Chapter 4 Ryoko's Resurrection "We didn't awaken for seven hundred years," Aeka said to a mesmerized Sasami, hanging on every word. What Aeka didn't say, but thought of was that before they had awakened, during those long seven-hundred years, Yosho had left, Azusa had died, Washu was imprisoned, Kiyone and Mihoshi were born, and Ryoko's parent's were probably teaching her the fundamentals of space-pirating. "When we awoke, we found a note from Yosho in the auditorium, lying next to our father's body. It read that he would come back when we had rebuilt. We did, but he never returned. You will learn most of it in your history class, Sasami. But I felt it had direct influence on this. Kain is dead for good now. I was not informed on this issue in my own classes before we faced him, my sister. For some reason or another, probably because of the disappearance of Yosho, our adopted brother, this was not made public knowledge to any children except the Royal family and those in the government, and not to them until they were at least eighteen. I turned eighteen the other week, while we were on the vacation with Tenchi and the others, and did not know this information. The government tried very hard to make everyone forget, since the trouble is all sorted now, and I was never told about my memories. I am probably breaking a lot of laws by telling you, Sasami, but I do not agree with this law, not a bit." "But how did father's body get into the auditorium and why didn't the building break?" Sasami asked. "Yosho must have carried in the body, Sasami." She could see Sasami's eyes tearing up, but wanted to continue. Aeka could not go through this telling again, but it had to be done by her, for she was Sasami's sister, and the only family she had left. "As for the auditorium, it was made by the strongest metal in the universe. Grandfather insisted on having it done, ordering it on his deathbed. He knew Kain would rise again." "What about . . . mother?" "After we awoke, mother's contractions were getting very frequent. She was rushed to the hospital. It was a very trying birth, and she died in it. I cried for days, but I did see something that made me feel a little better." "What?" "Well, before mother died, I was with her. Seeing her unconscious body lying there made me nearly hysterical. But, after she died, a bright light shown into the room. The others were busily rushing around mother and didn't seem to see it. The room filled with light they didn't see. No one except me was casting a shadow, I remember, as they all rushed around me, ignorant of the spectacle. I then saw another shadow coming out of mother's body, no body, just a shadow. The shadow picked itself up and walked to the far end of the room. It was a woman's shadow, a woman's figure, and it walked towards the far wall where the light seemed to originate from. There I saw another shadow, this one a man's, a large man's with huge arms and a large chest, like that of our father's. They stood there, seeming to look at me, and I heard a sound inside my head, three words echoing in my brain, comforting me in a strange way, instead of frightening. The words came in the voices of both mother and father. They were 'we love you.'" Aeka stood looking at her sister, she who her mother had died to bring into existence, she who was her only real family anymore, and smiled at the girl's perplexed and awed expression. "I would never forget that," Aeka finally said to her. Sasami sat utterly speechless, her expression unchanging when Aeka hugged her and led her to her room. Sasami sat in bed for hours, thinking of the story over and over again, before bursting into tears, crying out of joy and sadness. Sasami cried herself into a long and dreamful sleep. Sasami awoke the next morning, haggard and sleepy. Her alarm buzzed annoyingly at the side of her bed, screeching out an electronic whir that sent shivers down her spine. Ryo-Oki was at the foot of her bed, yawning groggily in answer to the clocks protests. Sasami looked to the clock and read the time, 7:30. The council meeting would be beginning any time now, for the decision which will decide the fate of Ryoko. Sasami wanted desperately for Ryoko to live again and knew that Azaka and Kamadaki would agree with her whole-heartedly. The knights and Tenchi had witnessed the brave acts of Ryoko when she flew to save the planet, even though it was just to show her devotion to Tenchi. Even if Ryoko was brought back to life, she would be facing charges of space-piracy, the most hated crime in all of Jurai. It was never actually proven that Ryoko killed anyone, although the Jurain prosecutors would most likely stress that she did, regardless of proof. And then there was the risk of unmeasurable danger that might inflict Sasami herself during or after the resurrection. Was it even worth it, Sasami thought to herself as she slipped out of the covers and let her bare-feet touch the freezing floor. Was the life of a space-pirate worth the danger it might put her in? She needed to think of this for only a split-second before arriving at her answer. Of course it was worth it. Ryoko was her friend and will be again, she thought. I'll do everything that I can to make it so. Sasami thought no more of it during her shower, breakfast, or her morning walk around the gardens. She went to the back gardens where