Okay, time for the disclaimer.  Tenchi Muyo is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  The Author owns only the writing and characters he creates.
So, without further ado...

Faith and Consequence

	

	Ryoko woke up and sighed.  It was that day.  That day of the year, and for the first time, she might be able to pass it as she always meant to, but never could.  She rose from the couch she was sleeping on.  The sun was just beginning to rise.  Everyone else would be stirring from their sleep.  Now was the time to ask.  Not that it would do any good.  She knew Ayeka would never allow it.
	Even so, she owed someone.  She owed them a lot, and that meant she would at least *try* Ayeka before giving up on the idea.  She disappeared and reappeared in the hallway near Ayeka's room.  She braced herself and brought her hand up to knock.  
	She was saved the trouble.  Just at that moment, the door opened, and a surprised Ayeka was standing there, looking at the demon in shock.  
	"Ryoko, what do you want?"  Ayeka asked suspiciously.
	Ryoko took a breath and decided to simply lay it out.  "Ayeka, I know you'll say 'no,' but I need to borrow a Tsunami shrine from you."
	Ayeka blinked in shock.  She began to laugh.  "And what would a demon like you want a Tsunami shrine for?"
	"That's my business."
	"Oh, well, in that case...No."
	Ryoko sighed.  She had expected as much.  She'd simply have to make do.  "Yeah, thanks anyway, Princess," she said as she walked away.  
	Ayeka blinked again in surprise.  She had expected a fight, was hoping for one, as a matter of fact.  Ryoko, walking away after an insult?  It was odd.
	From behind her, Sasami spoke up.  "Ayeka, why wouldn't you let Ryoko borrow our shrine?"
	Ayeka stiffened, partly in guilt, partly in pride.  "What would she need with a shrine, Sasami?  She probably just wanted something wash her feet in."
	Sitting on her futon, Sasami 'hmm'ed in thought.  She didn't think it would be something like that.  And why did Ryoko just walk out like that?

	Ryoko had left the house, walking, not flying, up the nearby hill overlooking Masaki Shrine.  She reached the summit and took in the view.  The sun was rising inexorably into the sky.  It was time to begin.  She took a breath and fell to her knees.  She clapped twice, out of respect to the Kami, they being the native gods of this planet, then made the sign of the Great Tree on her breast.  She held her right hand over her heart, her fingers spread, and paused there.  Then, she moved her hand to her left shoulder and held it there for a moment before bringing it back over her right shoulder.  She then returned her hand to its original place, over her heart, before moving it up to touch her lips.  She bowed her head, her hands clasped in front of her.
	She opened her mouth to speak, but found that over seven hundred years, she had forgotten the words.  She panicked.  She didn't want to betray *her* memory.  Not like this.  Finally, the words surfaced and she began.
	"Bless us, Great Founding Tree, with your light, your love, and your grace.  As your heavenly light shines upon all things, may it enlighten our spirits, our hearts, our minds, our bodies.  May that light protect and guide us as you have ordained.  In your name, I pray to thee.  Be it so."
	"Be it so."
	She turned at the sound of his voice.  Yosho stood behind her, a small statue in his hands.  "Do you mind if I pray with you?"
	Seven hundred years ago, Ryoko would've paused just long enough to spit at him before chopping him into dog meat.  Of course, that was seven hundred years ago.
	"Sure," she said simply.
	Yosho approached and stood beside her, placing the statue before them.  Ryoko's eyes widened as she realized it was a Tsunami Shrine.  Yosho smiled and said, "I, too, am aware of the date."
	Ryoko blinked and frowned.  "I didn't think you would be."
	Yosho made the sign of the Great Tree as Ryoko did only a moment before.  "It was a long time ago, Ryoko, but she affected me just as she did you.  Why do you think I assumed the identity of a priest when I arrived?  I could've just as easily been a warlord."  Ryoko thought on this.  "She was a great lady."
	"She was my friend," Ryoko told him pointedly.  "My only friend."  She clenched her fists as old pains and sorrows welled to the surface.  "I've never hated anyone as thoroughly or as completely as I did you on that day."
	Yosho looked at her.  "And now?"
	"Now..."  Ryoko sighed.  "Now, I realize what she was trying to tell me."
	He nodded.
	"Ryoko!"  They turned to see Sasami panting her way up the hill, something bulky in her arms.  
	"Sasami?"
	The little blue-haired princess tripped just short of them, falling on her face.  The statue she was carrying flew from her hands and landed at Ryoko's feet.  Ryoko knelt down and picked it up. 
	Sasami got to her feet as Ryoko examined it.  "A Tsunami Shrine?"  the demon asked.  It looked just like Yosho's, but was inlaid with gold and a few precious stones.  Yosho's was simple, made of light blue marble.  The statue was one of a tree which sat in a marble basin that could be filled with water, symbolizing Tsunami's ocean.
	Sasami dusted herself off.  "Yeah, I heard that you needed one."
	Ryoko blinked in surprise.  "Are you telling me Ayeka actually changed her mind?"
	Sasami looked sheepish.  "Weeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllll...........no.  She doesn't know I have it."
	"Sasami, that's wrong,"  Yosho told her with a hint of amusement in his voice.
	"I know, Brother, but Ryoko said she needed one, and Ayeka thinks Ryoko just wants to steal it or play with it or something, and I know Ryoko wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important!"
	Yosho smiled.  "Okay, Sasami.  It's all right."
	Ryoko smiled.  "Thank you, Sasami."
	"So, Ryoko, what *do* you need it for?"
	Ryoko sighed.  It seemed she wasn't going to get away without an explanation, so she decided to give it.  
	"Sit down, Sasami, and I'll tell you a story."
	"Great!"  Sasami fell to her knees and waited for Ryoko to begin.  Ryoko sat on the ground, Yosho joined them.  
	"It was a long time ago, just after I attacked Jurai.  Now, you might think that Yosho chased me straight to Earth, but that's not how it happened.  I was on the run for three years before I landed here, and your father had sent hundreds of ships and hired hundreds of bounty hunters to come after me.  Kagato had left me high and dry.  It turned out he wasn't willing to take on the entire Jurain fleet, so he left me flapping in the breeze."   She looked out at the sunrise for a moment.  "One day, about three years after I attacked Jurai, I was shot down over a little out of the way planet called, 'Var'dava.'  Luckily, I managed to wax the guy who shot me down before I crashed, but it still left me with a problem, the fact that I was crashing.  I hit the ground and blacked out.  When I woke up....well..."

	She came to suddenly.  Her eyes flashed open, and she bolted upright.  She was lying in a bed of some kind.  She studied her surroundings meticulously.  She was in a small room, lit by halogen lamps.  Near her bed on her right was a desk, bare except for a pen and a few pieces of parchment.  There was a door a few feet from the foot of her bed.  She rolled out of bed and into a crouch, checking herself for injuries as she went.  She didn't think she was too badly damaged.  That's when she noticed it.
	Her gems were dark.
	She tried to summon her powers, tried to dematerialize or pass her hand through the floor, but nothing worked.  She called an energy ball to her hand and formed a lightsword.  At least *that* still worked.
	Her head shot up as the door opened.  A woman in a light blue robe entered carrying a tray with a pitcher of water and few pieces of unidentified fruit.  Ryoko snarled, stood straighter, and brought the lightsword up to an en guarde position. 
	The woman noticed her and smiled.  "Good, you're up."
	"Who are you?"  Ryoko demanded.  "And what have you done to me?"
	Instead of cowering like Ryoko expected, like she wanted her to, the woman faced her and bowed.  "I am Marsa, a priestess of Tsunami.  As for what we did to you: we pulled your body from the wreckage of your ship, tended to your wounds, and cared for you for about three days."  She seemed a little *too* satisfied with herself.  "Any other questions?"
	"Yeah, where am I?"  The lightsword didn't budge.  
	"You are in Tsunami's temple on the planet Var'dava, near the city of Tren'vinnin on the shores of Lake Yeung."
	"What happened to my powers?"
	Finally, the smug priestess seemed uncomfortable.  "Our Mother Superior found that your gems were sending a signal to someone, someone the Mother Superior thought was...well...unsavory.  She used her powers to block that man's attempts to locate you.  I suppose losing your powers was a side effect."
	Ryoko's eyes narrowed.  "Are you *sure* he can't detect me?"
	Marsa nodded.  "Quite.  The Mother Superior said so, herself."
	Ryoko heaved a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the bed.  "Free," she whispered.  "I'm finally free of him."
	"I take it the man *was* unsavory, then?"
	Ryoko nodded.  "Yeah, you could say that and more."  The lightsword winked out.
	"May I ask your name, Miss?"
	Ryoko looked up at her and truly regarded her for the first time.  Her hair was a light gold and her eyes were a deep green.  Her features were delicate, very pretty.  She seemed genuinely concerned for Ryoko.
	"My name is Ryoko."
	"It is nice to meet you Ryoko.  As I said, my name is Marsa.  The Mother Superior has decided that I shall be the one to look after you while you are here."
	Ryoko noticed for the first time that she spoke with an accent.  "Jurain?"
	Marsa nodded.  "I was.  Now I follow Tsunami's light."

	Marsa led Ryoko through the temple, which was rather large for a provincial planet.  Ryoko commented on this.
	The priestess nodded.  "The temple was built several centuries ago, when Var'dava was still a part of Jurai.  Since Jurai abandoned it, it has lost some of its prominence."
	Ryoko nodded.  Marsa showed her the various parts of the temple.  She paused when Marsa showed her the main shrine, a massive statue of what was thought to be Tsunami's human form.  The huge statue was beautiful in it's sheer simplicity.  It was made of blue marble, as were all Tsunami shrines.  It stood fifteen feet in the air, her arms were outstretched in either welcome or love or both.  Her facial features were that of a beautiful woman, smiling down upon her followers.  Ryoko had to admit to being somewhat impressed.
	"There are several smaller shrines located throughout the temple for the use of our priestesses,"  Marsa explained.  "This one is for the followers of Tsunami who come in at that beginning of the week to pray."
	"Uh-huh.  Look, where're you taking me, anyway?"
	"To see the Mother Superior."
	"Oh."

