Hello.  And welcome to the final installment of the
story.  But don’t worry, I’m planning on continuing
the story.  Have some other projects to work on first,
but won’t be long before the continuation of the
story.  Thank you for reading this far.  Hope you
enjoy the story.

“When Worlds Collide –chapter 12-  No Need to be
Continued”

        Life at the Masaki home was beginning to return to
normal, about as normal as it gets.  Ryoko and Ayeka
were going back into their normal routine of fighting
over Tenchi or some other mishap.  Sasami was
preparing dinner with Ryo-oh-ki perched on top of her
head.  Katsuhito was finishing up the chores of taking
care of the shrine.
        Tenchi and Brian were becoming good friends.  Brian
would help Tenchi with his chores, allowing Tenchi to
have extra time with homework or spending time with
the rest of the family.  Tenchi wasn’t the only one
going through changes in the normal routine.
Washu was spending more time outside the lab.
Although she was still a bit of a recluse, she was
making a better improvement in spending time with the
others.

“Hey Everyone DINNER!!”  Sasami yelled out the door to
the others.

A few moments later.  “Boy it sure smells good
Sasami.”

Sasami giggles.  “Thank you Tenchi.”

“Hey Ayeka you need to watch your weight, your putting
to much food on your plate.”

“I’ll have you know that my weight is perfectly fine!”

“Yeah, perfectly fine. . .for a cow.  Mmmoooo.”  Ryoko
taunted.

“How dare you!”  Ayeka finished gritting her teeth.

“Excuse me.”

Both fighters turn to see Washu pointing to the table.
 They look at each other with hate filled eyes and
slowly made their way to their usual places around
Tenchi.
Midway through the meal Tenchi noticed that Brian was
barely eating anything on his plate.

“Uh Brian, is there anything troubling you?”

Brian looked at Tenchi.  Sighing and lowering his head
a little.

*  How can I bring myself to tell them.  I don’t want
them to get the wrong idea. .and . . I need to do
this.  Ahh look at me, I’m afraid to say something,
when I’m able to go into a battle that has a planets
survival at risk and not feel afraid at all.  Alright
then, I’ll stop putting it off and just say what I
feel.  *

He stood up, getting everyone’s attention onto him.
“Everyone, there’s something I would like to say.”  He
announced making sure that he had their complete
attention.

“I would like to say thank you for being my friends.
I don’t believe that I’ve ever had such good friends
as all of you have been to me.  For the longest time,
I’ve always been needed somewhere, from saving a
friends life or a whole planet, I’ve always been
needed.”  He lowers his head taking a second to think
of the words he wants to say.

“But now, I find that I’m not needed anywhere.  I
don’t have to race anywhere to out run someone or have
a battle to the death against someone incredibly
powerful.  Now I find myself feeling. . .lost.  I need
some time to think about what is to become of me. .
.alone.”

He saw the others look at each other, their faces
masked with confusion and sadness.  When they looked
at him, he saw in their eyes, understanding.

“Well we can’t stop you if you feel like leaving.  I’m
pretty sure I can speak for everyone here when I say
that we hope you come back soon.”

“I was only thinking of spending some time away
Tenchi.  I figure I was going to cruise around the
galaxy a little, maybe take a couple of month’s.”

        There was a slight silence around the table.  Brian
looked over to the person he knew would be most
affected by his choice in leaving for a while.  He
looked to find the child eyes of the woman who cared
for him waiting to meet his gaze.  Her eyes were
filled with questions, looking at him for some
answers.

Turning his attention back to the table.  “I think I’m
going to go and take a walk.  Thank you for the dinner
Sasami.  It was excellent as usual.”

Sasami’s usual cheerful expression seemed to be hidden
behind a face of denial.  She looked at him in a way
that he thought that she was going to cry until she
couldn’t.    “I’m glad you liked it.”

As Brian walked toward the door, his departure was
being watched by Washu.

*  What do I do?  I can’t just run after him in front
of everyone.  *  Washu thought to herself in urgency.

*  What are you waiting for Washu?  *  A voice added
into the thoughts in Washu’s head.

Making eye contact with the person urging her on.  *
Ryoko, I can’t just run out the door after him in
front of everyone.  It would be too embarrassing.  *

*  Oh come on Washu.  It’s no big secret that you like
him, everyone already knows.   We’re not stupid.  *

Washu looked closer at the others and noticed that
they all were looking at her.  They all appeared to be
waiting for her to run after him.
Washu stood up.  “Please excuse me everyone.  The meal
was excellent Sasami, thank you.”

