Gaijin-no-ai Muyo! (No Need for a Foreigner's Love!) A Tenchi-Muyo! fanfic by Keiichi Masaki (keiichi_dono@hotmail.com, keiichi_dono@altavista.net) Tenchi-Muyo! is the property of Pioneer and AIC. Notes: this chapter is the final installment in this, an authorized sequel to Achariyth's Kiyone fic, Lilly Amidst Thorns. In that fic, Achariyth chronicled Kiyone's less-than-successful search for love. My teal-tressed goddess' long-awaited happy ending is finally here, so sit back and enjoy. And yes, I'm still an obsessed fanboy ^_~. "I can still feel you, 'cause you're close as skin, every now and then, When I'm by myself, in a crowded room, or an empty bed, There's a place you've touched with your love no one gets close to, I can still feel you, I can still feel you, I can still feel you, I can still feel you...." --Collin Raye, "I Can Still Feel You"(1) Epilogue: Still Feeling You Eight years prior (AD 1989, Earth date), Yoshie (Rigel VII) "Daddy! Daddy!" Takeshi Makibi looked up from the kitchen counter to see his daughter rushing into the kitchen, tears running down her face. Before he could ask what was wrong, Kiyone had flung herself into his arms and started sobbing. Hugging his daughter, Takeshi asked softly, "What happened, Kiyo-chan?" "D-d-daddy," Kiyone sobbed, still clutching Takeshi in a vise grip, "Ryu dumped me today." "Oh god. I'm sorry, Kiyo-chan." Takeshi's heart ached for his daughter, but he wasn't quite sure what to say. Raising a daughter alone when your wife died in childbirth made moments like these very awkward. Granted, he hadn't thought much of Ryutaro Ishii, but....oh, this was no time to say that; he knew that much. "And, Daddy, he dumped, even after I let him...." Kiyone's voice started to crack. "After I let him...." Her voice dissolved completely again. Takeshi just kept hugging his daughter. He was aware that his daughter had been letting her boyfriend touch her body, although he was fairly certain that she was still a virgin. Still, he had some understanding of why she let him. Kiyone was a very pretty girl, and very smart, but also rather naïve. Since she was a diligent student, she was generally considered to not be a part of the "in crowd." When Ryutaro Ishii, the captain of the spaceball team, had started showing interest in her, it was only natural that she'd want to do everything she could to keep his affection. Takeshi had never had much success with the opposite gender in his school days, either, so he could sympathize with his daughter. "Daddy," sniffled Kiyone, her tears finally starting to run dry, "what's wrong with me?" Takeshi had to fight an urge to hunt down this Ryutaro Ishii and run him over with his hovercar, in revenge for breaking his little girl's heart. "There's nothing wrong with you, Kiyo- chan. You just made a mistake." Kiyone's sobs started to subside, and she looked up at her father with red eyes. "But Daddy, I loved him! And he said he loved me!" With that, the floodgates flew open again "I know you loved him," soothed Takeshi. He couldn't correct her; no one who'd ever been a teenager could. "Sometimes....sometimes people make mistakes in who they love. It doesn't make their feeling any less real, though." "Will I ever find someone who'll really love me, Daddy?" "Yes, you will," promised Takeshi. "Believe me, sweetie, when I was your age, I felt the same way. But then, I met your mother when I was in college." He smiled wistfully. "I miss your mother more than you can know, Kiyo-chan, but I don't regret one day I had with her." "Really?" Kiyone's tears seemed to have dried up at the moment, and her wide blue eyes were filled with curiosity. Takeshi nodded. "And I'll tell you something else, Kiyo-chan. People tend to find love when they're not looking for it. Just wait for it, like the starfly(2) , and you'll find it without even looking for it. It'll be like you tripped over it...." En route to Galaxy Police Headquarters from the M31 cluster, present day Dad was right, thought Kiyone. The past six weeks in the Special Ops branch of the Galaxy Police had been everything she'd hoped they would be. She had been challenged, and she had surmounted each challenge. She had been not only accepted by the other special operatives, but she had also gained some fame among them as the girl who took down Kain (well, she *did* pull the Dimensional Cannon's trigger). She was once again on the fast track; if all went well, she would have an office in the executive-rank officers' section of GPHQ by the time she was thirty. In short, she had everything she'd every wanted. And she wanted to go back to Earth. There was, really, no logical reason for her wanting to go back. She was right back where she wanted to be. But she wanted to go back to Earth. She missed Tenchi and the others, missed the "family" that had grown at the Masaki house. She missed Mihoshi's hugs, Sasami's cheerful good-mornings, and Ryo-ohki's mi-yaing. Most of all, she missed Nick. Dad was right. I had tripped over love when I wasn't looking for it. And I was wrong to throw it away when it wasn't on the ideal