------------------------------------------------ Hi everyone! This is the first SERIOUS fanfic that I've ever shared with anyone. Of course, Tenchi Muyo! and all characters are property of Pioneer and AIC. I really hope you all enjoy this! ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ You can email me at NeptuneDream@n2sun.com...Thanks! Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Call Me Mother! *~*By NeptuneDream *~* It was yet ANOTHER beautiful day at the Masaki household. As Sasami Jurai finished preparing breakfast, the rest of the household waited at the table. "So, Tenchi, how about me and you go out tonight and have a little fun?", asked Ryoko Hakubi as she appeared behind Tenchi Masaki with her hands on his chest. "Umm...No thanks, Ryoko, I have to get up early tomorrow morning...maybe someone else can go with you..." he replied, smiling nervously. Nobuyuki Masaki smiled casually at Ryoko. "I'm not doing anything tomorrow..." "Haha. Don't touch me. But Tenchi, we never get to do anything alone together! It's always with this bunch of weirdos...And you KNOW we were meant to be alone together for all time!" "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" exclaimed Aeka as she slammed her cup of tea down on the table. "Tenchi, you must not ever do anything of the sort with that...that monster!" "Wanna make something of it, you little hussy?" growled Ryoko. "You guysss, stop fighting, you're scaring me!" sniffled Mihoshi Kuramitsu from across the table. "Stop it, you two!" declared Washuu Hakubi. "I think we've all had enough of your childishness! Anyways, we ALL know Tenchi would like someone more...mature!" "What are you talking about, Washu? You're nothing but a child!" replied Ryoko. "Ryoko dear, you know I am millenia older than you in the first place, and anyways, I'm so much more beautiful! And so much mature! And plus, I AM the greatest scientific genius in the universe! I would be so much better off with Tenchi!" "Washu! Just stay out of my lovelife!" "But Ryoko dear, I'm your mother! A mother should take interest in her little girl's life, shouldn't she?" "Argh! Washu, you are not my mother! What can I do to make you stay out of my lovelife?" "One thing." "What?" "Call me mom." "Now that I am NOT doing." "Well then," said Washu, "Tenchi is mine!" "DAMN IT, WASHU!" snarled Ryoko. "I am a space pirate. I have gotten away with so much in my life, and I swear, you do not want to know what I will do to you if you don't stay out of my private buisiness..." Ryoko stopped suddenly and looked around. Everyone was gone. "TENCHI! MIHOSHI! SASAMI! RYO-OHKI!.....Aeka...WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" she called to everyone. No one replied. Suddenly, Tenchi poked his head out from inside his bedroom. "Ryoko, I...WE are sick of being involved in your petty fighting. Do not even think about doing anything until you resolve this. When your little fight is over, come and get us." Ryoko's eyes opened in shock as she saw Aeka's head poke out from Tenchi's room, and stick her tounge out at her. Ryoko turned to Washu, trying to hold back her anger. Washu stood there, arms crossed, eyes closed. "All you had to do was call me mom," she said, shaking her head. "Such a simple task. If you would have just acknowledged me as your mother, none of this would have happened. Such a weakness, Ryoko..." "Washu. I will never call you mother. My past has been forgotten, by myself, and by everyone here, but you. I am warning you ahead of time, get this 'mother' idea out of your head, and stay out of my life." "Ryoko, you don't seem to understand the fact that if it were not for me, you would not be here right now. I created you, Ryoko, with everything I could possibly give you. I brought you from myself, with hopes of creating you to be beautiful, powerful, perfect in many aspects. But I now see you have weaknesses, Ryoko." Ryoko glared at Washu. "You're the weak one, 'mom'." Washu glanced at Ryoko. "Is that all you can say?" She laughed bitterly. "Space Pirate..." Ryoko did not sound happy. "Did you just laugh at me??" Washu didn't reply. Ryoko finally let it out. "THAT IS IT! Washu, 'mom,' I challenge you to a fight. If I win, you will stop trying to take Tenchi away from me. I will not call you mom, and we will not ever mention the fact that you created me. It will be forgotten. And...IF you win, you can have Tenchi all you want. I will stay away from Tenchi as long as I am here. I will treat you like my mother, and I will treat Tenchi like anyone else. Do we have a deal?", Ryoko asked with a wicked smile as she held out her hand. Washu shook Ryoko's hand. "Deal." Ryoko smiled. "Great. See you tomorrow." They went their seperate ways. