Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Nothing is what it seems to be ❯ A tear in the onsen ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

A/N A little wolf girl appears on the scene and waves, "Heyaz everyone, seeing Lady Lizz is currently too busy sleeping, I will announce the fic"

Lizz: Please keep it quiet Candyce.

Candyce: *whistles innocently* Well I am Lady Lizz's newest muse, the old one was too damn lazy *picks up the hand of Lizzy* and I am about this big *points at the hand this time before letting it drop back* Lady Lizz stayed up way too late to finish this chapter.

Lizz: *grumbles and throws one of her pillows at Candyce, which causes a startled yelp to escape the muse* It is all your fault, now be a good muse and let me sleep!

Candyce: *giggles as she does a `We-do-not-own-Tenchi-and-co'-dance*

Lizz: *puts another pillow over her head, rolling her eyes*

Candyce: Just enjoy the fic!!! *waves as she slips off quietly*

***

A few weeks have passed and the fighting between Ayeka and Ryoko seemed to have lessened till only the regular argument. Nobody seemed to mind that, besides Ayeka herself then. She seemed really moody whenever she could not have a fight with Ryoko, who only seemed interested in sleeping and gazing at the sky, that is if she was not eating. Every time Ayeka was trying to get Ryoko riled up, she only shrugged and continued with whatever she was doing at that moment.

Right now the cyan-haired girl was watching some cartoon together with Mihoshi. She let out a soft yawn and looked at the ditzy blonde. She seemed to be able to understand now more clearly why Mihoshi thought that those shows were so entertaining. She had found herself smirking lightly at the cartoons more lately often, which caused her to wonder if she was really becoming a second Mihoshi like Washu had said when the experiment blew up.

Ryoko let out a soft yawn and turned her head lightly to look at the closet door which swung open at the same time as if waiting for Ryoko to look at it. A small redhead emerged from it and walked over to Ryoko, sitting down next to her and looking at the cartoon show as well, softly mumbling, "What is so amusing about such a show?"

Ryoko chuckled and replied, "Just watch it lots of times and you will start getting it." She looked at Washu with her head slightly tilted and asked, "What'cha doing here?"

The petite scientist smirked, "You will see, just come with me." At this Ryoko rolled her eyes and stood up, following Washu back into her lab.

***

Once they arrived in the lab at some spot which was not taken with any machines, Washu turned around to Ryoko and ordered her to sit down on one of the pillows that had just appeared. When she saw Ryoko still looking rather confused she shook her head lightly and sat down as well. "What is it with you and the `non-fighting-thingy'? You usually love a fight. I mean I am not complaining about it or so, seeing everyone seemed to like it, but it is just weird for me."

Ryoko shrugged lightly, "I just do not feel like doing so, I rather spend those times sleeping. I hardly sleep at night anymore…" She looked away from Washu lightly.

Raising a single eyebrow, Washu continued to look at Ryoko, "Why don't you sleep at night then?"

"That is none of your damn business!" Ryoko snapped. When she looked at Washu she saw her looking back with a look of curiosity on her face. Sighing softly, Ryoko mumbled, "Nightmares okay? I have nightmares, so I sleep during the day, to try and get them away. Ryo-Ohki knows about it, but she promised to keep it quiet and so should you, understood?" She had said the last part with more volume while looking sternly at Washu.

"Of course I will not tell anyone about it, but could you explain to me what you are dreaming about then? I might be able to help you more better if I know about those." Ryoko hesitated a little bit, but finally muttered something about her kissing Ayeka, but before she could even finish her sentence Washu chuckled softly, "You kissing the princess? Oh my that must be a terrible fright then indeed."

Ryoko grumbles and stood up from the cushion, "If you aren't bothering to even let me finish my sentence, then why bother getting me here?"

She turned to walk away when she heard Washu ordering, "Sit!"

She growled lowly and turned again to look at the petite redhead, "What?!? You think you can order me like I am nothing but a STUPID MUT?" She let some energy crackle in her hand as she formed a fist.

Washu rolled her eyes and grinned, "Well it must mean a big deal to you if you get this angry about it while I hardly said anything." At this Ryoko humped and turned away, walking out of the lab not caring what Washu had to say to her anymore.

***

That night, when Ryoko lay back on the rafter she had the same nightmare again. It started with her kissing the princess but just as all the other nightmares the sky all around them soon turned dark and a dark figure was standing behind Ayeka. All of the sudden a sound of thunder was heard and in the short light flash Ryoko saw the figure taking Ayeka into it's arms and giving her a deep kiss, which Ayeka seemed to be enjoying too. Then all of the sudden Ayeka turned to her, but instead of the loving look from when they kissed, she wore an angry expression and shouted, "Get out of my sight, you worthless demon, I never loved you, never cared about you, I was just using you!" With that said, Ryoko found herself falling as if the ground has disappeared from beneath her and nothing she did was able to stop the falling. All the time she heard Ayeka's voice repeat those words and an evil laugh coming from the dark firgure.

Ryoko awoke with a loud gasp as she felt something cold pressing against her cheek. Bewildered she looked around and let out a soft sigh when she saw Ryo-Ohki was the one that had awoken her. Smiling faintly she took the cabbit in her arms and gently petted it.

<Same nightmare again?> she heard Ryo-Ohki ask.

Ryoko nodded barely noticeable. She placed Ryo-Ohki gently on her lap after she sat up. Letting a hand brush through her cyan mane, she sighed softly, "Well can't go to sleep now anymore, wanna go with me to the lake?" Ryo-Ohki let out an approving meow and jumped onto Ryoko's shoulder, nuzzles the cyan-haired girl's cheek before both of them teleported away.

