Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ The Senior Year ❯ Alternate Lum-san III: Repercussions ( Chapter 25 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Tomobiki.

Ataru Moroboshi is wandering around the town, looking confused. Not
unusual, some might say. The houses and businesses that he knew as bombed-out
wrecks not five minutes before, were now whole. Ataru stared in astonishment.

He wondered briefly if he had accidentally activated the spacializer.
The Tomobiki Underground Force had forced Ataru to steal it the previous day,
thinking that they could use it to return in time and prevent the invasion.
But it turned out that Lum had predictied their behaviour, and equipped the
spacializer with a homing device. Ataru had been volunteered to bring it back,
since it was his fault it was there in the first place. Ataru and Shinobu
protested, but were outvoted.

Unfortunately, retrieving the device was proving harder than he thought.
He had gotten halfway to the school, Lum's base, when a wave of dizziness washed
over him. When he looked up again, the buildings that had been destroyed a few
months previously were suddenly back, as if they had always been there.
Furthermore, there were people on the streets, in complete violation of the
curfew!

Ataru was of two minds about all of this. On the one hand, he wanted
nothing more than to be back at headquarters with Shinobu. She was almost
eight months pregnant, and Ataru wanted to be there when she had the baby.

On the other hand, he wanted to get another look at the underwear those
enemy babes were wearing. He still felt a little guilty about his lecherous
impulses, after all he was married with a child on the way. But he could not
help himself. It was not just the thrill of getting his hands on their panties,
it was...

It was Lum.

Ataru was definitely of two minds about her. The woman who had invaded
his planet, killed his grandmother, and presided over a reign of terror the
likes of which the world had never seen. And yet he felt close to her, as if he
understood why she was doing what she did. He never voiced these opinions, of
course. Mendou would probably cut him in two for such traitorous mutterings.
But when he was pawing through her underwear, he could not help but notice the
picture on her dresser, showing a younger Lum smiling next to her parents. It
seemed very different from the cold governor they knew.

Suddenly another wave of dizziness swept over him again. When he shook
himself out of it the setting was much different. He was in Lum's office in
Tomobiki High School...and she was laying in his arms, dead!

*NO!!!! This can't be happening!!!* he thought. Consciousness slowly
began to fade as he looked at her body in his arms. Then, just before he
passed out, he felt something, a bond of some sort, snap. He knew then that
it connected him with Lum, but he was in no shape to do anything about this
revelation.

The last thing he perceived before his consciousness fled was a voice
deep within his mind howling with glee.

"*FREE!!!! AFTER SO LONG, I AM FINALLY FREE!!!!!!*"

* * *

Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year: "Alternate Lum-san III: Repercussions" Part 1
by Sean Gaffney
gaffney@iconn.net
**** **** ****
Edited by James Bateman, Fred Herriot, E.B. Kushnir, and Sebastian Weinberg
**** **** ****
A side story based on the fan fiction stories in turn based on "Urusei Yatsura,"
created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

WRITER'S NOTES:

1) Except for the teaser and flashbacks, this story takes place during
and following the events of "Darling's Bad Day! Alternate Lum-san Revisited."
That story and "Alternate Lum-san" should probably be consulted before reading
this work.

2) Once again, I use the spellings I'm comfortable with in my stories,
hence 'Ran' and 'Ryouko.' And this is a serious fic, therefore I will not use
the phrase '[BLANK]' when I mean to say fuck. Be warned. :-)

3) Thanks to Mike and Fred for letting me write this. All characters
are original to Rumiko Takahashi, except those created for this series by Mike
Smith and Fred Herriot.

**** **** ****

And so...ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!

**** **** ****

Tomobiki, one year later.

Ataru Moroboshi wandered the deserted streets. There was not a curfew
anymore, but there did not need to be. This area was almost deserted and those
that did were either dispossessed Urusians and Ipraedies, or those who needed
a reminder every day of what they had faced.

Ataru was one of the latter. He needed to remind himself of what he
had become. Every day he relived the horror of his mind falling apart, when the
*saikoo jinseijitsu* had slaughtered so many people. He was afraid that if he
let it go, it would all unravel again.

He was not helped by the fact that the people of Earth saw the *saikoo
jinseijitsu* as the hero of the liberation, that they commonly used it as a
threat to other alien races who harboured thoughts of invasion. Ataru snorted.
The governments of Earth had no idea what they were talking about. If the
*saikoo jinseijitsu* ever got out of his head again, Earth would be the first
to suffer.

And now he was out prowling the streets, no real destination in mind.
He had taken to doing this recently to get away from Benten and Sakura. Not
that he objected to their presence in his life, but...Sakura's presence caused
him so much pain, pain he tried to suppress. And Benten, hateful enemy turned
unwilling servant turned friend and confidant, watching the fire and spirit
within her slowly die was just as painful. She had nobody left in the world
except Ataru, and he would not give her what she wanted: himself. They could
only go so far, but no farther. And so she suffered, needing someone but being
unable to do anything about it.

He knew that going out for these walks, limiting his contact with them,
was the worst thing he could do. But he needed to keep himself distant. It
was for their sake. They could not get attached to him. He was too dangerous.
Eventually, he hoped to persuade the World Court to reduce Benten's sentence, so
that she could start her life over. After all, her atrocities were nowhere near
as bad as Ran's.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He staggered and
began to panic; the last time this had happened, Lum had died in his arms and
triggered the apocalypse that followed. Tomobiki faded out of his vision, and
he suddenly staggered. *Oh, please, not again...!* he thought.

A room slowly came into focus, people standing around him. He recognized
Chie and Sakura...Sakura?! Where were her scars? And there was Ashin, who he
knew was dead (because the *saikoo jinseijitsu* had personally taken care of him),
and...

And Lum, slowly being assisted to her feet by someone who could only be
his sister...Nokoko!

Ataru fainted.

* * *

"He's starting to come round."

"What should we tell him?"

"The truth," said a voice Ataru now recognized as Chie's. "I sense that
anything else would be harmful. However. I also sense that the truth will harm
him."

Ataru opened his eyes and looked around. He almost fainted again at
what he saw first...Lum, whole and alive, and yet looking at him as if he was an
impostor. "What...what's going on?" He tried to keep himself calm. A shock
like this was exactly the sort of thing that the ninja database in his head was
waiting for. There had to be an explanation for this. "What are you all doing
here?"

Everyone looked at Chie, who appeared to have been elected speaker for
the group. "I apologize. My daughter Aikyou has recently been appointed as a
priestess, and we were holding this celebration in her honour. She wanted to
demonstrate her powers, and so Ataru volunteered to be the subject of a
teleportation spell."

Ataru's eyes narrowed. "I *am* Ataru," he said coldly.

"Yes, you are," Chie replied, unfazed, "but not the Ataru of this
universe. Aikyou was interrupted in her casting by Sakura's uncle, and there
was a miscalculation. From what we can gather, you have been drawn into an
alternate timeline, and he is in yours. This is not your world, Ataru Moroboshi,
as I'm sure you are no doubt aware. How many differences there are between
them...that is something only you can tell us."

Ataru felt himself losing his grip on the situation. "Different events,"
he murmured to himself. "How different? How did you repel the Urusian invasion?"

Lum spoke to him for the first time. "Invasion? What invasion?"

Ataru avoided looking at her, the sight almost brought tears to his
eyes. That or fury, he was not sure which. "The tag race, of course, that
you raced against Megane. And the invasion that followed."

Lum seemed horrified. "But...I raced against you! Or rather, against
Darling! And he won, so there was no need to invade!"

Ataru turned towards the fireplace. "There you go. Where I came from,
Megane lost and Uru invaded. Thus began the reign of Governor Lum. A reign
that ended when Mendou killed her."

That got everyone's attention. Lum fainted again. Nokoko was aghast.
"Killed her?! Why?!!"

Ataru decided that fury was definitely the emotion to go with.
"Because Lum presided over a reign of terror that lasted for over a year. She
and her staff committed atrocities the likes of which hadn't been seen since
the Second World War."

This time it was Lum's turn to get angry. "How could you say that!
I would never do anything like that!"

"You did. Maybe not you, but your alternate self. And that is something
that I may never forgive, even with the bond between us."

"There's a bond between me and *my* Darling! I have nothing to do
with you! I can still feel him faintly in the back of my head. I can't feel
you at all."

Ataru grimaced. "Then you're lucky. I have Lum and Shinobu in perpetual
comas at my home. I go to see them every day...but I can't feel them at all."

Chie attempted to take control of the situation. "You say that Lum was
killed by...*Mendou?!* And that she ruled over your world. What brought it to
a stop?"

Ataru's face became lost in shadows. "The *saikoo jinseijitsu,*" he
whispered.

Everyone suddenly became silent. Lum walked up to him, but stopped as
she saw his body stiffen. "I apologize. I thought...I hadn't thought, that was
the problem. This world really is different from yours, isn't it?"

"I can't see many similarities at all. Many of my friends are gone.
Lum and Shinobu are in comas resembling death. Sakura is permanently lobotomized
and crippled," Ataru went on, not even glancing at the shock on Sakura's face,
"...Benten has been sentenced by the World Court to be my slave...nothing's the
same." He turned to the group. "Mendou, Tobimaro, Tsubame, Ashin, my parents,
Paama, Chibi, Kakugari...all of them are dead. Uru is a wasteland in space,
courtesy of the Ipraedies. And Ipraedos isn't even that much, thanks to the
Zephyrites and the Yehisrites. And everyone thanks me for this. They call me
the "hero of the liberation," the savior of Earth. All the *saikoo jinseijitsu*
did was lash out at everyone connected to me or Lum. I didn't do anything.
And they treat that fucker like a hero!"

Everyone stood in silence, stunned by Ataru's harshness; coarseness was
not a part of him. "There are still...gaps in my memory, where I have no recall
of what I've done. I'm going to school one morning, and then suddenly the tag
race is over. I'm proposing to Shinobu, and then we're at the wedding. I go
out to return Lum's spacializer, and I'm suddenly holding her dying body in my
arms."

Lum had gone white. "My...my spacializer? Darling..." She paused in
sudden fear. "When did that happen? In your time?"

Ataru looked at her for the first time in several minutes. "About a
year ago."

"That...that was when Darling stole *my* spacializer...and afterwards,
he was saying how glad he was that I wasn't dead."

Chie and Nokoko faced her. "Are you saying that our Ataru-chan caused
this?" Nokoko asked.

"Well, he never wanted to talk about it," Lum mused.

"It would make sense," Chie mused. "If he used the spacializer, he
might have changed history...sufficient to bring about the events we've heard
about." He turned back to Ataru. "This might just explain your memory..."

Ataru's face made even Chie pause in silence. He was desperately
trying to hold back his anger, but looking at the faces around the room was
not helping him. "I see. Thank you, that explains a lot. If you'll excuse
me, I need to go for a walk."

Aikyou tried to stop him. "But Ataru, we need to find a way to get
you back to your proper dimension..."

"I know, and I'll come back here. But finding out that this universe's
Ataru Moroboshi has been responsible for so much of the pain I've suffered...I
can't be around you." He turned to Lum. "Especially not you."

And with that, he walked out of the door. The others stared after him.
"Do you think he'll come back?" asked Sakura.

"He seemed so cold and distant...did you notice who wasn't mentioned?"
Nokoko mused. "Me, Mie-chan, any of his other recent friends...I wonder what
happened to the other me."

Lum stared out the door with a sad look in her eyes. "Is there
anything we can do for him?"

Chie followed her gaze. "This Ataru keeps his demons caged within him.
He has not yet learned how to banish them. He has to learn that on his own.
We can talk to him, comfort him...but the learning must come from within."
He looked at Lum. "Your alternate might have been able to help...but he isn't
bonded to her anymore. I'm not sure what he'll do."

* * *

Ataru walked through the town...Tsuchiura from what he could tell,
though his memory was not what it was. Tsuchiura had been one of the towns
completely destroyed in the invasion.

He breathed hard, getting angry in spite of himself. *So, this Ataru
tried to change history, and in the process ruined my life. Thanks a lot!*

This was getting him nowhere. After all, it was not as if his life
had been all that hot before. The Urusians had invaded and destroyed his
planet. He was forced to live in a sewer, on the run from forces that would
have tortured and killed him if he were caught. Not much of a life.

This Ataru, on the other hand, not only appeared to have won the tag
race, but still had Lum bonded to him. Nokoko had returned here. In his own
universe, Ataru's sister had vanished at age six, and he still had no idea
where she was. Most of all, nobody looked at him with awe, or fear, or both.
*Not only did this Ataru ruin my life*, Ataru thought, *...but he's gone and
improved on it.*

Ataru was not looking where he was going anymore, dark thoughts
brewing in his mind. When they became too much for him, he lashed out with
his foot, kicking a nearby tree.

"Hey! Do you mind?! Some of us are trying to think up here!"

Ataru, startled, looked up...and into the face of another dead man.

In his own universe, Tobimaro Mizunokoji had joined forces with
Shutaro Mendou shortly after the destruction of their clans. They left a
force of bodyguards to watch over their sisters, and with the rest, joined
their fellow Tomobikians and formed the TUF. Mendou was the leader, and it
showed. The speeches and bluster were something Ataru had gotten sick of
right away. Tobimaro, however, had been the one who had actually made sure
things were done. Ataru rarely took notice of what Mendou said, but always
listened to Tobimaro, a fact which infuriated Mendou.

This, of course, meant that Tobimaro had been one of the first
victims when the *saikoo jinseijitsu* had burst out of his head. He had
rushed into the room, and the possessed teen had used the heart-blast touch.
Exhausted by the battle, Tobimaro had not been able to recover. After Lum
and Shinobu, this was the death Ataru regretted the most.

And now, here he was in front of Ataru, sitting on a branch about
twenty feet in the air. He seemed troubled, but it was hard to tell with
Tobimaro, who behaved very much like the typical samurai.

Tobimaro appeared to recognize Ataru as well, or rather recognized
him as the *other* Ataru. "Ataru? What are you doing here in Tsuchiura?"

Ataru looked up, trying not to give away his feelings. "I should
ask you the same thing? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, well, that's your fault in a way, I suppose. What with all the
events in Tomobiki, especially with what's been happening to my sister, I
decided to go train for a few months. I'm just getting back now. I stopped
in this tree to rest after lunch."

