ashu's Penitence

For Jordan

Tenchi Muyo! and all its trademark characters belong to Pioneer LDC and
AIC.

Chapter 1: The Beginning of the Dream

'And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack,
And you may find yourself in another part of the world,
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile,
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife,
And you may ask yourself "Well, how did I get here...?" '
- The Talking Heads

'It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream.
When you have something like a nightmare,
You will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream.
It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this,'
- Ghost Dog

'Miaow!'
- Ryo-ohki

**

The auburn haired boy in the purple shirt skipped across the shore
followed eagerly by his canine friend, whose brown fur matched his
master's hair almost perfectly. Weaving between the waves, they turned
up pouches of sand beneath their feet, only to be washed away almost
immediately. Washu watched as the boy produced a yellow rubber ball and
threw it in her direction for the dog to fetch. It landed by her
polished, ruby red shoes, which she had taken off so she could bury her
feet in the sand and wriggle her toes around beneath the ground. Putting
on a smile, she leaned over and petted the puppy, which responded to her
strokes with a warm lick on her chin.

"He's really beautiful," she said.

The boy stopped in his tracks, as if he'd just noticed Washu had ever
been there. A look that Washu couldn't quite recognize passed over his
face, and he knelt down to pick up the ball. She noticed that he was
trying his best to not even look in her direction. Suddenly, she felt
very uncomfortable.

"Sorry," he muttered quickly, turning around and sprinting away.
Sand sprayed all over Washu as his feet clumsily upturned the soft
ground.

"That's okay..." Washu replied when he was far away. The kid's
pet dog had remained, staring at her with deep, puzzled eyes. It cocked
its head, a pink tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth, daring her
to come join the fun. "You go with your master, pooch. It'll be okay,"

The dog snorted once, closing its mouth in disappointment. Blank animal
instincts returned to its face, and with a twirl of its tail it had
disappeared.

"Kids," Washu remarked, brushing the sand out of her baggy, green
shorts.

"What'd you say?" Ryoko said, waking up. She'd been sunbathing
beside Washu for the past forty minutes, and must have dozed off. "I
fell asleep when you started explaining sand particles,"

"Isn't it weird how little boys and little girls refuse to get along
at that age?" Washu continued, ignoring Ryoko's bone idleness.
"It's like they're a completely different species. Snips and
snails, puppy dog tails, and all that,"

"Well, I've always liked boys," Ryoko grinned, peering over her
blue-rimmed sunglasses at Tenchi, who was busy playing volleyball with
the other girls who'd joined them on this day out to the beach.
"Always,"

"Yeah, but you were never a little girl, Ryoko," Washu replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" snapped her daughter.

"Just a little mom humor," Washu smiled.

Washu dusted the sand from her striped shirt, her child-like body
itching like crazy. Maybe it was the sand, or maybe she just didn't
feel comfortable here. At first, when they'd suggested this little day
out, she'd been totally behind it. After all, it can get very lonely
in her lab, locked away without any real human contact for countless
hours a week. But now, out here, the sunlight almost cringed as it
trickled down her pale skin, and she couldn't seem to enjoy it quite
as much as the rest of them were doing. She'd meant to collect some
samples of the seawater around the area and take it back to the lab for
further analysis, but something had distracted her. Sure, the sea was
too cold anyway. And Ryoko, the only member of their party who was able
to help her get to the parts of the sea that were far too deep for a
little scientist such as herself, was fast asleep. but something else
was keeping her from making the effort today.

Washu paused and looked over at Ryoko, who had her attention focused on
Tenchi. The others were all enjoying themselves, as per usual. Sasami
especially, who was side by side with Tenchi as they bounced the
brightly colored beach ball over the netting and towards the opposing
team of the bumbling Mihoshi and enthusiastic Ayeka.

"Sasami sure doesn't seem that way," Ryoko grunted. "Her face
just lights up whenever Tenchi's around, you know,"

"You don't say," Washu said, nodding. "Sasami isn't exactly
your average little girl,"

"She's a weird kid," Ryoko said, tilting her body so that the
sunlight could pour itself over her back while she watched.

Washu scanned her surroundings. Over by the ice cream stand, Kiyone was
buying assorted snacks for the entire group, as Nobuyuki pretended to
help her whilst in actuality ogling the bikini clad girls who were
bouncing across the beach. Lord Katsuhito was relaxing under a
ridiculously large hat that canopied his head to avoid the sunrays, as
he basked in the glory of a good novel. Everyone was enjoying
themselves, she noted, and a delighted chuckle gurgled from her throat
as Kiyone handed her a chocolate ice cream.

"You ordered this, right?" Kiyone asked.

"Sure did!" Washu winked, licking Ryoko's chocolate ice cream.

"Which was yours again, Ryoko?" Kiyone said, looking to the
bedazzled, blue haired girl.

"Uh, she wanted the french fries and vanilla ice cream," replied Washu.

"I thought she hated french fries?" Kiyone said, placing the food on
a newspaper beside Ryoko.

"Yeah, me too," Washu replied. "I guess she's decided to expand
her boundaries when it comes to snacking! Heh-heh-heh,"

Kiyone set off towards where the others were playing volleyball, when
Sasami scampered over to Washu's spot in the sand and spread her arms
wide in merriment. There were very few times that Washu would see Sasami
as happy as she became when they'd take a trip out to the beach. The
sand would get in her hair and sparkle like little diamonds, the sea
would lap at her feet, and she would laugh along with the seagulls. Even
Ryo-ohki joined in her festival of fun, dancing about her legs and
miaowing tunefully. Washu almost envied Sasami's innocence. Almost.

"Hey, Washu!" Sasami called out. "Why don't you come join us?
We're having so much fun, it'd be a waste to come all this way just
to sit there!"

"That's okay, Sasami," Washu replied. "I think I might take a
walk. Hey, what about you, Ryoko? You're not gonna let Ayeka have all
the fun with Tenchi's ball, are you?"

"Wha.?" Ryoko blinked, coming to her senses. She frowned at the
red headed scientist and waved a french fry in her face. "No, of
course I'm not! How dare that princess try to hog all the fun! I'll
show her."

Ryoko snarled and stuffed the french fry into her mouth.

"WASHU!!!" she hollered and spluttered, but the genius had already
sneaked off.

**

Washu was surrounded by love. She could see the pairs of footprints left
by couples in the carpet of sand as they waltzed their way alongside the
boardwalk, keeping in step to the rhythm of the ocean. In her mind, she
could trace each individual pair of footprints and connect them to
another. People meeting other people, and then making new people. She
thought about Ryoko, and how she had been created. Washu never had to
meet anybody for Ryoko to be made. It was a simple task of genetic
construction; there were no sweet nothings to be whispered or loving
arms to be held within. No footsteps to follow or stand beside.

A loud vehicle, perhaps a truck, screamed past Washu and she came to her
senses. Across the road there was a billboard with a picture of a young
couple holding hands, the male was holding a cigarette in his free hand
and a cardboard smile glittered on the lady's face. Washu sighed at
how phoney the picture appeared. But, deep down, she realized that she
would probably trade anything to have that cardboard smile, to smell
such noxious breath against her pale neck. to be loved.

Sure, she loved Tenchi. But anyone could see that their relationship
was, and always would remain, one of a family type nature. Besides,
Ryoko loved Tenchi, and even though Washu enjoyed teasing them, deep
down she would love to one day know Tenchi was always going to be there
for her daughter. After all, who could say Ryoko didn't need
protecting? She caused herself more trouble than she could handle all on
her own.

If only guys like Tenchi weren't so rare, she thought to herself, and
looked back up at the billboard.

Love surrounded her, and it suffocated her.

**

"Okay, heads up!" Sasami giggled, punching the volleyball across the
net.

"That's Ayeka's head she's talking about!" Ryoko grinned, and
using her levitation powers she managed to intercept the ball before
Ayeka could even take a swing at it.

"What's that supposed to mean, you cheater?" Ayeka asked.

"You've got a big head," Ryoko replied, folding her arms. "Live
with it,"

"I do not have a big head!" Ayeka squeaked.

"Oh no?" Ryoko said, inspecting her fingernails.

"No, I don't!" Ayeka insisted. "Unlike you, you egomaniac!"

"What the heck does that mean?" asked Ryoko.

"It means-." Ayeka began, but found herself cut off abruptly by
the volleyball slamming into the side of her face.

"Oops! Uh, I'm. I'm sorry!" Mihoshi gasped, running over to
Ayeka's fallen body. "I guess I didn't realize we were taking a
break..."

"Now you really do have a big head!" Ryoko snorted, bending over
Ayeka. Indeed, Ayeka's head was swelling with the pain. Tears streamed
from her eyes and stained the sand below her.

"Ryoko, do you have to cause trouble every time we come out here?"
Tenchi sighed, tending to Ayeka.

"Me?!" Ryoko coughed. "She called me a cheat!"

"You're not s'posed to fly when we're playing volleyball,
Ryoko," Sasami told her, while Ryo-ohki miaowed in agreement from atop
her head. "It's against the rules,"

"Oh? And who makes the rules around here, pipsqueak? You?" Ryoko
laughed. "I can fly, so I fly! If you guys could fly too, you'd do
the same. You're just jealous!"

"Rrrrrghhh!" Ayeka grumbled, rising to her feet. The pain on her
face was now replaced by superhuman rage. "I've had it with your
games, you devil woman!"

"Yawn!" Ryoko said, rolling her eyes. "What're you gonna do,
kick sand in my face?"

An idea formed in Ayeka's head, and she began to concentrate extremely
hard on the ground around Ryoko's feet. Before she knew it, the sand
around Ryoko began to shake and shift as a great wind picked up and
started to blow huge clouds of sand into Ryoko's unprotected face.

"Hey, cut it out!" Ryoko shouted, covering her face quickly. But
Ayeka only kept on with it, as the clouds of sand became too much even
for the crowds of people behind Ryoko to stand, and they all gathered up
their belongings and ran for shelter.

"Ayeka, please stop!" Tenchi said, placing a hand on Ayeka's shoulder.

"She deserved it," Ayeka sulked, complying with Tenchi's request.

Ryoko seethed as she noticed Tenchi's fingers on Ayeka's exposed
skin, her eyes burning with a white heat. Clenching her fists, she
slowly hovered upwards and disappeared.

"Well," Kiyone shrugged, scratching her forehead. "That wasn't
so bad after all,"

"Oh my gosh!" Mihoshi squealed. "The sea!"

"Yes, Mihoshi," groaned Kiyone. "It's the big blue thing with
people swimming in it. Very good,"

"No, the sea!" Mihoshi pointed frantically, causing the others to
turn to look. Heading towards them at breakneck speed, a tidal wave was
coming towards them scraping the horizon with its immense force and
power. In Tenchi's mind, there could be no doubt as to what had caused
this.

"R-R-R-Ryoko!" he yelled.

"That idiot's gonna kill us all!" Kiyone gulped. "Quick, we've
got to do something!"

"I'm scared, Tenchi!" Sasami cried, clinging to his leg.

"If only Washu were here," Tenchi despaired. Over the sound of
rushing wind, he could almost make out Ryoko's insane laughter.

**

"Sounds like they're fighting again," Washu murmured.

"Huh?" the shopkeeper asked. Washu looked up from the magazine she
had picked from the rack and remembered where she was.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "I'm just talking to myself,"

"Huh?" replied the shopkeeper.

She'd entered an empty store just to get out of the way of the hustle
and bustle of the outside world. It's always nice, she'd told
herself, to have a little place in town where nobody goes. Not so great
for the store's owner, though. Everything echoed Washu's feelings of
loneliness, from the magazine racks to the shelves filled with stored
goods. It must have been so long since they were last touched or opened,
bought or bartered over. She tossed her hair across her face so that it
would hide her embarrassment from the shopkeeper, and ground her teeth
in a shameful grimace.

Washu looked down at the magazine in her hands. The glossy pages were
covered with men and women gloating in self-adoration, playing dress up
with themselves and posing. Raising an eyebrow, she stuffed it back into
the rack and turned to leave. Instead, however, she found herself
walking directly into the back of a man who was also staring at
magazines.

"Sorry," she apologized, bowing her head. When no response came, she
lifted her eyes and took a look at the man. His black hair and dark tan
caught her attention, as her eyes followed his masculine brow down to
two thoughtful, blue eyes. Something about him just gave Washu chills,
and she felt tingles from her ankles to her chest. Giddiness overpowered
her as she noticed he was biting his bottom lip in concentration, and
she did so in kind. His hands looked so soft yet strong, one in his
pocket as he fumbled for what was presumably loose change. Through her
excellent judge of physique, she could tell he was in good shape. Washu
grinned and sprung into conversation without really thinking.

"Hi!" Washu beamed, clapping her hands together and bowing. "I'm
Washu!"

The man looked up and placed his blue eyes upon Washu's face. "Uh,
hi,"

"Pleased to meetcha!" she said, extending a hand. The man looked
puzzled.

"Have we met?" he asked.

"I rather doubt it," Washu smiled, half-sensing that they weren't
getting off to a very good start. "I'm here with some other folks on
a day out,"

"Family?"

"No, no," Washu replied, half-lying. "Just a bunch of friends. I
didn't catch your name?"

"Uh, it's Makato," he admitted.

"That's a great name!" Washu gushed over-enthusiastically.

"I... suppose,"

"Heh," Washu blushed. "Say, uh, what about you? Are you on holiday
here with a special someone, perhaps?"

"No," said Makato. "I live here,"

"Must be great to live by the beach," Washu smiled, leaning against
the magazine rack. "If I lived next to the beach, I'd run outside
every day and play in the sand, get my feet wet in the ocean, and eat
ice cream. There's nothing like the seaside,"

"I've never really noticed,"

"You've never been to the seaside with your family?"

"Only when I was young," Makato shuffled his magazine. "Back then,
everything held excitement. Fun. It just goes away when you reach a
certain age,"

"You know..." Washu smirked, leaning forward and closing his
magazine. "I'm sure there are still a lot of fun things you can do,
even at your age,"

"I beg your pardon...?" Makato said, swallowing nervously.

"Things that we can do together," Washu purred. "C'mon, don't
you wanna get your toes wet in the ocean with me?"

"Look," Makato replied, strictly. "I'm not that kind of guy.
Please leave me alone,"

"What kind of guy...?" Washu blinked.

"The kind that does things with kids!" and with that, he stuffed his
magazine back into the rack and left.

Washu watched him go. In her excitement, she had totally forgotten to
change her form to that of an older woman. She sighed, and swore
silently to never speak of this to anyone.

"You didn't hear any of that, did you?" she asked the shopkeeper,
placing a candy cane and a soda down on the counter. All she got in
reply was bemused silenced. "I would suppose not. How much for this
stuff?"

"Huh?"

**

The tidal wave loomed over Tenchi's head, almost blotting out the sun
in the process. Everything appeared hopeless, and Tenchi was beginning
to wonder if this was all a bad dream. Ryoko wouldn't really try and
kill them all over such a trivial thing. would she?

"Tenchi!" Katsuhito called out over the thunderous noise. "Get
these women to safety, I'll handle this!"

"Yes, grandfather!" Tenchi nodded, hoping the old man knew what he
was doing. He put his arms around Sasami and Mihoshi and urged them
towards the boardwalk. "C'mon, everyone! We gotta get to shelter!"

Katsuhito watched Ayeka and Kiyone follow the other three off the beach,
as the tidal wave ploughed closer and closer towards exploding into the
seaside village. Normally, when a tidal wave of this magnitude would
strike a resort as ill protected as this one, the devastation would be
irreparable. Of course, this was no ordinary tidal wave.

"An impressive illusion, Ryoko!" Katsuhito shrugged, facing the sea.
"But not quite perfect. The fact that such a monster of a wave would
pass right through boats and leave seagulls undisturbed is bizarre,
wouldn't you say?"

The tidal wave faded out of existence and in its place floated Ryoko,
who leered at Katsuhito with a look that questioned his authority in
spoiling all her sadistic fun.

"Now that you've calmed down a little," Katsuhito frowned.
"Maybe we should address your temper,"

"Don't you come near me," Ryoko growled. "If you try to hurt me,
I'll..."

"Now you're just being childish, Ryoko," Katsuhito chuckled.
"Our days of battling are long over, I would say,"

"I'm still keepin' my guard up," she warned, as she edged closer
to Katsuhito.

"Listen," Katsuhito began, placing his arms by his sides. "It's
no secret that you like Tenchi. But you must learn to control your
jealous fits of rage. How are you going to get on the boy's good side
if you keep threatening his life like this?"

"I didn't threaten his life, it was just an illusion," said Ryoko.

"Oh, and I'm sure he'll just forgive you in a snap for scaring him
and the others half to death," Katsuhito scoffed.

"You wouldn't understand," Ryoko sighed. "My temper just becomes
uncontrollable when he and Ayeka."

"Come on," Katsuhito said, noticing the tears starting to build up
in her eyes. "There are lots of ways to control your temper. Ever
tried counting to ten?"

"Yeah, and beyond," Ryoko replied. "When I'm counting all the
bones I want to break in Ayeka's body,"

"How about holding your breath?"

"I'd rather hold hers,"

"Tried counting sheep?" Katsuhito smiled.

"I thought that was to help you sleep better..." said Ryoko.

"Oh, right," Katsuhito nodded. "I tend to never lose my temper,
and all these methods have become a completely meaningless blur to me,"

"Huh,"

"Let me see, what could you try..." Katsuhito thought for a moment,
and then looked down to his side. He lifted up the novel he'd been
reading. "Hey, here's an idea!"

"You think I should hit Ayeka with that book?" Ryoko asked.

"No, not quite."

"Give her lots and lots of paper cuts?" Ryoko giggled as she
salivated at the idea.

"No," Katsuhito shook his head. He offered the book to Ryoko and she
took it, gingerly.

