Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ What About Kiyone ❯ Revalations ( Chapter 6 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Priest 
Anime/Manga: Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Angst / Hentai / Romance / Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.02.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 320 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Angst / Hentai / Romance / Sci-fi | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.02.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 320 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter six: Revelations
Up on a hill not to far from the shrine sat Mihoshi. She had seen what had happened with Ryoko. The smell of her pheromones was so intense, even at this distance that it was not very difficult to tell that she had gone into heat. She remembered when she had gone in to her first heat, her mom had been very understanding. Her mother had explained what was happening to her, that it would happen to her periodically. Her mother had even brought a boy that she had liked to be with her. The thing is she had come out here to get a way from Tenchi because she was going to go into heat again in the next couple of days, the real Kiyone would have known this and tried to help her keep form doing some thing that she might regret to Tenchi. She had never kept any secrets from Kiyone, but her Kiyone was dead. She did not tell her evaluators that she remembered watching her best friend and partner die in her arms. They thought she could not remember it but she did. Who ever this person was they could not be Kiyone. Any way Washu would help her if she asked nice and did not break any of her lab equipment.
"I wish Kiyone were still alive, and here. Then I would not have to keep pretending to be the happy bubble head that every one seams to think I am." She said to herself. Then she felt a hand get placed on her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin, "Aaahhh!"
"Relax Mihoshi, it's just me." Kiyone said
"What do you want, did I forget to make another report or something?" Mihoshi spit out at the person who was trying to impersonate Kiyone.
Kiyone looked stunned for a few moments, then her expression softened as a small smile came to her eyes and mouth. "No, nothing like that Mihoshi. I just needed to ask you something."
"What do you want to know from me? I'm your incompetent partner, I can't do anything right, remember."
Kiyones' face gets a sad look to it as she says, "Oh Mihoshi, I am sorry I yell at you all the time now. It's just that when I compare the way you are now to the way you used to be, I get so angry with my self. It's my fault you are like this. If I had refused to take that mission things would have been different."
"What do you mean, the way I used to be? I don't know who you really are but why don't you just go back to Headquarters and tell them their little plan failed. There is no way you are Kiyone, I saw her die in my arms so just stop pretending to be her and leave me alone!"
Kiyone fell to her knees crying. "I'm so sorry Mihoshi, I wanted to tell you. I was under orders not to. They said you did not remember what happened that day, so there would not be a problem with me coming back. Please Mihoshi, I was put deep undercover, I did not want to hurt you like that, how can I prove to you that I am the real Kiyone?"
"Tell me something about myself that only Kiyone would know, tell me one of my secrets."
"Freshman year at the academy. Third Quarter. Second month. You were sick officially, at least that is what I told the instructors for you. You were so embarrassed about what you were really going through, that you refused to go to the med-ward for help. You had me cuff you to your bunk. You made me swear never to tell. I never did, especially after what I did to help. Considering it was against the rules, I could have been kicked out of the academy. Bringing a guy into the women's dormitory, and for what we used him for, could have gotten us both kicked out. Inspite of the fact that the guy was a jerk most of the time, he was a gentleman and never mentioned what happened to anyone. Turns out he was part Felinid as well. He could smell you on me, and he thought it was me who was going through that." then Kiyone asked the question that answered Mihoshis'. "How close are you, I know it is some time with in the next week or two. I've been away to long to judge it accurately, that is what I came up here to ask you in the first place, and to tell you what is happening down at the house."
Kiyone was prevented from speaking further by the incredibly strong bear hug that squeezed the breath out of her, given to her by a sobbing Mihoshi. The only thing Kiyone could think to do was hug Mihoshi in return in an effort to comfort her best, and until recently only, friend. After a few minutes Mihoshi pulled back wiping her tears.
"I all ready know what happened at the house, Ryoko will be ok. I want you to tell me what happened after I saw you get killed. Kiyone, it is going to happen in the next couple of days. I need to stay away from the house for a while, unless I can get Washu to help me." As she finished what she was saying she turned her head to the side, with a sad look in her eyes and blushing.
"Mihoshi you have to go to the house, Tenchi has something he wants to tell everyone. I came out here to get you and to ask you that question. We need to tell the others our story, so it won't be such a surprise later. It is time we told them all of our secrets."
"Honestly Kiyone I think it is going to be a surprise any way, at least some of it considering how I have acted so far. Well at least I can stop trying to come up with the most inane and idiotic things to say any more. You would not believe how hard it is to do just once in a while, let alone all the time."
