THE PRINCE'S SORROW
A Tenchi Muyo fan-fic.
By: Matt Taylor

*************

    I wonder when it happened that my life suddenly became so complicated. 
Some would say it was the day that I first defied my grandfather and went 
into the cave next to the shrine. While there, I released the first of my 
suitors. A woman, and ex-space pirate. In releasing her, it sent a signal to 
a ship in space, where a princess named Ayeka was kept in cryo-stasis, she 
came down and attacked us, but in the process became the second girl vying 
for my affection.

    The two of them where followed by several others. A red-haired scientist, 
a slightly mentally limited Galactic police officer, Ayeka's little sister, 
and a carrot crazed battle-ship that was shaped as a cute little pet. My life 
has never been the same since.

    But I tend to think it started much earlier, sort of. It all started with 
the cave, yes, but not on the day I released Ryoko. I remember how I used to 
play there as a child. For some reason I could feel something watching me, in 
normal circumstances, I might have been afraid. But there was something about 
this one. This sensation of being watched made me feel good, like I had a 
friend. I remember the day when my mother died, and I went up to the cave. I 
was only four at the time, and crying my eyes out. I sat down outside and 
continued to drown myself in my misery.

    But it didn't last. Once again, the sensation of being watched returned, 
but it brought a wonderful comfort to me, like it was trying to console me in 
my pain. I felt the tears stop, as a wonderful warmth came over me. I know 
now what it was.

    Since then I have traveled around the universe, and saved it several 
times. I have discovered my grandfather was a prince for the planet Jurai, 
and I have inherited much of his power. I have discovered I am a prince of 
Jurai as well. 

    I have two alien woman vying for my affections now. Ayeka Jurai, princess 
of the royal family of Jurai. A very "traditional" woman, she tends to be 
very shy, and tries hard to hide her affections for me. She is very cute, but 
I have seen how she gets when she doesn't get her away. Ayeka has been raised 
as a princess and has had servants who serve her every whim, all her life. 
Plus she has a short temper which she tries to hide, she doesn't always 
succeed. She is very gentle, or at least tries to be, and tries to be a very 
good sister for her fellow princess Sasami, reminding her how a princess 
should act, but not restricting her from having fun. For seven hundred years 
she searched the galaxy for her lost love Yosho, placing herself in 
cryo-stasis. With the awakening of Ryoko, she was also awakened.

    Then there is Ryoko Hakubi, daughter of that red-haired scientist I 
mentioned. For many years she was under the control of a mad scientist named 
Kagato, who used her for many despicable things, even now she refuses to tell 
all of it. Seven hundred years ago she attacked and destroyed much of Jurai, 
in order to fullfill her masters orders of finding the tree called Tsunami. 
She was chased off the planet by Yosho, to Earth. He imprisoned her in the 
cave where the Masaki shrine was built. Ryoko is gorgeous, and incredibly 
forward about her feelings for me. She puts on a tough girl persona most of 
the time, refusing to admit how much she cares, but she does. I see the way 
she's like when she thinks no one is watching. I see how gentle she really is 
under that persona. Despite this, her forwardness can be very frightening for 
some people, including me.

    It's difficult sometimes, feeling like I have to choose between the two 
of them. I already have, really. I think I did along time ago. The two of 
them fight constantly, mainly over me. Ayeka hates Ryoko because she is the 
complete opposite of everything she is, plus she blames her for driving Yosho 
away, and now thingks she's trying to steal me. Ryoko hates Ayeka, cause she 
thinks she's a stuck-up spoiled brat, who's always trying to steal me. Both 
of them are right to a certain degree. Ryoko is the opposite of everything 
that Ayeka is, she's uninhibited, and expressive, she's open with her 
feelings. All the things that Ayeka has been trained not to be.

    Ayeka is stuck up, to an extent. She's a princess, so what comes 
naturally for her can be seen as arrogance by normal people. She is more 
introverted with her feelings for me, but I know they're there. She thinks 
she's being subtly and sneaky, but she's anything but. The only problems I 
really have with her is how certain she seems to be that I'm going to choose 
her, and the fact that's he seems to think I'm something I'm not. She thinks 
I'm a prince.