"You want me to read this.?" she asked him, fumbling with it. She
made out the words 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' on the
faded, red leather covering. Toward the tattered bottom right hand
corner, she saw a hand- drawn picture of a rabbit in a suit. She
wrinkled her nose in puzzlement and batted her eyelids at Katsuhito.

"I find reading or writing to be most relaxing, when I'm not
meditating," Katsuhito explained. "It's an alternative method of
taking oneself to another state of consciousness,"

"Yeah, I like to look at the pictures too," Ryoko said, opening the
book. "Hey, where are they?"

"The books I read have no pictures," Katsuhito continued. "Inside
the passages of text, you will find that the words come together at
times and take you into a whole other world. Certain books may not do
this for you, but when the style and characterizations come together in
just the right setting, they can create entire landscapes that absorb
the mind. It helps me relax to imagine myself in a completely different
place where my troubles hold no meaning,"

"So you're saying this book is some kind of dimensional portal, like
something Washu would make?" Ryoko asked.

"Not... really,"

"What's something I would make, huh?" the voice of the red headed
genius broke their bonding moment, and they both turned to see Washu
herself standing on a boulder, hands in her pockets.

"I'll tell you what you'd make," snapped Ryoko, swooping down
and grabbing her mother by the collar and lifting her up above the
ground.

"Gah!" Washu croaked.

"What's the deal with makin' me eat french fries?" yammered
Ryoko, shaking Washu violently. "I oughtta french fry you!"

**

"Come on, girls!" Nobuyuki's voice sang from inside the family
car. "It's getting late, and it's always such a fuss squeezing you
all into this little vehicle,"

"I know what you mean," Kiyone groaned, bending down to clamber
inside the car.

"Hey, uh, if you like, one of you can sit on my lap the whole way, if
it'll take up less room!" Nobuyuki suggested, a wide grin spreading
itself across his face as he admired Kiyone.

"Uhhh, that's okay," replied Kiyone, bashfully.

"Hey, Tenchi," Katsuhito leaned over to the young boy. "Want to
take your father up on his offer?"

"Huh?" Tenchi blinked.

"Hey, uh, um," Nobuyuki coughed. "Tenchi, why don't you go find
Ryoko? I haven't seen her since that whole tidal wave thing,"

"Oh, she must've run off somewhere. I'll go take a look," Tenchi
said, getting out of the car and letting Sasami take his place.

"Don't be long, Tenchi!" Sasami chirped. "We're gonna sing car
songs on the way, you don't wanna miss it!"

"Miaow!" Ryo-ohki agreed. "Mia-mia-mia-miaaa-mia-mia!"

"Not yet, Ryo-ohki!" Sasami said, frowning at the cabbit.
"Besides, you got the lyrics all wrong,"

Tenchi stepped away from the car and over to the promenade beside the
beach. His mind was still spinning a little from the events of the day.
Ryoko's temper seemed to have reached fever pitch lately and today's
crazy fight between her and Ayeka was just further proof of how
incapable she was of controlling her anger. Sometimes Ryoko was just too
much, he thought. Not that this was anything new to him, really.

The sun had set about an hour ago, and the only real light source was
from the town behind him, outlining everything nearby with an eerie,
almost white luminosity; a complete contrast to the darkness that
enveloped the beach and the ominous ocean. The jingle-jangle of the
local carnival festivities thumped in his brain, and the sweltering heat
didn't do much to help his concentration either. Ryoko wasn't
anywhere to be seen. Tenchi hoped she hadn't flown off home already,
otherwise he'd be searching all day without knowing if she'd ditched
them or not.

He could sense the tide coming in, as he continued alongside the beach
in his lonely search. Hoping Ryoko wasn't hiding somewhere underneath
the sea's boundless depths, he chose to head in a different direction.
The cracked cement of the pavement pointed him towards the pier, with
its many amusements and various stands. A giant animated neon picture of
a man guzzling beer and holding candy-floss rose above the little huts
like a creature from a Japanese monster movie. Tenchi decided to check
that area out. After all, if a giant glass of alcohol hadn't attracted
Ryoko's attention, there wasn't much else in this town that would.

Creeping alongside the balustrades, he wove his way in and out of the
circular stands filled with rugged men all bellowing their merchandise
at the tops of their lungs. The further along the pier he got, the less
frequent these mini-outlets became. Now, as the sound of the ocean began
to surge over the melodic turbulence of the marketplace, people began to
spread out. Young men and women paired off and leaned over the guard
rail, staring into the deep ocean with wonder. It felt quite romantic,
and Tenchi began to believe this indeed was the place that would most
likely have pulled Ryoko toward it. It had Ryoko written all over it,
and as if to affirm his thoughts, he noticed the spiky haired girl
leaning over the railing to the left of him. A blue haze sprinkled over
the back of her head from the neon signs above, and the lighting
captured her in such a peaceful way, like a butterfly in a glass case,
that Tenchi almost forgot that she'd gotten so upset earlier.

"Ryoko," he said. She didn't move or respond. He hoped she
wasn't crying.

There was something different about her. Maybe it was the whole
situation, maybe it was because he was tired, or maybe he'd just never
seen her looking so gentle. He couldn't even see her face, but he felt
like her eyes were all over him. They almost had a feel to them; he
could always tell when her yellow pupils glanced over his body. Her
adoration tickled him, and he felt so ridiculous standing there and
talking to her back. He just wanted to reach out and touch her on the
shoulder...

"C'mon, Ryoko," he said, and did so. She reacted by brushing his
hand away with hers. Tenchi frowned, and continued to speak. "You
know, there's a car full of people waiting over there, people who've
forgiven you for what you did. If you think I'm still mad, why do you
suppose I'm out here looking for you? The only person who still holds
a grudge against you for that is probably Ayeka, but would you even
notice a difference in her attitude towards you? She's always mad for
one reason or another,"

Ryoko sighed, hunching her shoulders and shaking her head, her hair
bobbing to and fro.

"What is it?" Tenchi asked. He could tell something was amiss. "If
you want to hear me say it, then I will. I forgive you, and it's no
big deal. Nobody got hurt; it was just a silly mistake. Let's go home,"

Ryoko's hands stroked the railing with an aggravated rhythm; her white
knuckles glowed with frustration. She wasn't going to come along
easily, Tenchi sighed to himself.

"Ryoko," he began again. "We all go a little nuts sometimes.
I've lost my patience and temper, and you've often been the victim
of my doing so, I know that. But you always forgave me for it. That's
how great our friendship is. Friends fight. maybe not as much as you
and Ayeka do, but still. it's not uncommon. Don't be cruel to
yourself; don't persecute yourself for being human. None of us want to
see that. If we did, we'd just leave you here. Do you really want to
be stuck here the rest of your life? All alone, with no friends to even
get mad at. We'd all miss you,"

Tenchi saw tears dripping from her pointed chin and falling into the
ocean. It almost appeared as if she'd been here since the dawn of
time, filling the sea with salt water from her own tear ducts. He felt
his heart drooping with sadness for his friend, and in a last minute
attempt to cheer her up, he placed both his hands on her shoulders,
smiling as he spoke.

"Hey, you don't wanna bottle yourself up here, all alone, do you?
That's what Washu would do, you know," he joked as a last resort.

"Who're you talking to, Tenchi?" a voice belched from behind him.
He turned around to see Ryoko stood in a green pool of neon light, an
empty sak‚ bowl in her hand. She was intoxicated from her head to her
feet, which she could barely stand on. Wobbling towards him, she grinned
queasily. "Heh-heh, you're not still bitching about that tidal wave
thing, are you? That's a bunch of. oh, ho-hold on a second,"

Ryoko lurched forward and leaned over the railing, right next to the
person Tenchi had his hands on. The sounds of Ryoko's regurgitation
faded into the background, as Tenchi slowly realized who he'd been
speaking to.

"Washu, I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't know you were
trying out your adult form,"

"That's alright," she replied, moving out from under the blue
spotlight. The red coloration returned to her hair, and with a passing
glance at Tenchi she retreated into the darkness.

"Now, what were you sayin'?" Ryoko asked, wiping her mouth. "Oh,
crap, here it comes again, stand back..."

**

With the exception of Sasami getting a little car sick, and Ryoko being
excessively flirtatious and tipsy, the journey home was a quiet,
uneventful one. When they finally returned to the Masaki Shrine once
more, they each went straight to bed after a quick supper. The only ones
not present at the dinner table were Ryoko, who had fallen asleep on the
couch, and Washu, who'd sneaked off to her lab and locked the door.
When Washu wanted to be alone, nobody thought much of it, as it wasn't
such a rare occurrence. Tenchi, however, felt so bad that he couldn't
eat any of the delicious food presented before him.

"What's wrong, Tenchi?" Sasami asked. "You've not had a bite
to eat, is the food okay?"

"I don't know," he said, only half awake. "I guess I'm just not
hungry,"

Sasami's pink eyes moistened and she fiddled with her napkin,
nervously. She was always so proud of how well she managed to prepare
the food, and Tenchi could tell he'd hurt her feelings accidentally.
He smiled at her, apologetically, and took some of the fish tempura from
the centre of the table. Instantly, Sasami's face brightened up again.

"Well, I love your cooking, Sasami!" Ayeka complimented her. "I
only wish I could cook as well as you, then I might make dinner for us
instead. But you're so good at it that there's really no need,"

"Oh, I bet you'd be a great chef, Ayeka!" Mihoshi giggled. "Why
don't you cook for us tomorrow?"

"That's a great idea," Sasami smiled, clasping her hands together.
"How 'bout it, Ayeka?"

"Miaow?" Ryo-ohki looked to Ayeka expectantly, munching on half a
carrot.

"Uh, that's alright," Ayeka mumbled, quickly. "I'm sure
everyone would prefer to have a wonderful meal just like this one every
night, Sasami,"

Katsuhito quietly excused himself, as he gathered his dishes together
and put them by the sink for Sasami to tend to later. The clatter of
forks scraping against plates and bowls filled the dining room, as the
pack of hungry girls salivated over the scrumptious supper. After a few
minutes of eating, Mihoshi stopped and placed a single, confused finger
on her tanned chin.

"It's funny," she said. "I'm so used to hearing Ryoko and
Ayeka argue at times like this, it's so weird to have everything be so
quiet,"

"Well, why don't you shut up so we can enjoy it for once?" Kiyone
told her.

"Maybe I should take some food down for Washu," Tenchi said.
"I'm sure she wouldn't want to miss out on such a great supper,"

"That's a swell idea, Tenchi," Sasami approved, blushing.

Tenchi scooped up some plates of food onto a tray without feeling the
need to be specific, as he knew Washu liked all kinds of food and
wasn't picky in the slightest. Catching his own reflection in the
polished surface of the tray, he felt a pang of regret for what he'd
said to Washu earlier. Accident or not, she must've really been hurt
by it. Being careful not to wake Ryoko as he passed by the couch, he
reached the door to Washu's laboratory and bent over to place the tray
of food down so he could open it and walk through. But before he could
do so, the door swung open on its own as if to invite him inside. Tenchi
felt a chill down his spine as he took a step inside the subspace
laboratory.

It was dark. Unusually dark, as the few times he'd been there it was
normally bright and cheery, with nice scenery for Washu to admire while
she worked. This, however, wasn't anywhere near the same. It didn't
even feel the same, let alone look it. The pipes and tubes that spanned
the horizons were cold and forbidding, they were like prison bars
keeping everything trapped below. Screens that scaled great lengths with
numbers chiming across their blank visages were like barriers to hide
behind. Even the ground felt clammy and sticky beneath his feet, keeping
him rooted in place.

"Hi Tenchi," Washu's voice came from above, as she hovered down on
a spinning platform. "That for me?"

She was dressed differently now, and she had returned to her adult form
once again. She wore a yellow shawl, which almost covered her face, and
a necklace with rubies dotted all around it. A meadow green dress fell
down around her legs, wrapped in a typically expressive and dramatic
Juraian kimono. On her right hand were three rings, each different
colors. Tenchi was no fashion expert, but Washu really looked to be
beautiful in the outfit.

"Like it?" she smiled slightly. "I wore it on my wedding day. My
friends all told me I looked. happy,"

"Miss Washu," Tenchi said, swallowing his breath.

"Tenchi, am I really that alone?" Washu asked. "I'm surrounded
by people. Friends, like you. Good friends. Why do I suddenly have this
feeling of solitude deep down inside?"

"Washu, it's just a passing thing," Tenchi assured her.
"You've just been so far out of the loop for so long that it's
only just dawned on you how lonely you were, now that you're back with
people,"

"Oh, Tenchi," she purred, leaning forwards and putting her arms
around him.

"Uh," Tenchi coughed, patting her on the back. "That's okay,"

"You don't need to talk like that to me," she whispered into his
ear. "I know exactly what's wrong with me. I mean, after all, I am
the greatest scientific genius in the universe!"

"Heh, right," Tenchi said, backing away a little. "Hey, uh, I
brought you some food,"

"I noticed," Washu giggled, taking the tray. "Don't worry about
me. I think I'll just test out some theories, you know. Do my whole
science thing. I got this bad boy covered!"

"Well, if you think you'll be okay," Tenchi said, feeling a lot
more comfortable about the situation.

"I'll be just fine," Washu grinned, pointing at Tenchi.
"You're the one who should be worryin', you've got two dangerous
girls gunnin' for ya,"

"I'll keep that in mind," Tenchi mumbled, rubbing the back of his
head. "Well. I guess I'd better get off to bed then, if you're
alright,"

"You betcha," Washu concurred, floating over to a computer screen
and beginning to type. "See? I'm back in business already!"

Relieved and delighted that the old Washu was here to stay, Tenchi
shuffled his way over to the doorway and opened it a crack.

"You're sure you'll be okay?" he asked one final time, turning
back and looking to her. A simple bob from her head was all he needed
for assurance, and he left her to her work.

"Hmmm-hmm-hmmmm," Washu hummed, her bottom lip quivering a little.
After she had finished typing, she pressed the enter button on her
keypad and watched as the enormous glass screen above her filled with
text.

The tray of food shattered as she collapsed at the computer outlet,
letting it fall. She watched as the gravy and ketchup mixed together
with her tears, and they all formed a river of wretched gunk that
gathered at her feet.

"I don't know what to do." she cried to herself, helplessly.

The word 'ALONE' blinked back at her in green text from the screen
above while digitized crabs danced around on her beached life, leaving
her gasping for air.

**

"Laaaalaalalalalaaaaalalalalalalaleeeelooo!" Mihoshi's cheerful
morning voice echoed through the corridors as she dusted the family
heirlooms. Vases and portraits shuddered as she joyfully passed them by,
giving them a brief but firm clean. "Oh, it's a beautiful day today!
Don't you think so Mr. Lamp?"

The lamp stared back at Mihoshi, awaiting certain death at her
well-meaning hands.

"Wheeeeee!" she cheered, spinning around with her arms outstretched.
Somehow she managed to avoid breaking or crashing into anything. The
room breathed a sigh of relief.

"What're you doing?" Kiyone's grouchy voice interrupted
Mihoshi's morning ceremony.

"Huh? What'd you say, Kiyone? I was too busy saying WHEEEEEEEEEE to
hear you!" Mihoshi gurgled.

"Stop saying wheee!" Kiyone snapped. "Nobody says that!"

"They don't?" Mihoshi blinked. "The cartoon rabbit did,"

"Well, the cartoon rabbit does lots of things that you shouldn't do
in real life when there are real, intelligent people around," Kiyone
said, walking past Mihoshi.

"Like stand under a falling anvil?" Mihoshi asked.

"Yeah, like th-. no, that's a good thing, you go do that,"
Kiyone snickered.

"Now, Kiyone, don't be so silly," Mihoshi said, rolling her eyes.
"Where am I gonna find someone who can lift an anvil that high?"

"What?" Kiyone span around, her arm catching on the lamp in the
corner of the corridor and causing it to fall down. In turn, the lamp
knocked over a stand which held three precious vases, two of which
shattered as they hit the ground.

"Kiyone, look at the mess," Mihoshi sighed, bending down to pick up
the pieces.

"If you weren't such an idiot, that wouldn't have happened!"
Kiyone growled.

"Now now, girls, don't be fighting this early in a morning,"
Nobuyuki said, appearing around a corner. He took one look at Mihoshi,
who was bending over with her revealing pink blouse facing him, and
without looking where he was going, he walked straight into one of the
portraits hanging from the wall which landed on his feet.

"Wow, looks like Tenchi's dad is having sight problems," Mihoshi
cringed.

"He will do if he keeps that up," Kiyone said, folding her arms.

"What's going on?" Ayeka asked, storming out of her room in her
night gown. She gasped when she saw the mess. "Lord Tenchi will be
furious! Mihoshi, how could you be so clumsy?!"

"I'm sorry." Mihoshi whimpered.

"Honestly, you really shouldn't try to do chores if you're going
to just mess up every chance you get," Ayeka scoffed. "I'm sure
anybody could do a better job than you,"

"Is that so?" Sasami's perky little voice replied. Ayeka turned
slowly, and saw Sasami offering her a brush and bucket of water. "In
that case, there's a whole load of vomit in the living room that Ryoko
left behind last night which needs cleaning up,"

"Uh, heh, I just remembered," Ayeka babbled, raising her arms in
disgust at the notion of coming anywhere near Ryoko's sickly fluids.
"I have to go and help Lord Tenchi with something!"

"Tenchi's asleep, Ayeka," Sasami chortled. "I doubt he needs
help with that,"

"I was going to. help him. uh." Ayeka sighed, taking the
cleaning utensils with a shudder. "Oh, alright,"

"There's a good girl!" Sasami said.

"Hey, where is Ryoko, anyway?" Kiyone asked, looking around.

"I didn't see her at all this morning," Mihoshi squeaked. "She
wasn't on the couch, anyway,"

"Funny that there should be all this chaos and she's simply nowhere
to be seen," Ayeka grumbled. "She's probably lazing about
somewhere,"

"Owch," Nobuyuki said, finally taking his eyes off Mihoshi.

