Moonlight and Cherryblossoms Chapter 8: The Carnival Comes and Goes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tenchi. I didn't create the show. I don't own any of
the characters (though I wish I owned it, and created them). So please don't
tell me you want to sue me, cause you can't. =P

Chapter 8: The Carnival Comes and Goes

It was a bright, beautiful morning at the Masaki house. Everyone was excited
about the carnival tonight. Ayeka and Sasami were going to wear their komdos
from Startica, the Jurain Carnival. Mihoshi said she was going to try to
make it. She doesn't want to miss out on all the fun. As for Ryoko and
Tenchi, the carnival was time for them to relax and enjoy one another. Washu
said she was too busy to be out and enjoying carnivals. Everyone felt some
what sad for Washu, she never wants to get out and enjoy herself.

Sasami was in the kitchen setting up the dishes for breakfast. When Sasami
is happy, she is going to make a huge breakfast, and that's just exactly
what she did. Sasami called everyone out for breakfast. When everyone sat
down, Sasami served them. Ryoko was overjoyed at the sight of the delious
food. Ryoko grabbed a plate and started to chow down. Everyone else just ate
normal.

All day, the two princesses prepared for the carnival. They got their things
ready, and got dressed hours before it started.

"I can't wait any longer!" Ayeka yelled across the room.

"Calm down sister, we only have to wait a few more hours." Sasami tried to
calm her sister down.

"I know Sasami, but I really want to go." Ayeka sat back down.

Sasami looked around the room for Tenchi.

"Hey, Ayeka, where's Tenchi?" Sasami asked.

"I don't know, probably with Ryoko." Ayeka turned on the television to watch
her soap opera.

Sasami shrugged and walked out of the room. Ayeka covered her face with her
hands and cried softly.

"Why, why does Tenchi have to be with Ryoko?" Ayeka asked herself.

Ayeka still had feelings for Tenchi. She longed for him to break up with
Ryoko and go with her. She couldn't tell Tenchi nor Ryoko what she felt
inside. All she could do was to lie and say she was happy they were
together, but deep down inside, she wasn't happy at all.

She was jealous of Ryoko in some way. Ryoko had won the love of Tenchi, and
Ayeka didn't. She balled her hands into a fist and hit the arm of the couch.
She had to tell Tenchi how she felt. Maybe he would realize that Ryoko was
nothing like Ayeka and go with her. Nonsense, he loves Ryoko no matter what
anyone else thought. All sorts of thoughts went into the princess's head.

"Tonight, at the carnival, I should tell Tenchi what I am feeling." Ayeka
thought aloud.

"Or maybe not, I don't know what I should do." Ayeka covered her face again
and cried softly.

Meanwhile:

In the carrot fields, Tenchi was pulling carrots out from the ground. Ryoko
was helping Tenchi.

"So, is this all?" Ryoko asked.

"Yeah, I believe so." Tenchi put all the carrots in the basket, and picked
the basket up.

Ryoko walked over and snatched the basket away from him.

"You've done too much, it's my turn to carry it." Ryoko gave Tenchi a wink
and began to walk to the house.

Tenchi smiled in returned and followed beside her. They both talked together
about all sorts of things on their way home. It was mostly about the
carnival tonight though. When they reached home they put the carrots in the
shed and went inside to get some water.

Ayeka was still on the couch crying. She heard the door opened and glanced
up. When she saw Tenchi enter, she quickly whiped her tears away and got up
to greet him. Then, Ryoko walked in following Tenchi, and Ayeka sat back
down. She glared at her so called friend. At first, she thought Ryoko was
her friend, and she does care for her safety, but now after the battle with
Kagato, she has thought about all that her and Ryoko have been through. They
have been through numerous fights, and arguments. She remembers all the
horrible things they have said to each other, and so on. And most of all,
Tenchi. They have fought over Tenchi for so long, Ayeka wasn't going to let
Tenchi fall into the wrong hands, no not after all she has been through with
Ryoko.

Ayeka got up and followed the couple into the kitchen. Ryoko and Tenchi were
drinking on some water and enjoying a nice converation. Ayeka fumed at this.

"Why can't I be with Tenchi?" The jealous princess thought to herself.

Tenchi looked up from his talk with Ryoko and saw Ayeka standing at the
doorway.

"Oh, hello Miss Ayeka." Tenchi gave her a warm smile.

"What's up princess?" Ryoko asked.

Ayeka smiled at Tenchi, but when she heard Ryoko, she frowned.

"Well, princess?" Ryoko looked at her, then walked over to her, "is there
something wrong, Ayeka?" Ryoko asked concerned for Ayeka.

"No, there is nothing wrong." Ayeka snapped and stomped out of the kitchen.

"Whoa, what's wrong with her?" Ryoko turned and asked Tenchi.

