I don't own these characters or profit from them.



Protection
By, Clayton Overstreet


  "Tenchi, breakfast time!" Tenchi groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Then 
he saw the bloodshot eyes staring back at his own.
  "Ah!" He jumped out of bed and frowned. Ryoko's face was floating in the 
air over his bed. "Why do you keep doing that?"
  She materialized infront of him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. 
"Because I need to protect you Tenchi. I love you and if you got hurt..."
  He backed up. "Ryoko, I was in bed asleep. What could you possibly have 
been protecting me from?"
  "From Aeka! You don't know how dangerous she is." Ryoko said. "Please 
Tenchi, can't I just sleep with you?"
  "Aeka is not going to do anything to me Ryoko. And you can't sleep with me 
because..." Because I wouldn't trust you or me to keep our hands to 
ourselves, he thought blushing. "It just wouldn't be right. And you need 
your sleep anyway."
  "I sleep in the afternoon when you're at the shrine." She said.
  "Then why do you look so tired?"
  "Because Aeka is trying to keep me awake so I can't protect you any more." 
Ryoko said yawning.
  Tenchi sighed and shook his head. "Will you just go to breakfast so I can 
get dressed?" He was only wearing his pants.
  "Alright Tenchi. But how about a morning kiss first?" She darted towards 
him and Tenchi tripped backwards over his own feet in surprise. She looked 
down at him and a tear fell from her eye then faded through the floor.
  "Ryoko wait!" He said, but she was already gone. Tenchi groaned and stood 
up. "Why do I always act like such a dweeb around her?"

  When he got down to the breakfast table he saw the usual breakfast set up. 
Mihoshi and Washu were at the heads of the table; Sasami and Ryo-oki were 
sitting on the side near the door, while Aeka and Ryoko glared at each other 
from either side of his seat. Tenchi considered going upstairs again, but 
Mihoshi caught site of him.
  "Good morning Tenchi!" She said.
  "Tenchi, your breakfast is getting cold." Sasami said.
  He walked over and sat between Aeka and Ryoko. "Tenchi?"
  "Yes Wasu?"
  "I was wondering if later today you might come by the lab. There is 
something I want to show you." Washu said around a mouth full of food.
  "I don't know Washu. I have to get to work in the fields and then go to 
the shrine to clean up."
  "Not a problem. I'm sure one of the others could do that for today. You 
only need to go to sword practice today."
  Tenchi shook his head. "I wouldn't feel right making someone else..."
  "Why not have Ryoko do it Lord Tenchi?" Aeka said quickly. "All she does 
is sleep all day anyway."
  "I don't think..." Tenchi began.
  Ryoko interupted him. "Sure, sounds like fun." Tenchi noticed a strain in 
her voice, but a quick look from her kept him quiet. It was clear she didn't 
want to show any weakness infront of Aeka.
  "Well that is all settled then." Washu said.
  "I'm going to watch the Invader Zim marithon with Sasami." Mihoshi said.
  "Ryoko are you sure you don't want any help? I mean I know how strong you 
are but it takes a lot of time to get the entire field." Tenchi took a bite 
of his eggs.
  "No, it's fine Tenchi." She smiled at him a little sadly. "I really don't 
mind." He really wished he believed her, but the whites of her eyes were 
still mostly red and the lids were drooping slightly.
  "Sasami do you think I could help make Lord Tenchi's lunch today?" Aeka 
asked.
  Sasami almost choked. "No, I don't think so. Last time you accidentaly put 
mace in his sandwich."
  Washu nodded. "Did you know those are poisonous to Juraians? If Tenchi 
wasn't mostly human..."
  "Okay, okay. So I won't make his food." Aeka said sadly.
  Tenchi finished eating and got up to put his dishes away. As he did Ryoko 
grabbed his arms and mouthed "See?"
  He just rolled his eyes and smirked. "Like your cooking isn't just as 
bad?"
  She frowned and let him go. As he entered the kitchen he heard Aeka say 
snottily, "See what you get by pawing him?"
  Tenchi put his dishes into the sink and looked at the door to the back 
yard. Hearing Aeka and Ryoko argue in the next room he decided to sneak out. 
Slowly opening the door so it didn't squeak or slam he was out of the house 
before anyone knew.