**

Ryoko was indeed lazing around. To be more specific, she was lazing atop
the Masaki household roof. There she lay on a freshly cleaned
under-futon that Sasami had placed there to dry off, soaking in the
fresh spring smell of the newly washed fabric. She was jamming a
toothbrush into her mouth sloppily, brushing her teeth as she squinted
upwards at the sunrise. It was almost a ritual for her, as she felt the
daybreak slowly drag itself across her relaxed body while foam dripped
from her mouth and onto the under-futon she was lying across.

"Hmmm, what'll I do today," she asked herself.

She peered at the landscape, at the rolling hills and the tranquil
forest, and wondered to herself imaginatively. So much to do, and so
much to see. She wanted to do it all, fly over houses and trees, dive
through bushes and clouds, dance with the animals and smell all the
flowers. But she wanted to do it all with Tenchi.

That was the problem, though. Tenchi wouldn't be able to come; he'd
have to stay here and look after Ayeka, that spoilt little princess.
She'd always tie him down, as if she were married to him. Yeah,
that's right. she'd pretend to be his wife for so long, be a real
ball and chain, that he'd have no choice but to marry her.

"That's what she's doing!" Ryoko snapped, slamming her fist into
the roof tiles and breaking a gaping hole through the tiling. "Oops,"

"Ryoko!" Tenchi's voice called out from beneath the hole.

"Uh. no, it's not Ryoko!" Ryoko said in a forced, high-pitched
voice. "It's me, Ayeka! Boy, that was sure stupid of me!"

"Ryoko, I can see you," Tenchi sighed. "I hope you're going to
help fix that. Ryoko?"

But Ryoko had already left the rooftop and was flying towards the
cemetery, cursing at her misfortune. She also cursed Ayeka for getting
her so darn mad. Tired, she landed on a hillside and brushed the hair
out of her eyes.

"Now where am I?" Ryoko sniffed the air, looking around. The musty
smell of death was all around, and a garden of tombstones lay not very
far off to the north. "Oh, right. This place. I heard Tenchi talking
about it. Looks depressing,"

Traipsing through the gravestones, Ryoko skipped and cavorted impishly,
singing a random tune to which she put the eulogies from each select
gravestone as makeshift lyrics.

"He was a kind old man, loved by all!" Ryoko laughed as she sang.
"His death brings sorrow to many, but we feel certain that he's in a
better place! She bore many children and their angelic wings will carry
her to God's golden shores! Though his sins may go unforgiven in this
world, when God's great judgement he stands before, we are sure that
redemption shall be his! Oh, man. What a bunch of losers,"

"It seems like you are taking that reading thing to heart, Ryoko,"
Katsuhito said to her from beside one of the gravestones.

"Huh? Oh, it's you," Ryoko gasped, relieved. Katsuhito had been
cleaning the tombstones all the while that she'd been there. "I
thought you were a zombie or something,"

"It appears that it hasn't calmed your temper any, though," he
said, apparently ignoring her.

"What're you talking about? I wasn't mad, just surprised," Ryoko
snorted.

"By the looks of things it'll take about a week to fix that hole in
the roof," Katsuhito nodded, motioning towards the Masaki household.

"Oh, that," Ryoko said, bowing her head. "Well, I can't help
having superpowers,"

"This is true," replied Katsuhito. "But you can help your temper.
Then maybe you wouldn't do so much damage, and I wouldn't have to
shell out so much money on you,"

"Nobody asked you to," she said, jamming her tongue out at him.

"Yes, but it might be a lot cheaper to simply have you. move out,"
Katsuhito said, standing up.

"Move out.? You mean. leave?" Ryoko asked. "You can't make
me do that! I won't leave Tenchi!"

"It's not just my money you're costing us, you know," Katsuhito
pointed out. "It's the entire Masaki family funds, which includes
Tenchi. Technically, you're wasting his money too, by being such a
violent and explosive little space pirate,"

Ryoko stared at the old man for a minute, speechless. Rather than stare
back, Katsuhito simply turned around and began to clean another
tombstone.

"You see this young fellow?" he said, wiping the dirt from between
the engraved lettering upon the marble stone. "He was a friend of the
family. Died. right about Tenchi's age,"

"You didn't kill him for causing too much damage, did you.?"
Ryoko asked, half-enthralled and half-petrified.

"No, of course not," Katsuhito said. "I was his trainer. I tried
to train him in the ways of Jurai."

"Um," Ryoko said after a good five minutes had passed. "And? What
happened? He get hit by a train?"

"He was so eager to learn," Katsuhito reminisced. "My young
daughter told me I shouldn't reveal the secret ways of Jurai, but the
boy almost reminded me of myself. He was so eager to learn, to
accomplish, to be places and know things."

"Screwed up, did you?" Ryoko asked.

"If I didn't know you, Ryoko," Katsuhito said, with a tone that
caused Ryoko's spine to tingle nervously. "I would make you regret
having said that,"

"Geez, sorry," Ryoko shrugged. "So what happened to the kid?"

"He died with all those aspirations locked in his brain, never to be
freed," Katsuhito said.

"But how?" she asked.

"The details are unimportant," Katsuhito explained. "It was a
chance thing. Nobody's fault. He was moving too fast and not looking
where he was going, this is all you have to know,"

"Okay." Ryoko said, and looked at Katsuhito through one eye,
quizzically. "I'm sorry, I thought maybe you were telling me this
for a reason. I don't see how this applies to me, it's not like
you're training me or anything,"

"Maybe not in the way I was training this boy, no," Katsuhito said.
"But we really do need to figure out how to control your temper, that
is what needs to be trained. Let your temper be your master, and it will
mess with your life, your friends. your loved ones,"

"Yosho," Ryoko began, using the old man's real name. "I realize
you're trying to help. and it's nice and all, but could you just
get to the point? This cryptic stuff. just save it for Tenchi, he's
the warrior,"

"Take it slow, Ryoko," Katsuhito stood up once more, and began to
walk away. "Remember to read that book I gave you when you feel
yourself getting frustrated, and you never know. perhaps one day
there'll be a girl running through this cemetery singing your life
story, too,"

"Crazy old coot," Ryoko muttered under her breath.

"There certainly won't be one if you keep calling me names like
that!" Katsuhito yelled.

"I said lazy cold boot!"

**

Washu felt her toes tremble as the cold air blew through her hole-filled
snow boots, the unbearable breeze descending downwards from the
mountain's icecaps was really starting to affect her work rate. Inside
the igloo, she had managed to store a small number of alien corpses with
which to take assorted autopsy samples from at a later date. The science
outpost here in the Antarctic was really quite poorly stocked, though,
and she had to use the snow from the very floor beneath her feet to keep
the alien bodies preserved. With her vast intellect it wasn't a
problem, of course. But the other members of the expedition were having
trouble keeping up with her brilliance.

"It's bloody freezing out there,"

Oh yes, all except for Chad...

"Morning, Washu," he said, grabbing her from behind and squeezing
her tightly against himself. Even though they were both terribly cold,
it wasn't going to stop them from cuddling. "You're looking
particularly gorgeous today, darling,"

"Oh, stop, Chad," she told the British archaeologist. "Wait a
minute. pause program,"

"Simulation paused," a computerized voice responded from above, and
Chad's glove covered hands ceased their movement somewhere between her
chest and her thighs.

"Chad isn't very British sounding, is it?" Washu asked, looking
upwards to some unknown receptor.

"Um. it was the best we could do at such short notice, ma'am,"
the faint, confused voice of Azaka, who was no doubt cowering somewhere
with Kamidake, replied.

"I told you to surprise me, not to totally insult my intelligence,"
Washu groaned. "Just make his name sound more British, okay? Otherwise
it won't feel right. Recommence program,"

"Simulation recommenced," the voice responded.

"Oh, Fitzgerald," Washu moaned as his hands cupped her firm, heaving
bosom. "Wait a minute, pause program."

"Simulation paused,"

"Fitzgerald?! You guys have to be kidding me! I'm supposed to be
turned on by a guy called Fitzgerald?" Washu said, removing the
British archaeologist's groping paw from her chest. "Thanks, Fitzy,"

"What do you suggest we name him, ma'am?" Azaka asked.

"Ergh," Washu sighed, rubbing her brow. "How about Howard?
That's a simple, intelligent sounding name, right?"

"Howard?" Kamidake's voice rang out. "Like the duck.?"

"No, not like the duck!" Washu replied. "You guys have been
watching too many George Lucas movies."

"The Force is with us, ma'am," Azaka and Kamidake said in unison.

"Just call him Howard, and make him like my breasts less, okay?
British archaeologists aren't supposed to be total pervs, they should
be gentlemen," said Washu.

"Very well, ma'am,"

"Recommence program," Washu commanded.

"Simulation recommenced,"

"So, Howard," Washu said, smiling to herself. "My, you have such a
wonderful name,"

"You're far too kind," Howard replied. "Sometimes I think I just
don't deserve a wonderful lady friend such as yourself,"

"Oh, but you do," Washu smirked, unbuttoning her fur coat. "And do
you know what else you deserve?"

"What would that be?" Howard asked.

"Hot sex! Whoopee!" Washu exclaimed, leaping forwards and discarding
her uniform.

"Excuse me?" Howard said, catching Washu and putting her down beside
the alien corpses. "Washu, we have a job to do, and I'd prefer it if
you didn't attempt to dissuade me from the task at hand with suchs
things. Aren't you at interested in learning how these bizarre
creatures came into being, and what makes them functi-."

"Rrrgggh! Howard, shut your hole!" Washu snapped. "Pause program!"

"Simulation pau-."

"What the Hell did you do to him?" Washu demanded. "Did you make
him gay now? He may be British, but he's not a complete femme,"

"You said to make him a gentleman," Azaka said.

"Gentlemen are still men!" Washu fumed.

"Ma'am, please make up your mind," Kamidake replied.

"Look." said Washu, placing a hand over her eyes. "Just make him
a cute British archaeologist called Howard who likes being around me and
having sex,"

"Anything else?" Azaka asked.

"Not for the moment," Washu said, taking the opportunity to place
the motionless Howard on top of the alien corpses, ready for
intercourse.

"This is so degrading for us, ma'am," Azaka pointed out. "It's
like we're fans of cheesy science fiction shows writing contrived
pornographic stories about them that make no real sense,"

"Yeah, I know," Washu chuckled. "Don't worry, you're not the
only ones. Try surfing the internet sometime. Recommence program!"

"Simulation-."

"Ohhhh Howard," Washu said, leaning over the archaeologist. "When
you wrap those alien tendrils around you like that, it gets me soooo
horny,"

"Perhaps we shouldn't defile the evidence of sentient creatures that
existed millions of years before ourselves with our petty lust, Washu?"
Howard suggested.

"Eh, nobody'll notice, they're ugly either way," Washu grinned,
leaping onto him. "Wahoo!"

Before any penetration could occur, all the lights went out and Washu
found herself all alone in the simulation chamber, very cold and very
nude.

"Hey, what the heck happened? Azaka? Kamidake? Did you guys do
something?" Washu called out, hoping for a response.

"All power to the Masaki home has been severed, ma'am," Kamidake
and Azaka explained, leaning around the corner, giant beads of sweat
forming on their wooden exteriors as they spied the red headed
scientist.

"Why, what happened?" she asked, putting her uniform back on.

"We're not sure just yet, ma'am,"

"Wait a second." Washu said, twirling her head in their direction.
"My lab doesn't share its power with the Masaki household, it's in
subspace!"

"Well, we figured you'd want our simulation to be as accurate as
possible, ma'am," Kamidake blurted.

"You two are just useless!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

**

Nobuyuki was measuring the hole Ryoko had punched in the ceiling of
Tenchi's room, when all of a sudden the lights in the house went out.
Feeling more bamboozled than usual, he looked down from the his position
on the stepladder to make sure Sasami was still keeping him steady.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sasami whispered, while Ryo-ohki ran in circles
about her feet and hissed.

"Did I forget to pay the electricity bill again?" Nobuyuki worried,
wavering atop the ladder. "I'm pretty sure I paid it off this time,"

"Maybe there was a power cut?" Sasami suggested, hopefully.

"I don't remember the last time that happened," Nobuyuki said.
"We'd better go downstairs and make sure everything's okay!"

Nobuyuki made his way down the stepladder with the guidance of Sasami,
and together they scrambled riotously downstairs to see what could have
possible occurred to short out the power in every corner of the house.
It wasn't long before they started to hear the familiar sound of
arguing coming from the living room, as they past by the kitchen.
Inside, they saw Mihoshi leaning into the refrigerator.

"Mihoshi, what're you doing?" Sasami asked, letting Nobuyuki go on
ahead to investigate the noises. "Can't you see the power's gone
in the whole house?"

"I know that," Mihoshi giggled, closing the fridge door and hugging
a tub of fresh ice cream close to her belly. "That's why I gotta eat
all the ice cream before it melts,"

"Mihoshi!" sighed Sasami, shaking her head. "Washu can just keep
it frozen in her lab,"

"It's too late for that, we gotta act fast," Mihoshi replied,
diving into the tub with a hefty wooden spoon.

"Miaow!" Ryo-ohki agreed, diving off Sasami's head and into the tub.

"Hey, be careful, please," Mihoshi cooed. "You're gonna get hair
in the ice cream, Ryo-ohki,"

Sasami's concentration was broken by the sound of breaking glass and
further harsh chattering from over by the living room. Rushing from the
kitchen, she ran in the direction of the sounds and prayed it wasn't
what she thought it was.

"Ryoko, you are such a monster woman!" Ayeka shouted, pointing a
finger directly at the furious space pirate.

"Says you, you big, spoilt fat-head!" Ryoko spat.

So much for prayer.

The living room was a mess. More so than when Sasami had left it in the
less than capable hands of Ayeka. But clearly this wasn't due to
Ayeka's shabbiness, as there was far too much extensive damage to the
walls, ceiling, and floor than she could have possible caused on her
own. Wiring and pipes of all kinds were visible through the various
holes that had been undoubtedly caused by Ryoko, and the fizzling sounds
of dying electricity came from all around. The breakage was almost
unbelievable, but at least everything inside the room was undamaged. The
same could not be said, unfortunately, for the structure of the house
itself.

"Ryoko!" Sasami cried. "Ayeka, please! Stop it!"

"Why are you girls fighting this time?" asked Kiyone, who was hiding
behind the couch with Nobuyuki. They both had their hands over their
heads, quivering in fear that the very sky might collapse in on them.

"She always causes such a mess!" Ayeka fumed, continuing to indicate
Ryoko with her index finger. "And then... and then she has everyone
else clean up after her! She's no good, she's simply awful!"

"Keep that finger on me and I'll show you just how awful I can be,
princess!" Ryoko cackled.

"What's going on?" Tenchi asked, walking in from behind Sasami.
"What happened to all the power? Ryoko!"

"Tenchi!" Ayeka squeaked, jumping behind her hero. "Look what she
did! She's such a beast, ruining everything for the rest of us!"

"Ayeka," Tenchi said, keeping his eyes on Ryoko. "What happened?"

"I was cleaning up all the disgusting fluids she'd left around from
her drunken stupor last night," Ayeka whined. "And she came in and
laughed about it, so I told her to help me and then she just lost it!"

"Ryoko." said Tenchi. "Can't you just learn some
responsibility for once?"

"Me?!" Ryoko replied, aghast. "Tenchi, you didn't even ask for
my side of the story!"

"Well, isn't that what happened?" he asked.

"But. but." Ryoko began. Her long, slender ears rose and fell in
confusion. "I didn't mean to. it."

"Ryoko, you already broke a hole through the wall in my room,"
Tenchi frowned. "Now look what you did. Just look around!"

Ryoko hesitantly turned her head from side to side, her eyes wincing in
slow realization. She looked at Tenchi with sorrowful eyes, and then
lowered her face so that nobody could see just how bad she felt.

"Honestly, Ryoko," Ayeka said. "Sometimes you're too much,"

"Ryoko, maybe you should leave while we get this all fixed," said
Tenchi.

"Sure, I'll go to my room and come back up later," Ryoko mumbled.

"No," Tenchi said, strictly. "I mean leave. It'd be much safer
if you didn't hang around here while we work on this, I don't want
any more damage done,"

"Leave.?" Ryoko asked, her eyes widened like saucers as she tried
to take in all the awful information she was being given.

"Tenchi," Sasami tugged on his shirtsleeve while Nobuyuki and Kiyone
poked their heads over the couch cushions, and the faint clatter of wood
came from behind them as Mihoshi dropped her spoon in surprise.

"Well, good riddance, I say," Ayeka grumbled, nodding in affirmation.

"Fine," Ryoko said, shaking all over. The faint rumbling of what was
apparently thunder in the distance added a warped exclamation point to
the silence. "If none of you want me hanging around, I guess I'll
just leave. I'm just a problem for you guys,"

"Ryoko, please don't make this difficult," said Tenchi, who,
unlike Ayeka, wasn't enjoying this in the least.

"It's already impossible, Tenchi," she replied, barely able to
contain her tears. She began to fade away to some unknown hole into
which she could crawl, when suddenly the roar of the thunder reached an
insane pitch and the windows that still had glass in them shattered with
a ferocious force.

"Ryoko, stop it!" Tenchi yelled.

"What do you think you're doing, Ryoko?!" Ayeka screeched, her
voice cut neatly through the ear-blistering bellow of the wind outside.

"It's not me, I swear!" Ryoko cried, fading back in and leaping
over to Tenchi's side.

"Well then, who is it?" Ayeka demanded. "Storms don't just swoop
down on you out of nowhere like this!"

The rumbling subsided for a second, and as it came to a stop, the wind
was sucked out of the room and the natural sunlight poured back in,
half- blinding them all for a second. The TV whirred and blinked, as
some unseen hands attempted to operate the device. Tenchi, Nobuyuki, and
the girls all huddled together in the corner as a shadowed figure faded
into existence directly in front of them. Its eyes were like daggers,
piercing through their cozy little hovel and right into their hearts.

"How dare each of you." it spoke.

