"Walking Wounded" by Zechs Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, nor do I profit from them. I did not own/profit the song "Walking Wounded" by The Tea Party (An excellent song). Yes, I know that they're in Japan, and the whole "hears American music" is kinda dumb, but the idea appealed to me. The song lyrics aren't in order, I've arranged them to best fit the story. Prologue Ryoko was looking around in Washu's lab, looking for some kind of laser weapon that she could use. She hoped to use it in such a way that it got rid of Ayeka in an... "accident"... as Washu's equipment generally did. She found a big, important, deadly-looking machine, and flipped a switch. It turned out to be a radio. On the radio, a haunting, melodic song was played, and even though Ryoko didn't understand the language, she felt something shift inside of her... "Is it safe to look within?" Ryoko often wondered about her relationship with Tenchi. Often he had ignored her, flirted with her, defended her, and fought with her... where did he stand? "Tenchi, my Tenchi, why do you hold out? Why can't you make a decision?" Ryoko frowned. He had always been cryptic with his responses to her affection. He had done everything from nearly giving his life to save hers to occasionally slapping her. What did she do wrong? Where was she going? She just couldn't wait any longer. So, the next morning, she spent the whole time primping up... no doubt that Tenchi would wake up perplexed, wondering where she was. Well, Ryoko smiled wryly, he would soon find out. It was a longer task than she expected. Instead of being ready at breakfast, she was ready more around three. Of course, to throw off speculation, she occasionally made loud groaning sounds like she had a hangover. Tenchi would be so surprised! Then, finally, the time had come... it was time for her grand entrance. "Tenchi, what do you think?" Ryoko giggled and swooped down next to him. Tenchi was about to say something when Ayeka began her latest tirade. Ryoko tuned her out; she was saying something about slutty clothes and makeup. "Ryoko, I really think that you look great in that..." Tenchi began, and immediately Ayeka destroyed whatever he was going to say with a flurry of obscenities. Tenchi couldn't ever tell Ryoko; Ryoko understood that now. He cared for them both equally. And, in Ryoko's eyes, loving them equally was the same as not loving them at all. Ryoko couldn't take the disappointment anymore; there was no possible way to ever win him over. She suddenly flew away sobbing, to the only place that would give her solace. "And erase all that's been?" Washu was working on yet another experiment when her alarms told her that someone had entered. She bioscanned the intruder, and found out it was Ryoko; in a high state of stress. Adrenaline pumping, heart beating wildly, saline solution... Ryoko was crying. Had to be about Tenchi again. Washu mumbled something incoherent about the pressures of motherhood and went to console her creation. "Washu, Tenchi..." "Ryoko, what happened?" "I can't get close to him, no matter what! Ayeka gets to! And he treats us differently too... you never saw him slap Ayeka! What's wrong with me?" Washu noticed that Ryoko, for all of her years, had the hormonal imbalances of a teenager. "I don't know what to do in your case. You have a tough road ahead." Ryoko stiffened, then stopped crying. "No, I don't. My life's road doesn't have to be tough." "What are you saying? Everyone has a different trial to go through." "I can get around it." "Shortcuts lead to disaster." "I don't care. Washu, erase all of my memory. Every single battle, love, hate, everything. Erase my grudge with Ayeka, erase my love of Tenchi, my hate of Kagato... everything." "You'd be essentially dead, Ryoko!" "No. I'd be alive." "Does it satisfy your greed? Is it all you need? Is it all you want?" Ryoko stepped out of the chamber. What the heck is this place? Where am I? "Ryoko, I've allowed some memories to stay. How to eat, sleep, take care of yourself, your powers... basic survival, basic knowledge. Also, hidden inside of you, your old self still lives. If it wants to return, it will manifest itself and I'll restore you." "Go away you freaky kid!" Ryoko ran, opened the door, and found herself in an open house with a lot of interconnecting, spacious rooms. It was a stark contrast to the strange lab she had been in. "Hello Ryoko." Two women, both in some kind of uniform, knew her name. One was blonde, tanned, and seemed ditzy; the other was medium sized, had teal hair, and seemed to have a nice personality. Nice people, overall. But Ryoko was still freaked out that they knew her name. In every room of the house, someone knew her... a dirty old man, an old shrineskeeper, a young (good looking) boy, a small girl... and there was one girl who called her a slut. Ryoko ignored that one and still walked around confusedly. She had a nagging idea that she knew these women... but from where? Not to mention the freaky little girl who talked like a professor. In the meantime, Tenchi had felt something was terribly wrong, so he immediately went to Washu. "Washu, what the heck has happened to Ryoko?!" "Tenchi, Ryoko had her memory wiped out." "WHAT? How? We have to restore her memory!" "We can't, Tenchi." "Why not?" "It was her choice. She wanted her memory gone." "Why would she want that?" "She thought she'd never get a chance at you, and that you'd never love her as much as she loved you. So she wanted to forget about everything. It was too much for her to take." "That's so selfish!" "It's what she felt she needed." "When your memories do stray, then they betray, all that's been..." Ryoko ambled out of the house and looked at the serene beauty outside. It all seemed so familiar... the quiet, rippling lake, the verdant forest, the sky red as the blood of murdered