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryoko had just fired a huge blast straight at Washu, who merely dodged it, taking slight damage. Washu charged up, glowing an electric green. Before she had gained enough energy to fire a blast, Ryoko charged at her, lightsaber in hand, slashing down on her. Washu took full damage and fell to the ground. She attempted charging again, this time she had enough. This energy blast would decide who would win and who would lose. She gathered it in her hands, praying silently that she had made the right decision by confirming the bet with Ryoko. She thought, in that quick moment, about her pride at the moment she first saw Ryoko, her masterpiece, her creation, her daughter. As she continued to power up the blast, she looked at Ryoko, still charging. It was as if time was giving her this moment to think. She thought about the love she thought she was going to recieve when she created Ryoko. Seeing ! Ryoko smile filled her with emotion, seeing the love Ryoko could give if she wanted. She looked up in that moment to see the only thing that really made her happy anymore, Ryoko's smiling face, as the space pirate brought her lightsaber down on her creator. Washu looked up with a jerk. Panting, she looked around. She was in her lab. It had all been a dream. She looked at the ground, and prayed that what she had just seen would not happen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day had come. The day of the fight. Washu and Ryoko stood facing each other in an arena Washu had designed the previous night. "Well then," said Ryoko, "Shall we start?" Washu closed her eyes, and with a flair, she changed into her adult form, in her own battle armor. She watched as Ryoko's red and black armor appeared, spreading over her entire body. Ryoko smiled bitterly at Washu. Washu nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready." They both started to power up, Ryoko glowing a bright gold, and Washu glowing a neon green. Washu watched as a lightaber appeared in Ryoko's hand, and noticed she herself was already charging up an energy blast. Ryoko held her lightsaber in front of her. "Here we go!" Washu finished charging up as Ryoko started flying towards her, holding her lightsaber straight out in front of her. Washu released the energy in a barrage of blasts, Ryoko dodging them in midair. Washu looked up to see Ryoko just feet away from her, flying. She quickly generated a lightsaber, and with amazing force, the 2 lightabers clashed. Ryoko turned around and stood at a distance, powering up. Washu sighed, closed her eyes, and started powering up a blast with all her energy. With all shields down, she would be vulnerable to any attacks Ryoko would send while she was powering up, but her energy source, if drained dry, could do the trick and win the fight. Ryoko sent a barrage of energy blasts, half of which hit Washu. She winced as she took the hits, but still concentrated on the blast she was forming. She watched as Ryoko formed another lightsaber, and charged at her, slashing her in the arm. She gasped in pain, and then realized the blast was ready. She had u! sed practically all her energy in forming it. Ryoko charged up some more and fired more energy blasts at her, but Washu just opened her arms and absorbed the energy, adding it to the blast. She finally released it, sending it straight at Ryoko. Ryoko stopped dead in her tracks as the blast hit her with amazing force. She hit the ground hard, gasping for air. Washu kneeled on one leg as she watched Ryoko, her wonderful masterpiece, dying on the ground. She had done it. She walked up to Ryoko and opened her arms and flowing energy was released, healing her. She then teleported them to her lab. ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Ryoko, it's over, you're fine..." Ryoko found herself standing in Washu's lab, Washu in her adult form looking at her, blood running down her arm. "Washu, you won..." Washu nodded silently. "I was so sure about it...But...How could it happen...? NO...It's another one of your damn tricks! You lair...This is it!" Washu watched in horror as Ryoko held up one hand in front of her face, a small energy blast forming in her palm. Washu then realized something. Her act of kindness and care, healing Ryoko when she was about to die, it had backfired. Washu knew that if she explained what happened, Ryoko surely wouldn't believe her. Healing Ryoko gave her all her energy back along with her health, and Washu was too weak to fight back, she herself had not been healed. Washu's eyes opened wide as she realized what was going to happen. Her dream had been somewhat of an omen. Washu quickly sent her a telepathic message, hoping that Ryoko hadn't blocked the mental pathway. She told her everything that had happened during the fight, and everything she had ever felt about Ryoko, all the love she had anticipated, and the wonderful relationship she had truly hoped they would have, someday, all concentrated into a split-second message. Just