"Uh." Nobuyuki began. "Did you need a room for the night? We
have a spare now."

"Be quiet!" it growled.

Tenchi stood forward, ready to face whatever evil being had crawled its
way into their dimension this time. His clammy fingers reached down for
the Light-Hawk Sword, as he prepared for yet another battle of mythic
proportions. Whatever had been disturbed this time was clearly a
creature of incredible power and mystique, and rising forth onto the
dinner table he beckoned the monster forward into the light, inviting
the creature to reveal itself for all to see.

".Washu?" he asked, feeling a sense of d‚j -vu.

 All of you!" Washu said through gritted teeth. "Why would you try
and cast my daughter out like that?"

"Hey," Sasami said, seeing Washu in an entirely new light. "Washu,
what happened?"

"I can't believe you'd try and throw her out of here!" shouted
Washu, ignoring the young girl. "Without even consulting me first.!!!"

"Washu, I wasn't attempting to get rid of her," Tenchi said, very
wary of the small scientist. He wasn't sure if this was all one of her
jokes, or if she had just snapped. "I just meant that she should stay
out of the way while we get this stuff fixed,"

"This stuff?" Washu laughed, a fearsome fire flickered in her
emerald eyes. She snapped her fingers and almost immediately the wiring
behind the walls ceased its chaotic fizzling and, as if by magic, fixed
itself. Washu flashed her teeth at Tenchi and flipped a switch on the
television, and the American hero John Wayne appeared on the screen
holding a little girl aloft in his arms.

"Little Washu." Tenchi gulped.

"How long were you planning to get rid of her for?" Washu asked.
"Until she felt so miserable that she had no choice but to come back
grovelling?"

"Miss Washu!" Ayeka stepped forward. "How dare you question Lord
Tenchi's logic! He was simply trying to make the house a safer place
for us! Your daughter is hardly the most careful girl in the world,"

"Hey!" Ryoko sulked, equally bewildered as to Washu's sudden
interest in the matter.

"My daughter. My only daughter," said Washu, rubbing her temples.
"You'd exile her for a few bumps and bruises on your house. Do you
have any idea how lonely you'd make her feel? She'd be all alone in
the world, she'd have nobody if you let her go!"

"Um, it's really not that big a deal," Ryoko chuckled, nervously.
"I mean, it'd only be for a day, maybe even less,"

"A day, a lifetime," Washu shook her head. "I don't know the
difference anymore,"

"You're never even around to see if I'm here, anyway!" Ryoko
pointed out. "What difference would it make to you?"

"Oh," Washu sniffled, her knees buckling under her child-like body.
She closed her eyes and wept openly, as Tenchi rushed over and knelt
beside her. "I'm so alone,"

The others watched, unable to react to what they'd just seen from the
usually spunky genius.

"So, I guess that means I'm staying, then?" Ryoko said, finally.

"Typical," Ayeka pouted.

**

Underneath Washu's consciousness, the pale landscape stretching so far
before her eyes gathered flakes of bitter snowfall. In the distance she
could hear the faint crying of neglected children, and beneath the
ground she could hear tiny paws scraping to get at her feet. The black
sun in the sky throbbed with poisonous solitude; the stars all fleeting
from its side with abandon. Washu felt her nose become clogged with
runny fluids, and her feet root themselves to the ground.

She remembered little Taro, and how the time she spent with him was so
beneficial to her motherly attitude. It helped her get out of the lab,
and to spend some real quality time with Tenchi. But now. Taro was
gone. And now, for some reason, she'd been neglecting Ryoko. and
Tenchi too. She'd been neglecting herself.

"You've always been better than me, haven't you, Washu," a voice
from her past surged upward from underneath the pale canvas of the
landscape around her.

She looked down, and watched her entire world cave in.

**

"I don't know what came over me," Washu said, coming to and
staring up at the ceiling from beneath the blanket. Sasami placed a wet
blanket over her forehead. Washu turned and smiled, weakly. "Thanks,
Sasami,"

"I was so worried for you," Sasami soothed, placing a hand on
Washu's stomach. The others were all working on the damaged wall in
the living room, while Sasami and Tenchi tended to the stressed
scientist in Sasami's bedroom.

"We all were," agreed Tenchi. "I'm sorry if I got you mad, Washu,"

"Where's Ryoko?" Washu asked.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi looked around. "Hmm, I'm not sure. She has a
habit of just disappearing after something happens,"

"Why didn't you tell us you were feeling so lonely, little Washu?"
Sasami asked, giggling as she noticed Ryo-ohki placing one of her
carrots beside Washu sympathetically.

"I was afraid of looking totally incompetent," Washu admitted,
closing her eyes. "I've never before had a problem with how lonely I
am in that lab, but suddenly I felt so alone in life."

"That's silly, little Washu," Sasami said. "We're all here for
you, you know that,"

Rather than answer, Washu simply lifted the blanket up a little so that
it covered her nose and mouth. The familiar whoosh sound of Ryoko's
spectacular entrance brushed past them as the space pirate herself
landed beside the bed.

"Washu," she said, a curious puppy dog look on her face.

"Hi Ryoko," Washu replied, curling her eyes up in splendor.
"How's things?"

"Uh," Ryoko blinked. "I was going to ask you the same thing. You
okay?"

"Sure," Washu replied, as if nothing had happened. "Where've you
been?"

"Um," Ryoko said, twiddling her thumbs. "I was just taking a walk,
I needed to have some fresh air. That last couple of minutes were kinda
stressful,"

"I'm sorry, Ryoko," Washu apologized.

"For what?" her daughter asked.

"Nothing," Washu shrugged, a far off look in her eyes. "I guess
I'm just a little dopey right now,"

"Washu, you shouldn't hide your true feelings like that," Tenchi
said, after they had each exchanged warm glances with one another in
generous portions. "The last thing we want is to have you suffer in
any way. We can't help you if you don't let us know about your
problems,"

"It's been a habit of mine for so long," said Washu, her attention
drifting. "I shrink away from acceptance so much that most of my life
is just a cloud in the sky. I can't put a finger on it, or where it
all started,"

"We're almost done in there," Mihoshi said, walking in with Ayeka.
Mihoshi's face was covered in pale dust which almost made her look
like a surreal clown of some sort, causing Sasami to break out in a
smile.

"No thanks to you, Ryoko," Ayeka added, her face surprisingly bereft
of any dust.

"I was helping with Washu," Ryoko grunted, fidgeting idly with
Washu's blanket.

"Sure you were!" Ayeka scoffed. "And I suppose that wasn't you I
saw outside playing by the lake, then, hmm?"

"No, it wasn't," Ryoko lied.

"Then why are your clothes so damp?" asked Ayeka.

"Well," Ryoko thought. "Washu was. really upset, and stuff.
Cried all over me!"

"Ryoko," Tenchi said. "Be honest,"

"Oh, fine," Ryoko griped. "So I was outside for a while, is that
such a crime?"

"While everyone else was working," Ayeka noted, walking forward and
putting another cushion under Washu's head. "Honestly, it's a
wonder any work gets done at all with you 'helping' us,"

"Would you quit moaning, Ayeka?" Ryoko asked, hovering out of the
room. "Washu's trying to get some rest, and your awful bedside
manner isn't going to help her any,"

"No, I will not quit moaning!" Ayeka said, rushing out after her.
"What exactly gives you the right to laze about all day, while
everyone else helps out?"

Ryoko felt her blood begin to boil, as Ayeka's annoying chipmunk-like
voice started to grate against her nerves. She tried to just ignore the
princess, but Ayeka kept at it until Ryoko was forced to turn and
confront her.

"And another thing-." Ayeka said, gnashing her teeth.

"Don't get me angry, Ayeka," Ryoko warned, the blood rising to her
head. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry,"

"I don't like you, angry or otherwise!" Ayeka rebutted.

"Is that so?" Ryoko asked.

"Yeah!"

"Oh really?"

"Uh-huh!"

"You sure?"

"Positive!"

"Well, in that case." Ryoko began.

The air around the two girls buzzed with electricity as Ryoko's temper
began to flare once more. Expecting Ayeka to simply back off in fear of
getting hurt, Ryoko was surprised to find that Ayeka's expression of
disdain refused to falter. Then, it dawned on Ryoko what Ayeka was
trying to do, and the tiny sparks of yellow lightning disappeared into
thin air.

"Sorry Ayeka," Ryoko chirped tunefully, waving at the purple haired
girl. "But you're not gonna make me lose my temper again. I know
you're just trying to have Tenchi kick me out,"

"As if I would have to try to make him do that!" Ayeka spluttered.
"Even he can see you're a monster, and not worthy of residing in his
own home!"

"Whatever," Ryoko yawned, stretching her arms above her head. "I
think I'll go take a bath, spending too much time near you is bad for
my hygiene,"

"You take that back," Ayeka muttered, a truly evil look passing
across her face.

"Make me," Ryoko giggled, as she began to teleport out of the hallway.

"I feel sorry for Washu, having a daughter like you must be such a
burden," Ayeka said.

"What did you say.?" Ryoko asked, ceasing her teleportation and
staring directly into Ayeka's eyes; the veins in her forehead pulsed
violently.

"It's obvious to me why she doesn't spend any time with you,"
Ayeka smirked, turning her back to Ryoko and walking away. "I mean,
what mother would want to admit to having created such a beast?"

"You." Ryoko snarled. The room popped and fizzled with incredible
amounts of energy, as Ryoko's eyes emitted beams of yellow light.

"Touch a nerve, did I?" Ayeka cackled, tilting her head back at the
furious pirate.

"You!!!" Ryoko screamed, cupping a bolt of pure hatred between her
fingers and preparing to fire it directly into Ayeka's chest.

"Go ahead," Ayeka said. "Make my day, Ryoko,"

"I'll make more than that," Ryoko threatened. "Prepare to have
your days AND nights made for you!"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Ayeka said, completely unaware of
just how much force was about to hit her square on.

"Oh, it will do, little princess," Ryoko muttered under her breath,
curling her fingers around a ball of incandescent death. "It will."

Crossing her arms in front of her face, she felt the static electricity
in the room go up a notch as her hair crackled and popped with intense
friction. Ryoko marked a point on Ayeka's chest in her mind, and was
about to let loose a luminous bolt of lightning, when a wizened hand
placed itself on her exposed shoulder.

"Hey!" she said, looking up. Once again, the fibrous strands of
energy dissipated into nothingness, and Ryoko found herself staring into
Katsuhito's sunlight reflecting spectacles. Her face wilted in shame
and her ears drooped as she realized she'd once again failed in
controlling her temper, and would have probably done something extremely
rash if Katsuhito hadn't shown up.

"Ryoko," Katsuhito said.

"Such a disappointing display, Ryoko," Ayeka sang childishly, as she
skipped around the forlorn pirate. Katsuhito regarded Ayeka's behavior
and sighed.

"Both of you," he began again. "You really do need to learn how to
get along, if this household is going to function properly. This petty
rivalry really has to-."

Katsuhito paused as he noticed Ryoko jamming a thumb to her nose and
waggling her fingers in Ayeka's direction.

"Ahem," he coughed, causing Ryoko to cease her tomfoolery. "You
know, if you two really don't want to get along together, maybe it
would be better if, instead of just Ryoko, both of you were to leave?"

"Huh?" Ryoko asked.

"Preposterous!" Ayeka squealed nervously, taking a step back. She
threw her fringe backwards and pointed two blood red pupils directly at
Ryoko. "It's that demon who should leave! She's nothing but
trouble, never helping out,"

"Oh yeah, like you ever get your hands dirty doing chores." Ryoko
snorted and put on her best impersonation of Ayeka, batting her dainty
eyelids rapidly. "Oh my, look at me, I'm just a sweet, innocent
little princess, I can't be expected to wait on these common people. I
think I'll go bug Tenchi, because I'm so pure and young and-."

"Silence!" Ayeka shrieked at the top of her lungs, gathering a large
cluster of power logs around her.

"You wanna fight, I'll give you a fight," Ryoko said, once again
ignoring Katsuhito's strict advice. The carpet beneath the two girls'
feet became scorched with their hatred for one another, and Ryoko felt a
boiling gust of wind run past her face as she reached inside her heart
and searched ever corner of her being for pieces of loathing to throw at
the hideous princess. Laughing as the insanity rose within her, she felt
as if nothing could stand in the way of her objective. Through her
golden eyes, visions of Ayeka's timely demise reverberated and
reflected around wavering ripples of light.

Strangely, she felt cold across the base of her spine, as if something
were being pressed against her back. Diving back into reality, she
realized this was indeed the case, as she caught a glimpse of Katsuhito
standing directly behind her. In his hand, she saw the leather bound
novel he had offered to her just the other day, with its hard, callous
exterior, upon which was painted the cute rabbit that almost seemed to
be winking at her. As if by magic, she found the book placed in her
hands, which were now completely bereft of any rage or discontent with
the obnoxious princess, and without knowing it she had leafed open the
first page and was now reading aloud the contents of the book.

 From her lips came marvelled strips of worded text that grew and grew,
as her relaxed intrigue became tighter. She spoke of Alice, the white
rabbit and just how very late it was; of Alice's long drop through the
rabbit hole and empty jars of marmalade, for it wasn't just a fall
that Alice took, but Ryoko's undivided attention also had been
snatched by the dreamlike prose. The words sprung from the page and
tickled Ryoko's throat, until finally rolling off her slippery tongue
with delight. Never before had Ryoko felt so captivated by anything that
wasn't Tenchi, as she continued to read, smile, and yes, even relate
to the book, with its tales of lazy wonder and mellowed magnificence.

"Just what on earth are you blathering about now, Ryoko?" Ayeka asked.

"Hmm?" Ryoko said, for she had forgotten Ayeka had even stirred her
wrath in the first place.

"I want to know just what you think you're doing!" Ayeka stamped
her feet. "We were about to go at it, and you went on with this
nonsensical speech about rabbits!"

"Go at it?" Ryoko frowned, as if the words were foreign to her.
"You mean fight?"

"Yes, I mean fight, you numbskull!" Ayeka replied. "Now defend
yourself, woman!"

"I could do that," Ryoko said, closing the book and drumming her
fingers against the cover, rapping on the bunny's adorable little nose.

"Good, now put 'em up!" Ayeka ordered, waving her fists around
like a lunatic.

"I could." Ryoko continued, licking her fangs. "But I think
that'd just be a waste of my energy,"

"Whaaat?!" Ayeka snapped, the power logs that floated about her head
faded away.

"I have more important things to do," Ryoko said, winking at her.

"Oh yeah?" Ayeka scowled. "What could you possibly do that's so
important?"

"I have to go read," Ryoko smiled, and with the book placed close to
her chest, she teleported out of the room and headed to some unknown
riverbank.

"Why that. that." Ayeka tried desperately to think of a new
insult to use, but instead concluded that the old ones are always the
best ones. "That monster woman! She gets right on my nerves,"

"Sometimes," Katsuhito said, pushing the glasses back on his nose
with an enigmatic grin on his face. "She can be unbelievable,"

**

"Wheeeeeeeee!" Mihoshi danced about the washing, ignoring Kiyone's
previous advice. Besides, it didn't matter that nobody else said
things like that to her, because if she kept saying it, people might
eventually catch on that it was a darn fun thing to say. "Wheeeeee!
Wheeeee-ah-wheeeee! Whooooo. wait, that's not right,"

She frowned as she clipped a clothes peg to the line, hanging her pink
Power-Rangers underwear up for all to see. She giggled proudly, as a
faint trace of red prickled her cheekbones. She bent down to pick up the
basket of laundry, when she heard the familiar zing sound that she
immediately associated with Ryoko teleporting somewhere nearby. Lifting
the basket up, she got to her feet and came face to face with the
inquisitive brow of the blue-haired space pirate.

"Waaaaaaaaaaah!" Mihoshi screamed, throwing the basket into the air
in surprise. It landed with a thud on the floor in between them both,
its contents spilling all over the place. "Oh no! That isn't good,"

"Good one, you klutz," Ryoko groaned.

"Tenchi's underwear is all dirty now!" Mihoshi whimpered, stuffing
the clothes back into the basket.

"Tenchi's. underwear?" Ryoko smirked, a glint forming in her
eyes. She shook her head and pushed the thoughts to the back of her
mind. "Bah, stop trying to distract me. I want to talk to you,"

"Really?" Mihoshi asked, looking up at Ryoko. Her brilliant blue
eyes shone with glee. "Wow, that's totally unlike you, normally you
just ignore me and cut me off whenever I'm-."

"Shut up! I said I wanted to talk to you, not with you," Ryoko said.

"Oh, well, in that case," Mihoshi shrugged, the smile refusing to
leave her face. "Go right ahead, I'm all ears,"

"And no brains," Ryoko mumbled.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that?" Mihoshi asked.

"I thought you said you were all ears," said Ryoko.

"Well, I, uh," Mihoshi floundered.

"Never mind that," Ryoko said. "You're an idiot, right? I mean.
you're into the whole. cute animals prancing around lalala thing?"

"Cute animals?" Mihoshi giggled, her eyes widening (which was quite
a feat for her). "You mean like birdies and kitties and mice, lalala?"

"Well, mostly I meant rabbits," Ryoko said. "Without the lalala,"

"WHEEEE!" Mihoshi cheered. "Bunnies are so adorable! They have
such cute little noses, and funny eyes, and floppy woppy ears, and
oooooh!"

". Right," Ryoko replied, one eyebrow tilted toward the heavens.
It was at times like this that she wished Washu would invent a device
that would translate these incoherent ramblings of Mihoshi's. "You
don't happen to know where I can find some around here, do you?"

"Well, there's a pet shop in town," Mihoshi said. "But I think
Ryo-ohki would get jealous if you got another pet, Ryoko. Unless you
were thinking of getting her a boyfriend? Hee-hee."

"No, I mean one that's living in this area," Ryoko explained.
"You never see any rabbit holes when you're working around the
Shrine?"

