This is the third chapter of my tale. (I don't want to do this!) I hope 
you have enjoyed reading my work, (Please, isn't there any other way?) <No you 
wrote this story and it is your fault>, -sound of author weeping helplessly- and 
I also hope it has only gotten better through the chapters. Tenchi Muyo! is 
owned by AIC Pioneer.

On the Horizon
Chapter 4: Parallel Lines Meet

	The darkness was relentless, the silence crushing. She fought back with 
the only weapons she could muster. Her own determination and the thoughts of the 
man she had left behind. She sat with her arms clasped about her knees, rocking 
slowly back and forth. "Hokushin, please be all right." 
	Her head shot up as she suddenly felt a familiar presence, several in 
fact. 'They're coming,' she thought. 
	Hope flared in the darkness. She could feel him; he was getting closer.
... 


	The ships darted through the tear in space as it slowly collapsed inward. 
Once reaching the relative safety of the place where it had deposited them, they 
paused a moment to get their bearings. But as all communication was still 
blocked, all they could do was follow after Mihoshi, who was heading off to 
where the landscape dwindled into the distance.
...

	Washu and Tentousama sat on the bridge of Asagao, peering around at their 
surroundings. Washu looked distinctly unnerved, she shivered and her lover put 
his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled against him. "I feel...I feel like 
I've been here before," she murmured in a voice so low as to be nearly 
intelligible. 
	Tentousama watched her as she peered out the window, looking at the water 
rushing below them and the cubic structures lining the path. He could almost see 
a flicker of recognition pass behind her eyes, and then it was gone. 
...

	Aboard Ryo-Ohki, Sasami clutched at her husband's hand desperately. She 
knew that she had been there before, at least when her incarnation was wholly 
Tsunami. But what had happened that had driven her away was shadowy; like a 
memory suppressed for so long that it was hardly there. The goddess only knew 
for sure that she had never intended to come back, but she had not been given a 
choice. Her daughter was here.
	Tenchi felt Sasami's grip on his hand, nearly crushing it with its 
intensity. He watched her perpetually youthful face as it flickered from emotion 
to emotion. Memory, confusion, fear, and anger flashed across her features, 
until her expression finally settled into an unearthly resolve. Tenchi felt that 
same expression on his own face, and knew what his youngest wife must be 
thinking, for he was thinking it himself. 
	He looked back over his shoulder to see his other two wives, standing side 
by side. Their faces were a reflection of each other, staining different, though 
equally beautiful, features. Ryoko was absentmindedly forming and extinguishing 
an energy sword in her hand. Ayeka had a stance of extreme concentration, and he 
knew she was fighting to keep her emotions under control, something she usually 
did when she felt they would overwhelm her. They all were arrayed in their 
battle suits, with the exception of Sasami who was wearing her formal robes. 
They were the same ones, Tenchi noted, that she had been wearing the first time 
he had seen her goddess form. 
	Tengai's features reflected hers so closely, even to the far away look he 
saw now. 
	He sighed as her fingers tightened again.
...

	On the Kokuten, Kyokki was enjoying a hot cup of tea, trying to steel her 
nerves for the upcoming confrontation. Yosho sat across from her, his marvelous 
purple eyes glued to hers. Neither spoke, it was enough just to sit there and 
look at each other, two halves of the same soul. Kyokki set down her teacup and 
reached for Yosho's hand, he took it and kissed her fingers, then held it so it 
cupped his cheek. They did not break eye contact. No, words were not necessary. 
	Across the bridge, Hokushin stood, his palms pressed against the windows 
as he peered at the spot where parallel lines met. "I can feel her," he said, in 
a joyous whisper, "I can feel her." He leaned forward and kissed the glass. "My 
love, I am coming."
...

	Mihoshi sat dumbfounded in her comfortable pilot's chair. How in the world 
did this happen? Her cup of coffee, which she had finally materialized, lay on 
its side on the ground. It caused yet another stain on the tapestry that was 
Mihoshi's floor. 
	Mihoshi shook off her distraction, reminding herself that she had a 
mission to complete. She headed in the only direction she knew to take, the 
place that this path seemed to lead. 
	She was nearly thrown out of her chair as she reached the end of this 
fabulous gateway, and was hurtled into hyperspace at an unheard of speed. 
Mihoshi was unaware that the ship was being guided by some unknown source. The 
others trailed after her as they also were zipped along to the place where the 
goddess awaited them. 
...

	Tokimi sat in her temple. She was waiting, for so many years she had 
waited, nudging this, changing that, until the conditions were just right. Now 
her plans had almost come to fruition. Things would be different in this time, 
in this dimension. What she had wrought before would not have the same 
consequences, this time she had her plan. The goddess was a patient one, and now 
all her patience would be paid. This time would she triumph. 
	Her usually unemotional eyes began to glow with fervor, their rainbow 
coloration swirling around her pitch-black pupils. They were coming, passing 
through the gateway into the realm that was her domain. It was all under her 
control now. 
	Suddenly her head snapped back, her eyes locked upon the insubstantial 
wall that was opposite her. Something was not right. Somehow the factor, the one 
she had remarked upon so many years before to her servant, D3, had managed to 
join those that she had summoned. An unknown entered into the equation. 
	She summoned D3, this would have to be taken care of, or else all her 
plans would come to naught. 
...