Sasami nodded.

After setting her plate into the sink, she hurried to
the front door.  Stepping through the door she looked
around to see if she could figure out where he walked
off too.  She raised her hands up in front of her and
summoned up her holotop computer.  Punching the keys
quickly she called up the footage from the cameras to
help aid her in her search.
After what seemed forever to her, she spotted him on
the stairwell leading up to the shrine.  Letting her
computer vanish from site, she gave chase after him up
the stairwell.
Brian was making his way up the stairs headed toward
the shrine office to tell his old friend what he had
finally decided to do.  During his walk up the stairs
he admired the beauty of the surrounding countryside.
He found it to be a little funny, only when he was
going to leave the next day is when he started
noticing the earth’s beauty.
Before he could continue to admire the scenery, he
heard footsteps approaching him quickly.  He didn’t
have to use his abilities to find out who it was
coming upon him, he had hoped that she wouldn’t have
come.

“Brian!”  Washu called to him.

He stopped walking to allow her to catch up with him.
She stopped a couple of steps down from him.

“You wanted to say something?”  He asked not turning
to face her.

“Why do you feel you have to leave?  You could stay
here and figure out for yourself what you want to do
now.”

“. . . .”

“Listen to me, fate brought you here, to this house. .
.To me.”  Washu’s voice deepened at her last words.

He glanced from the corner of his left eye behind him
to see that Washu was now in her adult form.  She
walked closer, wrapping her arms around his waist,
resting her head on his left shoulder, her eyes closed
to enjoy the feeling of his body against hers.

“I’m falling in love with you Brian.  I feel I can
trust you with my life, so why don’t you want to feel
the same for me?”

“Because I’m afraid.”

Washu’s eyes opened in surprise at his words.  “Afraid
of me?”

“No, afraid of me.”  He replied.

“I don’t quiet follow.”

“Washu.  I used to be just like those two, maybe even
worse.  Like them, I killed for the pleasure of it,
and I loved every second of it.  I enjoyed listening
to the screams of people fighting me to their last
breath.  The sound of bones breaking, it was like a
symphony of pain and struggle to me.  As a sayajin I
feel drawn to conflict and wanting to be a part of the
damage.  That’s the part of me I don’t want you
anywhere near.”

Washu listened to him, watching him talk about the
horror of his past with sympathetic eyes.  “But you’re
not that person anymore.”

“That’s what I kept telling myself Washu.  I had
myself convinced of it, but during the battle, I began
to enjoy it again.  I felt that want to kill again,
like a child in a candy store where the candy was free
to take as much as you want.  I wanted to feel their
blood on my hands.  I know you’ve been hurt before;
it’s taken you 10,000 years to just begin to get over
it.  I feel that I’ll only cause more damage than good
to you Washu.  I like you too much to want to hurt
you.”

Unwrapping her hands around him, he began to walk up
the stairs again.

“Ryoko spent 700 years in a cave Brian.”

“I already know that.”

“But I’ve been sealed up in my own cave for the past
20,000 years.  For the past couple of weeks I’ve been
coming out of that cave, for you.  Do you have any
idea how hard it is for me to try to attempt to open
up again?  And now that I’m finally starting to come
out, you’re going to run from me.”  Washu felt herself
fighting back tears.

Brian had stopped during her plead to him, he didn’t
turn to face her though.  “Please excuse me Washu I
need to talk to Katsuhito alone.”

        As Brian continued to walk up the stairs, Washu
watched him walk away, continuing to fight off the
tears.  Although a couple of them made their way down
her face, she turned around and ran back toward the
house, allowing the tears to flow.
        Brian hated having to do that to Washu, but it was
for her own good.  He didn’t know what was eventually
going to become of him.  He hasn’t had that much
experience with relationships and he didn’t want to
end up causing her pain.  Brian had become so lost in
thought about Washu that he suddenly realized that he
reached the top of the stairs and was near the shrine
office.
        He walked up to the door and was about to knock.

“Come in!”  Came from inside.

*  How does he do that?  *  He wondered.

        After removing his shoes and leaving them by the door
he entered the small office.  Katsuhito seemed to be
working on some papers for the office and looked up
upon Brian’s entry.

“Ah Brian.  How are you?”

“I am well.  I just came up here to tell you that I’ve
decided to do some soul searching.”

“Are you going somewhere to do some soul searching?”

“Nowhere in particular.  I guess I’m just going to
drift in space for a while, clear my head.”

