Introduction: Hey all. Well I was reading this through
the other day and noticed something. Yes it IS one of
the best fan fics I have written in my entire life but
I am about to make it better. Much better. I left out
a few details and now I’ll add them in. Sort of like
deleted scenes in a way. -chuckles- Well for what I am
about to do is probably draw this out into a series if
you will. It all depends on how much more I add to
this story... I guess this also means I’m putting all
other fan fics to a halt for now. Well anyways let’s
get going.

The Goddess War

        The sounds of soldiers shouting and in the far off
distance the sounds of explosions where heard from
Tenchi’s tent. It had been over a year since this war
had started and he could tell that it was going to be
a long time before it would end. He didn’t really wish
to participate in this whole thing for fear of losing
friends and family. He guessed that this might have
been what the other people must have been thinking
when it all started. But if people didn’t fight back
everything they know would be gone by now.
        He remembered that about two months after the Yuzuha
accident was when Tokimi had attacked Earth and Jurai
with her army of darkness. Luckily no one from the
Tenchi group got killed in her first attack and so
they all started this campaign of war together. That’s
how it all started. He and Ryoko where both the more
hesitant to fight back. Ryoko was mainly afraid to
lose all that she had so longed for. A home, family
and friends. Tenchi was afraid about the same thing
mostly.
        But they had gathered up their things and got on
Yukanojo. Tenchi had to leave his daughter Mayuka back
on Earth with his dad and grandpa. He hated the idea
of missing out on watching his only daughter growing
up. He wasn’t still used to the idea of being a father
but his internal instincts had kicked in somewhere
along the line. Of course Mayuka was only two months
old when he left her. Now the girl would be a year
old. He must have already missed out on her first
word. He now would never know how that would feel.
        Once they had reached Jurai they had found out that
Azusa was in critical condition and so Masaki and
Funaho where to take the throne of Jurai until the
Emperor had completely healed. Ayeka was upset at that
too as one could imagine. She was afraid that her dad
would die. His condition was the type where you could
barely tell if one would live or die. The doctors,
though, where pretty confident that Azusa would heal.
        Tenchi had hated this war from the start, but he knew
that it had to be done. If they had just let Tokimi
continue out her plan that the whole universe would
have been gone by now. “She has to be stopped.” he
heard Washu say when the war had started. She was
right to.
        Tenchi sighed and he walked out of his tent. He
looked around at his troops. They where all preparing
for the battle to come. Everyone had there own troops.
Mihoshi and Kiyone though decided to put their troops
together. That may have been a smart decision. Washu,
though, was the doctor for Tenchi’s base camp and
Ryoko’s small army had fallen by an ambush and she was
captured. That was about a month ago now. Tenchi
blamed himself for it. Everyone told him that he
wasn’t at fault. But he still wouldn’t listen.
        He and Ryoko had worked together to try and destroy
one of the larger enemy units with both of their
troops, but they where unsuccessful. He saw one of the
leaders of the enemy unit’s come out of nowhere and
began to attack Ryoko.
        She was holding her own until he surprised her with
an energy rifle. He rammed the butt of the gun on
Ryoko’s head and she fell in a heap. He picked her up
and ran off with blinding speed. “Ryoko!” Tenchi
shouted as he ran after the large man. But after two
seconds of chasing the man had disappeared in the
crowed of battling soldiers.
        Tenchi had decided to go get her back. It took them a
while to find out where she was though. Everyone
thought it to be crazy. They all thought that they had
killed her a long time ago. Tenchi and Washu weren’t
about to believe that yet. Tenchi knew that Ryoko was
a strong woman and wouldn’t die with out a fight.
Washu knew the same thing, but in her case this was
her daughter and when one would label it they would
call it being in denial. She didn’t give into that
crap though. Tenchi made his way to the radio station
and grabbed the microphone for the intercoms that were
set up all over the camp.
        He clicked down on the button and began to talk.
“Listen up everyone.” He stopped trying to find the
right words for announcement. “You all have your
orders. One half that I have selected will come with
me on an attempt to rescue Ryoko. The other half shall
remain here and keep a look out for our enemy.” He
heard scattered whispering through out the camp.
Perhaps had something to do with him just wanting his
“girlfriend” back. He swore he heard someone say he
was suicidal. He thought for a moment then said, “If
we are successful we shall have a celebration.” thus
ending his announcement. He then heard cheering and
rooting spread across the camp. He knew that would
satisfy the people.

        It was a dim and damp room. It was big enough for one
prisoner but they had been known to stick two or three
in one room. Ryoko laid sprawled out on a wet thin
sheet in the middle of the room. She was very weak and
beaten. She had large bruises and open wounds. She was
smudged with dirt and grime. They forced her to do
labor and a few times they tried to get information
from her, blind folding her in the process. Most of
the time anyways. She wouldn’t tell them a thing and
for that they would torture her. The pain was so
intense that she just wished they would kill her.
        She heard footsteps echo through the hall. She tried
to get into a sitting position but was too weak to get
up. The echoing footsteps stopped once they reached
her small cell. She heard a small female voice make
struggling noises. The door opened up and a blinding
light filled the room causing Ryoko to shield her
eyes. “Get in there!” The guard ordered as he pushed
the girl in. He slammed the door shut and locked it.
Ryoko heard the footsteps fade away.
        She heard the girl, who was huddled in a corner,
crying softly. Ryoko slowly opened her eyes and tried
to look at the girl. She once again tried to get into
a sitting position but collapsed with a groan. There
was no way she would be able to sit up. Not in the
condition she was in let alone get a good look at the
girl.
        The girl startled and backed herself as far as she
could go into the corner. “W-who are y-you?” she asked
in a scared manner. Ryoko coughed loudly in reply. She
then took in a deep breath. “My name is Ryoko.” she
said in a hoarse voice. The girl seemed to have
settled down some when she found out that the woman
was a victim, like herself instead of some wild beast.
“My name is Rinoa.” she said quietly.
        Once Rinoa’s eyes adjusted to the darkness she could
barely make out Ryoko’s features. The spiky yet damp
nature of her cyan hair. Her slender body which was so
bruised and mangled she couldn’t tell if the woman
would live much longer. She moved over to the woman
and tore off a piece of cloth from her long sleeve.
She then wiped some of the dirt off of Ryoko’s face.
        Ryoko just allowed the girl to wipe the stuff off of
her face. She hadn’t been around someone so kind
hearted and gentle for a long time. Ryoko would have
started to cry but was way to tired to. Besides that
she didn’t know if she even had any tears left to
shed. She had cried off and on constantly for the past
month.
        As the girl proceeded to do her best to clean Ryoko
up Ryoko began to remember the beginning days of this
hell. She was in the same cell the whole time she was
there. She remembered that she had to cry herself to
sleep at times. They would make her go for days
without food. Then at times, for just the hell of it,
they would torture her, which would consist of
beatings and at one point something that most woman
would usually experience in a prison camp like the one
she was in. Rape. (No I will not go into detail. I
wouldn’t even if I wanted to, it’s just not right.)
She didn’t really wish to remember that either.
        “Tenchi....” Ryoko said quietly. Rinoa stopped what
she was doing and looked at the woman. “What did you
say?” she asked. She got no reply. She looked down and
noticed that Ryoko had fallen asleep. For the first
time in two days even. Rinoa thought that the woman
must have been exhausted, tired and pretty well to the
point where death sounded good. She just hoped that
whatever happened it wouldn’t be any suicidal attempts
or any murders in that case.

        A day had passed by as the small army had been
traveling. It was about a three day trip by foot.
Tenchi wanted to surprise the enemy instead of flying
in with planes and driving up in giant tanks. Tenchi’s
mind had been focused on rescuing Ryoko the whole time
too. He just couldn’t bear the thought of going out to
try to save her and get her back just to find out that
Ryoko was dead. He didn’t quiet understand the
emotions that had been swelling up inside of himself
when it involved Ryoko. He couldn’t explain all what
he was feeling either. It was just there. “Mihoshi and
Kiyone’s troops are approaching!” a soldier shouted
out, interrupting the prince’s train of thought.
        Tenchi rushed up to the front line of the small army
and smiled at the sight of his old friends. “What are
you guys doing here?” he asked once they reached his
position. Kiyone put her right hand on her hip and
brushed some of her bangs out of her eyes. “We want to
help.” she answered.
        Tenchi was surprised at what Kiyone had said. She was
the one that said that Ryoko would be dead. “But I
thought, --” he started but was interrupted by Kiyone.
“I might be wrong...” she said quietly. She had
regretted ever suggesting such a thing. She knew
better than to think of something like. Ryoko was a
strong woman and not even the Galaxy Police could
bring her down.

        It was night fall and the army had stopped to set up
camp. Tenchi, Mihoshi and Kiyone where in the command
tent trying to figure out a way to catch the enemy off
guard. “You guys keep the enemy busy while I break in
and get Ryoko out.” Tenchi said firmly. The girls
nodded. “Go on now. Get some rest.” Tenchi said
quietly. Mihoshi left and Kiyone began to follow.
        She looked over her shoulder just before she exited
the tent and saw Tenchi leaning over the table with
his left hand holding him up. He had his right hand
covering his face. He looked sad and yet tired at the
same time standing there like that. Kiyone turned
around and walked back over to Tenchi. She placed a
hand on his shoulder. “Hey, maybe you should get some
rest too, Tenchi.” she said quietly. He shook his
head. “I haven’t been able to sleep well since Ryoko
was captured.” he admitted.
        Tenchi had figured it out. Why he was feeling the
things he felt when he thought about losing Ryoko, the
thought of her being hurt and alone. It was pure and
simple now that he thought of it. He loved her, there
was no other explanation. He thought about being with
her like that before but disregarded it. He thought
that it might as well never happen because he didn’t
wish to hurt the other girls.
        Kiyone frowned at what he had said. She knew he was a
strong person but even he had a weakness or two and
she had just realized this. She patted him on the
shoulder and gave a small smile. “You really like her,
don’t you?” she asked. Tenchi gave a small sigh. He
didn’t answer Kiyone’s question. She understood why
too. “You get some rest.” she said as she turned
around and left him alone in the tent.

