Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Choices and Consequences ❯ Freedom and Bondage ( Chapter 8 )

Tenchi Muyo: Choices & Consequences: Freedom and Bondage

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.

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From Last time:

"Married…"

"That's right mom," Ryoko nudged her, "Say hello to your new Son and daughter in law." The three held hands and Washu's system could not take this shock, and she fainted.

"Oh dear…"

"Hum, maybe we should tell her about you later, huh?" Asked Tenchi as he looked at Ayeka.

Before Ayeka could respond Ryoko broke in, "Well I don't think you need to do that." When they both looked at her, she pointed to the screen showing that five had left the room. "She already knows you're pregnant."

"Well then I guess I don't need to go though any test or anything then," the princess proclaimed happily.

"Yep, let's get out of here! I want to see the real sky!" Ryoko then picked up her mom and flew to the door followed quickly by Ayeka and Tenchi, who were hand in hand.

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And now

Tenchi Muyo: Choices & Consequences: Freedom and Bondage

It has been said that there are no constants in the universe. However, time is a constant; it is always changing. Sometimes, it's for the better… sometimes for the worse. Often it is hard to tell, until it has passed. However, when five years has passed for some and only a few hours for others, problems begin to develop. Such is the way things are for three right now in the Masaki valley, in Tenchi's home.

Her ability to fly gave Ryoko the speed advantage, so she came bursting out of her mothers' lab, carrying a passed out scientist on her shoulders. Seeing an all too familiar living room made her worry, but not for long. Sitting in front of the TV was the spaced out blonde ditz that she had not seen in many years. "MIHOSHI!" The pirate shrieked, dropped Washu, and leaped at the confused officer.

Mihoshi had barely turned around before she was knocked down by a fierce hug from the former space pirate. "Um… good to see you too Ryoko…" the blonde sputtered, confused by her friend's affection.

"It's been ages since I've seen you!" She instantly dropped the airhead, other thoughts racing through her mind. "Hay, wanna go drinking?" Ryoko beamed, giddy at finally being able to get some alcohol after many years of forced abstinence.

"Um, but my show isn't over yet…"

Backing away and helping Mihoshi off the floor, Ryoko told her, "Ah, don't worry about it, you can watch it anytime."

"Um, sure… I guess we…"

"Great! You get the sake and I'll…"

"Ryoko!" A feminine voice suddenly interrupted. Turning towards the voice Ryoko saw Tenchi and Ayeka behind her at Washu's door.

"Oh come on! It's been years!" she protested.

"Ryoko," Tenchi lightly scolded, "You really don't need to drink anymore."

"But Tenchi!" She whined, in a voice that Mihoshi had not heard her use before. In fact, he did not look like Tenchi. Well to her he might be Tenchi… if he was younger… and slightly less developed… and had shorter hair.

A voice from the doorway caught all of their attention. "Don't spoil your dinner Ryoko, I'm… EEP!" Standing in the doorway was Sasami holding a pan of noodles. The pan was suddenly dropped to the floor clanging loudly with its contents spilling out. Ayeka turned to see her, and Sasami, upon seeing her sisters' enlarged abdomen decided to join the fallen noodles.

"Oh dear…" Ayeka's concern was evident as they all looked at her sister.

Tenchi quickly moved to help Sasami off the floor while Mihoshi suddenly noticed Ayeka's stomach. "Oh, Ayeka did you eat too much at breakfast this morning?"

Ryoko started to snicker. Quickly it became chuckling, and then she burst into an outright laughing fit rolling over onto her side in mid air. Tenchi looked between his wives a moment then at Mihoshi before he lifted Sasami off the floor, "Oh boy," he sighed, "how are we going to explain this?" Ayeka, too, looked like she was about to bust, but not from laughter, her face a bright crimson from either holding back tears or a scream. "Um, Mihoshi… let's talk about this later, ok…" Tenchi requested.

"Huh? Ok," The police officer didn't appear to be sure as to what was going on, but if he thought they should talk about Ayeka's weight later, that would be fine.

He placed Sasami on the couch, and Ryoko quickly sat next to the little princess after getting her laughing under control. Mihoshi just went back to her movie since Ryoko didn't seem to be going towards the baths. Ayeka had spent the last several years helping prepare the meals so she ambled over to the kitchen to finish dinner. Leaning over the couch slightly, Tenchi kissed Ryoko on the forehead and she just smiled at the gesture before cleaning the noodles off Sasami.

