Tenchi Muyo: Fortune is Female - Chap.4
"Just two drops now, Ryo-Ohki" said Sasami, trying not to giggle as the cabbit struggled to squeeze out two drops of bottled honey into Ayeka's teacup. The bottle was nearly empty, and Ryo-Ohki had to squeeze it hard to get the few remaining drops out. Her tiny arms finally managed to finish the job, the drops accompanied by a rather rude-sounding noise from the bottle. Blushing, Ryo-Ohki set it aside and meowed with embarrassment, hiding her arms and looking about as if to try and conceal the source of the sound. Sasami finally succumbed to laughter and patted Ryo-Ohki's head lovingly.
"You're a good helper, Ryo-Ohki. Do you want to come up with me and check on Ayeka?" Ryo-Ohki meowed happily and leaped on Sasami's head, sitting down comfortably. Sasami smiled and carefully picked up the tea along with a few sweetcakes on the tray and headed up to see her sister.
Reaching their door, Sasami set the tray down and rapped gently on the wood, hoping she wasn't too upset for company. Several moments passed, and Sasami began to worry. She tried the door and found it to be unlocked, opening it slightly and peeking her head through to look for her sister.
She found her curled up in a ball on her bed, her blankets wrapped tightly around her as if they would protect her from harm.
"Ayeka?" asked Sasami softly. She picked up the tray and went inside, closing the door with her back as she did so. Ryo-Ohki meowed with concern and hopped off Sasami's head, bounding over to Ayeka's side and laying a gentle paw on her back. Sasami poured her sister a cup of tea and sat beside her, giving her a gentle shake to rouse her.
"Sister? It's me. I've brought you something." Ayeka shifted a
little at the sound of Sasami's voice, but did not get out from under her blanket. Ryo-Ohki looked at Sasami and meowed sadly, her eyes glistening with tears. Sasami patted her head gently and set the tea aside, then put her arms around the blanketed lump of her sister and sighed.
"I'm sorry about Tenchi, Ayeka. I'm a little heartbroken too, but I knew I never really would have had a chance with him, because I'm so much younger than he is. I wish I could make you feel better, though. I just thought some tea would help, and someone to listen to you if you needed to talk. I love you, Ayeka. I'm here if you need me."
Ayeka began to cry softly at her words, and Sasami gently pulled the blankets away to look at her. Sasami's eyes welled with tears to see her sister so saddened, and she gently stroked Ayeka's hair to try and soothe some of her anguish. At last, Ayeka looked up at her and rose, then put her arms around her for a hug. Sasami held her as well and rubbed her back gently, trying to be strong for her.
They remained like that for a while, and then Sasami took the tea and poured Ayeka a small cup. Ryo-Ohki picked up one of the sweetcakes and placed it in Ayeka's lap, meowing sympathetically and licking Ayeka's hand.
Ayeka smiled a little and thanked them both, but did little more than hold the treats as she continued to sit and think her private thoughts. She looked at her sister at last but did not smile, then set the tea and cake aside. Sasami did not pressure her to speak, knowing she would do so in her own time.
"I've decided to return to Jurai" said Ayeka at last. "I've thought about it, and there really is nothing keeping me here any longer. Father will no doubt be..pleased at my decision, but you are free to do as you like, Sasami. I suppose I was only fooling myself, after all...a silly schoolgirl fantasy, unsuitable for a future Empress."
Sasami blinked and opened her mouth in surprise. "But what about all of our friends here on Earth? Washu, Mihoshi, Kiyone...Yosho, Mr. Masaki?
What about Ryo-Ohki, and the new baby?"
At that, something passed over Ayeka's face that might have been
hatred, but it was only fleeting. Ayeka only shook her head and smiled softly.
"They are more than welcome to visit me on Jurai any time they would like. But Sasami...given the way things are, I can't stay and see the two of them together. You know how I feel...you know how much I love Tenchi, but I can't watch him take solace in the arms of another woman. And I don't think...I don't think I could ever learn to love the baby, knowing and wishing that it should have been mine instead of Ryoko's. Can you
understand?"
Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, all Sasami could do was look down and cry. Ryo-Ohki hopped in her lap and licked her arm, hoping to make her feel better. Ayeka's lip twitched at having made the both of them so upset, and it took all her willpower to keep from going back on her statement just to end the painful tears. Sasami looked up at her and sniffled, her tears streaming freely and falling on the floor.
"Ayeka, I don't want you to go! I'll miss you so much...we'll all miss you! We're your family, Ayeka! You were never really happy on Jurai...not like you are here. Please don't go, Ayeka. We all love you...even Ryoko!
Don't leave your family behind, Ayeka."
Ayeka closed her eyes tightly to keep from crying. "It's not like
that, really...I.."
"It's exactly like that!" said Sasami, gathering the tea and cakes on the tray. "You want to run away and forget us! Well, I won't let you! I know how to make you stay!" Picking up the tray, she walked out without closing the door, Ryo-Ohki following close behind her. Ayeka looked out after her and hanged her head sadly.
"I'm so sorry, Sasami" she said. "But you don't know how it can be
sometimes. I hope you never do."
Sasami went tearily to Washu's laboratory door and went inside,
catching the professor hard at work on her latest invention. But for her sorrow she would have laughed, because Washu was still wearing the James Brown cape and had some of his music playing in the background. Sasami stepped up beside the engrossed genius and waited patiently for her attention, which wasn't long in coming because of her sniffles.
Turning off the music and her holographic keyboard, Washu took Sasami's hand and sat with her beside a large specimen tank. Sasami told her everything that Ayeka said, then began crying all the harder. Washi kissed her forehead and wiped her tears away with a handkerchief, a picture of a large, cartoony red crab on the fabric. Ryo-Ohki laid her paws on Sasami's leg and meowed softly.
"Sweetheart, you know I would do something if I could" said Washu.
"But in this case, the only thing that will do any good at all is time. The decision to go or stay is up to her, and I don't have the right to make it for her. All you can do is support her decision, and let her know that she will always have her friends and family."
Sasami wiped at her eyes and nodded at last, still upset but seeing the sense in her words. But something the professor said sparked in her head, and it began to form a plan therein. She looked around at all of the marvelous machinery that Washu was experimenting with and wondered if her idea would work with some of its help.
"Washu, would you mind sending a message to Jurai for me? It's to help Ayeka." Washu smiled and nodded, then took her over to a huge,
impressive-looking device that resembled an old-fashioned telephone. She punched up a viewscreen at the base, and a cartoon of Washu in a postal uniform came up and asked her cheerily where she would like her message sent. Washu set the destination codes to Jurai frequencies and instructed Sasami on how to send her message when she was through. Sasami thanked her and smiled.
"Don't let that thing backtalk you, though" said Washu, going back to her work. "It's still a little upset since I compared its operating speed to the Pony Express." The machine made a rude noise at that, and the Washu cartoon made several rude gestures onscreen. Finally it settled back down, and Sasami began to compose her message to the homeworld.
The message had to be discreet, of course. Even though her parents
would find out eventually, Sasami didn't want to risk getting the Emperor or her mother into such a delicate situation, when she knew full well just how unsubtle they could be at times. She needed the help of someone who could always be trusted to keep a secret, and whose trust and advice could always be counted on. She needed the help of her sister's best friend.
She finished at last, and sent the message as instructed. All she
could do then was hope it would be received, and that Ayeka's decision might yet be altered.
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