        Rinoa’s and Ryoko’s small slop of a meal had arrived
a half an hour ago. But Ryoko refused to eat it. She
wanted out but she knew the only way that would happen
was if someone came along and busted the door down and
let her out. She thought that  would never happen
though. She gave up hope on Tenchi or any of the
others ever coming along and busting her out. She
figured that they gave up hope that she might still be
alive.
        Ryoko hadn’t even bothered to look at Rinoa and
seeing what the little girl looked like. All she knew
was that the girl was an innocent bystander. “So, how
did you end up here?” Ryoko asked finally. Rinoa
looked up at Ryoko from her bowl of “food” and sighed.
“My father was a soldier and he was killed in battle.
My mother was killed when some enemy soldiers
destroyed my home village.” she stopped. Her voice was
breaking.
        Ryoko bowed her head down. She felt sorry for the
girl. She was all alone with out a friend or a family.
“So the soldiers thought I could be used for labor
purposes.” she said ending her story. Ryoko mustered
up enough strength to turn and face the girl for the
first time.
        Rinoa had on a torn up Juraian commoners kamono. She
couldn’t make out the exact hair colour but it seemed
to be a dark red. Her hair was long and went down to
the middle of her back. She had round ember eyes and
she looked to be about 12 years old. This made Ryoko
upset. This girl had barely a chance to grow up with a
normal life before it was ripped away from her.
        “I’m sorry about your parents.” Ryoko said. This was
no life for a girl like Rinoa. A thought snapped into
her mind. Maybe she could find a way to get her out of
here. She could also draw out a map so she can get to
Tenchi’s camp. Then the girl will be safe and Ryoko
can get rescued! Ryoko couldn’t used her powers to get
her out. There was some dampening field cutting off
her powers from her gems. Hence why she couldn’t fight
her captives back very well.
        She didn’t dare say any of this yet. She would wait
until she could see if it was possible. She looked
down at her tin bowl that was filled with slop and
back up to Rinoa. Since the gems gave her all the
acquired needs for food and drink she didn’t need to
eat it. She gave a weak smile and pushed the bowl to
Rinoa. “Hungry?” she asked. Rinoa nodded as her
stomach gave a small growl. “Are you sure, Miss
Ryoko?” she asked politely.
        Ryoko nodded and Rinoa took the slop and began to eat
it slowly. The stuff tasted nasty but it was food and
she needed it to survive. Ryoko leaned back on the
wall and looked up to the ceiling. “I wonder how the
others are.” she said out loud. Rinoa stopped eating
and looked at the space pirate. “Others?” she asked.
Ryoko gave a small smile. “My family.” she said.

        It was in the middle of the night now. Tenchi was
asleep in a small single man tent. He was sweating
some and was stirring around in his sleep. He was
having a nightmare. He was walking through the halls
of what seemed to be a prison. He had his sword
ignited and at the ready.
        After a few minutes of wandering the hall ways he
found an open cell. He slowly made his way to it. He
didn’t want to walk but run, but for some reason he
couldn’t run. It was like moving in slow motion. When
he finally did get to the door he peered into the
room.
        Lying on the hard metal floor was a woman. Tenchi’s
heart began to beat once he realized it was Ryoko. She
was dead, a large open gash on her stomach. He dropped
his sword and fell to his knees. He shook his head as
he felt a sinking feeling creep over him. He clenched
his fists together as tears slowly swelled up in his
eyes. He then took a deep breath and began to shout
out Ryoko’s name.
        “RYOKO!” Tenchi shouted out as he snapped wide awake.
He was sitting up now and panting for breath. He wiped
his hand over his face and felt the wetness from his
sweat. He then took in a deep breath to steady
himself. He was afraid... of losing her. He hadn’t
even told her how he felt about her yet either. He
just hoped that there was still a chance.

        The three days of traveling passed by rather slowly.
The large fort came into view as the army marched on.
He felt the rage building up inside of himself yet he
felt a sort of fear build up too. Ever since he had
that dream he just couldn’t help but be afraid of
finding Ryoko dead.  “I’m coming, Ryoko.” Tenchi said.
He gripped Tenchi-ken tightly and made the brilliant
blue blade appear, and it shined brightly and it
seemed to pulsate almost along with his energy. He was
ready for this. He would fight to the death if
necessary to get Ryoko out of her prison.
        The enemy soldiers began to charge his troops. “Keep
them busy!” He shouted out. He bolted for the entry of
the fort. He knocked down anyone who apposed him with
one hard blow. He was angry enough to destroy the
whole fort by himself.
        Once he reached the huge double doors he tried to
push them open. They were locked. He stepped back from
the doors a few feet. He put his left hand up and a
green energy ball formed from his Jurai powers. He
released it and it sailed right into one of the doors.
There was a small explosion and when the smoke cleared
Tenchi saw a large hole in the door.
        He ran through the hole and went down the well lit
halls. The halls themselves where better looking than
the cells. “Ryoko?! Can you hear me?!” he shouted out
as he went down one hall full of prison cells. There
was no reply. He had only hoped that he wasn’t to late
to save her. He ran through the building until he
found another hall full of cells. In this hall there
where three guards standing at attention. Once they
noticed Tenchi they charged him.
        He took a deep breath and drove the blade of the
Tenchi-Ken through the chest of one man as he  neared
Tenchi. He pulled the blade out and the guard fell to
the floor in a heap. Another guard advanced him. The
man slashed his energy sword at Tenchi’s midsection.
Tenchi blocked with ease and swung his sword at the
guards midsection. He connected and the man was sliced
in two. The other soldier didn’t dare mess with
Tenchi. He saw the anger in Tenchi’s eyes and got
scared. He dropped his weapon that looked like a
battle ax and ran for dear sweet life. Tenchi took a
deep breath and then ran down the hall shouting out
Ryoko’s name once again. He had only hoped that Ryoko
could hear him.

        Ryoko and Rinoa did hear Tenchi calling out for
Ryoko. “Tenchi?..” Ryoko whispered. Ryoko was sprawled
out on her stomach again sporting fresh new wounds and
bruises. At first Ryoko thought she might be hearing
things and then she heard Rinoa. “In here!” Rinoa
shouted out loud enough for him to hear, hopefully.
Ryoko’s heart might have jumped with joy or in pain
from all the injuries. She couldn’t tell. It was hard
enough to just think none the less tell what was what.
        Tenchi did here Rinoa. He ran up to the last jail
cell and pounded on the door. “Ryoko?” he shouted.
“Ryoko’s hurt pretty bad and can’t speak!” Rinoa
shouted back. Rinoa then saw a blue blade puncture the
door. He was trying to get in. Once Tenchi slid his
sword down the door where he could open it he pulled
Tenchi-Ken out of it’s hard rusty metal. The door
busted open and the blinding light entered the room.
Rinoa shielded her eyes and Ryoko’s as Tenchi appeared
in the door way. Rinoa was glad that someone had
finally come to get her and Ryoko. Even though she
didn’t know the woman much she felt like there was
something about the woman that made her feel safe
around Ryoko. She couldn’t put her finger on it
though.
        He looked around the small cell and was in shock. He
couldn’t believe how these people where treating the
prisoners. The walls seemed to be rusted over and it
looked like moss was literally growing on them. It was
a horrible sight. He then looked down to Rinoa and
then Ryoko. He was in even more shock. The girl had
some of her own bruises and wounds, but they weren’t
as bad as Ryoko’s where. He dropped his sword and
knelt down to Ryoko’s side. She was practically half
dead. What he felt next made him more than positive
that he loved this woman. He was very upset and angry
at the same time at what happened to Ryoko. He could
only hope that he could get her back to camp on time.
        “Oh god.” he said quietly. “What have they done to
you?” he asked. He knew he wasn’t going to get any
answers but he still couldn’t help but ask. He gently
picked her up in his arms and stood to his full
height. He looked down at Ryoko. She seemed so
helpless and weak. He didn’t like seeing that either.
        He walked towards the door and knelt over. He picked
up his sword carefully with out dropping Ryoko. He
then looked over to Rinoa. “Come on. I’m getting you
two out of here.” he said with a hint that he wasn’t
very happy. The look on his face was also fierce in a
way.
        They began to make there way down the halls. As they
went Rinoa had to practically shield her eyes against
the light. She hadn’t been outside of the cell in a
day or two. It was hard to tell when it came to being
imprisoned in a place like that. She just couldn’t
believe that someone had come along to help Ryoko and
herself bust out. This man must have been the family
Ryoko was talking about.
        They rushed outside and looked out to the battle.
Tenchi noticed that the enemy was retreating into the
forest. His men where cheering and yelling as they
hugged one another and all that other stuff.
        Tenchi and Rinoa made their way to Kiyone. Kiyone saw
Ryoko who was out of it in his arms. She couldn’t
believe what she saw. Ryoko never looked like this
before. “Is she going to be alright?” she asked
Tenchi. He looked down to Ryoko and a tear came out of
the corner of his left eye. “I don’t know.” he
answered her. He then looked around for any way to
carry Ryoko back to camp. He saw none. He knew that if
Ryoko wasn’t treated soon that she would die. He
didn’t want that to happen.
        “Kiyone, do we have a radio to my base camp?” Tenchi
asked as he looked the men over. “We should.” she
answered. She turned away from him and ran through the
crowd of soldiers looking for a radio. Tenchi held
Ryoko close to him to keep her warm. “Hold on Ryoko.”
he said quietly.
        Moments later Kiyone ran to him with a bulky two way
radio. “Call my camp and get an air unit here ASAP.”
Tenchi ordered. Kiyone nodded and began to transfer
his orders through the radio.
        Tenchi then gave orders to the army to get any other
prisoners out of there. He was going to make sure they
all where going to be alive and well when this war
ended. He would keep them at his camp in the civilian
part. Yes he had a section filled with everyday normal
people. They had started a temporary life until they
could return home and begin to patch up their old
ones.