“Will you be returning?”

“I’m not sure about that just yet.  I believe that I
was just going to be alone for a couple of months and
then come back to visit.”

“Well I know that I can’t stop you from leaving, it is
your choice.  When were you planning on leaving?”

“I was thinking about leaving tomorrow.  There’s no
sense in putting it off anymore.  I already told the
others my decision.”

“How did they take it?”

“Better than I thought they would.”

“Well it was nice to see you again Brian.  I hope you
decide to come back and visit again.”

“I will.  There is one thing I was wanting to ask
you.”

“What is it you were wanting to know?”  He asked
sipping on his cup of tea.

“Why are you lying to everyone?”

“W. .What do you mean?”  He asked nearly choking on
the tea.

“Common Y. .Katsuhtio.  You might be able to fool
everyone else, but you can’t fool me.  I gotta admit,
you had me fooled for a while, but in that battle you
gave yourself away.  You don’t move like an old man,
you move the same way as you did when you were as
young as Tenchi is.  So are you going to tell me
what’s up or do I have to mess around inside your mind
a little?”

“No there’s no need for that.  I’m a little surprised
that you didn’t suspect anything sooner.”

“So what’s the deal, how are you still able to move
like that?”

“Well it happened when I defeated Ryoko seven hundred
years ago.  I had the Tenchi-ken absorb Ryoko’s gems
when I had the opportunity, knowing that those were
the source of her powers.  Upon doing so, I saw her
memories and experienced everything that she went
through under Kagato’s control, which is why I spared
her life.  The gems feed power into the Funaho which
has kept me alive and as a side effect of the gems
powers, I am still youthful.”

        The old, wise figure of Katsuhito changed into the
man that Brian had gotten to know some time ago.
Brian was in awe at seeing that his friend hadn’t
seemed to age a day since the last time they saw each
other.  He didn’t expect him to still be youthful.

“So why hide this from everyone?  Why haven’t you told
Ayeka about this?”

“I think it would be to complicated for Tenchi and the
others to be able to deal with.  I know that Ayeka
loved me when I was on Jurai and I loved her as well,
but not the way she loved me.  I was to wed her and
then assume the throne of Jurai, but I wanted neither
one.  I do love Ayeka, but not as a bride to be.
Besides she has found Tenchi now.”

“Yes she has, but so has a couple other women.  What
makes you think Tenchi will choose Ayeka?”

“I don’t think he will eventually choose her, but I
feel that in the end, everything will work out for the
best.  Would you like some tea?”  He offered holding
up the pot.

Brian looked at his old friend a little questioningly.
 Unsure of his friends feeling that everything would
turn out fine in the end.  Finally deciding that
thinking about it now wouldn’t do any difference.
“Yes, thank you.”

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

        A few hours after Brian broke the news of his coming
departure, everyone at the house seemed to just settle
down into a small state of shock.  Even though their
newfound friend had come to their house a few months
before, they couldn’t seem to feel the same with him
being gone.  Tenchi had become friends with Brian, he
helped him out with his chores around the house and
made life easier for him.  He also like that he was a
guy that he could talk too without having one of the
girls think that one of the girls is going to do
something that the other ones won’t like.

“I still can’t believe that he’s going to just up and
leave.”  Ryoko said seated on the couch, Ayeka sitting
to the left.

“Well Ryoko it is his choice to do as he pleases, we
can’t forcibly make him stay with us.”

“I know, but if it wasn’t for him the two of us
wouldn’t be getting along as nicely.  To tell you the
truth, I didn’t think our truce would last this long.”

“Yes well the universe can sometimes surprise you with
all kinds of wonders, I suppose our truce can be one
of them.”  Ayeka said standing to walk toward the
kitchen.

“I suppose.”

*  Whoomp!   *  Was the result of Ayeka’s body
unexpectedly hitting the floor.  Ryoko’s right foot
extended out around the spot where Ayeka’s footing was
lost.

“Ahahahaha.  I thought they taught a princess like you
how to fall with dignity Ayeka.”

“HOW DARE YOU PURPOSLY TRIP ME!”

“So what you gonna do about it little princess?”  She
replied, a devious look on her face.  Her tone of
voice in her casual sound when she wants to start
something.

“That’s it our truce is off!  We’re going to settle
our differences once and for all!”

“Hahaha.  You and what army Ayeka?”

        Ayeka cringed up, hands at her sides balled up in
fists.  A couple of veins straining against her
forehead, teeth gritted, and growling with
frustration.  A couple of power logs materialize
around the princess.  Ryoko brings her hands out in
front of her body, energy courses around her hands and
electricity channels between them.

