Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Choices and Consequences ❯ The Next Morning ( Chapter 3 )

Tenchi Muyo: Choices, consequences, and the morning after.

I do not own Tenchi Muyo, or any of its characters or ideas, but I wish I did. As for this story, it was written as a sort of what if, while I wait for OVA 3 and GXP to be released stateside. I started on this after wondering, what if he actually did make a choice? For those that have read the "True Tenchi Novels" that detail the backgrounds on the characters, I have not read those. I guess you could say that this is an AU as I have made certain decisions on their backgrounds to fit my story. And if the Character appear OOC, there is a good reason.

I want to send a very BIG THANKS out to Doug Dennis, Top Quark (Shadow Quark) and Chendzeea Li for helping me with this story. THANKS go out to Katherine and Swifty514 for helping me eliminate my bad grammar. :)

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From Last time:

The three of them lay there on the floor and Tenchi could not help but smile as he thought of the future with them. As he thought of the future, he watched as the covers lifted up slowly and moved towards their heads effectively covering them up. He knew only Ryoko had the ability to do this so he gave her another hug of thanks, as he had no idea how he would be able to reach the covers with his arms pinned down. It did not take any of them long to fall asleep though each one of them had thought that they wouldn't get any rest. Ryoko was the one to fall asleep the fastest though, as she was finally comfortable and in his arms. Even though she had to share, there didn't seem to be any lack of comfort.

As the three of them slept, two ghostly figures looked on smiling. One of the figures was Tsunami, the goddess of Jurai. She looked over the three and smiled, "For now they are happy, I hope they can stay that way." The other figure, this one was feminine in stance, though she had no real body like Tsunami did, but the goddess understood her. Tsunami looked at her and smiled, "No, I guess you do not need to watch over them anymore. They will have each other." She looked sad and contemplative as the other figure looked at the goddess with unspoken questions. "Yes," she sighed, "things will be hard for them, but if they can trust each other they will make it." Tsunami laughed at the others unspoken comment. "Yes I saw how they fought before, but I think that they can work together when needed."

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And now: Tenchi Muyo: Choices, consequences, and the morning after.

As with all mornings, Sasami was the first to wakeup and she began her daily ritual of fixing breakfast for her family with all the vigor of one doing their most favorite thing. Ryo-Ohki, as usual was slow to wakeup. However, when she did, she took a moment to look in on Ryoko. She was pleasantly surprised to find Ryoko still asleep and still in his arms. Having a mental link to Ryoko was both a good and bad thing at times, at nights, it was the worst as whenever Ryoko would have a nightmare then she would suffer through the trauma as well. Amazingly, last night was calm and peaceful. It was almost enough to make her think that her mistress had not slept, but she knew that was not the case. Her mistress had slept, and slept soundly.

Exiting the room, she made her way downstairs and changed into her child form so that she could help Sasami with breakfast while occasionally trying to sneak away with a carrot or two. As usual, the little princess was amazingly able to keep her from taking even a slice of a carrot. It was not long before Mihoshi bounced down the stairs and turned on the TV to watch some of the morning cartoons before breakfast. Sasami sighed as she realized that so far, this morning had started out just like every other morning. If it was to be a normal morning she knew in five minutes Tenchi would wake up and scream, then Ryoko could be heard laughing maniacally, and finally Ayeka would scream and the mass destruction for the day would begin.

However those five minutes came and went with no screaming. Then five more passed, and then five more with still no screaming or yelling. The quietness was getting to Sasami and she looked back at Ryo-Ohki, only to discover the cabbit had sneaked a carrot while she was listening for any indication that today would be like all the others. "Ryo-Ohki!"

Upstairs the three had started to wake up, but they all refused to move. Ryoko felt better than she ever had. Not only had she actually slept through the night, but she also she didn't have any nightmares. There were no remembrances of her past and she felt safe. She couldn't help but smile as she lay there with her head nestled against him. She had been awake for maybe 10 minutes just enjoying just laying there with his arm around her. Ryoko didn't know exactly how long she's been awake, as that would mean she would have to move to look at the clock. And so she just laid there, happy, and content.