After cleaning up the noodles, he went into the kitchen, where he could see Ayeka's shoulders trembling. Approaching her, Tenchi placed his hands on them. At his touch, his wife spun around and clung to her love tightly, crying out, "What are we going to do?" She asked through her tears. "Washu and Sasami don't know what we've been through… they don't know what happened… how… what…" Words failed her and she cried that much more.

Concerned with nothing else, he wrapped his arms around her in a close embrace. "We will do what we have been doing… It… it may take them some time for the others to adjust, but it'll work out." Tenchi hoped he was right, and that things really would work out. Ayeka nodded and rested her head on his chest for a few more minutes.

Their peace and serenity was shattered by a very high pitched wail, "WHAT!!" The couple glanced at the door and then at each other. Before they even thought to pull away from each other, the owner of that voice came running into the kitchen. Sasami stood at the door, her eyes wide and taking in the scene of a very pregnant Ayeka holding Tenchi. She could feel the confusion from inside her, even Tsunami was surprised, an amazing feat in itself.

"Um, hello Sasami," Ayeka started slowly. Tenchi moved to stand beside Ayeka, but he did not let go of her completely, he still held her hand.

"I-Is it… true?" she stuttered and tried not to point at her sisters' stomach.

Placing an arm around Ayeka, Tenchi's hand rested on her stomach and caressed it lightly. "Yes, it's true," he supplied for his now blushing wife.

"B-But... you're not even… and how… you weren't like this yesterday…"

Both of them chuckled nervously. "Well… you see…"

"Here let me try," Ryoko interrupted appearing behind Tenchi wrapping her arms around him gently. He was certainly glad that they finally got her to understand tight hugs are good, but being able to breathe during one is better. "Washu made a room that accelerated time so that inside it, time moved faster."

"Why?" The confusion on the little princesses' face was readily apparent. She was astounded, this morning Ayeka and Ryoko had had another argument, and now they were both holding on to Tenchi and neither cared?

"Well, Tenchi needed a lot of time to spend training, so we thought this was a great idea," Ryoko replied while shrugging her own shoulders. "But then Mihoshi came into the lab, and instead of us spending ten hours in there… we spent about five years in there." She was not sure if it was Mihoshi's fault, but one of the few things she had felt from her mom when they were inside the device was that Mihoshi was there as well.

Sasami mouthed the words 'five years.' Both Tenchi and Ayeka nodded.

"But you're still not…" She stopped when Tsunami spoke gently to her mind. "You are…" All three of them nodded their heads. "How?"

"Well Sasami," supplied Ayeka, "As a member of the Royal Family of Jurai we have the right to join two people together in marriage in Tsunami's name."

Before Sasami could even ask, Ryoko jumped in, "So your sister married Tenchi to me, and by marriage I became royalty… so I married her to him."

"Oh… I see…" Sasami's eyes glazed over and she felt a fainting spell coming on once more. It was truly a shock to her system to know that since this morning, five years have passed for those three. Not only that, but they are now married… all three of them!

Luckily, Sasami did not hit the floor because Washu was right behind her. She'd heard what Ryoko said, and came around the corner just in time as Sasami was falling. "Well… this is unexpected." The three just grinned weakly. "I guess that explains a few things too," she said inclining her head towards Ayeka, who blushed red some more.

"Mom…" Ryoko said softly… she was not sure how she wanted to ask this, so she decided to come right out and say it. "Why didn't I get pregnant too?"

"Huh? Oh… well… you see…" It was not very often that the Number One Scientific Genius in the Universe at a loss for words, but for once the three finally saw Washu stumbling over her own tongue.

"Miss Washu?" Ayeka asked politely trying to get her to answer.

"This isn't going to be easy," she muttered under her breath. 'Are you sure you want to know?' She sent to Ryoko telepathically. To which her daughter only nodded her head. "Ok… well you see… I never made you to be compatible with other species…"

"Compatible?" asked Tenchi confused.

"Yes, well Ryoko is… she's unique. There's no one else in the universe like her." Washu felt her heart sinking and she could not even bear to look at her daughter.

Ryoko was trembling… she understood exactly what Washu was saying. "You mean… I can never…"

"I'm sorry…" Washu fell to her knees trying to hold back her tears. 'I never wanted you to feel the pain I felt… I never wanted you to loose a child…' she told her daughter mentally.