"Nope," said Mihoshi. "Why don't you ask Washu to scan the area?"

"I would, believe me," Ryoko nodded, as any alternative to Mihoshi
would be one worth taking. "But she's resting right now, and I
don't want to disturb her,"

"Oh," Mihoshi lowered her eyes.

"And since you were the only other person I could think of," Ryoko
carried on. "I guess I had no choice but to come ask you,"

"Wow, Ryoko, that's so sweet of y-."

"So anyway," Ryoko said, hovering past Mihoshi. "You have no idea
where I could find a rabbit hole?"

"No," Mihoshi replied. "But I know how you could find a rabbit!"

"Oh?"

**

"Miaaaow!" Ryo-ohki gaped in awe at the plate of carrots that Ryoko
and Mihoshi were carrying through the living room. Saliva dripped in
beads from her whiskered mouth, and she dug her claws into Sasami's
scalp ever so slightly. "Mia-mia-miaaaa!"

"Owch!" Sasami grunted, scrunching her nose up at the cabbit's
excitement. "Ryo-ohki, they're not for you. Try not to make so much
noise, Washu's trying to sleep,"

"Miaow?" Ryo-ohki asked, disappointed.

"Hey," Sasami called after Ryoko and Mihoshi, who were going
outside. She got up from the couch and gave chase, leaving her pocket
diary behind. "Where are you two going? Who are those carrots for?"

"Nobody," Ryoko said, as the little cabbit leapt down from
Sasami's head and followed the other girls, using the plate as a beacon.

"Then where are you taking them?" Sasami asked.

"We're gonna look for rabbits," Mihoshi explained. "Ryoko wants
to find one and follow it back to its hole in the ground,"

"Really?" Sasami said. "Can I help?"

"Sure!" Mihoshi giggled.

"Hey, who's the leader of this operation?" Ryoko stopped in her
tracks, causing Ryo-ohki to crash into the back of her feet with a
squelch.

"Uh," Mihoshi blinked. "Could you repeat the question?"

"Who said I needed help with this?" Ryoko asked. "It can't be
that hard, all I've got to do is go out there, put these carrots down,
and wait for a rabbit to come along and eat them. Don't you guys think
I'm capable of doing something as simple as that?"

Sasami and Mihoshi stared blankly at her. Only Ryo-ohki dared to voice
her doubts concerning Ryoko's capabilities, but nobody could
understand her, so she narrowly escaped a good frying.

"Good," Ryoko said, continuing past them and heading down the
walkway leading towards the woods from the Masaki household. "You guys
stay here, I'll be fallin' down rabbit holes in no time!"

"What's she talking about, Mihoshi?" Sasami asked.

"I don't know," Mihoshi replied. "Hey, where'd Ryo-ohki go?"

"She was just here," Sasami said, looking around. "Ryo-ohki?
Ryo-ohki!"

Unbeknownst to Sasami and Mihoshi, Ryo-ohki had stuck quite close to
Ryoko as she skipped through the air into the verdurous forest and
looked for an adequate place to begin her search. Ryo-ohki had her eyes
fixed on the plateful of carrots in Ryoko's hands, and she wasn't
about to give up on it. After a short time, Ryoko finally stopped by a
willow tree and placed a slender hand on its trunk. Scouting the area,
she sniffed the air and tossed a carrot out behind her.

"Now if I were a rabbit," Ryoko told herself, hypothetically.
"Where would I be?"

Ryo-ohki would have probably been able to give her some good ideas, but
she was too busy stuffing her face with carrot to let Ryoko in on them.

"I guess I'll just make a trail of carrots that leads to that bush
and then see what happens," Ryoko decided, placing carrot after carrot
behind her in a line. Then, she quickly scooted behind the bush and
glued her eyes to them.

"Miaow?" Ryo-ohki chirped, placing a paw on one of the carrots.

"GAH!" Ryoko screeched, waving her arms frantically. "Shoo! Shoo!
Those aren't for you, they're for rabbits!"

"Miaow." Ryo-ohki whined as she strolled away with her head down.

"Phew, that was a close one," Ryoko said. "I almost had to go back
for more carrots, and that would mean bumping into Mihoshi again,"

Ten minutes passed and still no rabbits had happened by the bush.
Normally, this wouldn't be much of a shock, but Ryoko's patience was
starting to wear thin. Grumbling to herself about how this was all just
a waste of time, she rolled onto her back and felt the leaves rubbing
against her legs. She began to imagine Tenchi lying beside her, and how
if he truly were there, she'd be able to wait days for just one rabbit
to come along. With him by her side, time just seemed to stand still,
and. and.

"Miaow?" she heard a little voice squeak.

Groaning, she sat up and peeked through the bush to take a look at what
the fuss was about this time. Ryo-ohki was once again heading for the
trail of carrots, but she'd dressed herself up like a rabbit. Her ears
were pricked up, and she'd dampened her whiskers so they weren't as
prominent. Also, she was attempting to make it appear as if she had
bucked teeth, but wasn't doing a very good job.

"Ryo-ohki." Ryoko began, wanting to tell off the cabbit. But
before she could do so, she noticed just how comical Ryo-ohki looked in
her guise, and instead just burst into fits of laughter (which probably
would have awoken half the animals in the forest). When she'd
finished, she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked back to Ryo-ohki.
"Go ahead, you can take one,"

"Miaow!" Ryo-ohki said, diving onto the nearest carrot.

"Don't forget to say grace," Ryoko reminded the cabbit as she lay
back down again.

"Mia-miaow miaow," Ryo-ohki guzzled.

"Man, you're so literal," said Ryoko.

**

Washu opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar place. For a
moment, she thought she was seeing that forgotten landscape that had
appeared in her dreams once more, but then she realized the uncertain
feeling she had was simply due to her being in Sasami's room.
Everything looked so alien in the twilight; there was that little girl
feel to the place, it made Washu nostalgic for a time in her life that
she couldn't even begin to remember.

Then she caught sight of Sasami lying on the floor, her head bobbing up
and down on a cushion as she snored. The sound was almost reminiscent of
the sea, as it pushed forward and snapped at Washu's heels, the foamy
waves pounding against her skull as if it were a pebble.

"Owww," Washu moaned, clutching her head. She had a nasty migraine.
Sliding out of Sasami's bed, she crept past the sleeping beauty and
snuck into the kitchen, where she got herself a glass of water and an
aspirin. "Well, it's hardly the most efficient way, but it'll do,"

She tilted her head back and swallowed the aspirin, feeling it rub
against her throat as it dripped and slid slowly downwards into her
belly. She placed the jar of aspirin back on the shelf and wandered back
into Sasami's room.

"I hope you're not much heavier than you look," Washu whispered,
brushing back her hair and reaching her arms under Sasami's frail
body. Grunting slightly under the pressure, she managed to lift the
little girl back into her bed. Washu placed the frilly blanket over
Sasami, and was about to leave when she felt a soft hand touching hers.

"Oh, c'mon, you know I don't go for that mushy stuff," Washu
smiled a little.

But the sound of Sasami's breath had been replaced by a much more
threatening sound, the kind of noise a sleeping dog makes when it's
been disturbed. Nervously, Washu lowered her head and saw huge belches
of steam rising from behind her, as if there were some colossal beast
behind her, waiting expectantly for her to turn around. The grating
sound began to build higher and higher in the air, and Washu felt her
fear get the better of her as she looked over her shoulder. Whatever it
was, it wasn't Sasami.

Half of the entire room had been stripped away, and in its place there
was now a massive machine of some sort, pumping forth steam and gas like
a dragon with indigestion. It towered over Washu (not that there was
much that didn't when she was in this form), and she could only just
make out the huge funnel-like structure that tipped the very peak of the
mountainous monstrosity. Pipes and pistons plunged downward from the
very top of the beast, and all around there was the buzz of electricity.
For all her genius, Washu couldn't even figure out what the heck it
was supposed to be. Until, that is, she caught sight of a shape deep
within the mass of the machine that resembled a human child. It looked
back at her through hateful eyes, eyes that glowed a reddish white, like
coal on a blazing fire. It was these eyes that gave the machine the fuel
it needed to continue its apparently message-less mechanical tirade,
cursing the skies with the toxic fumes it produced. Washu covered her
eyes, disgusted by this vision of pointless anarchy and her inability to
prevent it.

"Are you better than me, Washu?" a voice from deep within the
machine asked her.

"Leave me alone," Washu pleaded with her faded memories.

"Washu?" Sasami's voice shone through the silence. "Are you okay?"

Right on cue, the illusion had faded, and Washu was back in the real
world. Sasami was sitting up in bed, and Washu couldn't help but feel
bad that her bizarre flashback had to interrupt the poor girl's sleep.

"Sorry, Sasami," Washu said. She began to walk out. "You go back
to sleep, I'm just having problems,"

"Would you like to talk about it?" Sasami asked, feeling quite
lonely without Ryo-ohki by her side.

Washu was about to refuse Sasami's offer, when she remembered
Tenchi's advice from before about not keeping her true feelings
bottled up.

"Alright," she said, telling herself that Sasami was only trying to
be polite, and that she didn't really want to stay up till godforsaken
hours just talking with her.

"Cool!" Sasami beamed, swinging her legs out from underneath the
blanket and charging out of the room in her pajamas. "I'll make us
sandwiches and we can have a midnight feast!"

"I guess I was wrong," Washu chuckled to herself.

**

"So you think there's something from your past that you've
forgotten on purpose, and it's causing you to have these weird
flashbacks?" Sasami asked, leaning back in her chair and stretching
her legs. Any other lady half Washu's age would have berated Sasami
for such a thing, but instead Washu simply imitated Sasami and moaned
contentedly.

"It's not unlikely," Washu replied, stuffing her face with a
peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "There's an eighty five percent
possibility, anyway,"

"What could it possibly be?" Sasami wondered.

"I dunno," Washu shrugged. "There's a lot about my past that I
can't really remember. Maybe I forgot to switch the gas off in an
apartment I had a few thousand years ago and now it's coming back to
haunt me,"

"You're so silly, little Washu," Sasami giggled.

"Hmm," Washu said, deep in thought. She wished she could just use
one of her many memory retrieval devices, but nothing seemed to work as
well as simply letting them come back to her naturally. Besides, there
were some memories she preferred to leave well alone.

"I guess you're just going to have to hope something reminds you of
what it was," Sasami suggested, as if she'd been reading her mind.

"Yeah," Washu agreed.

"You don't really think it's something bad you did, do you?"
Sasami asked.

"Huh?" Washu blinked, finishing her sandwich and licking her fingers
clean of peanut butter. "What made you think that was what I thought
it was?"

"Well, you did say that it might've been that you left the gas on in
your apartment," said Sasami.

"I was just joking," Washu grinned, uneasily.

"Were you?" Sasami asked.

"Well," Washu sighed. Suddenly, the whole world seemed to be
weighing down on her shoulders; her hair felt like it had been woven out
of lead. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and
slowly she began to confide in Sasami more than she'd ever done
before. "I've been alive so long that I've lost track of how I got
here,"

"That's easy," Sasami said. "We rescued you from Kagato's ship,"

"No, that's not what I meant," Washu replied. "My life, as great
a ride as it's been, has been full of decisions, and paths, and
choices. choices that I've had to make. Now, being the greatest
scientific genius in the universe, I probably made the right choice most
of the time. Right?"

"Right," Sasami nodded.

"Whaddya mean, probably?" Washu snickered. "I definitely made
'em! But, y'know. sometimes the only choices you're given are
painful ones, for at least one person,"

"You think you hurt somebody?" Sasami asked.

"There's no way I can be sure," Washu said, without really
answering her question. "For all I know, I'm just seeing these
things because I'm working too hard, or I haven't had enough sleep
lately,"

"Well, I know you, Washu, and I'm sure you would never intentionally
do something to hurt anyone," Sasami soothed.

"Nobody knows me, I'm the wind, baby!" Washu exclaimed, leaping
onto the kitchen table and pointing towards the ceiling.

"Washu!" Sasami hissed, struggling to contain her laughter. "Keep
your voice down, people are trying to sleep,"

"Okay, okay," Washu replied, landing with a thud in her chair. She
took a delectable chomp out of her sandwich and continued speaking, her
mouth full of bread. "I guess I'm gonna just have to wait until
something sparks my memory,"

"I hope I don't forget my childhood when I get to be as old as you,
Washu," Sasami said.

"Well," Washu said, her voice slightly muffled as she chewed.
"Even a genius can be forgetful,"

"But I don't want to forget these times," Sasami replied,
insistently. She pawed at a napkin, nervously, as Washu began to realize
Sasami hadn't intended their little heart-to-heart to be a one-way
thing. "I love this place, I really do! I can't imagine all the
friends, all the stories, all the fun. just vanishing. I won't let
it!"

"There, there," Washu said, feeling her maternal instincts swell a
little. "If you don't want it to go, I'm sure that it won't.
These moments that are resurfacing in my head, little bits at a time,
they're a part of my life I wish I'd never had, or something I'm
regretting. I'm sure of that,"

"How can you be so sure?" Sasami asked.

"They just don't feel right," said Washu. "As if they're
someone else's dreams. Don't worry, Sasami. I'm sure that when
you're an old lady like me, you'll still be able to tell your
grandkids about how wonderful your childhood was. You just won't be as
cute or as smart as me, is all!"

"Oh, Washu," Sasami blushed.

"Plus you won't have your own subspace laboratory, or the title of
greatest scientific genius in the universe. and your grandkids, oh
boy, they'll probably be little brats!" Washu continued to rib her.

"Hey!" Sasami giggled.

"Bigger brats than Ryoko!" Washu said.

"I don't know about that," Sasami said.

"You're right, they'd have to be some real bratty kids," Washu
nodded.

"She's a brat, alright," Sasami agreed.

"I doubt your grandkids would drink as much sak‚, either," Washu said.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sasami smirked.

"Yeah, you'll want all the sak‚ for yourself!" Washu laughed,
clutching her stomach as she laughed so much that she was struggling to
breathe. "You'll be a drunk old lady with bratty grandkids,"

"You're so cruel, Washu!" Sasami said, laughing right along with her.

"Hoo boy," Washu leaned back in her chair and soaked in the moment.
Her mind couldn't have been further from the terrible apparition
she'd witnessed, despite the fact that only half an hour had passed
since she'd been startled by it. Sasami really had a grand effect on
her state of mind, not just in this instance, but in general. Her
childhood innocence and behavior was something Washu really loved to
relate to and study closely. Something seemed to be missing, though.
"Hey, where's Ryo-ohki?"

"Ryo-ohki?" Sasami asked, for even she had found herself swept up by
their tˆte- -t te. "I last saw her when Ryoko took all those
carrots into the woods to hunt rabbits. She's probably with her,"

"Ryoko's hunting rabbits?" Washu asked. "That's news to me,"

"Yeah, she was acting funny all day," Sasami replied. "Ayeka said
something about her reading a book about rabbits to her when they were
fighting,"

"Ryoko was reading?" Washu cringed. "That can't be good. She
always gets ideas when she reads. Normally, as her mother, that'd be
something I'd want to encourage. but this is Ryoko we're talking
about,"

"One of her ideas usually ends up with somethin' falling down and
exploding," Sasami said.

"Right," said Washu. "I sure hope we don't end up eating fried
rabbit for dinner, tomorrow,"

"Washu!" Sasami gasped. "You don't think she'd blow up the
rabbits accidentally, do you.?"

"No, of course not," Washu lied. "I'm sure she's just going
animal watching. She's a nosy thing. Sometimes too nosy for her own
good,"

"I always thought Tenchi's dad was the nosy one," Sasami mumbled.

"You're learning!" Washu grinned, noticing Sasami's eyelids were
becoming heavier. "Getting tired, huh?"

"No," Sasami replied, trying in vain to hold back a yawn.

"You'd better get off to bed," Washu said.

"Okay," Sasami sighed, standing up. "What about you, what're you
going to do?"

"Maybe I'll run a scan of the area and see if that little brat has
managed to find any rabbits," Washu said, switching off the table lamp
and shuffling her way over to the entrance to her lab.

"Washu?" Sasami asked, quietly.

"Yes?" Washu turned around.

"Thank you," Sasami whispered, leaning out through her bedroom doorway.

"Uh. no problem," Washu threw a smile at Sasami, who returned it
and plodded daintily back into her room. Washu scratched her forehead.
"But I have no clue what I did,"

"Some genius I must be," she thought to herself as she opened the
subspace portal and entered her lab, which stung her eyes with its
radiance. Flipping a switch, she turned all the lights down a touch and
casually strolled over to her floating cushion. "I can't even figure
out such a simple little girl,"

Pressing a few buttons on the keyboard in front of her, she brought up a
map of the entire Masaki Shrine and its surroundings. The whole thing
encompassed such a vast area that any earth computer would probably have
difficulty pinpointing an energy source of the type that Ryoko gave off.
Washu, however, had no problem, and had quickly jotted down the co-
ordinates of Ryoko's location in her mind. Ryo-ohki was indeed with her,
and judging by Ryoko's immobility and heart rate, they were fast
asleep together.

Washu felt butterflies fluttering about inside her stomach, and she
turned away from the console. From within her heart, she felt a great
need to watch her daughter as she slept. It was something she hadn't
felt in a long time, not since she'd been imprisoned on Kagato's
ship back when her only connection to Ryoko was the one in her mind.
 From within that prison, Washu had been able to see all the diabolical
things he was doing to Ryoko. All the mind games, and the torture.
Washu felt as if he were doing them in the knowledge that she could
witness and feel every hair on her daughter's head being put through
such tremendous suffering. Throughout that tragic time, she had wanted
to be there, not just in spirit but in physical form. To be able to put
a hand on her daughter's shoulder, to keep her from succumbing to
Kagato's evil will, to be her mother.