Ayeka had woken up as well, but had not been awake for nearly half as long as Ryoko. Sleeping on the floor was definitely not one of her favored places to spend the night, at least until she remembered that Tenchi was with her, and that he was still holding her. She let out a sigh of contentment, and opened her eyes, to which she immediately regretted her decision. 'What a disgusting sight to see in the morning,' she thought when her eyes cleared and focused on the demon. She then shut her eyes again trying to block out the image of the pirate. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Ryoko, but this time she noticed that something was amiss. The pirate no longer looked menacing, but gentle and surprisingly peaceful. As she became more conscious and aware of her surroundings she realized that Tenchi's hand that had been on her shoulder as they went to sleep was no longer there. Instead, she soon discovered it was resting on her hip, and her hand was resting on his chest. 'Oh my!' she thought then moved her fingers slightly feeling him underneath her fingertips.

Moving her fingers around on his chest lightly caused him to stir slightly and his hand moved on her hip slightly, and though she did not notice, his other hand moved slightly to hold Ryoko as well. It felt good to have him holding her like this, and she wished that it would never end. With a renewed smile she closed her eyes again and just enjoyed being held by him.

Unfortunately, all good things must end, and for all of them it happened all too soon. "Tenchi! Ayeka! Ryoko!" they heard Mihoshi call from the other side of the door.

Ayeka was going to answer when she heard Tenchi's voice, "Yes Mihoshi?" Both Ayeka and Ryoko opened their eyes to see that he was wide-awake, and it looked like he had been awake for quite some time as well.

"Sasami says breakfast is ready."

"Ok we'll be out in a moment." He said again and lifted his hands up to the girls' shoulders. "Time to get up," he whispered to them.

"Mmmm," Ryoko murmured while she slowly brought herself to sitting position, a yawn making its way to her mouth.

"Tenchi, how long have you been awake?" Ayeka asked surprised. She had thought he was still asleep, but he sounded very awake.

As he sat up he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Well, for a while… I guess… I couldn't really see the clock."

"Oh," she then looked around nervously. She knew that he had proposed to them and that Tsunami said it was ok for them to be together. Nevertheless, she did not think that he was awake when she had felt of his chest like she had.

"Well, I'm hungry, and after last night I feel great!" Ryoko proclaimed before jumping up into the air, then swooping down at them. She grabbed Ayeka around the waist and Tenchi around the neck and proceeded to kiss him deeply. For a moment, he thought he was melting; only to realize that he was in fact melting, or phasing through the floor. Ryoko pulled them through the floor and although Ryoko had pulled Ayeka through a wall at the hot springs, it had been some time ago and the feeling was still very unsettling to the princess.

They landed on the floor gently just moments later. Ryoko released Tenchi's lips, and he looked dazed for a moment causing Ryoko to giggle as she dashed off towards the kitchen. He looked at himself, then at Ayeka and realized that they were both still in their nightclothes, but from the commotion in the kitchen it was obvious that Ryoko was too. "Oh wow Ryoko!" They could hear Sasami and Mihoshi asking, "That's a great gown! Where'd you get it?"

Shrugging his shoulders he looked to Ayeka and he could see she was blushing, 'I wonder why,' he thought then realized that she usually only did that when thinking of him, or doing something with him. Reaching out he touched her face tenderly; as he bent his head slowly towards her face, he kissed her with the same passion as he kissed Ryoko just moments ago. Pulling away he whispered, "Morning Ayeka."

She smiled in a state of pure delirium as he escorted her to the table where Ryoko soon joined them as did Mihoshi, Ryo-Ohki, and then Sasami. They ate breakfast in relative silence and Ryoko for once was not trying to stuff herself. In short, Tenchi was enjoying a calm and very peaceful breakfast. His loves would occasionally look at him and wink or just smile, which would cause him to feel contented. 'Nothing can ruin this day,' he thought.

At least he thought that until a loud voice rang out, "AHHHHHH!!!!!" Everyone was on his or her feet in an instant and looking around for the source when the voice was heard again, "NO!"

"Tenchi, what the hell was that?" yelled Ryoko as she looked around.

"I'm not…" He began but was cut off by the voice.

"STOP! DON'T DO THAT!"

"Dad!" He hollered and then rushed for his fathers' room.

He and the others arrived at the door just in time to hear another voice, this one feminine, "Nobuyuki! Stop screaming."

"Mom?" Ryoko looked shocked to hear Washu's voice Nobuyuki's room.

"NO! STOP!" They heard him yell again.

"Um, should we go in there?" Ayeka asked worriedly. He sounded like he was being tortured and knowing Washu, they could easily picture her having strapped him down for some hideous experiment.

"I… I don't know," Tenchi said confused and he reached for the door handle several times only to draw it back and stare at the door.