	The blurring of light and sound ended with a jolt as the crusaders came to 
their destination. Just as abruptly, they were deposited on a platform in what 
appeared to be a large temple. The Yukinojo disappeared, and Kokuten was thrust 
back into wolf form, and Ryo-Ohki into her cabbit form. The Asagao, 
surprisingly, turned into a small bell-shaped flower, which Tentousama quickly 
picked up and carefully tucked into his robes. 
	"Where are we?" Hokushin asked, his voice echoing strangely in the temple-
like room. 
	Tenchi looked at the young man curiously, he seemed familiar, one of 
Ryoko's guards probably. He shrugged it off; it really wasn't worth being 
curious about. Particularly in this place and time. "Your guess is as good as 
mine," he answered finally. 
	"It is the Temple." Sasami stated suddenly from the back of the platform. 
"This is where the physical form of Tokimi resides." 
	"Then where is she?" Ryoko asked harshly, her energy sword held at ready. 
	Sasami looked angry as she shook her head, "She is right here." 
	They all looked about wildly, searching the crevices and shadowy corners 
for a glimpse of another presence. 
	"Are you sure, sister?" Ayeka asked gently. 
	Sasami nodded and walked to the edge of the platform, her face tight. 
"Sister, we have come. Now give us back what you have taken." 
	Kyokki looked at Yosho questioningly, "sister?" she mouthed.
	He shrugged to show his confusion.
	The temple shook, knocking Mihoshi over, though everyone else managed to 
keep their feet. "Look!" She cried, from her vantage point on the yellow tiles. 
	The walls trembled and disappeared, leaving behind only the central 
structures, and a view of the starry expanse beyond. Ten shadowy pillars 
emerged, trusting up from the surrounding space, forming as though they were the 
antithesis of the lighthawk wings that Tsunami produced. They lined two of the 
walls, drawing the eyes up to the main altar. There, two silhouettes began to 
glow, their outlines appearing woven in starlight. 
	The two faced away from each other, and there was something disturbingly 
familiar about their countenances. While the travelers were taking this all in, 
shock after shock, another figure came into view.
	Her visual form was gigantic, breathtaking... impossible. Her face was 
hard and cold, with two stripes, like battle markings, streaking each of her 
cheeks. Her silvery hair jutted out at perfectly symmetrical angles away from 
that frosty face, surmounted by an interesting headdress. On her chest was a 
large red jewel, from which flowed two streamers of snowy white fabric, 
providing the only movement of her statuesque figure. 
	She spoke, her lilting voice as emotionless as a computer. "Sisters, you 
have come." 
	"I am here Tokimi." Sasami answered, "How could I not have come when you 
have stolen something so precious to me."
	The sister-goddess ignored her, "Washu..." she continued, "It has been too 
long, sister."
	Washu stared at her with a blank look on her face.
	Tokimi lowered her gaze upon the striking redhead. "I see you do not 
remember," She smiled coldly, "Then permit me to restore that which you have 
forgotten." 
	Her gaze intensified upon the transfixed Washu. 
	Washu's face grew startled as she clasped her hands to her temples. Three 
circular red markings began to glow in a downward pointing triangle in the 
middle of her forehead. She collapsed to her knees as an infinite number of 
years and memories came crashing down upon her. She screamed, "No...no, I don't 
want to remember." 
	"Mom!" Ryoko shouted as at the same time Tentousama cried, "Washu!" and 
they both tried to rush to her. They stopped as an unseen force blocked their 
ways. 
	"I cannot permit you to interfere in the process." Sasami whispered, "It 
has begun and there is no way to stop it." She stared sadly at her sister as the 
unwelcome memories came flooding back.
	When the deluge ended, Washu stood slowly. She lifted her face as she 
strode to confront her sister, it was wiser, full of all the knowledge of the 
cosmos, they saw the goddess in all her strength, and she didn't look too happy 
about it. 
	"And now you remember," Tokimi commented in a self-congratulatory manner.
	Washu tossed back her wild hair, "But what is the use of already knowing 
everything? I gave this up so I could learn, discover, so I could experience 
life and surprises." She gave Tokimi a piercing stare, " Where is Tengai?" 
	"Why, she is right here, sister." Her tone was smug, "I am surprised you 
did not know that."
	Washu's fists clenched in anger, and Tsunami laid a calming hand on her 
arm. 
	A platform adjoining the one on which they were standing emerged from the 
shadows, and on it they could discern the form of the young woman they had so 
avidly sought. She was sitting with her arms clasped about her knees, her face 
turned down upon them. She looked up, and blinked as her eyes adjusted from 
being so long in darkness. 
	The light glinted in her long blue-black hair. She turned her gaze to her 
family. "Mother," she exclaimed, "Father! Everyone, oh, I knew you would come." 
	She rose to her feet and darted towards them, laughing, her pink eyes 