        Two hours passed and Ryoko seemed to be slipping away
from Tenchi and the others. He was gently moving her
hair away from her face. There was a cut that was
maybe half an inch long across her cheek. It looked to
be maybe a week old. Tenchi then heard the roar of the
engine of the helicopter like aircraft. He sighed with
some relief as the machine touched down to the ground.
He thought that if they where maybe fifteen minutes
later Ryoko might have been dead.
        Washu and some medics quickly got out of the aircraft
and rushed over to Tenchi and Ryoko. Once they reached
her they set up a stretcher and placed it on the
ground. Tenchi saw the worried expression on Washu’s
face as they tide Ryoko down onto it. If he where to
tell you on the spot he would have been just as
worried.
        They then strapped a breathing mask on her and began
to help her breathe with an air machine. Washu quickly
went to work on treating the wounds as Tenchi sat
there watching and hoping. Things would be ok now, he
kept thinking to himself. Ryoko would live through
this and look back on it and laugh. Well maybe not
laugh, but yeah....
        They took the breathing mask off and put a small red
pill in Ryoko’s mouth and she did her best to swallow
it. Washu said something like she had made it and that
it would help Ryoko almost instantly. They placed the
breathing mask back on and Washu began to wrap Ryoko’s
wounds with some medicated bandages.
        “She’s stabilizing!” one medic yelled as he watched
some monitors. Tenchi was really relieved now. It
looked like Ryoko would be ok. “There’s also a little
girl over there named Rinoa,” Tenchi started. “She
needs some treatment too.” One medic nodded and made
his way over to Rinoa, who was being briefed by one
soldier. Tenchi watched as the man looked the girl
over.
        The others picked the stretcher up and rushed over to
the aircraft with Tenchi following close behind. He
had to make sure Ryoko was going to make it. Once they
where on board the aircraft took to the air. It would
be at least a two hour trip if they stayed on their
emergency flight.

        A week went by and Ryoko was still unconscious. The
doctors had said it was because of the condition she
was in when he found her. Tenchi and Rinoa had went to
check up on Ryoko every day.
        Tenchi and Rinoa had been getting to know each other
and Tenchi began to become good friends with the girl.
She seemed to be like Sasami. Sweet and polite about
things. He enjoyed her company too. She seemed more
like a little sister type of girl than friend.
        Tenchi walked into the small tent that was made into
a medics tent. Ryoko was still in the bed asleep. He
approached her bed and sat down in the chair next to
it. There was a small table next to the bed also with
a bowl filled with warm water and a clean cloth
floating around in the water.
        He grabbed the wash rag and dabbed it lightly on
Ryoko’s forehead. Washu saw Tenchi cleaning Ryoko’s
face. She had been in the tent all day. “You know, if
you didn’t find her when you did..” She trailed off
but continued shortly after, “She would have died.”
she said quietly.
         He nodded. He knew that all to well. He just wished
that he had found her sooner. “I’ll be in my tent.”
she then said and turned around. She left the medics
tent with out another word.
        He placed the wash cloth back in the bowl and stared
down at the wounded Ryoko. He brushed some of her
bangs away from her eyes gently. “I’m sorry I didn’t
get to you sooner.” he said to her.
        He didn’t know whether she heard him or not but he
had to get that off of his chest. He didn’t care
whether people blamed him for what happened or not. He
actually was blaming himself more than anyone else. He
then got off of the chair and walked over to a counter
and grabbed some freshly washed bandages and went back
to Ryoko’s bedside.
         He went to work on removing a bandage from her right
arm. Once it was off he just looked at it sadly. He
couldn’t believe what had happened to her. The wound
on her arm was at least eight inches long and it was
so deep that she had to get stitches.
        He then grabbed the wash cloth again and dabbed the
wound ever so gently. She groaned and moved around a
bit in her sleep. It had to be painful. He just
continued to fix her wound up. He knew that it would
eventually heal but it would become quite the scar.
        He then started to wrap her arm up again. After he
was done she stirred in her sleep. He sat there and
watched. This was more movement then he had seen her
do in at least a week. “Tenchi...” she said as she
settled down again.
        Then her eyelids began to open. She was coming back
to the waking world. His breathing became quick with
excitement. This was a sign that she would live. Once
she fully came back she looked around the unfamiliar
room. She didn’t remember much of Tenchi rescuing her.
Actually she didn’t remember any of it at all.
        She blinked a few times before asking, “Where am I?”
She then shifted her view to Tenchi who was smiling
warmly at her. Was this a dream? No it couldn’t have
been. He sitting there by her bedside smiling down at
her. She tried to sit up but he held her down gently.
“Don’t move. Your injured pretty badly.” Tenchi said
quietly.
        “Am I dreaming, or are you really here?” she asked in
a dazed sort of way. He went back to work on cleaning
up her injuries. “Your not dreaming.” he answered.
He once again dabbed the wet warm cloth to a wound on
her right leg.
        She cringed in pain and gave out a small, “Ah.” sort
of noise. Tenchi then gently wrapped the wound back
up. “I thought I almost lost you.” he said quietly.
She looked over to him. “I thought that you guys gave
up on me.” she confessed. He stopped what he was doing
and shook his head. “I would never give up on you.”
This came to a complete surprise to Ryoko. He sounded
as if he loved her or something.

        The night came by rather quickly. Ryoko lied in the
nice soft bed in the medics tent. It felt so nice to
actually be in a nice bed like that. It sure was a
hell of allot better than that thin wet sheet on that
hard cold floor in that hell hole of a prison. After
that whole experience though it sure made Ryoko
appreciate all the things that she had.
        She looked over to a plain navy blue tin mug on the
table next to her bed. Tenchi had brought her hot coco
earlier in the day. When she drank it down it felt so
smooth and tasted so good. She never really fully
appreciate the wonderful taste of her food and drinks
until now. She remembered how it felt as she drank it.
It was nice and warm to the back of her throught. It
went down nice and smoothly until it reached her
stomach.
        She sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the tent.
She remembered how Tenchi had told her of how he never
gave up hope on her still being alive. He told her of
how he looked for her exact location and how he set
out to get her. It was an amazing feeling to know that
someone had cared for her so much where he would risk
his own life to save her. She just couldn’t thank him
enough for saving her life.
        As she was remembering Tenchi and all the things she
enjoyed in life Tenchi himself came walking in. He
held a large blanket in his arms and he walked to her
bed with a warm smile on his face. ”I thought that you
would like another blanket.” he said. She nodded and
he began to spread the blanket over her. As he did so
she tried to settle it on her just right with out
hurting herself in the process.
        Tenchi then sat down on the chair. “Thank you,
Tenchi.” He looked up at her and nodded. “Your
welcome.” He moved some of her bangs away from her
eyes with his right hand gently. He let out a yawn.
This caused Ryoko to yawn.
        She then started to look around the tent. She saw the
Get Better Soon balloons and cards placed around her
bed. They were  sent to her from the others. She then
shifted her view back to Tenchi. He was currently
looking down at the ground. She noticed that he looked
very upset about something and began to get concern.
        “What’s wrong, Tenchi?” He wouldn’t answer her. He
just sat there looking at the ground. She didn’t
understand why he was so silent all of the sudden.
“What is it?” she asked again. This time he took a
deep breath and said, “It’s my fault that you went
through all that hell.” he said quietly.
        She couldn’t believe her ears. Her look of concern
went to disappointment. How could he say such a thing.
She placed her right hand gently under his chin and
lifted his head so he was facing her. She shook her
head at him. “It was never your fault and it will
never be your fault.” she said firmly. She pulled her
hand back. He shook his head. “Tenchi, I could never
blame you for what happen, so don‘t you dare blame
yourself.” she continued. Tenchi looked away from her.
She began to get upset at his sudden actions. His
silence was also uncomfortable for her too. She had
enough of that in that prison. He looked back to her
and said, “I’m sorry.”

        A month had passed and Ryoko was able to get up and
move around. “I think she’s ready for action again.”
the doctor had said. So Tenchi figured he would have
Ryoko lead three dozen of his men on a patrolling
mission. It didn’t seem like that hard of a task and
it was probably just right for Ryoko. He didn’t want
her to go out into a battle right away. He had sent
the  patrol team out almost an hour ago and had
expected them to come back soon, or radio the base at
least.
        “How is she doing, Lord Tenchi?” Ayeka asked. Tenchi
faced the view screen and gave the princess a warm
smile. “Well she’s doing just fine. I sent her out
with some of my men on a patrolling mission.” Ayeka
nodded and he continued. “It didn’t seem like to hard
of a job. Besides, I didn’t want her to go to battle
right after her incident with the enemy.” he
explained. Ayeka again nodded. That didn’t seem like
to bad of an idea.
        Tenchi was about to continue his conversation with
Ayeka when one of the soldiers rushed into his tent.
“The patrol unit came back, you need get out here!” he
said panting for breath. Tenchi looked back to the
screen and said, “Sorry, I got to go.” and then he
disconnected the line.
        Tenchi followed the soldier out to the medics tent.
“Why are we going here?” Tenchi asked stopping the
man. He turned to face Tenchi. “The patrol unit was
attacked. Only three people came back alive.” he
answered. Tenchi’s heart had skipped three beats and
he rushed into the tent. “Where’s Ryoko?!” he demanded
as he searched the tent. Washu came up to Tenchi and
held him back from going through the beds of people.
        “She’s alright, don’t worry.” Washu said. Tenchi
looked down at the genius. “Where is she, Washu?” he
asked again. She turned and pointed to a bed at the
far end of the tent. She was lying in a bed. She
looked to be unconscious. He broke away from Washu and
ran over to Ryoko’s bed.
        Washu had never really seen Tenchi act like that when
it came to Ryoko. She had no idea what to think at
first but then it had hit her clear as day. Tenchi was
clearly in love with Ryoko. She was glad that there
would be someone there to protect her daughter. She
had only hoped that they would all make it through
this together though. That’s what it would all come
down to in the end.
        “What happened to her?” Washu heard Tenchi question
the doctor. The man was wrapping Ryoko’s chest when
Tenchi asked him. He looked up and said, “Two of her
ribs are broken and she’s got a nice gash in her left
leg.” he explained. Tenchi looked down to Ryoko’s leg.
It hadn’t been treated yet. Her whole leg was drenched
with blood from her injury. How much more of this did
she have to go through?
        He moved over to the left side of the bed. He grabbed
the top of her pant leg and tore it off. He looked at
the wound and got a whole bunch of emotions and
feelings. The gash was about a foot and two inches
long and it was pretty deep. He was mostly angry. Not
really just at the enemy but himself. He had put Ryoko
into danger by sending her out into a mission. Clearly
she wasn’t ready for action.
        He grabbed a wash rag from a bowl of warm water that
the doctor was going to use to clean her wound. He
dabbed the rag all around the injury, cleaning off the
blood. He stuck the rag back in the bowl and rinsed
the blood off. He then gently wringed the wash rag
right above the injury, washing out the dirt and
blood.
        Washu had been watching Tenchi from afar. She knew
that her daughter was in good hands now. But as she
was thinking about that, a strange feeling came over
her. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time.
What she felt was Tokimi’s energy. She turned away
from the crowed of people and saw the ghostly like
figure of Tokimi. Tokimi had an evil smile on her
face. Washu just glared at her sister. ’I’ll make sure
that you, your ungodly daughter and the boy gets the
most torture out of this war. Especially your
daughter.’ Tokimi said to Washu telepathically. She
then vanished. Washu narrowed her eyes and turned back
to face the small crowd of people.

