Until We Meet Again

                             By: Zylle

Summary: A young Tenchi visits his grandparents and an old friend...

        A young boy laughed, running along ahead of his grandmother.
        “Come on, Grandma!  We’re almost there!”  He said, slowing and
looking back
at her.  She smiled warmly at the child, keeping her pace steady as they
went up the tall stairway.
        “I’m coming, Tenchi,” she said.
        They soon reached the top, and the elder woman panted quietly.  She
was
beginning to feel her age.  It wasn’t a pleasant thought.
        Tenchi sprinted up to the house ahead easily and turned, waiting for
his
grandmother once more.  She chuckled at his enthusiasm and followed.  A
minute or two later, Tenchi pulled open the slide-door and looked in,
curious.
        “I’m back, Katsuhito-chan,” his grandmother said as she walked in.
Tenchi
hesitated, then walked behind her.
        “Ah, welcome back,” a tall man with long, gray hair said, greeting
them.
Tenchi looked up at him, as though honored to be in his presence.
        Above all the rest in his family, Tenchi respected his grandfather
the
most.  He was a stern man, but knew when to have some fun once in a while.
Tenchi feared him when he was angry, and loved to be around him when he was
not.  He told many tales of warriors from long ago that fascinated the boy
to no end.  Tenchi gazed at his weathered face with reverence and awe.
        “Tenchi Masaki,” he said in all seriousness, his ruddy eyes setting
on his
grandson.  “I haven’t seen you since...I can’t remember when.”
        Tenchi grinned.  “You saw me last month, Grandpa!”  He exclaimed,
catching
on to the joke.
        “Ah yes, I remember now,” his grandfather replied, a smile playing
on his
lips.  He set his hand on the child’s head softly and kneeled down to his
level.  His serious, maroon eyes settled on his large, brown ones.  “My, but
haven’t you grown.”
        Tenchi’s smile broadened.
        His elder added, “if I don’t watch it, you’ll be as tall as me one
day.”
        Tenchi gathered up his courage and asked, “can I go to the cave,
Grandpa?”
        His grandmother smiled.
        She remembered that “invisible friend” Tenchi had made there.  Every
time
he visited from the suburbs, he would go to that cave and tell his imaginary
friend everything he had done while he was away, and play games with it.
She, rather.  Tenchi insisted it was a she.  He had told her once that she
had large, cat eyes and big, spiky hair,
but he didn’t know her name.  She couldn’t talk.  Yes, Tenchi was a creative
boy.  She had decided to humor him.  He would one day grow out of it anyway.
        His grandfather was surprised for a moment, but the smile soon
returned to
his face.  He knew how much Tenchi loved that cave, was captivated by it and
its legend.  Initially it had worried him, lest Tenchi should get too close,
but he knew Ryoko would not be able to hurt him.  She was a corpse by now,
he reasoned.  “Of course, boy!  Now
go along and be quick about it!”
        Tenchi laughed again, turned, and took his grandmother’s hand.
“Come on,
Grandma!”
        She giggled, allowing him to lead her to the small cave circled by
large
stones.  He released her and ran to the entrance, looking around.  “Kitty!
Kitty, I’m back!”
        That was the name he had given her, because of her eyes and because
-- his
grandmother paused to think.  Oh yes.  It was because “Kitty” liked to make
a cat for Tenchi to play with.
        Tenchi would make a wonderful writer or artist with a brilliant mind
like
that, she thought.
        Suddenly Tenchi looked up, as though looking up at a figure hidden
from the
human eye.  He hugged the air and started babbling about how school was
going and how the students treated him.
        Ryoko mutely smiled and stroked his short black hair fondly.  He had
saved
her, in a way.  This child named Tenchi was her life now, the only reason
she was still sane.  Such an appropriate name for an angel...
        “Amagazaki isn’t very nice to me, but Daddy says he just wants to be
friends so I play with him sometimes...”
        She longed to carry on more than just a one-sided conversation with
him,
but she knew she was incapable of doing so.  She simply listened, glad that
he had ever seen her in the first place.  It was such a -- she caught
herself thinking the very word -- blessing.  The first real thing in her
life she could be thankful for.
        He looked up into her golden eyes and paused for a moment, studying
her.
“What’s wrong, Kitty?”  He asked.
        She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, but the words
wouldn’t
come.  No, couldn’t.  She shook her head and smiled at him sadly, getting on
her knees in front of him.  She held his small arms in her hands for a
heartbeat, looking into those beautiful, laughing eyes of his.  Now they
were filled with doubt.  He wondered why she was
looking at him like that.  He didn’t understand.  He couldn’t.
        She pulled him into an embrace gently, his head resting near her
neck.  He
was confused, but allowed her to hold him.
        *You’ll have to go soon, my little Tenchi,* she wanted to say.  She
merely
thought it, hoping somehow he could hear.  *And I’m not sure why, but I feel
as if...this is the last time we will see one another.  At least for a
while.  Goodbye, my sweet boy.  Until we meet again.*
        She released him, brushing the dirt off his clothes (though there
wasn’t
any), and put her hands on his shoulders.
        “Tenchi, are you ready?”  His grandmother asked softly, approaching
him.
Both looked up, then looked back at each other.  Ryoko playfully ruffled his
hair and stood.  He ran to his grandmother’s side.  “Bye bye, Kitty!  See
you soon!”  He called back to his friend as she watched him leave.
        She stood there a few moments longer, even after he was out of
sight.  She
hugged herself and looked up in the sky.
        *Soon is far too long, my friend.*

                            ~Fin~

Author’s Notes: Wow...that was better than I thought it would be...hm...I
hope this is completely accurate to the Tenchi Muyo story line.  I’m pretty
sure it is, I looked a few things up just to be sure of the facts.
Um...what did ya think?  I think my writer’s block will be gone soon! ^__^