	The Mother Superior was a positively ancient woman.  Her face was wrinkled, and folds of flesh hung from her bones.  Her silver hair was worn up in a style that was both regal and simplistic at the same time.  She *looked* Jurain, so Ryoko placed her age at about thirty-thousand.  Another, younger priestess, about fourteen, stood to one side.  Ryoko wasn't sure why yet.
	Her function became clear when the Mother Superior began to speak.  "Yeta gonavanada reto ghasa foat'agado?"  
	The priestess turned and addressed Ryoko.  "The Mother Superior asks how you are feeling, Miss Ryoko?"
	Ryoko gave the woman a curt nod.  "Okay, I guess.  One Hell of a hangover."
	Marsa and the young priestess made the sign of the tree over their hearts, and Ryoko mentally cursed.  Not offending these people was going to end up being work.
	To her relief the Mother Superior laughed.  She gestured to Ryoko and spoke again.  "Tana.  Tana foqui tal nott talva unibal u ten!"
	Marsa smiled.  The other priestess appeared uncomfortable.  "The Mother Superior says you remind her of her at your age."  Ryoko couldn't help smiling.
	"Goa'fen.  Deltala nocta forru tal."
	"She asks that you tell her your story and how you came to be with us."
	Ryoko paused just long enough to come up with a convincing lie.  "I was traveling to Belegast to see my brother when I was ambushed by pirates.  I managed to get away, but crashed here as a result."
	The Mother Superior laughed.  "Tana, rewato.  Rica fovavao glen ata minsalla coulolo.  Jo'tala forten hazata u talla u."  She laughed again.
	Ryoko looked to the translator, who once again looked very uncomfortable.  "The Mother Superior says that now she is convinced you are like her.  She says she used to tell such obvious lies when she was your age too."
	Ryoko turned on the Mother Superior angrily.  "Well if she's gonna call me a liar, why did she bother to ask?!"  Marsa placed her hand on Ryoko's arm.
	"Please Miss Ryoko, peace.  If you say that is what happened, we will believe you.  But if you lie to us this one time, we will not be able to hold faith in you.  Are you lying?"
	"I'm..."  Ryoko suddenly broke off.  Until Ryo-Ohki reproduced itself, these people were all she had.  It wouldn't do much good to alienate them ten minutes after meeting them.  She took a breath and came to a decision.  "I'm on the run,"  she said finally.  "You don't need to know by who.  As soon as my ship's repaired, I'll be on my way."
	"There was very little of your ship left, Miss Ryoko,"  Marsa told her.  "I do not think it could be repaired."
	Ryoko grinned. "Don't worry about it.  Just lead me to the largest piece, and the ship will take care of the rest."
	The Mother Superior gestured to the translator.  "Gola tal u tal."
	The translator bent down and reached into a satchel, removing a large, black crystal.  She walked over and handed it to Ryoko.
	"What's this?"  Ryoko asked.
	"The largest remaining piece of your ship, Miss Ryoko."
	Ryoko face faulted.  The crystal was only about a square foot in area and only six inches thick.  She took the crystal and examined it, sighing.  The time it took for Ryo-Ohki to reproduce was directly proportional to the size of the largest remaining piece of wreckage.  With a piece as small as this, it would take almost a month for a new Ryo-Ohki to appear.
	"Ukta nala tal.  U tala ewat'en unbanatuhn uk'steal."
	"The Mother Superior says you may remain here if you wish."
	Ryoko thought about it, but had to shake her head.  "I'll be better off alone.  I don't want you to get involved."
	"Ryoko,"  Marsa told her, "You are among friends here.  If you ask for sanctuary, the Mother Superior will grant it.  You will be safe here, under Tsunami's protection."
	"Sanctuary?"
	Marsa nodded.  "None may remove someone who's been given sanctuary from Tsunami's temple.  If King Azusa of Jurai himself came to the front door and demanded for you to be turned over to him, the Mother Superior would deny him, and the law would back her."
	<It might come to that,>  she thought.  "Is that so?"  
	"Yes."
	"No matter what?"
	"No matter what."
	Ryoko grinned.  It was dishonest, but hiding behind these priestesses might buy her enough time for Ryo-Ohki to reproduce.  It certainly beat hiding out in a sewer like a rat.  She felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of taking advantage of these women, but she fought it off easily enough.  The will to survive overrode such minor concerns.
	"Then, I'm asking for sanctuary."
	Marsa smiled.  "Good." 
	The Mother Superior also smiled.  "Uta.  Uta romana'tal."  Her meaning was clear.  She gestured to Marsa.  "Marsa, tona fewenta cana fo u talnna sed."
	"Yes, Mother Superior."  She turned to the space pirate.  "Come along, Miss Ryoko."  Ryoko followed the young priestess out the door, the crystal shard in her hands.
	She gave a glance over her shoulder and watched the door shut behind them.  "That was easy enough," she commented.  "No offense, Marsa, but you girls should be more careful."  She grinned.  "After all, what if I were a rampaging criminal or something?"
	"The Mother Superior is aware of your identity and your past actions Miss Ryoko."  She stopped and faced the pirate.  "Including your recent visit to Jurai."
	Ryoko's jaw popped open.  She blinked in astonishment.  "Then...why...why..."
	"Because, the Mother Superior looked into your soul and saw something there worth preserving."  She took a step forward, and Ryoko found herself stepping back a pace in fear.  "If she had seen a black soul, she would not have bothered making the offer."  She smiled.  "I prefer to think that every soul is worth preserving, so I am happy that you are here."
	"I...I see."
	Marsa led her downstairs.  "If you are to stay here, you will be required to assist in the daily chores."  Ryoko arched an eyebrow. "Nothing too strenuous.  We don't want to seem as if we are taking advantage of you, but we all take part in the upkeep of this place."
	"Uh-huh,"  Ryoko said noncommitally.  "What are you gonna want me to do?"
	"We can always use help in the garden."
	"Gardening, huh?"  Ryoko thought for a moment.  Her only experience with gardening would be the time she tried to steal the spaceship tree, Tsunami.  "I guess."
	Marsa nodded.  "Good."

	His fist struck the table top, causing the four tea cups to jump.  "I don't give a damn what the provisional government on Delnar Prime says!"  Prince Yosho of Jurai bit out.  "What I *do* care about is the fact that Ryo-Ohki was seen traveling through their space!"
	One of the three men sitting across from him in Yosho's cabin onboard the Funaho, Captain Futsukawa, raised an eyebrow.  "They're not a Jurain protectorate," he pointed out, "What would you have us do?  Go to war with them because Ryoko managed to evade their border patrols?"  He grimaced.  "If we did that, we'd have to declare war on almost thirty other star systems."
	Yosho cursed, first in Jurain, then in Japanese, the native language of his mother.  "What report from our spies?"
	"About the same as usual,"  Futsukawa told him.  The other two ship captains nodded in disgusted agreement.  "One claims to have seen Ryoko on Belegast two weeks ago, and another claims to have seen her near Carissia at the exact same time."
	Yosho shook his head.  "What is this?"  he growled.  "Amateur night?  Our spies couldn't be more incompetent, we're getting almost zero support from our *supposed* allies,"  he whirled to face them.  "And where in the name of the Tree of Origin is Minigana?"
	Captain Fotoma, another of Yosho's captains, spoke up.  "He reported a lead and went to investigate it."
	Yosho's eyebrows shot up.  "A lead?"
	"Yes, Your Highness.  He had heard through a contact in the Assassin's Guild that Ryoko was hiding in the Orsini system."
	"Has he reported in yet?"
	Fotoma bit his lip.  "No, Your Highness.  I don't know what could be keeping him.  Orsini is only two jumps from here.  We should have heard *somethng* by now."
	Yosho smiled.  That smile broadened into a grin.  That grin transmuted into a fit of laughter that surprised and frightened the three ship captains.
	"My Prince?"  Futsukawa raised an eyebrow.
	Yosho had to grab hold of the back of his chair to keep from falling over.   "You idiots!"  he laughed.
	The captains looked to one another.
	Yosho tried to explain through fits of laughter.  "We've been failing so long..." he broke off into another fit of laughter, "That we...that we don't even recognize success!"
	"Your Highness?"
	"Don't you see?!"  he asked, tears streaming down his face.  "Minigana isn't here,"  he started laughing again.  "Minigana isn't here because he *found* Ryoko, and she *killed him already*!"  He collapsed into his chair in hysterics.  The captains all blinked in confusion.
	Yosho was still laughing as he gave orders.  "Begin searching around the Orsini system."  He sighed as the laughter left him.  "Maybe we can catch up with her before her trail gets too cold."
	The captains caught on to what he was saying and leapt to obey.  Yosho sighed.
	"Ryoko," he whispered, "You're mine."

	"DAMMIT ALL!"
	Ryoko pulled the Fracta thorn from her finger.  She heard the rustling of cloth as the fifteen priestesses working in the garden around her all stopped what they were doing and made the sign of the tree on their breasts.  
	The space pirate grimaced.  So they didn't like her cursing.  Tough shit.  She didn't like being jabbed by thorns every three seconds.  She regarded the plant for another moment as she sat there on her knees.  Harvesting this particular row of plants was a pain in the ass, but she wasn't going to risk getting thrown out and taking her chances with Azusa's assassins because she was beaten by a plant that didn't even come up to her knees.  She growled and attacked it with a similar ferocity she had shown when attacking Jurai while under Kagato's control.  She was rewarded for her courage with another prick.
	"FOR THE LOVE OF..."  she stuck her finger in her mouth.  She heard someone walk up behind her.
	"Miss Ryoko?"
	Ryoko looked up.  "Hey, Marsa," she said wearily.
	"You appear to be having trouble."
	"Hmm.  Oh, no, not really," she told the priestess.  "These plants are just giving me a rough time."
	"Perhaps you are not approaching the problem from the right perspective."
	"Huh?"
	Marsa knelt down next to her.  "Here, let me show you."  Ryoko watched as the priestess deftly maneuvered her hands under the plant's branches and began to shake the stalk.  Three pieces of Fracta fruit fell to the ground with three dull thuds.  Marsa picked up the green fruit and gave them to Ryoko.  
	"Not all problems can be attacked head on,"  Marsa told her.
	Ryoko frowned.  "When I get out of here," she muttered, "I am never doing a bit of manual labor ever again."
	Marsa laughed at this.  "Then you are definitely in the wrong place, Miss Ryoko.  All priestesses ever do around here is what you would call, 'manual labor.'"
	"What would you call it?"  Ryoko asked with a grimace.
	"Tsunami's less...glorious tasks,"  Marsa told her with a slight smile.  "It might please you to know that tomorrow, you will not have to work in the garden."
	"Really?  Why?  The Mother Superior decide to join the rest of the galaxy and invest in a food constituter?"
	"No, tomorrow we are going into the city to work in the soup kitchen."
	"Oh, yea, joy,"  Ryoko muttered unenthused.
	Marsa's smile slipped.  "Tell me, Miss Ryoko, do you *really* prefer a life of robbing and killing over this?"
	Ryoko blinked and stuttered for an answer.  Marsa didn't wait for one.  She stood up and walked away, leaving Ryoko with her thoughts.
	The space pirate replayed the conversation in her mind.  Why did she have to act like that?  These priestesses were helping her, even though they knew who and what she was, and all she had done so far was bitch and moan about a few minor chores they had asked her to do.  She shook her head.
	"Dammit," she said.  She grimaced as she once again heard the rustle of cloth that told her the priestesses were making the sign of the tree.