  Yosho swung his wooden sword at the back of Tenchi's head and connected. 
"Ow!"
  "Techi, you aren't concentrating." He said. "Is something wrong?"
  "I'm sorry grandpa. I've just been worried about Ryoko. She hasn't been 
getting any sleep lately."
  "Why not?"
  "She keeps staying up to watch me sleep because I wont let her sleep with 
me. She says she's protecting me."
  Yosho tapped the sword against his shoulder and looked down at Tenchi. 
"Why don't you let her sleep with you then?"
  "Because..." Tenchi blushed.
  "Don't you trust her? After all she's spent the night in there many times 
and you don;'t seem to have woken up."
  "It's not her I don't trust." He admitted.
  "Ah I see. We'll Tenchi I doubt that anyone would mind if you just let her 
sleep there. Least of all Ryoko." He took Tenchi's sword. "Now why don't you 
go in for lunch?"
  Tenchi thought about Ryoko the entire way back to the house. It wasn't 
that he was against the idea of sleeping with her. Actually he wouldn't mind 
doing more than that. It was just he always felt so guilty even being alone 
with her because of the others. If he started playing favorites with Ryoko 
they might leave or Aeka might blow up the planet. Not that she'd really do 
that... right?
  "Oh Tenchi there you are!" Washu said, sticking her head out the door. 
Tenchi was eating a sandwich. "Come with me please." She ran out, grabbed 
his arm and dragged him to his feet then into the lab.
  Tenchi swallowed and asked, "What do you want to show me Washu?"
  "This." She said pointing. Tenchi turnerd and was amazed. "Riuoh is almost 
completely regrown."
  She was right. The tree ship looked almost exactly like it had when he had 
first seen it. It was the size of a city block and parts jutted out in every 
direction. Briefly he shuddered as the image of the ship barreling at him 
through space entered his mind. He'd almost forgotten how the ship had been 
destroyed. The look on Aeka's face when she'd crashed the space tree into 
Ryo-oki, the cackling laugh, both had been in his dreams for days after 
that. Not to mention when she'd fired on Tenchi's yard without any warning.
  "I was wondering if you might want one of these Tenchi." Washu said. "You 
know, since everyone else here has their own ship I wanted to know if you 
wanted one."
  "No thanks Washu." Tenchi said still staring at the ship. "If I go into 
space I think I'll stick to Ryo-oki. I trust her." Washu giggled and shook 
her head. "What?"
  "Oh nothing. Just that if you expect Ryo-oki to be around whenever you 
need to go into space that means you expect Ryoko to be around." She said 
casually. "Otherwise you could have said Riuoh, Tsunami, or Yukanojo."
  Tenchi blushed and looked down at her. "Washu I..."
  "Don't worry about it Tenchi. We both know that eventually Aeka and Sasami 
will have to go back to Jurai and that Mihoshi has duties in the GP. Plus 
lets face it, as much as I like you, I somehow doubt you'd fit as stepfather 
for Ryoko." She pinched his butt making him jump. "You'll make a cute 
son-in-law though."
  "Uh, thanks... I think." He said turning bright red.

  Ryoko moaned and flopped down on Tenchi's bed. She'd broken the hoe in the 
first five minutes; her sword only turned the dirt into glass, so she'd had 
to do everything by hand. By the end she'd been tired, dirty, and cranky 
beyond belief. She had taken a quick shower in the regular bathroom, but had 
been too tired to enjoy it.
  She'd finally dragged herself to Tenchi's room. "I'll take a short nap and 
be nice and awake to protect..." She yawned loudly. "Tenchi."

