“I can’t believe you did that! How could you?! I hate you!!!” Tenchi screamed. Ryoko had just ripped Tenchi’s mom’s kimono. Ryoko stood there, not talking. She heard Ryo-okki meow sadly and run away, Tenchi chasing after her. Ryoko teleported to the roof, in tears. * This has to be the worst single moment of my entire life * she thought to herself. She stopped crying, cursing herself for acting like a little girl. She laid back and looked up at the clouds. Why couldn’t she be a cloud? Just floating away, not caring about anything. *Oh my God! That’s what I’ll do! * Ryoko called for Ryo-okki. No more pain! She would run away, without telling anyone, and there would be no turning back. Tenchi had not found Ryo-okki and he was walking home. Lying by Azaka and Kamidake was Tenchi’s mom’s kimono, which had been sewed back together and had a note on it. Tenchi almost screamed when he read it. It said: Dear Tenchi and everybody else, C-ya! I’m out, and I’m not turning back! I may visit once or twice, but I doubt it. Once I get a new spaceship, I’ll have Ryo-okki sent back there somehow. I know how much Sasamie likes her. Tenchi, I didn’t go away because of what you said, but because I was just sick and tired of fighting for you. Aeka can have you. In fact I don’t care who gets you! Tell everybody I said bye! ~ Ryoko Ryoko was watching all this from her spaceship… or cabbitship, whichever. She had put up a few cameras before she left, which she had… borrowed from Washu. Tenchi ran back to the house. “Everyone, come here, quick! I’ve got to show you something!” “What is it, Tenchi? Is something wrong?” Sasamie asked. She had a worried expression on her face. “Actually there is, Sasamie, could you help me find everyone?” Tenchi questioned the little girl. “Sure Tenchi! I’ll be right back. You check Washu’s Mihoshie’s, and Grandpa’s. I’ll get the rest of the household. We’ll meet back here.” “Okay Sasamie,” he said as he ran off to the shrine. * I wonder what it could be? * Sasamie wondered as she ran off to get Aeka, Ryoko, and Nobuyuki. She ran off to her room, looking for Aeka. “Aeka! Aeka! Come on, we’ve got to hurry! Tenchi’s going to announce something and he said it was very important!” “Okay Sasamie! I’m coming! I’ll be there in a second.” Aeka told her sister. Aeka quickly ran to the mirror. * Okay, I look fine. I bet Tenchi is going to profess his love to me! * She ran downstairs, exited and giddy. Tenchi had just talked to Yosho, and he was now running back to the house in order to find Washu. “Washu! Come quick! It’s about Ryoko! She’s –“ “I know Tenchi. You forgot about our mental link,” Washu said, cutting Tenchi off. “I can’t bring her back, and you know it. She’s more stubborn than Aeka, you, me, and Yosho put together, and that’s a lot of stubborn.” “But can’t we just try to get her back?” Tenchi asked, hopeful. “No. And you know that.” Washu said, and turned back to her computer. “Okay, little Washu. Fine. If you don’t care about your own daughter, then I’ll do the caring for you! No wonder Ryoko hates calling you “mom”!” Washu made no response as Tenchi ran out the door so he wouldn’t be late to the “family meeting”. Fortunately, he saw Nobuyuki as he was running past the hall, so he didn’t have to look for him. He was grateful that Sasamie had everyone rounded up in the dining room. “Everyone, Tenchi has something important to tell us! Listen to him!” Sasamie shouted over everyone. Instantly the room was silent. “Well. Uh… here,” he said as he handed the note from Ryoko to Nobuyuki to read for everyone. Mihoshie promptly started crying, Aeka sat down very hard, Sasamie wailed, “No! Ryoko’s my friend! How could she leave?!” Yosho kept a strait face and stared at the ground, and Nobuyuki kept starring at the piece of paper he held in his hand. He kept re-reading it, trying to find out where he had gone wrong, as if it said “Hi, I’m going to the store, be back in a few” instead of “I’m running away to outer space”. “So. She’s gone. And for good this time,” Aeka muttered. Tenchi could have sworn he saw a tear in her eye, but wasn’t surprised. Tenchi knew that Aeka and Ryoko were probably best friends. (back on the Ryo-okki) “Wow Ryo-okki, did you see that? Look at how sad they are that we’re gone! I can’t believe it! Oh well! Their loss!” Ryoko said to her spaceship while watching the screen that held the pictures of her only friends and family, holding a carton of popcorn. She got up and walked over to the controls. She pressed