	The ride to the soup kitchen in the city of Tren'vinnin was short, but bumpy, and extremely uncomfortable.  Not that Ryoko really minded the numerous bumps caused by the land bus striking various holes in the road.  After all, nothing was bumpier than being shot at by Jurain cruisers while trying to make a getaway.  No, what really bugged Ryoko this morning was Marsa.  She was sitting up at the front of the bus with her robes held tightly to her body.  Ryoko had tried to make conversation with her, but Marsa's answers were short and distant.  She seemed troubled.  At first Ryoko thought she was still upset about that scene in the garden yesterday, but she wasn't quite so sure anymore.
	She mentally shrugged.  Maybe Marsa got bus sick.
	She winced as the bus struck another hole.  Between the bumps and the scratching, she wasn't sure she'd survive this trip.  The priestesses had given her a blue robe to wear, just like their's.  She wondered if their's were as scratchy and uncomfortable as her's.

	Five hours later, Ryoko wondered how these women could do it.  She had been pouring bowls of soup and handing them to another priestess who would hand them to one of the waiting, hungry destitutes for five hours, and the line had not shrunk one bit.  She ladled another bowl.  A drop of sweat fell from her forehead and landed in the soup, causing a small ripple to form.  She looked from side to side to see if anyone saw before handing the bowl to the next priestess.  Finally, a young priestess with green hair told her she could take a break.  Ryoko nodded gratefully.
	She looked from side to side.  "Where's Marsa?"  she asked the green haired woman, who was busy ladling in Ryoko's place.
	The priestess looked up and pointed down the street at a large, enclosed collosseum.  "She's there."
	Ryoko blinked in confusion, then growled.  "Are you telling me that we're out here busting our asses while she's watching the games?!"
	The priestess made the sign of the tree.  Ryoko threw her hands up in the air in frustration and started marching for the collosseum.  "We'll just see about this?!"   she growled, cursing Marsa's hypocrisy and the glimmer of guilt she had felt about yesterday.
	She marched right up to the entrance of the mammoth arena.  A young guard was standing there, arching his head into the entrance in a vain attempt to find out what was going on.  Ryoko went to shove right past him, but didn't have to.
	The guard saw her and stepped aside.  "Tsunami be with you, Sister," he said.
	"Yeah, sure, whatever,"  Ryoko growled back.
	She entered the collosseum and began searching the stands for blue robes.  She didn't even notice the fight happening *in* the arena.  She was too busy searching for the snotty little stuck up priestess who talked about charity from one side of her mouth while she drank beer and cheered on gladiators with the other.  
	She found a blue robe, but it wasn't Marsa.  Ryoko blinked.  The Mother Superior and her translator were in one of the more comfortable first class boxes, sitting next to an orange skinned Toyzarian.  They were watching the fight, but were not cheering, nor did they seem to be enjoying themselves.  Ryoko's eyes narrowed in suspiscion.  What the hell was going on?
	Finally, she looked down into the arena and gasped.  What she saw made her wonder if the world itself was going insane.  
	One of the fighters was a large, red furred Gundarin, brandishing a light axe and wearing a boiled leather curaisse.  The horns protruding from  the wolf headed creature were glowing in battle rage.  The other fighter wore a tight fitting green jumpsuit.  Her face was adorned with green, triangular Jurain war paint, and the lightsword she held in her hands glowed a bright amethyst.  Her blonde hair was worn behind her in a pony tail.  Ryoko blinked in absolute shock.  The fighter standing against the mammoth Gundarin while the crowd cheered her on was none other than Marsa!
	The Gundarin raised the axe over his head and brought it down, but Marsa ducked out of the way.  The creature attempted to adjust his attack, but the priestess' lightsword swung out and turned the hastily planned blow.  
	Marsa struck back, not with her sword, which she seemed to use purely defensively, but with several kicks to the Gundarin's head.  The creature would bellow in pain before attacking again.  Marsa would block the blow with her sword, then lash out with her feet.  
	The Gundarin swung his fist around, catching Marsa in the side of the head.  Ryoko winced sympathetically.  Marsa got up and resumed an en guarde position, waiting for the Gundarin to come to her.
	The Gundarin was only too happy to oblige her.  It charged, swinging the light axe over its head.  Marsa grunted and leapt out of the way.  The furry creature turned to her.  Marsa was breathing hard, blood trickled from the side of her head.  
	Suddenly, she seemed to change.  The Gundarin began to charge again but paused as it noticed Marsa change her stance.  The priestess was waving the amethyst light sword in front of her.  Her eyes were closed, her lips moved as she said some kind of chant Ryoko couldn't make out over the cheering crowd.  Then she heard it.
	Marsa's light sword was humming louder, almost to the point of a screech.  The laser blade brightened, streams of light appeared around it.  Ryoko whistled in awe.  The crowd had become silent.  The Gundarin regarded this new threat warily...
	But attacked anyway.
	Ryoko waited to see what Marsa would do.  The Gundarin was within feet of her now, the axe raised over its head.  To Ryoko's surprise, Marsa didn't use the sword.  Instead, she crouched and spun around on her heel, executing a leg sweep that took the Gundarin off his feet.  Marsa whirled around and put the sword at the creature's throat.  The sword's blade began to dim and the noise became softer.  The blade didn't move an inch.
	The Gundarin eyed the priestess for a moment before giving her a curt nod.  Marsa deactivated the blade and offered the creature her hand.  The crowd cheered as Marsa helped the creature up.
	Ryoko blinked in pure confusion.  She looked up at the first class booth and saw the Toyzarian hand the Mother Superior a leather satchel.  The Mother Superior and her translator bowed to him.  
	Ryoko decided to find out what was going on.  She made her way out of the stadium, past the guard.  There was no rush.  The games would continue all day, so there were no crowds flooding the exits.  Ryoko made her way downstairs to the arena's prep areas, where fighters or athletes dressed or warmed up for their events.  She saw Marsa heading for one of the prep rooms, once again in her blue robe.  Ryoko hailed her.
	"Hey, Marsa!"
	The priestess tensed up, but stopped.  Ryoko ran over to her.
	"Marsa!  That was great!"  Ryoko told her in admiration.
	Marsa held the robe more tightly around herself, as if trying to cover more of her body with it.  "Please Ryoko,"  Marsa told her, a sob forming in her throat.  "I don't want you to see my shame."
	Ryoko blinked, this time genuinely confused.  "Marsa!  What are you talking about?  You kicked ass out there!"
	"Please, Ryoko,"  Marsa begged.  "Speak no more of this."  Before Ryoko could reply, the priestess dashed into the prep room, closing the door behind her.
	Ryoko stood there for a moment.   She took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling, and screamed at the top of her lungs, "DOESN'T ANYTHING ON THIS PLANET MAKE *ANY* SENSE?!"
	"Goo sana u, Ryoko Va?"
	"Does something vex you, Miss Ryoko?"  The translator interpreted from behind her.  Ryoko spun on her heel to find the elderly priestess and the translator standing there.  She walked up and grabbed the Mother Superior by the front of her robes.  The translator gasped and made the sign of the tree on her chest.  Ryoko didn't care.
	"Okay, I've worked in your damn garden, and I've even managed to keep the swearing to a minimum, so I don't think a few answers are out of line!  Let's start with why a priestess of Tsunami is prize fighting for a Toyzarian mobster, then we'll move on to who exactly Marsa is!  She was wearing Jurain war paint and carrying a lightsword, two things reserved for Jurain nobility!  Now what the Hell is going on?!"
	The Mother Superior looked at her for a hard second, her face expressionless.  "Tia."
	Ryoko threw the translator a look.  "The Mother Superior asks that you please release her."
	Ryoko took a breath and put the elderly woman down.  The old priestess straightened her robes and faced Ryoko.  "Reta ven'talva no toso'tel.  Weq'al coxcanna tien Marsa fen dez toloromo gilta.  Yotasa no vientian moshta Tsunami ten foratazo yenpien."  With that, she walked past Ryoko and into the prep room.  Ryoko gave the translator a threatening look. 
	The young girl took a nervous breath and began.  "The Mother Superior says that some priestesses find the glory of Tsunami's light at an early age and embrace it.  For others, it takes longer and is triggered by the events of one's own life.  Marsa is one of these."
	Ryoko snarled and took a step forward.  The priestess backed away in fear.  <Good!>  Ryoko thought.  <Let her fear me!  Maybe then, I'll get some answers!>  
	"That's not a good enough answer,"  Ryoko hissed.
	The priestess gulped.  "It..it's the only one I have," she stammered. Ryoko growled and walked out of the arena.

	Marsa wiped the warpaint from her face with a towel.  She heard the door open and turned to find the Mother Superior standing there.  Marsa stood straighter.  "Mother Superior," she said.
	Marsa had no trouble understanding the Mother Superior since she spoke Gallinese, the elderly priestess' native language.  "Are you all right, young one?"
	The younger priestess brought the towel up to wipe away more of the paint, more of her sin.  "I feel no illness, Mother Superior.  The wound was a minor one."  It was true.  The cut to her head had long since stopped bleeding.
	"That's not what I mean, child."
	Marsa took a painful breath.  "I assume Mr. Tra'zan has paid the award?"
	"Yes, child."
	Marsa nodded.  "Good," she whispered.  "I..I will be along in a moment, Mother Superior, I..just want to change."
	The Mother Superior regarded her for a moment.  "Marsa, Tsunami's forgiveness does not require that you torment yourself everyday.  I had hoped you would see that by now."
	Marsa had no ready reply, so said nothing.  
	"You will not do this again,"  The Mother Superior stated matter-of-factly.
	A part of the young priestess rejoiced at that statement, but another part...  "Mother Superior, without the funds these fights bring in, we will not be able to keep the temple open."
	"Worry not for the temple, Marsa.  Tsunami will provide."
	Marsa bit her lip.  She wanted to stop, desperately.  She really did.  "No, Mother Superior," she told the ancient priestess.  "I...I will not turn my back on the temple."  The Mother Superior arched an eyebrow.  Marsa continued.  "And I beg of you not to force me to."
	"This is not the path to redemption, Marsa,"  The Mother Superior pointed out.
	"Tsunami teaches that we must all find our own paths for redemption.  This one is mine."
	The ancient woman regarded her for a moment before nodding.  "Very well."  She took a step towards Marsa.  "Something else, though.  I want you to spend more time with Miss Ryoko."
	Marsa blinked.  "But why?"
	"I believe you could learn something from one another,"  she replied, "And I think you might see that redemption doesn't necessarily have to cost you your soul."  With that last remark, the Mother Superior turned and left the prep room, leaving Marsa alone with her thoughts.