Ayeka felt terrible when she realized what this meant. Out of the two of them, she alone would be the one to have children… his children. She knew of nothing that could be said to console her friend, and she unconsciously began to cover her stomach. There was no way she could have succeeded, but she still tried to.

Standing between his two loves, Tenchi tried to think of something to do or say, that would help, but he came up with nothing. "Isn't there anything you can do?" Tenchi did not mean for it to sound as cold as he thought it sounded.

Washu just shook her head. "Maybe in time I can find a way… I've collected samples of your DNA, and hers… even if I just tried to grow a child for you using just your DNA… it might not survive."

Ryoko's world was falling apart. Since Ayeka had become pregnant, she had been looking forward to being pregnant too. To be able to have a child, his child, had been her dream. But now all she could do is watch as Ayeka had all his children. So devastated was she, that Ryoko did not even hear Tenchi's next words.

"What do you mean might?" He asked worriedly.

Wiping away her tears Washu tried to tell him, "She only has a part of her that's human, the rest is Masu… to introduce your DNA into it, it may become a child, or it may die."

"You keep saying may, Miss Washu," Ayeka added seeing a faint glimmer of hope.

"I don't know what would happen…"

"Is there a way to find out?" She asked before Tenchi could respond, as he was preoccupied with holding Ryoko who seemed to be unable to hold herself up anymore.

"Well… yes… but it will take time," Washu lifted her head. When she saw her daughter, and seeing how vulnerable she was, finally something inside her snapped. Tenchi could scarcely move a finger before Washu had not only grabbed and held Ryoko in a tight hug, but the little scientist assumed her adult form. Tenchi and Ayeka watched while mother and daughter held onto each other and cried. Through their tears, they heard Ryoko calling for her mommy, and Washu responding that she was there.

This continued for a few moments before any of them spoke. Tenchi was surprised, when he heard Sasami speak up. "If Miss Washu thinks she can do it, I know she can."

Tenchi smiled, "You're right, Little Washu can do it." The two, Washu and Ryoko, looked up at him from where they were on their knees. "How much time do you think you'll need?"

Washu looked at him, then at her daughter. "I don't know… it may take a while…"

"Can you…" Ryoko started before her throat choked off her words. 'Can you really do that?' She asked mentally.

Washu nodded at her, "I will do it, no matter how long it takes." She smiled at her daughter; 'I'll make you a mommy.'

Slowly a wide smile spreads across Ryoko face; Tenchi and Ayeka have both seen this rather mischievous grin before. "Y-You'll make me a mommy…" she said shakily, "and you a grandma."

"What!?" Washu didn't know weather to laugh or scream. But hearing the others snickering lightly around her she answered her daughter, "Watch what you say Ryoko dear or I'll tell Tenchi your breasts are sagging." She knew that would get to her daughter, it always has. Though, she wasn't expecting the response.

"They aren't sagging Miss Washu, I think they're perfect." All eyes turned to Tenchi as he spoke which prompted him to blush slightly while Ryoko turned redder than her mothers' hair.

"Don't you like mine?" Ayeka asked feeling left out.

Washu nearly fell over, as did Sasami. "Of course I like them," he responded kissing her lightly, "but I think they are beginning to grow."

"What?" The elder princess shouted and looked down at her chest.

"You know Sasami," began Washu, "this can't be the same Tenchi…" The younger princess could only agree as Ayeka opened her kimono slightly to examine herself.

"They are bigger!"

"Um, Ayeka, how far along are you?" Washu asked her trying hard not to laugh.

"I… don't know several months at least." She began to think about it, "I first started feeling sick about five or six months ago."

Bringing up her computer, Washu scanned the princess quickly and then snickered. "Well it looks like you are nearing the end of the pregnancy; your breasts have been getting bigger all along. I am surprised you are just now noticing." She cast a glance at Tenchi who looked away whistling and blushing. "I see, so he noticed, and was enjoying them."

"Mom!" Ryoko called out covering Sasami's ears.

"What? Don't tell me he hasn't been."

"Um, yea… well I think I'll go out to the fields now…" Tenchi began and tried to move towards the door.

"Oh wow Ayeka! You're gonna be a mommy soon!" Sasami cried out as she hopped around the room, "Mommy will be so happy! And Nobuyuki will too! I wonder what brother will say?" Sasami's celebration came to an abrupt halt and the mood changed in the room as well.