a button, and the walls of Ryo-okki seemed to disappear. She looked at the stars and planets around her. She was in a solar system called Pavilion. There were two planets that held living creatures, and the two planets were constantly at war. One was called Odyssey, which was a planet completely covered in water. The other was called Buoyant, which was completely mountains and rivers. Ryoko occasionally stole food and money form them, but never anything like she used to. She also never killed anyone. Never. Ryoko turned her attention back to the computer screen… (back to the Masaki house) It had been a week since Ryoko left. Sasamie always cooked and cleaned, because she didn’t know what else to do. Aeka had spent the day in her room, trying to figure out what she did to make the space pirate leave. Washu never came out of her lab, except to eat every once in a great while. Tenchi had gone to his room and cried after the whole ordeal was over. Nobody thought less of him for crying, they understood. What they didn’t know was that Tenchi was the reason of her leaving. “Mihoshie, would you please pass me some sake?” Aeka asked as she tried to relax in the soothing waters of the onsen. Mihoshie didn’t respond, just gave her the bottle. “Mihoshie, do you know why Ryoko left? What did I say in our last fight?” Aeka asked as she downed the sake. “Aeka, I don’t know. But I do know that you didn’t make her leave. In fact, I think Tenchi did…” Aeka sat up. Two things startled her. Mihoshie was actually making sense! The sake must have done something… Also, Tenchi had made Ryoko leave? How? “How, miss Mihoshie? What could Tenchi have done to make Ryoko leave?” Aeka asked, puzzled. “I heard him screaming that he hated her after she ripped a kimono,” Mihoshie responded. Aeka thought for a second. * Why would Ryoko do something like that? * After a few more minutes of contemplating over the subject, she put on her headphones. Mihoshie did likewise. Aeka couldn’t remember what c.d. was in there at the moment she just turned it on. (Back to Ryoko) Ryoko headed for the planet called Buoyant. She’s heard about their ships, and planned to … borrow the best one she could get her hands on. Unfortunately, her reputation was not forgotten, so she would have to do a little sneaking around. Whenever she heard somebody, she’d sink into the floor, and wait for them to pass over her. Once she had wandered around for about half an hour, she found what she was looking for. A medium sized ship that was in need of a little re-programming, but would do quite nicely. She put her hands on it. * If I can teleport a person with me somewhere, why not a spaceship? * Ryoko took a few deep breaths and teleported the thing outside next to Ryo-okki. ~ Okay Ryo-okki, now you can go home!~ Ryoko thought at Ryo-okki through their mental link. “Meeeeooooooowwwww!” Ryo-okki meowed. She turned into a cabbit, and Ryoko teleported them into the spaceship. They explored around a bit. There were two sleeping quarters, a nice bathroom, a dining room along with a kitchen, and of course a cozy little cockpit. “This will do great. Now, Ryo-okki, you’re going home. I’m not going to make you be a pirate with me anymore!” Ryo-okki meowed a sad goodbye. Turning into a spaceship, she sped off towards earth. “Now,” Ryoko said to herself. “For a little re-programming to get this thing sped up and a lot more powerful! Also a little re-modeling wouldn’t hurt either.” Being around spaceships for over 700 years had taught Ryoko many things. Like how to boot up a spaceship for escaping when she didn’t have Ryo-okki with her. Ryoko rubbed her hands together and got to work. (Back to the Masaki house) Tenchi laid down on his bed. He turned on his radio and was about to zone out, but he didn’t when he heard the lyrics of the words. The dj had said that a band back in America had played this song a few months ago, and it had been translated into Japanese. It was called gone, by N’sync. Tenchi had never heard of the band (and the author didn’t really like the band, but thought the lyrics were necessary for the moment) but the words startled him. It was about a guy’s girl friend who had left him, and how he wished she was back. Tenchi cried himself to sleep when it was over. Sasamie heard something outside that sounded like a spaceship. She looked out the window. She saw Ryo-okki coming in for a landing. Instantly, Sasamie rushed outside, thinking Ryoko was back. Apparently the rest of the household