    Now don't get me wrong, legally I am a prince of Jurai, but I don't see 
myself that way. When I get up in the morning all I see is Tenchi Masaki, 
earth teenager. I've saved the galaxy many times, I am a conduit for the 
power of Jurai, and the Light Hawk wings, but I still train with my 
grandfather, I still go and harvest the carrot fields, I still go to school. 
That's why anything between Ayeka and me would never work. I'm a normal earth 
teenager who happens to have the power of a demi-god, what Ayeka wants is a 
prince with the powers of a demi-god.

    I know that's what she wants. She wants me to go back to Jurai with her, 
and become an official prince, marry her and rule the galaxy with her. But I 
don't want to do that. There's the fact that her father Azusa hates me. He's 
got it into his head that I'm trying to replace him on the throne. The very 
thought of doing that job, of having that much pressure put on me is 
frightening. I try to tell Ayeka this, but I as I do so I think about how sad 
she'll be. She went through along time looking for Yosho, showing how much 
she loved him, and I know how much it'll hurt her when she finds out another 
person she loves doesn't love her back, not in the way she wants.

    But I have to wonder. Does Ayeka love me? I mean really me? Tenchi 
Masaki? Or does she love the grandson of Yosho? That's something I've 
wondered about. Another thing. I don't mean to give the impression that I 
don't like Ayeka, she's a very gentle person, and I would love to be her 
friend, but does she really want friends? As I said, she's been raised around 
servants who catered to her every whim. Does she want a friend or a servant?

    Maybe I'm reading too much into it. In all honesty, I don't love Ayeka, 
at least not in the way she wants. I'd like to be her friend, but she wants 
more, and I can't give her that.

    And then there's Ryoko. Ryoko is....well it's difficult to describe. 
She's too much sometimes. She frequently appears naked in front of me, 
usually in the bath, and has made no secret of her feelings. But she's very 
jealous. She gets incredibly defensive if a woman just looks at me. I 
remember what happened when we where all in Tokyo. Dad had suggested that a 
trip into the city would be fun. I remember we all stopped to eat and Ryoko 
thought some girls sitting at the table across from us looked me up and down. 
That girl went home crying.

    Plus there's the fact that she rarely if ever gives me room to breathe. 
When I wake up she's there floating above my bed, waiting for me to wake up. 
When I get home from school, she's there to greet me with this huge hug. 
Whenever I try to relax and take a bath, she suddenly appears in front of me, 
usually not wearing anything. Ryoko tries to seduce you instead of romance 
you. The sad thing is, I don't think she knows how to romance someone. It's 
not like she has much experience. She's been alive for over two thousand 
years, but most of that time was spent in a cave, or under mind control. So I 
can't blame her for not knowing how to do it properly. 

    But in another way, she already has used romance on me, but not in the 
way she expected. She was the presence in the cave, the one who made me feel 
comfortable and secure hen I was young. Turns out that while she was trapped 
there, she could project her astral-self out and watch the area around the 
cave. She literally watched me grow up.  She tried to comfort me when my 
mother died. That shows how gentle she is underneath her façade. But what 
have I done to deserve her love? I remember that time when Mayuka first 
appeared. I actually slapped her. The woman who tried to help me when my 
mother died, the woman who loved me, and I hit her. I remember how bad my 
hand was shaking after that.

    Good lord, how is it that she doesn't hate me after that? I hated myself 
enough. She's still as fanatical about gaining my affections as before. I 
just wish she'd show her gentle self more. I remember seeing her one night, 
sitting on the roof, staring up at the stars. I had come outside because I 
couldn't sleep, and hoped some fresh air would help. I walked out, and for 
some reason my gaze drifted to the roof, and there she was. She was 
silhouetted against the moon, staring upwards at the stars, I saw the little 
ball of fluff sitting next to her as Ryo-ohki. She reached down and scratched 
the little cabbit under the chin. I heard her laugh a bit as Ryo-ohki purred. 
The scene brought a smile to my face.