"Come on Mihoshi, its late and we need to hurry on back to the house." She said as she helped Mihoshi stand up.
Just then a breeze blew by carrying a faint metallic sent to Mihoshis nose.
"Um, Kiyone?"
"Yes, Mihoshi?"
"Is it that time for you?"
"No, why?"
"I smell blood."
At that moment Kiyone saw her escaped prisoner pass through some trees behind Mihoshi.
"Do you have a gun with you?"
"No."
"Reach around behind me and take my holdout blaster, I just saw a prisoner that escaped. Take care, he registers as a Highest level Special threat."
"But there hasn't been one of those since the last Life priest died stopping the last of the Blood mages, ending the Soul Spell War. Some people call it the Blood War and others call it the Life War. I wonder why it is called so many different names? Do you know Kiyone?" Mihoshi said as she reached down the back of Kiyones skirt to grab the hold out blaster.
"No I don't know. Mihoshi I moved it up between my shoulder blades under my vest." Kiyone said as she reached into her armpit to pull her blaster from its harness.
"Why would one of either of those show up after nearly 5,000 years, I mean the Juraians keep all the records of how they did what they did under lock and key, only the Royal Family and the High Priest and Priestess of Tsunami have accesses to the chamber the documents are in." Mihoshi said with a strange combination of respect and curiosity.
"Well I can tell you he is not a member of the Royal Family, nor of the church of Tsunami. That more than anything worries me, we need to interrogate him to determine his motivations. He is also wanted for theft of the experimental ship we were asked to test." Kiyone said in a rather grim voice.
Mihoshi was about to ask another question, when Kiyone silenced her with a kiss. Mihoshi was rather stunned to say the least. Just one more thing she was going to have to talk to Kiyone about. She LIKED Kiyone and all, just not in that way, at least she didn't think she did. She hoped Kiyone would understand that her heart belonged to Tenchi.
"Be careful, sister." Kiyone said as she pulled away from Mihoshi and went to intercept their target.
"I wonder why Kiyone called me sister? We aren't related, something is going on and I am going to find out what it is." Mihoshi thought out loud, her expression going from dazed to determined. Then moved in to position behind the suspect.
Kiyone got into position and waited for the stranger to come to her. When he was approximately ten feet away from her she heard him speaking to some one.
"… Just let me know when to turn. What do you mean I passed your location? Fine I'll head back."
Kiyone heard him stop and head back towards the clearing she and Mihoshi were just in.
"I told you I had to return you to the detectives. No I will not give you to some one else. I don't care if you are going to be given to him any way, it is not my right to give you to him. How do I get this thing off of my arm any way. What do you mean it won't come off. Hey you agreed that this was only going to be temporary. Well how are you going to link with him if your key is stuck on my arm?"
At the mention of the ships key being attached to his arm did the conversation she was over hearing make sense. He had some how gotten the Juraian tree in it to bond to him, at least temporarily. A bond the tree did not seam to want to give up just yet. Tree, the thing was really still a sapling barley ten and a half Galactic Standard Years old. Then she realized something, Tenchi was about the same age as this tree, and was comparatively a very young child. There could be some legal problems with them bonding with him this early in his life. She would have to do some research into the matter later.
"Oh, you think that it is fine to leave this thing on me just because he has the master key, huh? Need I remind you that your shell was constructed by Happy Crab Heavy Industries and they have just as much say to whom you will be assigned to as your Mother does."
*Happy Crab? Where have I heard that name before. I know I just saw it recently. * Kiyone thought to her self.
"Wow, I wonder if Washu works for them?" Mihoshi whispered as she came up next to Kiyone.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when Tenchis cousin Taro was left with us she made some formula and it was Happy Crab brand. I think. Plus we were using it to feed Miyuka-chan when Washu brought her back as a baby."
"I knew I recognized that name from some where. We are going to have to talk to her about that. Now lets get him before he reaches the ship and escapes."
"Umm, I don't think he is going to try to escape Kiyone."
"Why is that? He escaped from the force field reinforced cell I had him in on board the Yagami, and took the Y429-1."
"Because he is lying on the ground with his hands out to the sides. He got that way as soon as he saw us standing here."
***
"Please sir, I worry about you. We can talk about my key after you have spent some time in my med-bay. You need to rest, you have not slept in a very long time. And you need to eat more than a bite or two of rice a day. You can't keep going on like this."
