the house.

The minute the door was openned, Trakal, who was on full alert at this point, sprang up,
putting himself protectively between it and his children.

"Relax," Tenchi told him, seeing that he was agitated, "it's just me."
"This time." Trakal replied. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Mayuka. "Who's she?"
"I'm Tenchi's daughter." Mayuka replied, cheerfully.
"Great." Trakal grumbled, "more time travel. I'm not going to have to bring you home
to the future am I? I'm really tired of time travel!"
"I am home." Mayuka told him, glomping onto Tenchi.
"YOU LEAVE MY TENCHI ALONE!" Ryoko hollered, shoving Mayuka away. "Tenchi,
you're in danger! Don't you understand. I have to protect you."
The others came in to watch TV and see what the commotion was about.
"I'm fine Ryoko."
"No you're not!" Ryoko warned him. "She's not what she seems! She's dangerous Tenchi! and
you're completely clueless when it comes to womenl. Even after being married to me all
this..."  Her words were cut off abruptly by a sudden and unexpected slap in the face by
Tenchi. "Tenchi." She gasped, heartbroken. A moment later, Tenchi found himself pinned to
the wall by a hand covered with short, perfectly groomed fur. "Don't you ever strike her
again." Trakal's voice was a low and dangerous growl. "Do you understand?" Tenchi
swallowed hard. "Yes." he managed. "Good. Now apologize to her." Tenchi went over to
Ryoko. "Ryoko. I'm sorry." Ryoko turned away and vanished. Tenchi started to leave when
Yosho put his hand on his shoulder. "Give her a little time." He suggested.

Ryoko sat on the roof of the house with her baby suckling at her breast when Tenchi
climbed up to join her.
 "Don't come near me." She warned. "I won't let you hurt my baby."
 "Our baby." Tenchi reminded her gently. "And I came to apologize. My behavior back
there was uncalled for and there was no excuse for it."
 "How can I trust you now?" Ryoko clutched her child closer.
 "You have no reason to." Tenchi bowed. "What I did was terrible. I only hope that you
will forgive me one day."
 "I'd like to," Ryoko admitted, "but I have a child to protect and if I thought you were
going to harm this baby, I'd leave in a second."
 "Then, why haven't you?" Tenchi asked.
 "I'm scared for you, Tenchi." Ryoko told him. "That girl's not what she seems to be
and I think you're in danger. I... I don't want to be a widow, Tenchi. Our baby needs a
father and I don't want that taken away from him." She tucked her breast back into her
shirt and gazed down at little Mikado, who was sound asleep. "He looks so much like you."
She remarked.
 "But he has your hair." Tenchi smiled as he reached down and gently caressed the
baby's face with a single finger.
 "Yes. He does." Ryoko nodded as she leaned against her husband. "Tenchi, please,
be careful. I couldn't bear to lose you."
 "I'll be all right, Ryoko." Tenchi promised. "And I like Mayuka because... because she
came here just like everyone else. You, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, Kiyone... even Makiya and
Trakal."
 "Speaking of which, why are they still here?"
 "I feel I owe it to them." Tenchi replied. "Kain destroyed the Galaxy Police Headquarters
when he went back to kill my mother, whom Trakal almost died protecting."
 "That's Kain's fault, Tenchi, not yours."
 "Well, you certainly don't expect him to live at Kain's house, do you?" Tenchi asked.
 Ryoko laughed. "I suppose not. I doubt Kain ever had a house."
 "Why don't we go back inside?" Tenchi suggested.
 "I like it up here." Ryoko replied. "Its so peaceful. Just the three of us."
 "Tenchi! Ryoko!" Sasami called. "It's supper time!"
 "Then again, supper sounds nice, too." Ryoko smiled as she grabbed her husband and
flew the three of them down to ground level.

