Disclaimer: "Tenchi Muyo" and its characters are owned by Pioneer. I am only
borrowing them.
Writing this story brings me no monitary benefit, and is written purely for
enjoyment.

Tenchi's Choice

Tenchi strolled lazily down the never-ending shrine steps with his face turned
up to warm spring sun and his bokken hanging clasped in his hand. A cool breeze
swirled by causing the shadows of the leaves of the tall trees that lined the 
steps to
sway on his face; the cherryblossoms danced like like fairies around his head.
Tenchi stopped walking when he finally reached the trodden dirt path that led
to his house at the bottom of the steps. Straightening his practice clothes,
the usual
blue jeans and blue long sleeved shirt, he released a peaceful sigh. It's
good to be home
again, he thought contentedly, a happy smile upon his face.
The smile turned to a large frown when he heard the explosion and the string

of profanity that followed, echo across the forest and up into the
surrounding mountains.
"Then again," he sighed.

"How dare you, you..."
"You what, Princess?" asked the spiky-haired woman to the red faced girl

standing two feet in front of her.
"You vile monster!" yelled the girl. "I do not see why Lord Tenchi
allows you
to stay in this house." Her voice gradually lessened in volume, but not in
ferocity. "You
blow it up everyday. It is obvious that controlling your temper is something
you have
a problem with, but I , being a princess, do not.I stay as calm as a
cucumber." She then
let out a peel of wicked, condescending laughter, her pale-pink face turned
up away from
the other girl.
The cyan-haired woman responded, "That's why Tenchi loves me and not
you.
You show no emotion."
"How dare you!!" The princess' face quickly changed from pink to an
outraged
purple and a vein began pulsing on her right temple. Hands clenched by her
sides, she
gnashed between clenched teeth, "Lord Tenchi could never love you. How
dare you
insinuate that he would sink so low as to care for you?"
"Ayeka, you snobby, insensitive, prissy-."
"I will teach you to insult a member of the Juraian  Royal Family,
Ryoko!" With
that, little one-foot-long logs appeared around the princess. She looked up
at Ryoko
who now stood four feet taller than her. The red spheres that had formed in
her hands
didn't seem to bother Ayeka.
The col that sprung up played with the hem of  Ayeka's ankle-length, beige

kimono and caused the long tail of the purple ribbon tied around her waist
to sway.
The tails of Ryoko's white slitted dress billowed around her thighs
revealing her red
leggings.
Ayeka raised her arms; the mini logs sparked with electricity.
Ryoko held her hand out in front of her. The tiny spheres combined into one
large  mass of writhing, pent-up energy the size of a volleyball.
Both girls released their energy...

BOOOOOOM!!!!!

Tenchi Masaki sprinted to the wooden gates at the front of the Masaki
residence
and saw black smoke drifting out of the courtyard in the front yard. He ran
through the
open gate then stopped mid-step. His already large, almond-shaped eyes grew
even
larger in his beige-yellow face; his jaw hung slack.
The once beautiful front yard was gone. The flourishing flower garden was
now
a part of the scorched ground. The trees were now charred and blackened
stumps. The
once springy grass drifted up as ash when Tenchi slowly put his foot down.
Coal-black
smoke rose from everything into the silent spring sky, a bleak testament to
the
destruction thae took place.
Amazingly, the only things untouched by the released energies were the two
girls in the midst of the destruction. As if sensing his presence, both
girls turned to look
at Tenchi. Tenchi looked at both girls, first one then the other. His gaze
fell first on
Ayeka. The purple-haired princess's red eyes glowed with fierce anger.
"Lord Tenchi!"
she yelled. "I demand that this destructive monster be chastised for what
she has done to
your property!"
His eyes slowly moved to Ryoko who levitated four feet above the ground and
held her head down. "Ryoko." Because of her sensitive hearing, given to
her by her
overly long ears, Ryoko was able to pick up the whispered word. She heard
the hurt and
disappointment clearly.
A cold wind plucked at her blue spikes. she said in her usually husky voice,
her
head still down, "I'm sorry, Tenchi." Her sentence was heard, carried
to the others by
the breeze, as she faded into the air.