        Rinoa stood in the middle of the soldiers that where
rushing about. She was shaking all over her body. She
had sensed Tokimi’s presence. She didn’t know why or
how she did either. She also knew that it was Tokimi’s
fault for what was going on to Ryoko. Once the dreaded
feeling left she rushed for the medics tent.
        Once she reached it she opened up the flap and
hustled inside. She had become very fond of the space
pirate and Tenchi. They where almost like her new
parents. She saw Tenchi at the far end of the tent and
rushed over to him.
        Lying on the bed was a wounded Ryoko. Tenchi had just
finished stitching her gash up and was now wrapping
her leg. “Is she ok?” Rinoa asked. Tenchi nodded in
silence. His concentration was on wrapping Ryoko’s
leg. Ryoko began to move about in her state of
unconsciousness her face twisted up in pain and anger
at the same time. “Tokimi!” She shouted out.
        “Hold her down!” Tenchi shouted as two men rushed
over to her bed. Washu came rushing up to her bed with
a shot in her hand. “This will calm her down.” Washu
said as she stuck the needle in a vein in Ryoko’s
right arm. Soon enough Ryoko settled back down. Tenchi
then quickly went back to work on wrapping her leg.
        Washu rubbed her chin in thought as she looked down
at her daughter. “What was it that she said, Tenchi?”
He shrugged. He didn’t pay any attention to what she
had said. All he noticed and cared about was her
restlessness. “I think she said Tokimi.” Rinoa said as
she took a new bowl of warm water and a wash cloth.
        Washu didn’t like that one bit. Rinoa had proceeded
to wipe off the dirt from Ryoko’s face with the wash
cloth. “Damnit.” Washu swore in a whisper. Tenchi tied
off the bandage and looked up at Washu. “What? What’s
wrong?” he asked. Washu just shook her head. This was
not going to be the best war ever that was for sure.

        It was later in the evening now. Tenchi had stayed at
Ryoko’s bedside all day. Ryoko had not woken up yet so
he was cleaning off what ever dirt she had on her arms
and legs. He was worried about her safety. That was
it. He wasn’t going to let her go on any more
missions. He wasn’t about to lose her to this stupid
war.
        She began to stir in her sleep. He looked at her and
sighed. Washu came up from behind and placed a hand on
his left shoulder. “I’m sorry that I was unable to
protect her.” Tenchi said in a quiet tone. Washu shook
her head. “Tenchi, she couldn’t be in better hands.”
Tenchi sighed and lowered his head. He sure didn’t
feel that way. How could she be in better hands? He
can’t even be there when it happens.
        Washu tightened her grip on his shoulder. “Tenchi,
you are not to blame for what has happened to Ryoko.”
Washu took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She
knew exactly who to blame. “If any one is to be blamed
it’s Tokimi.” Saying that name gave Washu chills down
her back. She didn’t know why, but something about
Tokimi just creeped her out.
        Tenchi looked up at Washu with a confused look. Washu
looked away from him and looked over to the right wall
of the tent. “She showed just up after you had started
to treat Ryoko’s injury. She said that she was going
to make you Ryoko and myself feel the most pain out of
all of this.” she stopped and looked back to Tenchi.
“She then added that Ryoko was going to get it worse
than the rest of us.” She finally got that off her
chest, and she was now certain that Tenchi would stop
blaming himself for all that happened to Ryoko.
        He looked down to Ryoko. He couldn’t believe this.
What did Ryoko ever do to Tokimi? What did any of them
ever do to her? “Why does she hate us? Why does she
want to destroy the universe?” Tenchi questioned.
Washu heard the hint of anger in his voice. Washu
crossed her arms and looked down at Ryoko. “It’s
because we have freedom. We also can feel love and
other emotions like that.” she stopped and inhaled
loudly. “She’s jealous of that. She probably figures
that if she can’t have that, no one can.” She also
knew that at first Tokimi just wanted to take their
universe over. But when she got to know of  the people
in this realm that she just wanted to destroy it.
        Tenchi placed his right hand on Ryoko’s left cheek.
Washu smiled and asked, “Why don’t you tell her that
you love her?” Tenchi didn’t reply. He thought that if
he confessed his undying love to Ryoko that he might
lose Ayeka as a friend. He cared about the princess
but only in a family way. He might of like Ayeka at
first but in the end she wasn’t his type and he began
to have feelings for Ryoko.

        Tokimi stood there in the vast of nothingness. She
stared at a holographic Tenchi. “I will make sure that
that boy dies slowly and painfully.” She blasted an
energy ball right at the holograph and there was an
explosion. She was going to make them all pay for
there rampant emotions and freedom. All she had was
this dimension where only the most “superior” beings
lived. They all thought that emotions where a sign of
weakness and that freedom was overrated. Except for
two of their people. Washu and Tsunami. But of course
they could completely merge into that dimension, so it
was only natural for them to feel differently about
the mortals there.
        Tokimi’s dimension faded away and she appeared only
in a ghostly way in the “Tenchiverse“. A large man was
bent over on one knee and had his head bowed. “What is
it?” Tokimi asked impatiently. He stood to his height
of 6’1 and had brown hair. He looked to be in his
early 20’s. “Lady Tokimi, Jurai has concord over half
of your loyal armies. We request that you send more.”
Tokimi waved the man away, “Alright fine. But this is
your last chance!” and with that she disappeared back
into her dimension.

        It had been about two weeks now. Ryoko was lying in
bed reading an earth book Tenchi had brought. It was
called Moby Dick. (Yes I know, but hey if it makes you
people feel any better, in my ongoing dreams, Ryoko
read Frankenstein... In less than two days I might
add......) She was enjoying this book for some odd
reason. It was almost like she liked reading.... Ok
she’ll admit, she did like to read books from time to
time. But they where usually like those Stephen King
books back on Earth.
        She heard shouting from outside. She looked over to
the flap for a door. Just then about four medics
bursted in holding a stretcher. There was a man tied
down onto it. She tried to make out who it was but was
unsuccessful. Once they lied him down on a bed next to
her she realized that it was just some soldier. She
sighed with relief. For moment she thought that it
would be Tenchi. She wouldn’t know what to do if
Tenchi had been severely hurt or even killed.
        Just as she was thinking about Tenchi he and Rinoa
walked in. She smiled and waved her hand at them. They
smiled back as they made their way to the bed. “Are
you enjoying that?” Tenchi asked as he motioned
towards the book with his head. Ryoko nodded. “Yes.
For a story about a crippled old fart wanting to kill
some white whale, it‘s very interesting.” she remarked
with a chuckle. Tenchi never thought of the story like
that before. He had to admit, it was funny. Rinoa was
completely clueless.
        Tenchi shook his head while still smiling. Ryoko’s
sense of humor was one of a kind. She could figure out
all sorts of ways to joke around with different
situations and make them seem funny. Even if it was
something as serious as a war.
        “Washu said that your ribs, thanks to your healing
powers, are completely healed.” Tenchi said to Ryoko.
She smiled and nodded. She knew that already but liked
being waited on hand and foot. Especially by Tenchi.
It was nice to know that someone would do that for her
too.
        “We’re going to have a briefing. Want to come?”
Tenchi asked. Ryoko nodded. Tenchi held out his right
hand to help her up. She grabbed the book and took his
hand.
Once she was out of the bed she brushed herself off.
She then grabbed her black army like boots and slipped
them on.

        There was a small group of people sitting around a
long rectangle shaped table.
The briefing was mostly about going out on a mission
to locate an enemy base that was supposed to be
nearby. “Drake, I want you to take 20 men out.” Tenchi
said to a soldier. Ryoko tapped Tenchi on the
shoulder. “What about me?” She asked. “I want you to
stay here.” he answered. “Alright, you all have your
orders, dismissed.”
        The soldiers got up and left the tent leaving Ryoko
and Tenchi. Ryoko stood from her seat and looked at
Tenchi. “Why won’t you let me go?” she asked. Tenchi
took in a deep breath. “Because, it’s not safe.” he
said sternly. Ryoko looked confused now. “What? What
do you mean ‘Not safe.’?” she asked.
        Tenchi slowly raised himself up from his chair and
looked at Ryoko. He didn’t want to admit his love for
her just yet. “I mean what I say. You have your
orders.” he said as he turned away. He hated having to
do this to Ryoko. It was the last thing he wanted to
do, but it was for her safety.
        She grabbed him by the arm and turned him to face
her. She was mad now. She didn’t take that attitude
from anyone. “Damnit Tenchi!” she yelled. He looked a
bit shocked now. “Tell me why I can’t go!” He sighed.
“It’s because I,” he stopped. He almost told her.
“Because Tokimi is trying to make you suffer.” he said
quietly.
        She let go of his arm. She stood there in silence.
She knew it was because of Tokimi. “I don’t want to
lose you to that bitch.” Tenchi confessed. Ryoko
raised both of her eyebrows. She never heard him talk
like that. It surprised her. “I know what Tokimi is
doing. She came to me in my sleep.” Ryoko told him.
        Tenchi didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want Ryoko
to go through any more suffering and yet he knew that
Ryoko wanted to help win this war. “Alright. But if
you come back badly injured than no more missions for
you.” Tenchi then turned away from her. “Go on, it’s
not to late to catch up with the others.” he said, his
tone of voice sounding quiet and almost sad at the
same time. Like he said, he didn’t want to lose Ryoko.
Not now, not ever.
        Ryoko walked up to him and placed her hands on his
shoulders. She planted a small kiss on his cheek. “You
won’t lose me, I promise.” Ryoko said. She then
vanished and left Tenchi there alone.