had thought the same thing, and joined her. When Ryo-okki landed, she turned back into a cabbit. There was no Ryoko. “She said she’d do this in the letter,” Tenchi said, “She said that she would send us Ryo-okki, so she could be with Sasamie.” “Well I’m glad to have her back…”Sasamie started. “But it’s just not what we were hoping for.” Aeka completed the little girl’s sentence. She turned around, and went back inside, followed by Sasamie and the rest of the group. (And back to Ryoko) “There! Haha, I haven’t had this much fun in years! Centuries! I forgot how much fun it was to totally redo a spaceship! Now, where was that boom box?” Ryoko was setting up a dance area in the dining area. That place was so huge that she could have done anything with it. “There! Finally! My dance area is done! Now, to find some people to occupy this new space… I’ll just round up my old gang! They’ll bring some people, and those people will bring people! Perfect! So. Now for the big question. Where’s the intergalactic communicator? Or better yet, where the hell is the phone?” Ryoko walked around looking for different things when a thought stuck her. * what about the language thing? Only like half of them speak Japanese.* “Hmmmm. Oh! Duh!” she said to herself, knocking herself on the forehead. “Handheld translators! I bet planet Beta still has some! Either that or better. I’ll just go get some!” She transported to the cockpit and set coarse for planet Beta for an intergalactic communicator and for some translators. This was going to be the party of the century! (Let us go back to the Masaki story where we will find Tenchi talking to Washu!) “Washu, why can’t you just do this one thing for me?” Tenchi begged Washu. “I will NOT build you a spaceship just so you can go look for Ryoko! You’ll probably end up killing yourself! Besides, you can’t even fly one!” Washu yelled at him. “What if I were to make a deal with you?” Tenchi asked. This was his last resort. “What could you possibly offer me, Tenchi Misaki?” Washu asked, getting irritated. “What if I were to let you do tests on me, anytime for one month?” Washu’s head jerked up from her work. “Really? Anytime? For a whole month?” “Yep. But I need a good spaceship. You can’t just give me a piece of crap. And it needs to be fast, I mean, what if she’s hurt? What if-“ Washu cut him off. “She’s not hurt. She’s been a pirate for countless years.” “JUST GIVE ME THE SHIP, DAMN IT!” Tenchi roared. “Okay, okay! Give me one day, and see me tomorrow morning, I’ll have one for you. Just don’t go and sneak off like my daughter. You’ll kill everybody.” “Okay Washu, I won’t!” Tenchi said. He ran off to pack his bags and explain to everyone that he was going to go find Ryoko, and hopefully bring her back. (we head back over to Ryoko) “Excuse me, do you have any intergalactic communicators? Or handheld translators?” “Yes, ma’am, but they are very expensive, and-“ he said while he was turning around to face her. He stopped when he saw the dread Space Pirate Ryoko grinning at him, fangs and all. “Well I’m sure I can pay for it…” Ryoko said. “No! It’s okay! I’m sure we can pay for it! Uh… how many do you need, miss Ryoko?” Ryoko thought about it for a second. If she was going to have a party with everybody speaking the same language, then she would need a lot. “I’ll take all the translators. You see, I’m having a party, and I have a feeling that there will be a lot of people there. Oh, and just one communicator.” Ryoko looked pleased with herself as the worker scrambled off to the storage unit. *** It had been a few hours since she had got all those translators on her ship. Now all that was left was to call everybody. She typed in some controls and got to work. She called a few people that she remembered the number of, and they said they’d call everybody else. But there was one more person she needed to call. Her best friend back when she was a pirate. They went on a few raids together, and robbed a few stores, but never had time to get together. She was awesome. Her name was Jen. Ryoko got to work on finding her and after a long three hours, got a hold of her. < Hello? Is this Jen?> Ryoko said over the communicator. <… Oh my God. Is it really you, Ryoko?> The brunette on the other line asked. < Awesome! So, are we pirates again?> Jen asked. Ryoko thought for a minute. If she was a pirate, then she’d always be running from the GP, bounty hunters, and she’d always be steeling. Most of all, there would be no more Tenchi… Ryoko looked up with a smile on her face. < You bet! The unbeatable force, the Dread Space Pirate Ryoko, and Jen, the newest, best thief of the 21st century!!!