"I guess we need to tell him," Tenchi glanced nervously at his wives. They nodded back though Ryoko was still wiping a few errant tears out of her eyes. "Are you ready to go? We might as well get this over with."

Ayeka patted her stomach, "I can bet I know what he says about this."

Ryoko half grinned, and put her hands on her hips as she floated up into the air, to do an impression of Yosho, "Tenchi, how could you dishonor her like that!"

The others laughed at her antics, but it still did not ease Tenchi's mind as he thought about what he was going to tell his grandfather. Finally resigning himself to his fate, Tenchi started to leave, and then turned towards his wives. "It's time we go talk to him."

"But Tenchi!" Ryoko complained, "We're having so much fun."

"Yes Tenchi, this has been very interesting," added Ayeka.

"I know, but we need to go…" His rambling quit when he saw Washu and Sasami staring at him open mouthed and wide-eyed. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is there a problem?"

Sasami shook her head; "You are just so different Tenchi… I-I never thought you'd act like this."

"Yea Tenchi," Washu put in, "You're supposed to still act like that innocent kid that ran away from things."

Tenchi just grinned; something else that the others thought was different. "Well, I guess I have changed… but I'm not going back." He studied Ryoko then Ayeka with her protruding stomach, "… I won't go back… not to what I was before." Taking his wives hands he told Washu and Sasami, "I guess you'll just have to get used to the new me. My wives did."

Ryoko kissed his left cheek, while Ayeka kissed his right one and announced, "I wouldn't change a thing, my Tenchi."

"I would," Ryoko added, and just about everyone knew what she would change, but she surprised all of them, "I'd prefer to stay in there a few more years."

Laughing slightly Tenchi moved in to kiss their cheeks, but at the last moment, he stopped. Washu saw him grin before he kissed Ryoko, then Ayeka on the lips. He then led his starry-eyed wives out the door towards the shrine leaving Washu and Sasami staring at him in shock. He was used to walking hand in hand with the girls and it was something that he has enjoyed for several years. But as they walked up the steps, he noticed that this time things were slightly different. The sky was a lot clearer and certainly more beautiful than any sky he had seen for the past five years.

However, that did not keep his spirits high for long. With each and every step, he was heading to what he knew would be a very volatile confrontation. His worrying about the present made the past five years all too surreal; it never really occurred to him what he would do now. Especially since they were married now, and he was going to soon be a father.

Pushing his fears away, the prince concentrated on what he needed to do and say. He would never pass it off as a mistake, or something that happened in the spur of the moment. In truth, he's had several years to think about it. After his final decision, he had almost two years to enjoy it. Reaching the top, the three of them looked around. Having not seen Yosho, they figured he was in his office.

"And what brings you three up here?" A masculine voice called from beside them.

Tenchi and Ryoko turned to see Yosho standing off to one side. Ayeka was glad that, for the moment, both of them were blocking his view of her. However, she knew that they could not hide the truth.

"Grandfather, I… we…" Tenchi swallowed hard and decided on what to do. "We need to talk."

"What is on your mind?" Yosho asked and he began to study them, especially Tenchi. He had changed a lot more than he thought possible in just a few hours.

"This may be hard to handle at first...." he would have rambled on but his throat suddenly constricted. He knew what he wanted to say but starting it off was something else entirely.

"My Mom made a machine for us to train in," Ryoko jumped in while Tenchi smiled gratefully at her.

"Oh," Yosho said amused, and he knew that only Washu could be responsible for the changes, but what did she do he asked himself.

Tenchi gathered his courage, "Yes, you see grandfather; Ryoko thought it would be good for us to practice together."

"You are not saying something is all their fault is it?"

"No!" Tenchi shook his head vigorously. "All they did was tell me about it and I thought it sounded like a good idea. So the three of us went into Washu's… um…" He tried to come up with its name before asking Ryoko softly, "What did she call that thing?"

"It's a Time Compressor." Smiling as she conjured a mental image of herself in a Science Academy uniform, alongside her mother while lecturing a class, the pirate added, "It compresses time so that time inside moves at a faster rate than time outside. We were going to only train for ten hours inside which would be the equivalent of five hours outside."

After the explanation, Tenchi and Yosho both looked on amazed, her husband could definitely tell that she had a lot of her mother in her. "Well, originally," he recalled the past five years and smirked. "However, things didn't go as we planned and we were in there for much longer."