Ataru frowned. "It's nine o'clock in the evening. Why are you still
here?"

From what little he could see, Tobimaro appeared to flush. "I'm
having a little trouble getting back down."

Ataru laughed. Tobimaro's acrophobia, and his deranged attempts to
cure it by climbing trees, seemed constant in any universe. He located the
ladder that had slipped down, and righted it so that Tobimaro could descend.
Tobimaro then looked closely at Ataru. "Now, you never answered my question.
What *are* you doing here? From what I've heard, you should be in Oshika
plotting everyone's decline and fall."

*This sounds interesting,* thought Ataru. When in doubt, be
non-committal. "I'm just trying to get away from it all for a bit. Things
have been getting more complicated lately."

Tobimaro laughed, leaning against the tree. "Things have always been
complicated. It's just that people are noticing it now. I'm not sure whether
I want to go back to Tomobiki, to tell you the truth."

Ataru cocked his head. "So why are you?"

Tobimaro snorted. "Family, what else? I need to be there to make
sure my parents don't engage me to Ryouko Mendou while I'm gone. And...I'd
like to see if my sister is any better." He paused for a moment,
uncomfortable memories playing across his face. "I know it wasn't you,
Ataru, but I may never forgive the *saikoo jinseijitsu* for what it did to
her. I know she has Osooko now, and that's wonderful, but...much as it made
me uncomfortable, I'll miss that bond I had with her." He smiled. "Not her
jumping into my futon, but the closeness we shared. That's gone now."

Ataru's head reeled. His sister jumping into his bed? And why did
the *saikoo jinseijitsu* not kill Asuka? Was it more merciful here? He
decided to guide the conversation where he wanted it to go, something he was
always good at. He decided to take a chance. "That's interesting coming
from a man who hates women." He hoped this Tobimaro was like his counterpart.

Tobimaro's eyes glinted. "It's been a lot harder than you think, you
know. Most of my experience of women is with Ryouko-chan, and that's not
exactly a flattering picture." He sighed. "I think...given time, I could
meet the right woman. But I'm not sure if my life is ready for that. That's
what you were doing, Ataru: making us grow up, even if we don't want to.
Actually, perhaps deep down, we do. Maybe that's why I'm going back to
Tomobiki, to get ready."

Tobimaro glanced over at Ataru, and noticed his stare. "Is there
something wrong?"

Ataru started. "No, no. Just...well, I was staring at your eyes, to
be honest."

"Ah, yes, the famous sparkle," Tobimaro retorted. "It's a genetic
defect in the family, though of course we would never dare to admit it. It's
interesting, I'll grant you that. When I was seven or eight, girls would
flock around me. I never realized it back then, but they were all fascinated
with my eyes. Shuu-chan hated it. It took all the attention away from him.
Another reason for our feud. Not all of it was about baseball, you know."

Tobimaro continued to ramble on. It was obvious that he was desperate
for human contact. Ataru kept introducing random subjects into the conversation,
listening more to the tone than the actual words themselves. This world seemed
so different from his. Tomobiki seemed almost like an actual person rather than
a place.

Suddenly Ataru blinked, and felt himself remembering. The memory loss
came with another problem: occasionally he suffered from flashbacks, recalling
things that he had forgotten. This appeared to be one of those times, as
Tobimaro faded into the background and he suddenly found himself somewhere
else. Not travelling between dimension, but within his own mind...

* * *

Ataru walked through the door to his and Shinobu's small quarters.
Today had been rough. They had almost been caught, and had lost one of the
Kurotenshi. Ataru took casualties hard, and at the moment he was far from the
lecherous idiot he presented most of the time.

He entered to see Shinobu sitting on the edge of the bed, staring into
space. Thankfully, Shinobu had stayed here for this mission, pleading sickness.
Still, to see her unmoving on the bed was a little nerve-wracking. He shook her
gently. "Shinobu-chan?"

She focused on him, and slowly returned to the world. "The stick is
blue," she said.

Unable to follow her, Ataru responded, "The dog barks at midnight.
Is this some TUF thing? What's the matter?"

She looked at him with despair in her eyes. "I'm pregnant, Ataru-kun."

At first he stared at her stupidly. Then his eyes got big, and he
started to jump around the room. "Yatta!!!" he shouted. "We're going to have
a baby!!!" He ran over and hugged Shinobu. "A baby!!! Whoo-hoo!!! I'm going
to be a father!!! You're going to be a mother!!! We're... what?! What is it?"
Ataru noticed Shinobu staring at him in horror.

Suddenly she slapped him. "Ataru-kun, what are you thinking!?! I can't
be pregnant now! What kind of world is this for a child! I can't think about
children now! We've got to worry about the liberation of our planet! Oh god,
how could this have happened?" She started to cry.

Ataru was stunned. He assumed that she would be as happy as he was.
When they were kids, she was always talking about getting married and having
children. It was one of her lifelong dreams. Now that dream had become a
nightmare to her. He could not let that happen.

He took her in his arms, holding her until she stopped sobbing. Then he
began to speak. "Shinobu-chan, you don't know what you're saying. This is the
best thing that's ever happened to us. We're going to bring a child into
the world. And if the world is less than perfect...that will give us more
reason to change it, won't it? Shinobu, you wait until the others hear about
this. They'll be cheering. This is the first baby we've seen in this town...
almost since the invasion. It's our child, but it's also a symbol. Of Earth,
and our refusal to knuckle under. It's a wonderful thing, Shinobu-chan...
you've made me so happy." Ataru was surprised to find there were tears in his
eyes.

Shinobu looked at her husband, and suddenly remembered why she married
him. It was this person, the wonderful man behind the lecher. She hugged him,
crying with joy now. "You're right, Ataru-kun. No matter what world our baby
grows up in, we'll make sure he's happy. Oh, Ataru-kun, I love you..."

She pulls him down to the bed in a kiss...

* * *

"Ataru! Can you hear me?! What's the matter?!"

Ataru 'woke' to find Tobimaro looking at him anxiously. He wondered how
long he had been standing there staring into space. "I'm alright. I was just
zoning out there for a moment."

"Well, try not to do that! Everyone worries around you now, y'know!
It's only been a few months since the Spirit War, and I haven't seen you since.
Who knew what you'd be like!"

Tobimaro was rambling again, better cut him off. "I'm alright, I said.
In fact, I think I'm feeling better than I have all evening. Thank you,
Tobimaro."

Tobimaro stood there, puzzled. "Um...anytime. Well, I'm headed back
to Tomobiki. Will you be alright?"

Ataru smiled. "Yes, I suppose I'd better get back to the party. I
have some unfinished business to attend to."

"Well, okay. Good luck!" Tobimaro appeared to have totally lost the
thread of their conversation. He wandered off, heading back in the direction
of Tomobiki.

Ataru sighed, and started back towards Chie's shrine. He owed them an
apology, he supposed. He been too harsh with them. He had gotten so used to
being harsh, to letting no emotion get through his cold exterior, that all these
changes had made them come out in a rush. He owed Lum an apology most of all.
It was unfair comparing her with the Lum of his universe.

He was still unsure about her, even now. She had orchestrated the
destruction of his world, and that fact sat on his mind like a cold ball of
iron. But the *saikoo jinseijitsu*, when possessing him, had revealed that he
had been bonded to Lum as a child, even before he had met Shinobu. That was
what broke his mind, the shattering of the bond between them. What that bond
meant...that was still a mystery to him. He loved his wife. But he felt that
somehow, he was meant to be with Lum. Sitting in his attic, looking at the
both of them dying, he had racked himself with guilt trying to reconcile the
two beliefs.

He thanked the gods every day, however, for his son. Kokeru might be
growing up in an Earth torn apart, but he was also the hope for the future.
He wondered if the Ataru in this world had someone like that, someone to call
his own, to touch and love as only a parent could. Ataru smiled to himself.
Despite everything, there were some bright spots in his life.

He approached the shrine, steeled himself, and entered. There, he
found Chie, Ashin, Aikyou and Sakura standing over a chalk circle in deep
discussion. To his dismay, he saw Sakura's uncle Cherry off to the side,
being ignored by everyone else. Ataru wandered over. "Hello, Cherry."

Cherry looked at him in surprise. He had not expected Ataru to give
him the time of day. "Hello, Ataru. I see your face is even more unlucky
than usual."

Ataru grimaced. Apparently this world's Cherry was not different here.
Still, he could not bring himself to be rude to the monk, after everything that
had befallen him in Ataru's own universe. "You could be right there, Cherry.
I'm not feeling especially lucky today."

The others turned, noticing him for the first time. "You decided to
come back, I see." Sakura said to him.

"Of course, I have to get home." Ataru had decided that while he would
be polite, there was no reason for him to be talkative. "I apologize to all of
you for my actions earlier. It hasn't been the best of days. Especially you,
Lum, you don't deserve what I said to you. In my world, I have...very mixed
feelings towards your alternate. That influenced my words towards you. Anyway,
let's get on with it," he said, stepping into the circle. "Do I stand here?"

The others were brought up short by Ataru's clipped tone, as well as his
abruptness. "Well...we're just about ready. Aikyou thinks she knows how to
send you back. All you have to do is stand there."

"Fine," Ataru said. He did not want to be here any longer, he wanted
to be back home. The last time this had happened he'd come back to find Lum
dying in his arms. God only knows what havoc this world's Ataru was wreaking
now. Nevertheless, he was not prepared to stay here.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he felt the world
go grey. Just before he blacked out, he heard Chie say, "There he goes! Well
done, Aikyou."

"But...but I didn't do anything!" Aikyou protests...

* * *

Ataru came to with a sea of faces looking at him. There was...Sakura?
But she looked fine! What was going on here? He sat up quickly. He was on
a ship, Vosian by the looks of her, headed back towards the Earth.

He noticed several people he did not know giving him wary looks. One
of them spoke up. "You're our Ataru, right? The Ataru of this universe?"

Ataru looked at him with an equally wary look. "Well, did Megane lose
the tag race, did the Urusians invade, is Benten my servant and are Lum and
Shinobu in comas? Does that sound familiar?"

The others appeared to be even more uncomfortable. "Familiar, yes, but
not true anymore. Not all of that." The speaker was a tall man with glasses,
whom Sakura seemed to be hanging over. Ataru could not get over Sakura's change.
What had happened here? What else had the 'alternate' Ataru done.

Slowly he turned to gaze at the rest of the room. There, standing next
to a Vosian woman, and wearing a new, unknotted kill-belt, was Shinobu. But his
wife refused to look at him, sending a pang deep into Ataru's heart.

And at the door, waiting with a bearded Vosian, was Lum. Whole,
alive...and in handcuffs. She smiled at him briefly before dropping her gaze.
Slowly, she was led out of the cabin.

Ataru felt his knees giving way, and he sank to the deck. Looking at
the space where Lum had been, all he could say was, "He did it again, didn't
he?"

* * *

To be continued...


Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year: "Alternate Lum-san III: Repercussions"
Part 2
by Sean Gaffney
gaffney@iconn.net
**** **** ****
Edited by James Bateman, Fred Herriot, E.B. Kushnir, Nicholas Leifker
and Sebastian Weinberg
**** **** ****
A side story based on the fan fiction stories in turn based on "Urusei
Yatsura", created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

IN THE FIRST PART OF "ALTERNATE LUM-SAN III: REPERCUSSIONS", we discover
that if you take the second letter of the third word of each paragraph,
you get an extra scene featuring Tobimaro Mizunokoji, Yuukiki Seishin, and
a large summer squash. Really. But you didn't hear it from me.

**** **** ****

And so...ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

**** **** ****

Benten sat on the couch and forced herself not to move.

Over the past few hours she had moved in an ever decreasing circle.
She had gone from staring out of the window to waiting at the front door to
checking on Kokeru, and then back again. Finally, she threw herself on the
couch, wrapped her arms around her legs, and forced herself to be still.

The Ataru from the other universe had thrown her life into such
turmoil. It was not especially wonderful, but...it wasn't all that bad
either. She had eventually realized what a good person Ataru was, his
kindness and his caring. What made it even more amazing was that she came
to this realization during the liberation, when the *saikoo jinseijitsu*
had slaughtered so many.

She shuddered, thinking of the other Ataru, the one she had met
recently. She had spotted the differences right away, but was unsure if he
had just experienced another memory loss. This Ataru, however, shook her to
the very core of her being. There was so much life in him. It seemed to
flow out of every pore. In quick succession, he pulled Benten out of her
mind-numbing rut; he restored Lum and Shinobu to life; he gave Sakura back
her mind. And, for his final act, he was attempting to convince the
Niphentaxians to leave this planet in peace.

Benten sighed. Her Ataru, the one she addressed as "Darling,"
copying Lum's term for him, would have done none of this. He permitted the
past to influence him, living here in this tiny box, when he could have
anything he wanted. Benten suspected that his routine was one of the few
things that held him together.

She wondered what it would be like when he returned.

As if in answer to her thoughts, the door opened, and Ataru strode
in. He was alone, so Benten flew into his arms. "Darling, you're safe!"
Suddenly she remembered that this was not her Ataru. She pulled back and
looked away in embarrassment. "Sorry, Ataru-kun, but I..." Then she
noticed the pain in his eyes, pain that had never really gone away. She
gasped. "It's you, isn't it? I mean..."

Ataru finished for her. "I know what you mean. Yes, it's me."

Delighted, Benten hugged him again. "Oh, Darling, don't ever do
that to me again! I was worried sick about you!"

Ataru hugged her back briefly, but it was clear that his mind was
elsewhere. "Pack," he told her. "Bring enough for a week or two."

Benten was stunned. Was this really her Darling, who had not been
out of Tomobiki since the trials? "Wh-where are we going?"

Ataru sighed. "Lum has been taken into custody. She's going to
be tried at the Hague for her war crimes. We're going to make sure that,
in spite of feelings against her, she's given a fair trial."

"Is that possible? There are so many people who want Lum dead...
and justifiably, too!" she added, looking at Ataru's glare. He never let
her forget her own part in the invasion, even though she was no longer
the young, cocky girl she was then.

"I'm hoping Lum's help in getting the Niphentaxians away from
Earth will reduce her sentence a bit. I'll suggest that they make her
my servant, as they did with you."

