u n f o r g i v a b l e   s i n          a tale of ryouko and washuu hakubi
a Tenchi Muyo! Ryououki fanfiction       set immediately after OAV 13.5
written by Navaash Fenwylde              navaash@mail.wsu.edu

part 2.1

----- "Yes, yes, you're going to lose that girl"

It's never too late to try something new.

Washuu decided to do something that was alien to her: she did absolutely
nothing. For hours she knelt on her favorite hovering cushion, letting her mind
wander off on her own. Surely there was something she hadn't thought of that
might spring to her unbidden if she gave it a chance.

Images and scenes flashed by in a haze. Most of her thoughts were vague, having
taken place so long ago. Thinking it over, she realized that the only truly
clear memories she had were from the point that enigmatic policewoman had freed
her from captivity on the Souja. Realizing she was reining herself in, she
straightened herself out and allowed herself to "meditate" once more.

*  *  *

Tenchi lay in bed, freshly roused by the sunlight, his head still buzzing with
his thoughts.

Something was beginning to click in his head. This much he knew about the
current situation:

He probably knew Ryouko better than anybody else at the moment, aside from
possibly Washuu. He knew that she acted primarily on instinct and more
importantly emotion. She almost never did things subtly; that much was obvious
from the fright of his life on the school rooftop, and her continual shameless
attempts to seduce him.

But the one point that kept returning to him was pain. He knew about the pain
he had felt while he had been at the mall. He knew about the pain from the time
that Washuu had been experimenting on him. There may have been other occasions,
but he was utterly certain about those two. Based on what he knew, only now did
he deduce that she was crying for help.

But from what?

He sat up. With Ryouko missing, there was only one person he could talk to right
now.

*  *  *

Fast asleep before, Aeka was stirred to waking with a light knock on her door.

"Aeka-san! Aeka-san!" repeated the gentle voice on the other side. It could only
be Tenchi calling out to her. Her heart fluttered, and she made her best effort
to sound polite.

"Hai, Tenchi-sama! What do you want?"

"I need to speak with you. It's kinda private."

Sasami was already up and awake preparing breakfast, leaving the opportunity
wide open for Aeka to have some time alone with her beloved. "Please come in!"

The door slowly opened, and in walked Tenchi, fully dressed. He was cloaked in
his navy blue outfit, the one with the symbol for "heaven" written on the left
drape. What struck Aeka most, though, was his completely serious demeanor. It 
almost looked like he was fit to be a king or even an emperor. She remained 
composed, but inwardly her heart soared. After closing the door Tenchi knelt 
on the floor in front of her in the traditional Japanese custom. He continued 
to be serious while Aeka laid prone in her futon.

"What did you wish to speak about?" asked the princess.

Tenchi remained resolute. "Aeka-san... I have come to ask you a question. A very
deep and personal question."

Some kind of irrationality overcame Aeka and she jumped to conclusions. "Yes!
Yes, Tenchi-sama! I will, I will!"

Tenchi smiled. "Oh! You're eager to help me find Ryouko then?"

Aeka stopped cold, embarrassed at her folly. Her two sides began to tear at her.
*Why should you bother letting your dear Tenchi find your worst rival?* *But
she's not really my rival anymore...* *Like hell she isn't! And aren't you
insulted? He's come to you to look for HER and not look after YOU!* *Nonsense.
Tenchi is an even-handed man and cares for us fairly.* *Then ask him why!*

Her rational side won out, but still her nagging doubt led her to blurt out,
"Why?"

"I was actually hoping you would ask me that," replied Tenchi, visibly relieved.
"I've been wondering about everything that's happened and how Washuu-chan's been
acting oddly and how Ryouko's suddenly disappeared and why you were so violent
towards Washuu-chan and what Sasami-chan said about 'hanging in the dark'
and..." He looked up at Aeka, who was blank-faced. "...Oh, I'm sorry! Was I
speaking too fast?"

*Just like Tenchi.* Satisfied, Aeka replied, "No, it's fine. Now could you start
over from the beginning?"

"Um..." Tenchi laughed nervously. "You haven't happened to see Ryouko in the
last day perchance?"

Aeka lowered her voice considerably. "Yes. In fact, she came to see me last
night..."

