Non-disclaimer: Screw the disclaimer, in fact, I'm going to claim Tenchi and all related characters as my own. That's right, their mine, all mine! Eye of the Hurricane The passion was overwhelming. Lust and love filled the air as they pressed together. In loving embrace they rolled around the bed, enjoying every touch, sound, flavor, flagrance, and sight. Pleasure flowed between them. They both felt more alive then ever before in life. Now the moment approached, the pinnacle of their love brought to life. " I'd say, eh! Get your ass in the kitchen and bake me a pie, bitch!" Startled, Ayeka nearly dropped the book she was reading. She glanced up at the t.v. which had suddenly blared to life, then over at the individual responsible for ruining the climatic part of the story. Ryoko wasn't even really watching the television. She was leaning heavily on the armrest of the couch, lazily flipping through the channels. She didn't even seem to notice when she'd gone through them all and was cycling back around. Ayeka let out a disgusted sigh and set about finding where she had been before losing her spot. Locating the page, she tried to settle back into the story, but the rapid and random barrage of light and sound caused by Ryoko's channel surfing was proving too distracting. Ayeka considered moving to another part of house, but she really didn't feel like getting up because of Ryoko. Ayeka's relationship with Ryoko was too competitive to allow it. So she stayed where she was, silently cursing Ryoko as she read on. Unfortunately the book wasn't nearly as interesting as before because she couldn't get into it, couldn't imagine it with the t.v. blaring at her. Instead of romantic, it seemed dirty. Ayeka was about to tell Ryoko to turn the t.v. down, despite the fact that doing so would most likely cause a fight, when she turned the television off. With a small sigh of relief, Ayeka went back to her book. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Ryoko was still sitting on the couch. She tried to ignore her but the former pirate kept shifting around. Every movement was transferred through the couch to Ayeka and was proving to be more distracting than the t.v. had. Ayeka gripped the book tightly and growled through her teeth. She paused to consider what to do. As before, she was too stubborn to get up and move, but at the same time she really didn't feel like getting into an argument and/or fight with Ryoko at the moment. So if she couldn't get up and couldn't tell Ryoko just to stop, what was left? Ayeka puzzled over her options before realizing that she could use Ryoko's own sense of competition against her. " Ryoko, is something bothering you?" she asked as nicely as possible, given who she was talking to. Ryoko's head snapped around. She looked shocked for a moment, but she quickly covered it up. " I'm fine," she answered abruptly. Ayeka tilted her head slightly. " Your sure. You seem to be shifting around a lot, like something's troubling you." " It's nothing, really. I'm fine." Ryoko stopped moving and turned her gaze out the window. As such she missed Ayeka's triumphant smile. The last thing Ryoko wanted to have was for Ayeka to think something was bothering her, so now she would make a conscious effort to seem fine. Reopening her book, Ayeka started to reread the last page to get back into the story, but a quiet, nagging doubt entered her mind. Something obviously was bothering Ryoko. There were only three things that got on Ryoko's nerves. Two of them happened to be people, namely herself and Washu. However Ayeka had been reading on the couch for the past hour, and the door to Washu's lab hadn't moved an inch the whole time she'd been there. So it couldn't be either of them. The final thing that could cause Ryoko grief was her feelings for Tenchi. While Tenchi himself never bothered Ryoko, his reluctance to show affection did. Ayeka figured that Ryoko had made yet another move on Tenchi, and had once again been put off. It served her right for throwing herself at him the way she did Ayeka thought, but at the same time she felt slightly sorry for her. Full out was the only way Ryoko knew to express her feelings, and having Tenchi basically tell her 'no' after every attempt had to be painful. Ayeka often wondered how she kept from becoming totally depressed. However something wasn't right. She didn't seem so much depressed as she did concerned. That left an uneasy feeling in Ayeka's stomach. The only thing that Ryoko worried about was Tenchi. As she thought about it, Ayeka realized she hadn't seen Tenchi all day. Her stomach churned a little more. Despite her feelings, she turned to Ryoko. " Are you sure your alright?" she asked cautiously. " I said I'm fine," Ryoko shot back. Ayeka resisted the urge to fire off an insulting line. She opened her book, but just stared at the pages as she tried to think of something to say that wouldn't set Ryoko off. A moment later Nobuyuki came down the stairs. " Have either of you girls seen Tenchi today? I can't find him anywhere," he asked. " No, I'm afraid I haven't," Ayeka answered. " Have you Ryoko?" " No," Ryoko said dryly. " Hmm, I wonder were he could be? I've searched the whole house for him." Nobuyuki commented. " He could be training with my brother," Ayeka offered. " Well, it would explain why I can't find him." Just then the