"NOBUYUKI! Come on, stop that." Washu said again, causing the others to look and wonder.

"NO! Stop…" His voice seemed to be fading, as his throat was near raw from the sheer volume of the screams.

"Nobuyuki, I said stop!" They then heard a loud slap and all of them poured through the door to see Nobuyuki sitting in his bed with Washu beside him, both fully clothed; he was holding the side of his face while sobs racked his body.

"She… She's leaving me," he said which caused them all to look confused.

"Who's leaving?" Washu asked, letting herself calm down and try to be soothing.

"Oh gods, she's leaving me…" he whimpered then grabbed Washu and began wailing heavily.

"Dad?" Tenchi asked while slowly approaching them on the bed.

Nobuyuki looked up to see his son, but not as the man, he had become, but the small child that he once had to tell that his mother was not coming back. "Tenchi… I-I'm sorry." Grabbing Tenchi, he began trying to soothe his son, though he wasn't crying. "She's left us… She's not coming back…"

'She?' He thought frantically trying to understand what his father was meaning.

"Tenchi," he heard Ryoko call to him softly. Turning slightly towards her she whispered, "I've heard him say that before." Ryoko looked to have tears forming in her eyes though she was trying hard not to weep herself.

"Dad?"

"Kiyone's gone… she's not coming back… I'm sorry son."

Tenchi put his arms around his father and tried to fight back the tears forming in his own eyes. After all these years, it still hurt to think of what happened. And like before, his father was literally loosing his grip on reality, or so it seemed. Tenchi knew that when this happened last time, he had been sent to stay with his grandparents for a while so that his dad could take care of some issues. During that time, the two hardly saw each other except on weekends and even then he spent most of that time with his grandmother. Until she died as well. The two most important women in his life were lost, never to return. He thought of Ryoko and Ayeka and how he nearly lost them both on occasion and he lost his ability to hold back the tears. Both father and son held each other and cried until they had no tears left.

Ayeka was watching these events in a stunned silence. She had no clue what was going on, nor what could seemingly have caused them both to begin crying like they were. Looking over at Ryoko, she noticed that the pirate was holding her eyes shut tightly as well as clenching her fists. Though, she did not know the reason, she knew Ryoko understood. When she felt a tug on her sleeve, she looked down at Sasami to see the little princess had tears running down her face. Sasami continued to pull on Ayeka's sleeve until she understood that she was being asked to leave.

Nodding Ayeka gripped Ryoko's shoulder and pulled the pirate out of the room as well. She walked Ryoko into the living room and asked her quietly, "What's going on?"

"They're talking about her."

"Her? Who?" Ayeka looked so confused that had Ryoko been in better spirits she might have laughed.

"Tenchi's mother. She died when he was very young."

"Oh my!" She looked back at the room where the two men were still shedding their tears. "How… how do you know this?"

Ryoko took a large breath to calm herself, "When Tenchi was a boy he came running up to my cave crying. I didn't know why at first, but he was so sad. Later when Nobuyuki showed up, I found out that his mother had died, and he tried then to tell Tenchi that she wasn't coming back. I tried to comfort him the best I could, but I couldn't feel him. But even if I could, there's little I could have done to ease the pain of loosing his mother."

"So, it was true?"

"What was true?"

"I thought you had made up that story of him coming to your cave before, but it's true?" Ayeka was ashamed of herself for not believing her.

For her part, Ryoko just nodded her head as Washu came around the corner. She did not see Mihoshi anywhere around for a few moments then realized the TV was on. Turning towards the TV, she could see Mihoshi just sitting there, seemingly watching but her eyes did not seem to be looking at the TV. Sasami stepped up beside Washu and looked at the blonde-haired woman too, "She just started crying when she saw him crying so I pulled her out of the room." She shrugged helplessly as she looked at the blonde who was watching her favorite show but showing no emotions. "I think seeing them brought back some bad memories for her."

"Bad memories?" The perplexed princess asked.

Washu sat on the couch looking sullen. She just sat there looking out the window her eyes contemplative and brooding. She knew from last night that he still missed his wife and this morning was extremely taxing on her mentally. Last night she had relived many of her worst and best memories last night and she had thought that maybe her days of pain and solitude were just about over. But she didn't think that she could handle this on a regular basis.

Ryoko sat beside her mom and placed a hand on her shoulder as she was feeling things, strong emotions from her mom that she hadn't felt before. "Mom… um Washu?"