Aeka had told her she had first met Ryoko. Aeka had refused to explain much of the encounter, admitting her memory was a bit foggy on the subject, but did tell her the garden was replanted after the explosion caused by Kain. Kain. That name hung in her ears like an unwanted fungus, eating at her, sucking away her good nature and replacing it with spite for the powerful destructor. Sasami had been relieved when Kain had died, mostly for Tenchi's sake, when they had succeeded in killing it, but now she felt a wicked kind of happiness in the fact that the beast was gone forever. Kain's destruction had put the planet back seven-hundred years, letting their people sleep, waiting for the radiation levels to die. Kain had caused the universe a flurry three times, the last ending his reign. Sasami, for the first time in her life, felt joyful for another's demise. She had mourned every enemy the empire ever had, even the evil Kagato, taking death more seriously than anyone she knew. But now she was rejoicing another's demise. Was this part of growing up? If so, she did not like it. Sasami walked quickly back into the palace, denying herself any thought of Kain for the rest of the day. She spotted Aeka in the hall, trouble brooding over her face. Apparently, Aeka's story had not affected only Sasami. Aeka looked plagued by her thoughts, bags under her eyes, her cheeks flushed, her clothes wrinkled. Aeka had not gotten much sleep last night. Sasami didn't want to trouble her, but she needed a word with her sister about important subjects, like the bringing of life and the reversing of death. "Aeka!" she called. Her sister barely glanced up towards her sister as the girl ran towards her. Sasami looked almost as bad for wear as Aeka. The older princess was starting to regret ever telling that story, even though she knew it necessary. "Yes, Sasami?" she mumbled. "I would like to ask a request," the little sister said. She wondered if this was such a good idea. She guessed it couldn't hurt. The council meeting started at 8:15. All members were present, although few look rested. Those who did looked as though they were faking it. Hasamato looked worst of all, even more than Aeka. It was very clear that he, along with the rest of them, had done serious thinking the night before. "We all know what this meeting is about, do we not?" Hasamato began. All nodded in agreement. "Good. Now unless anyone has any objections, I propose we start the voting now." "I object," said Aeka. "I have something to present to you before the voting begins. My sister, Sasami, is the one at most risk. More precisely, she is the only one at risk, and she would like to speak to you on this subject." Aeka heard murmurs from the other council members but made no effort to raise her voice as she went on. "If there aren't any objections, my sister would like to speak." There were none. "OK, Sasami!" she called. The doors to the large council room opened and in stepped Sasami, accompanied by the two wooden guardians, Azaka and Kamadaki. Their human counterparts were waiting anxiously in the hall for the conclusion. The guardians escorted Sasami to the head-council member's seat, Aeka's, and announced, "Princess, Sasami would like a word. Is permission granted?" "It is," Hasamato answered. "Very well," the blocks replied. "You may speak Sasami." "Thank you," Sasami said. "Members of the Jurain council. My sister explained to me yesterday what might happen to me if I were to help Ryoko. Among other things, the power could harm me or someone could come and try to kidnap me for this power. I have thought long and hard about this. Before this news, there was no question. Ryoko is my friend. . . was my friend. She was never really mean to anyone that I saw, except for when she and my sister got into a few arguments. She was a friend that I treasured dearly, one that I loved like a friend, cherished like a friend, one I would have given my life for. Before this news, there was no question; of course I'd do it. "But now that I learned of this, I had to think. What was more important? My friend or my well-being or life. My answer is . . . my friend. Of course my friend. You can not pick your family, but you can pick your friends. If I could choose anyone in the universe to be friends with, all over again, I would pick Ryoko. She was perhaps my best-friend in the whole universe. If I can save her, then I will. I only hope that you would do the same for your friends and know what it feels like to love someone like I love Ryoko. I only pray that you can see that. I pray that you will let me take this risk, if there be one at all, and I pray that you have that nobility left in you, for what I am doing is the noblest thing of all, saving a life. I would be honored to do it. "I thank you." Sasami looked around the room at the council members' stunned expressions, most stunned of all on Aeka's. She looked around the table, from one to the other, looking at their thoughts displayed on their faces. She at last came to rest on Aeka's, whose face was a mixture of pride and terror that filled it with a twist that looked horribly frightening. Sasami then looked to Hasamato's, his mouth wide in a smile of sheer pride, his face both astonished and joyous. Sasami knew that, if no one else, she had won over Hasamato. Sasami left without another