Tenchi Muyo:  Dragon and Crane - Pt.5

     Softly humming machinery provided the only sounds in the medical bay,
giving Ryoko more than ample opportunity to think about what to do when her
arch-rival came back into consciousness.  At her side, Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki
were huddled together for comfort, the latter cabbit staring silently at his
mistress's bedside, his thoughts his own to keep.  Washu had left Ryoko to
stand guard in the room, needing a bath as she was dirty and sweaty from all
the work she had performed that day.
     "Imagine the irony, Nagi" said Ryoko, having a seat beside the bed.
"Guarding the life of the woman who swore to take your own.  Do you think
it's Kismet?  Heh."  Ken-Ohki meowed and leaped upon the bed, curling in
Nagi's lap.  Ryo-Ohki meowed sympathetically, and laid her head on her paws.
     Nagi began to stir, moaning softly.  Ryoko blinked and touched Nagi's
hand before she could think, then drew it back with a frown.  Nagi's eyes
opened, and she looked about warily.  Ken-Ohki meowed happily and licked her
cheek.
     "Where..am I?" she said.  Ryoko grinned and sat back, folding her arms
behind her head.
     "Tierra del Fuego" said Ryoko with a smirk.  "You're in Paradise,
kiddo.  Drinks are on me."
     She took a water tube from the side and put it to Nagi's mouth, her
lips settling around it delicately.  When she finished, Ryoko took the tube
away and settled back in her former position.  Nagi licked her lips and
closed her eyes, sighing heavily.
     "Damn it" she said.  "I always knew that if I went to Hell, you'd be
pouring the drinks."  Nagi chuckled, and Ryoko surprised herself by joining
in.  "Did you bring me here, Ryoko?  I have to say, I'm touched.  Next
you'll be writing me love poetry, no doubt."
     "Oh, you hit the nail right on the head there, you sexy bitch", said
Ryoko with a grin.  "No, you can thank Tenchi for your timely rescue.  I
just flew the ship."  Ryo-Ohki meowed at that, and Nagi chuckled.
     "Brave souls" she said, and winced.  Ken-Ohki made a worried meow, but
was reassured by a gentle stroke from Nagi.  She started to sit up, but
cried out loudly and fell back on the bed.
     "Fool!" said Ryoko. "Do you want to rip everything open again?
Considering how worried Tenchi is about you, the least you can do for him is
lie back and heal properly!"  Nagi took a deep breath and sighed, turning to
her.  She closed her eyes and smiled slightly.
     "Tenchi" she said.  "I wondered once what you ever saw in him, tough
woman like you.  Now..now I know."
     "And that would be what, exactly?" asked Ryoko, trying not to blush in
front of her.
     Nagi chuckled.  "He..has very gentle hands" she said.  And she fell
asleep before Ryoko, freshly jealous, could agree.
***
     "Who are you?" asked Tenchi, standing in front of Ayeka to guard her
from possible harm.  The woman smiled, her short, raven-black hair gently
blowing in the soft breeze.  Her violet eyes had a strange glow about them,
as if lit from within by a mysterious force.  Her slim, dancer-like body
held a cocky assurance in its posture, and her hand rested on the hilt of a
long, thin blade at her side.  A tattoo in the shape of a black sunburst
surrounded her right eye.
     "You may call me Kimiko" she said, and gestured to the silent guardian
beside her.  "This is Yukio, my personal servant.  We seek a woman with
silver hair.  Have you seen her, boy?"
     "Are you talking about Ryoko?" he asked.  She smiled and shook her
head.  "No, not Ryoko" she said, "and might I suggest dropping the charade?
I know you have her.  Take me to her now."
     Ayeka came out from behind Tenchi, glowering at the new woman.  "That
tattoo" she said, pointing to her right eye.  "You are an assassin, are you
not?"
     "Very perceptive" said Kimiko, with a tilt of her head.  "I see they
teach princesses more about the world than hair-braiding and insipid
chit-chat after all."  Ayeka grit her teeth and started forward, but Tenchi
held her back.  He laid his hand on her shoulder gently.
     "Nagi is under our care, Kimiko.  I don't know what she's done, but
she's been seriously wounded, and we can't allow her to go anywhere until
she heals.  That means your business is just going to have to wait", he
said, frowning when she began to laugh at his words.
     "Oh, my boy" she chuckled,"she going to be even more seriously wounded
when I get ahold of her.  Who do you think it was that put her in the state
she must be in, hmm?"  Kimiko gestured to Yukio in an offhanded manner.  "Go
and find the bounty-hunter, Yukio" she said, "and try not to let her die
before I've seen her.  I want the pleasure of running my blade through her
heart, before it beats its last."
     "No!" cried Tenchi, starting forward.  Ayeka kept him back, however,
and gave the assassin a baleful glare.  "We'll just see about that!" she
said.  "Azaka!  Kamadake!  Stop them!"
     "Yes ma'am!" they said, coming out of concealment and flying over to
intercept the new guardian.  He blinked his single eye and opened himelf up,
revealing a row of cannons that crackled and hummed with energy.  Azaka and
Kamadake did the same, and fired in unison at Yukio, who returned their fire
with a series of blue globes that absorbed their blasts.  The guardians
halted in surprise, watching as the globes came together in one huge ball,
humming malevolently with their stolen power.
     "That was rather foolish of you" said Yukio.  He pulled the globes
close to him and fired, releasing its energy in a huge, powerful beam.
Azaka and Kamadake tried to escape its path, but were caught in the midst,
and both screamed helplessly at it tore through their bodies, dropping them
to the ground in a pile of smoking wreckage.  Ayeka cried out after them,
but it was too late.
     "Threat eliminated" said Yukio, closing himself up.  "Pursuit and
capture commencing, mistress."