"NO NEED FOR TENCHI: MINAGI'S ADVENTURE"
CHAPTER 5: ASHES OF VICTORY
Later in the evening. Ayeka slowly woke up. For a while she lay still, trying to recall everything that had happened. At first, the battle seemed like a bad dream. Then a cold spike of fear pierced her heart as she remembered Tenchi's condition. With a low mournful cry, she lurched out of bed and slowly worked her way to the medical bay. A sad sight met her eyes: Ryoko was curled up in a ball in the hallway in front of the door, while Mihoshi and Ryo-Ohki sprawled out along the wall across from the it.
Just then, Minagi turned the corner with a pile of blankets in her arms. She watched Ayeka slowly ease herself down onto the floor and lean her head against the wall. Ayeka was instantly asleep and didn't even stir as Minagi, smiling, draped a blanket around her. After bundling Mihoshi and Ryo-Ohki up as well, Minagi turned to Ryoko.
She seemed to be asleep, but she was twisting slightly, as if she was wrestling with something dark and terrible. Minagi draped a blanket over her, taking care to tuck it around her shoulders. Ryoko seemed to settle down.
Finished, Minagi started to rise.
/Thanks, Minagi. For everything./ Ryoko's eyes were still shut, but a small sad smile crossed her face.
Minagi felt a bittersweet sadness touch her thoughts. The pain behind them made her breath catch in her throat.
/Ryoko, did I wake you?/
/Doesn't matter, I was only having nightmares anyway./ A hurt expression crossed her face, echoing the pain and regret that swirled in her thoughts.
/Ryoko, I'm sorry about Tenchi. If you hadn't had to save me and get so hurt, maybe things would have been different. If I never even came to you guys, this would have never happened./ Her thoughts came out in a rush; she could feel her guilt lashing at her conscience. Distantly she felt tears running down her face, but she held herself still, waiting for Ryoko's angry backlash.
/No, not your fault. I'm just... scared I might never see Tenchi again. But don't ever regret what you did, never./ Ryoko opened her eyes and painfully sat up, gasping a bit. She looked at Minagi with tired eyes, but a faint smile played across her face. "Sit with me a bit, will you? I don't want to be alone right now." Her voice was soft and raspy.
Minagi could only nod numbly at her. Shifting around, she leaned against the wall next to Ryoko. She wracked her mind for something to say. Then she felt Ryoko slumping gently against her. Ryoko's breathing was soft and steady; she was already asleep.
Minagi smiled, glad to see her resting easier. Then she slowly drifted off.
Washu's eyesight blurred again and her head throbbed fiercely. It was over 48 hours since the explosion and she had been going full speed the whole time. Even finals at the Galactic University hadn't been this grueling. Tenchi's body was repaired, but Washu still hesitated to bring him out of stasis.
Avashar had been out cold in a med-tank for the past eight hours. His help had been essential at first, until Washu figured out her own commands for the stasis field; after that she could control it more finely than he could. She paused, drew in a deep breath, then carefully began to bring Tenchi out of stasis completely. The field faded and she watched her instruments closely for any warning signs.
Breathing: good.
Heart rate: good.
Brain waves: ...
Washu's heart froze as she watched the brain activity only register the autonomic controls. All the higher brain functions were gone. She calmed herself and took her fifth shot of stimulant, making a pinwheel of fire burst in her head but clearing the cobwebs out completely. Her hands trembled as she began a lengthy series of tests.
They were all negative.
She wanted to cry. She had pulled Tenchi's body from the edge of death, but now all she had was the shell of the man they all loved. Tears rolled down her face; she clenched her fists in helpless rage. She couldn't even think about telling everyone about his condition, but she knew she had to.
A sloshing sound from the second med-tank drew her attention to Avashar. The release mechanism engaged with a snap. The cover lifted off, allowing Avashar to slowly pull himself up. He looked blearily around.
"How long has it been?"
"Eight hours." Washu tossed a towel at him; it slapped him in the face. "Dry yourself off and get dressed. I've got to tell my friends some bad news." She felt bad for snapping at him, but Tenchi's loss and the thought of breaking the news to everyone was driving her mad. Without a word of apology she walked to the door, took a deep breath, keyed it open, and stepped into the corridor. The door closed behind her.
Everyone outside snapped awake. With one look at Washu's expression, all the shouted questions froze and turned to ashes in their mouths. Ryo-Ohki gave a small wail of despair and started crying.