"What a bogus time that was," she said, bringing up an image of
Kagato from the files on her computer and scribbling over it with
insulting childish doodles. "Nyah,"

But the feeling wouldn't go away, no matter how much she tried to
distract herself. She tried everything, even resorting to Minesweeper,
but none of the programs in her databanks could distract her from the
thought of watching over Ryoko as she slept. For a moment, she turned to
her simulation chamber, and considered creating another erotic sim
wherein she would no doubt be able to keep her mind on other things.

"No," she sighed. "I want to try this out,"

She focused on those co-ordinates in her mind, and the stream of numbers
and letters amalgamated into a single, solitary image of her sleeping
daughter. Without even leaving her hovering seat, she felt herself
lifted outside of subspace, and through the dim living room of the
Masaki residence. The room's color had been long since drained by
nightfall, but even so it felt like she was seeing through veiled
eyesight, unable to view with crystal clarity anything except that which
she was searching for. With supernaturally shrouded vision, she guided
her ghost-like body through the eastern wall of the living room. Passing
through walls was never something she enjoyed doing, even in this form
when not actually fully conscious. At least the Masaki house wasn't
infested with bugs or anything, or it'd be a really vile prospect. She
felt ticklish on her invisible toes, as she passed across open fields
and let the grass brush against her naked feet as she floated on by the
lake and into the forest. Flitting through tree after tree, it took her
merely seconds to come across the spot Ryoko had picked with such care
to begin her rabbit hunt.

And suddenly, her feelings all made sense.

Ryoko lay in a pool of silver moonlight, snoring her head off. Her hair
was full of sticks, leaves, and dirt. Her face was as grubby as Washu
had ever seen it, and the fact that Ryo-ohki was pawing all over it with
her wet feet wasn't helping matters. A thin string of drool dangled
down from her bottom lip, as she droned nasally with all her might. Her
tongue was hanging from the corner of her mouth, and her clothes
appeared to have been smothered by a giant garbage monster. She was, to
say the least, filthy.

"That's my daughter," Washu said, transfixed by the beauty of it
all. Not that Ryoko looked beautiful, in any normal understanding of the
word. She was a mess. But knowing this, and still being able to see a
lovely person, Washu stood there in the darkness watching Ryoko, and
knew exactly what it was to be a mother. And boy, did she like it. More
than that, though. She adored it, she felt complete.

"Wahoo! I feel like the greatest mom in the world!" she giggled,
loving every minute of it.

For a moment, Washu thought she must have disturbed Ryoko with her
ostentatious cheering, but then she remembered that she wasn't really
in the forest, but back in the subspace lab. She was simply seeing all
this through Ryoko's own eyes and senses, with none of her actions
having any effect on reality. But if that was the case, then why did she
feel as if something had disturbed Ryoko? Then she realized it wasn't
Ryoko who had been disturbed; it was Ryo-ohki.

"Miaaa!" Ryo-ohki screeched, hissing and griping in abundance.

"Wow, something's sure bugging you, girl," Washu frowned,
following the cabbit's gaze. Washu felt equally 'bugged' when she
saw what had upset Ryo- ohki so much.

Between two tree trunks, a shadow shifted around furtively with a
purpose. It rose to about the height of a large man, when it wasn't
hunched over. Its face was hidden by the absence of light, but the body
of the creature (because it certainly wasn't anything human) was
coated in a thick, oily residue that reeked of petroleum. Washu could
make out throbbing tubes of flesh that lashed about inside the
creature's near transparent torso and limbs, irregularly oozing a
black, sticky liquid from their hollow tips. Washu felt nauseous as she
watched the creature's slow progression through the forest towards
her; it left none of the vegetation unspoiled as it passed by, rubbing
its slimy surface off onto the plants that garnered the woodland floor.
A gap in the crown canopy allowed the moon to shine onto the
creature's face, and Washu only caught sight of a set of glowing fangs
before she began to retract herself back to her laboratory.

"I'm going to destroy your life," it had gurgled at her. "As you
have mine,"

Oh, it bugged her, alright. Bugged her out of her mind.

**

"Ryoko! Ryoko!" Ryoko felt herself being shaken by something she
couldn't quite make out, as she came to her senses and woke up.

"What is it? Where am I?" Ryoko asked, rubbing her eyes. The events
of the day before began to filter back into her mind. "Oh man, did I
fall asleep?"

"Are you okay?" Washu asked, stepping back a little and looking
around. There was no sign of any creature, nor was there any sign that
one had been there recently. "I was worried,"

"Huh?" Ryoko looked up. Ryo-ohki was in playing around on her head,
trying to make some sort of nest in her hair; her bottom was sticking
out from between two blue folds, and the faint scratching was agitating
Ryoko to no end. But this wasn't what had confused her. "You were
worried?"

"Yeah," Washu replied. Even she had to admit that it sounded weird,
but she shrugged it off and, placing her hands behind her back, laughed
robustly.

"About me.?" Ryoko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, who else would I be worryin' about out here?" Washu asked.

"Miaow!" Ryo-ohki leapt from her nest in Ryoko's hair-do and
landed at Washu's feet.

"Apart from you," said Washu.

"Mia." Ryo-ohki sniffled.

"That's not really like you, Washu," Ryoko frowned, standing up
and brushing herself down. "Look at me, I'm a mess,"

"Ya sure are!" Washu agreed, delving into a pocket in the fabric of
space and producing a handy-dandy wet handkerchief. "Here, let me help
you,"

"Huh?" Ryoko asked, as the little scientist began to scrub at her
clothes. "Washu, did you take a blow to the head recently? 'Cause I
can think of numerous people who would wanna do that,"

"Don't be so silly, pumpkin!" Washu chortled, completely shocking
Ryoko.

"I draw the line at cutesy names! I'm getting out of here," Ryoko
said, disgusted. She pushed Washu away as the scientist started trying
to clean the poor space pirate's face. "Stop trying to get on my
nerves!"

"What, you wanna go back to Tenchi looking like that?" Washu asked,
wiggling the hanky at Ryoko, playfully.

"I can wash my own face, thank you very much," Ryoko said, trying to
snatch the hanky from her.

"Uh-uh, let mommy do it!" Washu teased, evading Ryoko's hand with
ease.

"You know, I can just go over to the lake and wash my face there,"
Ryoko grunted, folding her arms.

"Then why don'tcha?" Washu chirped.

"Because there's a perfectly good hanky in your hand and I want it,
now give it!" Ryoko growled, trying once again to grab the handkerchief.

"And what makes this hanky so 'perfectly good', hmmm?" Washu
asked, ducking behind Ryoko and putting a hand to her ear, expectantly.

"Ugh, don't make me do this," Ryoko groaned.

"I can't hear yoooouuuu!" Washu sang.

"Rggghhh!" Ryoko snarled, giving in. "It's perfectly good
because you're the greatest scientific genius in the galaxy, and you
make the best hankies in the world, and it's probably at just the
right temperature too, because you're that smart! There, you happy?"

"You forgot something," Washu said.

"I did?" Ryoko puzzled, placing a finger on her cheek. "What did I
miss out? The greatest scientific yada-yada-yada part?"

"No, though I do kinda like hearing that part twice," Washu grinned,
producing a white tee shirt from behind her back and handing it to
Ryoko. "Here you go, this might clue you in,"

"What is it, an I'm With Stupid shirt?" Ryoko laughed.

"Oh, so you don't want this hanky, huh?" Washu asked.

"Fine, fine, I'll look at your shirt," Ryoko replied, taking the
tee shirt from Washu. She noticed that it was probably far too big to
fit Washu herself, at least in her child form. Ryoko presumed that Washu
expected her to put it on, so she did, awaiting whatever humiliating
piece of text that the annoying scientist had placed on the front.

"There now, doesn't that look swell?" Washu asked.

Ryoko stared down at the pink star on her chest. Across the star was
written 'Greatest Daughter In The Universe', with ruby red hearts
popping about the yellow lettering. Looking back to Washu, she saw that
Washu had a similar shirt on, only with 'Greatest Scientific Genius
(And Mom) In the Universe' written on hers; the hearts had been
replaced by happy crabs.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Ryoko moaned.

"Need a bucket?" Washu asked, reaching into her subspace pocket once
more.

**

Tenchi sat at the kitchen table, staring at the portrait of his mother.
The same one that Nobuyuki had accidentally broken the other day in one
of his dazes. Fortunately, the only thing broken was the frame, and that
had only taken a simple trip into town for it to be fixed. Strangely,
however, Tenchi felt that something was still amiss about the portrait,
and had been for some time.

Looking at it now, it was hard to say exactly what he felt was wrong
with it. That is to say, he could see there was so much right with it
that it was hard to believe that his heart was telling him there was
some enigmatic fault therein. The portrait showed his mother resting on
a hillside facing the sunrise. He couldn't really tell, but it was
probably painted quite near the Masaki Shrine. She was wearing her
school uniform, so she was obviously quite young when this had been
done. Then again, Tenchi knew there weren't many paintings of his
mother where she wasn't shown as being young and full of life. As a
matter of fact, there were none.

Not a day went by when he failed to regret never being able to spend
time with his mother as he grew older; this wasn't news to him. His
whole life, he had had to live in acceptance of the fact that his mother
was gone and would never be coming back. Maybe he just felt bad for not
spending as much time remembering her as he used to. Maybe he just
missed his mom.

"Maybe I'm just obsessing over a silly broken painting," Tenchi
sighed to himself, wishing he knew what the problem was.

"Hey Tenchi!" Washu's bright and early voice rang out as she came
into the kitchen, with Ryoko in tow. "You're up early,"

"Hey there, little Washu," Tenchi said, noticing their tee shirts.
"Wow, what's with the cool shirts?"

"Cool? That's a laugh," Ryoko mumbled.

"Ryoko and I are gonna spend the day together, just mom and daughter!"
Washu grinned, jamming her elbow into Ryoko's ribs. "Right, honey?"

"Whaaat?" Ryoko hacked. "I don't believe this,"

"I think that's a great idea," Tenchi said, hanging the portrait
back up on the wall by the staircase.

"Huh?" Ryoko asked. "You do?"

"Sure!" Tenchi said. "I never got to spend much time with my own
mother. It'd be a dream come true if I had the kind of chance you're
getting,"

"Yeah, but Tenchi." said Ryoko, dumbfounded. "There's a big
difference between your mom and. well. mine,"

"Oh, c'mon," Washu said. "Just because Tenchi's mom wasn't
the genius that I am, it doesn't mean you can put her down like that,"

"That's not what I-." Ryoko snapped.

"Besides," Washu continued. "You should never take things for
granted. Just ask Tenchi, he knows what I'm talking about,"

"Just tell me what the Hell you're talking about," Ryoko said.

"It means I gave you a cool shirt, and you should appreciate that!"
Washu exclaimed.

"It's NOT a cool shirt!" Ryoko yelled, grabbing the little genius
by the collar.

"Hey, what's with all the racket?" Mihoshi asked, stumbling into
the kitchen. "Wow, that's a cool shirt, Ryoko!"

"Yeah, she was just shouting about how much she likes it," Washu
replied.

"Argh!" Ryoko snarled, tearing the shirt off so that she had her
original red tee shirt back again. She bent down and stuck a bony finger
in Washu's oval face. "Listen, you! There is absolutely NO way that
I'd want to spend more than five minutes alone with you, let alone an
entire day! You got that?"

"Got it," Washu shrugged.

"Good," Ryoko said.

"So where do you wanna spend those five measly minutes together?"
Washu babbled, getting out a map of the area. "I know a lovely theme
park that we could go to, but we'd probably only get to have half a
ride on the whirling tea-cup thingamabobs,"

"Stop that!" Ryoko snarled, crinkling up the map in her hands and
throwing it at Mihoshi. "You don't seem to understand, I. do not.
want."

Before Ryoko could begin another brief lecture, Ryo-ohki had hopped up
onto Washu's head and was parading about amidst the red field of hair,
miaowing and pricking her ears up in an attempt to get Ryoko's
attention. At first, Ryoko just ignored the cabbit, but eventually she
saw what message it was trying to get across to her.

"Hey, Washu," Ryoko said, the angry tone gone from her voice. "Can
your computer locate rabbits?"

"Sure," Washu said, clapping her hands together, happily. "But,
uh, that'd only take me around twelve point five seconds. We'd still
have a whole four minutes and forty seven point five seconds to burn,
and I know just the place! There's this darling restaurant where they
let you have all you can eat in the space of four minutes-"

"Knock it off!"

**

"Okay, so I was wrong," Washu admitted, bashfully.

"You can't find them?" Ryoko asked, peering over her mother's
shoulder at the console. She really didn't feel like spending an
entire day with Washu, but if Tenchi thought it was such a swell idea,
then it would probably disappoint him if she didn't. Besides, she
could always just figure out a way to ditch the little red head if she
became too frustrating.

"Sure can, already did," Washu replied, hunching forward over the
computer screen. "But it only took seven seconds! I'm more of a
genius than I had first estimated!"

"Hmmph," Ryoko said, Washu's perkiness already starting to get on
her nerves. "So, where're the darn rabbits?"

"Well, there are a number of rabbit warrens circumjacent to the
Shrine," Washu said whilst tapping at the keyboard with her nimble
fingers. Ryoko tried to take a look at what she was doing, but Washu
simply shoved her out of the way. "I should probably do a scan first,
to deduce the amount of rabbit yield. From there we can figure out the
one where we'd be more likely to see a rabbit,"

"Right, the. thing, right," Ryoko nodded, idly plucking a few
wires out of their designated circuit boards. "Are you sure you really
want to come?"

"Why the heck wouldn't I?" Washu asked, squinting at Ryoko through
one eyeball.

"Well, I wouldn't think that rabbits were really your thing, Washu,"
Ryoko replied, putting the broken wires behind her back quickly.

"That's rich, coming from you," Washu chuckled. "No, rabbits
aren't my 'thing', but that doesn't mean I'm not just as
interested in them as you probably are. Just why are you interested in
them, anyway?"

"I read something about them in a book," Ryoko said with a distant
voice.

"Yeah, I heard a little about that," Washu said, curiously. In the
background, the buzzing of electricity and machinery whirred into
action, as a large capsule rotated and clicked behind them. Ryoko
couldn't quite make out exactly what it was, but it probably had
something to do with the scan Washu was performing. "What book is
this, then? Not another one of Nobuyuki's cheesy romance novels, I
hope,"

"Just a book," Ryoko said, finally retrieving her attention.

"Okay, looks like we got us some rabbits to hunt," Washu shut down
her monitor and bounced off her floating cushion. "You want the
bazooka or the flame-thrower?"

"Huh?" Ryoko blinked, as Washu offered her two gigantic weapons of
untold destructive power. Ryoko growled, and batted them lightly out of
Washu's hands. "Hey, I'm not going out there to kill them! I just
want to look at them,"

"Wow, you're full of surprises today, Ryoko," Washu said,
smirking. "Okay, then, I'll just transport us to the rabbit holes
and we'll be hunting the little buggers in no time!"

Ryoko stared coldly at Washu, her hands on her hips.

"I mean. we'll be looking at the little buggers," Washu nodded.
"Honestly, Ryoko, where's your sense of humor?"

"I guess I lost it at birth," Ryoko said.

**

The lone rabbit rested by a dark patch of brown grass, carelessly
chewing at a clump of weeds, and its eyes keeping a close watch on its
surroundings for any sign of predators. A pink nose twitched and
fidgeted, as it sniffed the air for nearby friends or foes. The forest
smelled different today, and it had taken a stroll out from its warren
to investigate and had now become quite lost in the process. Being too
inquisitive, its parents had told him, was always a recipe for disaster.
But then, this courageous rabbit was always fond of a little disaster to
start the day. Strangely enough, though, it really couldn't figure out
quite how it had ended up here.

Typically, though, disaster would entail long runs through the fields,
and risking coming too close to the people that lived in that nearby
Shrine. But they were no trouble, as they never even seemed to notice he
was there. Especially that blonde one, she was quite the rube. Once he
had scampered right up to her and she didn't take the blindest bit of
notice, just mumbled something about someone called Ryo-ohki and how
they should be quiet. Whatever that meant. There were times when this
little rabbit wondered just who were the smart ones around here, the
bunnies or the humans living in that Shrine over there. Why, those guys
couldn't even outfox a.

Fox? Is that what that smell was?

Blindly, the rabbit charged underneath the foliage and through the
thicket, trying its darndest to escape the hungry fox. There was no
doubt anymore as to what was producing that particular scent, a fox with
horrible saliva dripping from its mouth, ears pricked up and legs moving
faster than-

"Gotcha!" a voice snarled from above. Since when did foxes cry out
in victory? The rabbit paused in mid-step, perplexed. It turned its head
and saw two bizarre looking human beings leaning over it with their eyes
wide open in observation. Only one of them was familiar to the rabbit,
the one with blue, spiked hair. Many times had she almost bowled him
over in one of her nutty flying practises. Some humans just shouldn't
be allowed to do that, the rabbit noted. The other human was a stranger
to him, with fiery red hair and an outfit the likes of which the rabbit
had never seen on any of the others. Her face beamed with delight and
knowledge, as she raised a finger and poked the rabbit on the back.

"Hey there, little fella," Washu greeted the furry thing, which was
too afraid to even move. "Sorry about that fox scent I had to lay
down, but it was the only way we could get you to come to us,"

"Why isn't it running away?" Ryoko asked.

"Maybe it's your natural charisma, Ryoko dear," Washu snorted.

"Very funny," Ryoko said, inspecting the rabbit.

"This little guy is a Pentalagus Furnessi," Washu explained.

"A what-what?" Ryoko blinked.

"An Amami rabbit," Washu translated for her. "Those're very rare,"

"Oh, right, one of those," Ryoko said. "Why didn't you say so?"

"As far as I know, they've never been seen in cultivated or
residential areas," Washu began. "We're extremely lucky to have
found one. Few people even know of their existence. They've only ever
been spotted on the islands of Amami Oshina, and Tokuna-shima, in the
Ryukyu Archipelago south of the island of Kyushu. Excessive hunting has
hurt their numbers a great deal,"

"And there you were, jokin' about it," Ryoko mocked, poking her
tongue out at Washu. "Why would people wanna hunt such a tiny thing,
anyway? It doesn't even look all that appetising, there can't be
more than four mouthfuls in it altogether,"

"It is also hunted for its medicinal values," Washu said.

