Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ryo-Ohki, Person or Pet? This is a continuation of "Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending." This takes place over a year after "Ayeka's Decision.". I do not own or hold the rights to any of the characters or activities that have gone on through any of the TM episodes as they are the Property of AIC and Pioneer. I want no money or fame out of this, nor do I want a lawsuit so please go easy on me. ***** Tenchi Muyo Never an Ending: Ryo-Ohki, Person or Pet? Ryo-Ohki stood in her room looking at the reflection in the mirror, of a young woman, that adorned the door of her closet. Though, she now looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties she was in fact more than a few thousand years old. To the casual observer it would appear as though she was having a staring contest with herself, but in fact, she was deep in thought and her reflection simply gave her something to look at. 'What am I?' That seemingly small question had been plaguing her thoughts for longer than she really cared to think about. For nearly five thousand years, she was the demon ship Ryo-Ohki that plagued the nightmares of many, until one fateful day when she and her mistress, Ryoko, lost their last battle. They had invaded and destroyed most of Jurai under the influence of Kagato and somehow Yosho and his space tree Funaho had not only stopped them but also pushed them back. That was the turning point of their lives. From that moment, they had been doomed to loose battle after battle as the two Jurains chased them across space until they crashed on Earth. Here over seven hundred years ago her original form had been destroyed and in the resulting crash had caused a huge crater. It was hard to tell if her mistress fared worse or better as she was defeated and was imprisoned. Then three years ago a young man by the name of Tenchi had released her mistress who then woke her up and reunited they took to the skies. But again they were forced to crash land on earth. This time the damage was too severe, so she had to be reborn. The process was painless, but it left her with only fragmented memories of her former life, but that was one thing she was glad of. In the first year of her rebirth she had come to know and care for many more people than she had ever cared for in the past five thousand. She cared for one enough to become this thing that she was now. Looking back at her mirror she admired the form she was in now. Human was what she was called, more aptly a female human. After acquiring this form to save the live of Tenchi, she soon began to wonder what was she really, as she was a cabbit, a battleship and now a woman. Sasami had treated her like a person first, while the others though saw her as a cute pet or an imitation of a human. Much like a parrot can imitate a person's voice, she was imitating a person's body. It did not help that she could not talk completely normal either. The little princess had worked with her for many days and weeks trying to teach her how to talk, but many words and syllables were impossible for her to say. Sasami had great success though in teaching the now human form of Ryo-Ohki how to read and write, as with human hands she had finer control of things like pens. As she thought of Sasami, she turned her head to look out the window up at the stars. 'She's out there somewhere,' she thought to herself. Her mind drifted back to the day that changed all of their lives forever, as it was the day that Tenchi had finally chosen. Not to her surprise, he had chosen Ryoko. It did not surprise her as she had seen how he looked at the ex-pirate and her mistress. Several months after he chose Ryoko the princess Ayeka had returned to her home on Jurai. Ryo-Ohki moved from her bed and turned on some music as she lamented about the past. As the song played, she hummed along as well. She had found that the music relaxed her or got her moving depending on the style and beat of it. While Sasami had taught her how to read and write she had still wanted to talk to her friends, so going to Washu one night she had explained to the scientist that she wanted to speak. This act alone took several hours of her trying to sound out her frustration before finally writing down what she wanted. While she shared a mental link with Ryoko, she was busy enjoying married life so she had to do this alone. She smiled remembering the wedding, Ayeka had come back specifically for that one purpose and a small service was held with just his earth family and friends. It had been a happy occasion and she had felt the happiness from both him and her. Ryoko had been happy just having his love, but to be married to him fulfilled every dream she had ever had that not only would someone love her, but choose to spend their live with her. She had not had the longing for that before Kagato, but since all of the killing and destruction she witnessed she did not believe it was possible to be loved like that. Tenchi's grandfather had performed some of the wedding, and while Ryo- Ohki found it ironic that the very one that imprisoned her was now doing