Reality Check This story is yet another little ficlet I wrote when I should have been working on my Master's Project. It takes place after the events of "Mother's Day", which in its self takes place after "Ghost in the Machine". And if you want to start at the very beginning, read "Little Ryoko" first. Mini Chapter One Deep purple sparks blossomed into sprays of gold and orange against the night sky, wreathing trails of smoke in their wake. As soon as the colors faded away, a sharp pop heralded another display this time in reds and greens. "Yay!" Sasami giggled, waving an ignited sparkler around, creating lingering arcs of light in wide circles. Ryo-Ohki jumped at the sparks and batted at them with her paws, crying out her delight in soft meows. It was mid-summer now, and to escape the heat most of the Masaki household was gathered on the porch, enjoying ice cold lemonade and Yosho's pyrotechnic display. Only missing was Ayeka who had taken to seclusion as she came to terms with Tenchi and Ryoko's relationship. Even Washu had been coaxed out of her lab to participate, her hair glowing and changing hue under the colorful explosions. Washu smiled at Sasami's antics and took a long drink of tea. She shifted, trying to get more comfortable. She permanently wore her adult form now, as it seemed more appropriate. She was a mother after all. However, having more mass made sitting on the hard wooden porch less comfortable than it had been when she was lighter. Washu smirked as Sasami barely avoided singeing Mihoshi with the sparkler. Thank every deity that little Ryoko had never been near fireworks during her childhood. Disaster would be an understatement. Her developing powers had been enough on their own, thank you. Speaking of which, where was Ryoko anyway? She had been sitting by her only moments ago. Washu looked around and noticed Tenchi was missing as well. Those two. they were worse than honeymooners. A quick check of her mental link with her daughter allowed her to pinpoint Ryoko's current location. Washu got to her feet and walked over to Yosho as he set up the next rocket. Smiling at him, she changed its angle just before he lit the fuse. Yosho met her eyes with a mischievous grin. He knew exactly what she was up to and agreed completely. It was time for two certain youngsters to be social. He touched the glowing end of the puck to the fuse and stood by Washu to watch the show. The rocket whizzed towards the porch, eliciting a shocked scream from the spectators which turned into a sigh of relief as the slope of its trajectory carried the rocket up to the roof, where it exploded in a shower of sea foam green sparks. "Hey!" squawked an unhappy Ryoko from the other, hidden, slope of the roof. The people on the porch erupted into laughter. "Ha. Ha. Laugh it up," complained a charred Ryoko as she and Tenchi appeared, hand in hand, in front of Washu and Yosho. Washu reached over and rubbed a bit of soot off of Ryoko's cheek. "Ready to join us now?" "You could have just asked us, you know, like normal people," Ryoko stated in mild annoyance as she brushed more soot off of her teal and pink dress. " `Normal' ? " Washu snorted. "Yes, Tenchi could have been hurt," Ryoko said tightly, some of her old, bitter feelings towards her mother boiling to the surface of her mind. "You can't go around blowing things up around him." Washu recoiled a little, sensing a tiny flavor of Ryoko's feelings through the link. "I'm sorry," she apologized hastily, hurt that Ryoko was reacting this way. Yosho crossed his arms. "Consider it part of his training. Someday someone may surprise him with something more dangerous than stones," he intoned, referring to his habit of pelting Tenchi with small rocks to make him stay aware of his surroundings. Ryoko shrugged as if it didn't matter, but her eyes still flashed. She might be getting along with people better these days, but she still could not tolerate anyone endangering her Tenchi. Seeing this, Tenchi gently took her hand. "Let's just watch the fireworks, Okay? It's fun." Her expression softening, Ryoko nodded. She allowed Tenchi to lead her to the porch where they settled with Ryoko leaning against Tenchi's chest. Washu watched this interchange and wondered how Tenchi did it. That boy certainly had more going for him than the ability to conjure the lighthawk wings. Yosho laid a hand on Washu's shoulder and looked down on her. "Love changes everything, doesn't it?" he observed wisely. Washu nodded, her mouth twisting into an annoyed slash. Love had helped Ryoko begin to overcome her personal demons, but it was also consuming her. Washu never would have put Tenchi in danger, she had calculated the rocket's trajectory perfectly. Ryoko should have known that. Besides what else could she have done to get her daughter's attention? Ryoko was spending so much time with