The grief was so thick that nobody could speak. Ryoko worked her mouth several times, trying to ask the question she already knew the answer to.
"T-Tenchi. Washu, what's with Tenchi?"
Washu could feel her pain like a stab to her heart. But she didn't need a telepathic link to know how everyone felt; she could see it written on their faces.
"I'm sorry. Tenchi's body, I was able to save. But when I brought him out of stasis, there was no Tenchi there. Whatever spark or soul that was Tenchi is gone, and I don't know how to bring it back." It galled her to say that, but she could only do so much. Miracles by science, yes, even a little extra here and there, but re-creating life - no. She felt numb. She knew she should say something, anything to bring everyone together, but that part of her was burned out and she wasn't sure if anything would ever bring it back.
Ryo-Ohki flashed into her child form. With a plaintive "Mya" she ran and buried herself into Washu's arms. Sobbing as only an innocent can, Ryo-Ohki startled everyone out of their grim thoughts. Washu looked down at her and simply hugged her back, tears finally running down her face.
Avashar slowly pulled himself out of the med-tank as the door closed behind Washu. He scrubbed himself dry, then peered around for his clothes. Seeing the tattered remnants from the battle, he shook his head ruefully and made a small gesture with his hand. A shimmering glow surrounded him. Moments later, he was fully clothed again.
Even this small act was painful. Although many injuries were healed over, the healing process was a demanding strain on his body, and it had been pushed far beyond its limits.
Nevertheless he still owed a debt to this young man. Standing over Tenchi's body, he was impressed with the work Washu had done. He hadn't realized how talented she was; the consummate skill with which she had essentially rebuilt Tenchi was amazing. There was only one piece missing.
Avashar tilted his head to the side for a second. There was one catch with stasis fields: if one wasn't properly prepared before stasis, one would actually remain "awake". Although the body was completely paused in time, somehow one would continue to dream and recall the condition before stasis.
Tenchi's situation hadn't lent itself well to stasis; his soul could very well have writhed in agony forever. Avashar had known that if he didn't pull Tenchi's essence from his broken body, Tenchi might very well return a screaming maniac, mind and spirit irrevocably ruined. He smiled grimly, knowing he could never have let such a brave soul perish in such a horrible way. Now, with the body ready, it was only a matter of returning the soul. It wouldn't even hurt that much.
Tenchi slowly woke up. Blinking, he sat up and looked around at his surroundings. For a second he felt a burst of hope - was he home? It looked like home, but everything had a soft fuzziness about it, as if in a dream. Bits and pieces of the surrounding woods would fade in and out of focus. The sky above was crystal blue, dusted with a few soft clouds. No birds sang, nor was there any sense of a breeze.
As though recalling a bad nightmare, he remembered the combat with Rashava. He looked down at his body to see that he was dressed in Jurai battle armor, but there was no pain, no wounds. "Am I dead?" His voice had a wondering quality about it, as if fear and doubt were gone.
"That depends on your definition of dead."
Tenchi spun around to see Avashar floating above the lake outside the house. He looked just like Rashava. A cold light shone through his skin. His eyes, though, were unlike Rashava's; they shone with warmth at odds with his harsh features.
"Your body was heavily damaged during the battle with Rashava. I had to place it in stasis aboard my ship, but your essence I had to place elsewhere." He smiled at Tenchi's dumbstruck expression. "This is my astral body, Tenchi. As you might have suspected, Rashava and I were of the same race. At least we once were."
He floated over and dropped to the ground next to Tenchi. The ancient armor covering his body was battered and torn. Thin trickles of blood shimmered down from where he had been stabbed in the chest.
Tenchi was uneasy; he knew what answer he was going to get. "I remember fighting Rashava, but then, then I..."
"Died. I believe that is the word you're looking for." Avashar winced in pain. "You are an amazing young man. I have never seen such a battle before; Rashava was practically wielding the power of a God and you fought him to a standstill."
Tenchi flinched. "But in doing so, I stopped the last chance for another realm, another race, to survive. Doesn't that make me as bad as him?"
"Hardly. You did what had to be done. Life is as precious here as it was in my realm, a fact that eluded most of my people. They viewed this realm as ripe for destruction and re-creation, so they could move in with nary a disruption to their comfortable existence as self-made lords of creation.