        It was about an hour later when the small searching
unit found the enemy base. It was loaded with people
and canons. “Note this in the map.” Ryoko ordered
Drake. He nodded then turned around. Ryoko grabbed her
binoculars from her large side pant leg pocket and
looked through them.
        She saw men running around. It looked like they where
preparing for an attack. She pulled the binoculars
away from her face and turned back to the small
handful of people. “I want you to radio the base and
tell them we’re on are way back.” she said to a tall
slender man. “Yes ma’am.” he whispered. Just as Ryoko
was going to pull the small troop out they where
jumped by the enemy.

        Tenchi paced back and forth waiting for the radio
contact from the survey team. Someone said something
like “We’re-” then was cut off. Tenchi sent out a few
of his men to search for them while another tried to
contact them every fifteen minutes. He knew that he
shouldn’t have sent Ryoko out.
        The air unit came back and touched down on the
landing pad. Tenchi rushed out to the aircraft. People
began to remove survivors and dead bodies out. 15 out
21 had lived and the others where gone. Finally Ryoko
was pulled out on a stretcher. She was alive.
        Tenchi rushed over to her. She was conscious. “What
happened?” Tenchi asked. She could see the look of
concern on his face. She also heard the scared tone in
his voice. She coughed and blinked a few times. “We
started to come back, but we where ambushed.” she
answered back.
        She had a small cut on her forehead that had a little
bit of blood coming out of it. She had a large gash in
her left thigh. It looked like she was shot there. Her
left arm had a makeshift of a sling on it. The medics
pushed Tenchi away and left him standing on the edge
of the landing pad. He shook his head. She was not
going out on another mission. Who knew, maybe next
time she wouldn’t come back alive.

        The medics rushed Ryoko into the medics tent and got
her onto a bed. Washu looked up from one of the
patients to the new wounded people being rushed in.
She then spotted Ryoko. She got up and rushed over to
her. Tenchi came in seconds after.
        Washu put her hands on Ryoko’s cheeks in a motherly
manner and said, “Ryoko, honey, what happened?” She
was very concerned now. Tenchi rushed over to Ryoko’s
bedside and immediately started to fix her up. Ryoko
just gave out small noises of pain and then she passed
out.
        She was still breathing but Washu didn’t know if
Ryoko would make it out of this one. She backed away
from Ryoko and watched Tenchi desperately clean up the
gash in her thigh. A tear went down Washu’s left cheek
as she began to worry about her daughter’s safety.

        It was a few days later. Tenchi had sworn that he
would make Tokimi pay for what she was doing to every
one. Rinoa got upset when she heard that Ryoko was
once again in intensive care. Tenchi tried his best to
calm the girl down by promising her that he would take
good care of Ryoko.
        Tenchi walked into a smaller version of the medics
tent. They had to put it up and put Ryoko in it. They
had ran out of room for the other patients. Tenchi
made his way to her bedside with a warm wash rag in
hand. He had been going to take care of Ryoko every
day now.
        Rinoa had been playing a card game with Ryoko. When
she noticed Tenchi coming in she said, “I’m going to
go have some dinner.” She gathered up her cards and
hopped off of the bed. She rushed passed Tenchi.
“Hello.” She said as she passed him. He just waved to
her as she left.
        He sat down at Ryoko’s bedside and dabbed her face
with the moist cloth. She smiled at him. She was
strong enough to be able to sit up and talk but that
was about it. He smiled back down to her. “How are you
feeling today?” he asked. She chuckled silently and
looked up to the ceiling. “There’s been better days.”
she said.
        He was now dabbing her neck with the wash cloth. Her
smile faded away as she thought of things. She then
grabbed his wrist with her good hand. She looked at
him and saw the confused expression. “Why have you
been so protective of me?” she asked. “I’m just
helping you out.” he said. She could tell that he was
lying.
        “Don’t give me that. I know there‘s something else
about this.” she said in a sort of angered tone. He
sighed and looked away from her. “I..” he stopped. He
turned back to face her. He stared into those golden
feline eyes. They where begging him to tell her what
she needed to know. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. He
felt as though he would burst if he didn’t tell her.
“I love you.” he said. Her expression went from anger
to surprise.
        Did he just say that he loves her? It sure sounded
like it. “I uh..” she stuttered. She blinked a few
times. “I don’t know what to say.” she said finally.
He smiled weakly at her. “You don’t have to say
anything.” She smiled back at him. She felt that he
was being sincere. She could also tell by little hints
he let out every now and then. Whether they were on
purpose or not was beyond her. But she was glad that
he finally said it.
        He then proceeded to dab her neck gently. She
tightened her grip on his wrist. He stopped and looked
at her. “I love you too.” she said. She felt the blood
rush to her cheeks as she turned red.  He too seemed
red. This was the first time they where able to tell
each other this with out any hassle or worries. But
would that be just for now, Tenchi wondered.
        She sat up and looked him in the eyes. “Why did you
wait so long to tell me?” she asked. She then tried to
re-word it, not being sure if she got her meaning
across. “I mean, Sometimes it was so obvious but other
times it was kind of hard to tell.” she went on
saying. He got her meaning though and sighed. “I was
afraid to lose friends. You know like Ayeka or Kiyone
or any of the other girls.” He explained. “I just hate
putting people on the spot.” he continued a bit more
quieter. Ryoko knew that he was telling the truth. He
placed the back of his left hand on her right cheek.
“But now I’m afraid to lose you.” he stated. She could
almost feel his concern and she definitely saw it in
his brown eyes.
         She let go of his wrist and grabbed his hand trying
to keep it there on her cheek. He leaned in closer to
her. Once he was close enough he pressed his lips to
hers and began to kiss her fully and slowly. She was
surprised by this, but after a few seconds she began
to kiss him right back. Was this real? Was this
actually happening? Or was this a dream again? Both
Tenchi and Ryoko thought this. They had been waiting
for this to happen for a very long time. This HAD to
be real though. The intense emotions and sensations
they felt.
        She let his hand go and placed her hand on his
shoulder. She felt him place his hands on the sides of
her neck, holding her there. She didn’t want this to
end. It was just about the only thing good that
happened to her through out this hellish war. Besides
the fact that she would be able to take Rinoa back to
Earth with her. Rinoa would live with them and live a
happy life. She wouldn’t have to worry about money or
raiders with them.
        Washu came in the tent. She was looking down at a
clip board that was stuffed with papers. She then
looked up and stopped where she was. She saw the two
kissing and smiled. ’It’s about time.’ she thought to
herself. She then turned back around and left. She
wanted to leave them alone.
        As she started to make her way across the camp
grounds she saw Rinoa headed back for the medics tent.
Washu grabbed the girl by the arm gently. “What are
you doing Miss Washu? I forgot my book in there.”
Washu let the girl go and smiled. “Tenchi and Ryoko
need to be alone right now.” she then winked at the
girl and Rinoa got the big hint. She smiled and
followed Washu close behind as they walked for the
mess hall.

        Tenchi pulled away from Ryoko. They both sat in
silence panting for breath. “Wow..” Ryoko said. She
blinked a few times and turned really red in the face
once she realized what had just happened. Tenchi
chuckled at her reply and smiled. What a night this
was turning out to be. She smiled back at him. She
never knew that love could feel like that. It was true
that she never had been truly kissed. It felt amazing.

        “I love you so much, if I ever lose you-” Ryoko
pressed her first two fingers on his lips. She gave
him a small smile. “You won’t lose me.” she told him.
He wasn’t sure if he would lose her or not. He grabbed
her wrist gently and pulled her hand away from his
mouth. “But still, I don’t want you going out on a
mission unless I’m coming too.” he informed her.
        She just nodded. She wasn’t about to argue with him
about that. She knew that he was concerned about her
safety. She would just have to agree to it. In all
actuality she was afraid to lose him too and she knew
that she would be the same way if she were in his
position.
        He sat down on the bed beside her and took her good
hand in his. He had never felt this way before. It was
like something warm and almost soft and furry if he
were to put it in words. He felt her lean up against
him where she closed her eyes. She rested her head on
his shoulder.

        Tokimi watched the new couple from a holographic
projection. She was growing impatient with her armies.
She couldn’t figure out why her armies couldn’t defeat
such a
puny group. With a wave of her hand her focus shifted
over to Ayeka. She was going over some plans. Ayeka
was so close as to beating her main fleet of soldiers.

“Damn them!” Tokimi shouted. She had enough of this.
        She would give her armies one more month to try and
destroy the pitiful mortals. If they where
unsuccessful she would just face off with them two at
a time. But she was worried about fighting Tenchi and
Ryoko. They seemed to have been the more powerful out
of the whole group. She knew Washu’s weakness and
could take her out in an instant. The others where
just flat out weak compared to her.

        Ayeka was bent over a map with some of her best
warriors. She pointed out a small area on the map. “I
want a unit of fifty men here. It’s incase the enemy
tries to split their army up.” Ayeka explained. They
all nodded. “Alright, dismissed.” she said.
        They all saluted and left the tent in a single file
fashion. Ayeka sighed and leaned back in her chair.
She yawned and stretched out her arms. She then
settled back down and looked around the tent. She was
bored. She had nothing to do but sit around.
        She then got an idea. She could call Sasami back at
the palace and find out how her father was doing. He
had completely healed last time she heard and had
gained his position at the throne once again. Ayeka
was very relieved to hear that. For a while the
doctors thought that Azusa wasn’t going to make it.
        She stood from her chair and straightened her kamono
out. She then made her way to the communication
station at the end of the tent. She dialed in the
palace and soon her sister’s visage appeared in the
view screen.
        “Ayeka! How are you doing?” Sasami asked in a happy
to see you sort of expression. Ayeka hid her smile
behind the long sleeve of her kamono. “I’m just fine,
Sasami.” she answered. Sasami’s smile got smaller.
“How’s Ryoko?” she asked. Ayeka’s smile never faded.
“She’s doing fine, last time I checked she was on her
way to a complete recovery.” she informed.
        Sasami’s smile returned fully. She was glad to hear
that. Ryoko was Sasami’s best friend and practically
like a sister to her. Sasami was then nudged to the
side as Masaki’s face appeared on the screen. “How’s
my little baby doing?” she asked with a large dopey
smile. The classical animé sweat drop appeared on
Ayeka’s forehead. “I’m doing fine, how are you,
Mother?” she asked. She felt a bit embarrassed by her
mother even though there was nobody around to witness
this.
        Wrong thing to do. Masaki gave Ayeka that jagged
teeth vein poppin’ out her forehead angry look. Ayeka
gulped hard. “I mean Mommy.” she said in a higher
pitch in her tone of voice. Masaki’s expressions went
back to her happy little old self. Ayeka felt a bit
relieved and she slumped forward.
        “How is father doing?” Ayeka asked. Masaki continued
to smile as she motioned with her hand for someone to
go over to her. Azusa then appeared in the screen.
Sasami was way off in the corner now half showing and
half way off screen. “He’s doing good as you can see.”
she said still smiling only now she was looking at
least a bit sane.
        Azusa got impatient and sighed. “I can speak for my
self, dear.” he said in his deep gruff voice. Ayeka
just smiled. Azusa then cleared his throught. “How is
Yosho’s grandson doing?” he asked. It was much to
everyone’s surprise too. “Oh he’s doing fine.” Ayeka
answered.
        The conversation between Ayeka and her parents (and
Sasami every once in a while) continued for most of
the evening.

