Disclaimer:  Tenchi Muyo is owned by AIC and Pioneer, and is the creation of 
Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima.  I do not claim ownership over any of the 
characters contained herein.  This fic is for recreational (not medicinal) 
purposes only, and no money is being made off of this fic.

Irreconcilable Differences

By

Dark Jezter

	In a secluded mountain valley outside Okayama, the celebration 
commemorating the summer solstice had died down.  The food had been eaten, the 
fireworks had been used up, and the decorations had been put away.  Everybody 
had since retired to their beds, futons, and laboratories for the night, with 
the exception of Tenchi Masaki, who now stood under the tree Funaho with two 
women whose features revealed them to not be from Earth.

	The woman facing Tenchi from the right was medium-height and wearing denim 
shorts with a red tank top.  Her figure was at the same time slender yet 
voluptuous, the type of which caused men who walked past her on the street to 
sneak glimpses over their shoulders.  Her facial features were sharp and 
angular, and her eyes were a golden color that would give anyone under one of 
her intense stares the impression of being observed by a lioness.  Her most 
noticeable feature, however, was the impressive mane of spiky cyan tresses that 
fell from her head to halfway down her back.  She was the former space pirate 
Ryoko, whom had been released from imprisonment three years prior by Tenchi 
Masaki, and had remained on Earth in hopes of winning his affection.

	Her rival stood facing Tenchi from the left.  This woman was just as tall 
as Ryoko, although she appeared shorter because she lacked the spiky hair of the 
former pirate.  This woman's hair was violet in color, with bangs partially 
covering an intricately carved wooden tiara resting on her forehead and two long 
ponytails in the back that descended almost to her ankles.  Her features were 
delicate and soft, with ruby colored eyes that were more human and less feral 
than her rival's.  She held herself with a dignity and bearing that was common 
among the aristocratic, and was clad appropriately in a silk floral-print kimono 
held closed by a wide obi at her waist.  If someone described her as a princess, 
they would be telling the truth; she was Ayeka, first princess of the Juraian 
galactic empire.

	Tenchi had invited each one of them to this location earlier, telling them 
each in secret that he wished for them to meet him under the tree Funaho at 
midnight.  The imaginations of each of the women had run wild at Tenchi's 
request; each one of them thinking that tonight would finally be the night where 
he confessed his undying affection to them.  In anticipation, they had each 
arrived half-an-hour early.

	Tenchi, unfortunately, had neglected to tell each girl that the other 
would be there as well.

	So now the Tenchi stood with his back against the massive trunk of Funaho, 
looking as though he was trying to back right through it, while Ayeka and Ryoko 
stared daggers at the boy.

	"C'mon, Tenchi," growled Ryoko, baring her slightly noticeable fangs.  
"Tell Ayeka to beat it.  She obviously found out you were going to show me your 
love tonight and decided to interfere!"

	"Leave it up to a pirate to twist around the truth like that!"  Ayeka 
fired back. "Tonight was the night where you were finally going to ask me to 
marry you, but Ryoko decided to interfere, as usual."

	"ME interfering?!  You're the one who always pulls me away when I try to 
wake up Tenchi in the morning."

	"Your method of 'waking up' could be construed as sexual assault in some 
regions."

	"At least I try; by the time you get around to showing any affection 
towards him, he'll be old, toothless, and senile."

	Tenchi groaned, knowing from experience where this was going to end up.  
Within minutes, the verbal jabs would turn physical unless he intervened.  
Already, sparks of energy were beginning to flicker between the two women.
	
	"Girls?"
	
	Neither one of them heard him as their argument continued.  Swallowing 
involuntarily, he tried again, this time a little louder.
	
	"Uh, girls, may I speak to you for a momen-"
	
	He was interrupted as Ryoko began making jokes about the Juraians "keeping 
it in the family" while Ayeka gnashed her teeth in royal fury.  As several small 
Juraian logs began to appear in the air around them.  Tenchi knew that his 
window of opportunity was closing fast.

	'I have to think of something - ANYTHING, to get their attention!' Tenchi 
thought frantically.  Opening his mouth, he blurted the first thing that popped 
into his head.

	"BLUE RASPBERRY!"
	
	The effect was immediate.  Ryoko and Ayeka both froze in mid-stance and 
slowly craned their heads over to where Tenchi was standing, staring at him 
quizzically.  Tenchi chuckled nervously and felt a big sweat drop roll down his 
forehead as he wondered where the hell those words had come from.

	"Ahem," he coughed, gathering his courage.  "No doubt you're both 
wondering what's going on.  First of all, just to clear up this mess, I called 
you both out here tonight, because what I'm going to say concerns all of us, and 
I felt it would be best to get it out in the open instead of running back and 
forth between the two of you."