this, Ryoko on the other had barely even gave it a thought as all of her thoughts were on Tenchi. After the wedding at the reception she heard Mihoshi singing song to her friends and that was when Ryo-Ohki had really started working hard on learning how to speak. Placing a hand on her throat she sang softly to the music as it played. In the back of her mind, she thanked Washu yet again for the operation that had given Ryo-Ohki her voice and more importantly her ability to sing. Since gaining the ability to speak Mihoshi had taken her out to several kareoki places and taught her a lot about singing. Surprisingly the blonde knew a lot about it and had been more than eager to explain it all. And ever since then, Ryo-Ohki would only go around in her human form of a young woman. For nearly a year, after Ayeka left she split her time between Sasami and Mihoshi. Sasami taught her how to dress, eat properly and cook simple meals as well as helping her learn other things that she did from the earth schools. Mihoshi though taught her how to have fun and enjoy life with things such as singing and dancing. Although neither had ever danced before the blonde had somehow dragged her to a club where they both danced until the place closed. She found though that she could only talk when in her human form, in her cabbit or spaceship form she was back to sounding like a cat, so she rarely used either of those forms anymore. Her eyes glanced across the room as she saw several posters of various music groups that she liked as well as pictures of her family. This room for the first year that she spent with them had been the princesses' room. Ayeka had left for a while and came back, but her return was only for the wedding, then she was gone again. Sasami had used this for her room for a time after that until she had to return to Jurai too. The room was passed down to her as she used her human for exclusively by then and Tenchi's father did not think it was right to have her sleeping on the couch. Mihoshi had her own room just a little further down as well, though she did not get to keep it for more then a few months. And then it happened, Mihoshi had to leave as well. This left Ryo-Ohki alone, as those that she spent time with the most and learned the most from were now gone. Ayeka, Sasami and now Mihoshi had left the earth. This left only Tenchi, his grandfather, father, Washu and Ryoko. The past three months have been hard on her as her best friends have now left. She had wanted to go out to sing or dance, but Ryoko had never really enjoyed going without him, and he was always busy at home. Though she was lonely, she laughed a little as she remembered Ryoko trying to cook for them. The first few attempts had been near disastrous until she had decided to try just simple dishes. After Washu had done a simple operation and gave Ryoko back her sense of taste the meals improved slightly. Ryoko then decided to take a few cooking classes and then the nights meals improved even more. But still Ryo-Ohki was sad, and the radio was playing a slow sad love song. She switched the station and then several more times, as every station seemed to want to torture her more with songs of love. Sadly her eyes looked back at the mirror. "What am I?" Her reflection refused to answer though. She was not a human or even an animal any more. To make matters worse she could feel her feelings running through her mind and it made her long to have them as well. She wanted someone to love to hold at night too. But no other cabbit out there could understand her emotions or feelings. They just could not understand her any more just as she could not understand them. But she also was not a human either, as how could she tell her boyfriend that she was also a furry little creature or a battle ship? "It's just not fair." Lying down in her bed, she did her best to tune out the feelings drifting through her that belonged to Ryoko and not herself. Though she cared for them greatly, she did not want to feel any more. Ryoko usually kept a barrier of sorts in place that kept this sort of thing from happening, but there were still times when the barrier would fall and Ryo-Ohki had to fight to keep her own barriers up. And for still another night, she fought them off so that she could hopefully get some rest. But she knew that she could not keep this up forever, so tonight like many nights before she thought of a way to handle this. Should she leave or should she have Washu turn her back to a cabbit permanently. Though the second idea was more appealing but she did not want to loose her ability to sing, talk or read. These simple pleasures had kept her going for this long, so maybe they could keep her going for a little longer. The days seemed to drag by almost painfully slow as Tenchi was back at school again. He had started going to college at one of the major universities to follow in his fathers footsteps for now, and to make it easy on Ryoko and him Washu had created a portal that connected his dorm room with the closet in his room. This way he could go to school all day and spend his nights with Ryoko at home or there. For her part