        It was later in the night and Ayeka needed to get
some rest if she was going to be apart of the big
fight that was ahead of them all. She had asked for
some assistance from Kiyone but she said that she was
to far away from their position to get there in time.
She knew that Tenchi was way to far for him to make
the trip so when she had talked to him she didn’t
bother to ask.
        She lied down in her futon and looked up at the
ceiling. There was something that she noticed when she
talked to Tenchi. She couldn’t put her finger on it
but she knew that there was something. It was the way
he talked to her. It was like he was trying to conceal
something from her.
        She sighed and rolled onto her left side. She placed
her left hand under her pillow and bent her knees
partly. She rested her right hand lightly on her
pillow about half a foot away from her face. She just
shrugged it off. It was probably nothing. But she
still couldn’t feel like he was keeping something from
her. But before she could really wonder what it was
she fell asleep.

        The next day was a big day it seemed like for both
Ayeka’s and Tenchi’s armies. Tenchi was called to the
front line as an invasion of enemy units attacked his
base camp. He ordered some of his best men to keep a
close eye on both medic tents where Washu, Rinoa and
Ryoko where. He wanted nothing to happen to them.
        Ryoko could hear the cries of men from in the tent.
She just hoped that Tenchi was alright. Washu stepped
into her tent and walked over to her in silence.
“How’s your arm?” she asked as she carefully removed
the sling from Ryoko’s arm. Ryoko looked at her arm
and slowly moved it around. It hurt a bit but not as
bad as it used to. “It’s almost healed.” she said.
        Washu nodded and grabbed one long bandage from the
table. “I think we can get rid of the sling and just
wrap it up tightly.” Washu said. Her voice seemed
blank and emotionless. Ryoko began to worry if
something had happened. “Mom, is something wrong?”
Ryoko asked. It was the first time Ryoko ever called
Washu mom willingly. Washu couldn’t help but smile and
laugh.
        She shook her head. “No nothing’s wrong.” she said.
Hearing Ryoko say ’Mom’ made her day. The truth was
that Washu was getting tired of the war. She was tired
of seeing tattered soldiers and men dieing. She was
the one that had to pass on the news to family members
and friends in the refugee camp part of the base. She
said nothing, she just carried out her task of
wrapping Ryoko’s arm up. Once she was done she patted
Ryoko on the shoulder.
        “I accidentally walked in on you and Tenchi kissing
last night.” Washu confessed.
Ryoko blushed. Washu chuckled at this. She had never
seen Ryoko blush so bad. “ You know that I think
Tenchi is fine young man and I know that he will keep
you safe.” Washu said. Washu saw Ryoko nod once and
gave her a small smile. She turned around and left the
tent with out another word.
        There was something wrong with Washu. Ryoko could
tell just by how her mother was acting. She sighed and
leaned back on her small hill of pillows and sighed.
Just as she was trying to figure out what was wrong
with her mother three men carrying a stretcher came
in. Ryoko sat up and saw that it was none other than
Tenchi in the stretcher.
        She shot up in her bed. “What happened to him? Is he
alright?” She questioned the doctors in panic. They
placed Tenchi down on the bed and went to work on his
right leg and left shoulder. He also had a large black
and blue eye.
        The doctors wouldn’t reply. They carefully cut
Tenchi’s right pant leg off and tossed it aside. His
leg was covered with blood. “He was shot in the
thigh.” one doctor told the other. They began to treat
the injury quickly as Ryoko just sat and watched.
Tenchi had probably passed out from the pain.
        Another doctor had removed his shirt to reveal a
large open wound on his left shoulder. There was still
blood pulsating from the injury. Ryoko held her right
hand to her mouth in complete shock. She was worried
and it was plainly displayed on her face
        Tenchi shouted out in pain in his sleep as the medic
cleaned his shoulder’s wound out. Ryoko slowly got out
of her bed and rushed over to Tenchi with a small
limp. She pushed the doctor aside and began to gently
yet firmly wrap his shoulder up. She had noticed that
the man wasn’t doing it right so she was going to do
it.
        Tenchi settled back down and Ryoko tied off the
bandage. The other medic finished wrapping Tenchi’s
leg. “You need to keep his left arm in a sling for a
couple of days so his shoulder can heal correctly.”
The man said. Ryoko nodded and grabbed the sling she
was using and carefully placed it onto Tenchi. She
then waved the others to leave. She gently caressed
his left cheek. “It’s my turn to take care of you.”
she said quietly as a tear ran down her face.
        She now knew why Tenchi wouldn’t let her go out into
this war anymore. He was afraid to lose her and now
she was equally afraid to lose him. He stirred in his
unconscious state. She knelt over and kissed him on
the forehead and then stood back to her full height.
        She grabbed a wet wash cloth and sat down in the
chair next to his bed. She dabbed his face with it. He
once again stirred in his sleep. This time though he
began to wake up. He blinked a couple of times and his
vision came into focus. The first thing he saw was
Ryoko smiling down at him warmly.
        She then continued to wipe the dirt off of his face.
He smiled back up at her. He then tried to sit up.
“No, don’t move.” Ryoko said trying to keep him down.
He groaned at the sudden burst of pain coming from his
left shoulder. He placed his hand over his injury just
barely touching it.
        She lightly shoved him back down on his back. “I told
you.” Ryoko said quietly.
Tenchi just gave her a playful look of a glare but
couldn’t keep the face up for more then four seconds.
He couldn’t even get angry at Ryoko for more than ten
seconds when it came right down to it.
        He then noticed that his shirt was missing and looked
around for it. “Ryoko, where’s my t-shirt?” he asked.
She stopped dabbing the wash cloth on his forehead and
looked around. “I dunno, but it’s all bloody anyway.”
she answered as she resumed her task at hand.
        She smiled warmly and said, “Done.” She tossed the
wash cloth onto a table on the other side of the room.
He once again tried to sit up and was more successful
this time. Ryoko shook her head. “Tenchi your going to
hurt yourself.” she said with a slight frown. Tenchi
just smiled.
        They then just sat there in silence looking at each
other. Ryoko then got a bit red in the cheeks. The way
he was looking at her was full of love for her and for
her only. He placed his right hand on her cheek. “Have
I ever told you that you are the most beautiful woman
in the entire universe?” he asked. She shook her head.
She never heard those words from him before. “Well you
are.”
        She was even redder now. She had never imagined of
ever seeing this side of him before. He began to rub
his thumb gently over her lips. It tickled her and he
new that too. He pulled his hand away. He leaned over
and pressed his lips onto hers.
        They shared a passionate kiss. It was soft and
tender. She melted right on the spot. Tenchi placed
his hand on the back of her neck as they continued
with the kiss. He felt her place her hand gently on
his chest.
        He never thought that he would be able to feel her
the way he was. He was always worried about what the
other girls, mostly Ayeka, would think or do. But he
just had to tell her. If he was going to die or if she
was he had to let her know.
        He pulled away from her. She was very flushed. He
chuckled and she placed her hand on her cheek in a
modest fashion. He never wanted this moment to end. It
was like something out of a dream. He only wished that
he wasn’t in this condition. If he wasn’t he would
have held her close to him.

        Tokimi’s silhouette was floating at about fifty feet
away from the man in his early twenties. He kneeled on
his right knee and bowed his head down in respect for
the goddess. “I want you to take a message to the boy
and his lover. I must face off with them in two
weeks!” she shouted out. Three weeks had already went
by and she was getting inpatient.
        The man bowed his head even lower to show more
respect for Tokimi. “Yes ma‘am.” he said. He then
stood up and saluted the goddess. He then vanished
right before her eyes. He had a way with
teleportation. His version of it was a little more
advanced than Ryoko’s. He just had to imagine a place
and zap, he was there.
        Tokimi herself had vanished and went back into her
realm. She had to defeat the boy and his lover if she
wanted to go on with her plans. She was so close to
conquering the universe yet so far at the same time.
If she could only get rid of those two people the
wrest would be easy.