	Much to his relief, he seemed to have their complete and undivided 
attention.  Tenchi felt queasy, to say the least.  He had spent weeks going over 
this encounter in his head, rehearsing what he would say over and over again, 
debating when and where would be most appropriate.  Now, the big night was 
finally here, and he had forgotten everything he'd meant to say.
	
	"Tenchi?"  Ryoko said.  Tenchi realized that he had been standing there 
for several seconds, motionless and staring into space.

	As he stared at the pirate's beautiful features, Tenchi found his resolve 
strengthened, and stared speaking the words he had so carefully rehearsed.
	
	"When the two of you came to my house almost three years ago, I'd felt 
like my life was completely turned upside-down.  I mean, who could blame me?  
One day, I was a regular kid living in Japan, the next day I found myself 
sharing my home with both of you, as well as Sasami as Ryo-ohki.  Not long 
after, Mihoshi and Washu joined the house.  It was a rather sudden departure 
from living alone with my dad.

	"At first, I believed that this was only going to be a temporary 
arrangement.  I thought that Ryoko and Washu would eventually go somewhere, 
Ayeka and Sasami would return to Jurai, and Mihoshi would return to the Galaxy 
Police.  After that, my life would return to normal, and all I would be left 
with was the memories of my otherworldly houseguests."
	
	Noticing that the two girls looked somewhat mortified by this revelation, 
Tenchi smiled comfortingly to them and continued.  "But it wasn't long before 
the realization hit me like a ton of bricks that I didn't *want* any of you to 
leave.  All of you had become dear to me. no, wait, you were more than just dear 
to me, you guys had become my family, and for the first time I could remember, 
my house truly felt like a home.  The thought of any of you leaving frightened 
me.
	
	"And, although you probably thought I didn't notice that you two girls 
were competing for my affection, I did.  But, I ran and hid, too afraid to do 
anything that would upset the comfortable routine I had set up.
	
	"But at the same time, I wanted desperately to return those attentions."
	
	Predictably, this revelation was followed by twin gasps of surprise.  
Smiling and feeling his eyes tear up, Tenchi took a step forward and placed both 
of his hands over Ryoko's left hand.
	
	"Ryoko, you were the first to arrive.  I can still vividly recall the 
night I saw you on the roof of my school, and thinking to myself 'who is that 
beautiful girl?'  But before that, you watched me grow up from your prison 
within the cave.  For some reason, I'd always felt comfortable and safe when I 
was around the cave, and when my mother died, that was the place I instinctively 
fled to.  Although I didn't know it at the time, I realize now that you were 
always there for me.  Within your tough exterior beats a heart of gold and a 
spirit that couldn't be matched by a thousand brave samurai.  Although I was 
scared to death the night you blew up my school, I realize now that you would 
never do anything to hurt me.  Ryoko, I don't ever want you to leave my side."

	Tears fell openly from the Ryoko's eyes as she tried to find words, but 
Tenchi for her to be quiet.  "Wait for me to finish, then you can speak."

	Next, Tenchi moved over to Ayeka, who appeared deathly pale and on the 
verge of breaking down.  Tenchi took her hand in his and stared into her eyes.
	
	"Please don't cry, Ayeka.  Hear me out."  He pleaded gently.  Ayeka 
blinked away some tears and nodded slightly.
	
	"Ayeka, you joined my home shortly after Ryoko.  At first I was 
intimidated at having the first crown princess of an intergalactic empire living 
under my roof, but after that day in the cabin, when I got to know you better, I 
saw that you were a kind and gentle person. Ayeka, I have always admired you for 
your gracefulness and elegance. Our walks through the woods together are 
memories that I will always cherish.  Don't ever change, Ayeka."

	Finishing his proclamation, Tenchi pulled away from Ayeka and stepped back 
so that he was facing both girls.

	"I could never choose between the two of you, and if I tried it would only 
cut my heart in half.  I love you both dearly.  Because of that, I have come to 
a decision.	
	
	"I'm going to ask you both to marry me, and to make that possible, I'm 
going to Jurai and begin my training so that one day, I can be Emperor.  When 
that happens, I will marry you both, and we can all be together forever."

	The look over Ayeka's face changed from one of wonder to absolute joy.  
Tenchi had just asked her to marry him!  After waiting so long for this day, it 
had finally arrived.  It didn't bother her much that he had also asked Ryoko; as 
Ayeka had grown up expecting that someday she would have a sister-wife, and 
Ryoko was as good as anybody.  Her heart swelled as she dreamed of returning to 
Jurai and ruling at Tenchi's side as his queen.  Her dreams were interrupted 
abruptly as she heard a voice.
	
	"No."
	
	Ryoko's voice was barely above a whisper.  She stood a few steps back, 
visibly trembling, and her face downcast and concealed by the shadows.  Tenchi 
and Ayeka stared at her for several seconds.