"Come to think of it, I do have a bit of a cold," Ryoko grinned,
poking the nervous rabbit.

"You know, we're very fortunate to have even seen one of these
today," Washu continued. "Don't you feel that way, Ryoko?"

"All I feel is hungry," Ryoko said, trying to snatch the rabbit.
Washu blinked and watched as it ran away from Ryoko and back into the
dense forest. "Damn it,"

"We certainly have a different view on wildlife," Washu said,
pondering to herself.

"Yeah, to you it's somethin' to talk about, and to me it's
somethin' to experience," Ryoko huffed.

"There's much more to experiencing something than just shoving it in
your mouth, Ryoko," Washu replied.

"Trust me," Ryoko snickered. "When I get experienced with Tenchi,
that'll be exactly what happens,"

"Yeesh," said Washu.

"So, where're the rabbit holes?" Ryoko asked. "Those were what I
really came out to see,"

"What do you need to see a rabbit hole for.?" Washu asked, warily.

"I just need to see one, okay?" Ryoko frowned. "Isn't that good
enough for you, 'mom'?"

Washu sighed, and produced a sheet of metal with a jet-black screen on
its front covering. In the centre, Ryoko could make out tiny green blips
bobbing around, presumably life signs. Pressing a button or two, Washu
quickly erased the blips from the screen and brought up a chunk of text.

"Hmmm, yes," Washu nodded to herself, as she examined the gadget.
"There should be a warren a few kilometres north-west of here,"

"I found it!" Ryoko shouted from a way off.

"That girl sure is quick on her feet," Washu said to herself. "Or
off her feet. If only she were as quick in the brain department,"

Washu snapped her fingers and strolled in the direction of Ryoko's
voice, hoping that whatever Ryoko was doing wasn't dangerous to the
rabbits, or herself. Trying to keep her mind off all the possible
mischief Ryoko could be getting herself into, she decided to admire her
surroundings. Soon enough, though, she found a sight far more
interesting (and humorous) than any tree or plant in the entire forest.

"Hahahahaha!" Washu laughed at the sight of her daughter, who had
her head stuck down the rabbit hole like some strange and shapely camel
searching for water. It was oddly touching. "What in the HELL are ya
doin', Ryoko?"

"I'm trying to find the one with the waistcoat on!" Ryoko called
back, unwittingly adding to the hilarity of the situation.

"Haahaahaaa!" Washu wheezed, falling onto her butt and kicking her
legs in the air in hysterics. Ryoko lifted her head out from underneath
the ground and looked to Washu, completely unaware of what the big joke
was. "Ryoko, welcome to Loonyville, population you!"

"Huh?" Ryoko asked, innocently.

"You ought to hear yourself!" Washu coughed, lying down in the grass
and looking up at the sunlight that squeezed through the branches
overhead and sprinkled over the pair of them like a couple of cherry
tots. "You sound so ridiculous,"

"Why, what'd I say?" Ryoko blinked, genuinely ignorant of how
silly she was behaving.

"What made you think that there'd be a rabbit down there that had a
waistcoat on, Ryoko?" Washu asked, sitting up and wiping the tears of
joy from her eyes.

"Well," said Ryoko. "The book I read started off with a rabbit in
a waistcoat, and a rabbit hole, and then all this. falling."

"Oh Ryoko," Washu said. "We really do need to talk,"

"I was afraid this would happen," Ryoko sighed, getting out some
cotton balls to stuff in her ears. "Alright, go ahead,"

"First things first," Washu said, folding her arms and bowing her
head. In a flash, they were both transported instantaneously to
Nobuyuki's grand library within the Masaki household. Ryoko jumped
back in astonishment as the bookcases and walls quickly ploughed their
way upward from the ground, replacing the bulky tree trunks with their
leafy tomes of text.

"Okay," said Ryoko, rubbing her eyes. "Next time, let me do the
teleporting. I'm much better at it than you are,"

"My teleportation skills are just as good as yours!" Washu replied.

"Oh, is that why you grew an extra arm en route here?" Ryoko
snickered, pointing at the added appendage on Washu's shoulders.

"That's meant to be there, it's a new fashion. All the rage, you
know," Washu sulked, turning to one side and erasing it from her body
structure. "Bah, so I got a little sloppy, I was too busy laughing at
you is all,"

"Of course, mom," Ryoko said, humoring the genius.

"Anyway, as for the reason I brought you here," Washu said, stepping
forward. She waved a finger in Ryoko's face and urged her to keep her
eyes on it, as she raised the finger above their heads and pointed to a
sign on one of the bookcases. "Can you read that?"

Ryoko looked to the sign, which clearly read 'Fiction', and back to
the little red head. Her condescending tone was beginning to reach
unbearable limits, but rather than scream at her and hope the message
got through, Ryoko decided to put on her most girly of voices and
respond like so:

"Oh, Washu!" she said, yanking at her hair. "I can't possibly
read something so complicated, you'll have to do it for me! After all,
you are the number one genius scientist in the universe, whatever that
means! Duhhhh!"

"It says fictio-."

"I know what it says!" Ryoko growled, grabbing Washu by the
shoulders and shaking her violently. "I didn't plan on having you
patronize me all day, you know! I could be doing better things!"

"Alright," Washu said, without faltering. "And I suppose you know
what that word means, too, huh? 'Cause I really wouldn't want to
patronize you any more than is necessary, y'know,"

"It means." Ryoko started to speak, yet the words just wouldn't
come out of her mouth. This, she told herself, was probably because she
couldn't think of any. With a deep sigh, she lowered her head so that
her embarrassment was disguised by the shade of her fringe. "Okay,
patronize away,"

"Whoopee!" Washu cheered, bursting into song. "In between us, I
feel friction! But it's no contradiction! Let me exercise my
jurisdiction, 'cause I'm gonna tell you 'bout fiction!"

"Stop that," Ryoko muttered.

"Oh, you're no fun," Washu grumbled.

"Without the use of music," Ryoko said. "Tell me what it means,"

"Ah well, I was beginning to run out of words that ended in 'iction'
anyway," Washu admitted. "Fiction, when we're talking about books
and such, is where the author writes something fantastical under the
pretense that it's the truth. Say, for example, if I wrote the words
'Spot found a ball'. It sounds like it could really happen, and
it's easy to picture in your head, but there ain't nobody called
Spot around who's finding a ball right now, I can guarantee you,"

"I can't imagine anybody being called Spot," Ryoko snickered.

"Me either, Devil-caller," Washu said. "And if they did exist,
they'd have to pretty bored and lonely to have their attention caught
by something as rudimentary and pointless as a bouncing ball!"

"Yeah, probably because of his name," Ryoko replied, as she played
with a piece of string that dangled from one of the book covers.

"So you get what I'm saying, right?" Washu asked, fishing a
particular book out from the fiction section and opening it.

"That I shouldn't name my first kid Spot?" Ryoko asked. "I
don't think even Tenchi would like his kid named after a dog,"

"No, about the meaning of the word fiction," Washu said, finding a
place in the book she was reading and chuckling quietly to herself.
"That it's not reality, just a fantasy conjured up by someone's
mind. Nothing more,"

"Pfft, right," Ryoko said, yanking at the string and accidentally
tearing the spine of the book right off. She gasped and grabbed the
book. Unsure of what she should do with it, she threw it into the air
and hoped it landed somewhere safe where nobody would look. "I mean,
you'd have to be an idiot to believe anyone in their right mind would
call their kid Spot. Unless their surname was Theloser,"

"You'd have to be an idiot to believe it, huh?" Washu grinned,
pointing the book at Ryoko.

"O' course!" Ryoko said. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

Washu coughed, causing Ryoko to turn around. The book Washu had in her
hands was open at page three, with a full-length sketch drawing of an
anthropomorphic rabbit. In one hand, it held a spindly umbrella, while
in the other it nervously clutched at a golden watch. It was staring at
the watch with a worried expression etched onto its face; a watch that
it had no doubt just retrieved from its waistcoat pocket.

"How much of an idiot would you have to be, Ryoko?" Washu asked,
batting her eyelids at the space pirate.

"Uh, a really smart one?" Ryoko suggested, just in time for a book
with a torn spine to fall onto her head.

**

The rest of their day together was spent mostly with Washu sitting
beside Ryoko and lecturing her in that unique Washu way (musical
numbers, diagrams larger and more detailed than the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel, that kind of thing) about the art form that is the
written word. Washu once again proved to be quite the informed
intellectual, spanning works from the Holy Bible to the latest batch of
Stephen King novels that had just been released (and, Washu told her,
had already been converted into handy screenplay format for those hungry
film-makers who couldn't wait for a single review to be posted before
getting their claws around the movie rights).

Normally, of course, Ryoko would be bored silly by such things. The
slightest hint of a dull lecture, even in perky Washu format, had her
asleep faster than the sight of the Xarton Shepherd Nebula (an area of
space where an infinite number of space sheep would frolic and leap over
asteroids, causing all nearby watchers to fall into a deep state of
slumber. This proved very handy, in a round-about way, for the people of
Germul Beta, a nearby planetoid whose people had contracted an ESP-like
disease and would be kept awake day in and day out by the sounds of
other people thinking about just how annoying it was to have to clean up
after millions of sheep that were orbiting their planet). This time,
however, Washu had her undivided attention. Mostly because every story
seemed to involve a sympathetic character that looked surprisingly like
Tenchi, at least according to the way Washu would draw the characters in
her diagrams. But it was more than that, and Ryoko didn't really
understand it. Neither did Washu, who, after a long day of talking
endlessly, eventually decided to let Ryoko take a break from all this
learning and go bug Tenchi.

"But I don't want to go bug Tenchi!" Ryoko said, following Washu
out of the library. Even she had to stop for a second and wonder if she
had really just said that.

"Well, I need to get some work done of my own," Washu replied. They
were passing by the entrance to the living room now, and they could both
make out Tenchi and Sasami watching TV together. "Besides, I'm
getting tired. Moms need their rest too, y'know,"

"Would you quit talking like that?" Ryoko asked.

"Talking like what?" Washu asked, taking her eyes off the two kids
in the living room.

"Like my mother," Ryoko sighed, as she floated into the living room.

"But I am." Washu said, when Ryoko was too busy playing with
Tenchi's hair to hear her.

"Hey, Tenchi!" Ryoko sang, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Ryoko, cut it out!" Tenchi yelled in surprise.

"Hey, Washu, why don't you come join us?" Sasami offered, patting
an empty place beside her on the couch.

"Alright," Washu said, plopping herself down next to the princess.
"What're we watching?"

"Game shows," Sasami replied, as the blue suited man on the
television demanded that the answer be in the form of a question. "Try
not to answer too many of the questions before we do, Washu. It's not
fair when you do that, what with you being a genius and all,"

"Okay then," said Washu. She didn't really feel like playing anyway.

"For six thousand yen," the voice on the television recommenced.
"It is the largest mountain on planet Earth above sea level,"

"What is Tenchi's manhood!" Ryoko grinned, winking at Tenchi.

"Huh?" Sasami blinked.

"You're nuts, Ryoko," Tenchi mumbled.

"They sure are!" Ryoko laughed.

"Why is Ryoko talking funny, Miss Washu?" Sasami asked the red head
scientist.

"Uh, hey, Washu," Tenchi stammered. "Why don't you guys tell us
what you two did today?"

"Nothing much," Washu shrugged, her mind elsewhere.

"We looked at rabbits!" Ryoko answered.

"Oooh, really?" Sasami asked.

"Miaaa!" Ryo-ohki came to life atop Sasami's noggin, and began to
do her rabbit impersonation one more time.

"Yup," Ryoko replied. "You should've been there Tenchi, it was
romantic,"

"Since when were rabbits ever romantic?" Tenchi asked.

"Well," Ryoko began, trying to think of something. "They. uh.
they. uh, um. they hump like hell,"

"Ryo-ohki doesn't have a hump," Sasami said. "She's pretty,"

"Maybe she'll meet the right guy one day, and all that'll change,"
Ryoko said.

"I don't understand," said Sasami.

"Miaow?" Ryo-ohki squeaked, trying to do a camel impression. If she
had ever actually seen one, it might've looked a little better. But
she was proud of it, all the same.

"You know, it's weird," Tenchi said, turning to Washu. "I talked
to grandpa earlier, after you guys mentioned something about rabbits,
and he said he'd never seen any rabbits or rabbit holes around the
Shrine. That's a little odd, don't you think? I mean, he's been
here a long, long time,"

"He's probably going senile in his old age, then," Ryoko butted
in. "We saw a ton of them! Washu even told me their names and
everything. I saw their nest; there were at least a dozen in there, all
of 'em humping like there was no tomorrow! How romantic,"

"Ryoko, humps aren't romantic!" Sasami replied. "Guys with humps
are gross,"

"Seriously, though," Tenchi continued, twiddling his thumbs. "You
don't think that's kind of weird, little Washu?"

Washu took a glance at Tenchi. Her eyes were quivering, and he could
almost see tears welling up in them. She gave him a look that told him
he should stop talking about it. He decided to comply.

"Uh, so anyway," Tenchi laughed, uneasily. He thought desperately of
a way to change the subject. "What were you talking about, Ryoko?"

"Humping?" Ryoko giggled. "Why Tenchi, I didn't know you cared,"

"Ryoko, stop it!" Sasami said. "Tenchi doesn't have a hump, and
he'll never get a hump! He doesn't want one,"

"Oh brother," Tenchi sighed.

**

Darkness had fallen by the time Tenchi dared to lift Ryoko's arm from
around his shoulders. She had fallen asleep next to him on the couch,
long after the others had left to get themselves some shuteye. Outside,
the faint whispers of wildlife chattered at the window frames; they
seemed louder than usual tonight. Tenchi turned to look at the lazy
space pirate, who'd been blathering on non-stop about all the things
that Washu had taught her today. Sure, it was nice that they'd spent
time together, and anytime Ryoko sits down and listens to intelligence
is a good thing, but she seemed to do it simply so she could boast to
him about it afterwards.

"Mmmm. Tenchi. where. hmm." Ryoko snored, her head tilting
back as he brushed her aside. If he wasn't careful, he told himself,
he was going to get hair up his nose, and sneezing wasn't in his to-do
list right now. Tenchi sighed, as he stood up and arched his back,
feeling the bones inside of him creak as he felt the hours of constant
droning come back to him. Ryoko sure could talk, he thought as he looked
at the clock on the wall. It must've been four hours since he'd
first sat down. Even now, she was chatting away to some imaginary Tenchi
in her sleep. Or worse.

Retracting his mind from the crudeness of that proverbial gutter, he
crept past the sleeping beauty and made his way towards the kitchen.
For, he had noticed, Sasami had forgotten to switch the light off before
she went to bed. Sneaking inside, he listened to the hum of the
fluorescent lights above his head. It reminded him of Washu's
laboratory, everything had its own distinct sound in there. Quite unlike
the random concoction of quiet clamor he was hearing from outside.

"Geez, it's loud," Tenchi muttered. He'd never heard the forest
make so much noise, it was like everything had just awoken from
hibernation and was proceeding to beg for someone to let them know what
year it was. Shutting his eyes in frustration, he reached out with one
hand and, after what must have been the third try, sloppily turned the
lights off. He heard a sharp intake of breath, and assumed he'd nearly
disturbed Ryoko's sleep. So, without noticing the lonesome figure
seated at the kitchen table, he slipped his way across the panelled
floor of the kitchen and found himself face to face with that portrait
he'd been so transfixed by earlier. His mind slowly being doused by
lack of sleep, he leaned forward with his right hand to touch the back
of his mother's head, and clumsily dropped the portrait. Tenchi
watched as his tranquil childhood plummeted past the peaks of the azure
skirting boards, disappearing from sight as his blurred vision refused
to carry that emblazoned burden of his yearning heart.

"Damn it," Tenchi gulped, hoping the noise didn't wake Ryoko.

"Tenchi?" a voice whispered from behind him.

"Oh, please just go to sleep," Tenchi sighed, turning around. Once
again, it was Washu, and not Ryoko, who was sitting at the kitchen table
addressing him. He felt sweat trickling down his brow as he lowered his
head in humility. "I really need to stop doing this, don't I?"

"Heh," Washu laughed, unconvincingly.

"Why're you still up?" Tenchi asked, forgetting the lost portrait
for a second. It was so rare that he saw Washu just sit there, without a
keyboard in front of her or some amusing and innocent quip spouting from
her mouth as if it were the very fountain of youth. Yet this must've
been the third time he'd seen her so lost and lifeless. "Everyone
else has gone to sleep, I figured you must've been up late working in
your lab. Is something on your mind?"

"It must be easy to mistake me for Ryoko," Washu said, shirking past
answering his questions.

"I don't understand," Tenchi replied, taking a seat beside her.
"I'm sorry for not realizing it was you. It was dark, I didn't-."

"What I mean is," Washu spoke so quietly that Tenchi almost had to
place his head right next to hers to hear what she was saying. "You
spend so much time with her, more than anyone else does. You're used
to her being around, always watching out for you. Of course you'd
think it was her,"

"I guess you're right," Tenchi smiled.

"I'd give anything to have that," said Washu (whose sight was far
more accustomed to the absence of light than Tenchi's were), as she
gazed into his eyes. The quieter she spoke, the closer they became, and
she felt chills up and down her spine as he leant across her shoulder.

"What?" Tenchi asked.

"I've never spent enough time with her, have I, Tenchi?" Washu
continued, looking over at the snoozing space pirate through the doorway
to the living room. "I always had one thing or another on my plate
that kept me from being there, every one of them amounting to nothing
compared to doing my duty as a mother,"

"Washu, you were imprisoned by Kagato," Tenchi said, sensing the
anguish in her voice. "There's no way you could've helped that,"

"Maybe I deserved it," Washu sighed.