front door opened and Katsuhito walked in. " Alright, where is he? He late for practice ." " Don't know," Nobuyuki remarked. " We thought he might be with you." " No, I haven't seen him all day." " No one has," Ayeka added. The uneasy feeling was working it's way up her throat. " What about the garden, has anyone checked there?" " He's not there," Ryoko informed them. " He's not in the house, he's not in garden, the shrine, or even the onsen." " Then where is he?" Ayeka's voice took on a tone of urgency. " There's only two places he might be. One, off wandering around the woods." " I doubt it," Nobuyuki commented. " He always lets someone know before he leaves the house." Ryoko nodded in agreement. " Two then." Ryoko shifted her gaze over Ayeka's shoulder. The princess turned around and looked at the doorway that led to Washu's lab. " You don't think...," Ayeka trailed off. " It's locked," Ryoko commented. " Well then, all we can do is knock," Katsuhito suggested. He walked over a tapped lightly on the door. When nothing happened he tried again, slightly harder. When nothing happened again Ryoko teleported in front of him and pounded on the door as hard as she could. Three thunderous thuds later and the small monitor set in the door flashed on and Washu appeared. " About time," Ryoko mumbled. " Now where is..." Before she could finish, the image cut her off. " Hi, I am Cyber-Washu," The image greeted them in a friendly, open voice. At that moment Ryoko noticed that the image seemed to dressed as a flight attendant. " Can I help you?" Ryoko blinked in mild shock, but quickly recovered. " Yeah, you can open the damn door!" " I'm so sorry, but I can't do that at this time." " Why the hell not!?" " I'm sorry, but Washu is very busy right now and can not be bothered." " Oh shut up!" Ryoko restrained herself from punching the door. " And what is she doing that's so important?" " I'm sorry, but I can't tell you." " What!? Now you listen to me. You tell Washu to let Tenchi go right now, or I'm going to kick this door down and get him myself." The image flinched back slightly. " One moment please." Cyber-Washu's image suddenly distorted. The flight attendant outfit vanished to be replaced by an all black suit. A pair of black, mirrored sunglasses appeared over her eyes. " Is there something you want?" The image spoke in a cold, emotionless voice. " Yeah, I want in!" " I can't allow that." " Then you'd better tell Washu to let Tenchi out." " It is not my place to tell Washu what to do." " Now you listen to me...!" " No, you will listen to me. This door is under my control at the moment and I have orders not to allow anyone inside." " That's it!" Ryoko spun around and kicked out at the door with all her strength. There was a loud thud, but the door didn't budge. The image, however, shifted rapidly. Now the image of Washu had on a flashy military uniform, complete with a ridiculous number of medals and rankings hanging from it. The voice took on an equally military style tone. " You have just attempted to enter without permission. Do not do so again or the necessary countermeasures will be deployed." " Screw you!" Ryoko gathered up a ball of energy and threw it at the door. The explosion cracked and blackened the walls, but the door was unaffected. " You were warned." A small opening appeared in the door and a thin blue beam shot forth. It struck Ryoko right in the stomach and she began to glow. " What the hell!?" There was a flash and suddenly Ryoko was completely incased in a crystal set in the floor. She was frozen within the crystal, a look of shock still plastered on her face. " Anyone else want to try and break in?" Cyber-Washu dared. " Well, I guess that's that," Nobuyuki remarked. " I guess so," Ayeka agreed. " Whenever Tenchi gets out of there, send him up to the shrine. I'll be waiting," Katsuhito turned and headed out the door. Nobiyugi left and Ayeka sat back down on the couch. She started to read her book, but suddenly realized there was something she had to do first. She ran up to her room and rummaged through her drawers for a moment. Returning downstairs, she walked around Ryoko for a moment until she found the right angle. There was a flash, and the picture slid out the front of her camera. She smiled evilly. " Definitely one for the scrapbook." Washu certainly hadn't planned on falling asleep, but her body had been so relaxed, her mind so calm, that she had drifted off before she had even known she was sleepy. She woke up feeling slightly dazed. She opened her eyes and for a moment was shocked to find herself laying on the floor, naked, full grown, with Tenchi laying naked beside her. As her mind got to speed though she remembered. Remembered her fight with Tsunami, Tenchi finding and comforting her, and then... " How you feeling?" Tenchi asked softly. " Mmm, great," Washu responded. She sat up and Tenchi moved to join her. " Was I asleep long?" Tenchi shrugged his shoulders in response. " Don't know, could be." " Well what were you doing?" She shifted a little closer to him. " Watching you sleep." Washu raised an eyebrow at this. " Oh really?" " Yes, it was very...relaxing." She giggled slightly and leaned in to kiss him. " Was that, all it was?" Tenchi pressed up against her as they kissed, his hand sliding gently up her leg. " No." His other arm slid around behind her and