"Don't worry about me Hakurai, I'm not going to be around for much longer. As soon as the bonding ceremony is complete I will be gone, I'll finally be free of the cycle, the pain will finally be over."
"We need to speak of this later, two Galaxy Police detectives are approximately nine meters behind and to the left of you. Their weapons are charged and ready to fire sir."
"I have to give you back I don't have a choice, I have to return you and your key to Kiyone and Lady Mihoshi if I am to convince them to allow me to stay and complete my role in the bonding ceremony. You can have them give you to the young prince, please understand that it has to be this way, just remember our travels together and know that I have enjoyed your companion ship. Do not mourn for me, I am not worthy of it."
He then looked over his left shoulder to verify that it was the two female detectives and not some one else. It was them. He then turns around and lays down on his stomach and spreads his arms out to the sides, trying to ignore the pain in his side and hand while praying that Kiyone does not shoot him before he can explain and give the ship (that had been his only friend during this long journey) back.
***
Deep in subspace:
"This is shouldn't be possible." The little red headed scientist said to her self as she looked at the screen of her holo-top computer. "The synchrotrons are out of synch, hell they are fluctuating like mad, and the level of chronotons and tachyons permeating the tissue structure would rip any normal person to shreds at the subatomic level. The psycho-layer, over-dimension, and astral-layer patterns are also in a state of flux. It looks like some thing is anchoring him in this dimension, while isolating him from virtually all other dimensions. Something seems to be draining energy from him, make that several somethings."
***
"Don't move." Kiyone said as she approached her escapee. When she was three meters from him she thumbed on the light on her gun, illuminating the prone man on the ground.
"Oh, how pretty, he has pictures on his back Kiyone. Look there is Washu on his left shoulder, and there are you and me and every one. I don't know who that lady is though, the name under the picture says 'Tokimi'. That's the name of the person Dr. Clay said wanted to see Washu, before he forgot about her that is." Mihoshis expression goes to one more serious as she continues, "Who are you? Are you here to try and kidnap Washu, because if you are I'm going to have to stop you."
Kiyone saw the stranger lift up his head, his lips moving as if he were saying some thing, then his head fell back to the ground with a dull thud. Moments later a line of light appeared in the air and expanded into an opening hatch. A shadow appeared around it solidifying into the shape of the stolen ship. Out of the ship floated a small sphere, approximately 15 centimeters in diameter.
"Please pick him up and follow me detectives." Said a soft female voice. "I will try to explain what he is doing after we get him to the med-bay, please be careful with him I don't want to see him come to any more harm. I kept telling him that he couldn't keep going on like that."
Kiyone and Mihoshi pick up the man between them and follow the little orb. As they walk through the ship Kiyone notices that the ship seams bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, just as Mihoshi stops for no apparent reason.
"Would you look at that, it looks just like the holo-vids of the inside of a Juraian ship, Kiyone." Mihoshi said with awe.
Kiyone turns to look in the direction Mihoshi indicated.
"That is the interior of a Jurai ship Mihoshi." She said softly.
"How do you know Kiyone?"
"I have been on a few of them, they are nice are they not?"
"Please, hurry and follow me detectives. After we get him into a regen tank, I have a few things I need to tell and show you. It is very important that things happen with out incident."
***
As she comes awake she feels safe, for once awakening without the help of the nightmares, the two pairs of arms holding her close in their warm gentle embraces. Two pairs of arms? With that thought she opened her eyes, through a purple haze she saw Tenchi in front of her. She sees Tenchi smile.
"Feeling better Ryoko dear?" He asks her.
"Mm-hmm." She moans in affirmation.
The purple haze is removed from her vision and then a pair of lips kiss her softly behind her exposed earlobe.
"That is good to hear, sister." She hears Ayeka whisper into her ear.
Ryoko turns to look behind her. It certainly looked like Ayeka and Tenchi, it just couldn't be them. It had to be some sort of weird dream or some one was messing with her head.
"Who are you people, you can't be Tenchi and Ayeka. Tenchi is too afraid of me, and Ayeka would just as soon see me dead as look at me. There is no way this could be really happening." She says as a tear rolls down one of her cheeks. She starts to phase out of the bed when the door to Tenchis room slams open.