“HEY YOU TWO!  NO FIGHTING IN THE HOUSE!”

“Huh?”  Came from both combatants mouths looking to
see Sasami in the doorway of the kitchen with a stern
look written across her face.

“I thought you two were through fighting.  I swear if
you two start a fight in here, you are going to go
without dinner tonight.”

Disbelief came onto both their faces.  “Hey that’s a
little harsh Sasami.”  Ryoko informed.

“I mean it you two.  Now who started it?”

They both point fingers at each other. “Ryoko”  Ayeka
yells at seeing Ryoko’s finger pointed toward her.

“Ryoko was it you who started the fight?”  The small
princess asked.

A sign escapes Ryoko’s lips.  “Yeah, it was me.  I
admit it.”

“I want you to apologize to Ayeka for starting this
and for you two to be friends.”

“Apologize?!”

“Ahahahahaha.  Yes Ryoko, apologize.  I won’t accept
an apology nothing short of getting on your knees and
kissing my feet.”

“No way.”

“Ryoko if you don’t apologize to Ayeka, neither of you
are going to eat tonight.”

“Sasami, what do you mean, neither?”  Her older sister
asked.

“I want you to be nice to Ryoko’s apology, so if she
doesn’t apologize, you won’t eat either.”

Both fighters look at each other in shock.  “I. .I
don’t believe it, I’m being blackmailed by my own
sister.”

“Well you’ve gotta admit one thing, she sure knows how
to negotiate.  Alright Sasami.  I’ll apologize.”

“Ayeka, I’m sorry I tripped you.”

“Apology accepted.”

“There now isn’t that better than tearing the place
up.  You two can have dinner tonight.”

        A finger punches a key on a console, causing the
camera to stop recording the events in the living
room.  A red-haired individual is silently watching
from the confines of her lab.

“I never thought I’d see the day when Ryoko actually
apologizes for something.  What is this universe
coming too?”  She said distantly to herself.

        Washu had once again retreated to the security of her
lab.  There she could control whatever happened around
her.  She wouldn’t have to worry about being hurt,
physically or emotionally.  She enjoyed science, it
could take up much of her thought, so her mind
wouldn’t wonder into memories of social tragedies that
have occurred in her long existence.
        She leaned back on her floating futon, her head
looking straight up, fixating her glance onto the
ceiling above her.  Allowing her mind to wonder on
questions that she normally wouldn’t ask.  One
question in particular seemed to repeat often in her
thoughts.

*  Why won’t he let me near him?  I know he’s a good
man, at least he tries to be.  I can understand if he
had a hard past, we’ve all done things we wish we
could do different.  I wish he would open up.  *

A smile creeps its way onto her face.  *  Ha.  I
should talk, I can’t open up to anything outside of my
lab.  *

        Feeling that her current train of thought would only
lead her to cry again, she readjusted to her usual
position on her futon and resumed working on a
project.  She dives back into her work, the only way
she knows how to outrun the feelings from her past
that she wants to avoid.  She continues her work well
into the night.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
 *   *  *

        The next morning was a beautiful spring day, the
birds were singing in celebration of a glorious
looking day.  The lake sparkled in a breath taking awe
that it does in the early parts of the morning or late
afternoon.
        Today however was going to have a sad development for
the household of the Masaki Shrine.  Brian was
finishing packing his bag.  Fortunately he always
traveled lightly so he knew he had everything when he
finished packing.  That still didn’t stop him from
taking a look around Tenchi’s room to see if he was
about to forget something.

“I hate feeling like I’m leaving something.”  He
complains to himself.

“That usually happens when your leaving somewhere.”  A
gentle voice came from behind.

Looking to the sudden sound of another’s voice.  “Oh,
Ayeka.  You snuck up on me.”

“Sorry if I startled you.”

“It’s alright.”

“So you’re really going to leave?”

“Yes, only for a little bit.  Just have to clear my
head about a few things.  I’ll come back.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Yes, that is a promise.”

“I’ll hold you to your word.”

“So where is everyone else?”

“Their downstairs.”

“I guess I’ll be leaving now.”  Brian finished
grabbing his bag and headed toward the door.