Ryoko had also enrolled in some more cooking classes to learn a variety of new foods so she was gone for most of the day as well. Although Washu was technically there, she rarely left her lab, which meant that Ryo-Ohki was home alone. She used this time to work on the garden in Tenchi's place as he had showed her long ago how to care for her own garden. And now that he was not home as much it was up to her to care for it. They had all been surprised when not only did she plant more than carrots, but also a variety of vegetables as well. She kept the vegetable garden tended even better than he did, and she even had a flower garden closer to the house. This time she used to think of what to do, but she had never been able to come up with anything other than asking him what he saw her as. 'That's stupid,' she chided herself, 'Imagine asking him what he thought I was. He'd say something stupid or tell me to talk to Washu.' She scoffed as she worked at how he would not be able to answer her question any better than she could, but it annoyed her to find out that she wanted to know so badly, what he thought of her. A smile crossed her lips though as she remembered that it was his view on Ryoko, which caused her to do a complete turn around. Ryoko had been a wild and flirtatious space pirate that tried to seduce him at every turn until he told her what she meant to him. At that point Ryoko no longer felt the need to throw herself at him and she had even started doing chores willingly and not having to be told several times. She grimaced as she thought of asking her old mistress about her current dilemma, 'She'd have no clue what to say. These type of things she had always tried to avoid talking about.' So, instead of asking she let this tear away at her from the inside out, slowly eating away at her happiness. Day in and out she continued to wonder what she was and what she was going to do now. She had a crush on him at the time and she had assumed this form to save him, but since then, he had chosen another it all seemed so pointless now. Ryo-Ohki had been able to spend her days in her gardens where she sang softly as she worked, and though it helped her cope with her loneliness it was of little comfort at night. During the weekdays like today Tenchi and Ryoko stayed on the campus and would come home only on weekends or when they had extra time. His father also had an apartment in town as well and he stayed there during the weekdays, as it was too much of a distance to travel from the country to the city. This left only Washu, Yosho and Ryo-Ohki at home during the weekdays alone. Washu spent most of her time in her lab and rarely came out except for meals, and Yosho kept busy in the shrine as normal. Today Ryo-Ohki had an idea, for something to help pass her time here. After finishing her chores in the field, she went up to the shrine to see Yosho. He was busy with a visitor so she walked around the shrine looking over the training grounds. With having been part cat and part rabbit, her senses had been augmented to allow for better hearing and sight. So, when she heard him approaching from behind her she did not act surprised. "Morning Yosho." "Morning Ryo-Ohki. What are you doing up here today?" "I was wondering sir," she looked down and then she looked back up into his face. "Would you train me?" "Train you?" "Yes sir, I know how to use energy beams, but I have never had to fight as a human before." "I see, well very well. I don't believe you have had a chance to do any fighting like this, so we should start with the basics. Tenchi should have an extra set of training clothes, or Washu could provide you with some." She chuckled and answered, "I think Washu would have a better suit for me." After talking to him some more about what she would need and be expected to do, she went to talk to Washu about more clothes. 'She's bound to be getting tired of me asking for clothes,' she thought. Unlike Ryoko, she could not just phase into whatever she wanted to wear so she had to have a complete wardrobe or walk around in the nude. After Sasami had talked to her about modesty, it was decided that more clothes were needed. Washu had provided some and Nobuyuki had taken her and Ryoko into town once for shopping as well. They had come back with more bags of clothes that he had thought they would. He grumbled saying that he would have to work about a week's worth of overtime to pay off the card, but Washu had taken care of that problem for him. Walking into the lab she called out, "Little Washu?" "Yes Ryo-Ohki?" Turning around the girl could see the scientist working away at her computer. "I was wondering if you could make me some training clothes?" She stopped what she was doing and spun around, "Some what?" "Some training clothes. I have asked Katsuhito to train me on how to fight like a human since it is one of my forms now." The scientist scowled at her, "You know that you don't have to call it that, but yes I can make you some. I've taught you how to fight as a ship and how to defend yourself as a cabbit. Although she may not remember it I even taught Ryoko how to fight. But I think you're old