Author's note: Okay, I don't own Tenchi Muyo or the characters of Tenchi Muyo. They are the property of AIC and Pioneer. I am not making any profit on this, so please don't sue me. I am only a poor college student. Okay fans of all things Tenchi, this isn't my first Tenchi fic, it is just my first published one. I do hope you enjoy it. Note to you, this takes place in the OAV dimension or Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-ohki for all of us who live in the USA. It also take place and MNE and therefore (of course this is exceedingly obvious) has Mayuka in it. Oh yeah, C&C is appreciated so you can contact me at ring_princess@hotmail.com :thoughts: :: mental speech :: "normal speech" <dates> ________major time passes --------minor time passes Tenchi Muyo Saga One: Fate of Empires Growing UP Pt1 Meditation It had all started when Tenchi had shown up for sword practice with his Grandfather. "Put your bokken away Tenchi, today we learn something different." Katsuhito had said. Extremely calm at the time. "It is time that you started meditation. The training of your mind rather than the training of you muscles. "Yes, master." Tenchi had replied, not quite sure what to think about his grandfather's plan. "Sit down and relax." The next hour Tenchi came nowhere near relaxing as his Grandfather had stated. First came how you were to sit and how to remain limber after sitting in such a manner so long. Then came the hard part. "You must clear your mind Tenchi and forget your problems." Katsuhito had said solemnly. Tenchi tried, he really did, but as soon as his mind settled a stray thought would pop up. And his grandfather always seemed to know. "No! Do not think about not thinking, that isn't how it works." His grandfather sat across from him and glared at him. The sunlight bouncing off his glasses. Tenchi wanted to sigh, rest his head in his hands, do something, but the ache in his neck told him that if he did another blow from his Grandfather's bokken he would feel. Katsuhito sighed. "That is enough for today Tenchi, come back tommorrow and we will do this again." Tenchi got up and struggled holding back a protest. Then pain from unused muscles grabbed him and with a terse nod he left the clearing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenchi sat uncomfortablely during dinner and watched his grandfather out of the corner of his eye. :I don't get it, how can he be so fine. I don't understand what he wants me to do.: Then he gave a small inward smile, :Then again, I don't understand half of what goes on around here.: It was only then that he realized that Aeka was glaring at him. He began to get nervous. "Yes Aeka." "Tell her Tenchi." Aeka gritted out. Tenchi blinked. Then suddenly got the nagging suspicion he didn't want anything to do with this conversation. "Tell her what?" He asked anyway, not seeing anyway out of it. "That she is not your woman." Aeka gritted out. "Ryoko?" He asked, needing proof positive that this was what it was all about. "Yes." "I don't think anybody could put any claims on Ryoko that she didn't want." He tried to say diplomatically. "See," Ryoko purred. "He didn't deny it." Aeka huffed. "But he didn't confirm it either." "Of course not, My Tenchi is too sweet for that." "Just because he showed concern for your doesn't make him your man, or you his woman. Tenchi would do the same for anyone of us." "Hmph, what do you know about human relationships anyway, Miss Priss." Ryoko said, yet there was hurt in her eyes. "I was at least engaged." Aeka sniffed. "To Yosho." Ryoko smiled briefly. "Your half-brother, you haven't had a real relationship." "Why you.. " Aeka sputtered. "I had a relationship that no demon like you could understand." "Oh spare me." Ryoko rolled her eyes. "He was your brother, and you were what, eight years old. Chipmunk at eight years old you didn't even understand what love was. In fact you still don't." "And you do monster." Ryoko's eyes flashed, and she flushed a bit pink. "I don't think anybody can understand love fully, it is too complicated for mortals to understand." "Well, that leaves me out, I am immortal." Aeka huffed. Ryoko laughed till tears streamed down from her eyes. "Everyone dies Aeka, in one way or another." "You show great wisdom for one so young, Ryoko." Katsuhito commented. Ryoko threw him a dirty look, "Be careful who you call young, the only young one here is Mayuka." She tickled the baby under her chin to make her laugh. "I stand corrected." Grandfather smiled, "and I concede the fight." "Accepted, young one." Ryoko smiled to show him that she was