as the energy blast was becoming large enough, Ryoko l! ooked up in shock. "Washu...You did that...for me?", she asked in disbelief. "Of course I did, Ryoko. Out of all the years we've had together, don't you relize all the affection I've ever tried to show you was true? You always rejected it, leaving me to wonder if you ever had any good thoughts about me..." She could hold out no longer. "Ryoko, I...I love you. I always hoped you would fill up that empty space that was created when my son was taken away from me, and, although I don't always show my love, you make me proud every day. Not because you are a living organism I created, it is because you are my daughter, Ryoko. You can have Tenchi, I know you two were made for each other. I want you, Ryoko, as my daughter. You fill me with pride, and I love you more than anything else in the universe..." "Washu...I never knew these things from you. I always kinda figured you were only proud of me as an expiriment. Sure, you're a total maniac sometimes, but sometimes you make me proud to be your daughter...And...I'm sorry about everything I've ever done to make you feel that way...I know it's not your fault that that you were never there for my early years, it was Kagato's..." Ryoko stared at Washu. "Ryoko..." Washu changed back into her child form and fell to her knees coughing. "You okay, Washu?" Ryoko watched as Washu glowed green, and her wounds disappeared. Washu sighed. "Well, I'd better get back to work..." she started to walk into the depths of her lab when she felt something grab her arm. She looked behind her. Ryoko sighed and let go of her arm. "Washu...I know neither of us can remember it, but, as far as you know, what was my childhood like? I mean, it's kinda weird suddenly just opening your eyes and -hey- you're an adult...The farthest thing back I can remember was when I was released from Kagato's power..." Washu sat down as a pillow materialized behind her, and a chair appeared behind Ryoko. "Well, Ryoko, you were..." she sighed painfully. "I...I really don't remember a lot...you were, well, like any other child, in the beginning. You matured rapidly, and learned to use your powers by yourself. You quickly learned to take care of yourself, therefore excluding me from your life. After that, my memory is foggy, and then Mihoshi released me from the Souja. That's all I can remember up to this moment." Ryoko laughed a little. "Boy, that sure ain't much." Washu countered. "Well, you try living for a few millenia, be locked up for 20,000 years, and then try to remember everything that's even happened to you! It's hard, Ryoko..." Ryoko nodded. "You've had quite a life, Washu, you have my pity." "What do you mean by that?" "I feel bad for you that you've had to go through all that." Washu laughed slightly. "I don't need your pity, Ryoko." "Okay then, you DON'T have my pity." Washu laughed bitterly. " Well, now I have to get back to work, so if you'll excuse me..." Ryoko watched as Washu walked away into the seemingly infinite darkness of her laboratory. She stood there for a minute, staring at no one, then phased out. --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Tenchi? Tenchi, are you in there??" Ryoko knocked on Tenchi's bedroom door. "Uh...I'm busy right now, Ryoko, come back later..."She heard a nervous sounding Tenchi through the door. "Tenchi? What are you doing in there?" "Nothing Ryoko, come back later!" "I'm coming in there!" Ryoko walked through the door. What she then saw shattered her world. Tenchi laid on the bed, the sheets crumpled, and lying next to him, was...Aeka. Ryoko stood at the doorway in disbelief. "Tenchi...how...I..."she stuttered, no words could explain how she felt. "Aeka and I love each other, Ryoko, we were destined for each other, as the Prince and Princess of Jurai...Just forget about me from now on, Ryoko..." Aeka flashed Ryoko a wicked smile. "Now close the door, and leave us alone." "T...Tenchi..." The anger and sadness were becoming too much for her to handle. She phased out, and reappeared on the roof of the Masaki house. The happenings flashed through her head. She saw Washu first, with her eyes closed and her arms crossed. <"All you had to do was call me mother, such a simple task. If you would have acknowledged me as your mother, none of this would have happened. Such a weakness, Ryoko..."> The words repeated again and again. She then remembered how Washu had told her how much she loved her, really...<"Ryoko, I...I love you. I always hoped you would fill up that empty space that was created when my son was taken away from me, and, although I don't always show my love, you make me proud every day. Not because you are a living organism I created, it is because you are my daughter, Ryoko...">And finally, she saw the thing that she hoped she would ever have to see, in all the universe...Tenchi and Aeka...together. <"Aeka and I love each other, Ryoko, we were destined ! for each other, as the Prince and Princess of Jurai...Just forget about me from now on, Ryoko..."