enough to decide who you want to train you." Her shoulders slumped and though the girl started to feel guilty or sorry for asking she had really wanted to learn. "Little Washu, I, it's not," she growled at herself for not being able to answer. "No disrespect little Washu but he has more time and he did beat us both once before." Jumping off her pillow and taking her adult form Washu pointed a finger at Ryo-Ohki. "Look here! I had only started training you both before he took you away. I bet you would have flown circles around him if I could have completed your training!" "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!" Tears started forming in her eyes as she saw the pain and hurt in Washu's eyes. Seeing Ryo-Ohki now crying Washu put her arms around her and tried to sooth away the hurt. "I'm sorry." Ryo-Ohki froze as she heard Washu apologize. "I shouldn't have take in out on you. You can train with him, but it you want some of the finer points you can come to me alright?" She didn't know what to say, not only had she apologized, but also had even given her permission. Pulling away from her a little Washu gazed at Ryo-Ohki, "I wish that I could have seen the future and had made better decisions or I could have prepared you better for this. I just wish," she paused to take a ragged breath and Ryo-Ohki realized that Washu had been crying. "I just wish you could call me mom and not your creator." Not once could she remember Washu actually apologizing and the sincere tone made her really wonder if Washu really meant what she just said. These types of feelings and emotions were new to her and she was having trouble working through them, so she did the first thing that came to mind. She hugged the scientist back. "I, I think I would have liked calling you mom." She then held Washu for several moments as the redhead seemed to be overwhelmed for the moment. It was some time later that she emerged from the lab after her encounter with Washu. She knew that for Washu to have cried over this, and then to apologize, she must be having a difficult time as well. The last statement that the scientist had made though had stayed on her mind. It had been some time after Tenchi proposed to Ryoko and shortly before Ayeka had left that Ryoko had called Washu mom for the first time and really meant it. The sheer amount of raw emotions that she had felt as Ryoko called her that and truly meant it had nearly left Ryo- Ohki too stunned to see Washu's reaction. Suddenly Ryo-Ohki stopped in her tracks as she remembered that day. Ryoko had been talking to Tenchi about his mom and after he told her, "I wish I could tell my mom I was sorry for hurting her. Please, don't make my mistake, you still have a mom." She remembered several of the thoughts that Ryoko had transmitted unconsciously to her. It was her memories of him when he was little. Playing outside the cave she could see a little boy, first with what could have been his mother and then with his grandmother and then him again crying for them. Ryo-Ohki had felt so sorry for him and the amount of pain that he was must have been feeling, but she did not know what to do to help. Ryoko took a few moments to think before going to talk to Washu. The reunion had been a teary one that had introduced Ryo-Ohki to a number of new emotions and feelings, but finally seeing mother and daughter hugging like that had made her feel sad and a bit envious. She did not have a mother, or a family, at least till now. Now she did have a family, people that cared for her, but she was still without a mother. Shaking off her feelings for now she looked outside and noticed it was getting near dark. Soon Nobuyuki and Katsuhito would be arriving and she had not even started on dinner. She ran to the kitchen and looking around frantically she found a few frozen foods that she could fix quickly. She had not taken the time that Ryoko did to learn how to cook so she mainly had to rely on warming up leftovers or frozen foods; but then again she thought they were just as good. The two men had thought so too and had praised her for the meals several times. Nobuyuki had always liked having a meal waiting for him at home, though it routinely reminded him of something painful that he never spoke about to anyone. While in town he had to survive on his own, so on the weekends she had tried to make sure he did not have to worry about cooking at least. While fixing dinner Ryo-Ohki thought about what could it be that caused him that kind of pain, and why would he not tell her about it? She had seen how after Tenchi had chosen Ryoko to be his wife his father had calmed down a lot, though he still pressured Tenchi about grandchildren. One thing that she had found surprising though was that after Ayeka had left several other members of the house hold had changed as well. Nobuyuki mellowed out and was easier to talk to Ryo- Ohki guessed, as he and Mihoshi seemed to enjoy talking. She had come down to the kitchen late one night for a snack and had caught both Mihoshi and him on the couch having a long conversation. It was then that she had noticed a change in the blonde. Up to the point