Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. They belong to Pioneer and 
associates.

This is the second part of a trilogy, trying to adress the question "what would 
happen if Tenchi and Aeka got together?" I will write chapters from Aeka's and 
Tenchi's points of view soon, and afterwards who knows? If you think Tenchi and 
Ryoko should get together, and want to rant about this, please don't do so in my 
direction. If you like this, hate it, whatever, please send comments to 
romancarib@hotmail.com.


	CHASING TENCHI

	Chasing Tenchi. This pretty much summed up all of Ryoko's days, and 
especially, nights... but there was a different feeling about today. Something 
which in her mind's eye Ryoko could only conceive as "big". Today she would have 
her way. Today she would receive Tenchi's love and return it exactly the way she 
always had known she wanted. Today was the day for Ryoko and Tenchi to come more 
than face to face.

	< Tenchi, where are you? > Ryoko mused. She had always had a problem 
understanding just how much space the boy - man, by now - really needed. She had 
thrown herself at him, she had risked her life for him, and willingly given it 
as far as she was concerned on numerous occasions, all for the sake of... for 
the sake of... loving Tenchi. Tenchi, Aeka, Washu - they all knew how deep her 
feelings ran for him, and so did she. What more could she do but what attracted 
his interest without pushing away his innocent sensitivity?

	Lounging in the living room of the Masaki home, she knew he would come 
soon. He always passed by the living room this time of day. She decided to make 
herself comfortable on the bannister. Comfortable and appealing. <Thank you, 
Washu-chan, for these wonderful feline instincts!> She was nearly purring. 
Unfortunately, the wait was longer than she expected, and soon those wonderful 
feline instincts almost drove her away to find something more fun to play with. 
< Just a little longer... what could he be doing? >

	"Hi, Ryoko! Whatcha doing?" Ryoko crashed to the floor, interrupted during 
a weak moment... how dare he! And what was he doing upstairs? Fighting her 
capillaries for control of her face, Ryoko slowly turned around to face the man 
of her dreams, nearly losing her stability on the steps and sliding down a few 
more levels on the stairway to embarassment.

	"Oh, hi Tenchi! I was just practicing to always land on my feet... not 
that I need practice... want to join me? ...heh..." It was amazing how a 
creature designed to be intelligent could say something so self-deflating. < Why 
does this always happen to me? Aeka never falls on her face - and if she did 
she'd find a way to pass it off as courtly and refined. Arrogant snob! >

	"Um, not now, Ryoko... but listen, we have to talk..." Tenchi's face took 
on a serious tone, which Ryoko knew to mean one of two things: either someone he 
cared about was in danger, or she was in for a massive preemptive 
disappointment. < Of course there's always the chance that a little 
encouragement will bring him around to reason, > assuming the worst - 
disappointment - she deftly dematerialized and reappeared with one arm draped 
around Tenchi's shoulders.

	"Sure Tenchi, I've got a few minutes for you to declare your undying love 
for me." < Really, any time now, Tenchi... >

	"Actually, Ryoko, that's just what I wanted to talk about." Ryoko's heart 
soared, and promptly crashed when she noticed that he wasn't blushing - this was 
a bad sign.

	"Uh-huh..." Any enthusiasm or sensuality previously in Ryoko's voice had 
suddenly disappeared, replaced by a deeply penetrating thought appropriately 
accompanied by a shiver. < Of course I know that he loves me! Just like he loves 
everyone in this house! What if he does love me? Why is he accepting this now? > 
The ravager of Jurai was for the very first time truly afraid for herelf; she 
had been afraid for Tenchi many times, even afraid for her 'family' at the 
Masaki residence, and sometimes afraid for her life... but it had never been 
like this. This time she was afraid for something FAR more important to her, her 
hope, her redemption in the arms of the one being she truly loved.

	< I asked for this, didn't I? I said to myself "today Tenchi will be 
mine," but I never stopped to expect that the real Tenchi wouldn't be the shy, 
awkward, courageous and beautiful man of my dreams - the one madly in love with 
me. What if I do face the real Tenchi today? NO, I won't give up! I love him so 
much, he must love me! >

	"Why, what's wrong, Tenchi?" Ryoko barely stumbled through the words 
without making them indecipherable, but she still managed to add that loving 
curl to the name she loved the most. She let her arm fall from his frame and 
squared her shoulders to return his eyes, his stance, directly.