Benten gasped as if she had been slapped. She quickly turned
away, not wanting Ataru to see her face. "I...of course, I understand.
Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll get Kokeru ready for the trip."

And with that, she fled the room. Misery washed over her as she
left, one thought echoing through her mind...*He doesn't love me!*

* * *

The plane flew over the Pacific, heading for America. Ataru
tapped his feet impatiently. Even with the fastest jet available, it
would take eighteen hours to get to the Netherlands. *I wish we could
fly over Russia,* Ataru thought. Some things stayed the same, even
after an alien invasion.

Ataru looked over at Benten, who slept on a couch on the other
side of the plane, near Kokeru. She had been strangely silent since
they began this trip and she had fallen asleep soon after lift-off.
Watching her face. Ataru could see that her sleep was not a peaceful
one.

He sighed. Benten was just one of his problems. What was he
going to do now? No matter how hard he fought to avoid it, life was
catching up with him. Perhaps he needed to move on, to establish a new
future for himself.

But he did not want to go it alone. So who would come and
share his future? He had wanted it to be Shinobu. But she found
reasons not to discuss it with him, promising to talk later. That left
him feeling confused. So he decided to ask her again. However, he
found her locked in an embrace with another woman, the Vosian Ataru had
seen on the bridge earlier. He left before they could see him.

His memories of the *saikoo jinseijitsu* had never gone away,
even during his worst memory lapse. The database program had taken
great delight informing Shinobu of his bond with Lum, and suggesting
that Ataru never loved Shinobu in the first place. It was a lie, but
the pain in Shinobu's eyes had been devastating.

So, he could not begrudge Shinobu her choice of someone else.
He did, however, want to talk to her, to assure her that he would
always love her.

He then turned to Benten. He had no idea what to do with her.
She could not return to her home planet and it was too dangerous for
her to live unprotected on Earth. Ataru remembered his first major
memory lapse. At the end of those six days, his body had collapsed in
shock. Benten had taken him to a hospital, where the medical personnel
had drawn the wrong conclusion. Ataru had awakened just in time to
prevent Benten from being strung up for attempted murder. It took him
a while to convince the authorities that she had not tried to kill him.

So Benten had to remain with him, for the time being at least.
He sighed. This was not going to be easy.

Ataru drifted off into sleep and dreamed, for the first time
in over a year, of a green-haired girl with horns.

* * *

Disembarking, Ataru and Benten were surprised to find Nassur
waiting for them. Although he talked directly to Ataru, he avoided
looking at Benten.

"Ataru, come quickly," he said.

"What's the matter? The trial isn't for another three days!"
Ataru could sense the worry behind the voice, though it was disguised.

Nassur just moved off, forcing Ataru to follow as best he
could. Benten struggled to keep up. To make matters worse, Kokeru
stirred and began crying in her arms.

"Lum's been poisoned."

* * *

The hospital room was stark, almost empty of personnel.
"Where is everyone?" Ataru asked.

"The staff refuses to treat Lum," Nassur reported. "She would
have died if Junba hadn't found an antidote from 'Renegade's' computer.
When I asked a nurse to help, she said that everyone the world over
would rejoice when Lum died. The only reason she's here at all is that
Shinobu picked up a desk and threatened her with it." Nassur's voice
sounded bleak.

Ataru was stunned. He had not realized it could get this bad.
It suddenly occured to him that even if Lum were not sent to prison,
she would probably have to spend the rest of her life guarding against
attacks like this.

"Dar...darling...?" A faint voice sounded from the bed.

Ataru was at her side. Lum was pale and listless. Nevertheless,
her eyes clearly focused on him. Maybe it was not as bad as it looked.
Her hair had been cut very short and it did not suit her.

Ataru's emotions warred within. He wanted to see Lum as the
evil dictator ruling over Earth, but that image was getting harder to
maintain. He looked back at Benten and Nassur.

They got the point. "Um...I think Kokeru-chan needs changing.
I'll just be in the next room." Benten quickly left.

Nassur straightened up as well. "I'm need to coordinate some
security to guard her. Ideally, Shinobu, Junba or myself should be
watching her at all times."

Ataru had not taken his eyes from Lum. "Sounds good."

Nassur shook his head and left.

Ataru said nothing, just looked at Lum's face. She struggled
to keep her eyes open, as she obviously wanted to talk to him. He
didn't know what to say. What could he possibly say to the woman
whose orders had seemed to destroy his world, yet also saved it.

Lum gathered the energy to speak. "Hello, Darling."

Ataru smiled weakly. "Hello, Lum. How are you feeling?"

"Very weak. Whatever it was they used did a very good job.
They must have done their research; I'm immune to most Earth
poisons."

Ataru inched over onto the bed beside her. "Lum, what the
hell are we going to do?"

Grimacing, Lum replied, "I don't think you'll have to worry
about me for too much longer, Darling. I'll be in the hands of the
World Court."

"And I'll be testifying on your behalf. That's one of the
big reasons why I'm here. Saving the world from the Niphentaxians
is a big point in your favor, but it won't be good enough for them.
Someone's already suggested that you and Oogi planned this from the
start to pull public opinion on your side."

Lum's eyes flashed. "I would never cooperate with Oogi on
*anything!*"

"Perhaps not, but we don't know anything about your history.
Nassur told me about the two of you, and I can accept that you might
despise him. But I'm not the World Court. Benten got off easy
because she hadn't actually killed anyone, as opposed to Ran and
Oyuki..."

To Ataru's surprise, Lum actually giggled. "Oyuki? Darling,
Oyuki would never hurt a fly."

It was Lum's turn to be surprised, as anger flashed across
Ataru's face. He rose quickly. "I thought you were taking this
seriously. I'll be leaving now."

Lum was shocked. "Darling, what did I say?" But Ataru was
already halfway to the door. Lum actually tried to get up.
"Darling!" In her struggle to get out of bed, she slid out of her
bed and dropped to the floor.

Ataru looked back at her. She was attempting to crawl
across the floor to him. There was no trace of guile in her eyes,
only pain and confusion. He sighed, and helped her onto the bed.
He then sat down and took her chin in his hand. "You don't know,
do you? Is it a mental block, or could it be that they never told
you?"

Lum looked confused, but now there was a bit of fear in her
eyes as well. "Told me what?"

Ataru knew she wasn't lying. Lum just did not have the talent
to lie convincingly. "When Benten was tried, she confessed everything
to the court, in order to reduce her sentence. She told them that there
were three ways of dealing with Earth's freedom fighters."

Ataru paced, not wanting to look at Lum for this next part. The
memories of the occupation were flashing coming back to him now.

"Benten dealt with the minor irritants. Anyone judged a
nuisance. She tickle-tortured whatever she could out of them, and then
released them." *What Benten didn't realise, of course, is that we
executed them as traitors,* Ataru did not say aloud. *The war made us
all far too cruel.*

"Anyone who didn't have any planning skills to be a leader, but
had the fighting skills to be dangerous, went to Ran. She handled all
of the public executions. She loved that job. I was amazed they didn't
execute her. She was sent to Spandau instead."

His voice got very quiet, almost a whisper. "The true leaders,
those in our party who could plan and strategise...Oyuki met with them.
They would walk into her office...and they would never leave. Very neat
and efficient.

"She would use her space warp on them. One end was hooked up
to Earth, but the other side never went to Triton. We've been searching
the asteroid belt and we're starting on Saturn's rings. If we could
even find a corpse, it would tell us something. However, I think
there'll be nothing there. I think they were just warped to nowhere.
Unpersons." He turned back to Lum. "*That* is what your sweet,
innocent Oyuki did to our people."

Lum trembled, her mouth open. "No...gods, no, I can't believe
it."

Ataru partially succeeded in holding his temper. "Why is it
so hard to believe?"

Lum was crying now, ready to collapse again. "Oyuki was the
only one of us not affected by the war. She was the one who was able
to stay sane while the rest of us gave in to the madness that surrounded
us. I...I can't..."

Suddenly, Lum collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. She dropped
into a mind-numbing deep sleep.

Ataru tried to understand what Lum had just told him. She
honestly had no idea what was done in her name.

At last, he gave in to his anger, letting it blaze. He was
unable to throttle Ran or Oyuki, but he could still vent his rage on
one of them. He stormed out of the room.

* * *

The others were startled as Ataru slammed out of Lum's room,
livid. He shouted instructions at people.

"Junba, watch Lum. Nassur, tell the court officials that Lum
will stand trial in three days."

Nassur began to protest. "She'll never be recovered by then..."

Ataru turned. "If we want the whole Niphentaxian debacle to end
in our favour, then we need this trial immediately. She'll be able to
stand and talk by then; that's all we need."

Striding over to Benten, he tore Kokeru out of her arms.
"Shinobu-chan, will you watch our son for a moment?"

Shinobu was so shocked at Ataru's anger that she nodded dumbly
at his request.

He slammed Benten against the door, hard. "I want to talk to
you. **Now!!**"

Benten stared at Ataru, horrified. What could she possibly have
done now? "Of course, Darling..."

Ataru merely stared back at her. "You will not use that name
again. Call me Ataru. I don't care what it means."

To her astonishment, Benten began to cry. She thought she had
no tears left, that they had vanished with the final remnants of her
fighting spirit. She lowered her eyes. "All right, Ataru."

They plunged through the door to the next room, Ataru slamming
it behind him. The other three stared in open-mouthed shock.

* * *

Ataru roared at Benten. "Why didn't you tell Lum about what
you did?! About Oyuki, about *any* of it?! Didn't you trust her?!"

Suddenly Benten knew what Ataru was talking about. "Of course
we did. We trusted Lum with the most precious gift of all. That was
why we couldn't tell her."

Ataru sputtered. "What gift?"

Benten held up her hands as if entreating him to understand.
"Our innocence. Lum needed to be kept safe from the true horrors of
war. Of the fact that war isn't clean, or easy, or safe. There was
always a part of Lum that believed that this could be resolved peacefully,
and that we'd return to our homes and live happily ever after. All of
us, even Ran, wanted to leave that with her. So we never told her about
what was really done. Because if she lost that, if she lost her dream,
then all of us would be lost." She tried to smile again. "I sound like
some old anime or something."

Ataru stopped pacing. He stood silent for over ten minutes,
working at understanding what Benten had just told him. Finally, he
spoke.

"I'm sorry, Benten. The three of you failed. And you failed
big time. I've just talked with Lum. There are lots of words that you
could use to describe her, but innocent isn't one of them. Not anymore."

Benten turned away from Ataru. "I know."

Ataru turned to leave. Benten's voice stopped him. "Ataru, Lum
may no longer be innocent. But she still dreams. I would do anything
to keep her dreaming. For some of us, the dreams have long since
stopped."

Ataru looked back at Benten's tear-streaked face. "I...It will
take a while before I even begin to forgive you. But I will try."

Benten gasped. "Bensaiten's Grave, why?"

Ataru's face was shrouded in darkness. "Because your intentions
were noble, if misguided. And...because you are still my friend. And we
forgive things of our friends that we wouldn't forgive in other people."

And with that, he left the room, leaving Benten leaning against
the wall in semi-darkness.

She whispered, almost silently, "Thank you, Darling..."

* * *

Ataru entered the doctor's office, where Shinobu was just putting
Kokeru down to sleep. He watched this calming scene, observing her
complete ease with a child in her arms.

Finally she got him to sleep, and looked up. "Ataru-kun."

He noticed a wary look in her eye, probably from the giant temper
tantrum he had thrown a few minutes ago. "I think I'm all yelled out,
Shinobu-chan."

She smiled. "Good. Being angry just doesn't suit you."

He grinned at that, then turned serious again. "Are you ready to
talk now, Shinobu-chan?"

The wariness slipped back to her eyes, and he realised that this
was not going to be easy. "Shinobu, one of my regrets is that I remember
everything that happened when I was possessed by the *saikoo jinseijitsu*.
Everything. So please, believe me when I say that it lied to you. I do
love you. It seems I always have, and I know I always will." He looked
in Lum's and Junba's direction. "Even if we aren't meant to be together."

Shinobu flushed. "Ataru-kun, I...I do love you. But I love
Junba-chan as well. And with her it's totally different."

Ataru was curious. "What do you mean? Aside from the obvious..."

Shinobu's mouth quirked up. "Ecchi. It's not the fact that we're
both women. It's...when a girl is married to you, she becomes Mrs.
Moroboshi. *You* were the dominant person in our relationship. I loved
you, and still do. But it's very difficult to stand in your shadow,
Ataru-kun. You're such a forceful presence. Perhaps that's why Lum is
bonded to you, she's the same way."

Shinobu turned towards the door. "But with Junba-chan...it's so
different. Everything we do, we do as a pair. We're equal. I'm not
saying that you treated me poorly, Ataru. You're one of the most loving
people I've ever known. Junba-chan is just different, in every way.
It's as if I've woken up."

Ataru cocked his head. "Or perhaps grown up."

Shinobu looked puzzled. "Hm?"

"Shinobu-chan, we've been the closest friends since we were
children. And we'll always love each other. But it's just possible that
we weren't meant to be married. We were married at sixteen. That's way
too young, even by Japanese standards. And I think a part of it might
have been the war. When your world is torn apart, you hold on to what
you have. We had each other."

Ataru took her in his arms. "But now you're growing up, and
realising that your life is taking you on a path apart from mine. It's
not such a horrible thing. You have a loving partner, and a beautiful
child."

Shinobu looked at Kokeru. "He's your child as well, Ataru-kun.
Never forget that."

"Of course not. I love him so much it hurts sometimes. I do
think it would probably be better for you to take care of him, though."

She turned to face him, shocked. "Ataru-kun, why?"

Ataru looked at her seriously. "Because I'm still growing up,
still changing. I have no idea what type of person I'll end up being.
You've made the journey that I'm still on. And Kokeru should grow up in
a loving, stable family. Until I find that stability, I want him to be
with you."

Shinobu remained silent for a long time. Finally, she said,
"I'd been dreading this talk ever since you came back on the ship. I
feel so much lighter now, though." She took Ataru's face in her hands.
"Ataru-kun...I'll always love you."

Ataru moved his face right next to hers. "And I will always
love you, Shinobu-chan. Never forget that."