	"Ryoko?" Tenchi breathed.

	"Miss Ryoko?" Ayeka said, the surprise in her voice clearly evident.

	"Tenchi, Ayeka, I'm sorry," Ryoko stuttered, her breathing labored.  "I 
just can't."

	The air seemed to ripple slightly around Ryoko, and she was gone.  Leaving 
behind a stunned Tenchi and Ayeka.

-=*=-

	Perched atop the rock formation that marked the entrance to the cave near 
the Masaki shrine, Ryoko sat with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms 
folded across.  Although she (surprisingly) was not crying, one could almost 
feel the raw waves of emotion radiating from her.  The woodland creatures wisely 
decided to stay away from her.

	For the past hour she had been sitting there, as a myriad of emotions 
whirled through her head.  Anger, betrayal, hopelessness, despair, frustration, 
and many that could not be put to words were all being felt by her at the 
moment.  Not knowing how to deal with this sheer overload of feeling, she just 
sat as still as a statue.  The desire to weep and wallow in self-pity was 
strong, but still hanging on to some semblance of pride, she resisted.

	The desire to go back occasionally voiced itself, urging her to return to 
Tenchi and take him up on his offer.  She silenced that voice, refusing even for 
a second to entertain the notion.

	Ryoko possessed many senses that were beyond the ken of the average human, 
and presently one of them began to tingle.  She knew instantly what was coming, 
and raised her face to glare menacingly off to her right.

	"What do YOU want?"  She growled, the hostility in her voice unmistakable.

	In the spot Ryoko was staring at, the air shimmered slightly, and a 
diminutive figure appeared who hadn't been there before.  She regarded the ex-
pirate with an unreadable expression.

	"I just want to talk to you, Ryoko," Washu spoke in her most motherly 
tone.  "You're radiating enough emotion to rouse every psychically-attuned being 
in a five-mile radius."

	"Yeah, well I don't want to talk to you," Ryoko said.  "No doubts by now 
you know what happened.  Did Tenchi ask you to come here, wanting to know why I 
turned him down?  Or did you come here of your own volition so that you want to 
call me selfish for not thinking of 'Lord Tenchi' and 'Lady Ayeka'?  It doesn't 
matter.  Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it."

	Washu sadly stared at her daughter for a moment.  There are certain types 
of people in the universe.  Some people, when faced with tragedy, just want to 
be left alone and resolve things by themselves.  Some people, on the other hand, 
need others to talk to.  Others are a mix of both, wanting to resolve things 
themselves, but would also appreciate some support by someone close - even if 
they might not want to admit it right off the bat.

	Washu theorized that her daughter was one of the latter, and decided to 
prod a little, slightly fearing that girl in front of her might not take kindly 
to it.

	"Why did you do it, Ryoko?"  Washu whispered, using their mental link to 
send thoughts of support and comfort to her daughter.

	For minutes Ryoko didn't meet her mother's gaze, instead opting to look 
downwards, hiding her face from the world.  But eventually, she cracked.

	"You're going to think less of me for this, not that I care," Ryoko 
mumbled, still not looking her mother in the eyes.  "For most of my life, I've 
been a pirate, even though I was under Kagato's control at the time.  Still, 
being a pirate breeds certain qualities in you.  One of the things I learned 
early on was to never settle for second-best, never allow others to take what's 
rightfully yours."

	Ryoko stopped there, pausing for a moment.  Gathering her wits to 
continue.

	"Go on," Washu urged gently.

	After a second of consideration, Ryoko looked up at Washu.  "I watched 
Tenchi grow up from that cave, vowing that the second I got out, he and I would 
be together forever.  When he released me, I wanted to make him love me as much 
as I loved him.  For some reason, at first I thought that I could make him love 
me by showing him how powerful I was, so I basically pushed him around and tried 
to dominate him.  My strength and power were what made the universe fear me all 
those years ago, so I thought that I could also use them to win Tenchi.

	"It didn't take too long for me to realize that this wasn't working, and 
that I was actually pushing Tenchi away.  The arrival of the other girls also 
complicated things, and I realized that I would have to be more aggressive 
without it looking that way.  So I changed my tactics entirely; instead of 
bullying Tenchi, I tried to show him a softer side of myself.  I tried to cook 
for him, I tried flirting with him, and I tried to seduce him.  But he still 
treated me the same as the other girls.

	"I'd always believed that if I kept trying, Tenchi would one day tell me, 
and only me, that he loved me."  Ryoko sighed in disappointment.  "I fell in 
love with him because he had no desire to control anybody, and because he was so 
kind to everyone around him.  Now, he suddenly decides he wants to be the 
Emperor of Jurai?   And even worse, he thinks I'd be willing to settle for 
anything less than all of him?!  That's not the Tenchi I fell in love with."

