Time Enough for Tenchi (Part 1) by Eaerth "Yield to temptation; it may not pass your way again." - Robert A Heinlein My name is Tenchi Masaki. When I was young, I lived with 6 cute girls, and each one loved me. They were crazy. I'm not kidding here, the day didn't pass when some wholesale destruction wasn't being inflicted upon my home. They fought and fought and fought over me. I don't know what I would have done just for the chance for some peace and quiet. I considered moving to Tokyo to get away from the arguments. And women trying to feel me up any chance they got. In time I became very expert at pushing away guerilla kisses. But as the years passed, I fell in love with them. Then the problem changed from "How do I fend these women off?" to "Which one should I choose?" This question was much more difficult, because I loved them all. Even though they were insane, every woman had her time when she was beautiful. If I picked one over the others, five girls would be crying and so would I. It took a couple more years for me to figure out this one, more to get over the fear than figure it out. But one morning, a week from my twentieth birthday, I decided. I decided not to decide and chose not to choose. They couldn't make me love one and drop the others. I would love all of them before they had a chance to react. Aeka and Ryoko might even calm down and give me some peace. I woke up smiling and made quick time through my morning ritual. I had no idea how to stop a houseful of women from competing, even when I'd given them each what they wanted. I didn't know if *I* could handle it, to be truthful. Father never taught me how to keep a harem. But I had the greatest genius in the universe to help me and give me advice, so I hurried to Washu's lab, eager to break the news. # I excitedly entered Washu's lab. I'd been here many times, usually to escape Ryoko and Aeka fighting, which was still audible in the lab, and unstopping, as much a part of the atmosphere as the sound of wind blowing through the trees in the forest outside. "Hi Washu, do you have a minute?" I asked her. "I need some advice on something important. I finally decided what I need to do, and I need your help on how to--why is it so quiet?" I listened. It was dead silence. "Where are Ryoko and Aeka?" "They've gone, Tenchi," she said, getting up from her workbench. "Where did they go?" I asked. "Aeka, Sasami, and Ryoko went back to the Court yesterday. They couldn't bear to tell you goodbye, so they left the task to me." "Why, Washu? What happened?" I asked. "They grew tired of waiting for you, Tenchi, tired of waiting for you to decide what you wanted. They have lives to get on with, loves to find." "But I know what I want! I just had to work it out. I decided, I couldn't choose one of them, but I was willing to try to make it work with both. They can't go, now of all times!" "That's so, so sad," Washu said. "If you weren't so late. They won't be coming back, Tenchi. They never want to see you again. Mihoshi and Kiyone moved out of their apartment a couple weeks ago and transferred back to Galaxy Police Headquarters. They won't be returning, either." "No! NO, dammit! I love them! All of them. They can't leave me! They can't all leave me alone." I was hysterical now. "*Why are you packing?*" "I'm leaving too, Tenchi. They offered me a teaching position at Sigma 957 University. I start right away." "You don't need to go. You don't need to wait for me any more. I love you, Washu. I've loved you for years. Please stay with me. Please don't leave me." "I..." Washu paused and sat down, taking my hands in hers. "I loved you once, Tenchi. I loved you for a long time, but time passes. When you are in love with someone who doesn't return your love, time passes at a year for every hour. I stopped loving you thousands of years ago." "NO!" I cried. "It's not fair! I was a high school student! I couldn't handle half a dozen women hundreds of years older than me. I'm not even twenty! Don't leave me alone. Please." "I'm sorry, Tenchi. I need to pack." I fled the lab. I didn't see Washu again. She had left me months earlier and I never noticed. I was too distracted by arguing, and fighting, and aliens invading, and Mihoshi crying about TV, Kiyone begging for rent money, Aeka nagging, Ryoko blowing up the living room, Washu calling down Outer Gods, and Sasami catching deadly illnesses. More than anything, I'd wanted some quiet. I didn't see Washu again, though she patted me on the head as I sat on the stoop, face in my hands, the next day. I didn't move from sun up until sometime in the middle of the night, when I fell asleep. The thing I thought I wanted more than anything else was peace. One night of uninterrupted sleep. One bath alone. The chance to think. Quiet. Now, as I swept my empty, neglected shrine in the mountains far away from the nearest city, I had quiet. I dropped my broom and listened to the nothing. Only the peaceful sound of breeze. I fell to my knees, and then to my face, and the quiet went away for a time. --------- The names of Tenchi, Washu, Aeka, Sasami, Ryoko, Mihoshi, and Kiyone are copyrighted and probably trademarked by AIC & Pioneer LDC. I don't claim any ownership over them. Beyond the names, this story has just about nothing to do with the series. I hope you don't feel cheated. Completely unrelated stuff, such as my comic, "Kevorkian Won't Return My Calls," can be found at my website. http://eaerth.isfuckingbrilliant.com/ is the redirect. The email address on this post has been spam harvested and at least one of the spammers has the Klez virus, so I'm getting that mailed to me too. If you send anything there, there's a good chance I won't even notice it when I check email (once every couple months). If you have any comments or questions or anything, check the website. I used to put my real email address here at the bottom, but the website redirector has lasted two years, which is longer than any email service I've signed up with has lasted. Sorry for the extra step, but if you'd tried to send a message to the old address at the bottom of this chapter and gotten a bounce, you'd understand why.