that Tenchi had chosen, Mihoshi had been the loveable ditz that seemed to break things and in general make a large mess. But that day Mihoshi had changed. Something had seemed to shatter in her that nearly destroyed her. She had covered it up though for some time, but along the way, she had seemingly fallen apart and he was there to help. Shrugging her shoulders, she pushed thoughts of her friend away as it was causing her to feel sad as well. Mihoshi had been to one to teach her how to sing and dance, but since that last night that Mihoshi had been here, she had not gone back out to sing or dance. It was as if she was empty inside again. After she mixed the contents of a package into a bowl that was on the stove she collected some of the trash and took it out to beside the house. Out there by the shed Washu had made a device that they could put trash in and it would dispose of it. However Washu had never trusted anyone with it as it could easily destroy something that could not be replaced, so she kept the ability to turn it on to herself. Opening the lid to drop the bag in she noticed a number of books and things in there. Inspecting it she discovered that it was some of Nobuyuki's books, those that he kept hidden from everyone. 'I wonder why it's out here?' Depositing the bag in there she returned to the kitchen then as curiosity got the better of her she went to his library where he kept all of his 'naughty books' as Sasami had called them. She was surprised to discover that they had almost all been removed, and replaced with comics and other book that were no where near what he used to keep. She had stumbled in on this place as she and Sasami had been playing hide and seek one day. And at the time, many of the books had graphic pictures on the covers and when Sasami and Ryoko had found her, they too had been shocked. She almost started a laughing fit as she remembered how embarrassed even Ryoko was about just some of the covers, let alone what was in them. This though brought about a question, 'Why was he getting rid of them now?' But what did not make sense was that there was only a small amount of books in the trash, and to have gotten rid of that many he would have had to be throwing some away each week for the past year! 'But why?' Pushing those thoughts out of her head she finished up the dinners and set the table for her family, just three places tonight as Tenchi and Ryoko were going to be going out to eat tonight and would not be back till tomorrow. Saturdays and Sundays where her favorite times as most of her family was back home for those two days. Glancing over at the calendar she sighed, tomorrow they would be home. If only the rest of her family could come back as well, but she's given up on wishing for them to come back. Dinner came and went as expected, Nobuyuki was late and Yosho said very little while Washu stayed buried in her work. Surrounded by people she never felt so lonely, but she had never really experienced this type of thing until people started leaving. First Ayeka, then Sasami and Mihoshi, and now Tenchi and Ryoko were gone as well. Every day that they spent away, the time seemed to pass by slower, but somehow she made it from day to day, and from week to week. The thing that kept her going was the weekends like tomorrow when at least Tenchi and Ryoko would be back. She wondered about talking to them, but when and what would she say? His father helped her with putting the dished away and he too seemed even more despondent. Since all the girls left he seemed to have calmed down a lot and she had to admit that the times she had come out of the shower with only a towel on he didn't try to stare at her or look at her like he did the others. 'Maybe it's cause I'm just a pet, and animal with a human's body. Maybe that's why.' She shook the thought out of her head just as fast as it entered. 'Why would I want him to do that, and besides, it could be because he's changing. He was throwing away all of his old books.' When she heard him sigh and look up at the stars, she knew something was on his mind. "Are you ok?" "Huh? Oh yea. I just…" his voice trailed off as his thoughts seemed to be elsewhere. "You miss the others, don't you?" He turned to her, and he just nodded. "It seems strange that after all that has happened. But I miss… them." She could have sworn he had started to say a name then changed it, but he did not actually voice a name other than possibly in his head. 