	Futsukawa and Fotoma stood before their prince and finished their report.  "We have bounty hunters searching the star systems around Orsini,"  Futsukawa was saying, "And the Grinafo has been diverted here to assist in the search.  If Ryoko is still in the area, we will find her."
	Yosho nodded.  "Excellent.  No slip ups, Captain.  I want Ryoko.  I don't want any of your men underestimating her.  Reiterate to them exactly who they're dealing with."
	Futsukawa bit his lip and choked down the insult that was forming in his head.  "Yes, My Prince."
	"Good, return to your ships.  If there is a sighting, I am to be informed immediately."
	"Yes, My Prince."
	Yosho nodded.  The two Captains bowed and left the Funaho's bridge.  Futsukawa threw a look back to make sure Yosho was not within earshot before muttering, "Half-breed."
	Fotoma looked over at him, but said nothing.
	"Imagine, instructing *me* on how to capture Ryoko.  I don't even know what he's doing here."
	"I imagine he's here at the King's bidding,"  Fotoma told him.  "Half-breed or not, he's still a prince."
	Futsukawa grimaced.  "Please," he growled as the two made their way to the transporter room.  "Our *Queen,*"  this last word was loaded with contempt, "Was made a queen only to legitimize His Majesty's...taste for aliens."
	"You should be more cautious, my friend,"  Fotoma warned him.  "Such words could be construed as lese majesty."
	Futsukawa grimaced again, but said nothing.

	Marsa knelt in front of the shrine and made the sign of the tree on her chest.  She began to pray.
	"Bless us, Great Founding Tree, with your light, your love, and your grace.  As your heavenly light shines upon all things, may it enlighten our spirits, our hearts, our minds, our bodies.  May that light protect and guide us as you have ordained.  In your name, I pray to thee.  Be it..."
	"Hey, Marsa,"  Marsa blinked in surprised and turned to see Ryoko standing at the doorway.  
	She took a breath, slightly annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of a prayer.  She banished the annoyance and offered the pirate a smile.  "Miss Ryoko.  How are you this morning?"
	Ryoko approached her, her expression neutral.  "I want to talk to you, Marsa.  There's something bothering me."
	Marsa stood and straightened her robes.  "Of course.  How may I help?"
	Ryoko looked her right in the eye.  "I want what you have."
	The priestess blinked.  "I'm sorry?"
	Ryoko sighed.  "Marsa, my powers are gone."
	"Yes, I know."
	"I don't want them back."
	Marsa nodded in understanding.  "Because the unsavory man would be able to find you.  Is that it?"
	The pirate nodded.  "But there's a problem.  I'm still being hunted by the Jurains.  Without my powers, I'm defenseless.  I can still form a lightsword, and I know how to use it...kind of.  I'm good, but I'm not *that* good.  I need to give my skills a...well...tune up."  Marsa gave her a blank look.  "I was wondering if you would agree to train me."
	Marsa hissed between her teeth and made for the door.  "I'm sorry, Ryoko, but the answer is no."  
	Ryoko trotted after her.  "Please, Marsa.  I saw you fight the other day. You were great.  You've obviously been trained in the Jurain style.  If you could teach me what to expect from the Jurains, I might stand a chance!"
	Marsa didn't even slow down.  "No, Ryoko.  I...I can't.  I'm sorry."
	Ryoko stopped and watched Marsa walk away.  A second later,
	"WAIT, DAMMIT!"
	Marsa stopped dead in her tracks, but did not turn.  Ryoko strode right up to her.  She stuck her finger in Marsa's face.  "If you don't want to train me, fine!  I'll get along without your help!  I understand if you don't want to train me because you're a Jurain, but I thought you priestesses were supposed to *help* people!  Well, Marsa, I'll remember your help when the Jurains *do* catch up with me!"  With that, the demon turned on her heel and stormed off.
	Marsa stood there for a moment and sighed.

	Ryoko sat in the Tren'vinnin tavern and downed another Pashian Sunspot.  She shook her head.  "That bitch," she muttered.  "Hypocrite, stuck up, Jurain bitch."
	This wasn't a whim of her's.  This was her *life* she was talking about.  She took a look at the gem on her right wrist.  It was black, powerless.  With her three gems at full power, she could level cities, now she was powerless, impotent, and the one remaining power she *did* have was one she didn't usually have to rely on.  Her lightsword was for close-in defense.  Usually no one could get close enough to her for her to need it.  She'd just blast the bastards from a mile out.  As a result, she was badly out of practice.
	She remembered the last time she had been forced to use her lightsword.  In one of her more lucid moments, she had tried to take Kagato's head off with it.  The perpetually wanted criminal had responded by cutting off both her hands and forcing her to watch as he fed them to his pet kell dragon.  They had regenerated, eventually, but it was an episode she had no intention of repeating.  She had always wondered why Kagato had given her a lightsword, but none of the knowledge necessary to use it well.  It had dawned on her then that it was another form of control, a way to maintain his dominance over her.
	And now Marsa and the other priestesses were playing the same game.  She wasn't stupid.  She knew why they had kept Marsa's talents a secret.  It was so they could use the priestess as a check against *her*.  It was the only explanation that made sense.  They talked about how they believed her, about how they trusted her, and the whole time they were keeping Marsa in the wings, waiting just in case the big, bad, space pirate tried to kill them.
	That hurt.
	She took another long swallow of liquor and sighed.  She didn't notice when the door of the tavern opened behind her.  Someone sat on the stool to her right, and another leaned against the bar on her left.  It didn't occur to her that they might be trouble until the one on her right leaned closer to her.
	"Hello there," he whispered.  "Maybe you can help us.  We're looking for a very dangerous criminal named....Ryoko."
	Her eyes shot wide open.  She turned her head slowly to find dark blue eyes staring back at her.  
	Very unfriendly, dark blue eyes.
	The one on the left put his hand on her shoulder.  "Think you can help us, Miss?"
	Ryoko kicked out of her stool and landed on her feet four meters away.  She got a good look at her attackers for the first time.  One wore Jurain warpaint on the left side of his face, a common fad among Jurain bounty hunters.  His blue hair matched his eyes.  He grinned as he fingered the two foot stun stick in his hands.  The other man had green hair and carried a Toyzarian net launcher over his shoulder.  He unslung this rifle now and sighed.  
	The two looked at each other and nodded.  "The hard way," they said in unison.
	Ryoko formed the lightsword in her hands and grimaced.  "Careful, boys," she growled.  "You might get hurt."  It was a bluff and she knew it.  Without her powers, two against one, she had a problem.
	"Now, now," the blue haired one said with a grin.  "None of that."
	"Yeah," the green one piped up.  "If you're a good girl maybe his lordship will be merciful and just give you a few millenia in the mines on Banipal."
	Ryoko took a step back and examined her situation.  Two armed men against her.  She had been drinking quite a bit.  They looked professional.  
	She bit her lip and raised the sword an inch.  It's not like they were going to give her a choice in the matter.
	She lashed out with the sword in an overhand slash.  The blue-haired hunter spun around as she passed and struck the back of her head with the stun stick.  Stars appeared before her eyes.  Her head hit the bar with a crack.  She opened her eyes and tried to blink away the pain in her head.  She managed to turn around, her back resting against the bar.  The man stepped forward.  She reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.  She yanked on his collar and brought her forehead into his nose.  
	The man staggered back, his hands over his bleeding nose.  Ryoko stood up and tried to banish the pain from her head.  She turned to the other bounty hunter only to see him level the net gun at her.  She tried to bring her sword around but was too slow.  There was a high pitched "thwump," and fifty two pitons shot from the net gun, strands of glue wire following each, coming together at a fixed point behind them as the pitons spread out.  The net struck Ryoko and lifted her off her feet.  Her back struck the wall behind her, each of the pitons had embedded themselves into the wall.  Following their program, they began to retract the glue wire, tightening the net around Ryoko, pressing her harder against the wall.  She tried to cut the net with her sword, but her sword hand was held just outside the net.  She couldn't twist her sword around enough to cut the wire.
	The green-haired tough grinned and turned to his companion.  "You see, Endari?  I told you it would be easy."
	Ryoko spat at them.
	The blue-haired hunter identified as "Endari," walked up to her, blood still trickling from his nose.  He gave Ryoko an appraising look, then slammed the stun stick into her gut.  Ryoko gasped as the breath left her body.  She began coughing.  "What do you think, Vass?" he asked.  "I think she's going to be trouble."
	"Big trouble,"  Vass agreed.
	"You know," he said, grinning in Ryoko's face, "The reward is for Ryoko, dead or alive."
	Vass nodded.  "It is that," he agreed.
	"I think it would be easier just to take the head to his lordship, don't you?"
	"It *would* be easier to carry," Vass nodded.
	Endari's grin got wider.  Ryoko's breath quickened.  She struggled harder against the net to no avail.  "Give me your sonic knife, would 'ya, Vass?"
	Vass grinned and reached for the knife on his belt.
	"Stop,"  a musical voice ordered from the entrance of the tavern.  Ryoko recognized it immediately.
	Endari turned his head to see who it was, then turned back to Ryoko as he said, "Beat it, bluerobe.  This isn't your convent."  He reached out to Vass.  "Vass,"
	Ryoko heard footsteps approach the two as Vass handed Endari his sonic knife.  Marsa's hand rested on Endari's.  "This woman has done you no harm," she told the bounty hunter.  "Let her be."
	Endari grinned and laughed.  He pretended to consider the proposal.  "Well, I might be convinced if *I* got something in return."  He gave Marsa an appraising look.  Vass laughed.
	Marsa tensed.  "I see," she said.  "If that is what it will take..."
	"Marsa, don't!"
	"Quiet, scummer!"  Endari growled.
	The priestess began to unclasp her robe.  Endari threw Vass a triumphant look.  Marsa reached into her robe and began to fiddle with one of the clasps.  She reached a little farther down, into one of the pockets.  Suddenly, she lashed out with her foot and kicked Endari in the chin.  The bounty hunter struck the wall with a thud and collapsed.  Marsa pivoted on her heel, igniting her lightsword as she went, the amethyst blade lighting up the dim tavern.  
	Vass got over the shock quickly.  He raised the net gun just as Marsa brought the lightsword around, taking Vass' hand off the wrist.  Vass howled in pain and fell to the ground, his cauterized stump in his other hand.  
	Endari got to his feet and activated the sonic knife.  The disturbance in the air around the handle was the only clue that the handle was anything but a useless piece of metal.  He charged at Marsa.
	"Marsa!  Behind you!"
	Marsa spun around and ducked under Endari's slash, simultaneously bringing her knee into the the pit of his stomach.  The bounty hunter fell to his knees, gasping for breath.  He dropped the sonic knife, which Marsa kicked away.  She stood between them and Ryoko.
	"You will leave this place," she said as simply as if she were making an order for groceries.  "You will not return."  Her eyes narrowed.  "Tsunami help you if you do."
	Vass was still rolling around on the ground, clutching at his stump.  Endari got up slowly and helped his partner get to his feet.  Ryoko watched them stumble out of the tavern.  Marsa took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.  Ryoko blinked.
	"Marsa,"
	"Now,"  Marsa said.
	"Huh?"
	"Now, Ryoko."  Marsa turned to her.  "They would have killed you without even the common courtesy of a show trial."  She looked Ryoko right in the eyes.  The demon saw a fierce debate in those eyes, a polarity that told the demon that the priestess was extremely divided.  "Will you swear to me, never to use what I teach you offensively?  Never to use it to kill without cause?"
	Still trapped behind the net, Ryoko nodded.
	"Then now.  Now I will teach you the Jurain style."  She brought up the lightsword, and with one quick movement, cut the top strands of the net from the wall.  Ryoko collapsed to the ground in a heap.
	Marsa began to walk away.  "Come, Miss Ryoko.  The Mother Superior is waiting for us."
	