terms. Nick's right, seeing each other rarely would be hell but never seeing each other again would be far worse. He said he needed me....well, I need him. Kiyone made her decision. Galaxy Police Headquarters (Alpha Orionis), present day As Yagami docked, Kiyone felt almost satisfied for the first time in six weeks. She had two weeks' leave coming to her, and she'd be going back to Earth. First, though, she needed to talk to her Detective Captain, to request a transfer back to the Sol system. Whatever happened, she would be returning to Earth....and to Nick. Isn't this a bit rash? part of her mind quipped. Kiyone, what makes you so sure that she hasn't already found someone else? Isn't it the height of presumption--and the height of arrogance--to assume that he'll just take you back with open arms?" Regardless, I need to do this, her heart replied. If I don't see him again, talk to him again, I'll spend the rest of my life wondering "What if?" The airlock cycled open, and Kiyone strode out into the main, multi-level hub of GPHQ. She was just about to head for the escalator that would take her to her Captain's office when the PA announced, "Lieutenant Kiyone Makibi, Lieutenant Kiyone Makibi, please report to Marshal Kuramitsu's office immediately. Lieutenant Kiyone...." Hideki Kuramitsu, Marshal of the Galaxy Police, heard the door-chime and said, "Enter." He smiled as Kiyone came into the office and saluted. Before she could officially announce her presence, he waved a salute at her. "At ease, Lieutenant. I've heard good things about you from Chief Oe." Kiyone smiled. "Thank you, sir." "Those good things are why you've been reassigned again, effective immediately." The smile disappeared as Kiyone's heart dropped to the floor again. Her gaze followed. "Sir?" The Marshal either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. "You see, Lieutenant, we're setting up a new Sector Headquarters, and we need an experienced officer to head up the SpecOps detachment. You've only been in SpecOps a few weeks, but there's no one better qualified in or out of the Branch. Interested?" Kiyone's heart was already weeping, but there was only one answer to this offer. "Yes, sir. Where will this new SecHQ be located?" "Sol system, in Jupiter orbit." Kiyone's head snapped up, her eyes suddenly sparkling with hope. "Sir?" "The Jurai royal family has made a formal request for the SecHQ to be set up there, to watch after the members of the royal family there." Marshal Kuramitsu smiled. "They requested you specifically....Commander." "Commander?" Kiyone's head was spinning. Funny how fate twists. She had just been promoted three ranks in one day.... "Of course, since you'd be an administrative officer, you'd be confined to on-station for most of the time...." "Th-that'd be fine!" Administrative officer....triple salary....enough to support a family on.... "And starting now, six weeks paid leave." The Marshal offered his hand to Kiyone. "Congratulations, Commander Makibi. I know you won't let us down." "Th-thank you, sir!" Kiyone enthusiastically shook the Marshal's hand and virtually ran out of the office. Hideki Kuramitsu smiled and stroked his mustache. "Anytime," he said softly. "Always happy to help out the cause of young love." Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, present day Tenchi was sweeping the shrine steps when he felt the wind pick up. He looked into the sky to see a sleek red starship gliding towards a landing in the lake. By the time Yagami landed, a small welcoming party had been gathered on the lakeshore. Once the "Welcome back, Kiyone!" festivities died down, Kiyone pulled Washu aside. "Washu, I need to learn English, and learn it fast. Can you help me?" "Going to America?" asked Washu innocently. Kiyone nodded. "There's a young man there I need to talk to...." She looked down at Nick's class ring, still on her left finger. Smiling, she rubbed the sapphire. "Well, come on!" Washu started leading Kiyone towards the lab. "How am I supposed to cram this information into your head if you're not in my lab?!" Unnoticed by them, Tenchi watched Washu and Kiyone go into Washu's lab. "Tenchi?" "Huh?" Tenchi turned and saw Katsuhito standing behind him. "Oh, ji-chan. What is it?" "You were the one that contacted the Galaxy Police, weren't you?" Tenchi nodded. "You love her, don't you." Tenchi hesitated, then nodded again. "How come you never told her?" Tenchi shrugged. "Ji-chan, she just thinks of me as a little brother. Besides...." He sighed. "....she loves him, and I think he still loves her...." Three years prior (AD 1994, Earth date), Portland, OR, USA "Hey, Nick?" The door to Nick's room opened and Mike Campbell stuck his head in. "Okay if I come in, son?" Nick looked up from the novel he was reading. "Huh? Oh, sure, Dad." He set the book aside as his father sat on the bed. "What's up?" "Your mother noticed that you didn't eat much tonight," his father said gently. Anyone who saw the two of them together would have immediately seen the resemblance from father to son. The only difference was the longer hair that the son