Tenchi, Washu hardly saw her anymore. Washu crossed her arms and scowled. Who could blame her for a little prank? In short, she was jealous. Seeing Washu's downswing in mood, Yosho gathered up handfuls of firecrackers, the kind that served only to make loud noise, and passed them around. Soon the yard was full of laughter and mini explosions as everyone set them off. Trying to shake off her mood, Washu made some quick alterations to her firecrackers and joined in the fun. Sasami giggled and lit the fuse of her firecracker. Before she could throw it down she noticed that Washu's firecrackers had somehow been taught to sing a naughty tune right before they went off. "Wow!" she giggled, forgetting what she was holding. "Sasami!" Ryoko shouted batting the cracker out of her hand just before it exploded. The blast caught Ryoko's hand instead, and she screeched as the small, but focused explosion burned her hand. Sasami stumbled backwards in shock, tears welling in her eyes as she feared for Ryoko's safety. Ryoko hissed and shook her hand in the air, trying to get the sting out. "Oh, geeze!" "I'm sorry Ryoko! You could have lost your hand!" Sasami wailed throwing her arms around Ryoko's waist. Her face was hidden, but the quivers in her blue pony-tails revealed her tears. "Hey there Kiddo, I'm okay. I'll take more than a little fire cracker to hurt me!" Ryoko said patting Sasami's head. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Washu. < Mom, I can't believe you.> Sasami pulled back and looked intently into Ryoko's yellow eyes. "Really?" Washu snapped waspishly across their link. Ryoko ignored Washu for the moment and smiled down at Sasami. "See?" she said, showing Sasami her intact hands. "Be careful okay?" "Okay!" Sasami said clearly, her earlier vibrancy returning. "I promise!" She selected a safer sparkler and was soon back to dashing about and chasing Ryo-Ohki. Ryoko returned her gaze to Washu. Washu crossed her arms, hating to be chastised by her own daughter, and the fact that Ryoko was right made even harder to bear. She frowned, but nodded her agreement. Ryoko relaxed. "Thanks. I don't want her to get hurt." Washu's annoyance was mediated by feelings of pride. Ryoko had a maternal capacity to her that few would ever guess. The depth of care and protection Ryoko unconsciously offered Sasami was heartwarming. And besides, Ryoko had just called her `Mom' during a fit of pique instead of reverting to `Washu'. It was hard to stay annoyed at someone she loved so dearly. Maybe they should spend more one-on-one time together. Washu slid an arm around Ryoko's shoulders. "What do you say to a drink?" Ryoko arched an eyebrow. "There's some sake here on the porch." "I was thinking more of a good glass of red wine and fresh oysters on the half shell." "Now?" Ryoko asked a little surprised. "Sure, why not? I think these firecrackers make you too nervous anyway," Washu said knowingly. Ryoko winced, sheepishly. "You're right. They remind me too much of. the past." "Let's go then." Washu nudged Ryoko with her hip and they started to amble off to the house. Ryoko looked back over her shoulder and made eye contact with Tenchi. He nodded with a smile and made shooing motions with his hands, letting her know he didn't mind her leaving him on such short notice. Washu caught the exchange and snickered darkly. "Getting permission from Tenchi?" she teased, the edge to her voice surprising even her. "No," Ryoko said with a tone of annoyance. "I was just making sure he didn't mind." "Oh, there's the difference," Washu said dryly. Mini Chapter Two The two women sat at a quiet table in a private lounge high atop a Science Academy building. The Penthouse's glass ceiling revealed a clear sky and the streaking lights of a meteor shower. The inside was decorated in muted tones of blue and green. Overstuffed chairs pushed right up to the glass tables and candlelight made it a place of peace and relaxation. Only the top professors and their guests had access here. It had been, of old, a regular hang out for Ryoko and Washu. Ryoko dreamily watched the falling stars as she sipped from her wineglass. "I always loved coming here. I remember now." Washu smiled quietly and nodded. "You did. If you hadn't been so in love with rocks, I might have thought you would be an astronomer." Ryoko tilted her head. "Hmmm. I think if my life had been more straightforward I might have been both," she said wistfully. Washu's lips angled downward as she picked up on her daughter's mood. "It's not too late for that. You know I want you to go back to school," she said her earnestness making her crab- leg-like bangs quiver a little. "So remind me, how do they position this building in order to catch all of the really neat atmospheric effects?" Ryoko asked idly, clearly avoiding the subject at hand. Washu selected an oyster from the silver