'He must miss his wife,' she thought, then wondered how hard it must be to continue living without the one you love. "I miss them too," she said in an effort to get her mind off its current track. "Do you think she, um, they will come back?" He continued to look at the dish he was holding and trying to hide his mistake, though he should have known better as her hearing was much better than any human's. "Which one do you miss the most?" She though he might say Sasami as everyone missed her cooking or possibly Ayeka for Tenchi, but she was surprised when he answered. "Mihoshi." He looked over at her surprised look. "You want to know why?" Ryo-Ohki just nodded her head. "It because I can talk to her. After Ryoko's, um… problem," he offered weakly not really knowing a better way to say it. He then continued, "she had what earthlings call a mental breakdown." Ryo-Ohki scrunched up her face trying to understand, as the blonde had always been what Ryoko called a ditz, and idiot, a menace and many other things that were not very polite. "That night when I went to the kitchen I heard her crying on the couch," he explained. "When I asked her what was wrong she just cried harder. I've never really been good with knowing what to do with a crying female so I just held her on the couch as she cried." He half chuckled as he thought of that night. "When she could talk she talked about how her friend and partner died, well actually she thought she killed her at first." The girl's eyes opened wide at this, 'Mihoshi killed someone?' "I know it sounds strange, but as she told me about her friend I noticed something, she was speaking clearly. No babbling, and she could recall things very vividly." He finished drying a dish and put it away then turned to her again. "I think that night neither of us got any sleep. After she told me about, um, Kiyone I think her name was. I told her about Achika." At Ryo-Ohki's raised brow he added, "My wife. Well we talked long into the morning and for the next several nights we talked more and more. And I began to believe that when Kiyone died Mihoshi could not cope with the trauma so she did the only thing she could think of." "Yes?" He looked at Ryo-Ohki who was listening intently to this, "On earth when someone goes through an extreme amount of stress or trauma the brain shuts down and some get a split personality or some other mental disorder. Mihoshi became, well what you remember her as." This was incredible, and hard to believe, if it was not for her having seen Mihoshi change. At the time she did not understand it, but now it all started to make sense. Mihoshi had become calmer, and watched cartoons less. She even stopped crashing into the lake when returning from patrols. It was like a completely different person. She cracked a smile and thought about it, then her smile widened when she suddenly remembered he called Achika his wife, not his darling or his beloved. He was letting go which could only mean one thing, "You love her." "Huh, well, I oh…" She looked up and realized she had said that out loud. With the way his face was reddening it had to be true, "you do don't you?" He just nodded and his eyes fell so that they looked at the floor. "Why did she leave then?" "Think about it," he said almost coldly, "I'm older than her and I'm getting old. Washu says that Mihoshi will live for several more centuries, not as long as Tenchi will but for several centuries at least." "And?" He looked up at her almost angry; "I won't make her watch me die of old age while she remains young." She thought about it and she could see pain written on his face though he tried to hide it. He had a convincing argument, but 'what difference should age make?' The next thought that hit her she had to ask though, "Did you ask her what she thought of that? Ryoko's thousands of years older than Tenchi." "I," he paused as she saw something akin to shame, then he humbly told her, "no, I didn't even tell her how I felt." 'So that's why she left, she didn't know,' she said to herself. Then other things started making sense. He had been depressed lately which is one of the reasons he's been quieter, and now that he did not tell her how he felt he's lost the chance. Mihoshi may never be back, and even if she did too much time may have passed between them, or she might have found someone new. As these thoughts ran through her head he quietly left to go to his room. The pain that he seemed to go through was similar to hers in that she believed she cared for someone but could they care the same way? Was what she felt love? There was only one way to answer wither of her question, she would have to ask him. The only problem with that was when or how? Somehow, that night she got some sleep though her mind continued to mull over these thoughts and her sleep was not restful. And as she imagined the next morning, he had returned with Ryoko and at breakfast they were sitting close and smiling at each other. During breakfast, she would look over at his father and he seemed a little more despondent, but he soon covered up his emotions to allow him to get through yet another weekend. She guessed that seeing how in love his son was made him wish to have either his wife or Mihoshi back. During the day, she tended her garden with a little help from Ryoko and then the field this time with him helping. She could not help but think that both times they kept a closer eye on her than they had before, but quickly dismissed it. Neither one had ever been observant enough to tell how someone was feeling just by looking at them. Once chores were done she changed into her training clothes and went up to the shrine to start her training. Katsuhito already had Tenchi and Ryoko sparing and both seemed to be doing a lot better than normally. While he preferred a single sword that he could hold with