"Washu!" Tenchi said, suddenly. He couldn't see her face, but he
could tell she was probably crying. "That's a terrible thing to say,"

"I don't know," Washu replied, putting her head in her hands.
"It's just, all that time I wasn't there for her, I felt it. I
saw it through her eyes, her complete and utter helplessness, and I
couldn't do anything. Sometimes I ask myself. would I have done
anything if I wasn't encased in that prison?"

"Of course you would have," said Tenchi. "You're a good person,
Washu,"

"A good person, huh?" she said. "I can't even remember the first
words she used when I created her. Oh, I know what they were, alright, I
have them written down in my logs. But I can't remember how they
sounded. I have the exact mappings of her fingerprints and all those
meaningless tests I performed on her recorded in my journals, but I
can't even close my eyes and see the first time she smiled at me.
maybe she never did. I can't remember. My mind and heart are so
spiteful of my ignorance, they've taken my fondest memories,"

"Washu, don't talk like that," Tenchi said, firmly. "I've
never heard you have a go at yourself like this before. You know, you
shouldn't, you don't deserve to put yourself through this. If you
were such a bad mother, I'm pretty sure Ryoko would let you know
herself,"

"She refuses to acknowledge that we're even related," Washu
replied. She smiled to herself. "Do you know why your grandfather
hasn't ever seen any rabbits hereabouts?"

"No, I." Tenchi trailed off.

"It's because there wasn't any," Washu laughed, weakly. She
turned to look at Tenchi, who was beginning to see things more clearly
now. In fact, he almost flinched away in fright from the dishevelled
grin on her face. "Before today, that is. Now we got hundreds of
little rabbits running around. Quite a phenomenon, wouldn't you say?"

"I don't understand," Tenchi frowned.

"Ryoko wanted to see rabbits," Washu began to explain. "I
couldn't exactly tell her no, and that we wouldn't be able to go see
any that weren't locked up in a cage in some pet store window. I
wanted to spend some time with her, doing what she wanted to do,
watching her enjoy herself. I wanted to feel like a mother."

"What did you do, Washu?" Tenchi asked.

"I ran a simulation program through my computer," she replied.
"Now there's a sort of holographic net running through the Masaki
Shrine, and its surroundings. We now have a dozen sets of extremely rare
Amami rabbits frolicking about in the fields, doing their own thing,
completely unaware that they're just a routine section of numbers and
letters in a simulation code. They look, act, and think just like real
Amami rabbits. They even hump like them, but then, Ryoko told you about
that part,"

"Hmm," Tenchi rubbed the back of his head, uneasily. "Wait, so
that's it? You're upset because you had to simulate some rabbits for
her?"

"Pretty much," Washu said.

"But Washu, that's a good thing," said Tenchi, as he put his hand
across her pale arm. "It shows that you want to be a good mother, that
you're willing to put aside your work and run this simulation just so
Ryoko can be happy,"

"It's good that I'm lying to her?" Washu asked, bitterly.
"Just because the alternative is her disappointment?"

Tenchi looked at Washu. Behind her, the moon was shining in through the
window, and it almost appeared to give her a halo of white light, like
an aura of affection. For the first time since he'd listened to her
emotional confession as she waved goodbye to his nephew all those months
ago, she looked once again to be mature even in her innocence. He smiled
at her, and squeezed ever so tightly on her arm.

"Of course it is," he said, finally. "That shows just how much you
treasure her happiness. It's not even like you're lying to her, more
like you're giving her a toy to play with. When a mother hands her
child a doll, she doesn't ask anything of them but to enjoy it. She
doesn't expect them to believe it's a real playmate, but to the
child it's no different. Don't you see, Washu? You're as good a
mom as there's ever been,"

"Well," Washu said, the sides of her mouth curling up higher with
every sentence that Tenchi spoke. "A doll and some adequately stored
rabbit warrens filled with endangered species are rather different, but.
I think I see what you're saying,"

Tenchi gave Washu a hug, brushing his hand through her thick hair. He
felt her trembling against him, and he offered her a shoulder to cry on.
She took it without hesitation.

"I feel so vulnerable lately," Washu said between sobs. "As if
someone could take away my daughter at any moment,"

"I'm pretty sure Ryoko's staying right here," Tenchi smiled,
comforting her. "From the looks of things, she'll be lying there
'till Ayeka forces her to move,"

They both looked to Ryoko, who was indeed snoring loudly on the couch,
her legs splayed across the cushions as she slumped forward over the arm
of the chair. Washu couldn't help but chuckle at her, which, of
course, got Tenchi laughing, until they were both falling over each
other laughing like maniacs whilst simultaneously trying to keep their
noise level to a minimum.

"That Ryoko," Washu snorted through clasped fingers. "She'll
sleep through anything,"

**

A blanket of warmth passed over the sleeping fields of swaying grass, as
the sun began to rise. One by one, the stars in the sky twinkled away as
the night was steadily replaced by day. The Masaki Shrine was enveloped
in a palatial glow, the windows and roof tiles glistened like running
water as the sunlight glints off its surface. Morning dew drops ambled
down the flower stalks and found a place to rest in the shade, as
blossom drifted by in a swarm of cherry delight, tickling the air with
its merry form. The sound of wildlife had died down long ago, and the
regular process of daytime in the Masaki residence was beginning anew.

"The spring mist is in the air!" Azaka announced, stirring his
dozing colleague.

"You're always saying that," Kamidake said, tilting his wooden
frame in Azaka's direction. "Can't you for once use some variety?"

"Alright. if you insist," Azaka said, his woodwork turning a deep
red around the edges.

"Thank you," replied Kamidake, his log form making a harsh creaking
sound as he attempted a smug grin.

"The spring air is in the mist!" Azaka called out.

"You just changed the words around," Kamidake accused the other
guardian.

"No I didn't," Azaka replied. "It was completely different, I
swear, and I'm insulted that you'd suggest I would resort to such.
such."

"You're a fibber," said Kamidake.

"Am not!" Azaka spluttered. "You're the one who made the fib! I
can't believe your capacity for fib making!"

"Ohhh, more fibs," Kamidake groaned. "If there were a contest for
who could tell the most fibs, I'm sure you'd be the winner, my
friend,"

"Actually, I believe there really is an annual contest," said Azaka.

"This had better not be another fib," Kamidake mumbled.

"Guardian's honor!" Azaka swore. "I saw it on the television
whilst Princess Sasami was watching one of the 'shows', the fibbers
do all sorts of things like kiss little children and yell into
megaphones in front of crowds to get them to see the extents of their
fibbing technique,"

"What a fib," Kamidake said.

"Um, should that field be moving like that?" Azaka asked, staring
intently ahead. He almost felt tempted to move from their spot on the
patio to take a closer look, but his fellow guardian's taunts kept
getting to him.

"Listen, I'm not going to put up with these fibs much longer,"
Kamidake warned. "I can always go be a guardian somewhere else, you
know,"

"Now I know that's a fib, where else would you guard?" Azaka asked.

"I would guard a. nice place where there aren't any fibbers!"
Kamidake replied.

"Then why don't you?" asked Azaka.

"You know, I think I will!"

"Well, good!"

"Fine!"

"Yeah!"

"Exactly!"

"Good!"

"I'm going!"

"Go ahead,"

"I'm leaving!"

"Bye,"

". Any minute now!"

"So long,"

". Okay, so I was fibbing," Kamidake finally admitted, a large
bead of sweat dropping from his wooden head.

"See," Azaka laughed, triumphantly. His laughter was cut short,
though, as the strange movement he had noticed earlier became
increasingly larger. The field itself appeared to be moving forward, as
if every blade of grass had suddenly sprouted legs and was marching
forth to invade the Shrine. "Um. is this just one of your fibs gone
horribly wrong?"

"Don't ask me," Kamidake said, floating backwards a little.
"Should we warn the Princess?"

"Which one?" asked Azaka.

"I thought you knew," Kamidake whimpered.

"Well, which did you have in mind?" Azaka suggested.

"Could you two please keep the noise down?!" Princess Ayeka
demanded. She was standing in the front doorway, holding a basket of
laundry above her head with one hand. "Some of us are still sleeping,
you know,"

"That one will do," Kamidake said. They both hovered towards their
mistress. "Princess, Princess!"

"What is it?" asked Ayeka, walking down from the Masaki residence
and onto the patio, where she proceeded to hang up the washing.

"Princess," Azaka and Kamidake both said. "The field!"

"Yes, what about it?" Ayeka replied with a clothes peg in her mouth.

"Look at it!" the guardians pleaded.

Ayeka took the clothes peg from between her teeth and looked to where
the two logs were frantically pointing (or attempting to point).
Strangely, however, there wasn't a thing wrong with the field as far
as she could make out. Whatever it was they had seen must have
disappeared.

"I don't understand," Azaka said.

"I do!" Kamidake growled. "It was another of your fibs! You tried
to fib to the Princess! That's a fib too far!"

"Enough with the fibs!" Azaka shouted, practically leaping into the air.

"Silence, both of you!" Ayeka ordered. She pointed back to their
guard post, outside the Masaki household. "Now, back to work,"

"Yes, your highness," the guardians responded diligently, as they
floated away.

"I wonder what that was about," Ayeka said to herself, as she
recommenced hanging up the laundry to dry. Humming a familiar tune, she
soon had the work half done, when suddenly she felt a furry paw of some
sort nudging at her feet. "Oh no, did Sasami let Ryo-ohki out already?"

She glanced down at the floor to whatever it was, for it certainly
wasn't Ryo-ohki. It was much too fat, and its fur was far too dark for
it to be Ryo-ohki. There were also too many of them for it to be
Ryo-ohki.

"Oh my." Ayeka blinked in amazement at the sight of an army of
plump rabbits, their eyes all fixed on her. They literally filled the
field, as every square foot of the grassy carpet was marked by countless
pairs of pointy ears the color of dark chocolate. It was a surreal
sight, and Ayeka had to move a step backwards so that she could take it
all in. Then, she realized what the rabbit was doing to her foot.

"TENCHI!!!" she screamed, bounding across the patio gracelessly,
trying to make it to the front door before any of the other rabbits
could catch up to her. She could hear their tiny paws pattering across
the polished woodwork of the patio behind her. It felt like one of those
dreams where the faster she ran, the slower she seemed to go, until
finally she stumbled into the house. She slammed the door shut, making
sure that the rabbit had finished embracing her foot. "Tenchi!
Tenchi!!!"

"Wh-what is it?" Tenchi asked, running downstairs. He had only just
finished getting dressed. "What's going on? Princess Ayeka, you
look."

"Never mind how I look!" Ayeka snapped. "There's a whole
multitude of rabbits out there, and they're. eager!"

"Princess Ayeka, what are you.?" Tenchi asked, looking out of the
window. His jaw almost dropped when he saw what all the fuss was about.
"Th-th-th- th.!"

"Tenchi, what's going on?!" Ayeka ran forward and clung to the
Juraian Prince.

"I'll. go talk to Washu," Tenchi said.

**

"Miss Washu," Ayeka said, standing next to a computer terminal
behind the little genius. "Can't you please explain to me why
there's suddenly so many rabbits outside? I mean. that can't be
natural, can it?"

"Oh, uh, there was a. temporal. spatial. anomaly thing, of.
unknown proportions, and I'm just trying to. uh. get a local feed
to the whatchamacallit, with the proton acceleration device, and then
everything should be hunky-dory," Washu shrugged, sitting at her
keyboard. Tenchi had already told her about the rabbit problem, and
Washu was shutting down the simulation so she could investigate.
Unfortunately, Ayeka had decided to tag along, so there was a great need
to keep up the illusion that the rabbits were all real. For if Ayeka
found out that they had all been faked to keep Ryoko happy, then she
would no doubt be able to find a way to make Ryoko very unhappy instead.
"You understand?"

"Not really," Ayeka giggled. "But I'm sure you know what you're
doing,"

"Of course!" Washu sang. "Because, y'know. I'm-."

"The number one genius scientist in the universe!" Ayeka chimed in.

"Did I say you could say it?" Washu turned and frowned at the princess.

"Um, no, sorry," Ayeka said, bowing her head.

"Well, you can!" Washu grinned. "So do it,"

"I just did," said Ayeka.

"Oh, you did?" Washu asked. "I guess I must have missed it. Say it
again, pleeeeease,"

"What?" Ayeka snarled. "I don't have to put up with this,"

"So, you want Mr. Rabbit to go humpty-hump on your leggy-weg again?"
Washu asked, making (in)appropriate hand gestures with the cute rhymes.

"No, of course not, Miss Washu," Ayeka whimpered.

"Who just happens to be.?"

"The greatest scientific genius of the universe!" Ayeka said.

"You're too kind, Ayeka," Washu snickered, typing in the last few
codes with which to shut down the program.

"Everything fixed, little Washu?" Tenchi asked, standing over her.

"Should be," said Washu, winking at him. "I just have to run a
diagnostic on this here program. and uh. rabbits are gone! Hooray!"

"Oh, thank goodness," Ayeka said, breathing a sigh of relief. She
skipped off towards the lab entrance. "Now, I have to finish hanging
that laundry up. I hope those beasts didn't soil any of our clean
laundry, in any shape or form,"

"See ya!" Washu called after her, but Ayeka was out of earshot and
didn't seem to notice. Precisely what Washu had been hoping for.
"Tenchi, it seems I somehow had the rabbits programmed to multiply
exponentially at an incredible rate. if I hadn't stopped the
simulation when I did, we'd probably be up to our necks in rabbits by
tomorrow morning,"

"That wouldn't be pretty," he said.

"I don't know, Sasami might enjoy it," Washu said. "That is,
until they started getting hungry,"

"I sure hope they didn't do any damage," Tenchi said.

"Don't worry about it," Washu smiled. "I'm pretty sure the
only settings I entered incorrectly were the reproductive ones,"

"I guess the rabbits are gone, then," Tenchi pondered. "I was
kinda looking forward to seeing them myself. Not like that up close and
personal view that Ayeka got,"

"I'll have them back up in no time, under much safer and more
contained settings," Washu replied. "This diagnostic will probably
take at least seven hours, if I want it to be thorough. You can't be
too careful,"

"Looks like all our problems are over, then," said Tenchi. "That
was easier than I thought it would be, usually there are all these loose
ends that need tying up,"

"Hey, Washu!" the grating, early-morning voice of Ryoko bellowed
from the lab entrance. She zipped past a huge stack of crates, toppling
over all but one of them in her impatience, and landed right beside
Tenchi. "Oh, hi Tenchi, didn't know you'd be here,"

"I was just helping Washu with some experiments," Tenchi said, in as
honest a way as possible.

"Uh-huh, that's nice," Ryoko said, sauntering past him. For once
she didn't seem all that interested in what Tenchi was doing. She
placed a hand on the shoulder of the red head scientist and span her
around on her floating cushion so that Washu was facing her. "Hey,
pipsqueak, are you gonna help me or not?"

"Help you do what?" Washu asked. "And it's Little Pipsqueak to
you,"

"I just looked all over the forest, and I can't find those darn
rabbits you showed me the other day," Ryoko said. "Give me those
co-ordinates again,"

"Oh boy," Washu panicked, a glossy look of worry covering her face.
She looked to Tenchi for help, but she could tell he was all out of
ideas. "Uh, hey, you know what we should do instead.?"

"No, because there is no 'instead', Tenchi and I want to go watch
rabbits," Ryoko insisted, grabbing Tenchi by the arm. "Right, honey?"

"Maybe we should just hear what 'instead' is, first, Ryoko?"
asked Tenchi.

"Rrrgh," Ryoko seethed. "Alright, Washu, what's 'instead'?"

"Instead is." Washu smirked, leaping off her cushion and stabbing
a finger into the air. "We go take a look at the local library
together!"

". And this is a good idea, why?" Ryoko asked.

"Oh, c'mon, sweetie," Washu cooed, reaching up and pinching the
side of Ryoko's face, playfully. "Mommy saw just how interested you
were in books and stories, so she thought she'd reserve us both
memberships to the library in town. Besides, I'm sure they'd have a
much wider selection of books than Tenchi's dad's collection has to
offer, and there'd be all sorts of people to discuss them with,"

"Both? Us?" said Ryoko, looking from Tenchi, to Washu, and back to
Tenchi again. "You mean. you and Tenchi? Or me and Tenchi?"

"No, silly, you and I," Washu said, embracing the bewildered girl.
"Besides, Tenchi has school to go to. Don't you, Tenchi?"

"Uh. sure!" Tenchi gasped, pretending to look at his watch (which
he had forgotten to actually put on). "Man, look at the time, I'd
better go!"

"School? On a Sunday?" Ryoko asked, even more confused now than before.

"Sure, um, it's a. special school, you know," Tenchi said,
waving his hands around desperately. "Where they teach you about.
stuff! Special. stuff,"

"Ohhhhh!" Ryoko grinned, a seductive tone purred in her throat. Her
eyes lit up as she began to realize exactly what Tenchi meant (though he
himself did not). "The. 'special' stuff, huh?"

"R-right," Tenchi nodded, sweat pouring from his brow in ridiculous
amounts. "Special stuff! Nothing more special!"

"Yeah," Ryoko said, placing a hand on Tenchi's shoulder and
brushing her foot against his leg. "We can't have you going without
special stuff, now, can we?"

"I. don't think so," Tenchi whimpered. "So can I go?"

"Sure," Ryoko said, softly. "And then, when you get back, maybe I
can give you a private lesson?"

"Yeah, but the longer you keep me here, the worse I'm gonna be at
it!" Tenchi said.

"Oh, right," said Ryoko, letting him go. "Don't want you to be
unprepared. Go on, then,"

"Thanks!" Tenchi bowed, before skipping briskly out of the lab.

"Boy, he's sure in a hurry," Ryoko grinned. "Guess he just
can't wait to. to."

"To...?" Washu asked.

". What exactly did he mean by 'special stuff', anyway?"

**

End of Chapter One...