Adrian Tymes Dreamcast Written by Adrian Tymes [Legal disclaimer: This story is based on characters created by Hiroki Hayashi, Masaki Kajishima, AIC, and Pioneer. Permission is granted to freely distribute this story, so long as: a: no recompense of financial value is received or given by the person who distributes the story, and b: the distributed copy is identical to the story as originally authored. In other words, don't sell it, and don't alter it. Copyright (c) 1998, all rights reserved, et cetera.] ****** All was dark and quiet, for the moment. Even the stars did not shine, but this did not concern the dreamer. She knew what she saw now was but a product of her slumbering imagination, so she relaxed and let it show her what it would. Her viewpoint swiveled to the only objects in this void: Ryoko and Tenchi. The former pirate was kneeling in front of her desired, with her eyes and head looking somewhere below his feet. The presence of solid, yet invisible, ground for Ryoko to kneel on did not disturb the dreamer in the least. Tenchi, for his part, seemed very nervous, almost afraid. He looked as if he expected Ryoko to try stripping in front of him again - a sight that, while he would never claim it to be unbeautiful, caused him significant discomfort due to his shyness. Even so, his gaze did not wander from the woman in front of him. Ryoko broke the silence. "I love you, Tenchi. With all my heart and soul, with every shred of my being, I love you. I have since we first met, and I will until the moment I die...possibly longer. I would do anything to earn...to be worthy of your love, or even just your respect." She looked up, her eyes pleading. "Anything." She reached into a pocket, and brought out a gold ring with a large ruby set in it, then held the ring up to Tenchi. "Would you be my..." "R-Y-O-K-O-!-!-!" Aeka stormed in from nowhere, looking like she carried the fury of the gods in her heart. "STAY AWAY FROM MY TENCHI!" She swatted Ryoko's outstretched hands from below, sending the ring flying. "Your Tenchi?" Ryoko rubbed the backs of her hands where Aeka had hit them. "I don't see any sign on him." Aeka pulled out a large rubber stamp from behind her, and forcefully applied it to Tenchi's forehead. When she removed it, the words "Property of Aeka" were tatooed in black above his eyebrows. Carrying the stamp in one hand, she picked up Tenchi with the other, and carried him away like a hollow mannequin. Tenchi did not move, his face still staring at a point in front of his knees. Ryoko silently crawled to the ring, and picked it up. When she studied the ruby, Washu's face reflected back from inside. "I failed." Her voice broke into sobs. "I'm sorry, I failed..." A single teardrop landed on the gem. ****** Ryoko woke with a start. What a strange dream. Her words...they were true, all of them. She really did love Tenchi, and yet every attempt to get him to return that love had failed, usually due to Aeka. She was getting desperate, but she could not let that show. One of the first things she had learned as a pirate was that to display weakness was to invite your enemies to attack. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. Perhaps, if she just told Tenchi, like in the dream... An old part of her mind, one which was not part of her yet had been with her for her entire life, spoke. "No. This is wrong." Still half-asleep, Ryoko could not identify the voice's source, but she trusted its advice with her life. Surely, she mused, she could also trust it with her love. "Very well. It won't happen this way." She would have to find some other method of convincing Tenchi to love her. She drifted back to slumber while wondering why the image of a carrot presented itself to her mind's eye. ****** Aeka woke with a start. What a strange dream. Ryoko had been lying, as usual, but her lies almost won Tenchi over this time. Only Aeka's intervention had saved the day. But the way she intervened troubled Aeka. To treat Tenchi like a posession, no more noble than a dress or a trophy, was unthinkable. Tenchi loved her; Aeka had already seen more than enough proof of that. True, he was taking his time admitting it, but Aeka was perfectly happy to let their relationship bloom at a pace he was comfortable with. Or was she? Tenchi was going to marry Aeka eventually, she was sure of it. But, the longer it took, the worse Ryoko's attempts to steal him from Aeka became. She had already claimed to sleep with Tenchi, although Tenchi later confirmed that that was another of Ryoko's fabrications. Still, Aeka could not help but fear that Ryoko might try to rape him some day, or even kill him, just to make sure Aeka no longer had him. Was nothing sacred to that pirate? Stealing material things, Aeka could kind of understand. Having lots of money, and jewels, and objects...in that regard, at least, it was not too different from her own life. Despite their many fights, Aeka could almost feel pity for one who so desperately wanted the same material comforts that Aeka had been born to. Stealing love was completely different, and beyond Aeka's comprehension. Unless...could Ryoko really love Tenchi, too? No. That was not possible. Aeka had seen Tenchi's heart, and the love it contained for Aeka. She had also seen Ryoko's heart, many years ago, before either one came to Earth. It was cold and empty, trusting no one except her cabbit, Ryo-ohki. She glared at the purring bundle tucked in her younger sister's arms. That friendship had been truly unexpected. Why did you have to be friends with that pirate's beast, Sasami? And, as for you, Ryo-phki, how dare you have the nerve to