jesting and began to fuss with Mayuka. Forgeting her fight with Aeka. "I still say that Tenchi and I are destined for each other." Aeka said firmly. "Does destiny have anything to do with love?" Mihoshi asked. "Fate seems the more likely or even fortune. Destiny is determined by the beholder and can be self serving, but so can fate or fortune." "You are making love too simple," Washu lept in. "Or perhaps too complicated. Love is something that can't be expained by research and equations. Love is the most beautiful and painful thing there can be." Washu wiped away a tear. "Love is a waste of time." Kiyone stated matter of factly. "It doesn't do anything and takes up energy that could be spent doing other things." "Yet without love, life is meaningless Kiyone." Noboyuki stated quietly. "Love is what binds us together and makes us human." Kiyone gave him a scatheing glance. :This is coming from the pervert.: "What do you think Tenchi?" Sasami asked innocently. The other girls came to strict attention and began to listen closely. Tenchi just gave a soft smile. "That love is different for everybody. The love my father had for my mother is a different type of love than I have for you, for instance. The love I have for Ryoko is different than the one for my grandfather. The love for Aeka, different from the love for my little May. It is defining those loves that reveals the true difference." "And how do you define them?" Aeka said stiffly. Tenchi raised an eyebrow. "Not at the dinner table." "Then when Tenchi." Ryoko said softly. Tenchi sighed and stared up at the ceiling, hoping for inspiration. "I wish I knew. Dinner was delicous Sasami. Excuse me, I have school work to finish before tommorrow." He exited. "I guess love is a very interesting thing." Sasami remarked as she began to clear the table. Ryoko smiled at the little princess who was carrying Tenchi's plate at the time. "Someday Sasami, I'm sure you'll make someone a wonderful wife." She complimented her. "And you make a great mother, Ryoko." Sasami returned. Aeka snorted and began to help her sister. "Don't you mean will?" "No, she is." Sasami said innocently, not heeding her sister's warning glares. "She wears herself out taking care of Mayuka day in and day out. She really cares." Aeka gave Ryoko a look that meant :She's only saying that to be nice.: "Thank you Sasami. I'm glad you think so. Speaking of May, someone needs her diaper changed." Ryoko exited the room her cheeks red and eyes glowing. "Why do you say such things to her Sasami?" Aeka said disgusted. Sasami turned to her sister with her hands on her hips. "Ryoko at least tries to help with Mayuka. You don't even put forth the effort." "It gives her something to do, so she isn't lazy all day." Sasami cocked her head. "Your jealous, well I won't let your jealousy get in the way of my friendship with Ryoko." "I don't understand why you want to be friends with her, but I can't tell you to stop because it would do no good." Sasami smiled. "I'm glad you see things that way. Would you help me with the dishes?" Aeka's heart melted, she truly loved her sister, even if she didn't understand her. "Of course." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Washu sat in her lab and brooded. The night's dinner conversation had brought up some painful memories for her. Memories so sharp that she was surprised that the lab floor wasn't covered in blood. She shook her head, she had work to do, she needed to analyze Ryoko's readings, clean up the grove area, and other little things like that. Yet she hurt to much. Unconciously she was wiping away the tears as they formed. Even in her own lab, she refused to show weakness. Her and Ryoko were similar in that respect. Thinking of Ryoko, Washu smiled. Her joy was coming loud and clear through the link. A balm to her mother's soul, an unknowing balm, but it helped. :Oh, why does love have to be so hard?: Washu sighed. ::I don't know Washu.:: Ryoko responded. ::You weren't supposed to hear that, little Ryoko.:: Washu said, a bit surprised. She thought she had sheilded from her daughter. ::Cut the little stuff,:: Ryoko growled. ::I can't help that your pain is coming through loud and clear.:: Washu's eyes widened. But Ryoko wasn't finished. ::But I suppose that turn about is fair play, considering all that I have put you through some nights.:: Washu's eyes narrowed. Ryoko's mind voice laughed slightly. ::You thought I didn't know.:: ::I thought I hid my tracks better than that.:: A grim wave of emotion came across the link. ::Washu, I am helpless against those memories and I can not get out of