Their lips met in a kiss, one last kiss before their worlds
grew farther apart.

Then Ataru broke it, and got up. "I need to do some
strategizing with Nassur. Stay here. I think Junba needs someone to
talk to."

Shinobu looked up, puzzled. "What makes you think that?"

Ataru grinned. "Well, for one thing, she's been listening at
the door since I got back in."

There was a muffled thud coming from the direction of Lum's
room. Both Shinobu and Ataru laughed. "I suppose I should comfort
her," Shinobu wryly added.

"Not too loud, or Lum will wake up."

Shinobu blushed. "Ataru-kun!" But he was already gone.

The door opened, and Junba came out. "I'm sorry, Shinobu-chan."

Shinobu smiled, and turned to her lover. "Don't be. You had
every right to hear that conversation. And best of all, I don't feel
guilty anymore. I don't feel as if I'm betraying him."

Junba smiled. "Good." Then the smile turned into a grin.
"So, when will you make me an honest woman?"

Shinobu blushed again. "At least wait until we're out of the
World Court!"

"Aw..."

* * *

Ataru stood at a set of double green baize doors, ready to give
his testimony. Nassur stood by him. "Now remember, Ataru, your
testimony is going to be thought of as biased. Your bond with Lum
isn't exactly a secret, and there are those who don't hold with the
whole 'Saviour of the World' thing."

Ataru smiled briefly. "Me included."

Nassur did not smile back. "Are you ready, Ataru? Lum's life
depends on your testimony..."

Ataru straightened his shoulders. "Don't worry. I've got a
strategy that can't fail."

"What will you do?"

Ataru turned back to Nassur once more and winked. "I'm going to
tell them the truth, and see if they fall for it." Then the doors opened,
and he went into the court.

* * *

Benten paced while Shinobu and Junba sat calmly on the couch.
"Dammit, what's taking them so long?"

Junba was perfectly calm. "Lum was the leader of the invasion.
Her trial is quite naturally going to take longer than yours did."

Shinobu quietly added, "Yes, but is that a good or bad thing?"

Suddenly the doors opened, and Ataru and Nassur entered. Benten
almost pounced on them. "Well? What happened?"

Ataru smiled slightly. "Victory...of a sort, at least. She's
not going to get the death penalty, and she's not going to Spandau.
Because of her actions against the Niphentaxians, and as well as her
ignorance of certain crimes committed in her name," here, he looked
sharply at Benten, "...the Court ruled that she be given the same
sentence that you got. Lum will, officially at least, be my personal
servant."

Shinobu sagged with relief. "Thank the gods."

Junba grinned. "*Two* servants, Ataru? How will you divvy up
the chores?"

Ataru turned back to Benten, still looking very serious.
"That's the other thing. I had the court review your case, based on
your behaviour over this past year, as well as certain other factors.
They decided that it would be best, now that Lum is my servant, to
commute your sentence."

Benten's eyes were wide open. "What...what are you saying,
Ataru?"

"I'm saying you're a free woman, Benten. Of course, you are
welcome to stay at my house for as long as you wish, but you are no
longer my servant."

Benten had backed up against the wall, still staring in shock.
"But... what am I going to *do*? I can't build a life here! Everyone
hates me!"

"We don't hate you," Shinobu said.

Benten looked at Shinobu, and felt a momentary lift from her
despair. Then she looked over at Nassur, whose face was cold.

"Don't expect anything from me, Benten. You already know my
feelings."

Deep withing Benten, something snapped. She had thought that
her spirit had long since been quenched, but seeing the indifference of
the man who had once been her mentor enraged her.

She walked up to him, almost screaming in his face. "Yeah, of
course I know! The cold, cruel bitches who didn't care about the Earth
at all as long as they could inflict pain. Tell me, Nassur, do you
remember anything about the lessons you taught me and Lum?"

Nassur glared back at her. "I remember that you didn't take
them to heart."

"I remember one. The one you said was the most important one of
all. The one about the value of friendship. And that the most difficult
decision a person would ever have to make was between friendship and
principles."

"I already explained to you the choices you were making..."

"No, you didn't. You tried, but we never took it in. Nassur, you
always took the time to explain things to me and Lum. Why didn't you this
time? When it was *so* important?"

Nassur was getting angry. "I told you time and again..."

Benten, however, refused to be cowed. "Yes, you told us. You
didn't *explain!* Nassur, we were fifteen! What the hell did we know
about taking over a world? We were kids!"

"And you refuse to take responsibilities for your actions as
adults?"

"If I had refused that, I wouldn't be here on Earth as his
servant. But you treat us as if we were going to Earth to kill all these
people! That wasn't it at all!"

Nassur looked her right in the eye. "I..."

And then suddenly, his eyes flashed green.

Everyone in the room froze. Shinobu and Junba stared at the
pair, their mouths wide open. Ataru watched warily, waiting for someone
to make a move. Nassur simply stood in shock.

Benten began to shake violently. Her body recoiled in horror.

"No...not now...not *now,* dammit!" Finally, she let out a wail
and ran from the room.

Ataru sighed. "I'll go after her."

Shinobu and Junba said nothing, staring at Nassur's still
expression. Nassur, for his part, was remembering one phrase, the most
sacred phrase his people knew, repeating again and again through his mind.

*Recognition never lies...*

* * *

To be continued...



Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year: "Alternate Lum-san III:
Repercussions" Part 3
by Sean Gaffney
gaffney@iconn.net
**** **** ****
Edited by James Bateman, Robert Geiger, Philip Gavigan, Fred Herriot,
E.B. Kushnir, and Helen Szeto
**** **** ****
A side story based on the fan fiction stories in turn based on "Urusei
Yatsura", created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

IN THE SECOND PART OF "ALTERNATE LUM-SAN III: REPERCUSSIONS", Sean
realises that it's been so long since he worked on this that Mike and
Fred have abandoned the 'quick update between parts' format, but goes
along with it anyway for appearances' sake.

**** **** ****

In any case...ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

**** **** ****

Ataru unlocked the door of his home for the first time in three
weeks. He had always considered it to be a nice, modest Japanese home,
suited to his new life. Now it seemed too small. He had grown a lot
lately, however reluctantly. He hoped that the person he was becoming
was not totally irreconcilable with the person he had been.

Benten and Lum followed him in. Neither of them had spoken on the
flight back. In fact, Lum hadn't spoken until she'd been delivered into
his custody. He had tried on occasion to initiate a conversation with
her, but she just looked down. This bothered him much more than he
would have thought possible. The idea of Lum having to avoid his gaze
left him cold inside.

Benten wasn't much better. He had caught up with her after she
fled from Nassur, only to find her collapsed in a corridor, shaking
uncontrollably. It was mostly shock, but she wouldn't stop until they'd
left Holland, and even now she occasionally twitched spasmodically.

He didn't want things to be like this. He didn't want to go back
to his normal, safe routine with Benten and Sakura, but life seemed to
be forcing him toward new directions in which he still felt
uncomfortable.

He stepped inside, and turned to the others. "Benten, you can
keep your old room. Lum, I think we'll put you in my parents' old
room."

Lum finally spoke up. "I couldn't possibly do that. It would
desecrate their memory."

Ataru was beginning to get a little irritated with this Lum.
"They won't mind. Trust me. In any case, the only other room is mine.
It's not a very big house."

Lum looked around, but still avoided Ataru's eyes. "I could sleep
on the floor in here."

Ataru had had it. "NO!!!! Dammit, Lum, just because the World
Court decided you were my slave doesn't mean that you have to behave
like one!"

This time, it was Benten who reacted. "Why not? You had me
acting like a slave."

Ataru flinched, then turned away from both of them. "I...I
haven't been myself lately. I'm still not feeling completely all right.
There are certain things...that I'll regret from this past year. I may
never be able to look at Sakura again. And...I was far too harsh on
you, Benten."

He was interrupted. "No, you weren't. At the time, it was
exactly what I needed. I saw it as my punishment. If you had treated
me as just another person, I don't know what I would have thought. I
needed to get rid of my guilt." She turned and looked at her friend.
"So does Lum."

"Then she's going to have to do it some other way," Ataru said
testily. "Lum, you may have to behave as my slave outside the house,
but in here you will be treated as my guest, just as Benten will. I'm
not your father-confessor, and I'm not here to give you penance for your
sins!" He was shouting by the end of his speech.

Lum spoke up. "I understand. Should I go put my things in your
parents' room now?"

Ataru sighed. He felt the edges of a lurking headache. "Please.
Then perhaps you and Benten can have a talk, try to work some things
out. I'm going out."

Lum nodded and went upstairs. Benten, even though she was no
longer his slave, still considered herself Ataru's protector, so she
protested. "It's still not safe for you to just wander the streets,
dammit! What if you have another memory lapse?"

Ataru sighed again. "I'm not going to wander the streets, I'm
just going over to Tanoshii's temple. You two aren't the only ones
who've suffered crises of faith lately. I need to talk to someone about
this."

Benten backed down, but still felt a need to say something. "Be
careful. I may not be your slave, and you may not think much of me
anymore, but I still care about you. Don't do anything stupid."

Ataru smiled weakly. "Being in the same room as Megane might be
classified as stupid anyway, but I'll try."

And with that, he left the house. Benten sighed. She had to get
used to this new Ataru. He wasn't like his trans-dimensional
counterpart, but at least he seemed to be living his life again. She
looked up the stairs where her oldest friend had gone. *Lum,* she
thought, *you'd better snap out of your stupor soon. Because he's going
to need you much more than he thinks. And I don't think I could stand
to see him the way he used to be anymore.*

* * *

Ataru wandered down the street towards Tanoshii's shrine. The
original had been destroyed in the aftermath of the war, but she had
built another one, closer to Tomobiki, to continue following her path
and help Megane feel at home.

Ataru was *not* looking forward to dealing with Megane again. His
persistent insane grudge against Ataru, claiming that he should have won
the tag race and...

Suddenly Ataru stopped dead in his tracks. Winning the tag race.
Lum staying on Earth, no war. The other Ataru. So this was what he had
been up to the last time he'd appeared! Ataru stepped up his pace
towards the shrine. Perhaps this meeting wouldn't be as awkward as he
thought.

* * *

Tanoshii cleaned up after supper, leaving Megane to wander around.
He soon settled in front of the television, staring at the blank screen.
She sighed as she went into the kitchen to wash dishes. There were
times when taking care of her wayward charge was almost too much of a
burden to bear. But those times were balanced by his saner moments,
when she almost could believe they were boyfriend and girlfriend, rather
than that she was his keeper.

She never would have thought she'd ever fall in love, considering
her upbringing, and she certainly wouldn't have picked Aisuru. Their
first meeting was not a moment that could remotely be called romantic...

* * *

One year ago...

Tanoshii looked through the wreckage once more, finding it
difficult to believe that this had once been Tomobiki High School. They
had brought her in as sort of a spiritual guard. The major religious
forces of Tomobiki had staged a war here against the *saikoo
jinseijitsu*, and though they came out victorious, the price was much
too high. Ashin Budou was dead and his father injured. Sakura had
fared the worst, as the ninja database had crudely lobotomised her. She
was being cared for by the Moroboshi family doctors, but there didn't
seem to be much hope. Cherry had lapsed into a fugue state upon
learning of his niece's condition, and refused to respond to anybody.

Therefore, it fell to her to protect the workers involved in the
cleanup from the considerable psychic backlash that still pervaded the
area. Her mental and spiritual resources were almost exhausted, and she
knew that they would have to call a halt soon, not for their sake, but
for her own.

She heard a cry of anger coming from the workmen, and raced to
that area, trying to see if they'd found another of the invaders that
had been hiding. Earlier, they had uncovered Ran, who'd given them
quite a struggle before she'd been subdued. Tanoshii had no sympathies
for *that* one. She could be taken off and shot and most people would
cheer.

The area of dissension appeared to be in the collapsed basement,
where Lum had kept her political prisoners. She was angered to see that
one of the workers already had a gun out. Were these people insane?
She had enough trouble keeping the spiritual world calm without a show
of violence.

She stopped them, and tried to grab the gun from the enraged man.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked.

The man responded by pointing to a room in the wreckage.
Amazingly, it seemed to be mostly intact, with only a few cave-ins and
collapsed areas. There was a shape huddled in the far corner, though
Tanoshii couldn't make out who it was. She rounded on the men once
again. "You mean to say that you've been arguing while someone who
could still be saved lies there and waits for help?" She could not
believe the callousness of what she saw before her.

The man was unrepentant. "Why would we want to save *him*?
Without him, none of this would ever have happened. I'm just
administering a mercy killing."

She finally succeeded in grabbing the gun. "Go home. Now.
You're too tired to work anymore. Furthermore, I don't think you need
bother coming back tomorrow."

The man glared at her, then gave a disgusted snort and walked off.
The other men seemed just as angry, although more in control of
themselves. She turned to them. "The rest of you might as well go home
too. I was about to call things off for the night anyway, and we're all
too angry now to accomplish anything without insulting the spirits.
I'll take this man to a hospital."

She was astonished at the reaction. They grabbed her arms and
started to drag her away. "No, miss. That is Aisuru Megane in there,
and I don't care what you think, he is insane. I'm not going to let you
in there."

She stared back at the ruins in shock. Well, that explained their
anger. However, she was going to help the man, regardless of his past
history. "Very well, you can come with me, and subdue him if he tries
to attack me. But I am going to get him out of there and get him some
proper medical care."

"But miss..."

"I don't want to hear any arguing!" And with that, she stomped
back to the wreckage, leaving him to follow her.

As she approached the shape in the corner, her doubts rose to the
surface. Megane's mental state was well known; the Urusians frequently
brought him out for their political broadcasts, as an example to the
rest. She shuddered at the thought of attacking her. Nevertheless,
she had promised herself. Moreover, there was something in his story
that reached out to her heart. Perhaps, with her spiritual energy, she
might be able to begin a healing process.

She went over and tried to get his attention. The light shone
dimly in the room, and she could barely see him. "Can you here me?
It's over. You're safe now. We're here to get you some help."

She almost jumped back as the body turned over, and she saw
Megane's face. It was as bad as she had feared. There was a large OUT
OF ORDER stamped on his head, and his eyes were wild. He didn't appear
to be looking at her at all. She tried again. "Megane? Aisuru? My
name's Tanoshii, and I'm going to try and get you some help. You won't
have to live like this anymore, I promise."