come in here, night after night, and curl up with Sasami... ...and to be so furry, and so cute... ...and why can't I ever stay mad at you? Suddenly too tired to do anything but smile weakly and yawn, Aeka plopped back down and let concious thought fade back into sleep. ****** Washu woke with a start. What a strange dream. What was she doing in that ring? Why did Ryoko talk about failing? Of course! It must have been some plot to capture Tenchi for my experiments. That ring must have been a mind control device. But, how could I get Ryoko to help me get it on Tenchi? A miniature version of Washu popped up over her right shoulder. "That's easy. It was also a wedding ring." Another miniature appeared over her left shoulder. "Yeah, Washu. Ryoko wants Tenchi's love. You heard her; she would do anything to get it." "Give her a plan to force things to go her way..." the right statue continued. "...and she'd go along with it, no matter how crazy it seems," the one on her left finished. "You're right." Washu smirked. They must have been listening in on her dream. "Thanks." "Don't thank us." "Yeah. It's your idea, Washu." Washu broke out in a grin. She had programmed these robots to bolster her ego, so she would never get depressed. So far, they had worked like a charm, even if they overdid it at times. "Another idea from the greatest genius in the universe." "Yaaay, Washu!" And they had just suceeded again. Too happy to go back to sleep, Washu headed for her lab. She had set up an experiment to record and analyze Ryoko's brainwaves. Perhaps it could tell her what Ryoko was dreaming of at this moment. ****** Tsunami kept Sasami from waking up. It was neither Tsunami's nor Sasami's dream, which is what alerted Tsunami that she might have to intervene. Feeling the dream out, Tsunami felt the familiar rhytym of Washu's devices sending the psychic movie. What was that scientist up to this time? Whatever it was, Sasami would have no part of it. Having to watch her sister and Ryoko fight by day was bad enough; if even her dreams were invaded, Sasami might give up trying to make them friends. That would bode ill for Tenchi, and by extension, everyone near him. A thought occured to her, and she quickly scanned the male residents of the household as she struck all memories of the dream from Sasami. Fortunately, none of the men seemed to have been affected; Washu's telepathic trickery only touched the females for now. A shifting mass near Sasami began to wake her despite Tsunami's efforts. Both Aeka and Ryo-ohki were already up, but neither one was aware of the other's current conciousness. If Sasami were to wake, she would notice both. Her intuition was an asset, but in this case, the conclusion she would inevitably draw would lead her to realize what had just happened - including Tsunami's editing, which Sasami would not approve of. Even a seed of doubt could irreparably damage their bond. Tsunami quickly slipped a replay of a Pretty Sami dream into her other self's mind, and relaxed as Sasami stopped her climb to wakefulness. ****** Ryo-ohki woke with a start. What a strange dream. She didn't get any carrots. Reflecting on the dream, the cabbit realized what had happened. With a mental link as deep as she had with Ryoko, sharing dreams was not a new experience for either one. Clearly, this had been Ryoko's dream. But it ended in failure. She sang to her partner, in a psychic language that can only be crudely transcribed into words. "No. This is wrong." There was a small pause as Ryoko pondered Ryo-ohki's advice before the pirate repiled, "Very well. It won't happen this way." Ryo-ohki purred at Ryoko's response. Ryoko would never give up, not that easily. Pushing her luck, she queried if Ryoko would mind getting Ryo-ohki a carrot. Silence on the other end of the link told the cabbit that her soulmate had gone back to sleep. Shifting in Sasami's arms, Ryo-ohki decided to join her. ****** Mihoshi was not asleep, although she wished she were. Several hours ago, she had come to Washu's lab to ask some advice. The scientist had sent her into a maze, saying something about trying an Earth scientist's stereotypical experiment. When Mihoshi finally found her way out - more by stumbling around than anything else, as the maze was not well lit - a brick of swiss cheese awaited her. She experimentally nibbled on it, but in the dark, she did not see that it had gone moldy quickly. Her first clue as to what type of mold it was, was when a sudden rush nearly made her lose her balance. She could not read the clock next to the cheese that told her how long she had taken, and what time it was now. Not knowing that it was the middle of the night, Mihoshi stumbled off to find Washu again. Before long, she came to a computer terminal. Figuring that perhaps it would know the answer to what she wanted to ask of Washu, Mihoshi tried typing her question in to it, but the terminal only chimed that it was still monitoring Ryoko's brainwaves. Trying again, she got it to broadcast Ryoko's current mental processes. Deciding that enough was enough, Mihoshi felt around for the power switch, and soon turned it off. After tripping again as she walked away, the Galaxy Police officer wisely chose to sit down and stay put. With nothing else to do, she continued to chow down on her cheese... "MIHOSHI!" The voice was Washu's...or maybe it was Tenchi's...Ryo-ohki, perhaps? Looking in the direction it came from, Mihoshi decided that the two pink-haired forms, walking in step towards her, must have been all three of them. And Sasami. Regardless, she just knew she was going to find her way out of the lab soon.