them once I'm there.:: ::Much like me and thoughts of my husband.:: Washu concluded. ::Exactly:: Washu could almost see her daughter nod. ::So, will you call me Mom.:: Washu pleaded. A wave of despair and pain came across, and Washu struggled to find equilibrium. Abruptly the wave was cut off. A dead silence filled the lab, making it darker. ::I can't.:: The mind whisper can't. ::I am sorry.:: Washu broke out in weeping. ::Why? Why not?:: A hint of sadness and slight disgust mixed with anger flitted across her mind. ::Not if you keep hiding.:: Abruptly the link was cut off and Ryoko said no more. "What do mean? I am right here Ryoko, I'm not hiding from anyone." Washu whispered to the darkness. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenchi was also brooding, but for different reasons. :I truly don't get anything in this household.: He sat down at the desk and blankly stared at the school books it contained. He as a senior this year, and he really should be studying, however he had no motivation. :A senior in high school, and I have no clue what I want to do with my life. However, I have a daughter to support and I can't live here forever.: Tenchi groaned into his hands, :are answers to much to ask for?: Ryoko materialized behind him without a sound. "Generally yes." she muttered. She shifted May. Tenchi jumped. "I didn't know I said that a loud." Then his eyes narrowed. "Ryoko, what are you doing in my room?" Ryoko smiled catlike, then stopped abruptly, today it was no fun. "Mayuka wants to see her daddy." She said and passed the child to him. "And I need a break." With that she dissappeared. Tenchi looked down at her daughter. "Well, maybe you'll understand your old man's problems." Mayuka cooed and batted her eyelashes. Tenchi snorted. "Yes, I know I'm not that old." He tickled her chin, causing her to laugh harder. "Well, where shall we start? Hmm, let's see, my life and what to do with it?" May made a face. "No, okay, how about the oddness of this household in general." May stuck her tongue out. "Your right that would be restating the obvious. Okay, shall we consider my grandfather's lessons." No reaction. "Neutral on that score huh? Okay, last problem, the girls." May brightened. :Does she even understand?: Tenchi shrugged. "Fine, let's talk about the girls." :Where to begin?: "Hmm, Sasami. . ." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grandfather Katsuhito gently placed his cup down on its saucer and closed his eyes. Interesting things were happening in the household and as usual the centered around Ryoko. In a way that didn't surprise him because. . . of many things actually. Ryoko was Washu's daughter after all, and a powerful being secondly. But there was something else, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He picked up his tea cup and took another sip. "Good evening Ryoko." He said smoothely. "Hello Katsuhito." She drifted around him and sat down on the other cushion, arms folded under her chest. He filled another tea cup and passed it over to her. "Something must be troubling you if you came to see me." "Contrary to popular belief, I do not hate you and yours, Katsuhito." "Even Ayeka." A cool look over the rim of the tea cup. "The only way she can hurt me is with words, and so I take no offense about her blows." Katsuhito didn't even raise an eyebrow. "However," Ryoko continued. "I didn't come to talk to you about that." She put her cup down with a small clank and stared off into space. "I have changed Yosho, and I don't know quite what to do about it." Katsuhito blinked. "Are you sure you've changed? Perhaps you have reverted or grown up." He gave her a peircing look. Ryoko leaned back and looked at the ceiling, as if asking the local spirits for inspiration. :She probably is.: Katsuhito thought amused. "And if uncertianity about myself isn't enough, there is the still unresolved problems of Washu and Tenchi." She added a bit scornfully. "You can not change them, they can only change themselves." "So nothing I do can influence them." "No, you can influence them, but you can't force them to change." Katsuhito said patiently. Sipping yet more tea. "So I must cultivate patience." She said crossely as she sat back up. Glaring at the man across from her. Katsuhito nodded. Ryoko snorted and returned to the ceiling. "So what about me, wise one." Katsuhito hid a smile. "I never thought you enjoyed your old ways anyway." Ryoko gave him a look, "some help you are?" She dissappeared, leaving only a half filled tea cup to prove she had ever been. The young/wise man went back to his meditations, as the day slowly turned to twilight and then to the dark of night. Where above the cave a single star sparkled more brightly than anyother. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The next day started off about the same as any other. Ayeka started a screaming fight with Ryoko, then escalated it into one of their power matches. It only calmed down when Sasami called breakfast. After which they all split up to do the various chores and duties for the day. Tenchi went to school, where the guys still picked on him for his seven day absence because of a female. Tenchi generally didn't respond. He would sit there and hope that it didn't happen again. Hopes are wonderful things. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryoko had retreated to the cherry orchard to think amoung the trees. Well more meditate than think. As usual her mind drifted right to Tenchi and the ways she could get him to make her love her, then out of a corner of her mind came a voice, which sounded something like her own. She sat daydreaming in her favorite tree, her eyes far way when out of the depths of her mind a forceful voice began to speak. :No, that is not how it works at all, you can not make him love you. Love is not a forced emotion, it is like a young crystal. You can not force the crystals growth, you would kill it's evolving personality, and at the least warp it. You can only wait for it to grow up and then let it become useful.: There was a moment of mental silence as if someone else had something, but Ryoko couldn't remember it. :No, you are coming at this in the wrong direction, you don't spend all your time with the crystal or you'll smother it. Too much attention will kill it, give him some time. Some time to grow.: ::That is good advice Ryoko. Who said it?:: Ryo-ohki hopped onto her lap. Ryoko began to stroke her. "I did, a long time ago. I wish I could remember more." ::It is still good advice.:: "Perhaps I should follow it." Ryoko mutter wryly as a cherry blossom drifted past her. ::Your decision:: Ryo-ohki snuggled up against and fell asleep. Unbidden another voice came into her head, it was perhaps more sweet than her own. :'Ryoko, darling, you will not get anyone to change their veiws by bashing how wrong they are into them.' Then how am I too get them to understand. 'Use persuasion and remember that ultimately the decision is up to them, you can not force them to change, as much as you can not force anyone to love another.' Both are choices. I think I understand. 'We shall see.': Ryoko's mouth quirked upward into a small smile. The last comment had been rueful and amused. :I wonder who she was. Seven hundred years is a long time to be imprisoned.: She wiped away a tear before it disturbed Ryo-ohki from her slumbers. :Of course I was imprisoned long before that.: "I don't understand. Where are these memories coming from? Who are they, what are they? I am so confused." Ryoko began to sob. "Who am I?" The wind and the cherry trees had no answer for the sad cyan haired girl. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenchi was walking home from school and walked right past where Ryoko usually greeted him without really noticing she wasn't there for a second. He stopped completely and a did a double take at the tree she usually leaned against. He shook his head to clear it from the thoughts swirling around in it. :Where is. . . What if she. . . no, she can't have. . .they would've called me. . .right. She's not sick, she's just. . .not here. She's always here. STOP Tenchi, and try to think.: Yet thinking came hard at times for the young prince. He stood there with his hand on his forehead. His fingers drumming it, and his bag by his side. "Tenchi? Are you okay?" A husky voice said from behind him. Tenchi jumped and twirled on his heel, dropping into a defensive stance instinctively, until he saw who it was. "Ryoko! I was worried there for a minute." "Worried?" Her voice took a teasing note and she pointed a thumb at herself. "About me?" Tenchi began to rub the back of his neck and endeavored not to stutter. "Well, your never late, and well, . . ." He trailed off. "Tenchi, that is so sweet, but well what?" Tenchi turned a bit red. "Nothing." Ryoko cocked her head and restrained herself from glomping him to get the answer. "If it has you worried, it is not nothing. Tell me." Tenchi looked straight into her eyes, something he rarely did. "I don't want you to fall sick again, that's all." Ryoko turned red. She began to stutter, something to do with having no control over it an all and it was nice of him to be so concerned. . . Fortuneatly Ayeka saved her before she ran out of things to say. "Lord Tenchi, I thought perhaps you would want to see Lady Mayuka, since you just got home and all." Tenchi turned to this new conversation with relief, allowing Ryoko time to regain her composure. "Thank you Miss Ayeka, how has she been today?" "Terrible." Ayeka sighed and then grimaced. "She didn't want to eat and then had a fit when it was time for her nap. She screamed and screamed and refused to cooperate." "Huh, she's never that way with me." Ryoko said a bit perplexed. "And this lazy beast never showed up to help with her at all today." Ayeka added snidely. Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps she doesn't know your secrets, huh May." "Stop calling her May, hussy. Her name is MAYUKA, not May." Ayeka huffed. Tenchi hadn't really looked up from his daughter since Ayeka had given her to him. Now he did, "Actually, that's kinda cute, my little May." Ryoko glowed. She swept Tenchi's bag up and started off towards the house humming jauntily. Ayeka glared at Tenchi who mock cringed. "Well it is." Ayeka humphed and headed after Ryoko. Tenchi shook his head and began to take up the rear. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenchi sat down in front of his grandfather, he wondered if he was even making progress on this meditation thing. However, today his grandfather didn't even seem to notice him, he sat there and just looked out into space. Tenchi tried not to figit. He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses to see what his grandfather was doing. It was rather amazing, for even sitting across from his grandfather, he could barely feel him. It was if he had retreated so far into himself that finding him would be impossible. Almost as impossible as finding a needle in a haystack. Suddenly Tenchi had a sense of vertigo, it was as if his grandfather was rushing him. Tenchi raced back to his own senses. He opened his eyes. Katsuhito looked at him calmly. "That is an example of what you can do with concentration. Dismissed." Tenchi bowed and left the room, pondering the days lesson. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryoko had claimed May from Ayeka "since you don't know how to handle her," and had taken her flying. As they flew over the forest, Ryoko watched the ground for a good place to alight. Not seeing any she turned back towards the house and at double speed flew back towards it. She was flying over the lake, kicking up a spray of water, which wasn't that unusual, when something shiny on the bottom caught her eye. It caused her stop rather abruptly, and as the water began to catch up with her she phased out of existence, eyes still on that shiny something. Still phased out of existence Ryoko passed through the water. Belatedly remembering May, she looked down at the child to see her happily looking around at this new enviroment. Ryoko smiled, remembering her first time underwater. //Flash\\ There it was again, what was it. It couldn't be any of the crystals lying on the bottom of the lake. Most of them were buried in silt. Her feet touched the bottom of the lake and she began to walk toward the object. A fish stopped to tease May by swimming right through her, then coming around and doing it again. The girls delighted laughter made no bubbles in the water. She reached out a hand to touch this shiny thing, but the fish darted out of the way last second. Ryoko stopped and stared at the object which had caught her eye, it was a key. A rather old fashioned looking key, made of white gold, for there was no tarnish on the metal. Exerting the utmost control Ryoko leaned over and phased her hand into existence and snatched the key up. It felt cold and solid in her hands. She brought it up close to her face for a closer inspection. The key seemed to glow in the ambient light, what had sparkled was what looked to be a rather large diamond at the end. Ryoko phased her hand out of existence and teleported to the dock, her eyes still on the key. :This feels familiar:, she felt the heft and ran her fingers gently over the metal. :The folds, the indentations I have felt them before.: "Oh, Ryoko there you are." Sasami chirped. Ryoko jumped and hurridly put her hand that held the key behind her back, for some odd reason she didn't want anyone to know she had it. "Dinners ready and your the only one missing. How was your flight?" The young girl cocked her head and smiled up at her. "Good for Mayuka." Ryoko stated. As she started walking towards the house. "She needs the air almost as much as I do." Sasami nodded and turned back to the kitchen. Letting Ryoko in after her, Ryoko palmed the key and slipped it up her sleeve where she wouldn't lose it. "So, what's for dinner?