"Don't you dare leave that bed Ryoko." A rather annoyed sounding Sasami says to her from the doorway. "That man hurt you and I'm not letting you up until you are able to convince me that you are feeling better. I brought you guys something to eat since Tenchi skipped dinner. Tenchi Kiyone said you wanted us all gathered together because you wanted to tell us some thing, Kiyone went to get Mihoshi and Washu will be coming out of her lab in a little bit she was working on some thing. I told her that if she wasn't up here in ten minutes, I was going to send Mihoshi in to get her. She will be along soon." She said putting down the two trays, stacked one on top of the other, on Tenchis desk.
"Sure thing Sasami, the food smells wonderful. So what is that on the other tray?" asked Ryoko nervously.
"Oh, these are our Bonding gifts. The man in black said to tell you he was sorry for hurting you Ryoko, and for not speaking truly to you and Ayeka. I guess I should tell you what happened earlier."
***
In the med-bay of the Hakurai, Kiyone and Mihoshi stand looking at a row of regeneration tanks next to the holographic image of a young girl. In the dim light they see three figures suspended in the green fluid of the tanks, the man they brought here, a Felinid male with a GP emblem tattooed on his arm, and a woman that Kiyone thought she would never see again, the woman was supposed to be dead.
"Hay, Kiyone she looks just like..." Mihoshi let the words trail off.
"Achika." Kiyone whispered.
"That is the Princess Achika. We saved her just before her death." The holo-girl said.
"That is not possible, They buried her not to far from here." Kiyone said quietly.
"We were in contact with her for about one Earth month before then. She agreed to this, for her husband and child. We told her who we were, why we were there, and what we had planed to do. We had to mention a few things leading up to the incident in Tokyo. Like the two strange girls who, boarded at her home, were in her classes at school, and fought all the time. We need to have Lady Washus' help curing her, all we can do is keep her alive."
"Ah, Miss Hologram, Why do you keep saying 'we' all the time? Do you mean you and the man in the tank?"
"Yes, in part, Lady Mihoshi. The other part is that I, like my Mother, am an assimilated being. You see I am Prince Tenchis' Life Tree. I will not allow any harm to come to him. After traveling with this one for a few years, I grew to love him. I told my Mother of this and she found a young girl who was going to die of a sickness her people have no cure for. I spent months speaking to her before she agreed to join with me. She is aware of this conversation, she wants you to know that she will be here with her mother tomorrow afternoon. Her mother is aware of my relationship with her daughter, the assimilation took place under my branches, with Mothers help. This image is what we look like in our other form. He does not know that I have done this for him." The image of the young girl turned her back to them. " I want his child detectives, I need to have something of him after he is gone. He is not going to try to escape, after the ceremony he will not need to. I need to be with his child before the ceremony, it will be to late after. Will you help me, please?" The image turned to look back at them holographic tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I'll do what I can, but tell me a few things please," Kiyone waits for the girl to nod her agreement with a small smile of gratitude before continuing. "What is your name? What part is he playing in keeping Achika alive? What is his name? Most importantly what do you mean you have been traveling with him for a few years, you have only been gone from the Yagamis docking bay for a few hours?"
"Tenchi has not given me a name yet, but he calls me Hakurai. So for now that is what you can call me, my other forms name Takahashi Hiwa, you can call her Hiwa if you wish. His part in keeping Achika alive is that even in the regen tank she was not getting better. What he did, is doing is siphoning off some of his own life energy to maintain hers. He does not have a name, he says that names are for those who have earned the right to be remembered. I could scan his memory to find out what he was called as a child, but I will not invade his privacy. He must have a reason for giving up his past, what little I know of it caused him pain to reveal. As for the travel time discrepancy, that is easy to answer. After we left the docking bay and transmitted the massage we activated my cloaking system. In only a few hours he built and installed a temporal drive unit. We were making sure things happened the way they were supposed to, as well as recovering a few documents. He gave those and a few other things to Princess Sasami. Go now Tenchi needs you, come back after you have all had a chance to get some sleep. Oh and Lady Mihoshi?"
"Yes?"
"Can you give a message to your grandfathers mother for me?" After Mihoshis nod she continues, "Tell her, her old friend Hakurai said hi, and that her daughter Ryoko is just as lovely as she said she would be. Thank you." With that said the holographic girl faded from view.
When Kiyone looked back she saw the image of the girl leaning through the glass of the regen tank containing the strange man and kissing him. She then turned back to Mihoshi and said, "Come on we still need to talk to Tenchi tonight." Then headed back to the house to see what the other girls reactions to what Tenchi had to say to them.
