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.