"I don't know Ryoko, maybe I should talk to her." Tenchi was about to leave
the room, but his father, Nobuyuki entered.

"Hey hey hey Tenchi!" Nobuyuki said cheerfully to his son.

"Hey Dad." Tenchi tried to get passed him.

"What's the rush son? Sit down and talked to your old man." Nobyuki pushed
him down in a chair.

"Ah! Dad what's wrong with you?" Tenchi asked.

"Well, I was thinking... I think it's about time you and I had a talk."
Nobuyuki smiled at his son.

"About what?" Tenchi asked nervously.

"Well, you and Ryoko are about the age where you would be-" Nobuyuki was
interupting by Tenchi.

"DAD!!" Tenchi screamed, and blushed.

"What? I'm only looking out for my son's well-being. Now, come on and talk
to me." Nobuyuki started talking.

Ryoko stood by the sink staring at Tenchi. Tenchi turned and looked at her,
giving her a nuance. She understood what it meant immediently and walked
into the living room.

Tenchi wanted her to sit down and have a talk with Ayeka, since his dad
wanted to talk with him.

In the living room:

Ayeka sat down and got comfortable on the couch. She grabbed the remote from
the table in front of her and switched the channel. Ayeka covered up her
face and whimpered a bit.

Ryoko came up behind her and saw this. She moved over and sat down on the
couch.

"Ayeka..." Ryoko asked concerned for her rival.

Ayeka's face shot up when she heard Ryoko's voice.

"What do you want?" Ayeka asked.

"I wanted to talk to you. Were you just crying?" Ryoko put her hand on
Ayeka's shoulder.

Ayeka pushed Ryoko hand off and stood up.

"Well, I don't want to talk, and I wasn't crying." She started to walk
upstairs.

"You would want to talk if Tenchi were here." Ryoko confronted her.

"Just leave me alone, monster woman." Ayeka stomped off to her room, leaving
a confused Ryoko behind.

"What is her problem?" Ryoko thought to herself.

*~* Later *~*

Everyone was seated comfortably in the family van. Mihoshi made it back just
in time too. Washu decided she would go since she didn't want to miss out.
Sasami was so excited, and happy. She was glad Washu and Mihoshi were going
to come.

"Is everyone buckled in?" Nobuyuki asked.

"Yep!" Everyone responded back.

Nobuyuki started the van and drove off. Tenchi and Ryoko sat in the very
backseat of the van. Mihoshi, Sasami, and Washu were in the middle seats.
Ayeka was in the passenger seat. She looked back and noticed Tenchi talking
to Ryoko. She frowned and turned around.

"Tonight, I will make my move." Ayeka thought.

"We're here!" Nobuyuki shouted.

Everyone jumped out of the van.

"Here Tenchi, take this," Nobuyuki handed Tenchi some money, "remember to
call me when you want to come home."

"Thanks Dad, and we will." Tenchi took the money and ran off with the girls.

Nobuyuki looked at his son and smiled.

"My son, just like me when I was younger, going after all these girls."
Nobuyuki clinched his fists together, got in the van, and drove off.

"Alright, everyone is gonna get in groups now," Washu stated, "Ayeka, you go
with Sasami, I will go with Ryoko, and Tenchi can go with Mihoshi."

"What?!" Ryoko jumped.

"Well, I would like to spend some time with my daughter, but if you must,
you can go with Tenchi and Mihoshi can come with me," Washu grabbed
Mihoshi's arm, "Let's go."

The groups left and went on to enjoy themselves. Ryoko and Tenchi left
holding hands. Ayeka noticed this and left with Sasami. Washu had a hard
time leaving with Mihoshi. She kept wanting to look at things.

Tenchi and Ryoko were at the goldfish scooping booth. Tenchi tried to get a
fish, but it slipped away, and Ryoko's scooper thing broke. They both
laughed and tried again. Tenchi finally got a fish. He gave his to Ryoko,
since she couldn't get one. They both left and went to get some cotten
candy.

Ayeka and Sasami were at a shooting both (is that the name of it? It's where
the can shoot those dolls, like in the Tenchi Universe episode "No Need for
a Carnival"). Ayeka was enjoying her time, shooting dolls, thinking they
were Ryoko. Sasami and Ryo-ohki (she went with Sasami) were watching her.

"Hahaha! This is so fun Sasami. Come on try it!" Ayeka handed a gun to
Sasami.

"No thanks, I'll pass." Sasami handed it back to her sister.

"Alright then." Ayeka started to shoot again.

Washu and Mihoshi were riding a farris wheel (do they have those there?).
Washu wasn't really having fun with Mihoshi.

"See why I wanted to go with my daughter?" Washu layed her head on her hand.

"Oh come on Miss Washu, we are having so much fun. WEEEEEEE!!!" Mihoshi
threw her hands in the air.

The farris wheel was going down a big loop.