word, her two guardians following closely at her heels. The council sat in silence a moment before Hasamato again made the request that they carry on the voting process. No one objected. There were twelve council members, each sitting at a round table, very much like that of the ancient King Arthur's table back on earth, hundreds of years before. No one on Jurai knew, much less cared, what some old dark-ages king did on the piddly little planet known as Earth, but either way, the resemblance in cultures was remarkable. So, there the council members sat, Jurai's answer to the knights of the round table in Jurai's answer to Camelot. Democracy worked powerfully here, paving the way across the universe. The rest of the universe had democracy and communism also, although by different names. The democratic nations sometimes went to war over communists' different views, democracy usually winning, as it most times seemed to do. This council was democracy at work, twelve members, eleven elected, one part of a royal family which had been bred and trained to run the whole universe. Together, they worked to create and enforce the law. Hasamato was the first to decide. The ten others casting in one by one. Aeka brooded over hers for a full ten minutes before casting. Hasamato then tallied the votes, flipping one after the other, counting the total. Finally his voice rang out in the room, echoing off the walls as he boomed the tally. "Unanimous," he said. "Ryoko shall be awakened." No one clapped or cheered at the vote. No one was especially happy. It was more of a vote of duty than anything else. They had done their duty for democracy, life, and their unlikely savior, Ryoko. A thought did arise from all of the council members' heads, though. They all thought it rather ironic that Aeka be the one to take the longest time to vote for Ryoko's life, seeing as how she was the one that had first brought it up. As the door to the council room opened, the waiting three, Azaka, Kamadaki, and Sasami, jumped up to meet them. The first one out the door was Hasamato. "Congratulations," he said to Sasami. "The council has voted to save the space-pirate Ryoko." Sasami's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she embraced the council member with a hug around the waist. "Thank you," she sobbed into his shirt. She pulled her face from his stomach, red with emotion, her eyes flooding with tears. "Thank you all," she said, looking into the council room as the others made their way out. A few nodded in reply, and all smiled. "Especially you, Aeka," she said as her sister made her way out. Her face was not wearing a smile, however. "Sasami," she said, so solemnly it frightened her sister. "I need to speak with you." Sasami's face fell, her happy expression turning to one of confusion, her tears of joy drying up in her eyes. She wiped her face and followed her sister down the hall, leaving Azaka, Kamadaki (the knights), Azaka, and Kamadaki (the wooden guardians) to watch her departure with the same confused expressions, except for the guardians of course, although Sasami knew they would wear them if they could. "Sasami," Aeka said as she led her sister down the hall. "You know that Ryoko's going to face charges of space-piracy when she awakens, assuming everything pans out. You've never even tried this before. There is only one recorded occurrence of anyone doing such an act and the hypothesis that you have this ability is based solely upon our grandfather thrusting himself upon mother and declaring that you had this ability. Ryoko is not out of the woods, not by a long shot. We made a decision that you had permission to do this, not that you are able to. Do you understand?" Sasami did. She had thought of this many times within the past twenty-four hours. She knew it was a long shot, but at least they had a chance. She would not let herself frown right now, not when they had this victory. She grinned up at Aeka sweetly, causing her sister to crack her first smile of the day. They hugged, and that was the end of the discussion until noon, when they would enter the chamber where Ryoko's body lay and see what happened. Noon came, and with it, Sasami's first visitation of Ryoko in the last twenty-four hours. The knights, her sister, and Hasamato were all present. Sasami looked over the body solemnly, seeing that pale face was like a stab through the heart. "What am I supposed to do?" Sasami asked. "I have no idea," Hasamato said. "Just do whatever comes to mind to do. Act on instinct." Sasami searched her mind and found nothing. She let her arms do whatever they felt like doing, but all they did was hang loosely at her sides. She let her legs take her wherever they wanted, but all they wanted was to stay right there. Her mind drew the biggest blank she had ever had in her life. One thing finally happened when she looked over Ryoko's body, though. She began to cry. It started with little sniffs and one teary eye. The sniffs turned to sniffles and the teary eye turned to two. Finally, the sniffles turned to sobs and the teary eyes turned to a gush of tears. She cried, laying her head on Ryoko's still chest, sobs aching from her like squeaks from a wheel. Aeka saw that she was about to cry also. Her first thought was that this was all Ryoko would ever bring, even in death: misery. Her second thought was a