"You ask if stopping Rashava makes you as bad as him, and I say no. My race changed and something precious was lost over the years. There was no effort made at reconciliation or colonization; their only interest was remaking everything to suit their needs."
Avashar's grim expression softened into a sad smile. "But enough about the dead. I think it's time you were brought back into the land of the living."
There was no preamble, no flashy bursts of light. One moment Tenchi was talking with Avashar; the next, his soul was back in his body.
Tenchi's eyes flew open and he took a deep a series of deep shuddering breaths. Avashar leaned heavily against the med-tank and smiled down at him.
"How are you doing?"
Tenchi held his head for a second, the raw sensations coursing through his body threatening to overwhelm him. The feeling passed quickly and he was able to look blearily around. "Ok, I guess. Where am I?"
"The Hinase. I'm not sure how they survived the blast, but they came looking for you."
Ryoko's injury flashed in Tenchi's mind. "Ryoko! Is she alright?"
"Yes. All your companions seem pretty worn out, but they're all in one piece." Avashar tossed a towel to Tenchi. "Better put this on, it seems to be your only source of clothing available. Washu just left. She seemed pretty upset."
"Oh, why?"
"A couple of minutes ago you were doing an excellent imitation of a vegetable."
"What? You didn't tell her I was still alive?"
Avashar looked a bit embarrassed. "I hadn't really thought about it. I never dreamt she could get your body repaired so quickly."
Tenchi flinched at the thought of upsetting Washu like that. He only hoped that her happiness at seeing him alive would outweigh her urge to strangle Avashar for pulling a stunt like this.
"Can... we at least see... Tenchi?" asked Ryoko tearfully.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Washu said, and with a heavy heart opened the door.
Washu found herself unable to speak. All the snappy patter and wit she prided herself on suddenly just evaporated. She could feel her chest tightening and her eyes welling up with tears. For the first time in her long life, Washu was never so happy at being so completely and utterly wrong.
Tenchi stood beyond the doorway, awkwardly holding a towel around his waist. He blushed slightly at his state of undress. Then his blush deepened even more as he saw their looks of love, wonder, and joy at seeing him. A ringing silence filled the space between them. None of the women spoke, as if saying something would dispel this vision of the man they all loved.
Tenchi would always remember that moment with crystal clarity: Washu shocked speechless, a dawning look of joy on her face; Ryo-Ohki as a small child clinging to Washu, her mouth open in amazement; Mihoshi's blue eyes shining with happiness; Minagi's stunned expression, a silly grin on her face; Ayeka stunned, a hand half raised towards him. Ryoko had a look of disbelief, but her eyes shone with joy.
Blushing even more, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, hi."
His words breaking the spell that held everyone still, Tenchi was nearly trampled by the press of women. Ryoko and Ayeka kept nudging each other out of the way while Ryo-Ohki clung to him and Mihoshi jumped up and down, laughing with joy. Washu was left standing in the doorway looking quite stunned. Minagi stood behind her, bright eyed with happiness.
Avashar carefully edged past the mad press of happy people and worked his way into the hallway. Washu fixed him with a stern look. "You could have warned me, ya know."
"Sorry, but I didn't expect you to be finished so quickly with Tenchi's surgery. It wasn't going to be an issue until we completely spun the stasis field down. And that whole towel in the face bit threw me off."
Washu stared up at Avashar, patted his arm, and smiled brightly up at him. "That's alright, just don't ever, ever, do that again. By the way, how did you do it?"
Avashar leaned down and whispered three words softly into her ear. An incredulous look of disbelief crossed her face, before slowly turning into a maniacal grin. He straightened back up with a wince and grinned back at her. "Anyway, you have to admit it was fairly - ahem - dramatic".
Washu shook her head in slow disbelief. "I hate dramatic, especially when I'm not the one doing it."
Avashar smiled again and started down the hallway when Minagi blocked his path. She stared at him and said quietly, "I haven't forgotten what you did to those traders".
Avashar's smile faded. He looked back and said just as quietly, "Those traders were dealing in materials so deadly to existence they forfeited any claim to their own lives. If enough of those books had been present at the library, Rashava would have been that much more powerful and could have initiated the re-creation right then and there.
"You're a good person, Minagi. I hope you never have to make the decisions I have had to make. I never enjoyed killing, but this was war, plain and simple."