"I thought… no I never thought…."

"Thought what?" Ryoko asked trying to sort through the emotions that Washu was transmitting through her link.

'My Ryoko,' she said mentally. 'I never wanted to… to feel that pain again. When I lost them, I never wanted to feel anything. For thousands of years, I was alone, and I hated it.' She looked at her daughter, 'I made you, I wanted you to keep me company… to be with me… but I didn't want anyone to take you away from me so I….' She paused for a moment and looked at Ryoko; she could see the confusion and fear. 'When you were born… you… you had the same body you do now. I couldn't handle you as a baby; it hurt so much and reminded me of him.'

Ayeka looked on as Mihoshi sat stunned silent watching her cartoons and Ryoko and Washu sat looking at each other like they were deep in conversation but no sound was heard. She watched as Ryoko placed her hand on Washu's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze and the too looked ready to cry, 'But at what?' she thought confusion etching itself on her face.

'Is that why I have no memories of being a child?' Ryoko asked mentally and trying for once to listen.

'Yes, but when you were born you had the mind of a child still so you had to be taught some things just like a baby. And then…' She stopped as her body convulsed. Ryoko in her mind saw Kagato, and hate entered her heart at full force, but something about him looked different. He was smiling and had a gentle look to his face, unlike the sinister one she had come to know. It seemed as if he was a different person. 'He had been my best student…' her mother added softly. 'I was so careless then, and so happy to have someone else to share my life with that I overlooked all -.' She couldn't finish her sentence.

'All what?'

'I… I didn't want to be lonely again, so I let him have access to my lab… all of it. He was there when you were born.'

'He was there!'

'Yes, after that he mentioned that you needed a pet, and since you didn't like crabs we tried other ideas and finally we created Ryo-Ohki. Then…'

'What happened?'

'He turned on us… all of us…' she then threw her arms around Ryoko crying. 'I lost everything!' She mentally cried, then cried out loud, "Mikamo, Mikumo, then you and Ryo-Ohki! I can't loose anyone else!"

Mihoshi's head snapped up and stared at the distraught scientist as she cried. She didn't know of the mental conversation that she had just had with Ryoko, but the first few names she mentioned she knew, and knew well. "Miss Washu?"

Washu groaned, "What Mihoshi?"

"Did you say you knew Mikamo and Mikumo?"

Just the mention of the names caused Washu to start crying again. "Why'd you have to go and ask that? Now she's crying even more!" Ryoko demanded.

"Because I know a Mikumo and his dad was Mikamo," she said quietly and then looked away ashamed of herself for making Washu cry.

She was spun around fiercely by Washu, "What do you mean?"

"Ouch! You're hurting me!"

"Tell me damn it!" Washu demanded shaking the girl before Ryoko and Ayeka could pry her off the poor ditz.

"Miss Washu, calm down," pleaded Ayeka as they finally pulled her off Mihoshi.

"How'd you know Mikumo was his son?" Washu demanded again.

"He's my great-grandfather,' she said again rubbing her arms from where Washu had been holding her.

Ryoko looked at Mihoshi, then at the mental image she had of Washu's baby, and she noticed a number of similarities between the two. "Oh no!"

"What?" Ayeka and Mihoshi asked.

"She's… your… my… if it's… but it can't be…." Ryoko was stunned and she did not want to think about the fact that she was indeed related to the ditz.

Ayeka thought about it then put what Washu and Mihoshi had been saying together finally, "Oh my," she said as she came to the same realization that Ryoko had.

Washu had already come to the same conclusion though she didn't want to accept it. Grabbing Mihoshi by the arm, she dragged the blonde into the lab. Ryoko and Ayeka rushed to catch up to them and by the time they caught up to them, Washu had already deposited her in a chair and was grabbing something off a table that had suddenly appeared. "M-M-Miss Washu… what are you doing?" Mihoshi asked terrified.

"Just hold out your arm, this won't hurt…" She did not even wait for the blonde to do so before she grabbed for the flailing arm and jabbed the metal device into it.

"AHHH!!" Mihoshi screamed prompting Ryoko to grab Washu and Ayeka to grab Mihoshi to pull them apart. But the scientist had already gotten what she needed. "That hurt!" The blonde whimpered.

"What the hell are you up to?" Ryoko demanded, but Washu just began typing on her computer.