question: how could Sasami love such a person? Her next thought was a wanting to go and embrace her sister, to comfort her. Her next thought was, I CAN'T MOVE! She was suddenly unable to move anything: her head, legs, arms, anything. She strained her eyes to look at the others, them being the only parts of her body she could even budge. Hasamato stood perfectly still. She couldn't see the two knights and suspected they were under the same power. She tried to open her mouth to scream but couldn't; her mouth was closed shut tight. Sasami continued to cry into Ryoko's breast for possibly five minutes before looking up, tears stinging her eyes, face red as a beet. She looked to her sister who seemed to be very troubled. "I can't do it," she said. "I don't know what to do! Nothing's happening!" She stood, sobbing there for a long time before she realized that no one had come to her. She looked around again and saw that no one had moved. No one talked, comforted, or even shifted uncomfortably because of her tears. Something was wrong. Aeka always came to comfort her when she was upset, but now it seemed she couldn't even move. "Why don't you move?!" she screamed, suddenly startled by her own voice, breaking the deadly silence that seemed to waft into the room suddenly. It was very unlike a princess to throw a tantrum, but she was extremely upset now. She looked into her sister's eyes, saw the tears building up, saw her body quivering slightly, and realized that her sister was as still as a statue. "What's wrong?" she asked, drying her tears with her sleeve. She walked up to her sister and pulled her arm, but it was stuck. She tried again, pulling with all her might, but it wouldn't even budge. Now she knew something was wrong. Aeka wasn't that strong to hold her hand perfectly still when Sasami pulled as hard as she could. She became very scared, looking to the others for assistance but found them acting like statues also. "Wha- What's going on here?!" she asked. She went to the door, but found it shut tight. They were all locked in. She pulled on it furiously for a many seconds before giving up. She was starting to panic now. She searched around the room feverishly for something to break down the door with before realizing she couldn't possibly break down the double padded steel door. "What do I do?!!" she sobbed, looking to her companions, before realizing again that they were unable to speak, four statues standing at stiff attention, better than any soldier could possibly dream of doing. "Use your power, my child," a gruff voice called in her head suddenly. "Who said that?!" she called into the room, whipping her head around wildly. "Your grandfather," the voice called again, louder than before. "What?!" "Your grandfather, my child. Azusa. Surely you've heard of me?" "Uh . . . Of course. But where are you?" Sasami said, getting cautiously to her feet. She could see the frightened look in the grown people's eyes, but she wasn't scared, just curious. "Are you here?" "No," it said, remorsefully. "I am dead. I was beaten by death this time, the lousy cheater. Wouldn't let me use my Jurain power, the rat. Said it was against the rules." It chuckled, sending an echo through her skull. "If you're dead, then how can I hear you?" "My soul isn't dead, thank the gods. Kain couldn't take THAT away from me." Sasami's heart seemed to burn at the word, Kain. The old fury she thought she had beaten, coming back to haunt her. "Kain's dead now." "And in hell. Thank God for small favors. So, do you want your power, or don't you?" "Huh?" Sasami was caught by surprise. "The power I told your mother you would some day get. Do you want it or don't you?" "More than anything!" she cried suddenly. "Well good. Come with me then." A shining light suddenly emitted from the far wall, close to Ryoko's body. "Come with your grandfather." Sasami hesitated. "What about my sister and the others?" she asked, pointing to the living statues. "They'll be back to normal as soon as we leave." Aeka's mind screamed, scolding Sasami for even entertaining such an issue, for she too could here the voice of her grandfather talking to Azusa. In her head she screamed until she gave herself an awful ache, but her voice was not there. She could not even go to her sister to stop her, not even move a muscle towards her. "You promise?" Sasami asked the voice. "Of course. Would I lie to you? I'm your grandfather." "Well . . . ok. Let's go." She walked slowly into the light, her shadow cast over most of the room, growing ever larger as she proceeded. She passed up to and through the far wall, entering the unknown, proceeding unknowingly into the light. Suddenly Aeka was free, her mouth popping open in a scream, "STOP!!!", but it was too late. Sasami had already gone out of earshot, out of this known world. Aeka ran towards the wall, jumping at it, just as the light began to dim. Her hands scraped the wall, which suddenly appeared solid, furiously, ripping at the painted brick. Behind her came Azaka and Hasamato. Kamadaki had lost balance, falling flat on his face, caught in an unusual position when he was trapped. He picked himself up, just as the light disappeared completely, showing a weeping Aeka, a confused Hasamato, and an angry Azaka, kicking the wall furiously, showing an uncharacteristic expression of impatience, anger, and fear.