> They both cheered and Ryoko told Jen all about the party. (Back with Tenchi and crew) “Good bye Tenchi! Don’t be gone too long!” Sasamie called. “Yes lord Tenchi, come back soon!” Aeka called. Tenchi waved and said his goodbyes. He walked onto the spaceship and took off into space. *** It had been three days of searching for Ryoko. Tenchi had asked around the universe and found her. He changed his closes and put on a hat so nobody would recognize him, incase he shouldn’t be seen and he snuck aboard her new ship. When he opened the door he found a huge party. He kept his head down and walked through the crowds. * I never knew Ryoko had so many friends * he thought to himself. “Here!” Someone he didn’t know handed him a translator. Tenchi put it on his wrist and continued to look for Ryoko, keeping his eyes open for spiky blue hair. There she was. She was dancing incredibly close to some guy he had never seen before. And she wasn’t even being forced to do it. Tenchi started to get mad, but he wasn’t quiet sure why. He was even starting to feel a pang of jealously. Ryoko thanked the guy and went off to talk to what looked like a friend. She had medium length strait brown hair. The guy she was dancing with came over and tugged on her arm. Tenchi could figure out that he wanted to dance some more. Ryoko shook her head. No, she was done for now. He pleaded with her. What she did next surprised Tenchi the most. She grabbed his face, and kissed him. Not a peck but a kiss. Tenchi read her lips. They said “later”. She winked at him Tenchi snuck a little closer to her, to see what she was saying. “Honestly, Jen. Some guys just don’t quit! Oh well. He’ll get drunk later and forget about me. I mean all their goals are to get in bed with us! Hah, yeah right.” Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief. So at least she hasn’t turned into a slut. Now Tenchi was so close that he could see the beads of sweat on the back of Ryoko’s neck. Now that he though about it, it was hot in here. Tenchi turned his attention back to Ryoko’s conversation. “Oh I know!” the brunette said. “Yeah tell me about it. But there was this one guy. He was different. I thought he was decent and kind. But he just couldn’t keep he nose out of other peoples business!” Ryoko yelled as she turned around and glared at Tenchi with fierce, feral eyes. “We have to talk, Tenchi,” she said, grabbing his arm, and pulling him off to her bedroom, where no one was permitted. Tenchi only had enough time to look back at Ryoko’s friend, who was smiling and waving at him. “How’d you know I was there?” Tenchi asked, meekly as Ryoko sat him down on her bed. “Come on, Tenchi, I used to lead hundreds, and I had to make sure that they wouldn’t sneak away with something I had stolen. You don’t think I won’t notice when the man I watched grow up walks into my spaceship?” “Oh. Well I came to bring you back, Ryoko,” Tenchi said, his face firm. “My god, Tenchi, have you learned NOTHING? I am a space pirate now. There’s no turning back, no chickening out, and NO MORE EARTH!” Ryoko screamed at Tenchi. “Fine! Go be a pirate! You had a family! You had friends, and people who cared about you! I can’t believe you would just give that all up!” Tenchi yelled back. “You don’t think I had friends before you? Well you’re wrong! All those people out there are my friends! Face it Tenchi, I didn’t need you, you needed me! You would have never saved Aeka from Kagato if it weren’t for me! Tenchi just get out of my sight. Besides, I thought you hated me…” Ryoko finished as she walked through the door, and out to the party. Tenchi sat there, not moving. Ryoko had just told him to go away. She had never done that before. Tenchi realized that he had hurt her to a measure that he couldn’t even comprehend. He couldn’t let this happen to her. She just couldn’t become a pirate again! He wouldn’t let her. So now he was going to take her back, whether she liked it or not. The people back home needed her, like she said. Tenchi ran after her. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She punched him while she was turning and said, “Don’t touch me.” Tenchi rubbed his cheek. “Ryoko, if you don’t come home, then I’m going to bring you home by force. Even if it means fighting you.” Ryoko looked deep into his eyes. He had a determined look on his face. “Fine Tenchi. You got it. If it’s a fight you want, than it’s a fight you’ll get!” Tenchi looked grim. He pointed the hilt of the Tenchi-ken to her and prayed. He watched as two gems appeared on Ryoko. She crackled with energy. “There,” he said, “now it’s even.” People had quieted and backed away, giving them space. People were placing bets. Without warning, Tenchi ran at Ryoko, Tenchi-ken raised in the air, and let out a scream. Ryoko simply smiled. She teleported away and behind Tenchi, energy blade in hand, but Tenchi met her with his own. The energy between the two crackled, and threw out fierce, blue sparks. Ryoko pushed Tenchi away, and still hovering in the air, waited for his next attack. Tenchi glowed blue with Jurian energy. He let out a yell and rushed forward, almost flying on his feet. Ryoko did a series of back flips and dodges, smiling the whole time. When Tenchi missed her yet again she locked swords with him. While her face was inches away from mine she whispered, “My turn.” She used her sword to shove him away. She let her sword disappear, and she came at him with kicks and punches. Half of them made contact. Tenchi stepped back, closed his eyes, and with a huge burst of light, had three light hawk wings. His face seemed confident. Ryoko only crackled and sizzled with energy. She closed her eyes for about three seconds, and when they opened, they were a glowing red. Tenchi waited for the attack. Ryoko formed her energy blade again, and charged him. When their blades met, she flipped over him, swinging her sword and twisting in the air. She was barely on the ground a second. She continued to flip and twist, swing her sword. Then she rose is the air, and formed a huge energy ball. Instead of just throwing at him, she aimed and screamed. Bolts of red energy flew at him. While Tenchi was running and blocking them, she teleported right in front of him, knocked him to the ground, and pointed the tip of her sword at his throat. “Now, Tenchi Masaki, you leave.” Ryoko said. As she regained her posture, the sword disappeared and she crossed her arms saying, “And don’t ever come back.” Tenchi was dumbfounded. He had never lost. Only to grandpa. He got up, changing back to his normal self, and walked to the door, got in his spaceship, and set coarse for Earth. (now we’re at the Masaki residence, where Tenchi is just now landing) “Oh, Tenchi, you’re back!” Sasamie cried as she ran outside to hug him. “Where’s Ryoko?” the little girl asked. “Sasamie, I couldn’t get her to come back. I even fought her. She beat me with my light hawk wings and everything,” Tenchi told her sadly. “So. She beat you,” Aeka said as she walked out to great him, her eyes grim, and her body slumping. “I’m afraid so, Aeka. I didn’t know she would actually fight me though. She’s a space pirate now, and I can’t make her change back,” Tenchi told Aeka. She hugged him saying, “It’s okay Tenchi, you tried your best.” Tenchi looked up to see the others standing in the doorway. Washu walked over to him. “Tenchi,” she said, “you don’t have to do all those tests with me.” “Thank you little Washu,” Tenchi thanked her. He just wanted Ryoko with him, but there was no way of doing that. He walked past everyone else, went up to his room, and stared at the ceiling. He began to think of all the times he had hurt her. “Ryoko! How could you do this to me?” “* slap! *” “I HATE YOU!!!” He let out a sigh, and went to do his chores. *** It had been three or four months since Ryoko had become a pirate. Tenchi occasionally saw her on the news. A bank robbed, a pair of jewels stolen. Tenchi needed her back, like she had said. He went back to living his life with Aeka, Washu, Sasamie, Yosho, Mihoshie, Nobuyuki, and Ryo-okki. (to Ryoko!) Ryoko sat in her room, with Jen, whom had come to live with her, occupying the guest room was with her. “So,” Jen began, “who was that Tenchi kid you fought a while ago? He formed the light hawk wings.” “To tell you the truth Jen, I got out of that damned cave over two years ago. He had set me free, and I had fallen in love with him.” Jen spewed out her drink everywhere. “You? Ryoko Hakubi? In love?! Yeah right!” “No, it’s true. But I ran away from that dreadful planet, and, well, here we are! I’m bored, lets go steal something or something.” “Okay! Hmm. Where haven’t we been for a while?” Jen asked while getting out her map… (now we find Tenchi doing his chores) Tenchi was just walking home from the fields, when he looked up. A spaceship was coming in