sported, tied back into a braid (this was back during Nick's Ranma obsession days ^_^). Nick shrugged. "Ahh...." He waved a dismissive hand. "Just not hungry tonight, Pop." "Is that all?" Mike looked insistently at Nick. "Son, you eat more than your mother and sister combined. You can't be 'just not hungry' without a reason." After a moment, Nick sighed and nodded. "All right, all right. Today...." Another sigh. "Ashley broke it off with me today." "I'm sorry, son." "You know what gets me about girls, Pop?" Nick met his father's eyes. "They all say they want a nice guy, but when they have the choice, they always pick the jerks!" He held up three fingers. "Three girlfriends in one year. Each time I tried to be a gentleman, treat them well unlike the jerks at school. All three girls dumped me in short order to go out with some asshole." He blew out an exasperated breath, and looked at his father again. "How did you do it, Pop? You're not like all the jerks at school who have the girls crawling all over them, but you got Mom. How?" Mike shrugged helplessly. "I was just running to class one day--I'd overslept--and suddenly I collided with someone. I immediately bent down to help the person gather up their things...." His eyes took on a wistfulness, showing Nick that the shy love that had led to his birth was still alive. "....and I found myself looking into the most beautiful brown eyes ever made...." Realizing that he was starting to wax poetic, Mike went slightly red. "Sorry. But it seems to me that people find each other when they're not looking. It's sorta like the butterfly; if you chase it, you'll never catch it, but if just wait, maybe it'll come to you." He patted his son on the shoulder. "Believe me, son, a guy like you, all you hafta do is wait. I know you've heard that a thousand times before, but it's true. Your time will come...." Portland, OR, USA, present day Was Dad right? wondered Nick. I don't know. I never expected to get dumped every single fucking time I stuck my heart out! I mean, yeah, I didn't expect t--oh, forget it. Damn you, Kiyo-- He mentally kicked himself. You idiot! Y' can't blame Kiyone for this. She was doing the right thing for her. But what about me?! The voice in his head that delighted in making him miserable spoke up. What about you, Nick? Did you really think that she would give up her career, her path to the stars, for you? Talk about arrogant! Suddenly, an image popped up: that of a smiling Kiyone laughing and dancing with some other guy. Nick looked down at himself, to see that he was looking in a window; the side where he was a winter night with a cold wind whipping around him. He was all alone. Give it up, Nick, insisted the voice, this is your lot in life. To be eternally alone, always doomed to watch those around you find love but never you, alone forever and ever and ever and-- "Stop it!" he screamed, sitting up in bed. "Nick?!" The door flew open and a tallish, blond-haired guy about Nick's age burst in. "Hey, you okay, pal?" "Huh? Matt?" Nick blinked for a few minutes, then groaned. "Never mind. It was just a dream, just a stupid dream...." "Huh?" A petite Chinese-American girl stuck her head into the room. "What happened, Nick?" Nick shook his head. "It's okay, Lynn, don't worry about it, just a stupid dream." He glanced at the clock. "Fuck. It's three a.m. Sorry, everyone." He fell back on the bed. Nick's friends looked at him worriedly before retiring again. Lynn Yang looked at Nick's door and said to her boyfriend, "Matt, I'm worried about Nick." Matt sighed. "Join the club." Across the coffee table, several of Nick's other friends nodded in agreement. Nick had not been in good shape since he'd returned from Japan six weeks before. He had refused to say what had happened, so his parents had got in contact with his cousin Keiichi, who Nick was close to. Keiichi hadn't said much, only that it involved a girl. Since his return, Nick had been having drastic mood swings. When dealing with classes or work, he was just fine--only a lot quieter than his usual dryly-humorous, wiseass self--but when not dealing with something he could lose himself in, he alternated between sullen apathy and hot anger. Even his friends on the FFML had noticed his rare presence anymore. Everyone in the room recalled--with more than one shiver--the encounter with an impatient diner in the food court at Lloyd Center one Saturday. The guy was complaining about the long wait for fries, and Nick just snapped. He had grabbed the man by the lapels and screamed in his face for ten minutes straight (more than a little of it was in Japanese; no one in the group had understood it but several nearby exchange students had, if the looks of fright on their faces were anything to go on) about how cold fries were the last thing to worry about when the love of your life had been ripped away from you by a cruel twist of fate--and had then abruptly dropped the poor man and stalked toward the escalator. Right now he was isolated in his room, and they could hear the CD player repeating the same song it had been for the past