> Ryoko held her head in her hands, and cried more than she had ever cried in her life. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The greatest scientific genius in the universe felt stupid for once. She couldn't believe how naive she was, how she poured her entire heart out to Ryoko, told her she loved her, and Ryoko only gave her pity. She never said "I love you", she never called Washu mother, she only told her she "had her pity." As Washu sat on her floating pillow, idly typing a few commands on her ethreal computer, everything ran through her head. Her thoughts were broken when she heard a sound behind her. Ryoko appeared, tears streaming down her face, and she put her arms around the surprised Washu. "I love you too, mom..." she confessed. Using her mental pathway, she told Washu everything that had just happened. Washu turned and faced Ryoko. Deep inside, she just wanted to say "Haha, now you kn! ow how I feel, you have my pity also...". But she was better than that. She sighed, and an idea came to her head. "Ryoko, I can erase everything that has just happened. Including our fight, and what happened with Tenchi and Aeka. Do you want me to do this, Ryoko?" Ryoko stared at her in disbelief. "But...why?" "Because I want you to be happy," explained Washu, "And I don't want your life turning out like mine did. I didn't create you to live like me..." "Washu..." Ryoko broke down again. "I love you, Washu, thank you so much..." Washu nodded silently. "I love you, Ryoko, more than anyone in the universe. Now, are you ready?" Ryoko nodded, the tears still streaming. Washu sighed, typed some commands into her computer, and with that, time went backwards. Ryoko saw frames of everything that had happened, except backwards. Time stopped. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It was yet ANOTHER beautiful day at the Masaki household. As Sasami Jurai finished preparing breakfast, the rest of the household waited at the table. Ryoko found herself with her arms around Tenchi. Sitting across from her was Washu, smiling at her a little. Ryoko glanced at her, and turned to Tenchi. "So, Tenchi, how about me and you go out tonight? You know...uhh...we could just sit by the pond and talk a little, maybe bring something to eat..." Tenchi looked at her. "Wow, Ryoko, that's sure different than what you usually want to do...Is there something wrong?" Ryoko blushed. "No, nothing really, I've just been worried that our friendship has been fading," she said with a smile. Tenchi smiled back. "I never knew you worried so much, Ryoko, but okay, I'll go with you tonight." Ryoko smiled as she felt a deep blush flow over her face. "Okay!" She noticed Washu smiling at her. She smiled back, and sent her a message. Washu smiled a little bigger, a slight blush appearing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been a month since the fight. As Washu sat in her subspace biology lab watching the Masses, she felt so proud of her daughter, whom she had created from the Masses and parts of herself. She sighed contently. She was lonely in love, but at least now she had somethingto pick her up. Not her quiet lab. Not her expiriments. She had her daughter, Ryoko. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Washu Hakubi sat at the breakfast table with the people she loved, not looking a day older than she had a year ago, when her life shattered, then came together for the first time. She looked at her daughter, Ryoko Hakubi-Masaki, as she sat next to her new husband. Aeka, so distraught about Tenchi marrying Ryoko, moved with Sasami back to Jurai, where they could be with their family. Mihoshi Kuramitsu had been reunited with her old partner, Kiyone Makibi, and they sat together next to Washu, catching up on what they had missed, although Kiyone seemed to become very annoyed with Mihoshi very quickly. Washu sat alone, but she knew in her heart that she would always have the people she loved around her. Her daughter glanced at her with a smile. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE END!!! Well, that's it. I know not EVERYTHING makes a lot of sense, but oh well. ^_^ I tried not to get any loose ends. I really hope you enjoyed reading this. I'd like to thank Master Zodiac, Kiyone, Gadzookie7, and Mayuka (lol) for proofreading this and giving me criticism! It means a lot to me, Minna! You will always remain in my heart as my very best friends. ^_^ If anyone has anything to ask about or tell me, you can email me at NeptuneDream@n2sun.com...As always, Tenchi Muyo! and all respective characters are property of Pioneer and AIC, and I did not create them. Thanks a lot! What are you N2? Choose from 150 free e-mail addresses. http://www.n2mail.com