one or two hands she favored a slightly shorter one-handed sword and occasionally she would use two. This brought to mind a memory of long ago that she had nearly forgotten about herself. Before being a pirate and before Kagato kidnapped her, Ryoko trained with Washu, her mother. Ryo-Ohki could remember watching from the sidelines. Washu and her both fought with two swords and at the time they were both quite good, though it seems that Ryoko was remembering, she was no where near what she used to be. Katsuhito would routinely interrupt them talking about her defense and stance saying occasionally, "Ryoko! Remember the basics and keep up your defense." Once he really got her riled up by adding in, "Your sloppy defense allowed me to beat you." "What are you talking about!" The pirate spun around towards him pointing her sword at him, which at the time were only the wooden training swords. "That," he said while pointing at her. She looked to her side to see Tenchi's sword resting against her neck. "You relied on your reputation and their fear to keep them from attacking, but when we fought I showed you no fear. Then you used strength and wild swings, but skill can defeat both of those." "What the hell do you want!" She was nearly screaming and Ryo-Ohki had to cover her ears to keep them from ringing. "Simply being who you are there may be those that seek revenge on you, and if it's discovered who Tenchi is then they might try to strike Jurai through him. You may be the last and only chance he has. So you have to work on your defense if you want to protect him." She looked down and muttered an apology, which took Ryo-Ohki by surprise, first that she backed down like that and secondly because she apologized. Entranced by the scene she watched as Katsuhito approached her, then placing his hands on her shoulders he said something that surprised her even more. "You're doing well, and I'm proud to have you in our family." He then gave her a quick hug, which was something that she had never seen him do before. Ryoko too was taken by surprise, but she returned the hug. Pulling away he told them, "Your training is done for today, but you are to be back here tomorrow, understand?" They both muttered a yes before he turned to Ryo-Ohki. "Come your training begins now." Her family stayed to watch as she started receiving her first lessons which were mainly how to hold a sword, but the girl just could not seem to hold the sword right. In the next twenty minutes, he had to tell her again and again how to hold it, but each time she tried to hold the center and not the ends. "Grandfather?" "Yes Tenchi." "With the way she's holding it do you think a Bo would be better than a sword?" He thought about it while looking at the way Ryo-Ohki held the middle and the end and then suddenly turned and walked to a rack. He pulled out a wooden rod that was taller than Ryo-Ohki, and threw it at her. She caught it in the middle and he smiled. "I think this will do better. You may go now Tenchi." Tenchi bowed and left with Ryoko while Katsuhito started over on her training, and this time she seemed to fare much better with this type of weapon. It was some time later that she was able to return home. After getting cleaned-up and changed she found herself outside a door that did not go to her room. Ryo-Ohki stood outside his room waiting and wondering, 'Should I go in, or not?' She had been wondering about this since her training earlier, so she's been working up the courage to talk to him, and now her courage faltered. When she talked to Nobuyuki last night she knew that she had to tell him, as she did not want to live with knowing that she could have said something and lost her chance. Not to mention she had been so lonely this past week and now that they were back, it seemed that she just became lonelier still. She was just about to turn and leave when she heard a female voice from inside call to her. "Ryo-Ohki you can come in." She gulped and wondered how could she have known, then realized that she had not been keeping a very good barrier on her link to Ryoko. Opening the door, she strode in hoping along the way to regain some of her courage and say what was on her mind. The site that greeted her was unexpected. Tenchi and Ryoko were not necked as she had expected them to be since they had been alone in his, their, room for some time. Tenchi?" Ryoko sounded sincere and for a moment, she almost believed her. "Yea, you wait and see, there'll be someone." His voice though did not sound quite as sincere, which caused the girl to break down before him and start crying. "Wait Ryo-Ohki! I'm serious, I just don't know if he'll be on this planet or not." She stopped crying and looked at him, he sounded serious. Desperately she wanted to believe that. 'Tenchi, how do you feel about her?' His wife asked him mentally. 'What! Ryoko, what are you thinking?' 'Well, you remember when she became human right?' 'Well yea. Why?' 'She did it for you. I can see in her mind she really cares deeply for you and Washu said that the Masu went to you out of her desire to help you.' 