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayeka generally didn't brood. She was a royal princess of Juria and brooding wasn't supposed to be in her nature. She was supposed to know what to do and act accordingly. Ayeka leaned against the small desk that she shared with Sasami in their room and put her head on her hands. She could feel it, the monster demon was winning. Winning her Lord Tenchi's heart and that must not happen. Yet for the life of her Ayeka couldn't figure out what Ryoko was doing to deserve this love. "She has no royal blood, in fact her parent may be the greatest scientific genius, she is only a commoner. So, Tenchi can not like her, or even love her." Ayeka whispered, completely forgetting that Tenchi once thought himself a commoner also. "I am only imagining things, that is all. Tenchi still loves me and not that demon. We are both royalty after all, we are meant to be together." Yet somewhere in the back of her mind that nagging doubt would not shut up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sasami sat on the dock and swished her feet in the cool water. Tsunami's reflection glowed in the light of the moon. "Everybody's out of sorts Tsunami, and I feel so helpless." ::We are not the goddess of fate, Sasami.:: "Yet you can influence it, can't you Tsunami?" Sasami said a bit bitterly. She knew of all people what Tsunami had done to Tenchi, for she had taken part. ::Yes that is true.:: "He was happy the way he was before Tsunami. Why did you do this?" ::I do what I must.:: "That is not an answer and you know it." Sasami was crying now. "They hurt so much." ::I am no sorry, and I wish it could be some other way.:: Tsunami's mind voice was tinted with remorse. "You can't fix every mistake in the universe, not even Kami can do that." ::It is because Kami does nothing that I must interfere.:: Tsunami said angrily. "Perhaps he has a reason." ::Child,:: her tone was kind. ::You do not understand, and you will not until you are older.:: "I am sick of your saying, 'when your older,' I understand more than you think Tsunami." Sasami was sobbing great sobs now. ::I wish that was so,:: Tsunami smiled gently before she dissappeared. Sasami covered her eyes with one hand and tried to control her tears. Ryo-ohki sensing her great distress began to try to comfort her. Ryo-ohki climbed into her lap and began to purr. "Why, Tsunami why?" Sasami whispered to the little cabbit, who only purred in response. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenchi stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out his grandfather did it. How did he make his aura so small that nobody would notice him? Tenchi reached out and explored the house with his Jurai power. Would his perspective be different, or would he be able to feel them and they wouldn't be able to feel him. Was that also how his grandfather managed to surprise so many people. By making his very self so small that everyone just missed him. Tenchi had heard the phrase, 'force of personality,' was there some truth to that. :You must listen to your heart, not your brain.: Tenchi remembered. :Well maybe we can start this literally: and began to listen to the beat of his heart. He imagined that the force that was him, Tenchi Masaski flowed through his veins and too his heart where unlike his blood it pooled there. :The words heart and soul have often been interchanged throughout history, along with the word spirit.: Tenchi heard his liteature teacher lecture. His attention wanted to wander, but as soon as it did Tenchi noticed that some of his 'soul' escaped from the well that he had put it in. He concentrated on just keeping his soul in place. Then he heard the whispers, whispers of his inner self. Tenchi listened and began to feel fear. Knowing yourself can be a very dangerous thing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- notes: okay, sorry if you haven't been able to get a hold of me. I change internet addresses a couple weeks after I sent fate of empires01 and 02 in, and he hasn't caught it yet. So once again the new address is ring_princess@hotmail.com, sorry for the inconvenience. if it seems like it is going kind of slow, well there is a purpose to this, and this is evolving into something not even I know what will happen next. (Actually I do, but I just don't know it yet. Paradoxal huh?) This is all leading up to something and the next chapter will have more action, I promise. Later