Up on a hill not to far from the shrine sat Mihoshi. She had seen what had happened with Ryoko. The smell of her pheromones was so intense, even at this distance that it was not very difficult to tell that she had gone into heat. She remembered when she had gone in to her first heat, her mom had been very understanding. Her mother had explained what was happening to her, that it would happen to her periodically. Her mother had even brought a boy that she had liked to be with her. The thing is she had come out here to get a way from Tenchi because she was going to go into heat again in the next couple of days, the real Kiyone would have known this and tried to help her keep form doing some thing that she might regret to Tenchi. She had never kept any secrets from Kiyone, but her Kiyone was dead. She did not tell her evaluators that she remembered watching her best friend and partner die in her arms. They thought she could not remember it but she did. Who ever this person was they could not be Kiyone. Any way Washu would help her if she asked nice and did not break any of her lab equipment.
"I wish Kiyone were still alive, and here. Then I would not have to keep pretending to be the happy bubble head that every one seams to think I am." She said to herself. Then she felt a hand get placed on her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin, "Aaahhh!"
"Relax Mihoshi, it's just me." Kiyone said
"What do you want, did I forget to make another report or something?" Mihoshi spit out at the person who was trying to impersonate Kiyone.
Kiyone looked stunned for a few moments, then her expression softened as a small smile came to her eyes and mouth. "No, nothing like that Mihoshi. I just needed to ask you something."
"What do you want to know from me? I'm your incompetent partner, I can't do anything right, remember."
Kiyones' face gets a sad look to it as she says, "Oh Mihoshi, I am sorry I yell at you all the time now. It's just that when I compare the way you are now to the way you used to be, I get so angry with my self. It's my fault you are like this. If I had refused to take that mission things would have been different."
"What do you mean, the way I used to be? I don't know who you really are but why don't you just go back to Headquarters and tell them their little plan failed. There is no way you are Kiyone, I saw her die in my arms so just stop pretending to be her and leave me alone!"
Kiyone fell to her knees crying. "I'm so sorry Mihoshi, I wanted to tell you. I was under orders not to. They said you did not remember what happened that day, so there would not be a problem with me coming back. Please Mihoshi, I was put deep undercover, I did not want to hurt you like that, how can I prove to you that I am the real Kiyone?"
"Tell me something about myself that only Kiyone would know, tell me one of my secrets."
"Freshman year at the academy. Third Quarter. Second month. You were sick officially, at least that is what I told the instructors for you. You were so embarrassed about what you were really going through, that you refused to go to the med-ward for help. You had me cuff you to your bunk. You made me swear never to tell. I never did, especially after what I did to help. Considering it was against the rules, I could have been kicked out of the academy. Bringing a guy into the women's dormitory, and for what we used him for, could have gotten us both kicked out. Inspite of the fact that the guy was a jerk most of the time, he was a gentleman and never mentioned what happened to anyone. Turns out he was part Felinid as well. He could smell you on me, and he thought it was me who was going through that." then Kiyone asked the question that answered Mihoshis'. "How close are you, I know it is some time with in the next week or two. I've been away to long to judge it accurately, that is what I came up here to ask you in the first place, and to tell you what is happening down at the house."
Kiyone was prevented from speaking further by the incredibly strong bear hug that squeezed the breath out of her, given to her by a sobbing Mihoshi. The only thing Kiyone could think to do was hug Mihoshi in return in an effort to comfort her best, and until recently only, friend. After a few minutes Mihoshi pulled back wiping her tears.
"I all ready know what happened at the house, Ryoko will be ok. I want you to tell me what happened after I saw you get killed. Kiyone, it is going to happen in the next couple of days. I need to stay away from the house for a while, unless I can get Washu to help me." As she finished what she was saying she turned her head to the side, with a sad look in her eyes and blushing.
"Mihoshi you have to go to the house, Tenchi has something he wants to tell everyone. I came out here to get you and to ask you that question. We need to tell the others our story, so it won't be such a surprise later. It is time we told them all of our secrets."
"Honestly Kiyone I think it is going to be a surprise any way, at least some of it considering how I have acted so far. Well at least I can stop trying to come up with the most inane and idiotic things to say any more. You would not believe how hard it is to do just once in a while, let alone all the time."