	Ryoko followed Marsa back to the temple and into one of the prayer rooms without realizing it.  Marsa dropped to her knees in front of the room's shrine and made the sign of the tree.
	"Um...what are you doing?"  Ryoko asked.
	"I'm praying to Tsunami for forgiveness."
	Ryoko blinked.  "Forgiveness for what?"
	"For the episode at the tavern."
	Ryoko's eyes went wide with shock.  She gritted her teeth.  "What's there to forgive!  They would've killed me!"
	"Perhaps."
	"So why are you asking for forgiveness?!  They were scummers!"
	Marsa threw her a venomous look.  "They're *people,* Miss Ryoko," she told her.  "I took that man's hand off at the wrist!"  She stood up and approached Ryoko.  The demon took a step back.  "I raised a sword against another person in anger," she continued harshly.  "I lost control of myself, Miss Ryoko, and that can never, *NEVER* happen."  She returned to the shrine and resumed her prayer.  "I saved you, yes, but if I had held to my beliefs instead of giving in to my anger, I would've just given the man what he wanted."
	"You can't be serious!  He would've killed us both, then!"
	"I know.  And I tell myself that that's *why* I struck."  Her voice dropped to a whisper.  "I just hope that one day I'll be able to believe it."
	Ryoko shook her head in disbelief.  She turned on her heel and started for the door.
	"We begin tomorrow, Miss Ryoko,"  Marsa told her.  Ryoko paused in mid-step.  "Sunrise."

	Ryoko's back slammed into the tree with a thud.  She brought the wooden boken up just in time to stop the blow.  Shifting her stance, she twisted, trying to knock her opponent's sword loose.  Her opponent countered this move and lashed out.  Ryoko gasped and shut her eyes reflexively.  When she opened them, she found the tip of Marsa's boken gently grazing her forehead.
	"You are still making your movements visible before they occur,"  the priestess told her.  The boken didn't budge.
	"Sorry,"  Ryoko growled.  "I'm used to flying while I fight.  Having to stand is new to me."
	"Your opponents will not care what you are used to, Miss Ryoko."  The boken lowered.  Ryoko's eyes narrowed.  "Nor will they give you the chance to make your excuse to them."
	The demon nodded.  "Okay, okay, I get it."
	Marsa's expression didn't change.  "We will start over with the basic patterns."  Ryoko stood straighter and rested the blade of her boken on Marsa's left shoulder while the priestess rested her blade on Ryoko's shoulder.  
	"Ready?"  Marsa asked.
	Ryoko nodded.  "Hai."
	The two stepped past each other and turned, simultaneously adopting combat stances.  It had been two weeks since Marsa agreed to teach Ryoko the Jurain style of fighting.  Ryoko had not beaten Marsa once unless Marsa thought it advantageous to Ryoko's training, in order to show her the proper maneuvers.  
	This time was no different.  
	Ryoko hit the floor and slid two feet.  A cloud of dust surrounded her.  She coughed and got to her feet, raising the boken.  Her eyes flashed with anger.
	"All right!  That's it!  Let's go!"
	Marsa flinched at her tone and dropped her boken.  Ryoko's face had suddenly been replaced by another, a younger, male face.  She froze.
	Ryoko raised her's over her head, but paused.  Marsa was just standing there.
	"No,"  Marsa gasped.
	"Huh?"
	"No, Miss Ryoko,"  the priestess told her.  "Not in anger."
	Ryoko blinked, but lowered the boken.  "You're weird, even for a Jurain,"  Ryoko commented.
	Marsa would not look her in the eye.  "That is enough for today.  We have chores."  At that moment, another priestess ran up to her.
	"Marsa!  Come quickly!"
	Marsa blinked.  She turned to Ryoko.  "Stay here."  Ryoko nodded.  The two priestesses started for the entrance of the temple, Marsa throwing on her blue robe as she went.  Ryoko waited for another minute before following them.

	When Marsa arrived at the front steps, she gasped in surprise.  Standing on the steps before the temple must have been fifty Jurain soldiers led by a group of nobles.  She recognized two men in the crowd, one without a hand.
	The Mother Superior stood before them, blocking their way.  The leader of the troops stepped forward.
	"We are looking for the space pirate Ryoko," he told her.  "I have information which says she is hiding here.  Is that true?"
	"Ya."
	The young translator nodded.  "That is so."
	The Jurain noble blinked.  He hadn't expected them to admit it.
	"Colo retana bens to'wen?"
	"The Mother Superior wishes to know who asks such a question."
	The Jurain straightened.  "I am Yosho, Prince of Jurai."
	The Mother Superior was not impressed.  She said nothing.
	Yosho took a step forward.  "If Ryoko is here, we'll be taking her now."  He made to walk past her.  The Mother Superior moved to block his way.
	"Insa.  Tovano Ryoko Va wes tertla bendavo."
	"The Mother Superior says that Miss Ryoko has been granted sanctuary and cannot be taken from this place against her will."
	Yosho stared at her for a moment.  He laughed.  "Sanctuary?!  To Ryoko!?  That's a good one.  Now move aside."  
	Once again, the Mother Superior moved to block him.  "Insa," she stated defiantly.  Her meaning was quite clear.
	Yosho smiled.  "Then I will have my men go in and find her themselves."  He snapped his fingers.  The Jurain soldiers started up the temple stairs.
	"ILAS!  TUZA NOTA RETANO VAS!  TSUNAMI ENTALO VELOS CANDIENAA TUZO!"  The Mother Superior pointed at the troops.  "RETANA FORTAMO NON CEHOHAS NECTOVAN!"
	The translator stood next to her, defying the Jurains along with the Mother Superior.  "The Mother Superior says that any man who enters here with the intent to remove Miss Ryoko by force faces immediate excommunication and banishment from Tsunami's light!"
	This made the soldiers pause.  To be excommunicated from the Tsunamic church was a threat that hit too near to home for them.  They looked to one another in apprehension.
	Futsukawa was unimpressed.  "Well?  What are you slugs waiting for?  Go in there and drag the pirate bitch out here!"
	The soldiers licked their lips.  Yosho took a breath and came to a decision.  He lifted his hand and ordered his men to stand down.  Gratefully, the soldiers stepped back off the church steps.
	Yosho faced the Mother Superior.  "I'm not leaving this temple without her," he told her matter of factly.
	The Mother Superior raised an eyebrow.  "Yetana sota?"  She turned to Marsa.  "Marsa, gova sento nas tobiento."  She gestured to Yosho.  "Yosho Fonodas, gorvasa nenteito."
	Marsa nodded.  "Yes, Mother Superior."  
	With those last words, the Mother superior and her translator turned and walked back into the temple.  Yosho turned to Marsa quizzically. 
	"What did she say?"
	Marsa faced him.  "She told me to take you to one of our spare rooms."
	"What?!"
	"Yes.  She says that you must have a room if you are going to be staying with us."
	Yosho blinked in astonishment.
	Marsa smiled.  "You did say you weren't leaving here without Miss Ryoko.  Since Miss Ryoko is staying, I suppose *you* are staying as well."
	The prince growled in annoyance.
	
	Ryoko picked up the egg and placed it carefully in the leather satchel.  It wouldn't hatch for at least another day, but it was still very delicate.  She was careful not to drop it in her rush to escape.
	The Jurains were here.  Any second they'd break down the door and drag her outside and back to Jurai.  She wasn't naive.  She knew the priestesses, for all their good intentions, would not be able to keep them out, and without her powers, she wasn't going to last long in a fight.
	She was just tying the drawstring on the satchel tight when a voice called to her from her doorway.
	"Are you going on a trip?"
	Ryoko only spared Marsa a quick glance.  "How much time do I got?!"
	Marsa blinked.  "As much as you wish."
	Ryoko turned on her.  "What are you talking about?!  The Jurains are downstairs!"
	Marsa nodded.  "Yes, that is so."
	"Look, Marsa, I appreciate what you tried to do for me.  It's more than most people would've done."
	"I still don't see why you're leaving."
	Ryoko blinked.  Marsa went on.
	"The Mother Superior has turned them away and has forbid them from taking you from here."
	The demon blinked again.  "Just like that?"
	Marsa nodded.  "Just like that."
	Ryoko sat on the edge of her bed and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.  "So, they're not coming up the steps to get me?"
	Marsa shook her head.  "No."
	Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief.
	"However, we have a new guest."  Marsa stood aside so Ryoko could see who it was.  She growled and jumped up off the bed.
	"What the..."  She ingnited her lightsword and brought it up to an en guarde position.  The man behind Marsa did likewise.  Suddenly, the priestess was standing between the two.
	"There will be no acts of violence in this holy place," she told them flatly.  "That goes for the both of you."
	Ryoko, knowing that it was pointless to argue with the priestess, and knowing also that if Marsa wanted to stop her with force, she could do so easily, she disengaged her sword.
	Prince Yosho didn't budge.  Marsa turned to him.  "Prince Yosho, we ask only that you follow the proper decorum while you are here.  Please, put the weapon away."
	Yosho hesitated only a second before disengaging the Tenchi-ken.  He gave Marsa a curt nod.
	"Good," Marsa told them.  "Now, then,"  she turned to Ryoko.  "Ryoko, you and I have chores to do in the garden."
	Ryoko blinked in shock.  "What?!  Now!?"
	Marsa simply looked at her.  "Yes, come along."  
	Yosho grinned. "My, how the terrible have fallen," he commented.
	Marsa turned to him. "Prince Yosho, I believe they require help in the kitchen."  Yosho facefaulted.  "You do understand that as long as you wish to remain here, you will be required to help with the upkeep of this holy place, don't you?"
	Yosho gritted his teeth.  "Of course,"  he ground out.
	