His eyes swivelled towards her, and for a moment they came into
focus. She could see intelligence shining in them, along with something
else. A longing for something. He attempted to speak, and she leaned
closer to try and hear him. What he said stunned her.

"Venus."

He was looking directly at her as he said this, and there didn't
appear to be any insanity in his voice at all. She almost fainted.
Venus? HER?! Admittedly, men had been attracted to her, but very few
of them saw beyond her breasts. She had grown up in an abusive home and
had very little experience with any affection. Most men usually gave up
on her after a few tries, considering her too aloof. But Megane's words
entered her heart in a way that no one else's had.

"Miss? Are you all right?" The man behind her tapped her on the
shoulder to get her attention.

She shook herself and stared at Megane again. His eyes glazed
over and he looked as insane as ever. Had she imagined it all? She
held out her hand to him. "Come on. Time to get you out of here."

He looked up, and once again focused on her. No, she hadn't
imagined it. Smiling, she drew him out of the cell's darkness and into
the light...

* * *

That had been the start of a very rocky road. It turned out that
Aisuru's sickness had advanced even further, and he began to rant about
Ataru Moroboshi winning the tag race and coming back in time to ruin his
life. He had shown remarkable progress, but he continued to cling to
these fantasies. Until he was able to admit the truth to himself, he
would never fully recover.

The doorbell rang, and Tanoshii went over to answer it. She got a
lot of visitors these days, mostly people who were still harbouring
grudges from the war. It wasn't easy living in Tomobiki lately,
especially since the UN had decided that all the expatriate aliens would
live here. Indeed, the other large group of visitors she received were
aliens who'd decided to convert, and wanted to get in touch with their
spiritual selves.

It was rough, especially with so many of Tomobiki's spiritual
leaders dead or gone. But about two weeks ago Ataru had succeeded in
healing Sakura, though Tanoshii wasn't too sure of the exact details.
Sakura, along with her new boyfriend, had set about rebuilding her
temple. Hopefully that would take some of the burden off of Tanoshii
herself. Perhaps Budou-sensei and Cherry would return from their
sabbaticals, and things could get back to normal. She had tried to
instruct Aisuru in the Shinto arts, but did not yet trust him enough to
let him help.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Ataru Moroboshi there.
She hadn't seen Ataru for a few weeks, just before he had revived Lum
and Shinobu and gone off to the World Court for Lum's trial. The
rumours were definitely strange, talking about Ataru turning into a
Guyver and killing several Niphentaxians. She wondered if she could get
the full story from him.

"Hi, Tan-chan. I was just in the neighbourhood, and I thought I'd
drop in..."

She wasn't buying that. "Translation: you need to work out
what's been happening to you lately, and don't feel comfortable going to
Sakura."

He grinned weakly. "Yeah, I suppose." He walked into the living
room. Megane didn't seem to be around. That might make things easier.
"I've got a lot on my mind, and it might help to tell you about some of
it."

She sat down on the couch and invited Ataru to sit next to her.
"So tell me. What's up?"

Over the next half hour, he detailed exactly what had happened to
him lately, and how he was unsure of the direction his life should take.
When he finished, he felt much better, but he noticed that Tanoshii was
shaking slightly. "Tan-chan? What's the matter?"

She sat staring into the middle distance. "It was true? The
story about Ataru winning the tag race?"

"Apparently," Ataru said. "He used a spacialiser to go back in
time and change things. That's how he ended up in our dimension."

"Oh, gods," she whispered. "He..."

"So, I wasn't imagining things."

Aisuru Megane stood in the doorway. Unkempt and ragged, he
nevertheless had a look in his eyes that would shock those who knew him.
It was completely focused, with not a trace of the madness left. "You
did go back in time to make me run the tag race."

Even though Ataru knew and sympathised with Megane's condition, he
still got annoyed with him very easily. "*I* didn't do anything. An
Ataru might have made this universe possible, but I personally was not
responsible for it, nor do I accept it. Find another scapegoat."

Megane looked down at him for a few moments, and then nodded. He
then turned to Tanoshii, who was looking at him almost fearfully. "Tan-
chan..."

"Oh, gods, Aisuru-chan, I'm sorry." She almost threw herself in
his arms.

He raised her head to look at him. "Don't be. No one should have
believed me. It was an insane story."

"But I..."

He cut her off again. "I just feel better knowing that I was
right."

Ataru watched this exchange closely, half relieved that Megane
seemed to be better at last, and half annoyed that he wasn't going to be
getting any spiritual guidance here. "I suppose I should be going..."
he began.

Tanoshii turned sharply, having forgotten Ataru was even in the
room. "Oh, Ataru-chan, I'm sorry. I guess I haven't been much help to
you."

He smiled. "It's all right. I came here as much to fill you in
on events as to look for advice. And I do feel better." Getting up, he
turned to Megane. "I'm glad you feel better as well."

This earned a cursory nod. "Thank you, Ataru."

They still weren't going to be friends, Ataru thought. Perhaps it
was for the best. "Thank you, Ataru-chan." Tanoshii said, still in
Megane's arms.

He smiled, and left the shrine.

* * *

Benten peeked inside Lum's new room, and found her lying on the
bed staring up at the ceiling. Her face had no expression. Benten had
no idea how to go about doing this. The decision that she, Ran and
Oyuki had made seemed like a good idea at the time, but they should have
known that it would backfire. But dammit, Lum was too caring to make
those kinds of decisions! She couldn't possibly have decided people's
fates like that. It was up to the other three to try to keep Lum safe.

Benten entered the room. She had to know how Lum felt, whether
she hated Benten now. Benten had lost so many friends over the past two
years. Lum in a coma, Ran in prison, Oyuki dead, Nassur ignoring them.
Now that Lum was back, Benten wanted things to be the way they were.
She wanted to be Lum's best friend.

There was no way she would ever be ready to do this, so she just
decided to get it over with. "Lum, can we talk?"

For a few moments there was no reaction. Then Lum slowly turned
to stare at Benten. Benten felt her throat tighten, and almost ran out
of there. She was expecting anger, or betrayal, or sadness. But Lum
had none of that in her face. She looked at Benten as if she might look
at a complete stranger. When Lum spoke, her voice was just as
expressionless. "Yes, Benten?"

*I will not look away,* Benten thought. *I will look into her
eyes and apologise. She deserves that much.* "Lum, I wanted to
apologise. I know that it sounds so small considering what we did,
but...Lum, please understand what we were doing! You didn't know
anything about war!"

Lum spoke. It was in the same nondescript voice. "We weren't
supposed to be fighting a war."

"Oh, c'mon, Lum!" Benten felt herself getting annoyed, despite
herself. "Did you really expect that we were going to come in here,
announce that we were taking over the planet, and expect Earth to accept
it? Geez, Uru has been watching Earth's history for hundreds of years!
It was Earth's revolution that sparked your own! Hell, if you could
have asked Syl Aruka, she would have told you the same thing! Earth
would never have let us stay peaceably."

Benten's anger had the effect of making Lum sit up. There was a
hint of irritation in her voice. "Then why did we go? Why did we have
to do this?"

Benten shrugged. "The Ipraedies were gonna do it if you didn't.
Lum, there was no way you could have gotten out of this one. That's not
true, there was. Earth could have won the tag race. But they didn't.
I mean, we've heard what happened if Earth won. The other Ataru told
us."

Lum laughed, though there was no happiness behind it. "Yes, he
did...it was a beautiful world."

"Was it? I dunno...Ataru talked about suffering through three
years of everyone treating him like shit. You may have been happy, but
he wasn't."

"Oh, and this world was so much better?" Now Lum was beginning to
look angry.

"Look, we can't keep going on about other worlds! They aren't
ours, Lum. This one is. So we gotta figure out what to do about this
one."

That seemed to end conversation for a few minutes. Then Lum spoke
up again. "You want us to be friends again, don't you?"

Benten was surprised at the vehemence of her answer. "Yes.
Please."

"How can you possibly ask that of me?!" Lum rose to her feet,
fire in her eyes. "You conspired against me! Ran and Oyuki were
*killing* people, good intelligent people, and you let it happen! I
don't care what honourable reasons you may think you had. I can never
trust you again!"

Benten looked down. She swore she was going to look Lum in the
eye, but it was finally too much. "I know. I have no right to ask you
at all."

"Then why are you?" Lum sounded livid now. If nothing else,
Benten had gotten her out of her depressed funk.

"I..." Benten felt her voice catch, and paused before she
continued. "I have no one else. I thought I had something with Ataru,
but...he loves you. I always knew that. Even if Nassur did recognise
me, he still loathes me. Everyone else on Earth despises me, and I
can't go back to Fukunokami because of my carrying Kokeru-chan to term.
I...I have nothing, Lum. If you reject me, I don't know what I can do."

Lum flopped back on the bed, clutching her head in annoyance.
"Don't do this to me."

"It's the truth!" Benten screamed.

"I don't care!" Lum shouted right back at her. "Do you know what
it sounds like to me? It sounds like blackmail! You're saying I have
to be your friend or else you'll kill yourself! How can you do that to
me?"

Benten grabbed Lum, yanking her up on her feet again. "That's
NOT...!!!!"

Then she stopped. For a moment the two of them just stood there,
unmoving. Then Benten spoke up again. Her voice was almost a whisper.
"That is what I'm doing, isn't it? Blackmailing you with my life.
Bensaiten's Grave, what kind of person am I?"

She let go of Lum, and turned to leave the room. Lum's hand
stopped her, though, and she hesitated. "Benten, stop. Stop torturing
yourself. Stop trying to get me to be your friend...just stop. All
that is in the past. Everything we did, our friendship...all of it is
gone now, and there is no way we can get it back. You told me we had to
figure out what to do about this world now. You need to do that
yourself, just like I do. Find out where to take your life now. With
Nassur, maybe with Shinobu. Maybe you can strike out on your own."

She then, deliberately, let go of Benten and stepped away. "But
you can't go back. I'm sorry."

Benten stared at Lum. She understood the hidden meaning behind
those words. "All right. Lum...I loved being your friend. I loved
you, in a way. I hope that whatever you and Ataru decide to do, it
makes you happy. You deserve that much."

Lum smiled. It was the first time Benten had seen her smile in
over a year. "You too, Benten. Find happiness. With Nassur, or not,
but find it."

Benten found herself smiling, even while tears streamed down her
cheeks. "Thank you." And with that, she stepped through the door, and
said goodbye to her best friend...

* * *

Ataru had almost finished his stroll through the neighbourhood.
He felt calmer than he had in a while, so there was probably little
chance of another memory blackout.

After leaving Tanoshii's temple, he decided that if he had the
courage to face Megane then he would be able to face Sakura as well.
His visit there had been a bit more mixed. Sakura didn't seem to be
angry with him, despite the way he'd treated her lobotomised body.
Luckily her new boyfriend (who was also her old boyfriend, and whose
life story made Ataru's head hurt), Koosei Ryooki, had been there to
keep things from getting out of hand. Ataru had apologised, Sakura had
accepted it, but it was pretty clear that they wouldn't be seeing much
of each other anymore.

After that, he'd visited a few of the survivors of the TUF and
told them what the new circumstances around his home were. Most hadn't
been all that happy to see him. Ataru was still considered a danger to
himself and others, and that probably wouldn't change until he left
Tomobiki.

It was becoming clearer to him that he was going to have to leave
soon. For a year, he had stayed here and hidden away from life, hoping
that if he pretended everything was fine it would get better. Well, it
wasn't. Despite his hatred of what the other universe's Ataru had done
to his life, he had to admit that he got it right in one respect. As
Ataru was now, he could no longer live in Tomobiki.

While these thoughts continued to course through his head, he
began to make his way home. On the way back he saw a construction crew
hard at work renovating one of the neighbourhoods in Tomobiki that had
been destroyed. Ataru tried to remember if it was the Urusians or the
*saikoo jinseijitsu* that caused this particular area's destruction. He
found that he couldn't. All of the devastation that the district had
endured had blended together in his head.

He did, however, recognise the person who seemed to be guiding the
crew. Grinning, he jogged over to say hi. "Reigi, what's up?"

Reigi Yumoa turned to look at Ataru, and a grin split his face.
"Hey, Ataru, how are you? I heard that you finally decided to wake up
out of your funk." The warmth in his eyes was a pleasure to see. Ataru
missed Reigi, who had been one of his true friends growing up, until his
mother had cut off all contact. They'd talked a bit since the end of
the war, but Ataru was too brain-fried to say much. Now maybe they
could rediscover that friendship.

"Reigi, you don't know the half of it." Ataru grinned, feeling
his spirits lifting. "Listen, there's something I wanted to talk to you
about. I'm thinking of moving out of Tomobiki. Is there any way you
could find me a place?"

Reigi frowned, his jovial grin disappearing. "Hmm." He
considered for a second. "Ataru, I don't know if they'd let you move.
You may be the 'hero of Earth', but you still have Lum as your slave."

Ataru's eyes narrowed. "In name only."

This didn't seem to phase Reigi. "Not to the United Nations.
They want Lum to stay put. Your moving would mean a whole lot of new
effort expended to keep an eye on her. Unless you go off-planet, I
can't see them allowing it. And if you do try to go off-planet, they
might stop you anyway. You're their weapon against other races."

"If my 'weapon' ever got out again, it would be Earth that would
be devastated! Don't they understand that yet?"

Reigi shrugged. "It doesn't matter to them. The *saikoo
jinseijitsu* is a deterrent. It prevents races like the Lannarkites or
the Seifusuku from waltzing in here while we're still rebuilding. They
won't give it up without a fight."

Ataru sighed. He supposed that he knew this, he just didn't want
to admit it. "Well, do me a favour. Set up a meeting with my
grandmother and we'll see what we can do."

"Ataru...if you go anywhere outside Tomobiki, Lum has to come with
you. I don't have to tell you what will happen if Lum and your
grandmother meet."

"I know, but she's going to have to accept it." He sighed.
"Reigi, Lum and I are bonded in some way. It's a way that neither she
nor I can explain. Until we can, I don't want to risk anything. What
if she dies for real? That could be exactly the sort of thing that
would set the thing in my head free again. Even Grandma has to
understand that."