	"Ryoko, I just want you to listen to a few things I have to say... 
please... this is very important for me..." Ryoko's perfectly designed heart 
skipped a beat. "I'm going to have to say some things you don't want to hear... 
I owe it.. I... listen to me Ryoko, you know the truth of me by now. I could 
never imagine living without you nearby, without know I can count on you, 
without our silly adventures..." Ryoko knew that the boy was thinking "your 
silly adventures..." Her golden eyes misted, and it made her sad that she knew 
Tenchi would find this beautiful, touching, even consoling for what he was about 
to go through. < What is he saying? I should be furious... I should be... > 
Ryoko nodded for him to go on. He looked genuinely surprised by this gesture. < 
Tenchi, if you only knew how much I love you... >

	"Ryoko," Tenchi began. The aggressive, warlike girl who stood in front of 
him could only hope that he didn't continue with the words "Aeka and I..." 
Instead he finished his thoughts with the words "I love you." A single tear 
overcame the capacity Ryoko's eyes, Ryoko's heart, had to hold the water of her 
feelings back. < This is even worse... Oh Tenchi, don't say this! >

	"But..." Ryoko prompted.

	"No buts!" Although she had intended for Tenchi to continue from that 
word, he interrupted her with such violence that she knew he was hers, that he 
meant what he said - and that at the same time that singular part of him that 
she craved, that part of him that would transcend the relationship they 
currently had, already belonged to someone else. "Ryoko, we have risked our 
lives for each other many times, and every time we would willingly have given 
it. This will never change between us." The look of understanding and command on 
Tenchi's face was overwhelming. < Tenchi, you really mean it... you love her, 
don't you? You really do. And here I am like a fool still loving you - ALL of 
you - even the part which loves her... Aeka... >

	Ryoko could see her own eyes in Tenchi's deep brown counterparts. < Not... 
soulmates? > She could see in his eyes that he saw the pain in her heart, that 
he felt it too if that was possible for a man in love with another. She could 
see her golden hue of nostalgia reflected right back at her. "Tenchi, please 
don't go on..."

	"Ryoko, I must... this hurts me too. I know that you understand. I know 
that you hate her right now..."

	"Oh, Tenchi, I don't!" Ryoko interjected suddenly, surprising even 
herself. "How could I hate anyone for loving you when I find that that is the 
one thing that has made me able to look at myself with anything but hatred, 
violence! You are... Tenchi... I can't hate her. I... I hate..." Ryoko was 
wailing like a wolfess that had just lost her mate. "Tenchi, you have softened 
me and strengthened me at the same time... how can I not love you and everything 
about you? I want to do things to you that would make Aeka blush even after your 
wedding, but I also just want to grow old with you... I want you to show me what 
kind of woman you want be your side... I want to be that woman, even if I can't 
be with you!" < Boy, those romance comics really have gotten to me > Ryoko 
thought, trying to command a small laugh to appear in between her sobs.

	"Ryoko... I... always knew." Tenchi admitted. His face twisted in surprise 
and self-realisation. < Well, that's it, Tenchi. You always knew you weren't for 
me, but you didn't want to hurt me... and I can't bring myself to ask "Why do I 
love you" because that is more true of me than the part that would ask... Even 
now, I can't stop loving you... >

	"Tenchi, I always thought that our differences, all the things I knew to 
show you... I always thought that we'd end up together... that the challenges 
demanded that we try. I always thought that Aeka wanted you in too simple a way, 
to make up for her lost chances with Yosho... tell me it's not this way, or I'll 
keep on hurting... please understand me Tenchi..." Ryoko fully burst into tears. 
Tenchi reached out his arms around her middle and pulled her into his body, 
letting her rest her head gently on his shoulder. < Such tenderness still, 
Tenchi...I love you I love you I love you I love you... >

	"Ryoko, it's just not like that. The challenges that would exist between 
us, well, they're just that. They would be challenges if we were meant to be 
together, and if we were meant to be together then we'd overcome them... but 
they're not for us, dear Ryoko..." < 'Dear Ryoko', oh how I'd die to hear these 
words said in a different time, a different place! And I'd make you well and 
happy for having said them, sweet Tenchi... in another time... in another 
place... in another life... Your arms are so comforting... >