	Futsukawa sat on the bridge of his ship and growled.  "Imagine, a Jurain military operation held up by a bunch of bluerobes.  And our *prince* is actually going along with this!  I never thought I'd see the day..."
	Futsukawa wasn't a follower of Tsunami.  He felt the religion was primitive and childish.  Of course, he gave lip service to it, it was impossible to advance in Jurain society unless you did.  He celebrated Startica with his family, but he never truly believed.  
	Which he felt was a good thing, since it appeared now that belief was a hindrance here.  
	For everyone but him.
	He smiled.
	Everyone but him.

	"Um...Marsa....you know I can't fly anymore.  I'm kind of uncomfortable doing this."
	Marsa regarded Ryoko critically.  "You must learn to see past your shortcomings."
	"Okay, okay.  I can understand that, but do we really have to practice up *here*?!"  Ryoko took another look around. The roof of the temple was very high up.  She could see the tree statue placed at the front of the temple, only a few feet from her.  She looked down and saw they were several stories up.  She had been higher, of course, but then, she was still able to fly.
	She gulped.  She had seen people fall to their deaths before.  Once, while under Kagato's influence, she had carried a bounty hunter who had come after Kagato several thousand feet into the air, and then dropped him.  Thinking back on it, Ryoko felt a pang of guilt.  It would be poetic justice for her to fall right now to her death.
	"Very rarely will you be attacked someplace where you are comfortable,"  Marsa told her as she handed Ryoko a boken.  "We will start with the basic patterns."
	"What if I fall?"  Ryoko asked.
	"You will die."
	Ryoko growled.  "You know, Marsa, I think I liked you better before you became so damned pessimistic."
	"The basic patterns, Miss Ryoko."
	They fenced on the roof for two hours.  Eventually, Ryoko found herself more comfortable so high up.  After two hours, they stopped.  Marsa bowed to her.  Ryoko returned it.  
	The priestess handed her a bottle of water.  Ryoko drank gratefully.  Marsa decided she would take advantage of this opportunity and kneeled before the tree statue.  Ryoko listened as she recited Tsunami's prayer.
	"Um....Marsa?  Can I ask you about something?"
	Marsa's eyes were closed, she was praying silently.  She tilted her head slightly as a sign for Ryoko to continue.
	Ryoko took a breath and continued.  "I've done a lot of things in my life.  A lot of things I wish I hadn't.  I...I couldn't keep from doing them.  Kagato had me under his complete control.  Even though I wasn't in control, I still feel...."
	"Guilty,"
	Ryoko paused, but nodded.
	"You seek redemption."
	Ryoko nodded again.
	"I can't help you."
	Ryoko snarled.  "Thanks heaps."
	"It's not a matter of advice.  Tsunami teaches us that we must all find our own paths to redemption.  I can't give you a penance to perform Ryoko."
	"Then what can I do?"
	Marsa took a breath.  "You must seek redemption with the knowledge that you will never find it in your lifetime."
	Ryoko blinked.  "Then...what's the point?"
	Marsa smiled.  "The point is in the searching.  For instance, when you worked in the kitchen, did you count the number of bowls you ladled?"
	Ryoko shook her head.  
	Somehow, with her eyes closed, Marsa knew she was shaking her head.  "That's a part of it.  You didn't tabulate a reckoning.  You didn't mark off on a chart that you were so many bowls closer to forgiveness.  Through that lack of concern with the quantity, you faced the task at hand and brought yourself closer to Tsunami's forgiveness."
	"I don't understand."
	"Redemption will be found in the next life, not this one.  All you must do now, is make yourself worthy of that redemption."
	Ryoko's eyes narrowed.  "Is that why you fight?  Are you looking for redemption, Marsa?"
	Marsa paused a moment before nodding.  "I seek Tsunami's forgiveness...just as you do, Miss Ryoko."  She turned to her for a moment before turning back to her prayer.  "I wasn't always a priestess.  Five years ago, I was Lady Marsa Sintava.  I had wealth, power, influence...things that could be perceived as worth having.  Then, one day, something happened that changed my life."
	"Let me guess," Ryoko interrupted.  She clasped her hands and grinned in religious ecstacy.  Her voice was high and joyous as she said, "You found the glory of Tsunami's light!"
	Marsa didn't answer for a second.  Then, "I killed a child."
	Ryoko blinked in surprise.  Marsa continued.
	"I was leading an attack against a base of rebels that had been attacking my family's holdings.  I made it to the very heart of the base, but I was alone, separated from the others."  Her voice dropped to a whisper, low and haunted.  "It was dark, I couldn't see anything.  I heard a war cry from behind me, he sounded old enough.  I whirled around....and took a ten year old boy's head off."
	Ryoko hissed between her teeth.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't know."
	Marsa nodded once.  "Since then, I've not been able to lift a blade without seeing *his* face."
	The demon blinked in confusion.   "Then...why do you fight at all?"
	"That is *my* penance, *my* road to redemption.  My sword can win money to keep this place open.  My sword saved you.  It is my way of begging Tsunami's forgiveness, and maybe...even *his*."
	"But, if it brings you pain..."
	"Pain is fact of life, Ryoko.  If I put that sword in a box under my bed, it would not change what happened...or what I am.  By using those skills, that weapon, that ended a child's life, I can bring some light into the world, even though I know it will never be enough.  Never enough."
	Ryoko said nothing for a long time.  Then, "You're too hard on yourself, Marsa."  
	Marsa said nothing.
	Ryoko decided to change the subject.  "You remember that move you did at the end of that fight with the Gundarin?"
	The priestess turned to her and nodded.
	"What was that?  I've never seen anything like it, not even from Kagato."
	Marsa smiled and began to laugh.
	Ryoko's eyes narrowed.  "What?  Afraid a *novice* like me couldn't handle it?"
	Marsa waved the accusation away.  "No, not at all.  It's just that it's not a move at all.  It's a trick."
	"A trick?"
	She nodded.  "It's a diversionary tactic.  All I did was chant some nonsense and wave the sword around.  At the end of the chant I fingered a special toggle on my sword that causes it to run out of phase."
	Ryoko blinked.  To run a lightsword out of phase would weaken the blade, make it too diluted to cut through anything.  It dawned on her as she rememberd the signs of an unphased blade:  energy streamers escaping the blade and a high pitched squeal which was usually the first sign that your sword needed tuning.
	"But...why?"
	Marsa smiled again.  "Because it made him hesitate.  When he finally *did* attack, he was looking at my sword, not my feet."
	That's right, Marsa didn't use the blade, she had performed a leg sweep.  At the time, Ryoko had wondered why.  Now she knew.
	The blade had been useless.
	"He assumed because of my chant and movements that I was performing some kind of spiritual magic.  And because no sword *accidentally* falls out of tune so quickly..."
	"He assumed it was a part of the spell and jumped to the wrong conclusion,"  Ryoko finished.  She regarded Marsa with a tad more respect.  "Not bad," is all she would say out loud.
	Marsa's smile didn't budge.  She got up off her knees.  "Perspective is everything, Miss Ryoko.  Come, it's almost time for lunch."

	Standing in the temple's courtyard, Yosho stared up at the two women, watching them practice.  
	Why was Ryoko fencing with a priestess?  It wasn't as if she needed the practice.  Yosho had been on Jurai during Ryoko's attack, had seen the kind of destruction she was capable of.
	So why the ruse?
	He decided to find out.

	Lunch at the temple consisted of bread and vegetable soup, eating meat was against the Tsunamic vows.  Ryoko had learned to do without, but she would've traded her soul for a side of beef.  She sat down at the end of the communal dining table and waited silently for the priestesses to say Tsunami's prayer.  Once they were finished, she began to eat.  
	She suddenly lost her appetite when Yosho sat down across from her, a bowl of soup in his hands.  He gave her a scornful look and sat down.
	"You may have these priestesses fooled, Ryoko, but I know you for the monster that you are.  You can't stay in here forever."
	Ryoko bit down the curse she wanted to hurl at him.  "I don't intend to.  After I leave we can go back to the same game we've been playing for the past three years, but I'm warning you, little prince,"  Yosho raised an eyebrow as she continued, "You harm these priestesses and I'll hunt you down and gut you like a pig.  Do you understand?"
	Yosho smiled.  "Said the fox to the hound."
	Ryoko grinned.  "Well I *have* always thought of myself as rather gorgeous, thank you, and I've always thought of you as a dog, so I'd say you're pretty accurate."
	Yosho gritted his teeth and bit back a curse of his own.  Ryoko grinned.  "What's wrong, little prince, does the truth hurt?"
	"Not as much as the execution we have planned for you on Jurai."
	"Gotta catch me first."
	Yosho grinned.  "We *have* caught you,"  he told her, "Unless you think we're going to just let you through the ten ship blockade around this planet whenever you feel ready to go."
	Ryoko bit her lip.  <Ten ships?  Damn.>  She rallied.  "Only ten?  I think I'm insulted."
	"I could ask for more if you like."
	"Couldn't be harder to get out of here than getting *into* Jurai past your defense grid."
	Yosho grimaced.  Ryoko had been able to breach Jurai's defenses too damned easily three years ago, and it still hurt the Jurain Navy's pride.  "We learn from our mistakes, Ryoko."
	"So do I, little prince, so do I."
	They heard a priestess clear her throat next to them.  They looked up.
	"Lunch is over, it is time to return to our chores."  She held out her hands.  Ryoko and Yosho looked down at their bowls of soup, bowls of soup they had been too busy fighting to eat.  With a sigh Ryoko handed the bowl to the priestess.  Yosho did likewise.  The demon's stomach growled.  It was gonna be a long afternoon.