    But I didn't know for sure, until that night with Sasami. I remembered 
getting up one night because I thought I heard something. I took the 
Tenchi-ken from its place on my dresser, and headed downstairs, quietly as 
possible. When I reached the living room, I felt my eyes open in surprise. 
There was Ryoko, sitting on the couch, cradling a slightly shaking Sasami. I 
walked over to them quietly.

"Hi." I whispered. She looked up.

"Hi. She had a nightmare." She whispered back. I sat down next to her. 
Looking as she gently rocked the little princess back and forth. Sasami was 
whispering something to her, too low to hear, and Ryoko responding in kind. I 
heard the quiet conversation stop as Sasami finally fell asleep again. Ryoko 
continued to hold her gently in her arms, still rocking her back and forth. I 
wondered why she couldn't be like this more often. She seemed so unlike what 
we were used to in that moment. I wondered what the others would think if 
they saw this.

    I saw Sasami's breathing was starting to become regular now, and she was 
now in a gentle slumber. Ryoko turned to me and smiled. Her smile looked so 
beautiful. It was not the feral grin that we where used to, but a beautiful 
peaceful smile. I felt like my mouth was agape at the sight.

"Thanks for sitting with us Tenchi, but I think I can handle this." She said 
softly. I nodded wordlessly, and got up. My mind was already reeling at what 
I had saw. It was so rare that she showed us her other side. I walked to the 
door, and turned back. I saw Ryoko settle herself down in the couch, closing 
her eyes, and preparing for sleep, Sasami still cradled in her arms. I 
watched until they where both asleep, and walked over to put a blanket on 
them. It was as I stood over them, seeing them asleep, that I made my choice. 
I gently pushed a strand of cyan hair from the pirate's face, and looked down 
at her.

"Good night." I whispered softly. As I walked away, I wondered about the 
decision I had just made. I looked back at Ryoko and felt a smile come to my 
face. It was odd. I had chosen the pirate over the princess, the criminal 
over the royalty. Some might have found it strange, but not me. I laid down 
in bed, and began to think. How was I going to tell her? Tonight was 
obviously not the night. Perhaps tomorrow. But what about Ayeka?

    I hadn't even thought about Ayeka. She was going to hate this. I lay in 
silence for the next few minutes, thinking of what to do. I realized I had to 
face it like a man. Ayeka would be hurt, but I had no choice. The next 
morning I awoke, with a renewed vigor. I walked downstairs and saw Ayeka 
standing in the doorway, staring at the sight on the couch.

"Good morning Miss Ayeka." I said.

"Good morning Lord Tenchi." I winced slightly. I was not going to enjoy being 
called that for quite awhile. I never really had anyway, but now it was going 
to be painful. "Lord Tenchi..." I looked and saw she was motioning in to 
where Ryoko and Sasami lay, asleep on the couch, barely moved since last 
night. I felt another smile rise up. They looked so serene, lying there. 
Ayeka looked over at me with a confused look.

"Come on, let's let them sleep." Ayeka looked confused but followed me into 
the kitchen.

    When everyone was up, we all sat at the table, eating a breakfast of 
cereal. Sasami's sleeping in that morning led to it. I, Ayeka, Sasami, Ryoko, 
Mihoshi, Washu and Ryo-ohki sat around the table, idle chatter going all 
around. I looked over at Ryoko. Now was as good a time as ever.

"Ryoko?"

"Yeah Tenchi?" I looked at her, and felt my mouth go dry. I knew that I loved 
her, I felt it more and more with every passing second, but did my throat 
suddenly get so tight?

"I....I just wanted to say....Thanks for staying up with Sasami." Nice work 
Tenchi.

"Oh...thanks." She turned away and resumed her conversation with the little 
princess. I am such a coward. I was this close to telling her, but I froze 
up. Why did her gaze stop me like that? She looked so beautiful, that I felt 
myself stop completely. I looked down at my bowl, and felt some shame rise 
up. I looked over at her, and found myself staring. I was going to tell her, 
I would, but in a more private place. Away from everyone else. I would tell 
her when everything as perfect. At the dinner table surrounded by our friends 
wasn't perfect. Soon, very soon.

THE END.