  Sasami sighed as she cleared up the dinner dishes. "I wonder where Ryoko 
was today." The spacepirate hadn't shown up for dinner.
  "Who cares." Aeka said. "Lord Tenchi would you like to sit with me?"
  "I don't think so Aeka. I'm going to turn in early today." He said. "Don't 
worry Sasami, knowing Ryoko she got a hold of a bottle of saki and is off 
having fun."
  "I guess." She said.
  Mihoshi smiled at her. "Hey Sasami, wasn't that Invader Zim with the bee 
funny? American cartoons rock." (This message brought to you by the author 
in a brief moment of patriotism. It won't happen again.)
  Tenchi turned while they were talking and went up the stairs. When he got 
to the room he heard the teleporter on his door beep as it recognized him. 
It kept everyone but Ryoko out of his room unless they knocked first. She 
just went through the wall. Which explained hopw, but not why, she was 
passed out on his bed.
  Ryoko was asleep, spread out across the top of his bed. Tenchi noticed one 
of her ponytails was lying across her face. Reaching down he pushed it to 
the side and ran his finger along her cheek. He really wanted to crawl into 
the bed with her, but knew that if he did she'd wake up and would insist on 
watching him again all night.
  So he went into the hall, got some blankets, and lay down next to the bed. 
Listening to Ryoko's breathing it wasn't long until he fell asleep too.

  The floorboards creaked softly and Ryoko heard a tiny knock at the door. 
She tensed as she heard it open slowly and the sofy footsteps. Suddenly 
there was a loud 'oof' from the floor by the bed.
  "What is going on?" Tenchi asked while sitting up. Ryoko watchewd in the 
dark as he reached for the light switch. Then she tackled Aeka as the knife 
swung at Tenchi's back.
  "Ryoko what are you doing?" Tenchi asked.
  "She's attacking me!" Aeka said. "Make her let me go Lord Tenchi."
  Ryoko growled trying to get the knife as Aeka's logs appeared and began 
shocking her. "Not a chance princess." She knocked it away then jumped back 
landing on the bed. "She was trying to kill you Tenchi."
  "Why would she do that Ryoko?"
  Aeka stood up straightening her robes. "Exactly. She was the one trying to 
kill you. I told you she was a demon."
  Ryoko laughed despite being hit by another bolt of electricity. "Why don't 
you ask her why she's here and why she had a knife?"
  Tenchi turned towards the princess. She was smiling in the same way she 
had whenever she zapped Ryoko. Tenchi summoned one of the lighthawk wings 
almost immediately to block it. "Aeka, what are you doing?"
  "Lord Tenchi surely you can see..." She moved incredibly fast. Tenchi 
wasn't even sure when she'd gotten the knife again, but it was there. Tenchi 
let out a yell as the point stopped just infront of his eye spraying him 
with blood. He fell backwards in shock looking up at Ryoko as she pulled the 
blade from her arm. Aeka cursed and ran for the door.
  "What's going on in here?" Mihoshi asked yawning and stepping infront of 
the princess. Aeka crashed into her and they rolled on the floor ending up 
with Mihoshi sitting on her. "Hi Aeka."
  "Get off of me!" Aeka's logs shot lightning into the blond. She screamed 
and passed out allowing Aeka to run again. Tenchi ran to Mihoshi's side to 
see if she was all right.
  Ryoko pulled the knife out of her arm and the skin healed over. She 
summoned her blade and began fading through the floor.
  "Ryoko, wait for me." Tenchi said. She reached out and grabbed his arm 
just in time to pull him with her. They landed on the floor of the kitchen 
and heard a door in the livingroom close. "What is happening? Why is Aeka 
doing this?"
  "Tenchi she is trying to kill you!" Ryoko said pulling him through the 
wall. "We can discuss the details later."
  They saw the door to Washu's lab shut and ran for it. Bursting through 
they looked between the rows of tanks and equipment. Washu was lying against 
a tank where something like a leech with huge teeth was trying to attack her 
through the glass.
  "Mom, wake up!" They yelled. Ryoko turned to Tenchi and raised an eyebrow.
  "She said to call her mom." He said blushing.
  Ryoko smiled and her sword flickered for a second. "Oh Tenchi I..." She 
was interupted as Aeka's spaceship started to rise, knocking over the 
equipment and some of the tanks.
  Washu stood next to them watching with interest as the ship warped and 
disapeared. "Tenchi, did you finally tell Ryoko you're in love with her or 
did she find out that Yosho isn't old?"
  Tenchi blinked at her, but shook his head. "Neither until now."
  Ryoko's jaw dropped in surprise. "Tenchi's in love with me?"
  The lab shook like there was an earthquake. Washu smiled slightly. "I do 
believe Aeka is trying to blow up the house. Good thing her aiming circuits 
haven't finished growing yet." There was another blast.
  "What can we do Washu?" Tenchi asked.
  She sighed and shook her head. "I'm surprised you don't know Tenchi. Do 
you or do you not have the master key?"