Yosho walked closer and scrutinized the physical differences in Tenchi. Not only had he grown a few inches, but also his hair was longer, and he appeared manlier. "I see. You look older now…"

"Yes, by five years," Ayeka added from behind Tenchi and Ryoko. Yosho noticed that his sister had aged as well.

"Five years?" The priest asked, amused.

"Yes and a lot happened during that time," Ayeka added as she stepped to Tenchi's other side.

Instantly, Yosho noticed her stomach, causing his eyes to widen with shock. This had been the first time for the three of them to see him truly surprised. Yosho was not even this astounded when he found out that Tenchi had given Ryoko back her gems. "Y-you…" his hand rose shakily, pointing at her stomach, then at him. It was this point, that all of them knew what would happen. "HOW COULD YOU?!" He screamed in outrage. Tenchi's head hung low, but not from shame. "How could you defile her?!" Before Tenchi could even look back up, Yosho taken out his bokken to teach his grandson a lesson

However, three things happened that Yosho had not expected. First, Tenchi didn't even attempt to flinch away nor dodge the blow. Second, the bokken never touched the boy as Ryoko's sword had stopped Yosho's. Thirdly, Ayeka yanked the bokken out of her brothers' hands and snapped the oaken blade in half.

"He did not defile me brother! I gave myself to him." She tossed the wooden pieces to the ground and a hint of a smile formed on Tenchi's lips.

In all his years, he had not envisioned anything like this, "How could you do this?"

"After spending over three years in there, the girls talked to me about marriage. I debated it for several months before I gave them my answer. After I told them my answer, Ayeka married Ryoko to me in the name of Tsunami, as a member of the Royal Family of Jurai."

The priest's eyes shot over to Ryoko who was smiling smugly, "Surprise… brother." She had never seen him so lost for words, but she keep things going. "Then as a member of the Royal Family, I married Ayeka to Tenchi in Tsunami's name as well." Tenchi could not help but smile at the proud and beaming look Ryoko had.

"So you're… married…"

"Yes," Tenchi told him, "for nearly two years, and Ayeka only found out a couple of months ago that she was expecting. Nothing happened between us until after we were married." Leveling a look at his grandfather he added, "Her honor is intact, as it has always been."

Yosho's mind was reeling from this new information. 'This wasn't supposed to have happened… I only made the challenge to make him realize that he needed to take a stand… and to take his training seriously.' Coming back to the present, the Shinto priest noticed that Tenchi had his arms wrapped around both of the girls and all three of them were happy. 'He's grown up… he's a man now,' Yosho, too, smiled as he gazed upon his family. "I see in those five years have taught you what I could not." He watched the two girls, well women now, and smiled, though Tenchi grinned embarrassed. "I see they still have a few things to work on."

All of them laughed at that while Tenchi blushed. "Tell me Tenchi, have you got over your nose bleeds? I find it hard to think my sister got this way with you like that."

"Ah… well… um…" Tenchi stuttered, trying to find words to respond, but nothing seemed to come to mind. However, Ayeka and Ryoko were laughing and assuring Yosho that Tenchi has been over his nosebleeds for some time.

Out in space near Saturn, an old man looked at his display. "Sir everything is ready," called one of the crewmen from behind him.

"Very well," he acknowledged before stepping into the light. The gray, curled ends of his beard had similarities to the tendrils of a certain sea creature. Scanning his displays once more, the old man finally gave the order. "Ok, activate the gems, and bring her here. I want her kept immobile, but not harmed."

"Aye Sir!" Chorused around the bridge, and his henchmen began working on their terminals.

"Soon Washu! You and that boy will feel my vengeance!" The ship shuddered once as it came to life, journeying out of the ice belt. From their hiding spot in the dark side of the planet, their cover made it impossible for them to monitor the earth all of the time.

Back on Earth the four were still at the shrine, "Tenchi you understand that we still have to have the duel, honor still demands it."

"Yes grandfather I know, I…" he trailed off as Ryoko fell to her knees. "Ryoko?"

"AHHH!!! DAMN IT! It hurts…." Her head lifted up and there was a green tint to her eyes.

"Ryoko!" they all shouted. Yosho readied himself for a fight; he knew those green eyes quite well. Tenchi tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she shoved it away, only hate and malice lined her features now. She looked all around before she flew up into the air and disappeared.

"RYOKO!" Tenchi shouted again, desperately, but his plea was only answered by the wind.

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To be continued…

Hay this is starting to get good… I think.

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.