Fate of Empires 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. Okay, there are so many characters that if I used all of them the plot line could get pretty complicated. So I am going to stick with the few I've started with for the moment, the others pasts may come to light later. Oh yeah, C&C is appreciated so you can contact me at ring_princess@hotmail.com :thoughts: :: mental speech :: "normal speech" ________major time passes --------minor time passes A/N okay, I'm sure a few have questions about the end of the last chapter. Well, so did I when I went back and re-read it. How did Ryoko know aeka, sasami, yosho and achika, but didn't know of tenchi. Well to answer that question, nagi and ken-ohki, remember this is the OVA timeline, Nagi has never shown up, but she didn't know of Tenchi or didn't tell Ryoko for some reason. (Shrug) does that help. Chapter Five: Ryoko Dances Ryoko smiled. The spirits of the world laughed in delight as the wind tugged her along towards a place of beauty, where the petals danced like fairies. They begged Ryoko to join in their dance. She obliged with a laugh of crystal chimes. Nagi hugged the shadows and smiled in rememberance. It had always been so, if one couldn't find her in the temple she was in the gardens, dancing between sunbeams. Nagi heard a faint brush of wind next to her. "Hello, Lord Yosho." she murmured quietly. "This is not the Ryoko I remember." Yosho murmurs back just as quietly. Nagi looked at Yosho for a moment, then at Ryoko. "Then you don't really know Ryoko do you, your lordship." He let that pass. "So you came back." "I am sorry to hear the Achika is dead, she was a great lady and a wonderful friend." "She wanted you here for the wedding." Nagi blinked. "I know." "So, what do you think of my grandson." Yosho said with a slight smile. "He is more than he appears." She said neutrally. Ryoko began to sing in a tongue unknown to Yosho. Spirits of the trees joined her in her dance and reveled in her song. Yosho raised an eyebrow. "Does she do that often?" Nagi laughed softly, so suprising a sound from such a warrior. "No, just when she feels extrodenarily happy. Which isn't often enough, I'm surprised that the crystals in the lake haven't joined her." "They've only taken cabbit form once." He mused. Nagi snorted. "You don't know much about our culture do you. Shh... a crystal comes." Yosho watched in surprise as a crystal levitated over the ground and began to chime and finally sing along with Ryoko. This attracted others until the clearing flashed with crystal formations, both floating and resting on the ground, the ones floating never stopped changing positions and the eye was tantalized with vague forms. "Beautiful." Someone else whispered and Nagi jerked in surprise. It was Tenchi, amazingly she hadn't felt his presence, not like she had Yosho's. Her brow furrowed, no one mortal was that good. "So you like Lady Ryoko's dance, Lord Tenchi." Yosho said with some amusement. The young man flushed scarlet and shot his grandfather a sharp look. :You note the differnce well Grandfather, this is not Ryoko as we know her. If I didn't know better I would dub the usual Ryoko, the warrior.: "I came to tell you that the chores were done, Grandfather." He said quietly. "And then got distracted by Lady Ryoko." "It's not hard." Nagi grinned. "And so the preistesses of the Great goddess learned the hard way. When Ryoko dances no work is done in the Temple as they flock to the windows to watch." A faraway look came to her eye. "Ah, it was so long ago when she last danced there. It is good she is found again." A look passed over Tenchi's face so fast that Nagi and Yosho were certain that they only imagined it. :And now that you have found her, will you take her away from her family and those who love her. Stop lying to yourself Masaki, that is what has gotten you in trouble for years. The real question is will you take her away from me, the one who is in love with her passionately, will you Nagi?: Nagi stared at Ryoko. :There is more going on here than I know how to handle. Oh, Achika I wish you were here to help me.: Tenchi watched mesmerized by the dance and wished he could join in. He left Nagi and his grandfather on one side of the clearing and headed towards the path. Ryoko swayed in time to the music, until out of a corner of her eye she saw Tenchi watching her from the path. "Your dance is lovely, Lady Ryoko." He bowed. She flushed slightly at the compliment. "Thank you Lord Tenchi. It is very kind of you to say so." Tenchi suppressed a quick grin. "I have been told that being kind is one of my greatest blessings and curses." Ryoko threw her head back and laughed. "I shall remember that and try not to take everything you say at face value." "But with you every word would be sincere." Tenchi blurted. :Smooth Masaki: Ryoko looked at him surprised. Nagi and Yosho exchanged shocked looks. Tenchi smiled in chagrin. "Another of my faults, being truthful." "Some might say milord, that honesty is a virtue." "I concede the fight milady." He then gave a courtly bow. "May I have this dance?" Ryoko didn't even raise her eyebrows as she gave a slight curtsey. "It would be my pleasure." As they moved together, Tenchi leaned and whispered into her ear. "No, it would be mine." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "On second thought, I like your grandson very well, Yosho." Nagi chuckled. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mishoshi stared at the doors of Washu's lab almost nervously. Almost but not quite. It was if there was an extremely dangerous animal in there and she did not know how to react. Yet what could disconcert this fighter. "Duo. . ." She whispered. Her longing to be with him was like an ache, as if she had not had enough sleep for some time. She turned her head from side to side as if afraid she had been caught. Even though she knew no one else was here. She had put this off long enough, it was time to end this. . . indecision. Her face became neutral and she opened the door to the lab and quieted the crab before it even a chance to jangle. Ignoring all machinery and stealthily creeping around to miss the diminutive scientist. She came to a little used door that led down the back way to the third level. Duo was leaning up against the wall of his cell. He blinked as Mihoshi seemed to appear from thin air. "Mihoshi. . ." He hissed. She put her finger to her lips in the classic entreaty for silence. Even the lock of the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe couldn't stand up to the skills of the best detective in the force. He followed her movements out of the lockup with ease that spoke of practice and they entered his ship. Once inside and the door closed she had her arms around him and his were around her. "I missed you, so Duo." She said in despair. "Let's leave here while we have the chance, my love." He soothed. "No, we need to talk, if we leave then the council will know. Everyone would know." "Mihoshi, I think you are afraid of them." "Correction, I'm terrified. I have seen what they can do to those who oppose or even displease them." They stood together for a few moments in silence. "Thank you," she whispered. "So you did get the message." "Not right away. No. But I figured it out." "All I wanted to do out there was knock you to the ground and just hold you." He whispered into her hair. His hand went up and stole her hair thing. She giggled as her wavy blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders. "I felt the same, but neither of us could show it. How pathetic." He felt a grin tug the corners of his mouth. "Perhaps, this job wasn't so foolish after all." She leaned back and brought her lips to his. ::Nope, my love, not foolish at all.:: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kami cursed, excessively and repeatably. Know some might think that because Kami was the creator of all the gods that he should be all knowing and all powerful, unfortunatly things didn't always work like that. Others didn't know it but in the begining he had been and his powers he parceled out to his creations. He was still more powerful than all of them put together but wasn't as powerful as he used to be. "She was integrating her old memories with her current memories. How in hell did this happen?" He began to pace, "No the real question is should I set it straight?" He looked at the dimensional cube again and shook his head. :The only way to monitor this situation would be to be in the thick of it.: Kami shrugged. "I'll let it be for now." "What will you let be for now, father?" Kami spun and a warm smile crossed his features. Technically Reishu wasn't his daughter, she was a creation of Washu's, but she insisted on calling father, all because him and Washu had been in love. "Ryoko and her memories." "Are you undoing all my hard work father." She waved a finger at him. "You are naughty." He grin, unabashed. "It is needed work, fate hangs in the balance Reishu, daughter." Reishu tossed her long pastel pink hair over her shoulder and looked around thoughtfully. "Who am I to argue with you father, fate is a fickle thing." "Tsunami wishes to influence it another way, just as I predicted." "She thinks that you are not active in the universe." Reishu laughed. "They are oblivious of the things that I have done since the very start." Kami snorted. "So we shall use the Tenchi situation to our advantage." "As always." The two Nekoan looking beings grinned conspiratorially at each other. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If Aeka had time to fume, she would, but wisely Sasami had put her to work and so she took out all her feelings on the laundry. Kiyone was helping her hang it up with rough wooden pins on the line. Mayuka was not forgotten in all the doings of the house, she was being quietly watched whenever anyone could spare an eye. Which basically left her to Ken-ohki, who was being rather discreet about it. ::Ryo-ohki love, you are saying that Ryoko loves this child.:: ::Yes dear, and the child loves her like a mother as well.:: Ryo-ohki perched on top of Sasami's head as she cooked. Ken-ohki cocked his head and looked at the child. ::What is so special about her?:: ::Well, she is TENCHI'S child for one and Ryoko wants to be her mother.:: ::In spirit, but not in flesh.:: ::Yeah, something like that.:: She crinkled her nose. ::So is she succeeding:: He teased. ::Most admirably well.:: came the dry retort. Ken-ohki snorts attracted odd looks from both Kiyone and Aeka, he managed an innocent look for them and turned back to watching the baby. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ryoko leaned on Tenchi's arm as they walked back to the house. Nagi and Katsuhito lagging behind. "This place is so beautiful, Lord Tenchi." Ryoko wondered. "It is even as beautiful in autumn, when the leaves change and in winter when the snow lies on the ground." "Snow. . ." She looked at him quizzically. "Frozen rain, it comes in flakes in the shape of stars and covers the ground in a blanket of white." he tried to explain. "I shall have to see this, it sounds wonderful." "But it's cold." he warned. "Lord Tenchi, cold does not bother me." "Please, Lady Ryoko, just Tenchi." "Only if you call me Ryoko." She smiled and cast him a sideways glance. "So what do you with this. . . snow." "Well, you can make snowballs and throw them at others, or build a snowfort to hide behind. A snowman to decorate or a snowtunnel to slide threw. Or you can go sledding or skiing or snow boarding." She laughed lightly. "It sounds like you can have lots of fun with snow." "Well, if the lakes freeze over you can skate on the ice." "This winter. . ." She threw out the word. "Sounds nothing like we have at home." She looked over her shoulder. "Perhaps Nagi we can try this winter and Nekoa." She didn't notice Tenchi's pained look. Nagi simply shuddered. "Some are more wary of the cold than you milady." Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Wuss." She muttered. "Be careful what you say, those words may come back to haunt you." Nagi warned her. Tenchi snorted and Ryoko stiffled a giggled. "Obviously Tenchi doesn't think so. Oh dreaded Captian of the Sacred Gaurd." "Correction, I am your Gaurd now Lady Ryoko." Ryoko blinked. :What did I do to rate my own gaurd.: She shook off her doubts and picked up the pace. "Whatever you say, Captain." CIAO!!!!! Ken-ohki growled at Aeka. "Get away you miserable thing, I'm just trying to help Lady Mayuka." Ken-ohki bared his fangs and bristled. "Ken-ohki!" Nagi barked. Ryoko's eyes widened. "Tenchi, who is Mayuka." Tenchi turned a bit red. "My daughter." "You are married." Ryoko seemed a bit mortified. "No, Ryoko, I'm not." He said hurridly. "She is my daughter through a strange set of circumstances." "I am not a imbecile, Lord Tenchi. I know how children are made." Ryoko's face turned red with anger and embarrassment. :How could he court me when he has another.: She fumed. "Then you have not heard how the demon Yuzaha stole my DNA and created a child from it." He tried to say cooly. "I had no part in her creation, only in her rebirth." :That the Warrior Ryoko argued for quite well.: He looked at her. "I am telling you the truth, milady. On the goddess Tsunami I swear it so." Aeka was trying to work this to her advantage and her mind moved quickly. But Ryoko interupted before she could say anything. "Ryo-ohki is this true." Miya, miya mio. Ryo-ohki chittered. "Forgive me Tenchi, I jumped to conclusions without listening to you first." "No, forgive me Ryoko for not telling you sooner." The two looked each other in the eyes for a few long moments, before Mayuka's protests of being left alone began to reach them. "Shoo and let me get to her." Aeka told the cabbit. "I'll get her Miss Aeka." Tenchi reassured her. Ken-ohki muttered not a thing as Tenchi leaned down and picked up his daughter. "Ryoko, Lady of Nekoa, meet my daughter, Mayuka or Little May, Young Lady of Jurai." Ryoko looked at him uncertainly and then looked at the little girl. "Hello May. She held out her finger which May grabbed at steadily. "Mama!" she cried. Jaws dropped and Ryoko stood in shock. Ken-ohki and Ryo-ohki just exchanged smug smiles. ::The little one knows who she is.:: ::That she does my love, that she does.:: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mihoshi managed to get Duo back to his cell and out of Washu's lab all without her knowing. She walked into the previous scene and stood to consider it's implications. :I would not want to be in Ryoko's shoes right now, nor in Aeka's: Kiyone noticed her first. "Mihoshi, where have you been?" "Around." Mihoshi said vaguely. "Around where?" Kiyone said crossly. She wasn't going to take the normal crap from Mihoshi. "Getting some answers." Mihoshi said curtly. :From Duo and then from Gak although I had to pry them out of him. It wasn't a pretty sight either. Praise the balance she wasn't there to see that.: "From who could you get answers?" "From those I can trust, Kiyone. The Galaxy Police is not one of those places." She said coldly. :To wrapped up in Jurain affairs and the council's sticky fingers are everywhere. Damn them to a long hot hell.: Kiyone's mouth closed with a snap. "You and I need to talk about procedure." "Talk about it, Kiyone. Just not to me. I am sick and fed