two weeks: "My Love's Leavin'" by Steve Winwood. Nick would sing along from time to time, always with the same verse: "Shadows in purple thrill me I cry myself awake each night I can't believe that it's true Here am I, where are you...." The doorbell rang. Matt looked surprised. "Who could that be?" He motioned to a stocky young man with short black hair and glasses. "Mark, could you get that?" Shrugging, Mark answered the door. "Ye--" He gasped. Standing in the doorway was a beautiful young lady, looking only a few years older than they. She had features that could only be Japanese, and had long, dark hair (it must have been black, because the light made it almost look green) and blue eyes, a relative rarity in Japan. She was nicely dressed in a pleated gray skirt and white blouse--and Nick's haori. All of Nick's friends rose to their feet. The reason for their friend's despondency was standing in the doorway. Matt stepped to the front of the group. "Can we help you, miss?" "Pardon me, but is Nick here?" she asked in good, if lightly accented, English. Mark gulped and nodded. "Um, right this way." "Thank you," the young woman said, and she followed Mark to the door to Nick's room. She was about to turn the knob when she heard Lynn say, "Just a minute." Startled, she turned to look at Lynn. "Yes?" "What's your name?" "Kiyone. Nick and I....we knew each other in Japan." "Oh." Lynn fixed Kiyone with a stern, though not necessarily hostile, gaze. "Listen. Nick is our friend, and he's a good guy. He's had more than his share of bad luck with girls, very little of it his fault. If you're going in there just to hurt him some more--" "Believe me," Kiyone replied earnestly, "hurting him more is the last thing I want to do." Lynn looked her in the eye for another minute, then nodded. "All right." Kiyone bowed her head slightly and went in. Nick was lying on the bed, looking about the same as he had when they'd parted. He had an arm draped across his eyes, and seemed to be trying to sleep--or to ignore the intruder long enough to prompt a departure. Kiyone took a look around Nick's room. Posters of anime characters and mecha lined the walls, along with pictures of friends and family. A computer sat on the desk. Sitting on the desk was a picture of her and him, smiling during a picnic the Masaki "clan" had taken to Mt. Washu. Both of them were smiling widely. Kiyone got the impression that Nick didn't smile much these days. Well, at lease he's not seeing someone else....a voice in her mind said wryly. Oh shut up! she snapped at herself. It's time to make things right. She sat on the bed next to him and gently pulled his arm down. Noting that his eyes were still tightly shut, she gently caressed his face. "Hi, Nick-chan." Nick's eyes snapped open instantly, widening as he saw that the voice he'd just heard was indeed real. "K....Kiyo-chan...." Kiyone smiled. "You asked me to come see you, didn't you?" Nick nodded slowly. He then reached for the textbook lying on the floor next to the bed and smacked himself on the head with it. Kiyone yelped in surprise. "Nick!" He smiled wryly. "Just to be sure." He sat up and took Kiyone's hands in his. "You came back...." Kiyone abruptly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I was thinking, and you're right. Seeing you just once in a while is better than not at all." Nick found himself too choked-up to say anything for a moment. Finally, he managed to ask, "So, how long will you stay?" He then blinked as she turned her most mischievous smile on him. After holding that smile for a moment, she whispered, "Forever." Nick pulled back slightly, a look of awe on his face. "You....you took your old assignment back?" Kiyone shook her head. "No, but I have been reassigned to this system....as one of the people in charge of the new GP station orbiting Jupiter." Nick sighed in relief. "Ohhh...." He then noticed that Kiyone was still wearing his class ring. Kiyone followed his gaze and fingered the ring. "Wonderful engagement ring. I won't want another." Nick's eyes widened again, at this new surprise. "You mean...." Kiyone nodded and smiled. "I think the major questions now are 'Who takes whose last name' and 'Where do we live?'" "I think we can work those things out," assured Nick, feeling complete for the first time in weeks. "Indeed." Kiyone wrapped her arms around his arm again and sighed as his went around her waist. "Come on," she whispered into his ear. "I need you." "I need you too," he replied, loosening his embrace slightly. Freeing one of his hands, he gently turned her chin upward and looked into her sparkling sapphire eyes, truly relaxing as he saw the love he'd sought for his entire life resting in them. Kiyone looked up into Nick's brown eyes. They were a nondescript color, but they were also the most beautiful she'd ever seen. And they belonged to the man that she wanted to live her life with, the one who she'd once despaired of finding. Their lips met. * * * * * * Epilogue: 18 years later, Seattle, WA, USA, Earth "Mom? Dad? You up?" Satisfied that her parents were asleep, Kumiko