"Come on Mihoshi, its late and we need to hurry on back to the house." She said as she helped Mihoshi stand up.
Just then a breeze blew by carrying a faint metallic sent to Mihoshis nose.
"Um, Kiyone?"
"Yes, Mihoshi?"
"Is it that time for you?"
"No, why?"
"I smell blood."
At that moment Kiyone saw her escaped prisoner pass through some trees behind Mihoshi.
"Do you have a gun with you?"
"No."
"Reach around behind me and take my holdout blaster, I just saw a prisoner that escaped. Take care, he registers as a Highest level Special threat."
"But there hasn't been one of those since the last Life priest died stopping the last of the Blood mages, ending the Soul Spell War. Some people call it the Blood War and others call it the Life War. I wonder why it is called so many different names? Do you know Kiyone?" Mihoshi said as she reached down the back of Kiyones skirt to grab the hold out blaster.
"No I don't know. Mihoshi I moved it up between my shoulder blades under my vest." Kiyone said as she reached into her armpit to pull her blaster from its harness.
"Why would one of either of those show up after nearly 5,000 years, I mean the Juraians keep all the records of how they did what they did under lock and key, only the Royal Family and the High Priest and Priestess of Tsunami have accesses to the chamber the documents are in." Mihoshi said with a strange combination of respect and curiosity.
"Well I can tell you he is not a member of the Royal Family, nor of the church of Tsunami. That more than anything worries me, we need to interrogate him to determine his motivations. He is also wanted for theft of the experimental ship we were asked to test." Kiyone said in a rather grim voice.
Mihoshi was about to ask another question, when Kiyone silenced her with a kiss. Mihoshi was rather stunned to say the least. Just one more thing she was going to have to talk to Kiyone about. She LIKED Kiyone and all, just not in that way, at least she didn't think she did. She hoped Kiyone would understand that her heart belonged to Tenchi.
"Be careful, sister." Kiyone said as she pulled away from Mihoshi and went to intercept their target.
"I wonder why Kiyone called me sister? We aren't related, something is going on and I am going to find out what it is." Mihoshi thought out loud, her expression going from dazed to determined. Then moved in to position behind the suspect.
Kiyone got into position and waited for the stranger to come to her. When he was approximately ten feet away from her she heard him speaking to some one.
"… Just let me know when to turn. What do you mean I passed your location? Fine I'll head back."
Kiyone heard him stop and head back towards the clearing she and Mihoshi were just in.
"I told you I had to return you to the detectives. No I will not give you to some one else. I don't care if you are going to be given to him any way, it is not my right to give you to him. How do I get this thing off of my arm any way. What do you mean it won't come off. Hey you agreed that this was only going to be temporary. Well how are you going to link with him if your key is stuck on my arm?"
At the mention of the ships key being attached to his arm did the conversation she was over hearing make sense. He had some how gotten the Juraian tree in it to bond to him, at least temporarily. A bond the tree did not seam to want to give up just yet. Tree, the thing was really still a sapling barley ten and a half Galactic Standard Years old. Then she realized something, Tenchi was about the same age as this tree, and was comparatively a very young child. There could be some legal problems with them bonding with him this early in his life. She would have to do some research into the matter later.
"Oh, you think that it is fine to leave this thing on me just because he has the master key, huh? Need I remind you that your shell was constructed by Happy Crab Heavy Industries and they have just as much say to whom you will be assigned to as your Mother does."
*Happy Crab? Where have I heard that name before. I know I just saw it recently. * Kiyone thought to her self.
"Wow, I wonder if Washu works for them?" Mihoshi whispered as she came up next to Kiyone.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when Tenchis cousin Taro was left with us she made some formula and it was Happy Crab brand. I think. Plus we were using it to feed Miyuka-chan when Washu brought her back as a baby."
"I knew I recognized that name from some where. We are going to have to talk to her about that. Now lets get him before he reaches the ship and escapes."
"Umm, I don't think he is going to try to escape Kiyone."
"Why is that? He escaped from the force field reinforced cell I had him in on board the Yagami, and took the Y429-1."
"Because he is lying on the ground with his hands out to the sides. He got that way as soon as he saw us standing here."
***
"Please sir, I worry about you. We can talk about my key after you have spent some time in my med-bay. You need to rest, you have not slept in a very long time. And you need to eat more than a bite or two of rice a day. You can't keep going on like this."