shimmering with relief. 
	Sasami opened her arms to embrace her daughter, and then was surprised as 
Tengai ran past her.
	"Oh...Hokushin!" She cried as she flung herself into the knight's waiting 
arms. 
	Sasami swung about, startled from her daughter's actions, and the laughter 
she heard coming from Washu.
	"She is her mother's daughter, all right." She grinned. Then she 
straightened her shoulders and faced Tokimi once again. "Now, sister, why did 
you go to such extreme lengths to bring us here," She smiled tightly. "I'm sure 
it wasn't for a family get together." 
	Tokimi was not amused. "I brought you all here for a purpose, of course. I 
did not have any success with bringing you here directly so I decided to use a 
lure, unfortunately, that lure was my niece...and I regret I had to use her in 
such a manner." 
	Washu snorted, echoing her daughter. "I highly doubt you regret anything 
Tokimi." 
	The goddess frowned, "Oh, but I regret much. For I brought you here for 
the purpose of my destruction, or rather, for the prevention of it."
	"What do you mean?" Tenchi asked, "Why should we not destroy you, 
considering all you have done to us?"
	Tokimi smiled coldly, "For in my destruction, the universe shall cease to 
be." Her gaze turned to the stars that looked down upon her temple. "In another 
dimension, your counterparts and I, we came together much like this...though 
under rather different circumstances. We fought and I was vanquished, 
destroyed." Her eyes glistened as she looked down at those gathered below her. 
"And in that instant, everything vanished. You see, there is a balance between 
us. You are the light, and I am the darkness, as much as I hate to admit it. 
When I ceased to be, all the darkness fled, everything burned with pure light 
for an instant, and then it all burned away."
	"So we should not destroy you?" Sasami said doubtfully, "You brought us 
here to tell us that?" 
	"Yes. I know I must be defeated, and that it is inevitable. So I brought 
you here to get it done with." She bowed her head and closed her eyes. "I submit 
to you Washu... you and your daughter Ryoko and your great-granddaughter 
Mihoshi...Tsunami...you and your children."
	The companions on the platform exchanged incredulous glances. Washu stared 
hard at Mihoshi, this explained quite a bit. That is, all except for Tengai, who 
was sobbing into Hokushin's uniform front as he stroked her back reassuringly, 
his own face streaked with tears. 
	"You..." Washu started to say when someone else entered the huge 
cathedral.
	The huge presence of D3 materialized in front of the submissive goddess, 
his gigantic blue eyes desperate in his white-bearded face. "My Lady! I cannot 
allow you to do this!" 
	Tokimi's head shot up, "D3! Do not interfere." 
	"No, My Lady! You will have to destroy me first."
	"You leave me little choice D3." Tokimi said sadly. A glow began to 
emanate from the jewel on the goddess's chest. It burned with an unearthly fire, 
then the fire coalesced into one point and the light, in beam form, shot out and 
through the form of D3. D3 exploded into a tapestry of shimmering lights and 
then dissipated into the darkness. But the beam kept going. 
	Yosho stood next to his wife, watching in disbelief as the goddess 
destroyed her servant, as the light sliced through the darkness, he could see 
its inevitable course. The way the beam was traveling it would cut through the 
space that Kyokki and her father, who stood behind her, occupied. Without 
thinking, the man swung into action. "No!" he shouted as he ran into Kyokki and 
Tentousama, shoving them out of the way.
	"Yosho!" Kyokki screamed as she was hurled into a tumbled heap with her 
father. 
	She struggled up. She saw it happen as though it were in slow motion, 
every moment stretching out to the point of breaking. She saw the beam come in, 
saw the surprised look on her husband's face as the beam entered his chest and 
exited out his back. She saw the way his hair flew forward, covering his face as 
he fell to the floor. She was thrown back as if this were happening to her own 
body, felt the pain, the despair. She felt his relief that he had pushed his 
wife away in time. His last thoughts were of her. 
	"Yosho!" she screamed again as his body dissolved into flickering specks 
of light, lights the color of his eyes, his beautiful eyes, the ones she would 
never see again. 
	Kyokki rose slowly to her feet, feeling the strain of her muscles, and 
looked at the form that was her husband. She felt a tickle on her hand, and 
lifted it to bring her eyes upon the Tokoshie ring, which shone in the same 
light as her husband's essence. She understood and nodded her head once is 
assent. Yosho's spirit fled to her and gently merged into her body. She slumped 
to the floor as the spirit of her husband filled her, his soul using her power 
to sustain it. But she was very powerful; there would be enough time to end this 
before she was drained of her life, and would join her husband into eternity. 
	The bond and promise of the Tokoshie ring would be fulfilled. 




Questions, comments, all (except flames) are welcome. E-mail me at 
kyokki21@yahoo.com