"So what are you?"
"Perhaps we should save this conversation until later. Especially since everyone else is, well, occupied." Avashar nodded towards the chaos in the medical bay.
Minagi smiled and then nodded in agreement. "We'll talk later, then."
Washu moved next to Minagi and watched him stride down the corridor, a serious expression on her face. Minagi turned and regarded the diminutive redhead. "Washu, what did he whisper to you?"
Glancing back up at Minagi, Washu quietly replied, "Deus Ex Machina."
Minagi scrunched her eyebrows together. "So what is that? A type of device or something?"
"Yeah, something like that."
Minagi was going to press Washu for more details, but then Tenchi let out a yelp and went streaking by (literally) as his towel came loose. Ryo-Ohki gave a cry of startled surprise and stumbled to the ground back in her cabbit form, while Mihosi hopped up and down, red faced. Washu sighed and shook her head ruefully at Tenchi's rapidly retreating bare backside. Minagi blushed furiously and covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
"Ryoko, what did you do?" Ayeka screamed.
"It was an accident, really!" Ryoko replied, the model of hurt innocence. Flying after him, she waved the missing towel. "Tenchi, wait up, I'll put this back on for you!" Ayeka followed close behind, obviously preparing a flying tackle to bring Ryoko down. She was muttering under her breath something about "if Ryoko thought she was injured before...
Later in Tenchi-time meant one embarrassed Tenchi, and several hours more before everyone could gather around for a light dinner. Everyone was burned out to a greater or lesser degree, so Tenchi actually did the honors and whipped up a meal. Minagi sipped sake and grinned at Ryoko and Ayeka's over-the-top wrestling for Tenchi's affection. Even their sniping at each other seemed to have a giddy edge to it. Ryo-Ohki had converted back to her cabbit form and was happily munching away on a carrot out of Tenchi's hand. Washu still looked worn out, but she had made it to dinner anyway. Mihosi would only miss a meal if a supernova had vaporized her into component atoms.
After the meal had finished, Minagi turned to Avashar and said again, "So who are you?"
He took a deep breath as he realized that everybody was looking intently at him. "I am one of the Damned. 40,000 years ago, a powerful race discovered that their reality was collapsing. Their grand council decided to deploy agents to prevent anyone from attempting to escape into this realm. It was the council's fear that, as the day of the dimensional collapse drew nearer, popular opinion might try to force something drastic that could extinguish all life in both realms.
"I was a volunteer, one of many, and our entire group jokingly called ourselves the Damned - as fine a bit of gallows humor as there ever was. We were never to return to our home dimension, nor was anyone supposed to know we were here, and we were bound by oath to stop anyone escaping or forcing entry into this dimension.
"Our abilities were strengthened, and our life spans extended with the latest technology. We were the best, the brightest, and we were tasked with preventing our race from escaping its doom.
"One thousand years later, the council was overthrown. Knowledge of our existence was made public and we received news that all our families and friends had been torn apart by angry mobs. Over the millennia, we foiled countless attempts at crossover. Our names were cursed and we became an entire race's boogieman for the next 39,000 years. But we were never supposed to be operating unsupported for so long."
Minagi shivered, trying to imagine what it would be like to be hated by an entire race of people. Glancing around the table, she could see that the thought was disturbing to everyone else.
Washu leaned forward, interrupting Avashar. "You mean to tell me your people didn't consider the thought of trans-locating to this realm peacefully? If you haven't noticed, this universe is a pretty big place. There's plenty of room."
Avashar regarded Washu silently for a moment before replying. "Yes, that was one of the hopes of the original council. In all reality, though, it was a foolish dream. To trans-locate peacefully would have required a tremendous loss of power for our people. By forcing a new creation in this realm, the rules preventing an easy transfer over to this realm would have been removed. My people were too comfortable with their god-like existences to allow any loss of their power."
Washu nodded slowly. "So - rather than enter this realm weaker but alive, your people would rather destroy all life here to keep their power?"
"Such a decision is remarkably easy to make when you don't regard anything in this realm as worthy of being considered alive." Avashar continued as if he had locked this story up for the time when he could share it. "Unsupported, our losses mounted. At first it was from combat, but as time passed others took their own lives. Then old age began to decimate our ranks. The only solution was to transfer our essence to another host. We could extend that host's life span, but not indefinitely. So we would have to transfer again. Each time, a little piece of us would disappear, our abilities would diminish, and the personality of the host would grow stronger.