  Aeka cursed as her ship began to land. It wasn't grown enough to know 
where to aim the particle canon or produce the light hawk wings. All she's 
managed to do was destroy a mountain and fire into the lake. Now that 
pretentious little bastard had the sword and was forcing her to land.
  Aeka knew what she had to do. Reaching forward she hit the self-destruct 
button. With a cackle her punched it.

Wayne: Whoa! We aren't going to end the fic like that
Garth: Let's do the Scooby Doo ending.
Both: (Wave their fingers) Doodlydodoodlydodoodlydo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wavy lines~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Aeka growled and strained against her ropes while Ryoko twirled her crown 
on her hand. Sasami stood hugging Ryo-oki and looking at her sadly. The 
others, Asuza, his wives, and some guards were there too.
  "Why'd you do it Aeka?" Misaki asked.
  The all stared at her and she sneered back. "I would think you would know 
mother."
  "I told you. Kagato was the same way." Ryoko said. "I knew she was trying 
to hurt him but nobody believed me."
  Tenchi hugged her. "I'm sorry Ryoko." He turned to Aeka. "Why did you do 
it though?"
  "Because she thought you were going to be crown prince." Washu said. "She 
wanted to be queen."
  "Jinkies..." Mihoshi said.
  Aeka cackled. "It's not like I didn't try it the nice way and marry you 
like I tried with Yosho, but the first time you went to rescue Ryoko I knew 
I didn't have a chance. I spent seven hundred years being the future queen 
and trying to make sure I stayed that way whether Yosho was alive or not. I 
wasn't about to spend the rest of my life calling someone who wasn't even 
half Juraian 'Lord' for the rest of my life or letting Ryoko become queen. I 
would have done it sooner if it wasn't for that meddling demon."
  The guards took her away. The emperor was going to say something but he 
was quiet. Sasami had already insisted on staying with Tenchi. Yosho went to 
talk with his mother while Noboyuki, Mihoshi, and Washu took Sasami into the 
house to calm her down, telling her that it would all be okay.
  "Ryoko." Tenchi said watching as Aeka was led away. "I'm glad you were 
there to protect me."
  She slipped her arms around his waist and he turned to look at her. Her 
face moved next to his, her lips brushing his mouth as she talked. "Me too 
Tenchi. Can I sleep in your room now?" She kissed him quickly on the lips 
when he nodded.

The end

Wayne: Okay, not bad. Do we have time for the megahappy ending?
Garth: Uh, I don't think so. The reader looks like he's getting sick of this 
bit.
Wayne: Well all right then. On to the notes.

Author's note
  I saw the episode where Ryoko is watching Tenchi sleep, remembered her 
saying how dangerous Aeka was, and the look on Aeka's face every time she 
tries to torture or kill someone plus her laugh. Aeka fans often wonder why 
everyone thinks Ryoko will get Tenchi. It's because Aeka is a psycho who 
likes to kill and hurt things. If you watch any of the series you'll see her 
ramming her ship at Ryo-oki, trying to kill Tenchi or Ryoko (who is 
obviously not even trying) or even getting a shot gun to hunt Tenchi down 
like in the dimension tuner thing. So I wondered if Ryoko might not be 
trying to keep Aeka from killing Tenchi in his sleep since she can't marry 
him and be queen. If you have an opinion on this fic email me at 
clayton_n@hotmail.com