'What are you asking? You don't mean…' 'Yes I do, do you love her too?' This hit him hard. He sat down on the bed to think about it. Once before she had asked him about one of the other girls, specifically Ayeka. He had told her that he did love her, so Ryoko had promptly pushed him to go propose to Ayeka too. Of coarse the princess was considering it, but in the end, they both decided that Ayeka would not become his second wife. There were several reasons for it, and he had not told Ryoko about all of them. But she seemed to be suggesting it again, but why? He looked up to see the motherly way that Ryoko, held Ryo-Ohki and he asked himself, 'Will anyone ever be able to see all of her forms and love her still? Will someone just see her as a pet and not care about her feelings?' And though he did not know the answers to either of these he knew that she needed someone, but who and how? 'Tenchi?' He looked up at his wife as she moved behind Ryo-Ohki. 'Look her in the eyes, tell me what do you see? She's hurting more than I ever thought she could. We already share a mental link with her, and she loves you.' This was unbelievable; here his wife was asking him to say he loved someone else! He tried to throw a reason in as to why he couldn't say it, but he had cared deeply for all the girls that lived here. He had cared more for Ryoko and after she saved his life he had told her so. In the process of her saving his life he was given a taste of the pain that she had lived with and in the time since their marriage, he had done everything he could to help ease her pain. But now there seemed to be another one hurting. 'Don't you find her attractive? Can't you say it?' His head shot up as his wife said these things to him. 'Now look here, if I'm gonna say it it's not gonna be because of her looks or being pressured about it.' 'Then you do love her!' His wife's voice sounded happy while he looked dumbstruck. 'Well if you loved her then you'd be concerned for her like you were for me.' 'But Ryoko, I just can't…' He trailed off as he looked at Ryo-Ohki. She was standing there with tears running down her face. 'Damn it, why does this have to happen to me,' he thought inwardly. As each one of the girls arrived, he had found he liked them all for one reason or another, Ryoko for her attitude and strength. Not just her physical strength, but he believed it must have been hard to live with her captors and with Ayeka. If what everyone had said about her was true then he was very surprised that he had lived through her attack on him at his school and that she did not kill Ayeka those hundreds of times she could have. Ayeka was another story, she had a quite strength and a strength of the heart, but when he discovered that she was going to marry his grandfather he could not look at her without seeing him. Though he really cared for her, he was not sure it was ever love. He did respect her, want to protect her, but love her? Washu he knew was Ryoko's mom, and with what he felt for Ryoko, he would not see himself with Washu, although some of the outfits she wore were very exciting. He hated it though as Washu tried to force him into sex several times. He knew that she had also had a child and had been married before so she must know what she was doing, but that did not help him mind any. Even Mihoshi he was unsure of how he felt. Sure she had a great body but just everyday life with her was almost enough to make his scream, so he could not imagine a life with her as she was. But Ryo-Ohki, he had never really seriously considered, but looking back at Ryo-Ohki, really looking this time he did not see the cabbit before him, but a young woman, a very beautiful young woman that almost rivaled his wife in beauty. But did he love her? Did he really want to say he loved another? It had taken him some time to actually express his feelings for Ryoko, and even then, it was after a near death. He ran a hand over his neck nervously and then through his hair before he stood and walked over to the two women. He placed a hand on each of their cheeks and looked at the two of them. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But I've given my heart to Ryoko, and I am not sure it's right to…" "Tenchi, no buts," Ryoko told him sternly. "You either do or you don't." 'Are you sure you want this? Do you realize what could happen because of it?' 'Do you realize what loving a space pirate would do to your normal life my Tenchi? I offered to share you with Ayeka because I knew you two loved each other, although I was not entirely happy. But with Ryo-Ohki, it's different. I know she won't… I know she will not get in the way of you loving me, or try to take you from me. I know her, I have know her for a long time.' Nodding his head he said to them, "Ryoko, was right. There is someone that can love you and I said I was not sure where to find him. The truth is the 'him', is me. I love you both." Ryo-Ohki grinned and her eyes lit up with joy though he did not get to see much of her face as she leapt at him hugging him and crying on his shoulder. He hugged her back and then pulled his wife into the embrace as well so that they could hug each other with Ryo-Ohki in the middle.