"As the energies destroying my realm grew in strength, it became more difficult to send waves of warriors across. The battles grew increasingly savage. Fewer but more powerful `champions' would cross over. We were becoming too weak for direct conflict, so we resorted to even more drastic measures. About 10,000 years ago, we began bombarding planets that housed our brothers' and sisters' bases. More often, we would use proxies to fight our battles, initiating revolutions and outright war. Each atrocity turned us more into the monsters they made us out to be."
Minagi's breath caught, as she realized that the man before her had been present at those ancient massacres, if not the cause. Glancing around, she could see that everyone was disturbed at the ease with which he had employed violence to achieve his goals.
Avashar continued, not noticing their looks of horror and revulsion. "Our numbers dwindled even more rapidly and soon there was only a handful of us left. Rashava was the most advanced champion ever to cross over into this realm; that was over two thousand years ago. During that time, he personally killed the five remaining Damned left in this dimension. Only then did he activate his final plan utilizing the collected knowledge of higher dimensions here to undo creation and transfer everyone over.
"I barely escaped from my first meeting with Rashava, and he believed I was dead. I barely was able to join up with my last host. Our personalities are completely intermeshed, and I, well, am no longer who I was 40,000 years ago. The only thing I've truly kept pure is my name."
He smiled sadly. "I never expected to see the day where I would outlast my entire dimension, my race. I am no longer bound by the oaths I swore so long ago."
Minagi clenched her fists. "Still, you didn't have to kill those traders."
"Maybe you've forgotten, but there was a war going on. I couldn't face Rashava directly, so I undermined his sources of power."
"You could have let them go. What you did was murder, pure and simple."
"Boarding one of those ships would have taken time, and the others would have fled the scene. If you're expecting me to express some grief at their deaths, don't waste your time." Avashar's expression was one of hurt anger as he looked around and saw everyone's look of disagreement.
"What? Don't look at me like that." He got up, bristling angrily. "I always hoped for victory and did my best to accomplish that goal. 40,000 years of sacrifice and blood is on my hands, and what do I get? I get to enjoy the ashes of victory."
Tenchi shook his head in disagreement. "Saving this realm didn't require so many atrocities. What's the use of victory if you've become what you despised?"
"What a wonderfully child-like point of view. Try living as long as I have and not get blood on your hands."
"I've lived 20,000 years and -" Washu was interrupted in mid-sentence.
"Please, don't tell me you have no responsibility for Kagoto's actions? His path and mine crossed more than once, and you honestly expect me to believe that he suddenly up and went bad on you? His naked ambition must have been painfully obvious, even in the beginning."
Washu's eyes flashed angrily. "Hey, I'm not a mind-reader. I had no idea he would turn out like that."
"Then perhaps you still had some growing up to do."
Everyone flinched. Washu raised her chin and fixed Avashar with a cold look. "Maybe. The question I have for you is whether your actions were out of concern for the life in this realm, or simply to satisfy your oath."
"Life, of course. I've just come to accept the fact that no battle is won without loss, and usually it's the innocents who pay the price." Rising, he bowed slightly to Washu and started striding away.
Minagi's mouth was dry. "Where are you going?"
Avashar didn't look back, merely replied as he walked away. "My ship. Even heavily damaged, I can power it enough to get far away from all of you."
Minagi flashed next to Avashar as he strode along the corridor. "I didn't mean to cause this kind of trouble. You saved Tenchi, and we're grateful. It's just that you can't expect us to accept what you are so easily."
"I'm not looking for acceptance. Not anymore." He reached a viewport and stared out into space. The TurtleDove glided into view, still heavily damaged. He turned hard eyes upon Minagi. "I owed a debt to Tenchi, and now we're even. I'll take my leave now, if you don't mind."
"What will you do?"
"There are plenty of other groups and individuals who tamper with forbidden knowledge in this galaxy. Other powers still strive to influence events here to their liking. I think it's time I paid them a visit."
"So you're going to continue killing." Minagi's voice was flat with disappointment.
A portal opened next to Avashar, the dim interior of the TurtleDove appearing within. Stepping through, he looked back at Minagi and simply replied, "As necessary." The portal snapped shut, and the TurtleDove slowly boosted away from the Hinase.