Tenchi listened intently as Aeka droned on about her unusual encounter with the
ex-space pirate. After she finished he began to consider the part where Ryouko
seemed distraught about mothers. If Ryouko was bothered about this, and Washuu
was the only one laying claim to be her mother... Something was still very much
missing, but it was more clear to him now than-

"Tenchi-sama! Are you alright?"

Tenchi snapped back to reality, realizing he had fallen silent. This time,
without his usual characteristic crazy reaction, he replied. "Oh! Yes, I'm
okay." He stood up. "Let's go see Washuu-chan."

Aeka twitched. "I thought we were going to look for Ryouko-san...?"

Tenchi nodded. "I think I can find out where Ryouko went by speaking to Washuu."

"Wait... then why do you need me?"

He stopped for a moment, reconsidered, and replied, "It might help."

Aeka, always impressed by Tenchi's honesty, stood up and followed him out of the
room.

*  *  *

The laboratory door opened easily for Aeka and Tenchi.

They walked in, and were presented with a raised platform surrounded by lush
jungle habitation. Two stairwells, one on each side, ran down to a path that
went through and around the feral paradise. The platform was oval-shaped at the
other end; and at the tip of that oval sat Washuu, always typing away on her
computer. The two Masaki children walked side-by-side and approached the
scientist, drawing her attention as they neared.

"Good morning, Tenchi-dono!" Washuu greeted them warmly as her floating cushion
turned by itself so she could face them. "I should be done with repairs soon,
but I can answer your questions as long as they aren't too terribly complex."

"That's good, since I expect this to be easy to answer," replied Tenchi. "Are
you truly Ryouko's mother?"

Washuu froze, her fingers stiffening in place on the keyboard. Her expression
turned to surprise; she had to force herself to respond. "...yes. Why would you
ask that?"

It was now Tenchi's turn to be confused; he put a hand to his chin. He motioned
to Aeka to ask her own question, which she did forthrightly.

"Washuu-s...chan, have you spoken to Ryouko-san yet?"

Washuu looked forlorn. "Unfortunately... no."

Now Aeka was confused. She looked at Tenchi and said with him, "No?!"

"I would speak to her, but I can't find her," continued Washuu. "It's almost as
if she doesn't want anybody to find her..."

Gears spun in Tenchi's mind. He snapped to action. "I'll be back soon! Stay
here!" No sooner had those words escaped his lips had he run out the laboratory
door, leaving both Aeka and Washuu to revel in the battlefield of confusion that
was forming.

*  *  *

Tenchi crawled into the cave where it had all began, past the stone that had
wrapped around it tens of Shinto paper tassles, past the smaller stone that
(he did not notice) was split in two again with the vine lying askew, through
the entrance and down the slippery slope that had taken him to Ryouko for the 
first time. Normally he would have had extreme trepidation about ever entering 
this place again, but for one of the few times in his life he was a driven man.

He emerged in the central spherical chamber, where all the grooves in the floor
ran to the deep pool of water that had once been Ryouko's eternal tomb. He
walked up to the edge and peered inside; nothing was there but the funeral pyre
she had been bound to. He almost reached to touch the water, but pulled his hand
back at the last second for fear of picking up a curse. Lights like fireflies
still hung in midair here: it began to eat away at his will to remain, but there
was still something he had to do first.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, "Ryouko! Ryouko! Are you
here?"

Several seconds passed and he got no answer. So he repeated, "Ryouko! Ryouko?"
Still nothing.

He sighed; it seemed that she was truly not here. With that the last reason for
him to stay her expired, and he suddenly realized where he was. His paranoia
kicking in again, he hurriedly scrambled up the slippery slope and out to the
safety of the upper world.

In his haste to egress he failed to notice the figure materializing behind him.

----- "And I don't want to go home right now"

In the desolate chamber, a lone figure sat crouched on the floor, brooding in
the darkness.

It seemed a perfect place for her to hide. Truth be told, it was a place she
hated with all her heart. A place where for centuries she was bound, physically
unable to move, unable to see, unable to feel anything. It wasn't even her own
fault that she had been bound in such a ghastly way. It was a nightmare that
she could not bear to think about. Still, in light of the battle she faced, it
almost felt like the perfect place to operate out of.

She sat close to the chamber wall, looking into the glowing pit that had held
her body so well. She at least had been able to leave the pit with her mind,
and for that she was thankful; otherwise she would have never known the young
boy they called Tenchi.

