Scent of Tenchi

        Ryoko snuck out of her cubby of a sleeping space up in the ceiling and
crept stealthily
down the hall to Tenchi’s room. She’s powerful enough to get to Tenchi
automatically with out
any effort, but she enjoys the small quarlls she has with Aeka. She giggled
with a sly fanged grin
and silently opened the door....then remembered the Jurain alarm system
Washu and Aeka
installed. "Gulp." Was all she could say, as she was instantly teleported
into the lake on the west
side of the house. She could hear the odd calkiling of Aeka even submerged
in the cold lake.
Ryoko then came soaring out, teleported and landed in the middle of Tenchi’s
room. Aeka was
laying on a cot across the room from Tenchi’s bed. "WHAT IS THIS, A SLEEP
OVER??!?"
"Calm down, Ryoko, Aeka and Sasami said they could’nt sleep." Ryoko turned
and witnessed
Sasami streatching and yawning in the corner on her sleeping mat. Ryoko’s
eyes twitched.
Ryoko then sneezed and every one in the room said in unison. "Bless you!"
Ryoko slunk down
against the wall in the oppisite corner and quickly went to sleep.

        The cold on my nose, I wish my mother were here. Some times it gets
so
cold, it
hurts to breathe. Where’s my mommy? I keep running and running in the snow,
and I
can’t find her. B-but, there’s some one over there! It’s a little girl, just
like me...she has
purple hair and a small wooden crown. Is that the princess? Well, I don’t
care. "Hello?
Will you help me find my mommy?" It hurt just to say these words. "Who are
you? I
can’t find my big bothwer!" she shouted, tears came up in her eyes. I
started to cry too.

        Ryoko woke up with a start. Tenchi was standing over her now with
his eyes
glistening
with the dew of sleepiness. His eyes were a bit glazed. "You have a bad
dream, Ryoko?" He
asked, throwing out his own hand for her to hold on to as she got up. She
smiled. "Tenchi..."
She lingered around him. A delightful smell hovered over his body. It
smelled like a sweet hot
cologne, but Ryoko knew he did’nt wear any. It made Ryoko sleepy to a point
of no return.
"Oh, Tenchi, you smell so sweet...." Tenchi smiled. "I do?"
"Yes...it reminds me of..."

        She was kind of silent after we had both had a good cry. I felt my
cheeks,
they
were even colder now that I had cried! I could barely feel anything. The
small girl that
looked a bit like me, started to rock back and forth, then fall on me, her
arms wraped
around my shoulders and her big violet eyes looked up at me, glistening with
sentiment.
"I’ve been out here for hours...I’m so cold." She nuzzled her face in the
front of my coat.
She did’nt even have the strength to cry any longer! I held onto her tight
and started to
cry again. "Don’t die..." I wispered. I sunk to my knees in the snow and she
came down
with me. I then unziped my coat and pushed her next to me with the coat
wrapped around
the both of us. She just sat there, I did’nt know if she was asleep or dead.
I just hoped
that my mommy would find us and help her. My teeth chattered but I put my
hand above
my eyes and scanned the area for any adults through the storm. I found no
one. "It’s
okay princess...." I wispered. "I’ll sing you a song that my mommy sings me
when I can’t
sleep:
Sleep, my darling, sleep,
for the sun will come in the morn,
you shall be the queen of the day,
and live your life so great,
sleep, my darling, sleep,
for I shall protect you,
my baby, in the morn,
I shall see----"
        I broke down and cried again, then I pushed my face in her thick
purple
hair. She
stirred a bit then settled back down again. Then I heard a faint voice...an
adult, but I
could’nt tell if it were male or female. I was so so tired. And then---

        "Tenchi!" Ryoko shouted. She stuffed her face in his chest and
cried. Aeka
ran in the
room. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?!" She shouted, and pushed her off
Tenchi.
All Ryoko could do was sit where she had been pushed and look down. "Aeka,
do you
remember...what happened to us, on Jurai?"
"No...what happened? Do you mean the time you messed up my hair on the
cruise, or the time I
found you in my hotel room, or the time you stole my flower head-crown
or---"
"No, the snow storm, in Campin county!"
"What snow storm? It hardly ever snows on Jurai, and when it does, it’s very
heavy, I would
have remembered that." Ryoko’s eyebrows shifted. How could she not remember
that ice
storm...I don’t know why, but it’s been repeating in my mind for the last
few weeks...
Ryoko then grabbed Aeka by the collar and held her tight to her own body.
"Damn it, Aeka!
All we do is bicker, I hate you, I really do...." She then held her at arms
length and looked
Aeka in the eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks. "But I love you...too....and I
can’t stand it!" She
then threw Aeka to the ground. Aeka was out of breath and speechless. Ryoko
then threw a
energy ball towards Aeka, blasting a wall. Aeka jumped up, but was still
shaking, and could not
talk. Tenchi’s eyes were wide as well, he looked at Aeka then at Ryoko.
"What? I’m
confused!" Ryoko bit her bottom lip. "So am I, Tenchi, so am I..." She then
jumped out of
Tenchi’s bedroom window and flew off to the other side of the lake, where
there was a tree
facing the sun. Ryoko sat on it, put her face in her hands and cried. Then
she fell asleep again.

I woke up in a big comfy bed, with lots of flowers all around and pink
curtins
were on this big pretty window. It smelled familiar...it smelled like Aeka!
Aeka walked in
the room, her little body was bouncy, and she seemed more alive then ever.
She ran to the
foot of the bed and jumped onto the bed, her face was now just a few inches
from mine.
She smiled. "How are you?"
"I’m fine. Are you okay?"
"Yes, very." She nodded. I grinned. She lifted up her small little pink hand
and handed
me a small crown of flowers. "I made this last summer, and kept it in the
freezer, so that
it would stay fresh. Here, you can have it, wear it, and remember me...when
you leave."
"Where am I?"
"Your in my room. In the castle. My brother brought you back here, with me."
"Where’s my mommy?"
"I don’t know...but, we’ve put out a posting in all the main buildings for
your mommy to
pick you up."
"Oh...thank you for the flower crown....it’s very pretty."
"Thank you.." Aeka then crawled under the covers beside me. "I’m sleepy,
let’s go back
to sleep."
"Okay." Turned towards her and began to slow my breathing so I could sleep
better, and
then I felt her little arm wrap around my shoulder, as she lightly snored.

        Ryoko woke up, still clinging onto her knees and a bit of drool
hanging out
of her
mouth. She looked down. Aeka was standing at the base of the tree with a
small cloth satchel in
her hands. "Ryoko..."
"Aeka." She hovered down to the ground in front of Aeka. Aeka blinked, then
looked down at
her hands. She then handed it quietly to Ryoko. "Here, you left this in my
room..." She then ran
away to the house. Ryoko opened up the satchel, to find, a small crown of
wilted, yet colorful
flowers.

The End