	Marsa swept the front steps of the temple with a smile.  It was simple chores like this that brought her the most joy.  Out here, on a beautiful day, she could be alone with her thoughts.  She was pulled from her reverie by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her.  She turned.	
	"Good afternoon, Prince Yosho."
	"Good afternoon, Priestess," Yosho told her, taking a step down the stone steps toward her.  "Priestess, I'm have a problem, a question, I was hoping you could answer for me."	
	"I will do my best to answer you, Prince Yosho."
	Yosho nodded.  "Good, then tell me why the Tsunamic priestesshood is keeping a criminal from facing justice?"
	Marsa blinked.  "I have seen Jurain justice, Prince Yosho, and I don't believe a headman's axe could be considered justice for Ryoko."
	"What about justice for her victims?"
	Marsa looked at him quizzically.  "Prince Yosho, if you can answer, 'yes,' to this question, I will personally drag Ryoko from her room and hand her to you."
	Yosho smiled.  So here it was.  The priestesshood would ask for a royal donation for their temple, Yosho would write them a draft, and Ryoko would be his.  
	Marsa asked her question.  "Will killing Ryoko bring those men and women back to life?  Will it erase what she has done?"
	Yosho blinked.  Then he growled.  "What kind of question is that?!"
	"A legitimate one, from my perspective.  I will not ask Ryoko to sacrifice her life in a useless gesture."
	"A useless gesture?!  This is justice!"
	"This is revenge."
	"Bullshit!"
	Marsa made the sign of the tree on her breast.  "Prince Yosho, you may think that killing Ryoko is somehow the right thing to do, but I do not, and neither does the priestesshood.  Ryoko is welcome to stay as long as she likes and as long as she behaves herself.  We are extending you that same courtesy."
	He hissed between his teeth.  "It's appreciated," he said, without conviction.
	Marsa took him at his word and nodded.  "Good," she said.
	He fumed.  "How can you protect that murdering bitch?"
	Marsa turned on him.  "How can you be so quick to kill her?!"
	"It comes with experience."
	"Then I pity you."
	His eyes narrowed.
	"Did you ever stop to consider that there is perhaps more here than you know of?  Tell me, you've spread your fleet all over the galaxy looking for Ryoko, have you been looking for Kagato?  Have you been looking for the *real* criminal?"
	Yosho blinked.  "Who?"
	Marsa shook her head.  "You see?  You didn't even investigate."
	Yosho sneered.  "Is that what she told you?  That it wasn't her fault?  That someone somehow *made* her attack Jurain and kill thousands of people?"  He laughed.  "I've heard better lies from my little sister."
	"You may not trust Miss Ryoko's word, but let me tell you this,"  Marsa told him, "The Mother Superior detected a mental connection between Ryoko and someone else when she first arrived.  She describes the man as, 'unsavory."  Yosho arched an eyebrow, "I might point out that the Mother Superior has a tendency to embellish the good and not the bad.  The Mother Superior had to subdue Miss Ryoko's gems with her own powers to keep him from finding her.  She is certain that he exists.  Do you think she is lying as well?"
	Yosho disregarded her question.  He was smiling.  "So Ryoko's gems are useless, eh?"  Marsa's eyes went wide upon realizing that she had inadvertently blurted out something she should not have.  "That's a useful piece of information.  Thank you."
	Marsa turned from him.  "I see.  The fact that she is in a weakened state encourages you."
	"It would encourage her."
	"I don't believe so."
	"That's your opinion, Priestess."
	"Yes, but I believe it is Ryoko's as well."

	Ryoko sat up in bed and petted the new Ryo-Ohki.  It had hatched last night, and seemed healthy enough.  She bit her lip in thought as she considered her options.  Ryo-Ohki would be flight capable in about a week.  She would've liked more time to make sure the cabbit developed normally, but she didn't have it.  Yosho was going to bring in more ships, and she was out of time.  She sighed.  She hoped that moving too fast wouldn't hurt Ryo-Ohki, but she really didn't have a choice.
	One week.  She just had to make it one more week.

	Futsukawa shook his head as Yosho's face disappeared from the view screen.  Another delay.  Another damn delay.  Ryoko was here, she was within in reach, and even better, she was powerless if what Yosho said was true.
	And his honored prince wanted to hold off, to wait, to *negotiate*!
	He balled his hands into fists.  Imagine it!  The Kingdom of Jurai, stopped not by the mighty Danitan Army, or the ion storms of the T'ien Nebula...
	It was a group of damned, bloody, bluerobes.
	Futsukawa was convinced.  Prince Yosho was weak.  It must be that Terran blood.  It was time for a *real* Jurain to resolve this problem.  It was time for a *real* Jurain to bring Ryoko to justice.  And it would be a *real* Jurain to reap the rewards.
	Futsukawa smiled.
	"Lieutenant,"
	One of his bridge officers turned to him.  "Yes, Sir?"
	"How many of the bounty hunters on board are non-Jurains?"
	"Three, Sir."
	Futsukawa hmm'd in thought.  Three.  Three non-Jurains meant three bounty hunters who didn't follow Tsunami, and therefore did not fear excommunication.  He smiled.  <It'll be enough.>

	Yosho knocked on the door and peered inside.  Marsa was getting up off her knees and turning to him.  "Can I help you, Prince Yosho?"
	He looked around the small prayer room, bare except for a small Tsunami shrine.  "Yes, I..wish to apologize for my behavior earlier.  I was out of line."
	Marsa smiled.  "There is no need to apologize for emotion, Prince Yosho."
	He took a step forward.  "I have sent a communique to the Galaxy Police, asking them for information about Kagato.  They have confirmed his existence and a *possible* connection to Ryoko.  I don't know what that connection is, but I'm willing to *consider* the possibility that what she is saying is true.  So we're going to hold off on taking action for now."
	Marsa nodded.  "Thank you," she told him.
	"Not for her sake,"  Yosho told her.  "If this...Kagato is truly the one responsible for what happened on Jurai, I want him.  And I don't care what kind of soul he has, he *will* be punished with the deadliest of force."
	Marsa bit her lip but nodded.  "Ryoko says he is a man without a soul."
	"After seeing what happened to Jurai...I believe it."  He turned to go.
	"Prince Yosho."
	He turned to her.
	"Thank you."
	He smiled and left.

	"She's so cute,"  Marsa commented as she played with Ryo-Ohki on Ryoko's bed.  The new cabbit miya'd and jumped into the priestess' lap.  Marsa laughed and petted the odd-looking animal.
	Ryoko leaned against the doorway, a serious look on her face.
	"Marsa, I'm leaving."
	Marsa looked up at her.  "I see.  When?"
	"A few days.  I can't stay.  As long as I'm here, there's always a risk to you and the others."
	The priestess smiled wanly.  "I told you Ryoko.  You are safe here.  No one would dare risk excommunication, and Prince Yosho has told me that he plans to investigate your case."
	Ryoko turned on her harshly.  "And why should I believe him?!  He's spent the last three years trying to *kill* me, Marsa!"
	"That was the past."
	"A very recent past."
	Marsa sighed.  "You are, of course, free to leave whenever you wish."
	Ryoko took a breath.  "I...I want to thank you, Marsa.  For everything."
	"It was my pleasure, Miss Ryoko."
	"You know, I've never met anyone like you before.  Ever.  Is this...is this what it means to have a friend?"
	Marsa's smile widened.  "Yes, Ryoko.  I consider you a friend as well."
	Ryoko found herself smiling.
	Her eyes went wide as she realized something.  <Can I even control Ryo-Ohki without the use of my gems?>  She looked down at the little cabbit, which looked back at her and blinked.  She could use her lightsword easily enough.  It appeared that only some of her powers were gone.  Perhaps she could still...
	She concentrated and reached out to Ryo-Ohki's mind.  It took longer, and was more of a strain than it should have been, but she connected.  She breathed a sigh of relief.  She could still fly Ryo-Ohki.  She looked down at the black gem on her wrist.  It seemed that the Mother Superior had dampened her powers, not erased them.  That was good to know.
	She could leave whenever she wanted.

	Yosho opened the tiny viewscreen and switched it on.  The face of young lieutenant looked back at him.  The young officer bowed.
	"My Prince."
	"Let me speak with Futsukawa,"
	"The Captain is not onboard, My Prince."
	Yosho blinked.  "What?  Where is he?"
	"He only said that he had something of great importance to do, and that he would be back in a few hours."
	"Is he on the planet?"
	"I don't know, My Prince."
	Yosho sighed.  "Very well, inform him to contact me as soon as he returns."
	"Yes, My Prince."
	Yosho shut the screen off and sighed.  The end was almost here.  He had left Jurai with a double purpose, to find Ryoko and to find himself.  Well, he had found Ryoko, but he still wasn't sure about himself.
	He removed a small holographic projector from his pocket and thumbed it on.  A hologram of a little, purple-haired girl appeared, playing in a field.  He smiled.
	"I'm sorry, Ayeka," he whispered.  "But I can't be your groom."
	He shut off the projector and sighed again.

	Futsukawa climbed the steps to the front of the Temple.  A bluerobe greeted him there.
	"I must speak with Yosho."
	The priestess bowed. "Of course,"  she turned to unlock the front door.  "I will..."  She hit the ground without another sound.  Futsukawa stood over her, the unignited hilt of his lightsword was in his hand, the sword he had just used as an effective bludgeon.
	"Tsunami be with you," he growled as he stepped inside.  He had to move fast.  Any second, if the bounty hunters got his orders straight, the entire building would be in flames.

	Ryoko's eyes flashed open in bed.  She sat up.  She smelled smoke...a lot of smoke.  She looked out the window and saw an orange glow from somewhere at the other end of the temple.
	"Damn!"  She leapt out of bed, intent on joining the effort to put it out, but paused.
	<This doesn't feel right,>  her mind told her.  <It feels like a...Oh, damn!>
	She grabbed Ryo-Ohki from her tiny bed on the desk.  The cabbit's eyes opened as she looked around in shock.
	"Think you can fly?"  Ryoko asked her out loud.  The cabbit nodded.  "Good, we're leaving."
	She opened her door and peered outside.  The hallway in either direction was clear.  She stepped outside and started down the hall.  She turned a corner and came up short.  A man in a Jurain Naval uniform stood there, grinning at her.
	<I knew it!  So much for 'investigating' my case!>
	"Ryoko,"  the man greeted her.  "And powerless to boot.  I'm gonna enjoy this."
	"No,"
	They turned to see Marsa step out of a doorway and place herself between them.  "Miss Ryoko is under out protection.  You may not take her."
	"Stand aside, bluerobe."
	"Leave now, or face excommunication."
	Futsukawa grinned.  "Excommunicate me."
	Marsa gasped and made the sign of the tree.  She rallied.  "You may not take her."
	The captain laughed.  "I don't remember asking for your permission."  He stepped forward and placed his hand on Marsa's shoulder.  "Now step as..."
	He was cut off as Marsa took his hand and flipped him into a wall.  Futsukawa got up and growled, unclipping his lightsword from his belt.  He activated it.  It glowed with a pale, green light.
	His eyes widened in surprise when Marsa's amethyst blade flashed into existence.  "You may not pass!"  she told him.
	"Marsa,"
	The priestess half turned to Ryoko.  "Back down the way you came.  Down the stairs and left.  There's a backdoor.  Go."
	"But, Marsa..."
	"Ryoko."  She smiled.  "I am honored to call you my friend."
	Ryoko took a breath and nodded.  She turned and ran down the hallway.
	Futsukawa growled and took a step forward.  Marsa brought her blade up an inch in warning.
	"All right, little bluerobe.  You want to play warrior?  Let's play warrior."  With a battlecry, he attacked...

	Meanwhile, Yosho was busy helping the remaining priestesses get out of the burning temple.  He coughed as smoke filled his lungs.  The weight of the Mother Superior in his arms was barely noticable before, but now it seemed as if she weighed a ton.  He stumbled down the steps, coughing, with tears streaming down his face.  One of the other priestesses saw who he was carrying and ran forward to assist him.  The Mother Superior was breathing, but not well.
	He shook his head, wondering how the fire could've started.  That's when he heard it, a deafening, "MIYAAAAA!"  He looked up and grimaced in understanding.
	So *that's* how.