	Washu was taken aback sudden flash of anger that emanated from Ryoko.  
"Lord Tenchi is young and naive," Washu explained.  "He hasn't yet learned that 
the Emperor's law allowing him to take two wives was not created for any 
romantic reason, it was created because Azusa saw that the royal family's blood 
was thinning, and that inbreeding wasn't working to stop it.  They needed fresh 
breeding stock, for lack of a better term."

	"I won't accept anything less than having Tenchi all for myself," Ryoko 
explained, but there was still a hint of doubt in her voice.  "I know that makes 
me selfish, but I don't care.  For me, it's always been all or nothing, no 
compromises."

	"It doesn't make you selfish, Ryoko,"  Washu assured her.  "In fact, I'm 
proud of you."

	Ryoko blinked in surprise at Washu's praise.  The scientist continued:
	
	"It makes me happy to see that you can stand up for yourself, even if it 
means losing the thing you desire most in the universe.  If my husband, Mikamo, 
had wanted to take a second wife, I wouldn't have tolerated it.  It would have 
hurt, but I would have left him.
	
	"Ryoko, I know how devoted you were to Tenchi.  He was, by and far, the 
most important thing in your life.  He claims that he loves you, but if he 
expects you to share him with another woman, you've got to wonder, don't you?  
Any way you cut it, it's his loss."

	Ryoko actually smiled at Washu's praise, comforted knowing that someone 
was there for her.

	"So what will you do now, Ryoko?"
	
"I don't know," answered the former pirate.  "For years, my only dream was 
winning Tenchi's love and staying with him on Earth forever.  I'll have to think 
of something else, now."

	"Will you be alright?"  Washu asked, concerned.

	"Of course I will,"  Ryoko forced a laugh.  "What do you think I am?  Some 
emotionally fragile little waif who is just looking for a little security?  I'm 
Ryoko, and I'm nothing if not a survivor.  I survived thousands of years of 
slavery and hundreds of years of imprisonment, and I'll survive this."
	
Washu only smiled.

	-=*=-

	Summer became fall, fall became winter, and winter became spring.  Tenchi 
left Earth for the Royal Palace on Jurai with Ayeka and Sasami, while Ryoko 
stayed behind, steadfastly refusing the pleas of Tenchi and Ayeka that she 
reconsider.  The would-be Emperor left the house for Ryoko as a gift (or a 
consolation prize, she suspected), which she was happy to accept, although there 
was very little reason for her to stay on Earth anymore.  Still, she decided to 
keep it as a vacation home, more for the sentimental value than anything else.  
Meanwhile, she packed up Ryo-Ohki and Washu, and decided to try something she 
had always considered doing in case things didn't work out with Tenchi.

	"You want to WHAT?!"  Minagi blanched.

	Four figures stood upon the deck of Minagi's ship, Hinase.  Which was 
currently prowling the shipping lanes around the Romulask border.

	"You heard me," Ryoko said, the grin on her face. "We're going to be your 
new partners."

	"Nuh-uh," Minagi shook her head.  "I work alone.  Please find somewhere 
else to go."

	"Aww, you wouldn't turn down family, would you?"  Ryoko sniffled, her tone 
disturbingly Washu-like.

	"But."  Minagi protested.  "You guys have close connections with the 
future Emperor of Jurai.  Surely you don't need this job for money."

	"As far as the 'future Emperor' goes,"  Washu said, emerging from behind 
Ryoko.  "It's nothing solid.  The royal houses are screaming in protest at the 
thought of a 'barbarian earthling' sitting on the throne, Azusa has been 
refusing for months to give him Ayeka's hand, and the holy council has been 
investigating the line of ascension to see if Tenchi is pure-blooded enough to 
be considered a legitimate heir to the throne.  Although I wouldn't wish any 
harm on the boy, I'm guessing that he'll be Emperor for less than a year before 
he is forced into exile."

	"Miya," agreed Ryo-Ohki, from her perch atop Washu's head.

	Minagi finally relented, seeing no way out of this.  "I guess you guys can 
join up with me for a while.  Besides, having someone strong like Ryoko, someone 
smart like Washu, and a spare ship like Ryo-Ohki might be handy."

	Ryoko cheered in approval.  "Alright!  Now this is a family business I can 
dig!  What do you say, Minagi?  How does the Hakubi pirate clan sound?"

	Minagi could only groan, wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

END.

Note:  In case you are wondering, Mikamo was the name given for Washu's husband 
in the True Tenchi novels, and Minagi is a character from the No Need for Tenchi 
Manga.

Feedback is what keeps a fanfic author going.  If you have any comments about 
this fic, send them to dark_jezter@hotmail.com