his fingers teased the edge of her breast. Washu was about to lean in for another kiss, when a terrible void opened up inside her. She heard a scream, felt a horrible surge of energy, and then, nothing. She suddenly stood up, almost unconsciously striding forward. As she walked clothes appeared out of the air. At the same time her body shrunk as it returned to it's normal state. Tenchi hurried after her, but stopped when he realized she was heading outside. With a frustrated growl, he ran back to retrieve his clothes. Once again, Ayeka was startled as she tried to enjoy her book. This time the source happened to be the door to Washu's lab as it suddenly swung open and crashed loudly against the wall, sending charred wallpaper flying. The red haired scientist immediately made her way toward the back door, only slowly for a brief instant to reach out and touch the crystal that held her daughter. The prison faded away and Ryoko put a hand to her head. " What just happened?" She caught a flash of red out of the corner of her eye and turned just in time to see Washu head out the door. " Washu!" Ryoko turned back toward the lab in time to see Tenchi emerge. " Tenchi!" she exclaimed. She tried to stop him as he hurried after Washu, but he quickly shifted around her. " Hey! Tenchi!" He kept on going as if she hadn't even spoken. Ryoko couldn't believe it, he had just completely ignored her. She stood frozen in shock, at least until Ayeka rushed past her to follow Washu and Tenchi. She bumped against Ryoko in her hurry, and the impact managed to jar the pirate back to her senses. She followed Ayeka outside. When Tenchi finally managed to catch up with Washu she was standing on the edge of the lake, staring off in distance. With the clear bright sky and gently blowing wind, one could have made the mistake that she was enjoying the beautiful day. Tenchi however, could not miss the tension in her stance, nor the whitening of her knuckles as she clenched her fists tightly. He approached her carefully, his mind telling him to be cautious despite the overwhelming urge in his heart to embrace her. He wanted to help her with whatever it was that had her so upset, but he also didn't want to do anything that might set her off. He was so busy trying to decide what to do that he almost missed her whispered words. " Damned fools." Tenchi took another step closer. A slight tremor ran through Washu's body. " Those damn, stupid, arrogant fools. What ever made me think they might be able to handle anything on their own. Their so wrapped up in themselves they have completely forgotten that there are some things in this galaxy that matter more than they do." She turned toward Tenchi and he had to fight the urge to step back. Her face was a fierce mask of rage and sorrow. Lines of tears ran down from her reddened eyes, but it was the angry frown and narrowed eyelids that drew the most attention. He could see the muscles around her jaw quite clearly as she ground her teeth together. Tenchi found himself completely unable to speak until she took her gaze off him, returning it back out over the water. Even then it took a moment for him to find the nerve to say anything. " Washu, what is it? What happened?" Washu's only response was a slow shaking of her head. " Tenchi?" Turning at the sound of his name, Tenchi saw Ayeka had come up behind him, followed closely by Ryoko. From the looks on their faces they were as unsure and nervous as he was about Washu. The princess leaned slightly to peer around him at the scientist. " Is...is something wrong?" she asked quietly. " You have no idea," Washu responded sharply. Ayeka let out a surprised gasp. She had been certain that she had spoken too softly for Washu to have overheard. Suddenly Washu turned to face them, causing each one to flinch at the sudden movement. Her eyes locked onto Tenchi. "I'm going," she announced. Before anyone could question her, a slight reddish glow outlined her form. Her body grew, returning to it's full adult form. Her clothes shifted and changed. A slender dress appeared on her of a dark violet shade. It flowed up into a low cut top with flaring shoulders, offset by two large green gems set into a brace of gold that protruded above her shoulders and encircled behind her neck. She held out her hand, palm turned upward. Three glowing gems appeared, slowly orbiting around themselves. Ryoko was the first to recognize them. " Hey!" She turned her wrist up toward her. Just as she had expected, her gem was no longer set into her skin. " I'm sorry little Ryoko, but I need to borrow these. I'm sure you can understand." Washu's voice was strangely bland and emotionless. " Now wait just a damn minute!" Ryoko cried. " Just what the hell is going on?" Washu however, was through with her daughter for the moment. She turned her attention back to Tenchi. " Thank you, for everything. I don't think I can ever repay you for all the kindness you've shown me. I don't want you to worry about me, or Tokimi, or Tsunami." Tenchi felt a sickening lump form in his stomach. He definitely didn't like the implications her words conveyed. It felt like she was saying goodbye, forever. " Washu please, for the love of God, tell me what's going on." He stepped right up to her, grabbing her by the shoulders. " Please, Washu." She just stared back at him. New tears welled up