Campbell ("Kumi" to friends and family) strode through the house's foyer. Tucking a loose strand of teal hair back behind her left ear, the attractive fourteen-year-old was about to go up the stairs, returned slightly late from a night at the movies with friends, when she heard what sounded like laughing from the living room. Curious, she poked her head into the living room, and the typically teenage look of apathy fell away as she saw her parents curled up together on the couch, just like many other times she'd found them like this. The years had been fairly kind to Nick and Kiyone Campbell. Kiyone had aged very slowly, and at forty-one still looked like she was in her late twenties (Kumi had lost track of the times when people had asked her about her "older sister"). Nick had grown slightly leaner and wore a mustache now, although his hair was tied back in a short ponytail again. Kiyone was now the Chief of GPHQ, Sol sector, and Nick ran a small sci-fi and anime shop in Pike's Place Market. Kumi liked to think that she was the first seven-year-old from Earth to visit the Galactic Core--or to have a cabbit for a pet. Kumi-ohki was probably asleep upstairs, dreaming about carrots. Kumi took another look at her parents and smiled. If there was one relationship she could think of that was close to perfect, it was that of her parents. It wasn't that they didn't fight--very few couples can make that claim--but they cherished each other, which was more than some of Kumi's friend's parents could say. Kumi hoped that she could one day find a love like her mother did. She looked at the TV, and saw that it was playing their wedding video. Or had been, at least, for the screen was showing static now. Smiling, she reached out and killed the TV, and stopped to kiss her parents on the foreheads on the way upstairs. Owari "Love is like a wind, sometimes it blows your way. And until now, it missed me somehow. But when I turned around, and saw you standing there, The sound of your voice, I had no choice.... I used to have a wish, One day I'd feel like this. Now I know love exists, It's standing right next to me. Beneath the moon tonight, I see it in your eyes. No more false starts, no broken hearts.... I used to have a wish, One day I'd feel like this. Now I know love exists, It's standing right next to me. Even in the dark (even in the dark), Even when you're gone (even when you're gone), I feel you in my heart.... I used to have a wish, One day I'd feel like this. Now I know love exists, It's standing right next to me. To me.... It's standing right next to me." --Karla Bonoff, "Standing Right Next To Me" Footnotes: 1: Let me stress the fact that I am NOT a country fan....however, I do like this song, and I feel that it accurately captures how Nick and Kiyone are feeling at this point. 2: The Yoshieian equivalent of a butterfly, except it also glows likes a firefly and only comes out at night. Author's notes: Thank God, it's finished. Half of this was written in four hours on a Thursday afternoon; the rest in two hours on a Saturday afternoon. I haven't cooked like this since the last forty pages of Mugen Tenchi Muyo! So, it's finished. Not everything has gone the way I expected it to, and it hasn't been easy, but it's done, and by and large I'm pleased with the product. My thanks to the following: -- Achariyth, author of Lily Amidst Thorns, for the inspiration. I hope that this work doesn't insult you too much ^_^. --My friend and co-writer "Joseph McKenzie" (a pseudonym, of course, inspired by Jack McKinney, author of all the wonderful Robotech novels that cemented our love for anime) for turning me on to Tenchi-Muyo! and fanfic writing--and for helping save my anime soul from the depths of hentai-ism. --GenSao, for posting all my Tenchi fanfics (but you only get this one when you let me back into your chat room). --Amano Yuri-sama, Lynn Sherry-sama, and Forstadt Rebecca-sama, for bringing my teal- tressed goddess to life in both dubbed and subbed videos. --The mostly-good people at Pioneer, AIC, and TV Tokyo, for producing Tenchi-Muyo! and bringing it to our shores. --My friends and family, for putting up with my anime addiction (oh, BTW, li'l sis, it's pronounced "Ten-chi," not "Tech-ni." --The good people at my local Suncoast, who never cease to have at least one anime tape worth buying each time I come in. --The people in GenSao's #FanFics chat room who DON'T flame or ban those with different ideas (you know who you are). --Anyone else I've forgotten. That's it for now. Please send me your comments and criticism. Addresses at the top, and thanks for reading! Keiichi Masaki, High Priest of the Temple of the Teal-tressed Goddess, Kiyone Makibi Member of the Kiyone Ring and the Tenchi Ring Co-writer, Mugen Tenchi Muyo! http://members.xoom.com/RC_Books/mugen1.html Visit my Temple of the Teal-tressed Goddess http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/9909 ICQ #: 18044248 "I am the one you think I am." --Katsuhito "Yosho" Masaki "The carnival comes and goes. If you wait for a while, it'll always come back to you." --Ryoko