Tenchi collapsed onto his bed with a weary sigh. After the incident in the
front
yard this afternoon, his mood had gone downhill. First, he had to listen to
Ayeka's
complaints about how disgraceful Ryoko is and how he should send her away.
Then
there was the fact that Ryoko hadn't come home yet.
'So ends another exciting day in the life of Tenchi Masaki' he thought
sarcastically. 'Man! Why do those two have to fight so much?'
'They're fighting for your affections,' answered his wiser self. 'If
you had only
chosen one of them they wouldn't fight.'
'But I can't choose. I can't hurt them.'
'As-long-as you remain indecisive, you'll always hurt them,' his other
self yelled.
'I don't understand them. Why do they have to fight over me? Ayeka's
the First
Crowned Princess of Planet Jurai. She'll become the next empress.  And
Ryoko's a rude,
lazy, surly-mouthed space pirate. The only reason she's here and not out
traveling the
universe is because she's a Class A felon. She's strong and powerful.
Why would either
of them want me?'
Just then , there was a knock on his door. "Come in."
The door opened and in stepped...
Ryoko?!
'Ryoko kncking...She never knocks. She usually just materializes with her
arms
around me. "Ah-what's wrong , Ryoko?" Tenchi sat up.
Ryoko hung her head. "Tenchi, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for us,
Ayeka
and I, to cause that much damage. I know how disappointed you mst be in
me..." Her
voice trailed off.
'Disappointed?' "I'm not disappointed, Ryoko."
Her head jerked up. "You're not?! But, I thought-."
"No way. That's exactly what I expect from you two," he smiled.
'Unfortunately.'
That was when he noticed the tears that were running down her lovely face
and
his heart lurched in his chest. 'Well, you hurt her,' his sarcastic,
wiser self pointed out.
"Ryoko," Tenchi whispered. He scrambled off his bed and over to the open
door where
she still stood. Gently, he turned her face to him, for she had turned her
head away,
ashamed of her tears.
"Tenchi, I won't ever fight with Ayeka again. I promise."
"Ryoko-."
"You might not have been disappointed," she interrupted, "but you were
hurt.
I heard it in your voice. I have come to the realization that our fighting
hurts you-."
Tenchi interjected, his voice full of sadness, "Yes, it does."
"And because it does," she continued, "I'll try not to get Ayeka
mad."
Tenchi was shocked. Ryoko not get Ayeka mad. Unbelievable. That was the
one thing she loved to do.
Silence reigned for a moment. Whan Ryoko realized that Tenchi was not going
to say anything, she started to exit his room, but Tenchi reached out to
stop her.
"Thank you, Ryoko." She looked into his chestnut eyes and he into her
golden, slitted
orbs. She smiled.
'She has a beautiful smile...WHAT AM I THINKING?! I can't think like
that.
I can't forsake Ayeka, nor could I forsake Ryoko.' He dropped his hand
as fast as if he
had touched a scalding iron. Raising the other to scratch the back of his
head, he forced
a chuckle. "Hehe. Thanks. I'll make sure to tell Ayeka to no get you
mad. Hehe.
Good night, Ryoko."
"Good night, Tenchi."
Tenchi heaved a sigh of relief when Ryoko faded out of sight.

Tenchi looked up from the open notebook he was writing in. He was seated at
his
desk where he had an Advanced Mathematics textbook open. On the page in his
notebook were numerous formulae and equations. For the past thirty minutes,
Tenchi had
been stuck on a problem dealing the Law of Cosines and his mind was
beginning to
wonder; it wondered to his home life.
Things were a lot more peaceful since Ryoko had made her promise to him that

night a month ago. With a lot of convincing [begging], he got Ayeka to
promise him
that she wouldn't try to get "that space demon" mad; so far, both
girls have kept their
promises.
Tenchi was glad for the promise. It allowed him to get to know the girls
better
-well, Ryoko anyway- without incurring the wrath of the other. Ayeka was
still reserved
about him getting to know her, despite the fact that she has been living
under his roof
for over two years. 'It must be a princess thing.'
Unlike Ayeka, Ryoko opened up completely to Tenchi. She showed him who
she really was, and who she really was was someone completely different than
he had
first imagined. He learned that her crude, uncaring manner was a false guise
she wore
to protect herself. 'One way of protection for space pirates.' The real
Ryoko was
caring and sensitive and kind. She had a love for life surpassed only by the
love she
had for her friends.
What surprised Tenchi the most was that he liked being with her. With Ryoko,

he had the most fun he ever had in his life, or he would have the most
peaceful moments
when they watched the stars.
He remembered one night a few days after Ryoko's visit. He lay on his back
on
the roof. Ryoko sat with her arms wrapped around her knees. It was a quiet,
moonlit
night with barely a whisper of wind and not a cloud in the sky. "I love
the stars." Tenchi
turned his face. Her voice sounded so wistful, as if she missed being among
them. And
Tenchi never felt so close to her as he did then. Then, he wished she would
never leave;
that she would be content to stay here on Earth with him.
"No," Tenchi whispered. "I can't forsake Ayeka."
'Come on, Tenchi.'
'I can't hurt them.'
'No matter what you do, they'll be hurt. If you choose, someone will be
hurt, and,
if you don't, they'll go on trying to win your love for as-long-as
they're here. You must
know that this situation is hurting them already. Would you sacrifice
everyone's
happiness?'
'It wouldn't be fair for two of us to be happy while one remains sad.'

'It wouldn't be fair to have both of them keep their lives on hold for
you to
decide.'
'...'
'You've already chosen. Just tell them who.'
Tenchi looked down at the picture he had unconsciously drawn while lost in
thought. On his paper were a pair of large , square-shaped eyes that were
pointed at
the ends. The pupils were not human pupils. They were slitted vertically,
like a cat's.
They were Ryoko's eyes.
Tenchi looked out his window. 'It's dark out. I know where to find
her.'

Tenchi stepped over the shingle's of the slanted roof as quietly as he
could to
the beauty looking up into the night sky. The pale moon's rays bathed her
face in
light and shadow; it turned her spiky, cyan mane a soft, glittery sliver.
'She really is beautiful.'
Tenchi sat down beside Ryoko and covered her hand with his. He smiled at her

astonished expression; then he lifted his face to the sky.

THE END

Author's Notes: This was my first fanfic. It was edited by my english
teacher, so I know it's
written properly. All I need from  you, dear readers, are questions and
comments. Constructive
criticism is welcome, but please, do not use derogatory words, such as:
sucks, trash, stupid. I would
never write that about someone's piece, so I ask you to show some curtisy.
Please...I have a very
fragile psyche. :-)

Thsnk you.