"Well it looks like your arm is ok, no bruising," said Ayeka as she inspected Mihoshi's arm. The girl just sniffled and it was evident that she was more scared than hurt. Ayeka; however, was not satisfied. "Miss Washu, I demand you tell us what you're doing."

"It's true…" Washu said just barely above a whisper, but Ryoko heard it all too clearly as if Washu was screaming it.

"What's true?" Ayeka demanded.

Washu turned around to Mihoshi with tears in her eyes, "I-I… I'm sorry, but I had to know. Could it really be true…?" Ryoko was holding her head as Washu's rampant emotions were giving her a massive migraine. "Do, do you have a picture of your great-grandfather?

"Umm, I don't think so, but my grandfather would." Mihoshi had not yet come to realize why she was being asked this, but considering how Washu was acting this was very serious to her. "Can you contact the GP headquarters?"

"Of course I can!" Washu crowed and opened up her floating computer. In seconds a huge screen appeared in front of them all and the word, 'connecting' could be seen on it.

"Please input your name and password please," a computerized voice said.

"Um, Mihoshi Kuramitsu…." She began then stopped.

"Password please."

"There was an old woman that lived in a shoe?"

"Access granted. Welcome detective."

"Now what?" She asked Washu.

"Can you call your grandfather?"

"Oh sure, um, connect to GP Director Minami Kuramitsu."

"Connecting…" the voice said, "Complete."

The screen changed to display an older man with a long blonde beard and blonde hair. "Hello Mihoshi, it's been a while."

"Hi grandpa! Um, Miss Washu here wants to ask you a question."

He looked over at the redhead. "Ah Miss Washu, it's good to see you. I've read Mihoshi's report and she says that you were held captive for some time."

"Thanks, but… um, do you have a picture of your father?"

He looked surprised at the question. "I think so, but what do you need that for?"

"Please! I need to see it!" Washu begged then changed into her adult form.

Instantly his eyes went wide. "NO! It can't be!" He fished around looking for something in his desk then lifted up a small picture frame. "My father kept this; it was his most prized possession. I never understood why, but…" he looked at it then at Washu. "I don't believe it…" he held the picture up for them all to see and after one look, Washu fainted.

"Um… Miss Washu?" Mihoshi asked.

"It's the picture from her memories," yelled Ryoko causing Ayeka to cover her ears.

"Mihoshi, what is going on?" He asked in confusion.

"I don't know, she was saying that she lost Mikamo and Mikumo, and I just said…"

"Um sir…" Ryoko began, "I think I can explain it." Though her head hurt it helped now that her mom was out cold.

"Yes?" Three people intoned wishing her to explain it.

"Washu was married a long time ago to a man named Mikamo, and they had a son named Mikumo. But while her son was still a baby, Mikamo took him away from her because of… of…" She paused as she tried to remember the reason.

"Social status," Washu finished, getting up off the floor and shaking her head. "He was from a noble family and I didn't have a family at the time. So, they forced him to leave me. He took my son… he took…" she choked up and began to shed tears.

The GP director looked like he had seen a ghost and he fell back into his chair. "This is not possible, how could you still be alive?" Everyone looked at him in surprise. "My father told me that same story… though grandpa never wanted to talk about it. When grandpa died, his last words were that he regretted listening to them. It all makes sense now."

"You mean it's true!" Ayeka shouted alarmed.

"Oh yes, there is no one beside me and my father that knew the complete story. At least we thought we were the only ones that knew it." He looked at Washu and at the picture again.

"So you're… my grandson… is my son still alive!"

Ryoko slumped heavily to the floor as this was becoming just too much for her to handle. Ayeka stepped up beside her and placed a hand on the pirates' shoulder for support, though she did it unconsciously.

Minami shook his head sadly; "I'm afraid not. He was one of the chief officers involved in getting the GP to go after Kagato. He was, never seen again."

"DAMN HIM!" Washu cried as she fell to her knees. Not only had Kagato robbed her of her daughter but now her son as well.

Ryoko felt waves of guilt passing over her. If anyone came after Kagato then she was the one that would have killed them. 'Not him,' she though angrily and then remorse overtook her. "I killed him…' She looked up with tears flowing, 'I- I killed him… he would've been my brother… I've killed him!"

Ayeka put her arms around the distraught pirate, as Mihoshi stared at them wide-eyed as did Mikumo as the princess began to speak. "No, you didn't. He did it; it's not your fault."

To the shock of everyone, Ryoko did something that she had only once done in her life, "Mommy!"