They stood there for a few seconds, then Reigi nodded. "I'll see
what I can do."

Ataru grinned. "Thanks, Reigi." He looked around. "What's
happening here, anyway? I thought this was an area that was going to be
left alone in order to 'remember what once was,'" Ataru almost spat out
the words.

"Actually, we were. But recently some girl's been channelling
money into the rebuilding effort. Mostly the theatre district, but
she's coming here to meet with me today, and I'm hoping we can use some
of her family fortune for more prosaic matters, such as shelters."

"Family money? Wait a minute..." Ataru began.

Reigi smiled. "Thought you'd pick up on it. It's Shutaro
Mendou's sister, though from what I've heard she's not as arrogant as
her brother was."

"Excuse me, is Yumoa-san here?"

Ataru turned, and found himself facing a rather attractive young
woman in a kimono, looking a year or two younger than he. He could
definitely see the resemblance to Shutaro in her face, but her eyes held
laughter instead of anger, making her more appealing. She turned
towards them...

Ataru suddenly jumped, as the sound of violins came up seemingly
from nowhere. Turning to Reigi, he noticed that bluebirds seemed to be
circling his face, and he had turned a red Ataru didn't think possible.
"Um...I'm...that, is, I...uh..."

Deciding to make the introductions himself, Ataru turned to
Ryouko. "This is Reigi Yumoa, Mendou-san." After a few moments he
blinked and waved a hand in front of her face. She didn't appear to be
breathing. "Mendou-san?"

Finally she breathed in, and her face turned an identical shade of
red to Reigi's. "Yumoa-sama...um, san...I'm very pleased to finally
meet you."

Ataru had to push Reigi towards her. "Likewise."

Realising that his presence was unnecessary, Ataru made his way
off the lot. Reigi and Ryouko had started to shake hands, but for some
reason hadn't let go, and now seemed content to simply stare at each
other for the next week or two.

To his surprise, Nassur was waiting for him back on the street.
"What's with those two?" he asked.

Ataru sighed, looking back. "Just the author indulging in an in-
joke." He turned towards the bounty hunter. "What's up?"

Nassur frowned. "We just heard from the Zephyrites. They don't
accept the World Court's verdict. They're sending a delegation here to
plead for Lum's execution."

* * *

To be continued...


Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year: "Alternate Lum-san III: Repercussions"
Part 4
by Sean Gaffney
gaffney@iconn.net
**** **** ****
Edited by Philip Gavigan, Fred Herriot, E.B. Kushnir, Mike Smith, and Helen
Szeto
**** **** ****
A side story based on the fan fiction stories in turn based on "Urusei
Yatsura", created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****
"Love Is Coming Down" written by Pete Townshend, from the album WHO ARE YOU by
The Who
**** **** ****

IN THE THIRD PART OF "ALTERNATE LUM-SAN III: REPERCUSSIONS", Sean went
through yet another nine-month long writer's block, losing any readers that he
might have had for this story. I mean, c'mon! The recap at the start of the
part?! Fred hasn't done that in a year and a half! The only reason I'm doing
this in the first place is to make the fic look symmetrical. Feh. But see if
I get thanked. TSY fans nowadays don't care about art. All they want are
kicks. Well, I don't care anymore! I've had it! You think this is easy?!
It's not!!! I slave every day over a hot -- GGGK!

<pause>

Um...sorry about that. Enjoy the show. <offstage> Did you have to hit me
*that* hard?

**** **** ****

And finally (thank God)...ON WITH THE SHOW!

**** **** ****

Ataru raced down the street towards his house, with Nassur keeping pace
alongside. "How much time do we have?" Ataru panted.

Nassur shrugged. "About two or three days. They're attempting to send
a delegation that's balanced between the six major religions; that'll take a
day or so to put together. The fact that they're taking such care shows how
serious they are. I'm trying to think of alternatives, but nothing's coming."

Ataru was coming up empty as well. The Zephyrites had a *huge* amount
of influence on Earth, thanks to his grandmother, and were one of the few
alien races that the Earth still trusted. He had managed to secure Lum's
sentence by the skin of his teeth, and could tell that the World Court wasn't
happy about what they did. If the Zephyrites pled their case... it wouldn't
take much convincing.

As he approached the door to his house, Ataru saw that it was wide open.
His heart fell further. *Dammit, why did I go out for another walk?!
Couldn't I see how stupid that was?!*

Bursting through the door, he ducked just in time to avoid a baseball
bat to the head. Benten was standing behind the door, her eyes wild with fear
and anger. She wielded the bat with one hand; her left arm dangled uselessly
at her side, broken. In addition, there were several cuts and bruises all
along her shoulders and neck.

She gasped when she saw who had burst through the door. "Oh, God,
Darling, I nearly killed you!"

Ataru looked around, panicked. "Where's Lum?"

"I'm here," came a voice from the kitchen. Lum came out slowly,
carrying a frying pan. She didn't seem to be injured, though there was an
additional pain to her eyes as she looked at Benten's injuries. "We were
attacked," she said simply.

Benten was being helped to the couch by Nassur, who for once didn't feel
the need to snarl at her. She winced as he examined her arm. "I was
downstairs getting some food when some drunks broke in, saying they were going
to 'kill the alien bitch'. Luckily, I was able to stop them... for the most
part," she added, looking at her arm ruefully. "I need to brush up on my
combat skills, I guess."

Lum walked over and gently laid a hand on Benten's head. "The only
reason you got those injuries is because you were making sure you didn't kill
any of them."

Ataru and Nassur looked up, startled. "You didn't..."

Benten shook her head. "Just beat 'em up a bit. You should see them; I
didn't get the worst of the fight, at least." She looked up at Lum, who had
removed her hand.

Lum looked towards the front door. "Benten...thank you."

Benten couldn't get Lum to meet her eyes, but her voice made her
feelings clear enough. "Always, Lum. Always."

Ataru had been leaning against the wall, his eyes closed. He finally
stood up and moved quickly to the front door, slamming it so hard that Lum and
Benten jumped. "That does it. This has got to end. We've got the Zephyrites
coming here to try and get you killed, we've got my grandmother trying to find
a way to kill you, and now we've got random people on the street who think
nothing of breaking and entering just to murder you. We can't do this."

He looked each of them in the eye. "Lum and I can't stay here. We have
to leave Earth."

Lum's face was still pale at the mention of the Zephyrites. Benten,
too, looked grey, though that might have been her injuries catching up with
her. Nassur's face, though, was more sceptical. "And how do you propose we
do this?"

There was a long pause.

"Um...I'm open to ideas," Ataru said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his
neck.

* * *

Later, a council of war was called in the Moroboshi living room.
Present were Ataru, Lum, Nassur, Shinobu, and Junba. Benten was on the couch,
sleeping off her injuries, her arm now in a cast.

The mood of the group was even more sombre than usual. Lum wasn't
speaking to anyone, and Ataru seemed to be getting more and more frustrated as
he considered and then rejected ways to get off Earth without causing some
form of global and interplanetary war.

There was a knock at the door, which Junba answered with her blaster in
hand. "Who are you?" she growled.

"It's okay, Junba, he's a friend," Ataru said, seeing a startled Reigi
at the door. "Come on in, Reigi."

"Right..." murmured Reigi, sliding past Junba, who grinned and
shouldered her blaster. He took a seat next to Ataru, getting right down to
business. "Like I told you, Ataru, what you're asking is virtually
impossible. It's not even the United Nations, per se. They don't really have
that much power beyond the World Court. That's where you'll have to worry
about the Zephyrites, but I doubt the UN would mind your leaving the planet.
No, your major problem will be the United States and Europe. Their
governments don't see you as a person, to be honest. You are propaganda."

Ataru sighed. "Haven't they been told about what the *saikoo
jinseijitsu* is really like?"

Reigi shrugged. "They have...and they don't care. Ataru, do you
realize how terrified Earth still is? A little over a year ago, we were being
crushed under the boot of an evil alien empire!" Lum flinched at this, but
Reigi felt no need to apologize. "People forget what a shock to the system
that was! Earth will take *years* to recover...not to mention that the
invasion drew attention to us! We're afraid that some other alien race is
going to see us as easy pickings and waltz right in!"

Nassur cut in. "That won't happen. Both the Zephyrites and Yehisrites
are watching over Earth more closely than you can imagine. There will be no
more invasions."

Reigi gave Nassur a hard look. "And we should trust other aliens to
watch over us, then?"

Ataru reached out to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Reigi..."

Reigi seemed to relax, and gave a wry grin. "Sorry. Please understand,
those aren't my feelings. Working with Ataru's grandmother, as I do, I could
hardly be xenophobic. But this is what you're going to get from the other
governments. You've heard what America's like these days. You think martial
law in Japan was bad... not to mention the fact that they regard *any* alien
nowadays as something to shoot first and ask questions later."

Ataru lay back on the floor. "What about help from Grandma?"

Reigi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Ataru, your grandmother loves you
very much. But recent events, and Lum's presence in your life, have not been
very kind to that love. In fact, it would not be out of order these days to
say that Nagaiwakai-san is obsessed with getting you back into her life. If
you were to leave...taking Lum with you...well, you'd better have a damn good
place to run to."


"We don't have anywhere to run to," Ataru said despondently. "The major
powers want me dead or captured, and everyone wants Lum dead. If we leave,
we're going someplace quiet and with a low, spread-out population."

"There are no shortage of such planets, Ataru, but let's concentrate on
other things first," Nassur said. "Reigi-san, is there any other major
problem you can think of?"

Reigi rolled his eyes. "Gee no, aside from those minor hitches,
everything's golden."

Nassur pursed his lips, deep in thought. "We'll have to leave the
Zephyrites for now. There's nothing we can do about them in any case. We
should worry more about convincing America and Europe that Ataru remaining
here is a bigger danger than him leaving. What's more, it will have to be
Ataru and Shinobu doing the convincing...and you, Reigi, if you want to help.
Junba and I cannot be any part of this effort, for obvious reasons."

Shinobu had been fairly quiet through the discussion, but now she spoke
up. "Ataru-kun, how good of an actor are you?"

Ataru stared at her. "Shinobu, I've been acting my entire life.
Sometimes so deeply that I didn't realize it."

She nodded. "That's my point, Ataru-kun. I have an idea...but in order
for it to work, you can't sink yourself into the role. We need you to be able
to be back to yourself at a moment's notice."

Ataru looked at her for a while, thinking. "I think I can do that.
Now. Before this past week, I wouldn't have been too sure of it. What's your
plan?"

Shinobu looked down, feeling suddenly nervous. Junba squeezed her hand,
and she smiled and continued. "Reigi, you were right, but only up to a point.
The other countries are still afraid, but their fear is coming out as anger.
The alien races give them a focus, something to hate. Hatred is always easier
for a person to admit than fear. So what we need to do is get them scared
again."

Nassur nodded. "Good logic. But how?"

"Isn't it obvious? Convince them that Ataru here on Earth is something
to fear even more."

* * *

The meeting went on for another hour or so before everyone essentially
agreed to the gist of Shinobu's plan. Then they all decided to get a good
night's sleep, with Reigi going back to the office to secure them a fast plane
to the United States.

Nassur and Junba settled down in the living room. Shinobu and Ataru
were with Lum, while the two of them remained in the living room to both guard
Benten and stop any other intruders. Benten lay on the couch, still sound
asleep, while Nassur and Junba sat in opposing chairs.

Junba could see Nassur trying to twist himself in the chair, so that he
didn't have to look directly at Benten. She tried not to laugh as he
attempted to nonchalantly swing his legs over the arm. It looked very
uncomfortable.

"You know, it's much harder to get into battle readiness from where
you've twisted itself," she said, making her tone as light as possible.

He glared at her. "I'm ready no matter what."

Junba sighed, and ostensibly tried to change the subject. "Shinobu and
I had a heart-to-heart the other night...pretty much dealing with what we
discussed here."

Nassur blinked, and turned back to face her (and Benten, of course).
"What do you mean? I thought you two had resolved everything?"

"Not really. We were just in the first throes of love, when everything
seems to be wonderful and all challenges can be overcome. The bloom fell off
the rose a few days ago, though. It's okay, we had a long talk."

Now Nassur was curious. "What about?"

"Serious things. Shinobu's not used to being with a woman. She grew up
as a Catholic, one of the stricter religions on Earth, and still has a
tendency to regard what we're doing as a sin. I had to show her that it
didn't matter if we were both women, as long as we loved each other."

"Have you..." Nassur paused, unable to breach the subject politely.

"Shagged like rabbits?" Junba said with a grin. "Yes, we have. But
it's been mostly my initiative; she's still very shy." Junba paused, ready to
swing the conversation the way she wanted. "Then there's another problem.
I'm an alien."

Nassur gave this some thought. "Not one of the invaders."

Junba shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Hell, if you think like that,
I'm a clone as well, not even true Vosian. But that's not the point. Reigi
was right when he talked about how insular the Earth people are. To a certain
extent, they still see all alien races as slithering, bug-eyed monsters."

"She's afraid of you?" Nassur enquired.

Junba nodded. "A bit. More like she's unsure of how to behave around
me. She's not afraid I'll kill her...she's just afraid that she'll be hurt."

Nassur didn't respond, so Junba continued. "But we're talking. That's
what I'm hoping will be the key. We keep learning more and more about the
other person, and soon we find that even if one of us does get hurt, the other
will be there."

Junba decided to quit being subtle. "Besides, I recognised her. You
know what they say..."

"Junba, stop. I know what you're trying to do."

"Can't run away from it forever, Nassur. It's not as if Benten's going
to stay here after Lum and Ataru leave...and there's nowhere else safe for her
to go. She's got to come with us, whether you agree of not."

Nassur got up and walked over to the window. When he spoke, it was in a
heated whisper. "How can I forgive her, Junba? There's no scale to what she,
Ran, Oyuki and Lum did. It's just...impossible."

Junba narrowed her eyes. "You keep looking at it from the perspective
of the people on Earth. Look at it from Benten's perspective. No, really.
Here is a 15-year-old girl who's just found out that her best friend has been
handed control of a backwater planet. Moreover, the people there aren't
taking it as well as they might. There's a danger of riots, protests, even
deaths. Lum could be in danger.