Minagi watched the TurtleDove until it disappeared from sight.
Aftermath
Minagi sat with Ryoko on the beam above the living room. Swinging her feet slightly, she smiled at the view of the household from above. "So this is where you like to hang out?"
"Yeah, I can avoid a lot of the chores this way."
Minagi chuckled at Ryoko's wry tone. Thinking about the past week's events, she turned and looked at Ryoko. "Ryoko, you're kinda my mom, right?"
Ryoko tensed. "Whoa, I didn't even know who you were until recently. There's no way I'm your mother."
"I know, but technically your are. It's just that Washu wanted me to call her mom instead."
"Washu." Ryoko slumped, and sighed in frustration. "She never quits, does she?"
"No, she doesn't. But at the least I would like to think of you as family. I don't really have any, since Master Yakage." Minagi was surprised at how it still hurt to think about him. There was Hinase, but it would be nice to know she had a family, even one as weird as this. "I just hate the thought of being alone."
"Yeah, I never had anything resembling a family until I met everyone here. Just don't get me started on Washu, though." Ryoko realized she was avoiding the question and hesitantly touched Minagi's hand. "I think I'd like that. I mean, you as family." Her cheeks blushed; it had been harder to say those words than she thought.
Minagi smiled and squeezed Ryoko's hand. "It's a start, at least.
Ayeka rested in the bath, eyes closed, the warm water relaxing her muscles. She was feeling better now that the shock of all the events was finally passing. She sighed and reflected on all the activity after the climatic battle.
She was still in contact with countless galactic and Jurai bureaucracies. Explaining how the Ship of the Beginning had been damaged by a shockwave from a newborn star wasn't exactly the highlight of the trip back home. Explaining how exactly a newborn star was burning within Jurai protected space wasn't a treat either.
"But nobody ever said that being a Princess of Jurai was easy," she thought aloud.
She stretched luxuriously and sipped some sake. The soft rush of water was entirely too soothing. Then there was a soft splash, followed by silence.
"Uh, Ayeka?" Ryoko's voice came from around the corner.
Ayeka sighed. "Yes?"
Still out of sight, Ryoko hesitated. "Yeah. Uh, thank you. Minagi told me about how you protected Washu and me."
Ayeka opened her eyes a faint smile playing on her lips. "You're welcome. Would you like some sake?"
"Yeah, I'd like that."
Ryoko slid around the corner and accepted a cup from her. They sat and sipped, a companionable silence between them.
Aboard the Yukinojo, Mihoshi stretched, having completed the first draft of her report to Galaxy Police HQ. Trying to explain what had happened to her supervisors was no easy task. Just the thought of trans-dimensional entities from another reality fighting a war for 40,000 years to undo creation was hard enough to grasp. The added bonus of explaining how Jupiter had become a brightly burning star didn't make things any easier. Thankfully, Princess Ayeka was assisting with all the different organizations clamoring for information.
Shaking her head, she turned back to her work. The additional information she had pulled from the GP archives was piled in front of her. By using the earliest records dating back 30,000 years, she had pinpointed several instances of planetary destruction, wars, and rebellions which all indicated the involvement of the Damned.
Nobody could have noticed this pattern without understanding what was behind them. Individually, they all appeared like random attacks or wars without reason. When she correlated all the known pieces, a horrible tapestry of mayhem and bloodshed unfolded. Many of the earlier records could only estimate the loss of life, but it stretched into the billions over the years.
She knew she could be wrong. Many of those disasters and wars could have been of natural origin, but even if only a fraction were by the actions of the Damned, they were still responsible for untold millions of deaths.
Mihoshi steeled herself for the next draft. This would be her longest report ever.
Sitting outside, Sasami laughed as Ryo-Ohki piteously wailed for another carrot. She dangled the orange slice of heaven before the cabbit's nose for a second before letting her snatch it out of her hand. Ryo-Ohki scampered off at top speed, prize in mouth, tearing past Tenchi in her eagerness to find a choice hiding spot to devour the tasty morsel.
"Tenchi! Are you back from the field already?"
"Yes, Sasami. Washu told me to take it easy for the next couple of days." Tenchi winced, remembering the terrible wounds from the battle. He sat down slowly next to Sasami and sighed in relief.
Sasami threw her arms around him. "I'm glad you're okay, Tenchi. I was worried about you."