Washu hearing her daughter and feeling her pain rushed over to her and held her daughter trying to soothe away the pain. "I'm here… shhh, mommy's here." From where the two were sitting on the floor, it gave everyone a good view of a mother caring for her daughter.

Ayeka smiled at the two of them finally acting like mother and daughter while Mihoshi just sniffled, and thought how much she missed her own mom at this moment. Minami, the GP Director just watched in stunned surprise. He had heard many stories of the infamous Space Pirate Ryoko, and so when Mihoshi's report had mentioned her, he had found it hard to believe that Ryoko had not performed those crimes on her own, and that she was indeed just a tool used by Kagato. To make matters more interesting, she was acting nothing like the pirate he had been expecting, and not only that, but his great-grandmother was calling the universe's most feared space pirate, her daughter. Had he not been sitting already he would have fallen over.

He took his eyes off them a moment and realized that Ayeka Jurai, was there and actually trying to help calm Ryoko down. 'What the…' he thought as he watched this. He remembered Mihoshi's report saying that the princess was there, but from what he understood the pirate and princess never got along. Now it seems like they were friends. "Mihoshi, what's happened over there?"

"He chose," Mihoshi said with a hint of sadness. It still hurt that he didn't choose her, 'But maybe Nobuyuki was right, maybe he's not my destiny.'

"Chose?" He looked perplexed as he watched the exchange. "Chose what?"

"Huh, it's in my report," she looked at him confused.

He help up an official looking report for her to see, "No it's not, I have been over it several times since you submitted it."

Mihoshi looked at it, "That's the wrong one."

"It's the only one I received from you."

"But mine had little flowers and things on the front of it."

"I see, well did you keep a copy of it?"

"Of course I always do!" She added cheerfully.

"Good, I expect to have it sent to me soon then," he told her grinning.

"Yes sir," she said snickering and thought it was fun to have a grandfather like him.

"Sir if I may," Ayeka said prompting him to turn towards her.

"Yes your highness," he said bowing.

"Please, just Ayeka for now." He raised an eyebrow at that, but she continued. "When was Mr.…" she paused trying to remember his name.

"Mikumo," Mihoshi supplied.

"Yes, when um did Mr. Mikumo, become missing?"

"It's been about 500 years or so I guess. He was headed to one of our other spaceports when the captain of the ship reported seeing the Soujya, and after the fleet attacked it, none were seen again. We lost a lot of good men."

All movement from the girls stopped. 'Only 500 years ago, that means,' all of them thought in unison.

"I…." Ryoko tried but was unable to speak.

"You…." Washu tried.

"You didn't," supplied Ayeka as both of them looked up at her. "That was well after you fought Yosho, so you didn't cause this." Ryoko smiled at the princess while Washu tried to pick herself up off the floor letting Ayeka help Ryoko up. This was a big relief to Washu's mind and to Ryoko's as neither wanted to think that Kagato had used her to kill her own brother. Even if none of them knew it at the time, it was still a relief.

"Um, Your… I mean Miss Ayeka?" Minami asked cautiously.

"Yes?" She looked back up at him after helping Ryoko to her feet again.

"Since Miss Washu is unable to answer this yet," he nodded towards his now great-grandma and she smiled; though clearly still unable to voice things. "From what I can tell from right now, it seems as if Ryoko is Washu's daughter, is that true?" All of them nodded while Ayeka just told him yes. "So you're telling me that I am related to her as well?" He pointed towards Ryoko as he spoke which caused the ex-pirate to frown.

"Is that a problem?" Ayeka asked indignantly.

"No, I am just surprised," he said with a chuckle. "Though next time we have a family gathering I think I should give the others proper warning." He began smiling as he looked at the two women, one his great-grandma and the other, his great aunt.

"Does that mean I'm related to them too?" Mihoshi squealed as both Ryoko and Washu groaned.

Ayeka just chuckled behind her hand, "Yes it does."

"YAY!" she screamed and proceeded to hug them fiercely.

"Ack! Can't breathe! Let go of me Mihoshi!" Ryoko gasped as the circulation of air was being cut off by Mihoshi's hug.

"Oh, sorry about that, Ryoko!" exclaimed a giggling Mihoshi, as she released the mother daughter duo.

They could hear Minami laughing in the background. "Well this is going to be interesting. Do you ladies have need of me any longer? I'm afraid I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on."