"Don't worry about me Hakurai, I'm not going to be around for much longer. As soon as the bonding ceremony is complete I will be gone, I'll finally be free of the cycle, the pain will finally be over."
"We need to speak of this later, two Galaxy Police detectives are approximately nine meters behind and to the left of you. Their weapons are charged and ready to fire sir."
"I have to give you back I don't have a choice, I have to return you and your key to Kiyone and Lady Mihoshi if I am to convince them to allow me to stay and complete my role in the bonding ceremony. You can have them give you to the young prince, please understand that it has to be this way, just remember our travels together and know that I have enjoyed your companion ship. Do not mourn for me, I am not worthy of it."
He then looked over his left shoulder to verify that it was the two female detectives and not some one else. It was them. He then turns around and lays down on his stomach and spreads his arms out to the sides, trying to ignore the pain in his side and hand while praying that Kiyone does not shoot him before he can explain and give the ship (that had been his only friend during this long journey) back.
***
Deep in subspace:
"This is shouldn't be possible." The little red headed scientist said to her self as she looked at the screen of her holo-top computer. "The synchrotrons are out of synch, hell they are fluctuating like mad, and the level of chronotons and tachyons permeating the tissue structure would rip any normal person to shreds at the subatomic level. The psycho-layer, over-dimension, and astral-layer patterns are also in a state of flux. It looks like some thing is anchoring him in this dimension, while isolating him from virtually all other dimensions. Something seems to be draining energy from him, make that several somethings."
***
"Don't move." Kiyone said as she approached her escapee. When she was three meters from him she thumbed on the light on her gun, illuminating the prone man on the ground.
"Oh, how pretty, he has pictures on his back Kiyone. Look there is Washu on his left shoulder, and there are you and me and every one. I don't know who that lady is though, the name under the picture says 'Tokimi'. That's the name of the person Dr. Clay said wanted to see Washu, before he forgot about her that is." Mihoshis expression goes to one more serious as she continues, "Who are you? Are you here to try and kidnap Washu, because if you are I'm going to have to stop you."
Kiyone saw the stranger lift up his head, his lips moving as if he were saying some thing, then his head fell back to the ground with a dull thud. Moments later a line of light appeared in the air and expanded into an opening hatch. A shadow appeared around it solidifying into the shape of the stolen ship. Out of the ship floated a small sphere, approximately 15 centimeters in diameter.
"Please pick him up and follow me detectives." Said a soft female voice. "I will try to explain what he is doing after we get him to the med-bay, please be careful with him I don't want to see him come to any more harm. I kept telling him that he couldn't keep going on like that."
Kiyone and Mihoshi pick up the man between them and follow the little orb. As they walk through the ship Kiyone notices that the ship seams bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, just as Mihoshi stops for no apparent reason.
"Would you look at that, it looks just like the holo-vids of the inside of a Juraian ship, Kiyone." Mihoshi said with awe.
Kiyone turns to look in the direction Mihoshi indicated.
"That is the interior of a Jurai ship Mihoshi." She said softly.
"How do you know Kiyone?"
"I have been on a few of them, they are nice are they not?"
"Please, hurry and follow me detectives. After we get him into a regen tank, I have a few things I need to tell and show you. It is very important that things happen with out incident."
***
As she comes awake she feels safe, for once awakening without the help of the nightmares, the two pairs of arms holding her close in their warm gentle embraces. Two pairs of arms? With that thought she opened her eyes, through a purple haze she saw Tenchi in front of her. She sees Tenchi smile.
"Feeling better Ryoko dear?" He asks her.
"Mm-hmm." She moans in affirmation.
The purple haze is removed from her vision and then a pair of lips kiss her softly behind her exposed earlobe.
"That is good to hear, sister." She hears Ayeka whisper into her ear.
Ryoko turns to look behind her. It certainly looked like Ayeka and Tenchi, it just couldn't be them. It had to be some sort of weird dream or some one was messing with her head.
"Who are you people, you can't be Tenchi and Ayeka. Tenchi is too afraid of me, and Ayeka would just as soon see me dead as look at me. There is no way this could be really happening." She says as a tear rolls down one of her cheeks. She starts to phase out of the bed when the door to Tenchis room slams open.