        “Ouch! Hey watch it!” Tenchi yelled out. Ryoko
sighed. “Stop fidgeting, then it won’t hurt so much.”
Ryoko said back. Ryoko was wrapping up his foot. She
raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She couldn’t
understand how Tenchi stepped on a thorn when there
weren’t even the smallest of signs of a bush.
        She stood back up and patted Tenchi on the head.
“There, all better.” she said acting as though she was
a mother treating a her little kid’s “boo boo“. Tenchi
slowly put his sock and boot back on.
        He stood up and leaned most of his weight to his good
foot. He then looked up to Ryoko and gave her his
cheesy ‘thank you’ smile. She just crossed her arms
and shook her head, grinning the whole while. He
really was just so cute, she thought to herself.
        His shoulder and thigh injuries had turned into
nothing but small scabs and he was able to battle. He
and Ryoko had promised that every time they went out
for battle that they would go together. Ryoko found it
to be a good pact and she was sure Tenchi would agree
full heartedly.
        He walked over to her and put his hands on her waist.
He pulled her closer to him. This was the first actual
time that he could hold her like he was. He felt her
come willingly too. It felt nice to be able to be with
his love. He felt her put her arms around his neck. He
couldn’t help but blush just a bit.
        Just as he was about to kiss her a man appeared right
behind Ryoko. Tenchi let her go looked at the man.
Ryoko, confused turned around and saw him. Tenchi
reached for his Tenchi-Ken that was settled in between
his pants and his belt.
        The man snickered and shook his head. “There is no
need for that, Tenchi.” he said. Ryoko’s eyes
narrowed. “What do you want?” she asked. The man
looked at Ryoko and grinned at her evilly. He took a
step forward to her. Tenchi quickly pushed Ryoko back
and stepped out in front of her igniting the blue
blade of his sword.
        The man stood there showing no fear. “Don’t you go
near her.” Tenchi warned. The man shook his head. “I
am merely a messenger for Lady Tokimi.” he said.
Tenchi’s blood began to boil when he heard that name.
Tenchi took a menacing step towards the newcomer.
        This time he did step back and had a small look of
fear on his face. He held his hands out trying to keep
the prince away from him. “She wants to face off with
you!” he shouted out quickly. Tenchi stopped and
straitened out.
        Ryoko had never seen Tenchi so angry. It kind of
scared her, like she was afraid that Tenchi was going
to kill this man for just delivering a message. She
stepped up to him and put her right hand on his left
shoulder. “Calm down, Tenchi.” She felt the Jurai
power boiling through his body.
         He sighed and let the blade disengage. But his
fierce look remained on his face. The man backed away
another step. “She wishes to fight you and Ryoko in
two weeks.” he said. Tenchi’s nose began to twitch. He
crossed his arms. “And you tell her that she will
regret the day she messed with my family.” The man
nodded and disappeared.
        Ryoko stepped out in front of him. His angered
expression was still on his face. He didn’t even look
at Ryoko though. She placed her right hand on his left
cheek. “Tenchi, calm down. Tokimi knows that if she
gets you angry enough she’ll have your mind so clouded
that you won’t be able to fight all that well.” Tenchi
sighed and finally looked down at her, his expression
lifting up to a better mood. He knew that Ryoko was
right and so he would try his best to keep calm.
        He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his face.
He placed her hand on his chest where his heart was.
She felt it racing. He was scared. “What if I can’t
beat her because of that?” he asked. She gently leaned
her body onto his. She put her arms around his neck
and rested her head on his shoulder. He put his arms
around her and held her there. “You’ll beat her.” he
heard Ryoko say. He sighed and looked up to the
ceiling. He sure hoped so.

        Tenchi stood in his tent alone. He had Ayeka on the
line. “Well, Tokimi wants to fight with me and Ryoko.”
he informed the princess. “Why just you and Ryoko?”
Ayeka asked. He shrugged. He didn’t really know why
himself. But in a way he was glad that he had a chance
to square off with Tokimi. He now had a chance to
right what had gone wrong.
        Tenchi sighed. He also had one other thing on his
mind. He still had to tell Ayeka that he had declared
his love for Ryoko. But if he told her now, in the
middle of all of this it would be the worst time for
her. He really didn’t want to put more pressure on the
princess’s shoulders. She probably had enough of that
already.
        Ayeka began to wonder after Tenchi had went silent.
He just stood there staring off blankly at the corner
of the view screen. She cleared her throught and said,
“Tenchi, is there something wrong?” He shook his head
and looked back up at the princess. “Oh no, I’m just
thinking about something.” he said blankly. Well he
didn’t tell a lie exactly.
        Tenchi then heard someone talking on the other end of
the line. Ayeka turned to see the person that had
entered her tent. “Alright, be right there.” she said
with a sigh. She turned back to Tenchi and gave him a
small smile. “I must go now. My army is lost with out
me.” she said with a chuckle. He smiled and chuckled a
bit himself.
        He waved at the view screen. “See you around, Ayeka.”
he said. She just smiled and shook her head in slight
disgust at how her army couldn’t find a cat in a bag
if it came right down to it. “Have a nice evening,
Lord Tenchi.” she said.
        The view screen went blank. Tenchi walked over to the
entry way of the tent. He opened the flap and saw
Ryoko just outside of the tent. She was staring up at
the star filled sky. He came up from behind and put
his arms around her waist. She turned her head a bit
and saw Tenchi out of the corner of her eye. “Hey.”
Ryoko said in a sleepy manner. Tenchi smiled at her as
she looked back up at the stars.
        He felt her rest her arms over his. Ryoko’s hair
flowed in the slight breeze that rustled by. He kissed
her on the neck once. She just sighed in contentment.
“Tenchi, can I sleep with you tonight?” Ryoko asked.
        The question came up unexpectedly to Tenchi. He
thought about it for a moment. He really didn’t mind
the question, it was just why she wanted to sleep with
him. He could probably think of one reason. She
probably wanted to be with him. He wanted her to be
with him also. “Ok.” he said in a quiet voice.
        Ryoko turned around in his grip and looked into his
gentle brown eyes. She saw a spark of mischief that
she had never seen before. She put her arms around his
shoulders and smiled. He smiled back at her as he
stared into her golden feline eyes. They almost seemed
trancing as the gleamed in the moon light.
        She leaned her head in and kissed him once on the
lips. He held her even closer to him. Her smile never
left her face. She leaned in once again and kissed him
fully this time. He was kissing her right back. It was
an amazing feeling that she had. Tenchi came willingly
and she never had someone do that before.
        To him this all felt as though they had been a couple
for years. He was starting to wish that he did admit
his love for the space pirate as soon as he had
realized that he loved her. The first time he actually
came to knowing his true feelings for her was when
Kagato had kidnapped her. He remembered that he was so
worried about her safety. When that battle came around
and Kagato tried to kill him he had also realized just
how much he meant to Ryoko.
        Ryoko slowly pulled away from the kiss. She then
rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s getting late,
maybe we should go to bed.” Tenchi said. He felt Ryoko
nodding on his shoulder. She broke away from him and
he walked into his tent while holding Ryoko’s hand.

        Rinoa had been asleep for a half an hour now. She was
so worn out from that day that she decided to go to
bed early. She had a look of fear on her face. She was
having a dream about Tokimi fighting Ryoko. Tokimi had
then switched her fight over to Tenchi who had
interrupted the two women battling. Tokimi ordered
some guy to kill Ryoko.
        The man looked to be maybe twenty, twenty-five. He
charged Ryoko sword in hand. The thing is Tokimi
ordered him telepathically so Ryoko didn’t notice.
Once he was close enough he drove his blade into her
chest. He pulled it out and she stood there. She put
her hands over her wound and they began to turn red as
blood slowly gushed out of her injury. Her face grew
pale as she looked from the man to her hands. She then
fell to the floor.
        Tenchi had noticed this and he felt his stomach sink.
“RYOKO!” he shouted as he threw Tokimi off balance.
The goddess tumbled back and Tenchi rushed over to his
love. He skidded to a halt once he reached her. He
slowly picked her up and held her in his arms. She was
just barley alive. “Don’t leave me.” Tenchi said in a
whisper. A tear ran down his cheek. She was breathing
hard and she coughed. She slowly lifted her hand up
and touched his cheek and gave him a very weak smile.
She tried to say ‘I love you’ but could only mouth it.
Then her arm fell to the floor and she died in his
arms.
        He was pissed now. With tears streaming down his
cheeks he carefully lied Ryoko’s body on the hard
floor. He stood up and looked over at the man with a
fierce look that he had never had before. Then a
glowing blue light surrounded him as the three wings
of the Light Hawk formed in front of him.
        He stepped into the wings and his wardrobe changed
into the Light Hawk armor and his sword quickly flew
into his hand where he gripped it tightly as it too
transformed into the Light Hawk Sword. He then charged
the man at his full speed. With one hard blow he
thrusted his sword into the mans heart, the sword’s
blade going completely through his body. He pulled his
sword out and the man fell to the floor after a few
seconds.
        Tenchi then turned toward the goddess and for the
first time in her life she felt fear. She took a step
backwards as Tenchi slowly walked towards her, sword
in hand. He was going to avenge the death of his love
if it was the last thing he did.
        She had made the wrong choice to mess with Ryoko. If
she had only knew that she was going to mess with a
strong force like Tenchi’s she would have thought this
battle through more.
        He then charged her yelling out, “You will pay for
what you have done!” Once he neared her he jumped up
into the air sword high over his head. Tokimi looked
at the mixed emotions in Tenchi’s eyes. She saw hate,
loss and the lust for vengeance. He brought the sword
down and sliced Tokimi right down the middle.
        A tear streamed down the child’s cheek. This was no
ordinary dream she was having, she was having a
premonition. Somehow Rinoa had picked up this gift
sometime after her father died. At first this gift had
scarred her but then she got used to it and it didn’t
bother her as much.
        She slowly came to. That very battle was only a week
away. She sat up in her futon and looked around the
tent. She knew that she had to do something or Ryoko
would die, but what? She then got the answer. She
would just follow Tenchi and Ryoko to where ever the
battle would be and warn Ryoko when the time came.

        Ryoko had fallen asleep an hour ago but Tenchi lied
there wide awake. She was curled up on his left side
facing him. He had his arm around her shoulder. He
stared up at the ceiling of the tent. He had been
thinking about the battle to come.
        Ryoko had mentioned earlier that she was afraid that
in the battle that they would lose each other. He had
to reassure her that everything would be ok. But he
was also was afraid of the same thing. If he ever lost
her he wouldn’t know what would happen. (We sure do
o_O)
        Ryoko stirred around in her sleep. She turned over to
her other side and settled back down. Tenchi released
her and laid his arm flat on the futon. She was lying
on his arm partly but not to where she was hurting it.

        He just smiled and turned his view back to the
ceiling. He was once again thinking about his battle
with Tokimi. He began to wonder if he could actually
defeat a goddess. Washu had said that Tokimi and
Tsunami where immortal but could still die by
conventional means. That alone gave the prince hope.
        He then slowly began to drift off to sleep. His eyes
seemed to be getting heavy and he slowly closed them.
He sat there breathing in the cold crispy night air
through his nose. He then began to slip off into a
state of unconsciousness. He then finally slipped into
the final stage of slumber.