serving plate. "You know as well as I do that they can control the cloud cover, and that there are always interesting atmospheric effects going on around here. It's the Astronomy Department's planet, after all." "Oh, right." Ryoko shrugged and took an oyster as well. She placed the shell to her lips, tilted it back, and swallowed the slick muscle in one gulp, smacking her lips as it slid down her throat. "Hey, I know! Let's do some oyster shots!" Washu refilled their glasses with wine and shook her head. A drunken Ryoko would be even harder to talk to. "And to think the last time I brought you here you were only interested in the banana split sundaes." Ryoko's eye's sparkled. "That sounds really good!" She motioned to a waiter. Washu turned pale green. "Ice cream and oysters? Ugh, you can't be serious." "Ice cream, oysters, and Merlot!" Ryoko said with a wink. She turned to the waiter. "One banana split sundae please!" She slid an eye over to her grossed-out mother. "With two spoons." Washu folded her hands and watched Ryoko inhale the ice cream. For safety's sake she had asked the waiter to remove the remaining oysters and wine. A steaming cup of coffee sat untouched by her right elbow. She was busy watching her present daughter and an overlay from the past dance before her eyes. .. A teenaged Ryoko sat uncomfortably in her chair, hers eyes puffy and red from recent tears, despite her attempts to act like nothing was wrong. Her fork toyed listlessly with her dinner, and she was ignoring the spectacular comet tracing across the sky above their heads. Washu looked across the table at her daughter with true concern. "Ryoko, are you okay?" Ryoko nodded, pushing a vegetable around her plate. "Sweetie, something happened in the cave didn't it?" Ryoko looked up in surprise. She brushed the locks of hair that usually hung before her ears behind them. "Who told you?" she asked quietly. "Your body did. You usually are happy after we explore the caves. You are not happy now. So, as the greatest scientific genius." ".in the universe, you can only make a logical guess." Ryoko finished with a tired smile. "Mom. You need a new line." Washu smiled at her daughter's attempt to change the topic. "Won't you tell me what happened, my little Ryoko?" Ryoko hunched her shoulders and looked down at the table. "I got lost. I wasn't paying attention. I ended up alone in the `Fat Man's Misery' part of the cave." Washu nodded. She hated that part of the cave herself. It was very deep within the caverns, a tight, wavy fissure cut into the rock by an ancient trickle of water. There were body measurement rules about who could and could not safely fit through that section of the trail. Even for people as lithe as she and Ryoko it was uncomfortably narrow. "But you weren't gone very long. I hardly noticed you had left us." "I wanted to check out a calcite formation, to see if it had changed since we had last been by it." Ryoko paused and gulped. Washu waited patiently. Ryoko was clearly working herself up to tell the whole story. "So I phased through the rock, trying to take a short cut," Ryoko said softly, looking up at Washu expecting a reprimand. She had just started to learn about that ability and wasn't supposed to do it unsupervised. Washu's lips tightened, but she chose her words carefully. Any scolding now would just silence Ryoko. "Well, since you sneak and do it at home, I can see why you would do it at the cave also," she said calmly trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. Ryoko smiled weakly. It figured that Washu knew about that. "Anyway. I got lost in the rock. It - it went on and on forever. I couldn't see, and I couldn't breathe," Ryoko's voice tremored with the remembered fear. "It took me a little while to remember that I didn't need to breathe if I didn't want to. I finally figured out which way to go and found the trail again. I was just behind you guys." Washu swallowed thickly. Ryoko would have died if she had been dependent on oxygen. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the edge of the table. Thank goodness Ryoko had been designed otherwise. Washu motioned to the waiter. She murmured something to him and looked at Ryoko sternly. "So you can see why I might make some simple requests of you?" she asked grimly. Ryoko let out a puff of air and nodded, sensing what was coming next. "It's always pushing the limits with you, Ryoko. I do not make rules to inconvenience you. I do it to keep you safe." Washu stretched out her fingers and her holographic laptop appeared under them. She began to type. "Since you cannot follow the rules, I have inhibited your teleportation ability. I will only re-engage it when we are training together. Understood?" "Yes, mother," Ryoko said meekly. "And you are grounded for two weeks. That means no class trip to Jurai this weekend." Ryoko