For the umpteenth time, she recalled the memory of a younger Tenchi weeping by
the rocks at the entrance to the cave. He was but a mere groundling, and thus
could not be expected to restrain his emotions the way a grown man was. And why?
His mother had died. (Not his great aunt; she was most definitely still running
that onsen of hers.) He had lost somebody dear to him, somebody with whom he
shared a unique bond with. It was a bond broken, a bond he would never be able
to feel again in his lifetime.

She remembered it well. He was calling the name he knew her by over and over
again. "Okaa-san! ...Okaa-san!" It broke her heart to see him cry so much. What
was lost, he could never have back. The pain transferred directly to her. It
was unbearable. It tore at her so much that she desperately wanted to break her
bonds, out of the cavern come crypt, and give him the care he was now deprived
of.

But she could not. All she could do was try to console him, even though she was
invisible to him. It seemed to have worked; by the time Youshou and Nobuyuki
found him and took him home, his flow of tears had dried up to a trickle. And
in later years, he never showed any lasting effects, growing up much like any
normal boy would. It was the first time she had been like a... mother.

A mother?

Did she have what it required to be a mother? She certainly thought it to be
possible. But her first real-world experience was something of a disaster, when
the baby Taro had been dropped off for a bit. Still she was convinced that given
the time, she could be perfectly fit for the part. No more being forced to
destroy things as she could only helplessly scream inside and beg for it to
stop. No more being helplessly bound to one place, in some ways much worse than
being some megalomaniacal genius's thrall. Just the simple pleasure of raising
her own child.

But other than the Taro farce, she knew little. And who would teach her the way
to be a proper mother?

Inwardly she knew she must find her mother.

She continued to sit still in her place of solitude, thinking things over
very closely. This was one thing she was not going to charge into blindly.

And then there was that other thing she had to deal with.

*  *  *

Washuu and Aeka were engaged in calm discussion, unlike the encounters in the
previous days.

"What was the nature of the tests you were conducting on Ryouko-san?" inquired
Aeka.

"I believe I already explained this," replied Washuu, "but since the incident
involving Doctor Clay I had to find out if he had done anything to her. Nothing
seemed wrong, except for a block on a small part of her memory that she knew
nothing about. I tried to break it, but failed. It bothers me... nothing should
be able to stand before my intellect."

Aeka nodded. "Still, that does not explain why you left her hanging if you were
finished with your test."

Washuu suddenly became quiet, speaking in low tones. "Well... to be perfectly
honest, I-"

Suddenly the laboratory door swung open. In walked Tenchi, huffing and puffing
as if he had been running from some frightful thing, but otherwise seeming
fine enough. Both the princess and the scientist turned their heads towards him,
awaiting his voice.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting... unfortunately she isn't where I thought she
would be."

Hearts dropped. Aeka nonetheless picked up her conversation with Washuu as
Tenchi walked to her side. "Well, and I know this is a silly question, but you
are Ryouko-san's mother, correct?"

"Absolutely!" Washuu stood up and off her cushion, her arms folded in front of
her as if she was cuddling something. "She's my daughter and I love her from
the bottom of my heart!"

Aeka involuntarily stepped backwards; all eyes were on her. "Is that so...?"

Washuu blinked. "Of course! ...Is there something you wanted to say?"

Aeka's next words came out in a hesitant manner. "Last night she said...
and I am not making this up..." She held up her fingers to indicate it was not
her own words. "'I wish... I could have... a mother... like that.'"

"What?" Tenchi's surprise was immediate. She looked at Washuu, then Aeka, then
Washuu again.

It was Washuu's turn to say something. "I guess it's time for me to confess."

'Befuddlement' is the word that could be best describe Tenchi and Aeka at this
point. "Huh?"

Washuu walked down one of the flights of stairs, motioning for the other two to
follow as she walked into the bowels of the laboratory. "Come. I have something
I must show you."

*  *  *

Deep in a corner of the mammoth tribute to science, Washuu, Tenchi, and Aeka
stood in the room where Washuu had conducted her experiment. Truthfully, it was
a replica since Ryouko's rampage had completely totalled the original room, but
otherwise it was physically and functionally the same place. They stood in front
of a kiosk that accomodated a monitor and Earth-style VCR player.

