Taiyokei sat up in her room, thinking over the night before. She barely knew Ryoko, and already she had been violated by her. Damn me and my animal instincts, Taiyokei grumbled to herself. "Such a bitch..." Taiyokei grumbled out loud, "Nani kuso, why do I have to have this cursed heritage?!" "Did you say something, Taiyo-chan?" Sasami piped up, peeking her head in the room. Ryo-Oh-Ki was on her head, peering at Taiyokei. "No, Sasami. Say, is breakfast ready?" "It's been ready, silly Taiyo-chan!" "What?! Why didn't you or Ryo-Oh-Ki come and get me?!" Taiyokei snapped, blinking at her own words. Sasami started crying. "I'm sorry, Taiyo-chan," she whined, and ran off crying. "Sasami!" Taiyokei yelled after her, but it was too late. The confused Andromedan ran her hands through her hair and sighed deeply. "So," she mumbled, closing her eyes, "it's already started." ****************** Taiyokei found herself out of the Masaki house and at the edge of the giant lake outside. It was peaceful here, where she couldn't force her uncontrolled feelings on anyone else, and above all, it was calm, very-- "Taiyokei!!" shouted a voice, whom Taiyokei recognized as Ayeka. "Yes, Ayeka?" "What have you done to Sasami?! She is crying her tiny eyes out over you! Tell me, you tailed barbarian!" "I'm sorry, Ayeka. These emotions are totally uncontrolled and tend to change without warning, now that my cycle has begun." "Excuse me? Your what?" "My heat cycle. A period of mood swings and easier arousal." "Oh," Ayeka mumbled, sweatdropping, "I had no idea. My apologies, Taiyo-san." "Don't be sorry, it's all my fault. I'll go apologize to Sasami." Ayeka nodded and started for the house again, content with Taiyokei's reasons. ******************* Taiyokei stayed in her room for the remainder of the day, patiently waiting for her dreaded cycle to end. She was afraid to go downstairs, for snapping at the wrong person--mainly Ryoko--could mean serious trouble. She had apologized to Sasami for her actions, and got Sasami to stop crying and trust her again. It worried Sasami, however, that Taiyokei couldn't be budged from her room to go eat. She tried sending Ryo-Oh-Ki, then herself, then she sent Ryoko. All three couldn't move her. "I need to find a way home," Taiyokei mumbled, "This life is torture, I can't live here! I need to be home, in bed with my mate-- but wait, he'd smell Ryoko's scent all over me...kuso! It seems that arrogant bitch Ryoko has eternally damned me!" Taiyokei shouted, slamming her fist on the desk she was sitting at. "Taiyokei?" whispered a voice behind her, faintly familiar. The tailed, lavender-haired woman spun around and saw herself face-to-face with--Ryoko. "Nani?! Ryoko, what are you doing in here?!" Taiyokei snapped, then noticed the welling tears in the space pirate's eyes. "I heard what you said about me..." she whispered, implying she was afraid to talk out loud. "Ryoko, I..." Taiyokei began, and stopped completely. "You what?" "I...I lo-" "Say it, Taiyokei." Taiyokei knew what Ryoko was trying for. If she admitted that she loved her, she would have to submit to Ryoko--did she know that? Then the Andromedan got an idea. "I've got it!" Ryoko jumped back. "You've got what?!" "The perfect plan," Taiyokei replied, then stood up and faced Ryoko. "Now, as for you, Ryoko-san, no more of this crying. I'll be back," she mumbled, and ran downstairs, ready to open the door to Washu's lab. "What're you doing, Taiyokei?" asked Tenchi, who was just walking in the door with Nobuyuki and Ayeka, and Taiyokei could plainly see they'd gone shopping. "I need to speak with Washu, Tenchi." "With Washu, eh?" Nobuyuki interrupted, putting the large bags down and taking his coat off, "What could be that important?" "You'll see," Taiyokei said, winking to the three, and disappearing into Washu's subdimensional lab. Inside the door was a large, almost empty, metal room. Various cylindrical tanks and machines covered the room, and even Taiyokei's breathing echoed around the walls. "Washu?" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to get more volume, wincing at the result. Another wooden door appeared out of nowhere beside her, and it opened, revealing a yawning Washu. "Who's there and whaddya need?" she asked, stretching out. "Washu, it's me, Taiyokei. I need your help." "Oh, really? Hmm...with what?" Washu piped up, giggling. "It's something that only you can do. It's nothing big, but I trust only you." "Hmm, hai, get on with it." "Gomen, Washu-san. I need to know if you can remove my tail--for good." "For good? As in--it'll never grow back?" "Hai, Washu-san." "Daijoubu, Taiyokei-san. But the process may come as a bit of a surprise to you." "I don't care, Washu. Get rid of it." "All right," Washu agreed, and pushed random buttons on her translucent laptop as it appeared. At the push of a red button, a mechanical bed raised out of an opening pair of panels in the floor, and came to stop at Taiyokei's waist. "Lay down," Washu instructed, pointing to the bed, and once Taiyokei settled in, the bed locked her in place and began the anesthetics. The lavender-haired woman felt drowsy, and soon fell into a deep sleep. ******************* The now tail-less Taiyokei woke up to the sound of Ryoko, trying to wake her up. Taiyokei blinked and sat up, feeling the bandaged around her abdomen. She wore only underwear and her usual gi pants, but saw her shirt was removed, exposing her soft, full breasts. She then looked up at Ryoko, who was now smiling. "So, you're awake." "Iie, I still feel drowsy..." "Washu said it'll be normal for you to feel that way because half of your heritage is lying in one of those tanks," Ryoko stated, pointing to a tank containing her beautiful, white tail. "You do know the process is irreversible, ne?" "Hai, I was told this. It's time I changed my life, Ryoko--I'm not going back home at all." Ryoko sighed, not knowing whether to smile or frown at the news, so she continued to stare at Taiyokei. "Kire..." "Nani? What're you looking at?" "You. You're so beautiful..." "Don't think about it, Ryoko no baka." "All right, all right, fine." "Now, where's my shirt?" "Over there." "Doko?" "Over there," Ryoko repeated, pointing to a table holding the tank with her tail in it, her shirt--which was neatly folded--and Tai- ken. "Good. Could you fetch my shirt for me, Ryoko-san?" "Come and get it," Ryoko said, and when Taiyokei turned around, she saw Ryoko, standing by the door--holding her shirt and grinning. "Ryoko!" Taiyokei yelled, leaping off of the table and running at Ryoko. The devious space pirate simply teleported away, reappearing behind Taiyokei, still holding her shirt. "Not fast enough!" Ryoko teased, and teleported away again. "Ryoko, you little bitch, that's my favorite shirt!" Taiyokei shouted, searching frantically for Ryoko. "Awww, poor Taiyokei can't find her shirt...wonder what Ryoko wants for the shirt?" Ryoko's voice echoed. "All right, you seductive little bitch, what do you want?" "You know what I want, Taiyo-chan." "Absolutely not, Ryoko. Now give me my shirt!" "It doesn't work that way. That's what I want, and you can give it to me, or I get to keep your shirt!" "Ryoko, you bitch! I made that shirt when I was 15! It's been in my life for two years, you can't take it from me! It holds so much sentimental value to me, so just...give it back!" "Really? When you were 15? Why did you make it?" "Because I trained extremely hard to master the Andromedan martial arts," Taiyokei whined, ready to burst into tears, "and that shirt was made to symbolize my mastery! Give it back!" "Awwww, don't cry, Taiyo-chan," Ryoko whispered, now behind Taiyokei, stroking her hair, "You can have your shirt," she finished with a "hmph", and tossed the shirt over Taiyokei's shoulder, disappearing.