"AHHHHH!!!" Washu grabbed on to Mihoshi's waist.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Mihoshi screamed.

The farris wheel ride stopped soon after that. Mihoshi and Washu got off.

Washu's hair was a mess, but Mihoshi's was just fine.

"Let's do it again!" Mihoshi grabbed Washu's arm and got back in line.

"Noooooooooooooo! Not again!" Washu screamed.

Meanwhile:

Tenchi and Ryoko were sitting on a bench enjoying their cotten candy.

"Wow! A farris wheel Tenchi. You wanna go ride it?" Ryoko asked all excited.

Tenchi looked at her and saw the excitement in her eyes. He knew how much
she loved carnivals.

"Sure, no problem." Tenchi stood up and held out his hand.

Ryoko grabbed his hand and walked with him towards the farris wheel.

When they arrive there, they saw Mihoshi and Washu in the line. Mihoshi was
all excited, but Washu was misserable and looked sick.

"Hey! Ryoko, Tenchi over here!" Mihoshi waved her hands for them.

She grabbed Washu's arm and moved to the back of the line with Ryoko and
Tenchi.

"Hello Mihoshi," Ryoko greeted her friend, "what did you do to my mom?"
Ryoko asked.

"Well, I don't know. We were having so much fun on the farris wheel. She
looks sick, does she have a flu?" Mihoshi asked.

She didn't suprise Tenchi and Ryoko one bit.

"Poor Washu." Tenchi said.

"How many times did you ride this thing, Mihoshi?" Ryoko asked.

"Hmmm... I think about 30 times. I lost count around 25." Mihoshi responded.

Tenchi and Ryoko face faulted. Then, some voice was heard in the background.

"The performance is about to start. Everyone who wants to see it go to the
center stage!" A man shouted.

"How 'bout we go see the performance and leave them here?" Ryoko suggested.

"That's sounds good to me." Tenchi took the offer.

"Alright, Mom, Mihoshi, have fun now. We're gonna see the performance."
Ryoko winked at them and left.

"Alright have fun Ryoko and Tenchi!" Mihoshi shouted, and pulled the
speechless Washu with her.

Tenchi and Ryoko ran up to the huge crowd surrounding the stage. They got
there just as the performer was starting. She was a young girl doing all
sorts of dangerous things. One thing she did was jump through a ring of
fire. The crowd 'ooh' and 'aww' at everything she did. When she was done,
she bowed and the crowd clapped and whistled.

"Thank you, thank you! Now it's time for you to enjoy the fire works!" The
performer shouted, bowed again, and left the stage.

Tenchi really wanted to see the fireworks.

"Come on Ryoko, let's go find a place so we can see the fireworks." Tenchi
said with excitement.

"Alright, let's go!" Ryoko said.

Meanwhile:

Ayeka and Sasami were sitting on a bench waiting for the fireworks show to
begin.

"I wonder what everyone else is doing, Ayeka." Sasami thought.

"I don't know, but I wish the show would start now." Ayeka said impatiently.

Sasami glanced up and noticed Washu and Mihoshi.

"Hey Ayeka, look, it's Mihoshi and Washu." Sasami jumped off the bench and
approched the two followed by Ayeka.

"Hey Sasami!" Washu said with a smile.

"What have you two been doing?" Ayeka asked.

"Well, we have had so much fun on the farris wheel. Isn't that right Washu?"
Mihoshi said.

"Yeah, fun." Washu said exagerating.

The first firework went off in the air. The group stopped and looked in
amazment at this.

"Wow! That's pretty." Sasami's mouth dropped.

"Meow Meow!" Ryo-ohki responded.

"Look, there's Tenchi and Ryoko!" Mihoshi pointed at them.

Tenchi and Ryoko stared at the sky and watched the fireworks. Mihoshi called
their names out and the group ran over there.

"This is great, everyone is together to enjoy this." Tenchi said.

Ryoko frowned when everyone mustered over there. She wanted to spend time
with Tenchi alone.

She looked away from everyone. Ayeka caught notice to this and sat down next
to Tenchi.

"Tenchi, how was your night?" Ayeka asked.

"It was great, and how about yours?" Tenchi asked back.

"Oh, just wonderful. I wanted to talk to you alone though." Ayeka responded.

"What?! Leave Tenchi and me alone!" Ryoko stood up to protect her Tenchi.

Tenchi giggled, "Calm down Ryoko. Sure, let's go for a walk, Ayeka." Tenchi
and Ayeka walked off.

Ryoko was shocked, "B-but we were enjoying ourselves." Ryoko sat down.

Washu moved over to her daughter, "Don't be so jealous. Tenchi won't do
anything. He loves you too much Ryoko. He is just going to see what Ayeka
wanted to talk to him about." Washu comforted her daughter.

Ryoko layed her head on her mother's shoulder and watched the fireworks.