 Trakal was leaning against the doorway when they walked in.
 "Are you okay, Ryoko?" He asked.
 "You don't have to play "Nice Cop" with me, you know. Tenchi's not going to throw you out
if you don't get along with me."
 "I'm not playing "Nice Cop", Ryoko." Trakal stated.
 "Then what the hell are you being so pleasant towards me for all of a sudden. Before you
moved in here, you hated me."
 "No I didn't. But it was different then. I was a cop and you were a space pirate."
 "And now?"
 "Now I'm not a cop anymore and as for you... well, you don't seem to be doing much
space piracy. So, the way I see it, there's no reason for us not to get along. And our
children are growing up together. I'd like them to be friends."
 "What makes you think your children won't end up as space pirates?" Ryoko challenged.
 Trakal smiled. "What makes you think yours won't end up as Galaxy Police?"
 "Kami forbid!" Ryoko responded in mock horror, sweeping her arm up to her forehead.
"Oh no! My son is a cop! I cannot bear the shame of it!"
 Tanaka stuck her head out of the dining room. "Are you two going to play cops and
pirates all night, or are you going to eat?"
 Trakal and Ryoko joined the others in the dining room.
 "Nice of you to join us." Yosho smiled.
 "I apologize for making you wait." Trakal replied. "It was my fault."
 "Huh?!" Ryoko gaped.
 "Hey, contrary to popular belief, the Galaxy Police do admit their mistakes." He looked
over at Mihoshi. "In fact we admitted one to the Academy."
 Kiyone chuckled. "So, Mayuka, what brings you here?"
 "I came to see my daddy." Mayuka said, hugging Tenchi.
 "HE'S NOT YOUR DADDY!" Ryoko exploded.
 "Of course he is, mommy!" Mayuka smiled, cheerfully. "He's my daddy and you're my
mommy and I love you both very much!"
 "Oh! How sweet!" Mihoshi gushed. "Ryoko, your daughter seems to love you a lot."
 "SHE'S NOT MY DAUGHTER!"  Ryoko exploded as she got up and left.
 "Mommy's scary when she's mad." Mayuka clung to Tenchi.
 "Excuse me, Mayuka." Tenchi unclasped her from him and went after Ryoko.
 Trakal turned to Mayuka. "Where did you come from?"
 "I don't remember." Mayuka replied.
 "Hmmm... Then how is it you remember your parents?"
 "I don't know. Daddy, he's scaring me!" She called out.
 "Mayuka." Trakal prompted.
 Tenchi rushed back in and glared at Trakal.
 "Daddy!" Mayuka clung to Tenchi, staring at Trakal in fear. "He tried to bite me."
 "I will not be lied about." Trakal said, pointedly, as he stormed out of the room.

 In the Dark Dimension, Yuzuha laughed and smiled. This was beginning to get
interesting. "Mayuka will destroy Yosho's child for me." She laughed. "Then Yosho will
suffer just as I have." For a moment, just a moment, her face softened as a twinge of
regret passed over it. Yosho had been kind to her, had offered his friendship
unconditionally. She almost relented. Almost.

 But as she remembered the day when they'd become friends, when he'd given
her that one small berry, she also remembered the soldiers. They had come with sticks and
had beaten her. She'd heard Yosho's voice calling out, begging them to stop, but they had
gone on and on until she lay still and they'd thought she was dead. And then, they had
dragged Yosho away from her.  She'd thought he'd come back, had waited for him to come to
her and hold her and comfort her, but he never did.

 Over the centuries, the grief of abandonment turned into resentment, bitterness,
and rage. But somehow, despite all this, she could never bring herself to truly hate him.
Even now, in her moment of revenge, she could not rally this one emotion.

 Something else had caught her eye, too. A young girl, barely more than a teenager,
was bouncing an infant on her lap. Yuzuha watch this in her monitor with a wistful look
upon her fur-covered face. Beside the girl, holding another child in his arms, the twin of
the first, was a male Draalthi.Yuzuha watched them, and after a while began to imagine
herself and Yosho in a similar relationship. After a moment she shook her head, dispelling
the idea from her mind. Still, this Draalthi, the very last member of his race, was
interesting. She wondered if she might cultivate his friendship. No, she decided, when
she'd avenged herself on Yosho, she would kill the girl and claim the Draalthi for
herself. If she'd done that before, simply dragged Yosho into her lair without chatting
first, he'd be hers now. She was not going to make the same mistake twice.

Lt. Trakal
Operative of the Galaxy Police SIU

Lt. Trakal
Operative of the Galaxy Police SIU