He paused, remembering what his grandfather had mentioned. "Sasami, are you still having bad dreams? Grandfather said you weren't sleeping well since the explosion occurred."
Her bright smile faded a bit and she hugged Tenchi tighter. "I didn't sleep well until everyone got home safe and sound. I'm still really tired, but at least I'm not having bad dreams anymore." She snuffled. "I don't ever want to have to go through that again."
"I don't want you to go through that again either, Sasami."
She snuggled up to Tenchi and leaned her head against his side. Tenchi flinched at first, then smiled gently and relaxed. The sunlight warmed him and the cool breeze crossing the lake was refreshing. He was amazed at how quickly things could revert to normal after such an adventure. His lips quirked in a smile; this blissful tranquility was vastly preferable to fighting and racing all over space.
Suddenly he noticed that Sasami's breathing had slowed into a steady rhythm. Tenchi whispered softly, "Sasami? Huh, asleep already. You're more tired than I realized." He froze as he felt a presence appear nearby.
"That's because she's also healing," Tsunami's voice whispered out of the air. Shimmering into being, she stood before Tenchi, who was awkwardly trying not to shift and disturb Sasami's sleep.
"Tsunami. Thanks for protecting everyone from the explosion. But what do you mean, she's healing?"
"Remember, Sasami and I are linked. It wasn't easy shielding everyone from the blast, I took more damage than I expected. Since I have been healing, Sasami has been feeling the effect also." Tsunami smiled and continued on softly, "I actually didn't expect this to happen, but I have never bonded this closely to a life before."
"She'll be alright, won't she?"
"We'll be fine," Tsunami gently corrected, before breaking into a wide smile. "Of course, the Emperor of Jurai is a bit upset that I've been damaged. He seems convinced you are somehow to blame for all of this." She chuckled at Tenchi's sigh of frustration.
Her smile faded as she grew serious again. She knelt down in front of Tenchi and rested a phantasmal hand on his knee. Her beautiful face was regretful, and she spoke awkwardly. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you at the same time, Tenchi. It - hurt - not knowing what happened to you after the explosion."
Tenchi felt his face flush in embarrassment. "Oh, that's alright, Tsunami. I guess I was lucky Avashar could get me away from it."
Tsunami jerked her hand away from his knee as if she had just been burned. "Did you say Avashar?"
Tenchi was surprised at the sharp question from her. He nodded. "Yes, he's from somewhere else - another realm, he called it. Why, do you know him?"
Tsunami rose gracefully, her expression slightly troubled. "Oh, it's nothing. The name just reminded me of someone - but he would have died long ago."
"Well, he claimed he's been around for the last forty thousand years. I don't know how old he was prior to that."
Tsunami looked even more troubled but didn't pursue the topic any further. "I have to go, Tenchi. I'm glad you're safe and sound. Please don't ever get into trouble like that again, I hate worrying about you like that." Ducking her head shyly, she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Tenchi could feel a faint tingle where her lips brushed his head. Smiling again at his slightly traumatized expression, she straightened back up and faded from view.
Tenchi still had a slightly dazed expression on his face when he felt Sasami stir and raise her head. "Tenchi, I'm sorry, I was so tired I just fell asleep right against you." She scrubbed her eyes and blinked several times at him.
"It was no bother, Sasami." Tenchi decided not to ask her about Tsunami. "How do you feel?"
"I feel a whole lot better." A sudden look of dismay crossed her face. "Oh my! I almost forgot, I've got to get lunch started." Scrambling to her feet, she tugged impatiently at Tenchi's hand. "Since you're not in the field, maybe you'd like to help out in the kitchen?"
Getting up, he smiled crookedly at her. "Sure. So what magic are you planning to work in the kitchen today?"
"I've got a recipe for a new dish and I hope you'll like it!" She had already dismissed her dark thoughts and was tugging Tenchi impatiently towards the kitchen, both of them laughing.
Washu sat in her lab, ignoring all the merriment around the house. She stared blankly at the screen of her untouched workstation. Rashava's words before the battle still rang in her ears, the implication terrifying.
The long lost memories had flashed so vividly before the crystal; but now she could barely remember them. "Or I don't want to remember them," she thought. Blocking the event from Minagi's mind had been a snap decision, but she remembered the look of unease Minagi had given her before the battle.
Washu shivered and wondered again if there was such a thing as too much knowledge.
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