	Ryoko sat in her command chair and tapped the armrest apprehensively.  They were only three minutes from the blockade in orbit.  She had to concentrate.  Operating Ryo-Ohki without her gems was incredibly difficult, but still possible.
	"Miya?"  cabbit asked.
	"She'll be okay.  Marsa knows what she's doing,"  Ryoko told the cabbit.
	"Miya."
	"I don't like it either.  But we can't go back."
	"Mi..."
	"Okay, you convinced me!"  With a pass of her hand over one of the control crystals, Ryo-Ohki began to turn.  Ryoko urged the cabbit to go faster.  <This'll be quick,> she said to herself, <We'll just pop in, grab Marsa, and take off.  If anyone asks, she's a hostage.  One thing's for sure, Yosho won't show her any mercy.  Sure, she won't like the idea of being on the run, but she'll adapt,>  she told herself, <After all, she adapted to being a priestess.  Priestess, wanted criminal, it's all pretty much the same thing, right?>
	She tapped her finger on the armrest urgently as Ryo-Ohki plummetted towards the surface.

	Marsa ducked under another slash and brought the amethyst blade up to block another.  She lashed out with her foot and caught Futsukawa in the side of the head.  He staggered back.  Marsa backed up for more room.
	This wasn't some ignorant Gundarin, straight off the street and looking for an easy mark.  This was a Jurain officer, a nobleman like her.  And he was well trained.
	Futsukawa attacked again, driving her further back.  She leapt backwards, hoping for more room, but he struck, kicking her in the midsection.  With a painful cry she fell backwards down the hall stairs.  She hit the bottom and moaned quickly before getting up.  She looked up and gasped, rolling out of the way before Futsukawa, who had jumped from the top of the stairs, landed where she had been lying.  Marsa faced him and struck with her own blade, testing his responses.  Futsukawa fought expertly, driving her back even further.
	The fight moved into the Temple commons, the room where Tsunamic followers gathered to pray.  There were marble columns running along the center passway between the rows of pews.  Marsa made use of these obstacles, jumping and landing between them, using her natural agility against the larger man.  Her nostrils twitched as she smelled smoke.  The fire was getting closer.
	Futsukawa lunged at her, but his foot was snagged on a pew.  He fell on his face with a grunt.  Marsa leapt forward to strike, but Futsukawa's foot lashed out from his position on the ground and caught her in the stomach.  Marsa staggered backwards.  Futsukawa got to his feet and studied her.
	He was breathing hard when he said.  "You are nobility,"
	"I am a priestess of Tsunami!"
	He laughed and resumed his attack.  Marsa continued to lose ground.  She backed into the Tsunami shrine and ducked.  Futsukawa's blade lashed out and took one of the arms off the blue marble statue.  She brought her knee up into Futsukawa's groin, then brought the hilt of her sword down on his back, knocking him to the ground.  She raised the blade above her head...
	
	Ryoko ran into the backdoor she had used to escape and began searching.
	"Marsa!  Marsa!"
	She checked rooms, searched hallways.  Then she stopped and strained her ears.  
	She could hear the sounds of combat.
	She ran.

	Yosho entered the palace and began searching for any priestesses that had not been able to get out.  He passed an area of the temple that was being eaten by the flames and covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve.  Over the flames he could hear it.
	The sounds of combat.
	He ran.

	Marsa raised the blade over her head for the death blow.  Futsukawa looked up at her...
	Then she saw *him*.
	Not the Jurain captain responsible for setting her Temple on fire.
	She saw the face of a ten year old boy.
	She paused, hesitated...
	Futsukawa saw it and acted.
	With a war cry he reached out and sank his blade into Marsa's chest!  Marsa cried out, her lightsword fell from her hands, automatically extinguishing itself once out of its mistress' hand.
	Futsukawa grinned and pulled the blade out.  Marsa fell to the floor.  
	She didn't move.
	"NO!"
	Futsukawa turned and saw his true target standing there.  He smiled and got to his feet, bringing his blade up.
	Ryoko stood there at the entrance to the commons.  Her eyes were wide in shock as she gazed at Marsa's lifeless form on the floor at the foot of Tsunami's statue.  She saw Futsukawa standing there, grinning.
	Ryoko screamed.
	Futsukawa covered his ears, trying to banish the noise.  Near him, the marble columns shattered, the glass in the windows cracked and broke.  Tsunami's statue shook, a long crack appeared from the top of the statues forehead to the feet of the shrine.
	The gem on her left wrist began to glow slightly.  Then, without warning, there was a flash of red light as the gem burst to life.  The gem on her right wrist followed a second later, then the one on her neck flashed to life.  Her eyes began to glow with rage.  She screamed again, and a lightsword appeared in her hand.	
	The first glimmers of fear apeared on Futsukawa's face.  Here...here was the demon Ryoko.  He raised the lightsword as Ryoko flew toward him at an incredible speed.  Ryoko slashed down with her sword.  The red made contact with the green...
	And cut right through it as if it weren't even there. 
	Futsukawa's eyes went wide in terror in the brief millisecond it took for Ryoko to decapitate him.  His severed head and body fell to the ground.
	Ryoko heard a noise from her right and turned.  Yosho stood there, the Tenchi-ken's blue light alive in his hands.  Ryoko bared her fangs and took a step towards him.  That's when she felt it.
	*He* was there.
	Not physically, but mentally.  From across the stars, the connection with her now reestablished through her three gems, Kagato commanded her.
	<Withdraw, Ryoko.  You can't beat Yosho alone.>
	Ryoko took another step, intent on killing the bastard who had caused her friend's death.
	<RYOKO!  WITHDRAW!  NOW!>
	Kagato emphasized this with a flash of white hot pain.  Ryoko had to obey.  Her freedom was gone.  
	She must obey.
	She stared at Yosho for a moment longer.  He stood there, uncertain.
	"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOSHO!!" she screamed.  "DO YOU HEAR ME!!  I SWEAR IT!!  IF IT TAKES A THOUSAND YEARS, I'LL KILL YOU!!"  She leapt back and vanished.

	Ryoko appeared on Ryo-Ohki's bridge and gave the mental command to take off.  With her gems back, she could now fly Ryo-Ohki with pure thought.  But her freedom was gone.
	"Miya?"  the cabbit asked.
	Ryoko didn't answer.  She sat in her command chair, buried her face in her hands and cried.

	"I got past the blockade easily enough,"  Ryoko went on.  Sasami listened raptly.  "Yosho caught up with me a few days later on Earth."  She shook her head.  "In all my hate and desire for revenge, I forgot everything she tried to teach me.  As a result, I ended up locked in a cave."
	Sasami blinked.  "I'm sorry, Ryoko."
	"It's okay, Sasami.  It was less than I deserved."  She blinked and turned to Yosho.  "Which is another question I've been meaning to ask, Yosho.  Why?  Why not kill me?  Why imprison me in a cave?  It doesn't make any sense."
	Yosho nodded.  "It would make perfect sense if you knew the rest of the story."
	Ryoko blinked.  "Huh?"

	Yosho knelt down next to the priestess and turned her over onto her back.  Blood dribbled out of the corners of her mouth.  Her chest rose and fell slowly.  
	She was dying.
	Yosho held back the tears as the fire began to consume the commons.  The smoke was already starting to fill the room.  He had to leave, but he couldn't just leave her here.  He reached out to pick her up.  Suddenly, her hand reached out and took his.
	Her lips struggled to form words.  Finally, she managed to gasp out a single phrase.
	"She has...a...good...soul."
	Yosho said nothing.  She reached out with her other hand and found her lightsword resting nearby.  She picked it up and placed it in his hand.
	"Please," she begged.
	Before Yosho could reply, Marsa's breath stopped.  He heard the death rattle, then only the sounds of the fire around him.  A lone tear made its way down his cheek.

	Ryoko stared at him in shock.  "*That's* why?" she whispered in astonishment.
	Yosho nodded sagely.  "Yes.  As I said, Ryoko, she had an effect on me, as well.  She saw the good in all things...even you...even me."
	"But...Futsukawa..."
	Yosho shook his head.  "Futsukawa was not acting on any orders but his own.  I really did order your case investigated.  I'm sorry if I did not seem trustworthy at the time."
	Ryoko didn't reply.  She was still staring at him in shock.
	"By the way," he began reaching into his tunic.  "I believe this belongs to you."  He produced a small wooden box and handed it to Ryoko.  She blinked in confusion and took it, opening the small latch on one side.  She saw what was inside and gasped.  "She would have wanted you to have it, I think."
	Ryoko reached inside and removed the lightsword.  It was like the Tenchi-ken in many ways, but slightly smaller, designed for a feminine hand and inlaid with gold.  A Jurain family crest appeared at the bottom of the hilt.
	Her hands ran over the sword hilt slowly as the memories came rushing back to her.  She closed her eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry."  A single tear ran down her cheek.
	Yosho and Sasami watched silent.  After a minute, Ryoko stood up and held the sword out.  An amethyst blade flashed into existence.
	"I think..." she began, "I think she found the redemption she was looking for,"  Ryoko told them.  "I think she deserved it.  Don't you?"
	Yosho looked up, nodded, and smiled.  "Jurains believe that a piece of their spirit merges with their sword.  In a way, Marsa will always be with you, now."
	Ryoko smiled and nodded as she blinked the tears away.
	<Goodbye, Marsa...my friend.>


Author's Notes:

MIHOSHI:  (sitting at Author's desk, reading off the monitor.  She blows her nose into a handkerchief.)  I'M SO MOVED!!  I'M SO MOVED!!
AUTHOR:  (Whistles as he comes back from the kitchen carrying a sandwich and a soda.  He gasps and drops them when he sees Mihoshi.)  MIHOSHI!!  DON'T MOVE!! I HAVEN'T SAVED THAT YET!
MIHOSHI:  (Turns to him)  Don't worry, I'll do it for you.  (She begins randomly punching keys.  The screen turns black.)
AUTHOR:  NO!!!  GOD, NO!!!
MIHOSHI:  Uh-oh.  Sorry.
AUTHOR:  (Falls to his knees and begins to cry.)  Do you know how long it took me to write that?!  WEEKS!  (He suddenly brightens.)  Oh, wait, I *did* back that up.  Never mind.

Please send C&C to-
Thomas "009" Doscher 
doscher009@hotmail.com

I'd like to thank all my buds in the TenchiFF chat room who participated in my poll when I first began writing this fic.  Thanks go out to  Cav, TAWeaver, Gourry_Gabriev, and Suzuhara_Toji.  Thanks guys.