"N-No," Washu said while clearing her throat. "I'll keep in touch; I want to talk to you more about your father, my son."

"It will be a pleasure," he said smiling. "Goodbye for now then, grandmother Washu." He closed the video link as Washu smiled.

Her smile then turned around 180 degrees as she suddenly turned on everyone nearby; "If any of you so much as calls me grandma I will make you regret it!" The hard looks she gave them made them all fidget nervously, even Mihoshi.

"Well, um, Miss Ryoko would you care to join me for a bath… we need to talk." Ayeka said to the ex-pirate then hurriedly left with Ryoko floating behind her.

As Ryoko reached the door she looked back at Washu, 'Thanks, mom.'

Washu nearly broke down again, 'Your welcome, my Ryoko.' Ryoko then left leaving just Washu and Mihoshi in the lab.

"Does this mean I can come visit you anytime now?"

"It's never stopped you before," she suddenly turned towards the blonde and pointed a finger at her, "by the way, how have you been getting in my lab?"

"I just opened the door." Mihoshi gave her a hug then skipped out of the room leaving a wide-eyed and confused Washu.

'Just walked in. but… no one can just do that, it's coded to my DNA…' she suddenly stopped as she thought about it and she laughed. 'Of course, my DNA is in her too, no wonder she gets in so easily… how am I going to keep her out now?' Washu sat back on one of her floating pillows and lifted her hands to start typing, but she didn't know what to type, or rather what to type about. Her experiments were going good, her daughter no longer thought of her as someone to be loathed, but as a mother, and Tenchi had chosen so all of that mess was cleared up. All she had left to figure out now was what to do about Nobuyuki.

Leaning back on the pillow it became a chair to keep her from falling over. She turned on one of her monitors that was set it to view his room, as she was still concerned about his actions this morning, and she was worried about him. As expected the two had stopped crying and now Tenchi was busy trying to get his dad to say something. Turning up the volume a bit she began to watch the two men.

"Dad, what happened?"

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I was just surprised… and scared," he added nervously.

"Scared? Of what?" Tenchi asked and Washu nodded in agreement, she wanted to know too.

"She appeared to me, after all this time she was there… and… she told me goodbye… that I didn't need her anymore."

Both Tenchi and Washu looked at him strangely. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she was standing right there!" He said pointing towards the door. "She was right there, and she told me goodbye!" He rubbed his forehead as he tried to think this through. He knew that she had been gone for a long time and it was not possible for her to be there, but he could have sworn she was.

"Maybe you dreamed it?" Tenchi offered shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't think so." Nobuyuki said running his fingers through his tangled hair.

"Why?"

"Because when I woke up and could smell Sasami's cooking and I could hear Mihoshi talking as well. Then, I felt her…." He stopped as he smiled slightly, his thoughts caught up in the memories.

"Mom?"

"No, Washu. She was here; asleep in my arms… it's been so long since I've held anyone… it-it was nice. I-I… I really enjoyed it. Holding someone like that again."

"But I thought you said you saw mom?" Tenchi asked confused while Washu smiled thinking about what he said.

"Yes, I felt… I felt something, I looked up from her face…, and Kiyone was there. My wife… I was terrified! I promised her that I would remain true to her… and I wasn't." Nobuyuki hung is head in sorrow and Washu felt guilty now for doing what she did.

"What… How… Um, what happened?" Tenchi asked trying to find the words.

Nobuyuki chuckled, "She smiled at me… then said goodbye… when she turned I screamed for her to stop and shortly after that you and the others burst into the room.

"I see, wow, dad, that's um, eh…" Tenchi didn't know what to say. He tried hard to believe what his father was telling him, but it all seemed rather impossible.

"No Tenchi, it's not impossible," a voice from the doorway said and three sets of eyes looked towards the door to see Tsunami there. "She was here; I allowed her to reveal herself."

"So she was here!" Tenchi, Nobuyuki and Washu all asked amazed. The goddess just nodded as the three of them stared at her in bewilderment.

"Why is she leaving me?" Nobuyuki asked, not even trying to hold back the tears.

"Nobuyuki, you no longer need me." Again, three sets of eyes with the exception of Tsunami stared at the figure that just appeared beside the goddess. "Tsunami has given me only a short time." The goddess nodded her head and left from the room.

"Kiyone…" Nobuyuki stared at her.

"Mom?" Tenchi asked amazed.

"Oh my!" Washu exclaimed as she watched the events in utter amazement.