up of the Galaxy Police's other projects and affairs." She held up a hand to forestall what Kiyone was going to say. "I am NOT the Mihoshi you know, Kiyone. Forget her and her bumbling ways. I was and am still the best officer on the force. Even as I was, I chose my own assignments and partners, you are here for a reason." :You are my watchdog, just as Gak is Duo's, but you don't know that, he does and that makes him valueable and both are manipulatable.: "And that reason is. . ." Kiyone taunted. "You are one of the few officers left that I consider trustworthy. The rest are to busy. . ." Mihoshi clamped her mouth shut. "Nagi, Lady Ryoko, I need to ask you a few questions." "Whenever you are ready, Detective." Nagi said respectfully. "Just remember that while the action took place in Jurai, I am a Nekoan citizen and you must treat me with respect." "Does Ryoko not enter that equation Captian Nagi." "You must deal with me before you get to her." Nagi gave a bone chilling smile and the look in her eyes was cruel. "You can not do this Mihoshi." Kiyone yelled at her. "Don't make me pull rank, Kiyone. It is and has been done." Her eyes were cold. "Damn them all." she muttered. Ryoko extracted her finger from Mayuka's. "I will answer your questions as well, though I am afraid that I won't be that helpfull." "Anything will help, Lady Ryoko." Mihoshi's mood swung to gentle in a blink of an eye. Ryoko gathered her skirts in one hand and gave a brave smile. "Then shall we start." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mihoshi sat down on the chair in the living room. "What I need to know is simply this. Who is coming after you and why?" Ryoko bit her lip. "The Empress of Nekoa." Mihoshi looked expectant, as if she wanted more. Ryoko stood up and paced. She finally stopped and raised her hands in the air dramatically, not paying the least bit of attention to the rest of the family who crowded the doors. "I don't know. I have never known why she hated me so. It is my very existence is an affront to her. I do not recall any particular incident between us that would cause this enimity." She swirled and looked Mihoshi straight in the eye. "By the goddess, I have never understood what went wrong." Nagi sighed. "I know why, Lady Ryoko." "I have to know so that I can deal with this threat to the royal family of Jurai." Mihoshi said firmly. Kiyone gave a slight nod. Nagi's lips twitched. "But what of the Regal Family of Nekoa. We shall deal with the empress ourselves. I am sure High Preistess of the goddess Syoko, Preistess of Reishu, Makoto and even Reishu are working on that." "The Regal Family of Nekoa." Kiyone was questioning. Nagi stood up and suddenly kneeled on her knee in the direction of Ryoko. "Princess Regal, your faithful gaurd awaits your command." Ryoko fainted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm afraid the day was too much of a shock to her." Ryoko heard Washu saying faintly in the background. Ryoko groaned. "Well, she is waking up." Nagi said drolly. "My head hurts." Ryoko croaked. "It should, you hit the coffee table on the way down." Washu said bluntly. "It is a good thing that the greatest scientific genius of the universe on hand to fix you up." Ryoko opened her eyes and gave Washu a weak glare. "How you and your ego even share a room Little Lady Washu I don't know." Washu rolled her eyes. "She'll be fine." "Damn straight I will. Nagi, captian give me a hand up will you." Nagi held her hand out. Ryoko grabbed it and pulled herself up and Nagi did the same. "The key to the box is on the rafter, I found it a few days before the bounty hunters showed up." Nagi eyes widened. Aeka gasped. Ryoko just cracked her neck with one hand and held her aching skull with the other. "Mama?" May broke the silence. "Oh, baby, mama's right here. I have been neglecting you haven't I?" she cooed, but she winced as she said it. "Ryoko," Aeka shreiked. "How many times do I have to tell you that you are not Mayuka's mother?" Tenchi was standing there slack jawed. "Ryoko. . ." He whispered. Ryoko stood in front of him. "Tenchi, I didn't know, I really didn't." She began to stutter. He put a finger on her lips. "Hush. May needs her mother, she doesn't care if that mother is a princess." His eyes said what his lips couldn't. :And neither do I.: She nodded in understanding, and gently took May from him. 'We need to talk.' She mouthed at him. 'Tonight, the cave.' He mouthed back. She nodded slightly and headed towards the fridge. "No wonder your crying, doesn't anybody ever feed you at this place." "I demand an explanation." Aeka face mottled in anger. Nagi looked at Ken-ohki who headed after Ryoko to gaurd her. "You are a First Princess of Jurai, Highness. Ryoko is the Princess Regal of Nekoa, the declared heir apparent, our next Regal Empress." Tenchi stood there quietly, listening behind him as Ryoko sang May a lullabye in the language she was using amoung the trees. Katsuhito watched his grandson carefully. Tenchi just began to grin, then snicker and finally full out laugh. He wiped tears from his eyes as the others just watched him as if he was insane. He shook his head and left the room. "A princess. . ." He chuckled. "Don't forget space pirate too bub. It's a package deal." Ryoko called after him. He whirled and there was something in his eyes that his grandfather could not quite read. "If you say so milady." He said formally and sarcastically. He then turned and ran. "Scroundrel, rogue, ruffian." Ryoko flung at him as he headed down the path. She looked down at the content Mayuka. "I worry about your papa some days love." May gave Ryoko one very deliberate wink. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kami crowed in delight. "They integrated. Her memories intergrated. I shall specially put that coffee table in a place of high regard. Oh yes." It was a strange sight, to see the much venerated Kami doing a dance around the Hall of Heaven. Reishu stifled her giggles. "Dad." "It's a beautiful day!" He began to sing. His voice a beautiful tenor. Reishu gave up and outright laughed at the sight of Kami twirling on the marble floor. He stopped and glared at her. "Are you laughing at me?" "Ye. .yes." She gasped. He grinned. "Good, just making sure." This only made her laugh harder. Kami drew her into the dance and laughing they swirled. The Hall rang with their laughter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sasami hummed happily, everything was going to be all right. :Ryoko is better and a PRINCESS and we have some new members to our 'family', Nagi and Ken-ohki. This family just keeps getting larger and larger.: "A Jurain for your thoughts Lady Sasami." Nagi said quietly from where she was peeling carrots for that nights dinner. "I was just thinking on how great everything is." Sasami said cheerily. "Sasami, do you want me to be honest with you?" Sasami gave Nagi a look of concern. "Yes, please. It is so hard sometimes for others to tell me the truth." "And you know when it is lies, because you are Tsunami as well, is that not right child." Nagi said quietly. Sasami just nodded sadly. "Which is as it should be, for Tsunami, Sasami, is a goddess of truth, a goddess of good." Nagi took a breathe. "No, Little Lady, everything is not great, or not from my veiw of things. The empress will try again, and again, and one time she may suceed. But I cannot leave because I know Ryoko will not. This, as strange as it may seem to me, is her home. Her home on Nekoa is a home of memory, where everything will have changed in the last 700 to 1000 years she has been gone." Sasami thought about this and then nodded. "I can see what you mean. Tenchi is here and so is Mayuka, she loves them both and won't leave." "Your forgetting something Sasami, she will not leave without the gems." Nagi said softly. Sasami sighed. "Tsunami is of the opinion that she should never have them again." "Tsunami is wrong, it is wrong to defy Ryoko of part of what she is. Perhaps if she had all the gems some of her problems would depart from her." "I do not understand Tsunami, Nagi. She makes me see things I do not want to see and know things I do not want to know, and then she says I do not understand what she has shown me." Sasami didn't know why she was telling this to her, Nagi and virtual stranger. Nagi put her knife down and opened her arms, Sasami came into them gratefully. Nagi began to stroke her hair and her eyes turned far away. "Do you know Sasami, that I will never be able to have children." "How awful." Sasami cried. Nagi gave a small laugh. "No, it isn't really, because I did so by choice. I chose to become sexless, a neuter so that I could serve the Regal Family and the Sacred Ones more faithfully. So that I would not have divided loyalities between family and the ones I serve." "Your masters." Sasami said brokenheartedly. "No, Sasami, my superiors." she corrected. "I was young and I did not want a family and this was a glamorous job. I didn't know of the consequences, and could not know them until I was shown and I experienced them. With experience and careful thought comes understanding. Tsunami doesn't know this, she is a goddess and tends to think of experience in thousands of years. Just because you are young doesn't mean you don't understand. Next time she says this, show her, through your words and actions that you do understand. Don't let her despise you because of your youth." Sasami nodded and dried her eyes on her apron. Nagi then grinned. "Besides it is her own fault for choosing you." Sasami laughed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AN alright, enough, on principle I would write more, but. . . well, I am running out of ideas for this chapter. And I know I will get this question, is it amnesia or what. . . umm it's not. . . in the strictest sense of the word but in a way it is because she doesn't remember those memories, I think pschzophrenia is closer. So this was rather abrupt ending. Deal. Next time, the midnight meeting and back to Nekoa for some time with our favorite preistesses. Other ideas are in the works. no pouting if this didn't go where you wanted it. Review, review, review. the more you review the better I can make it. Later RingPrincess.