Washuu took a particular unmarked tape out of a cabinet, pushed it into the
front slot, and stood to the side. She said as it whirred to life, "This is
what I have been hiding from you. I hope you will not think any less of me
because of this."

Neither Tenchi nor Aeka understood the comment. They could only watch as the
videotape rolled and the events of several nights before played out in front of
their eyes.


When it was all over, there was nothing but profound silence, save for the sound
of static the speakers were emitting.

Washuu continued to stand still, her head hung down, prepared for the barrage of
hatred she was about to recieve. But what she got instead was far from what she
expected.

"Washuu-chan..." began Aeka, her voice shaky but resolute. "You really do care
for Ryouko, don't you?"

The scientist's head snapped to attention. "...huh?"

"I know that mothers show their affection in unusual ways. My own mother is a
testament to this fact. And after seeing this... I thought before that you were
simply indifferent or uncaring towards Ryouko-san." She bowed forward. "I
apologize for leaping to conclusions!"

Washuu was speechless. But Aeka wasn't done yet. "But I must ask... why did you
choose to show this to us now?"

"I gave it a great deal of thought the other night," she sullenly replied.
"Eventually I simply realized that the best way to handle this was to be
forthright. I was going to tell you straight out earlier, if not for Tenchi-dono
suddenly intruding in on us. In any case, now you know."

They looked at each other quietly. For the first time, they had come to some
kind of a mutual understanding.

Suddenly Washuu was compelled to say, "And by accident, Ryouko-chan got a hold
of and watched the tape.

Tenchi began to speak on his own accord, almost as if thinking out loud. "It all
makes sense now. When I felt the pang of pain a while back, it must have
coincided with her watching the tape. She must have misunderstood... and that's
why she destroyed the laboratory."

"Yes."

Tenchi waxed nostalgic. "My mother died when I was young. I couldn't understand
why either. Death was a foreign concept at the time... but as I grew older,
I *did* understand, and learned to accept it." He turned and looked at Washuu.
"Washuu-chan... I think she doesn't understand either. And unfortunately, I also
think she's going to act on it."

Washuu pondered this for a moment. "...What do you propose we should do?"

"I care for all of you," he began. "I care for Ryouko, I care for Aeka-san, I
care for Sasami-chan, Mihoshi-san, Ryou-chan, and even you as well, Washuu-chan.
But I must put a stop to this. I have to get her out in the open so I can talk
to her!"

"How?"

Tenchi stopped. "...Um, I don't know."

Washuu and Aeka nearly fell over.

After regaining her composure, Aeka cleared her throat and spoke. "Ryouko-san
seems to have a problem with Washuu-sa..., er, *chan*, and Washuu-chan alone."

"That is true," remarked the scientist.

"She's all but disappeared on us, and the only place Washuu-chan has been 
recently is here in the laboratory. Perhaps if Washuu-chan comes out in the 
open... then Ryouko-san will appear and we can get her to talk."

"Not 'we', princess," replied Washuu. "Unfortunately in her current state
Ryouko-chan will probably want to deal with just me and me alone. Tenchi-dono,
I realize you want to speak to her yourself, but... if you must, then I will
have to use myself as bait to draw her out to you."

Tenchi involuntarily stepped backwards. "Uhhh... I don't think I like this
plan!"

Aeka intervened. "Tenchi-sama... I don't think Washuu-chan is in any real danger
if she does this..."

Washuu nodded. Tenchi backpedaled for a few seconds, then reluctantly sighed.
"If you say so... but please don't do anything stupid!"

"Me? Stupid?" Washuu smirked. "Not since I met you, Tenchi-dono."

*  *  *

Night fell on the Okayama countryside. Washuu stood alone on the docks, gazing
at the lonely moon, her hair tucked neatly away in her ubiquitous cap. From 
inside the house, Aeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi watched quietly. Earlier Aeka had
let Sasami and Mihoshi in on the secret; Sasami was distraught, and Mihoshi
simply confused, but after some pleading she managed to calm both of them down
enough to make things clear. They still had their worries, especially Sasami,
but they understood in earnest.

However they didn't understand the plan.

"What's Washuu-san doing?" asked Mihoshi.

"I already told you, she's waiting for Ryouko-san to come out!" hissed Aeka in
a whisper. "And I thought I said to be quiet!"