        The week had seemed to have gone by way to slowly for
Ryoko. She had a feeling of why it seemed that way,
because she was getting more and more afraid of losing
her love. It was true that she spent every waking and
sleeping hour with him. He didn’t seem to mind it
because he had the same fear on his mind.
        Once the week had ended the man who had delivered the
message for Tokimi had appeared in their tent first
thing they woke up and got prepared. “I’m here to take
you two to Lady Tokimi.” he said in a scared voice. He
was still scared of Tenchi from the last time they
met.
        The young man had them stand on a weird
transportation device that had appeared with him.
Rinoa saw them walk onto the weird device and right
before they left she leaped on it from behind them.
They didn’t seem to notice the girl though as they
disappeared.
        They all found themselves in another dimension
altogether. It was a vast room with nothing but a hard
navy blue coloured floor and a ceiling that seemed to
be thousands of feet above them. There where pillars
that stretched up to the ceiling as well.
        Rinoa quickly ducked behind a pillar after she had
realized what was what. She didn’t wish to let the
other two know she was there yet. If they knew she was
there she figured that would distract them from the
battle at hand.
        Tenchi gripped his sword in his hand tightly as
Tokimi appeared out of nowhere. Ryoko got very angry
at the sight of the woman. Her energy sword appeared
in her hand as she all of a sudden charged her.
        “Ryoko what are you doing?!” Tenchi shouted. Ryoko
didn’t listen, she just advanced the goddess at full
speed. Tokimi was going to pay for all the misery she
had put Ryoko through. She also was going to make her
pay for the death of Rinoa’s parents and all those
other lives she had taken away from the other people.
        Ryoko shouted out as she brought her sword down to
Tokimi’s head. Tokimi held her hand up and a magical
sword of her own appeared in hand. She blocked Ryoko’s
attack and pushed the pirate away with one thrust.
        Ryoko flew back a little ways but was far from done
with this battle. She banished her sword and cupped
her hands together out in front of her. Small lights
of energy started to gather into one large orange
energy ball in her palms. Once she gathered enough
power she released it and it sailed towards the
goddess.
        It connected and there was an explosion. Smoke
bellowed up after the initial explosion blocking
Ryoko’s and Tenchi’s view of Tokimi. That didn’t
matter much because seconds after Tokimi charged Ryoko
bringing her sword to her side with both hands. She
flew across the “room” towards Ryoko. She then slashed
her sword at Ryoko’s middle section, hoping to open
the woman’s stomach up.
        Ryoko disappeared at the last possible moment. Tokimi
sliced through nothing but air. Tenchi had now charged
at the woman head on. He swung his sword at the
woman’s sword hand. She had noticed and leaped back
about a foot and blocked with her sword.
        Rinoa sat in the darkness of the pillar and watched
in horror and in awe. This all looked familiar and she
knew exactly when the man would attack Ryoko. Just as
she was thinking about this the man was heading right
for Ryoko.
        “Ryoko, look out!” Rinoa shouted as she ran at her
maximum speed. She didn’t know what she was thinking
but she had a feeling that if she didn’t run out to
Ryoko’s aid Ryoko would still be impaled by the sword.
Right as Ryoko turned to battle the man Rinoa jumped
out in front of her. The man drove his sword into the
girls stomach instead of Ryoko‘s. He quickly pulled it
out in surprise.
        Ryoko’s heart had skipped a beat as she saw it all
happen. It seemed like slow motion. “NOOO!!” Ryoko
shouted. The man leaped back by about two feet and
gave a look of fright. Ryoko’s gems began to glow red
and a bluish sort of light surrounded Ryoko’s body.
After a flash of blinding light surprisingly the ten
wings of the Light Hawk appeared out of nowhere.
        Ryoko’s clothing then changed as three of the wings
went right through her. They changed into something
like her space pirate attire, like what she wore when
she fought Kagato, but it turned into something like a
dress, a slit running up each leg. Then her energy
sword turned into the Lightning Eagle Sword (AKA The
Light Hawk Sword).
        This caught everyone’s attention. Ryoko, enraged at
what happened, charged the man at blinding speed.
“No!” He shouted just as she brought her sword down
upon his neck. With a loud sickening whack his head
rolled onto the floor and into a near by pillar his
body than collapsed onto the floor.
        Ryoko, still in her Light Hawk attire, rushed over to
Rinoa who was coughing up blood. She gently lifted the
girl into her lap. She brushed some of Rinoa’s hair
away from her face. “You’ll be fine.” she said quietly
a tear slowly making it‘s way down Ryoko‘s cheek.
Rinoa shook her head. She coughed again and looked
into Ryoko’s eyes. “I am honored that I got to know
you and I wish that I could have seen your home.”
Rinoa then closed her eyes and her body went limp.
        Ryoko’s eyes burned as tears formed in them. Rinoa
was her star of hope in that prison camp, her best
friend in this war and she felt as though Rinoa was
like a daughter to her. Ryoko carefully laid Rinoa on
the floor.
        Ryoko slowly stood up, her back to Tokimi. “You will
pay for this.” Ryoko said angrily. Ryoko then turned
to face the goddess. Tenchi who had been looking at
this whole scene was also in shock, for one Rinoa’s
death and another Ryoko’s transformation. He thought
that only Juraian’s such as himself could do that.
        He couldn’t believe what was going on. Ryoko with the
Light Hawk wings and Rinoa with her death. He couldn’t
help but also notice that Tokimi looked scared. She
was afraid for her life. Tenchi could practically feel
her fear too.
        Tokimi had a look of fear on her face now. Ryoko took
to the air and sailed right for the goddess. “You will
pay!!” Ryoko shouted as she advanced the goddess.
Tokimi tried to ready her sword just as Ryoko slashed
her sword down at her shoulder. Tokimi was just barely
able to block. Ryoko applied pressure to the sword in
Tokimi’s hand.
        The sword wasn’t strong enough. Tokimi’s had broken
into two. Then Ryoko’s sword went into the woman’s
shoulder. The sword went in at about one and ½ feet
deep. Tokimi shrieked out in pain. Ryoko pulled her
sword out and Tokimi stumbled back holding her injury.
        Tokimi had never felt pain before. Red blood came
gushing out of her shoulder now, covering her hand and
clothes. It felt warm and almost sticky to Tokimi.
Ryoko saw her opportunity to advance Tokimi again.
        Ryoko once again advanced the goddess shouting out in
anger. Once she reached the goddess she drove the
Lightning Eagle Sword into the woman’s stomach. Tokimi
in shock now cupped her hands over the blade, not
quite touching it. Ryoko gave an even more pissed
expression on her face and twisted the sword around in
her gut. Tokimi gave a look of pain and fear at the
same time.
        Ryoko then quickly pulled the sword out. The blood
flowed out of her wound, drenching her robes and
turning them into a dark red colour. Tokimi, holding
her stomach, fell to her knees. Her vision began to
blur and then the darkness of death began to fill her
eyes and mind. It was getting hard to breathe as she
tried to gasp for air. She felt everything in her body
shut down one by one and the tingling feeling of the
numbness  of death took over. She fell to the ground
with her dying breath, her vision dimming slowly.  She
closed her eyes and  finally died.
        Tenchi had never seen Ryoko like that before. It sort
of scared him. He knew that Ryoko wasn’t one to be
taken likely but he never knew that this is what her
true rage and anger was like. Of course no one had
truly got Ryoko angry so she herself never really knew
that this was what happened.
        Ryoko then fell to her knees and began to cry. She
was crying for Rinoa and for all the others that had
died because of Tokimi. The Light Hawk Wings had
disappeared now and her clothes went back to normal.
        Tenchi ran up to her and knelt down in front of her.
She leaned into his right shoulder and continued to
cry. Tenchi put his arms around her to help calm her
down. She just barely hit him in the chest with her
right hand. It felt more like a pat than anything. She
then gripped a small part of his shirt in her fist.
        “Hey, it’s alright.” Tenchi said quietly. He felt
Ryoko shake her head. “No it’s not, Rinoa’s dead
because of me.” she said still sobbing. Tenchi looked
over to Rinoa’s body. She had gave her life to save
Ryoko’s. Tenchi was grateful for it. “She died saving
your life Ryoko, she didn’t die in vain.” he said to
her.
        Ryoko sniffed and continued to cry in his shoulder.
“But I could have saved her.” she said quietly. “It
was to late, she got in the way at the last possible
second.” he explained. Ryoko just continued to sob.

        All the armies where battling. It was good vs. evil.
But then the enemy armies just began to vanish one by
one. Everyone stopped battling and watched in
confusion at this. The people that where still alive
and the dead that lied on the blood soaked ground, all
began to disappear into what ever realm they came
from.
        Ayeka was even more confused. “What is going on?” she
asked no one in particular. Then, out of nowhere,
Ryoko, Tenchi and Rinoa appeared. Ayeka saw that Ryoko
was crying and Tenchi was trying to help her stop, she
saw Rinoa, who was now nothing more than a shell of
her former self lying on the ground a few feet away.
        Ayeka ran over to Tenchi and Ryoko. “What happened?”
she asked. Tenchi looked up and noticed where they
were. They where back on Jurai. “Rinoa died, and Ryoko
killed Tokimi. The war is over.” he explained.
        At last this two year nightmare had ended. But at the
cost of many innocent people. Thousands, no millions
of worlds had been fighting the same war, fighting for
the right to exist, the right to live and have a life.
Now it was all over. Everything could go back to
normal.
        People would gather to rebuild what they had lost.
They would build shelters and begin there search for
friends and family. People would house the homeless
and donate their time to help them get there lives
back. Things could be peaceful and quiet for years to
come. (Hopefully o.O)

        The End

More notes: Ok, ok. I know it was a bit dark and my
friends tell me that this sort of a story isn’t
something that I would usually write. They are
correct, but I must confess, I have these on going
dreams with Tenchi and the others, with some added
touches, and this is what happened to them about 6
years ago evidently. Ryoko for one was very reluctant
to tell me and Tenchi didn’t really wish to say
anything either. And about their relation ship, you’ll
find out later in my other fan fics, k? Well send me
your comment good or bad to
the_demon_sumoner_ryoko@yahoo.com! Bye!