	"Just hold me, Tenchi..." Tenchi prodded his chin into Ryoko's shoulder to 
indicate a nod. They stayed in each other's arms like that for a long time. Aeka 
silently stepped out of her room, and upon seeing them and understanding she 
slipped back inside un-noticed. Aeka's heart was breaking along with Ryoko's. No 
matter how many fights they had had, they shared the same love, and seeing Ryoko 
and Tenchi together Aeka understood the pain in Ryoko's heart. No one deserved 
to love Tenchi and lose him in Aeka's estimation, not even Ryoko, most of all 
not Ryoko! Ryoko's eyes would not have seen her even had they been open.

	Tenchi was warm, and soft, and firm... forgiving and rewarding at the same 
time. Ryoko's arms found their way to his back - broader than when she had first 
met him - but they asked for no more than Tenchi, as he was, as she could always 
expect to have him. A friend, a brother, a lover in that blurry universe of 
'what-ifs'. Tenchi's hands however raised themselves to Ryoko's hips, and 
pushing her back gently, brushed her stomach ever so softly. She could see his 
face again, but it was different than she had ever seen it before. There was 
something utterly alien yet wholly known to her in his eyes and his cheeks and 
his mouth. Love with total abandon... and just as she realised what he intended 
to do, his lips were upon hers, his mouth opening to let his tongue briefly 
flirt with the opening of her mouth. < Oh Tenchi, I will always love you! Thank 
you, thank you my love! > She went slightly limp, but his arms encircled her and 
crushed her into his body. Her mouth offered neither passion nor resistence, but 
he showed a passion for her that was all his own, kissing her, offering himself 
to her entirely, demanding her in return. Knowing the love that went into this 
kiss, she suddenly awakened and gave all of her passion, all her dedication and 
caring in return. The kiss itself seemed to last forever, the moments 
coexisting; he was kissing her, he had stopped, her tongue was in his mouth. < 
He's stopped, Ryoko! > she yelled at herself in her mind, but she could not 
awake from the dream so quickly.

	Tenchi's forehead was resting on her own, and Ryoko knew the happiness he 
had to give her... if only it were not for his deeper, truer commitment to 
another. "I just want you to know that if I hadn't met Aeka..." < No, Tenchi, no 
need for the truth... >

	"Please Tenchi, don't say this... don't break my heart again... just let 
me live in this moment, for now..." Ryoko pleaded. A look of relief and resolve 
washed over Tenchi's face - always the sweet, innocent boy she had met and tried 
to kill so long ago! They held each other like this until it was safe to let go.

	"Tenchi, promise me one thing..."

	"I know what you're going to say Ryoko... She won't break my heart and I 
won't break hers. That won't happen... but who knows? The universe lasts a long 
time... I do love you, you know that, right?"

	"I do, Tenchi" < Oh Tenchi, if only I could say those words to you on that 
day instead of Aeka... but you love her and she loves you... WHY AM I SO O.K. 
WITH THIS?!? I do, Tenchi Masaki, I do... >

	"You know, we're not going to leave. We'll stay here, that's what finally 
let me figure all this out... she'd rather stay here with me than return to 
Jurai with me, she would sacrifice her heritage to be with me. I won't let her 
be so disappointed, of course, we'll work something out... but... she loves you 
too, we all love you. Life won't change that much."

	"I don't know Tenchi, I think I need some time to myself, or Ryo-okhi will 
keep me company. It's not her, it's losing you... I don't think I can stay..."

	"Don't go, Ryoko."

	"O.k." < I never had a chance, did I? > "Just remember your promise, 
Tenchi... the universe lasts a long time..."

	"You know it Ryoko," Tenchi replied earnestly.

	< Always nurture my heart, Tenchi. I might go crazy tomorrow, I might do 
or say something stupid, I might even run away... but I will always come back to 
you. Some day I'll be the woman you could most truly love, even if you must love 
me from afar, even if only I love you from afar... Thank you, Tenchi. I love 
you. I do. >