She moved over beside Nobuyuki and placed a hand on his cheek. "I promised you before that I would always watch over you as long as I needed to." Stroking his cheek and wiping his tears away, she continued "But you no longer need me. Neither of you do, as you both have others more capable of caring for you than I can."

"But…" Nobuyuki began but was cut off.

"No more, you do not need to hide. I have watched you and I see how you have hidden your heart and feelings away from others. It's time to stop hiding." He just nodded mutely as she turned towards her son.

"I'm sorry for what I said mom," Tenchi could not look at her; his heart ached too much.

"I know, and I know that you did not mean it," she placed her ghostly arms around him and Tenchi could for a moment feel his mothers love. "I'm sorry I had to go when you were so young."

"I miss you!" he cried as he tried to hold her, as did Nobuyuki.

They just held each other for a moment as Washu wiped the tears from her eyes. "I wish I could find love like that." She said to the screen. To her amazement Kiyone looked up at the screen and mouthed the words, 'you have.'

"My time is almost over," she said pulling away from them.

"What do I do now?" Nobuyuki asked as he tried to clear his eyes.

"Go out on the date you promised her."

"What? But I was drunk!"

When Washu heard this, the scientist angered immediately, "What the hell! You only asked me cause you were drunk!"

"Do you not want to go out with her?"

"I would love to, but… but I was drunk when I asked! She-She might not want to now that I'm not or she might think that I had to be drunk to ask her… or…" he was silenced by a finger being pressed to his lips.

Washu was sitting back in her chair thinking. 'He wanted to… but… he was… ashamed? Because he was drunk?' It didn't make sense.

"Dad, you asked her out?"

"Well yea… and I guess we kind of fell asleep together… but nothing happened…" he replied defensively, but then added, "I don't think so anyway…"

"My love," Kiyone spoke gently to him, "simply ask her again. I do not think she will tell you no. You were the first one asleep last night on the dock." Nobuyuki looked dumbfounded.

"She carried me in?"

"In a way yes," Tsunami suddenly said while reappearing in the doorway. "It is time."

"Goodbye my love, I will see you again," she said then kissed him. He had kissed her many times in the past and in his dreams, but this time, it felt different. It held the same love, but he felt that she was kissing him goodbye. She released him from the kiss and she smiled at him, he knew then that this was goodbye, something that he had not had a chance to do before. Turning to Tenchi she told him, "Goodbye my son, I will always love you, never forget that." She then hugged her son for a moment before she began to fade.

Tenchi tried to hold on to her, but he felt her fading away from him, until he was holding onto nothing but air. When he looked up, he saw Tsunami by the door. She did not say a word; there was nothing left to say. She shimmered and within an instant, disappeared. Both father and son embraced for one final hug before attempting to leave the room.

Washu was still sitting in her lab with her mouth agape, but she had a feeling that things just might be looking up for her in the future. It was evident to her that he still loved Kiyone, and she could not blame him for it. She still loved her husband, even after all these years.

++++++++++

To be Continued… again… I'm serious…. Really

Next time: Ryoko and Ayeka talk in the onsen. Nobuyuki and Washu have a heart to heart, this time sans sake. And Tenchi will start training with a now younger Yosho, but his sense has something up his sleeve that Tenchi is not going to like.

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Note: I want to share this with everyone, this is a family tree of sorts detailing who is related to whom and I am going to be using it for reference and for names of certain individuals, namely Mihoshi's relatives. One thing to notice is that it lists Tenchi's mother as Kiyone Masaki, not Kiyone from Tenchi Universe. This is from a FAQ that is a part of the AIC BBS: http://www.angelfire.com/id/deathquaker/tenchi/FAQ.html

Here on the AIC BBS is a timeline of events and it lists the name Kiyone Misaki:

http://www.aicanime.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tenchi &action=display&num=1008305203&start=0

Here is the family tree:

http://homepage1.nifty.com/harinoue/tenchi/ova/relation/d ata/tenchi_ova_relation_e.jpg

You might ask why am I putting this info here, well it is to show that the names are really not my own, as I said before none of the characters are mine, though I wish they were. This is to explain a few things included here as I am, until forced, not going to say that Kiyone is Tenchi's mother. Kiyone is his mother and she is generally accepted as such.

I could always use help with pre-reading the story before the next chapter is posted. If you would like to help please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ffru/
I have the next several chapters posted there for my beta readers to help me on.