in her eyes and her mouth moved, but nothing came out. She tore her gaze away from him as the tears broke. " I'm...going to go take care of something. Something I should have done long ago. It's better this way. You...you won't have to worry about it." At first, Tenchi had no idea what she was talking about. When it hit him though, it hit like planet falling on his head. The great event that she had told him of, the reason he had been designed for. She was going to go face it herself. " No! Washu don't! You said whatever this thing was that it was stealing your power. You can't go face it yourself. You can't..." Tenchi faltered, emotion blocking his words. " I'm sorry Tenchi, but I have to. It wasn't fair of me, of us, to force you into our fight." " Washu..." His words were cut off as she suddenly kissed him. It spoke of desperation, of the sorrow she felt. Nether of them heard Ryoko or Ayeka's shocked yells, nor would they have cared at the moment. As they parted, Washu simply vanished from his arms. With a cry of anger and grief, Tenchi fell to his knees. He couldn't feel anything but a dark, empty hole that seemed to exist within his chest. He barely noticed when Ryoko put her arm around him, helping him back to his feet. He laid his head on her shoulder as she held him. " Tenchi, I'm sorry. I wish I could have stopped her for you." Ryoko desperately wished there was something she could to help him. She couldn't stand to see Tenchi in such pain. At the moment she didn't care about whether or not Tenchi loved Washu, or if that kiss had just been her way of saying goodbye. All that mattered to her was that he was hurt. " Damn you Washu. How could you do this to him?" Even as she mentally cursed her mother, Ryoko noticed a change in Tenchi. His sorrow suddenly vanished, and was replaced by something else. Something that she had only seen once before from him. True anger. She could feel it build up in him, at the same time that she could feel a growing power. " No, I can't allow this. I will not let her do this alone." Ryoko had to jump back as the air around Tenchi seemed to split. A brilliant light poured forth, followed by a sudden flash as the wings of the light hawk appeared. Tenchi glowed as his clothing shifted, transforming into the brilliant white battle armor that Ryoko remembered from his fight with Kagato. The wings moved around Tenchi, their blades spinning parallel to the earth. A thin energy field grew around him and Tenchi slowly lifted off the ground. While Ryoko and Ayeka watched in stunned silence the wings grew, doubling, then tripling in size. Their edges curved against their rotation as they sped up. Then, suddenly, Tenchi was gone. The wings carried him away with such speed that Ayeka thought he had vanished as Washu had. Ryoko had just barely been able to tell otherwise. The wings might not be capable of teleportation, but they were capable of unimaginable speed. Such speed as to be able to surpass the escape velocity of a black hole. Ryoko knew there was no way she could catch up with him, but she also knew that she had to try. " Ryo-ohki!" A moment later the furry little space ship came running outside, the urgency of Ryoko's telepathic summons moving her along as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't even wait for the command she knew was coming. Leaping into the air the cabbit rapidly transformed from a flesh and blood animal into a crystalline starship. A blood red beam shot down over Ryoko and began to pull her into the ship. Suddenly Ayeka jumped into the beam, grabbing hold of Ryoko. " Your not leaving me behind." The pirate didn't have time to argue. Once inside her ship Ryoko shoved the princess off her and ordered Ryo-ohki to take off. Consulting the sensors, Ryoko found that while she might not be able to catch up with Tenchi, she could at least follow him. His passage had distorted the very fabric of space, leaving an easy to follow trail. Exactly how he was following Washu she couldn't tell, but it didn't matter. " Lets go Ryo-ohki, as fast as you can. Tenchi's life could depend on it." The ship let out a distressed wail at the idea. She shot forward, flying faster than she'd ever even tried to go. The effort was a strain on her, but any time she felt weary she just had to feel Ryoko's thoughts. The sense of dread in her owner's mind was enough to lend new strength to her engines. Back on Earth, Sasami stood in the yard, staring up at the spot were Ryo-ohki had vanished into the distance. Something was very wrong, she could feel it. She could sense faint images, a fluttering of distant shapes. Tsunami, Tokimi, Washu. She felt death, and something else. A cold, burning sensation. A darkness so void that it hurt to look at. Something that felt so very wrong. It all flickered through her mind and then vanished. She didn't know what to do. As she stared, she was unaware as the triangular mark upon her forehead split, becoming a pair of circles that glowed softly beneath her bangs... I would just like to take a moment here and thank whoever it was that made the challenge in the voting poll comments for someone to write a Tokimi lemon. When I took up that challenge, I never imagined I'd get this much out of it. As always, I hope you enjoyed my story, and I appreciate all of you who have written to let me know what you think. Thanks.