        As he entered the hallway, he began to think of the
time that he spent here.  This place he suddenly
realized felt like home.  Of course he did want to
stay, but there were parts of him that he wanted to
keep everyone from.  If someone in the house made him
angry enough, his killer instincts might take over.
He didn’t even want to imagine him accidentally
killing one of the girls or Tenchi.
        As he made his way down the stairs he saw the group
of the others standing near the doorway.  Sasami was
holding a farewell poster that she had made for his
announced departure.  What wasn’t surprising was Washu
wasn’t present in the group.  It was most likely for
the best that way; he feels an overwhelming guilt when
he sees the hurt in her eyes.

“Well I guess I’ve gotten everything.”  Brian said
looking himself over for one last check.

“If you ever need a place to rest.  Your always
welcome here.”

“Thank you Tenchi.”  Brian looks at Sasami’s poster
that she made for him.  It read “Come back soon” in
big letters across it.  The letters were colored in
different colors and it was decorated with trees,
birds, and other things that she liked.

“That’s a lovely poster you made for me Sasami.  It
looks great.”  He added patting her on top of her
head.

“We’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you all too.  I’ll come back sometime soon,
you’ll see.”

“If you ever come back, I’ll have to kick your butt
real good.”  Ryoko adding to the conversation.
Brian smiles at her remark.  “Your on.”

        Everyone slowly makes their way out the front door,
while in conversation with Brian.  Brian’s ship, which
was kept in subspace for storage, was resting in the
front near the lake off to the side of the house.

“Oh, before I forget say hello to the Galaxy Police
officer you guys told me about.”

“You mean Mihoshi?”  Ryoko asked.

“Yes, it’s a shame I didn’t get to meet her.”

“It’s not really that much of a loss Brian, believe
me.”  Ryoko said.

“Ryoko, don’t be so harsh about Mihoshi.”

“I guess Mihoshi was assigned somewhere else all this
time.  I hope she’s alright.”  Tenchi said in a
concerned voice.

“I’m sure she’s fine Lord Tenchi.”

“Can you tell Washu that I said goodbye for me.
Unfortunately, it looks like she’s gotten too into
another project to remember that I’m leaving today.”
He said hoping to avoid talking about the real reason
she wasn’t there.

“Yeah, we’ll tell her you said goodbye.”  Tenchi said,
going along with Brian’s story.

        Brian turns and opens the door to his pod.  The
pressure of the air in the pistons in the door hiss as
the pod opens.  He places his bag inside the small
pod, a little to the left of his seat, which offers
some room for his bag.  He turns around again and
takes in the sites of the place one last time.

“Goodbye everyone.”

His farewell is answered with goodbyes, see you
soon’s, and be careful’s.  The group watches as their
friend enters the pod.  He gives one last wave goodbye
as the ships door closes.  Everyone walks back a
little bit to give his ship some room to take off.
The ship slowly lifts off the ground and hovers in
place for a couple of seconds.  A white ball of energy
covers the entire pod, then just as suddenly as the
energy appears, the ship races off into the sky at a
great speed.
        Brian’s ship was centered in the screen of a computer
watching his departure.  A lonely red-haired scientist
watched his ship slip through the ceiling of the
atmosphere and beginning to enter the cold depths of
space.  Her eye’s were reddened from her crying, the
tears have dried on her face, and she watched hoping
that time would pass quickly until his return.  She
had spent the past ten thousand years alone, waiting
for someone to come along and change that.  So, she
figured she could wait a little longer.
        Even though she felt saddened at her newly rekindled
love was leaving, knowledge kept her from wanting to
cry again.  It was something that she knew inside, a
feeling that she was sure about.  Even though her face
was completely relaxed in her state of heartbreak,
something happened.  A smile curved upon the left
corner of her mouth.

“You’ll be back.”  She told the image of the ship
departing from view.

        She would wait until his return, even though she knew
every day would pass slowly like an eternity, but she
was willing to wait.  She would try to enjoy herself a
little more.  But for now, she felt compelled to start
on another experiment.  She had enough time until he
returned. . . . .

But that is another story.

Author’s Notes

I would like to thank everyone for reading this story.
 I tried my best to maintain the character of all the
Tenchi Muyo characters.  And for the Mihoshi fans out
there, she will be in the next part of the story.  I
wanted to make this a short chapter story, because I
thought it’d be a challenge to write a great story
that wasn’t the size of a novel.  I’ll eventually get
started on the continuation of this story, but have
another project that’s going to take time, so please
be patient.  I welcome e-mail as well, in fact I
ENCOURAGE it!  Author’s get so lonely sometimes.  My
e-mail address is deathgiver2000@yahoo.com.    Thank
you again for reading.