innocents... blood... pain... killing... death... Ryoko saw faint flashes of a life she no longer knew. The crystal blue lake swirled and melded with the red sky, becoming red ships and blue uniforms... the green forest became the continents of uncounted worlds destroyed. Ryoko started crying, for reasons she couldn't understand. What was wrong with her? She looked behind her, and the stone steps leading up to the shrine began to look like piles of bones. What were these macabre hallucinations? Everything looked like death. Just then, as if on cue, a small cat-like creature nuzzled her leg. She picked it up by the scruff of its neck and contemplated it as it meowed pitifully. She petted it twice and started walking to the top of the shrine; wondering how that little cat had chosen the correct time to comfort her. Once reaching the shrine, she meditated for hourse, until the sky turned dark. She sat up all night and contemplated the stars... something was drawing her toward them. "Are they gone? Tell me what went wrong..." "WASHU! Can we restore Ryoko?" Tenchi was screaming at the top of his lungs. "Nothing, Tenchi. It's her choice to make." "She barely knows who she is! How can she make a choice like that?" "In her subconscious, I left a small fragment of her old self. This small fragment contains everything about her; every memory, like, dislike. The fact is, Tenchi, she'll come back if she wants. And even then, it may be difficult to bring them back. She's been through severe trauma." "What exactly did I do?!" "EVERYTHING Tenchi. You've fought her, beaten her, insulted her generosity, insulted her sense of beauty, protected her enemy during fights, snubbed her, SLAPPED her, and overall ignored her. You are. were the center of her life." "Cuz baby I'm not that strong. and I'm walking wounded, all alone." Ryoko stood up, the stars shining in the sky, and the moon glinting off of the lake's surface. The stars seemed to call her. they pulsed with a music that manifested itself in her gems at her wrists and neck. The stars sang a hallowed refrain that buzzed in Ryoko's mind and seemed to almost ooze from her pores. She wished that she could go to them, and dance in the twilight of space. but she had no way up there. She wished, and dreamed, and thought about it so much in that space of 4 minutes, that it took her a while to learn that she was already in space. She was on board some ship. what ship was it? It somehow reminded her of that cat. Egg Tenchi Daughter Kagato Ryo-Ohki What was going on? Why were these names and things flashing in her mind? Two seemed to stand out. no three. Tenchi was associated with a bittersweet happiness. Kagato seemed to extrude hate from its very syllables. Ryo-Ohki gave her peace. At the mere thought of the name Ryo-Ohki, the ship responded. Immediately Ryoko's mind was flooded with information. about Tenchi, Ryo-Ohki, Kagato. and over all, a single plea: ~COME BACK TO US~ Washu's mental conditioning immediately censored it out a split second after it occurred, and Ryoko only knew who Ryo-Ohki was and what Ryo- Ohki could do. And Ryoko danced in the twilight of the stars, and frolicked in the ebony of space. "How does it feel? How does it feel? Tell me how!" "So this is all a sort of revenge against me?" Tenchi asked dejectedly. "Yes. Imagine an entire building supported by one column that one day fell away on purpose. The building falls on the column crushing it." "I don't like that analogy." "Well how does it feel Tenchi? How does it feel to be ignored? You've played with these girls far too much. You've danced around them and kept them in your thrall. Who was it going to be that you finally chose, Tenchi, after all of your games? Ryoko? Ayeka? Kiyone? Mihoshi? Me? Even Sasami, when older?" Washu needled. "One day this was bound to happen. Who did you really care for? Who? Out with it already." "Washu, I." "Wait. To be honest, I don't care. What I do care about is that my daughter is gone, never to return, most likely. And you're the reason why." "Are you comfortable and numb? Or did you succumb to all those lies?" Ryoko had gone to every star that she wanted. She had seen every planet, done everything that could be done. and she was happy. For the first time she could remember. well actually, that wasn't too long. she was happy. Whatever had plagued her had gone away. She had danced on comets, toured exotic beaches. and somehow had an urge to return to that little backwater planet. She couldn't figure out why, but it seemed like it was coming from the back of her head. fortunately, she had purposefully destroyed the coordinates in a fit of anger that she couldn't really explain, and it had something to do with the name Tenchi. Tenchi. the name echoed through her head, and somehow she remembered the coordinates. An image of a brave young man appeared in her mind, and the memories returned like a flood that deluged her mind; the only other flood was the flood of her tears. Tenchi watched as the ship came onto the screen, approached Earth, and his eyes lit up at the idea of Ryoko's return. Suddenly, to his dismay, the ship turned back, and was gone the way that it came. "She's made her decision. Her mind will already have erased whatever she knew. The Ryoko you knew is dead. Goodbye, Tenchi." Washu left Tenchi crying insidethe darkened lab, and left the house to the space ship she had already outside, where the rest of the girls waited. Epilogue The clock radio turned on. Tenchi woke up in a cold sweat, and the radio was playing some song with heavy violin instrumentals. "Cruddy American music." Tenchi muttered, and then remembered what had happened. However, he heard some yelling downstairs, and chaos, and laughter. He got dressed and freshened up as quickly as possible. He couldn't look shabby. He was professing his love today. No more games. No more walking alone.