"But where's Tenchi-niichan?" asked Sasami.

"I don't know either... they discussed that themselves..."

All was silent on the eastern front.

Then the dogs of war came crying.

Ryouko, decked out in full battle suit, materialized in midair some three
hundred yards away from Washuu, positioned so as to look like she appeared from
the moon. Pain and anguish was visibly evident; pain in her face, anguish in
the brighter-than-usual laser sword in her hand. Sasami and Mihoshi gasped; Aeka
quickly tried to calm them down.

"You bitch!" screamed Ryouko, her voice echoing in the countryside. "How can you
just stand there when you should be begging for mercy?!"

"I'm not going to hurt you, Ryouko-chan," replied the scientist in a calm and
collected fashion. "But please understand. Just like you and everybody else
here, I have my own feelings and emotions."

"You HAVE no emotions!"

"Ryouko-chan, I didn't destroy the tape. But if you'll please stop and listen
*why*-"

"No more words!" Ryouko yelled. "Just... DIE!!" And with that she lunged forward
and screamed towards her object of hatred, who simply stood and waited.

Sasami nearly shrieked; Mihoshi nearly fainted. Aeka had an inkling of what was
supposed to happen, but she was growing more and more worried with each passing
second; Ryouko seemed to move faster than she realized, and Tenchi had not shown
up yet.

With a deafening roar, Ryouko leveled her sword out in front of her like a lance
and yelled in triumph. Her moment was coming. She would finally get her main
obstacle out of the way, and nothing would stop her now.

Aeka could only stare on in horror at what was unfolding. Sasami looked away.
Mihoshi closed her eyes tight.

Suddenly Tenchi, who had missed his cue, hastily ran out from his hiding spot on
the dock, grasping the Master Key. He didn't want to have to use it, but it was
ready if need be.

"RYOUKO!"

Against the moonlight Ryouko looked like a wretched beast, her heart moved upon
hearing the voice of her savior. "Tenchi!"

"Ryouko, STOP! This is insane!" He was almost at Washuu's side.

"You don't understand!" Ryouko was almost there. "This is between me and her!"

"Don't do this!"

"Don't stop me!"

Just as Ryouko reached Washuu, Tenchi activated the Master Key. He felt a 
frightening surge of might in his veins as the soul-charged blade extended to
its full length. Just as Ryouko was about to connect, his sword training came
to him and he deftly repelled her attack, knocking her back enough so he could
position himself in front of Washuu like a shield. Out of the corner of his eye,
he saw some mysterious green energy briefly crackle in front of her.

When Ryouko made no further movement, he relaxed, the blade drawing itself back
into the nothingness it had emerged from.

Ryouko drifted backwards, her grief now fully evident as it dripped into the
lake below. "Tenchi... why..."

He saw this and was reduced to stuttering. "I... you... I'm, I'm sorry..."

"How... can you protect her..." Her face curled up; she bit her lip. And before
he could respond, she turned, flung her sword into the winds, and flew away
towards the shrine above.

"Wait!" he yelled, but it was of no use. Behind him, Washuu put her hand on his
shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I should have just taken the hit and let it be
done with."

Tenchi was startled. "Washuu-chan! I thought you said..." He felt the whoosh of
air from Ryouko's flight pass over him; he changed his priorities and wordlessly
sped off after her.

As he disappeared into the forest, Washuu heard the sliding door open behind
her. Out ran Aeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi, visibly relieved to see she was safe.
But the first questions out of their collective mouths were, "Where's Tenchi?
Where's Ryouko?"

Washuu turned and weakly smiled. "He's taking care of things. I trust in his
abilities." She then sighed profoundly and looked up at the hill. "Unfortunately
it looks like he's taken on the burden of my 'sins'..."

*  *  *

END PART TWO

AUTHOR'S NOTES
--------------
Whoops, I let the date slip. ^^;;;; Seriously, though, I have a good reason: my
computer died on me on December 17, ruining any chance I had of working on this
while I was still at WSU. (I've since repaired my computer.) Unfortunately this
means that I do not have the entire thing done, but just as a service to every-
body who's been waiting for this I'm releasing it now as 2.1. Expect 2.2 to come
sometime before March.

Comments to navaash@mail.wsu.edu please. If you look hard enough, you can find
other ways to contact me online as well. ;)