groaned, but wisely stayed silent. Washu arched a brow. "I don't want to hear it. You brought this on yourself." The waiter unobtrusively set a banana split between he two of them and deftly handed each a spoon. Washu took the first bite. "I'm glad you are okay my little Ryoko," Washu said around a mouthful of hot fudge. She was never one to linger over an infraction once punishment had been dealt. This most important thing was Ryoko's well being. Ryoko relaxed and took up her own spoon. There were few ills that ice cream couldn't cure.. Letting the memory of the past fade away, Washu watched her grown daughter eating the ice cream with a child-like gusto. She smiled, happy Ryoko had somehow made it to adulthood in one piece despite her many difficulties. She retrieved the spare spoon and licked off the strawberry syrup coating its bowl. Maybe her jealousy wasn't fair. Of course it wasn't. Washu regarded her spoon thoughtfully. She just wanted Ryoko to realize her full potential. She had so many dreams for her. And as a mom, she had a duty to help Ryoko succeed. As she carefully scooped up some ice cram she asked a casual question. "So are you going to ignore my statement about school?" Ryoko swallowed and waved her spoon around. "School. Can you see me in a school? I sure as hell can't." "Why not? You are more than smart enough for the Academy. Waaaay more," Washu said, deftly beating Ryoko to the last maraschino cherry. "Yeah, well, I may have the brains, but I've forgotten so much that I used to know," Ryoko turned her eyes back to the shooting stars, longing to lose herself amongst their streaking light. "I wouldn't know where to start in school." "You are a free woman now. You can do what ever you want with your life," Washu stated firmly, knowing Ryoko was really referring to how much her life had been interrupted and changed by Kagato. "But what am I good for now? Really?" Ryoko sighed. "I don't have a lot of ambitions anymore. I just want to be happy." Washu nodded. "What makes you happy?" A dreamy smile drifted across Ryoko's lips. "Tenchi." Washu chuckled uncomfortably. "I knew that. But what else?" Ryoko frowned. "I don't need anything else." Washu frowned back. "So you are just going to be Tenchi's wife? That's it?!" she asked incredulously. "Hold your horses. Who said anything about getting married? And if we did, what's wrong with being Tenchi's wife?" Ryoko growled. Washu placed her palms flat against the table and leaned forward. "I'll tell you what's wrong with it!" Washu roared. "I gave you too much intelligence, attitude and talents for you to throw it all away by becoming a house wife!" "Well I'm not you! I don't want to be "The Universe's Greatest" ANYTHING! Stop trying to run my life!" Ryoko roared back. They both started at each other, their faces flushed with pique. Then, almost at the same time, the corners of their mouths began to twitch. Soon they were both leaning back in their chairs laughing with abandon. "Did - did we just have a normal `mother/daughter' argument?" Ryoko wheezed. Washu nodded happily. "Yes we did. That has been brewing for weeks. Couldn't you feel it coming? Oh, but I feel better now it's over," she said holding her aching side. "If you are wondering whether or not you were annoying the hell out of me, then the answer would have to be yes," Ryoko said tartly, sending the two of them back into gales of laughter. Washu basked in the normalcy of it all. During her darkest hours, suspend in a crystal prison, Washu had given up hope of being with her daughter ever again. Lately they had been learning to love each other again. And now, they were feeling secure enough to have a little fight. This was real. A real, human relationship with her daughter. Washu whispered lovingly into Ryoko's mind. Ryoko thought back warningly. Washu pressed on. <. . .> Ryoko was silent, but a feeling of honest consideration flavored her side of the mental connection. Washu reached across the table and took Ryoko's hand. Ryoko grinned with a wryness that she felt to the tips of her toes. She had been dependant on Kagato for everything, even for her very life. To be independent was new. It was scary. And the most annoying thing was that Washu was right. Again. She squeezed Washu's hand back. "I'll try," she said slowly, not wanting to make a commitment to any course of action just yet. Washu nodded and closed down her side of the link and busied herself with the check. Ryoko was still getting used to her freedom. Being free for such a short time was only a blink in the scheme of Ryoko's long torments. She needed time to adjust. But one thing was for certain, Washu needed to provide guidance not control. Ryoko needed to find her way on her own, even if Washu felt certain she knew what was best for her daughter. Yes, being a mother was wonderful, but it was difficult too.