Meanwhile:

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Tenchi asked.

"Well, I wanted to tell you about how I feel with you and Ryoko together."
Ayeka started.

"Ok then, go on." Tenchi let her speak.

"I hope you know, I still have feelings for you." Ayeka started.

"I was afraid of this. I knew when I choose Ryoko, you would be hurt."
Tenchi looked down at the ground.

"I'm not hurt. I just want to know if you really love her?" Ayeka asked.

"Ayeka, you know the answer to that question. Why are you asking me?" Tenchi
said.

"Well, I was hoping you would say no, but I want you to be with someone
worthy, like me." Ayeka smiled.

"Ryoko is all I need. She doesn't have to be a princess to win my heart."
Tenchi confronted Ayeka.

Ayeka was stunned by his answer, "I see. So you would never betray her."

"Ayeka, we are still friends, right?" Tenchi asked.

"Yes, of course. Let's go back now." Ayeka offered.

They both walked back to the group.

Tenchi noticed Ryoko fell asleep on Washu's shoulder.

"Ryoko..." Tenchi stared at his love.

"I am so tired." Sasami said.

Mihoshi was sound asleep on the grass. Sasami tried to wake her up several
times, but she kept falling back asleep again.

Ryoko opened her eyes and saw that Tenchi was back.

"Tenchi!" She jumped up and walked over by him, "let's go for a walk." Ryoko
offered.

"Alright then." Tenchi got up again and took a strool with Ryoko.

"So what did she talk to you about?" Ryoko asked.

"Oh, nothing important." Tenchi responded.

Ryoko sensed he was hiding something from her.

"Tenchi, it was about me, huh?" Ryoko confronted him.

"Tenchi stopped dead in his tracks when she asked that. How did she know?

"I can tell, you would have told me if it was about anything else." Ryoko
continued.

"She asked me to dump you and go with her." Tenchi finally told her.

"What?! She would say that? I thought we were friends." Ryoko said appalled.

"That's what I thought too," Tenchi grabbed Ryoko's waist and pulled her
towards his front side, "But, I told her that I loved you, and you were the
only one for me."

Another firework went off in the air. The wind blew Ryoko's long, beautiful
cyan hair all over the place. Tenchi's lips met with Ryoko, and they both
began to kiss romantically.

Fireworks bursted in the air. One of them was the shape of a heart. It
hovered in the sky above Tenchi and Ryoko as they kissed. They soon stopped
and looked into each other's eyes and saw the passion in them.

"Tenchi, you've never kissed me like that before." Ryoko said amazed.

"Did you like it?" Tenchi asked.

"Hell yeah!" Ryoko said cheerfully.

"Well then, we should do it more often," Tenchi suggested, "Come on, I think
everyone wants to go home now."

"Yeah, I am pretty tired." Ryoko gave a big yawn.

They returned to the group to find Washu the only one still awake.

"Finally, what have you two been doing?" Washu asked.

"Well er, I um, we uh-" Tenchi tried to spit out words.

"It doesn't matter, Tenchi go call your dad so we can get home.

"Alright." Tenchi left for a pay phone on her command.

Washu walked up to Ryoko, "You and Tenchi kissed, huh?"

"Yep!" Ryoko said proudly.

"Thata girl." Washu winked at Ryoko.

Tenchi returned and informed everyone his dad was on the way. Soon after,
his dad drove up and everyone got in. Ryoko fell asleep on Tenchi's shoulder
on the way home.

When they arrived home, everyone got in their night clothes and went
straight to bed.

"Ryoko, you wanna sleep in here tonight?" Tenchi offered, but he was still a
little nervous.

"Well, if you want me to." Ryoko responded.

"No, do you want to?" Tenchi asked again.

"Yeah, of course, but I don't want to be a burden to you." Ryoko looked at
the floor.

"You won't be, so come on, jump in." Tenchi pulled the covers out.

Ryoko jumped in the bed while Tenchi turned off the lights. He got in bed
and rolled over towards Ryoko.

"How did you like the carnival, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked.

"It was wonderful!" Ryoko smiled, thinking what Tenchi did at the carnival.

"I'm glad to hear that," Tenchi closed his eyes, "Good night, Ryoko."

"Good night, Tenchi." Ryoko pecked a kiss on Tenchi's cheek.

"Too bad the carnival comes and goes so fast." Ryoko thought to herself and
quickly dosed off.

        To Be Continued
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A/N: Well, this is the longest chapter so far. They keep getting longer
everytime I write. Well, I wasn't sure on a few things Japan had in their
carnivals, so it might not be right. I will try to get the next chapters up
soon, but I am very busy and don't really have much time to write. The next
chapter will be "Time passes, people move on" ^_^ Please keep reading my
fanfics. Sayonara!

Please visit me site: cbrt.issweet.net