"Now, Benten is not stupid. Both she and Lum were trained by the best
teacher they could get. She took his teachings to heart, especially as he was
much harder on her than he was on Lum. And she knew the one thing that he
drilled into her over and over again, more than anything else."

Nassur had sat back down, and was massaging his temples. When he looked
up, his eyes were haunted. "Look after your own."

"Right. And when you're an inexperienced 15-year-old girl whose best
friend is under threat from the world whose history her people have followed
religiously for so long, what is your choice?"

If he'd been able to get away with it, Nassur would have put his fingers
in his ears. He settled for glaring at Junba once again. "That does not
excuse the situation getting as out of control as it did."

Junba nodded. "No, it doesn't excuse it. But it explains it. Nassur,
what happened on Earth was a stupid, stupid thing. It was an idiotic idea to
have the tag race in the first place. There were easier ways to stop the
Ipraedies. It was *certainly* stupid to make Lum Governor. For Lecasur's
sake, didn't Syl Aruka teach her people anything? The Earth would never allow
invaders to rule its planet, no matter what the cost. Who made the decision
to have the governor be Lum? Yethis, right?"

Nassur nodded, but remained silent.

"And it was Yethis who made sure Lum got no support, no advice. All she
had were her friends to turn to. And of them, only Benten made any effort to
help Lum and still try to remain even vaguely moral."

This upset Nassur. "Moral? She beat the shit out of people!"

"As opposed to torturing them to death, like Ran, or scattering their
atoms into deep space, like Oyuki? Nassur, they were at war! What would you
have her do?! How would you have done things different, how would you have
stopped this?"

The silence in the room was deafening. Nassur stared at the floor,
clenching and unclenching his fists. "I would have been there. I would have
been here, to tell them what they were doing wrong. I needed to be here, and
I wasn't. That's where everything went wrong."

Junba noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye. Benten had
turned over and was staring at Nassur, tears rolling down her cheeks. Junba
wondered how long Benten had been feigning sleep. Nassur didn't seem to
notice her. Junba pretended not to notice and continued talking to Nassur.

"That's quite a statement. Everything that went wrong here is your
fault? Nassur, you can't teach life. You can't teach experience. It has to
be lived. Besides, you couldn't have been with Lum. Yethis set it up so that
you'd be away when the tag race happened, and then twisted things so you'd
abandon her later on."

"I know. I should have known..." Nassur stopped, unable to go on.

Junba stood up, and walked over to take Nassur's hand. "So, we've
figured it out. You can't forgive yourself for what happened. Which means
you'll never be able to forgive Benten."

Nassur shook his head. "I can't believe I'm acting like this."

Junba smiled. "Yes, it shows you're not nearly as perfect as how you'd
like to be. What a horrific thought."

Nassur sighed. "So what do I do now? Just forget about it and move
on?"

"No, don't forget about it. You'll never be able to do that. But yes,
move on. Pick up what you can. Earth is recovering. The Urusians aren't all
dead, they can recover. Now you have to recover. Come back to the base with
me and Shinobu, and we'll do what we do best."

"With Benten," Nassur said.

Junba smiled. "Yes. Why not? After all, you regard the entire debacle
as your fault for not teaching her better...even though I still say it would
be impossible to teach her how to avoid what happened. So taking her with us
would give you an opportunity to teach her again. Give her the experience she
needs...so that if another disaster strikes, she can deal with it better. If
you aren't able to deal with her as the woman you recognised yet, then why not
deal with her as she once was? Your protege."

Nassur shook his head. "I couldn't. It'd be too difficult. Not just
for me, but for her. Every time she looks at me these days, she only gets
hurt. I don't want to be like that to her."

"So you do care about me," a hoarse voice whispered from the couch.

Nassur almost leapt three feet into the air. He turned to the couch,
stunned at realising that Benten had been listening. "B-Benten! How...how
much did you..."

Benten smiled trying to wipe the moisture from her eyes. "Enough, I
guess." Her face grew very serious. "Nassur, could you do that? Let me
become your student again? I...I won't promise anything. My word's not good
enough anymore. But...I won't shame you, or disgrace you anymore. I
won't..." She stopped speaking, shaking her head in denial, and began to sob
again.

Junba saw Nassur staring at her weeping form, then slowly get up and
move to the couch. He sat down and reached over to stroke her hair, only now
beginning to grow out. "Benten, will you come with us?" he asked quietly.

"YES!" she cried, almost screaming. She pulled herself to him,
clutching him as best she could with her broken arm. She began to brokenly
ramble while she clutched his shirt. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, oh Fates, I'm
sorry..." Nassur stroked her hair, not looking at her but not pulling away.
He stared at the wall, deep in thought.

Junba smiled, and went over to the doorway to give the two some time to
renew their bonds...and perhaps help to forge new ones.

* * *

Shinobu gazed around at the men around her. The Tomobiki Underground
Force had been pretty much a team united by upbringing. All of them were at
least known to one other person, and they effectively functioned as a close,
tight-knit family. There was politics between Mendou and Tobimaro as to who
was the leader of the group, but almost everyone else ignored that and kept on
with the more important matter: defeat the aliens and getting their world
back.

She'd assumed that it would be the same in other parts of the world.
She could not have been more wrong. Here in Los Angeles, the Underground
Force was essentially an offshoot of the gangs that inhabited the streets,
with all of the power plays and drive-by shootings that involved. The Force,
united by the invasion, was splintering now, devolving back into the original
groups that it had been a part of.

The leader, however, was still able to hold on to a certain amount of
power. He was 19 years old and was counted as one of the few humans who
managed to kill a Urusian during the invasion and live. He bore the scars of
his torture, however, with half of his face broken and healed from beatings
and lashings. He was a reminder of what they had once fought; a reminder that
was needed more and more as the occupation grew to be a memory.

Shinobu and Ataru sat across from him on the table. She was glad that
they were sitting; standing up, she barely came up to his stomach. It was
easy to forget how small the Japanese were until she sat here, surrounded by
huge giants, of various races and backgrounds, none of whom were under two
metres. If Ataru had been allowing himself to react, she was sure he'd be
having second thoughts.

She gave Ataru credit, though, he wasn't reacting at all. He sat at the
table, eyes staring straight ahead, breathing quickly from the mouth. It was
just enough to make the other gang leaders nervous. She was afraid that Ataru
would overdo it, as he did back in 'the good old days' when they were still in
high school and leading normal lives. This was the new Ataru, though, and he
seemed to understand exactly what was at stake here. A few minutes ago, she'd
quietly squeezed his hand under the table, and he'd squeezed back. He was
still in control of himself.

She still felt overwhelmed by what her heart had gone through in the
past three weeks. She loved Junba with a passion that almost hurt at times.
But it didn't lessen in any way her love for Ataru or their child. She was
beginning to realize that love was not something that was divided up, with
certain people getting certain amounts. Love was infinite. She had enough
room in her heart for Junba, and Ataru, and Kokeru, and everyone else.

They were here to ensure that Lum and Ataru would be able to leave the
Earth and start a new life. Shinobu hoped there would be a place in that life
for her.

The last of the gang leaders entered the room and the doors closed.
Shinobu found herself standing up and heading for the front of the room. *If
I screw this up,* she thought, *we're dead.*

Luckily, being terrified was exactly what the others expected her to be,
so nobody said anything as she began her stammering, halted plea. "Thank you
for listening to us. We tried to talk to the UN, and our own government, but
they're not bothering to listen. I think they might already be in the pocket
of some alien groups..."

The leader, who was called Ice, rumbled at that. "You mean the
Urusians?"

Shinobu shook her head, looking indignant. "No! The Urusians are
crushed! There's no way they can come back! We defeated them!"

Ice smiled and waved his hand. "Chill, girl. We're just trying to plan
ahead. Sorry to interrupt."

Shinobu blinked, surprised that he was so polite. She carried on. "The
races we're worried about aren't as overt as the Urusians or the Ipraedies.
They're not liable to make mistakes. They're trying to get control more
subtly, by political and economic means. We...that is, what's left of the
Tomobiki Underground Force...are convinced that they already have the UN under
their control. That's why Lum wasn't executed when she should have been."

A large redheaded man spoke up from the left side of the room. "Way I
heard it, it was your husband here who was the reason she got off light. Are
you trying to tell me he's controlled by aliens?"

Shinobu inhaled sharply. This was the difficult bit. "No, not by
aliens..." she said. She then lowered her face as a sob escaped her lips.

After a few seconds she raised her face, tears streaming down her
cheeks. The gang leaders seemed to be looking at her sympathetically, but one
or two of them were definitely giving Ataru some nasty looks as well. Time to
move on.

"After...after the end of the war, people were told how Ataru had
stopped it. But nobody was really given the whole truth. There were lies and
rumours spread by the government, designed to make the people feel safe again.
They didn't want another panic. But while it's true that Ataru stopped the
war..." She let her voice trail off.

The leaders were beginning to look a bit nervous. The angry looks
directed towards Ataru had ceased. "Go on, girl," Ice said.

"We're still not quite sure what it was," Shinobu lied, "...but
something triggered off a long buried ninja database in Ataru's head. What
its origin is...is uncertain, but at the time it didn't matter. Ataru got up,
and began to systematically slaughter everyone. He..."

Shinobu shuddered. This wasn't acting anymore. Most of what she was
telling them was the basic unvarnished truth. Unfortunately, this meant that
she was reliving memories of the worst period of her life. It hurt saying
this.

"I had run into the room, trying to rescue him from Lum. I didn't
realize at the time that he had been possessed by the ninjitsu program.
He...he said some horrible things. Told me how he never loved me, how he was
only with me because I looked so pathetic. Then he tore me open, almost
cutting out my heart. He could have killed me if he liked, but he didn't.
That...would have been too merciful. He left me there, in a coma, to die
slowly."

She stopped again, getting her breath back. "Later on, I found that the
program had made him slaughter most of the TUF. Our leaders, many of our
finest members...all cut down by that monster. It wasn't a heroic end to the
war. It was a nightmare."

The entire room was silent. Ice spoke up. "What happened to stop it?"

"Several of our spiritual leaders combined their powers to lock it
within Ataru again. One of them sacrificed his life, and another ended up
brain damaged, but they were able to contain it."

She took a breath. Now to twist the knife in.

"And that's where it is to this day. In Ataru's head. At first he was
fine, right back to normal, but ever since Lum and I were healed, he's
been...getting worse. Look at him, he's doing his best to keep it in, but
it's cost him. We're not sure how long he can hold out. At most a month or
so more. We suspect it's a connection with Lum of some sort. That's why he
refuses to let her be killed or hurt. He's worried about what it will do to
him."

Shinobu sighed, then looked into Ice's eyes. "If you think about it, we
ended up winning the war because Lum was removed from power. After that, our
forces could successfully mount an attack. We cut off the head. But...the
ninja program in Ataru's head didn't kill Lum. Mendou did. All it did was
slaughter everyone Ataru was close to. That's our deterrent. That's what we
use to keep the aliens at bay. A killer that will go after innocent humans if
it ever gets loose."

Ice was starting to look upset. "Why haven't you mentioned this to the
UN?"

Shinobu shrugged. "We did. But they don't have that much power, and
besides, they don't really believe it. Everyone wants to make Ataru the hero
of the war, even if it means believing lies. The US and European governments
need Ataru. They need a deterrent, and they don't care how dangerous it is."

Shinobu shook her head, trying to look appalled. "There's only one real
answer. We love our planet. Ataru-kun and I both do. And in order to save
it, we have to leave. We can't risk Ataru losing control and hurting
innocents. But in order to leave, we'd have to take Lum. And that's what the
powers-that-be won't allow.

"I don't have any answers to give you. I don't know how to make the US
and Europe change their minds, or what leverage can be used. We're out of
ideas. We're just trying to tell others, hoping that maybe swaying public
opinion will help." She stood up. "Thank you for listening to us."

Ice stood too, walking towards her. The others in the room were quiet,
each thinking over what she had just told them. There was a large amount of
space between Ataru and anyone else.

"Coming here was smart, girl, let me tell you that. You might not be
able to get much done back in Japan, but the US still remembers what we did
for them during the war. We've still got a lot of favours to be called in,
and there are even a couple of Senators that know what's goin' down." He
looked around, getting nods from his fellow gang leaders. "If you can have
this guy hold out for another two weeks...I think we could swing something to
get him and the alien bitch off planet. You serious about going with him?"

Shinobu nodded. "I will be going off planet. I love Ataru." Both
statements the truth, if not the whole truth.

Ice looked dubiously at Ataru, still staring blankly into nothing. "I
hope this guy is worth it..."

* * *

Shinobu and Ataru said nothing until they were back on the private plane
that would take them to Paris, where they would speak with the heads of the
European resistance. Reigi came back from the cockpit. "We're up and clear.
Relax, Ataru."

Ataru slumped back in his chair, his hands to his face. Next to him,
Shinobu began to quietly cry. "Oh, God...why did we have to do that, Ataru-
kun? Why?" she said between her sobs.

Ataru reached out and pulled her to him. His face looked grey and
pallid. "Because the easiest lie to tell is the truth. You know that."

Shinobu was starting to shiver. "I know...it's just that...oh, God!"

"I'm sorry, Shinobu...I'm so sorry." Ataru whispered, tears streaming
down his cheeks.

Reigi moved quickly to the back of the aircraft, leaving the two to
relive the memories they thought they had managed to exorcise forever.

* * *

Zephyrus...

Sunhair Windrider fastened her cloak and prepared to head for her ship.
She had been chosen as the leader of the group going to Earth to plead with
the UN, partly because of the skills she had exhibited in her short career in
the Zephyrite Navy, but mostly because of her prior relationship with Ataru
Moroboshi, grandson of Nagaiwakai Moroboshi, one of the most respected people
on Zephyrus. She had studied the recent happenings on Earth, and was very
worried about her one-time love. She hoped to convince him that letting Lum
live was an affront to not only the Earth people who fought against her
repression, but to all the other races such as her own people who had lost
friends and family in the war.

Her anger had nothing to do with the discovery that Ataru and Lum were
bonded in some way, of course. Nothing to do with the fact that she thought
of Ataru every day and missed him so much she felt like someone had torn a
piece of her heart out. That was totally irrelevant.