"Don't you dare leave that bed Ryoko." A rather annoyed sounding Sasami says to her from the doorway. "That man hurt you and I'm not letting you up until you are able to convince me that you are feeling better. I brought you guys something to eat since Tenchi skipped dinner. Tenchi Kiyone said you wanted us all gathered together because you wanted to tell us some thing, Kiyone went to get Mihoshi and Washu will be coming out of her lab in a little bit she was working on some thing. I told her that if she wasn't up here in ten minutes, I was going to send Mihoshi in to get her. She will be along soon." She said putting down the two trays, stacked one on top of the other, on Tenchis desk.
"Sure thing Sasami, the food smells wonderful. So what is that on the other tray?" asked Ryoko nervously.
"Oh, these are our Bonding gifts. The man in black said to tell you he was sorry for hurting you Ryoko, and for not speaking truly to you and Ayeka. I guess I should tell you what happened earlier."
***
In the med-bay of the Hakurai, Kiyone and Mihoshi stand looking at a row of regeneration tanks next to the holographic image of a young girl. In the dim light they see three figures suspended in the green fluid of the tanks, the man they brought here, a Felinid male with a GP emblem tattooed on his arm, and a woman that Kiyone thought she would never see again, the woman was supposed to be dead.
"Hay, Kiyone she looks just like..." Mihoshi let the words trail off.
"Achika." Kiyone whispered.
"That is the Princess Achika. We saved her just before her death." The holo-girl said.
"That is not possible, They buried her not to far from here." Kiyone said quietly.
"We were in contact with her for about one Earth month before then. She agreed to this, for her husband and child. We told her who we were, why we were there, and what we had planed to do. We had to mention a few things leading up to the incident in Tokyo. Like the two strange girls who, boarded at her home, were in her classes at school, and fought all the time. We need to have Lady Washus' help curing her, all we can do is keep her alive."
"Ah, Miss Hologram, Why do you keep saying 'we' all the time? Do you mean you and the man in the tank?"
"Yes, in part, Lady Mihoshi. The other part is that I, like my Mother, am an assimilated being. You see I am Prince Tenchis' Life Tree. I will not allow any harm to come to him. After traveling with this one for a few years, I grew to love him. I told my Mother of this and she found a young girl who was going to die of a sickness her people have no cure for. I spent months speaking to her before she agreed to join with me. She is aware of this conversation, she wants you to know that she will be here with her mother tomorrow afternoon. Her mother is aware of my relationship with her daughter, the assimilation took place under my branches, with Mothers help. This image is what we look like in our other form. He does not know that I have done this for him." The image of the young girl turned her back to them. " I want his child detectives, I need to have something of him after he is gone. He is not going to try to escape, after the ceremony he will not need to. I need to be with his child before the ceremony, it will be to late after. Will you help me, please?" The image turned to look back at them holographic tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I'll do what I can, but tell me a few things please," Kiyone waits for the girl to nod her agreement with a small smile of gratitude before continuing. "What is your name? What part is he playing in keeping Achika alive? What is his name? Most importantly what do you mean you have been traveling with him for a few years, you have only been gone from the Yagamis docking bay for a few hours?"
"Tenchi has not given me a name yet, but he calls me Hakurai. So for now that is what you can call me, my other forms name Takahashi Hiwa, you can call her Hiwa if you wish. His part in keeping Achika alive is that even in the regen tank she was not getting better. What he did, is doing is siphoning off some of his own life energy to maintain hers. He does not have a name, he says that names are for those who have earned the right to be remembered. I could scan his memory to find out what he was called as a child, but I will not invade his privacy. He must have a reason for giving up his past, what little I know of it caused him pain to reveal. As for the travel time discrepancy, that is easy to answer. After we left the docking bay and transmitted the massage we activated my cloaking system. In only a few hours he built and installed a temporal drive unit. We were making sure things happened the way they were supposed to, as well as recovering a few documents. He gave those and a few other things to Princess Sasami. Go now Tenchi needs you, come back after you have all had a chance to get some sleep. Oh and Lady Mihoshi?"
"Yes?"
"Can you give a message to your grandfathers mother for me?" After Mihoshis nod she continues, "Tell her, her old friend Hakurai said hi, and that her daughter Ryoko is just as lovely as she said she would be. Thank you." With that said the holographic girl faded from view.
When Kiyone looked back she saw the image of the girl leaning through the glass of the regen tank containing the strange man and kissing him. She then turned back to Mihoshi and said, "Come on we still need to talk to Tenchi tonight." Then headed back to the house to see what the other girls reactions to what Tenchi had to say to them.