for a landing. Thinking it might be Ryoko, Tenchi ran to it. When he got there, everybody else was too. Ryoko did not step out of the spaceship. In fact, Tenchi had never seen this man before. He was taller than Tenchi by a few inches, had silver hair, and dark glasses. He wore a Jurian outfit. “Are you Yosho?” he asked. “No, I am Tenchi Misaki, why are you here?” Tenchi asked the strange silver haired guy. “Hmm. Tenchi Misaki, prince of Jurai. That means I’ll need to kill you also. You see, I am here to stop the Jurian bloodline,” the stranger said. “My name is Kamani.” Tenchi got out the Tenchi-ken. He powered it up, and stood in battle stance. “I’m ready anytime you are. Kamani charged… (back to Ryoko) Ryoko was watching all this on one of her computer screens that she had transferred from Ryo-okki to her spaceship. She quickly set coarse for Earth. She would protect Tenchi, even if she didn’t want him around anymore. (to the fight!) Tenchi and Kamani were in a sword fight to the death and Tenchi was loosing. * This Kamani guy has some skill! * Tenchi thought. Tenchi stabbed and parried, jumping and dodging. Kamani just kept coming at him. He never seemed to tire. Suddenly, Kamani threw out a kick that swept Tenchi to the ground. Kamani raised his sword and swung it down at Tenchi’s chest… … and was blocked by a red energy blade! Then Ryoko appeared, holding it. She shoved him backwards, and onto his butt. Kamani looked bewildered. When he saw that it was Ryoko, the space pirate, he stood up, knees shaking. “Oh my God…” he muttered. “It can’t be.” “Well you better believe it, asshole! No one beats Tenchi up, except me!” Ryoko yelled at him. She turned around, smiled and winked at Tenchi and the rest of the group. “My assignment was to cut off the royal bloodline, not to fight the Dread Space Pirate Ryoko! But I will if I must…” the man said grimly. He charged Ryoko, trying to catch her off guard. Fortunately, Ryoko was in the air and ready before he had a chance to strike. She let him swing and lunge at her, but he never made contact. Ryoko had a grim expression on her face. She was probably going to have to kill this guy, which was something she always tried to avoid. Just as she was about to finish him off, he screamed, and began to glow white. He threw a bolt of pure energy at Ryoko. It went strait into her chest, and stuck. She screamed and fell out of the air. Ryoko quickly ripped the bolt out of her chest, which burned her hands. “Ouch,” she muttered. She tried, but couldn’t stand. Right when Kamani was about to strike her dead, the was a huge ‘ BOOM!!! ‘ Kamani stopped, slumped then fell to the ground, dead. Everyone looked at Washu, who held a huge blaster in her hand. She had shot Kamani. “Well, I can’t have anyone trying to kill my daughter!” she said. Washu walked over to Ryoko. “I figured you’d do something like this, Ryoko. Go and get yourself poisoned, hah, just wait for ‘ol mom to fix you up!” Washu snapped. A stretcher appeared out of thin air. Washu set Ryoko down on it, and they vanished to the lab. “Well, Washu? What’s the matter? I can be fixed, right?” Ryoko asked, hopeful. “I think so. You got poisoned by that bolt, but I think you’ll make it,” Washu answered. Just then the door to the lab burst open, and Tenchi, Sasamie, Mihoshie, and Aeka scrambled through, followed by Nobuyuki and Yosho, who walked. “Ryoko, you’re back! I missed you sooo much!” Sasamie greeted the pirate warmly. “Yes, I missed having a monster to yell at, miss Ryoko,” Aeka chimed in. “Oh my God! I missed you so much!” Mihoshie yelled, bawling her eyes out. “Ryoko,” Tenchi began as he took her hand, “I can’t believe you left! And you didn’t even come back with me! How could you?” Tenchi asked with tears in his eyes. “ Because, Tenchi, I loved you, and I couldn’t stand being hurt anymore.” Tenchi stood, unmoving. Suddenly, Ryoko started coughing. She looked down at her chest, which had a huge black hole in it. “Everybody out. I need to work on Ryoko,” Washu commanded. Everyone obeyed. Washu turned to her computer. She hooked something that looked like a watch. It started to beep. She ran a few more tests, and turned grimly to her daughter. “Ryoko,” she said, “you’re going to die…” So, how’d you guys like it? CLIFHANGER! Ha, you’ll just have to tell me what you think. I’m at least going to write a second chapter and see where that goes. E-mail me with stuff at LizyD@msn.com . My s/n for aol instant messenger is LzeD16. Thanks for reading!