At least she had to convince herself of that on the journey to Earth.

Moving quickly, she almost tripped as she tried not to run into an
Archbishop had appeared in her path. He looked pale, and she wondered what
threat could possibly upset a Supreme Ruler of Zephyrus. "Commander, there is
someone who desires to speak to you." he said, his voice strained.

Windy looked to see who was behind and almost turned sheet white,
dropping down on one knee. "A Holy Mother...!" she blurted out.

"Sunhair Windrider, listen to me. This is a formal request, but if you
choose to ignore it I can go further. Call off the expedition to Earth. Tell
the United Nations that there has been a change of heart and there are no

further objections to their decision."

Windy looked up, stunned. "But...!"

The woman, smiled sadly, her chestnut hair glowing in the torchlight.
"I know you have feelings for the *daimon'cha*, and were this anyone else I
would let you go. But the other must atone for her crimes in ways other than
death. And she and Ataru are destined to be together. You cannot interfere
in that, no matter how much you would like to."

Windy stared at the woman, a goddess come down from on high, as if she
had just asked her to sacrifice her mother. "Why? Why her?"

The woman shrugged. "Kismet, I suppose." Her voice then returned to
its former harshness. "But from now on, their destiny is linked elsewhere.
Do not interfere." Then she turned, seeming to vanish as she walked down the
corridor.

Windy could do nothing but stare at the empty hall, open-mouthed. Then
she turned, punching the wall with her fist, ignoring the pain coursing
through her arm.

"NO!" she screamed.

* * *

Ataru, Shinobu and Reigi arrived back at his home to find Nassur and the
others looking concerned. "What's up?" Ataru asked.

"The Zephyrites have called off their visit."

Ataru and Shinobu were stunned. "What?! Why?" Shinobu managed to get
out.

"They won't say," Junba said from the couch.

"Which means it's for religious reasons. There's no way we can possibly
find out," Nassur added.

Ataru exhaled noisily. "Well...it's a mystery, but until anything comes
of it, I think we should just treat it as a good thing."

They nodded. There was a silence, as everyone tried to let their minds
catch up with events. "So now what?" Benten finally said.

"Now we wait. We've done all we can." Ataru reflexively drummed his
fingers against his side.

* * *

Lum sat on the couch waiting for Ataru to get back home. He and Reigi
were getting everything set for their departure tomorrow...supplies, a ship,
almost everything was set.

Except a destination. They didn't know where they were going. They
couldn't go to Vos, or Yehisril, or any of the other planets that had fought
against Lum's people in the wars. She was a war criminal. And the outer
planets were too remote, too distant. If a disaster happened and the *saikoo
jinseijitsu* got free again, stopping it would be much harder.

But Ataru was determined to leave anyway, to keep her safe. Lum
shivered as she thought of how much she meant to Ataru. She felt wretched,
knowing how much she and her friends had done, that Ataru would even speak to
her anymore, much less care for her.

He was trying to get her to open up, but it was hard. Her naturally
bubbly and warm personality had been buried so deep when she was Governor, and
now living with the deaths and destruction she had caused...made it very
difficult. But she smiled when she was around him. Ataru still made her
heart leap, and she cherished that. It reminded her that she still had a
heart, could still feel. She needed Ataru, much more than he needed her. She
needed him to make her feel human, ironic as that was.

The door opened, and Ataru walked in. He did not appear to be in a good
mood. "What's wrong?" Lum asked.

He scowled. "They've certainly managed to influence public opinion.
People are crossing the street to avoid me. One little girl screamed. I've
gone from being the Hero of the Revolution to a monster."

Lum frowned. Their scheme to free Ataru to leave the Earth had depended
on this happening, but she was pretty sure that he wasn't as ready for the
reality of it as he'd promised. "Did we get permission to leave from the
government?"

He nodded. "We're leaving tomorrow, in fact. Good thing the house is
mostly empty anyway..." He trailed off again, realising what his words meant.
No mementoes, no memories. Most of those were dead. Shinobu and Kokeru were
gone, off with Nassur, Benten, and Junba to some asteroid they were going to
call home. All he had left was Lum.

He shook his head. Rotting in self-pity would get him nowhere, and
besides, he needed to stay happy in order to cheer up Lum. When he was
around, she tried to act happy, but it looked incredibly false. She was still
carrying the burden of her former deeds.

They both needed to lighten up. And Ataru did not want to spend his
final night on the planet that he loved sitting at home. He looked at Lum
with a grin. "Let's go out."

Lum blinked. "What? Darling, I can't leave the house, it's too
dangerous!"

He reached into a bag and handed her a hooded sweatshirt. "Try this on.
I got it a few sizes too big, you should swim in it." He took out a similar
shirt, and when he put it on his face completely disappeared within its folds.
Lum did the same.

"Perfect," his voice chimed from within the shirt. "Couldn't tell you
from any other Earth girl."

Lum wasn't sure about this. She'd become very paranoid of late here on
Earth, and wasn't sure that going out would be very healthy. But it was
obvious Ataru wanted to do this, and he deserved a nice final night on his
home planet, so she swallowed her objections. "Where are we going?"

He shrugged. "Not sure. Out to a restaurant, maybe to a club. You
know, date stuff."

Lum's heart leapt. Date? As in date? It was all she could do not to
throw her arms around him in happiness. Instead she walked slowly up and took
his arm. "I'd like that."

* * *

The two of them sat down at a table near the back of the club, after
they had ordered drinks. A bar band was playing towards the left, and the
place looked pretty full.

The date had gone well. They'd gone to a sushi bar, lacking the proper
attire for a fancy restaurant, and then gone to see some American movie. Now
they were here for a night-cap, before heading back.

She sighed, thinking again on their leaving. In addition to Ataru,
she'd probably miss this planet as well. She had never wanted to conquer it.
The Urusians had always been fascinated with Earth's history, culminating in
Syl Aruka's leading their own revolution after seeing how America had thrown
off its British oppressors. The idea of actually achieving an invasion of
Earth should have been ludicrous, but thanks to Rei's insane uncle, it had
gone through.

It really was a beautiful planet, a celebration of diversity, of people
of totally different cultures and upbringing living together without managing
to kill each other. And now they had to leave it.

She looked at Ataru. She was unable to see his face beneath the hooded
shirt, and it bothered her. He was always so expressive, so outgoing that you
could tell how he felt just by looking at him. But she wasn't really sure how
he felt about tonight, whether he was taking Lum along with him merely to
protect her from assassins, or if he really did want to treat this as a date?

Up on stage, the singer was introducing the next song. "This is our
final song of the night, and was originally done by The Who."

Lum tried to relax and let the music drift over her, letting her worries
fall by the wayside.

~ Surrounded by people, a real heavy crowd
But inside I still feel lonely now
Should I get away from the high heels so proud?
Is there something different life can show me now? ~

~ First chance - I blew it, I'd better start it all again
Second chance - I knew it wouldn't be as easy as they said
Third chance - I'm cut up, life's like a razor's edge
Fourth chance - I'm all shut up and I'm standing on the ledge
And I'm going dooooown... ~

Lum sighed, the downbeat words of the song ruining her attempt to clear
her mind. Was this really the right thing to do? So many people had already
suffered because of what she and Ataru had done. Did they have the right to
try and find happiness, happiness that she at least didn't deserve?

The singer was staring vacantly out into the crowd, looking for all the
world like a man who'd lost the will to live.

~ I'm not a loser... but did I really win?
Can I afford to go through it all again?
I hope I don't sound as immature as I feel
But when I get wise, I'll give you a call, my friend ~

But suddenly the singer smiled, and the song seemed to take on a
completely different feel, as he invested each word with a note of hope and
happiness.

~ First chance - I blew it, I'd better start it all again
Second chance - I knew it wouldn't be as easy as they said
Third chance - I'm cut up, life's like a razor's edge
Fourth chance - I'm all shut up and I'm standing on the ledge
Now I'm going dooooown... ~

And he raised his hands into the air, as if accepting an offering,
raising his voice to be heard without a mike.

~ Love is coming down on me
Love is burning, teaching, turning out in me
Love is coming down on me
Down, down, down, down... ~

And finally the singer sat down on a stool, grinning out at the
audience.

~ I'm not a loser... but did I really win?
I'm looking forward to doing it all again ~

The instruments died out, and the club was silent, before the singer
raised his eyes. "Thank you, good night."

Lum came out of her reverie to feel Ataru's hand gripping hers. She
turned, and he had moved over right beside her, his face now close to her own.
Their hoods touched.

"I'm not ready to go back yet," Ataru whispered. "Want to take a walk?"

Lum nodded. "Let's."

But they remained there for a few minutes, staring into each other's
eyes, before they left.

* * *

As soon as they left the club, however, Ataru quickly pulled Lum into an
alleyway. "Someone's here," he whispered.

"Correct, Young Master."

Ataru and Lum whirled around, seeing a shadow about halfway up the wall.
Ataru knew the voice, however. "Kinko? Is that you?"

A chuckle was her answer. "I'm glad to see that you still remember me."

Ataru was puzzled. "I thought you and the others had been hired by the
Mizunokoji to take care of their daughter?"

"The Mistress hired us back after Miss Asuka went back to her convent to
recuperate."

Lum knew what that meant. "You're here to kill me, then," she said.

No response. Ataru brought Lum closer to him. "Kinko-chan, don't do
this."

Kinko went on, as if he hadn't spoken. "The Mistress felt I would have
the best chance of convincing you that Lum's death was best for you. She
asked me to use our friendship as children to help talk you into it."

Something in her tone made Ataru pause. "And are you?"

There was a snorting noise. "I hold our friendship dearer than to abuse
it like that." A fluttering, and suddenly the Kurotenshi was standing next to
them, her curly hair glinting slightly in the dim light from the streetlamps.

"Young Master," she said, then corrected herself. "Ataru...you have no
idea what the Mistress is like now. You are the only thing she thinks about
anymore. Her obsession is...disturbing." Clearly Kinko felt awkward saying
such things about Nagaiwakai, which showed Ataru how desperate things were.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Ataru said.

"That's good. I wish you the best, Ataru. All of us do. But...I can't
just go back and say I failed." And with that, she produced a small dagger,
which she handed to Ataru.

He started. "No!" he whispered harshly.

She took his hand and drew the dagger to her shoulder. "Not to kill me.
But I need to have lost, Ataru. And it can't look self-inflicted. If I say
you took a knife to me, it may break her spirit. Please."

He paused, obviously torn. "It's as bad as this?" he said quietly.

Her silence was his answer. He shuddered briefly, then quickly slid the
dagger into her left side, just below the shoulder. She gasped, but didn't
cry out. Ataru dropped the dagger, shaking. Lum hugged him fiercely, trying
to stop the convulsions he was feeling. For a moment he started to
hyperventalate, before he brought himself back under control.

Kinko was slumped against the wall, her hands covering the wound. "I'll
call for help as soon as the two of you are out of range. I know how much
that hurt you, Ataru, and I apologize. I hate making you feel like that."

Ataru drew away from Lum, still shuddering. "Make sure you're alright,"
he said slowly.

"I will. Leave in the morning tomorrow, that's when I'll make my
report."

He nodded. "We'll go now, I want you to get help as soon as possible."
And with a grateful, guilty smile, he and Lum headed back the way they had
come.

Kinko pulled out her comm, but waited until they were out of sight
before activating it. "God speed, Ataru-chan," she said.

* * *

They'd ended up in a park, staring up at the stars. Lum lay back on the
bench, her head in Ataru's lap. He had his hand on her head, stroking her
hair beneath the hood. They sat like that for about fifteen minutes, then Lum
finally spoke. "Darling, where are we going?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have a real destination in mind."

Lum sighed. "I'm sorry. You wouldn't have to leave if it wasn't for
me."

"Don't say that," Ataru said. "You keep thinking about the past. I
know it hurts, but we've got to think of the future now, too."

They sat there for a few more minutes, each lost in their own private
thoughts. "Lum?"

"Yes, Darling?"

"I have to admit, when you were Governor, I hated you. You represented
everything that we hated about the invasion."

She shuddered. "I know."

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "But I think I'm starting to realize
that...that wasn't really you. I wore a mask for years, Lum, so I know what
it's like to get trapped inside of it. And over the past few weeks, I've got
to know another Lum. She's sweet, intelligent, and thinks the best of
everyone."

Lum felt tears come to her eyes as Ataru continued. "But she's been
hurt, and hurt badly. Hurt so much by the mask and what she was forced to do
that she doesn't want to come out again. She's afraid that if she lets out
the happy, optimistic young girl again that she'll lose her."

She felt Ataru breathe in deeply. "I know how that feels, Lum. There's
another Ataru in me, too, one that's almost never been allowed to be free.
And he's tired of it. He wants out, and he's not going to let anything stop
him. It's an Ataru that loves life, that wants to aspire to be everything he
can, an Ataru who feels that there's something more to his life than just
getting married and becoming a salaryman. He's leaving his home because he
has to, but when he gets out in space he's going to be looking for a purpose.
Looking for something he can achieve that will change the world."

He leaned over, and looked into Lum's eyes. "He'd really like to have
you along when he does this... as a friend now, but later, who knows?"

Lum smiled, on the verge of crying, but instead she took Ataru's hand.
"I'd like that. I want to help you, Darling, help you achieve your dreams.
Maybe I can find a way to make up for my mistakes."

"And maybe," Ataru said, picking her up and moving her face to his, "we
can find that together the two of us could do anything."

Lum leaned up herself, balancing on one elbow. Their lips met. The
kiss that followed wasn't earth-shattering...but it felt more right than
anything else they'd ever done.

They broke apart finally, looking at each other with sultry eyes...at
least until another figure broke in between them, seemingly out of nowhere.

"You have no *idea* how long we've waited for that!"

"Gyah!" Ataru and Lum both broke apart, startled at the woman's sudden
appearance. Lum's hood fell off her head, and she panicked for a moment as
she went to pull it back. The woman reached out to stop her, though.

"It's okay. You're safe now."

Ataru blinked. "You look familiar..."

"N-Noa-sama...?" Lum added, stunned at the appearance of one of Uru's
greatest heroines returned from the dead.

The woman grinned, and leaned down between the two. "Have I got a deal
for you," she said...

*** Only The Beginning... ***