Once settled near the lake, Ryoko looked up at the stars, smiling faintly. "Do you think these feelings that I seem to have for Ayeka lately, could be real?" she idly asked the small cabbit.

Suddenly Ryoko found herself staring into the large yellow orbs of Ryo-Ohki, which seem to have a light sparkle in them as she answered, <Why could you not? If they would not be real, then you would not have so much trouble with this nightmare, right? You would not make so much of a deal out of it.> The cabbit meowed softly before continuing, <And what would be so wrong about having those feelings? I know that she is a girl too, but Ayeka has got two moms and they never had a problem with it either, nor did Ayeka have anything against it.>

Ryoko thought about this and nodded lightly, "You are right about that. But what do you think I should do now? I mean I can't just burst in with `hey princess, guess what? I think I love you.' "

Rolling her eyes lightly, then the cabbit patted Ryoko's forehead with her paw, <What about trying to be nice to her at least once? Fighting will not help.>

Letting out a soft snort, Ryoko gazed back up at the sky, "Perhaps, I haven't been fighting that much lately anyways."

***

The next morning, Ryoko made her way back to the mansion early in the morning. Upon entering the kitchen she saw that Sasami was already up and making some breakfast, while Ayeka seemed to be reaching for something way out of her reach. She let out a soft chuckle then floated over to Ayeka and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, "Exercising princess? You could loose some weight y'know that?"

Scowling, Ayeka spun around, "If anybody should be exercising it should be you, demon! You're the lazy bum here! If you must know I was trying to get the cinnamon for Sasami, because I, unlike some other people, help others."

Ryoko grinned as she floated up a little higher and grabbed the cinnamon with ease, "You mean this, princess prissy pants?" She handed it over to Ayeka then made her way over to the rafter again and made herself comfortable there while looking at the activities busy in the kitchen.

Ayeka looked at the cinnamon in her hand then at Ryoko and blinked lightly, not being able to fully understand what just happened. Seeing the look on her sister's face, Sasami giggled softly and softly coughed to get Ayeka's attention, "Can I have that, please? I need it for breakfast and I do not think it would help you that much while you just stand there."

Only nodding lightly, Ayeka gave it to Sasami after which she sat down on the couch and started to look at the television idly, not even noticing what she was looking at.

***

Helping Sasami with washing the dishes after breakfast, Ayeka still did not quite get what had happened before, but had just let it slip, not bothering about it anymore. But when she heard Ryoko ask behind her if any of them needed any help she once again was puzzled about the cyan-haired girl's intentions.

"Well if you would not mind you could do the dishes with Ayeka, while I go to do the laundry." Sasami said to Ryoko, smiling. She nodded lightly and started to wash the dishes and handing them over to Ayeka, after Sasami had left the kitchen.

While the dishes where being done, neither of them said anything to the other, but Ayeka kept looking at Ryoko strangely until Ryoko said, "Okay Ayeka, spill it. What is troubling you and why do you keep on looking at me like that?"

At first she did not reply to this and just kept drying the dishes, but finally she replied, "You have been acting strangely for quite some time now, either you are not Ryoko or you are up to something, so you tell me. Why this change of attitude? You hardly hang around Lord Tenchi anymore, you do not fight anymore, you are even helping. What are you up to this time? I am most certainly that it has something to with stealing Lord Tenchi away from me!"

Ryoko shook her head lightly as she let out a soft sigh, "That is what you think when I try to help for once?" She chuckled, "Fine then, have him, see if I still care." She put the last dish near Ayeka and vanished from her sight.

Stunned, Ayeka looked at the doorway, were Sasami seemed to have picked up the last part of the conversation. Shaking her head, just as Ryoko had done before, she lightly scolded her sister, "How could you? She was only helping and you do something like that? Weren't princesses supposed to have some manners? From the look of this right now, it might even be that the one you are calling a demon, has more manners then you have, Ayeka."

"I guess you are right, Sasami. I shall go look for her when I get this done and apoligize for my rude behaviour." Was Ayeka's reply, which caused the youngest one of the two sisters to nod approvingly. A soft giggle escaped her lips though, when she heard Ayeka mutter softly, "I swear you are acting like Mother more and more every day."

***

Sinking into the onsen, Ryoko let out a soft sigh, both from the luxurious feeling of the warm water as from frustration from what happened only moments ago. She hadn't been thinking clearly when she said she did not want Tenchi anymore, but now that she did think about it, it started to feel as if it was the right thing to say. It seemed as though her feelings for Tenchi seemed to have lessened to caring for him like he was just a brother to her, without her even knowing or caring about it. She reached out to grab a bottle of sake from behind some rock and was about to pour some into the small cup when she changed her mind and shrugged, downing half of the bottle in one long gulp.

"I do not think that would be much good to you to drink it that way Miss Ryoko." Ayeka's voice came from the entree of the onsen. She had already shed all of her clothes and was now trying to get her towel to stay in place.

Snorting softly, Ryoko replied, "Since when do you care about my health then? Besides what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be near Tenchi now that I have said I do not want him anymore?"

Ayeka shook her head as she let stepped into the warm water and let herself sink in comfortably, "No, Lord Tenchi can wait with that. I-I wanted to apologise to you for my rude behaviour a little time ago. It is nice to see you helping around once, but it is strange. Not to mention about not fighting with me or not seducing Tenchi anymore."

"You still act like that is a terrible thing for me to do. Can't I have a change for once then?"

"Of course you can change, but this is a huge change for you, you do know that right?"

Ryoko rolled her eyes and replied, "Duh! It is me who is changing, how can I not know that then?" She made a sound like Ayeka was crazy then held out a cup to Ayeka, "Want some sake too?"

Ayeka blinked then bopped Ryoko onto the head, "Don't change the topic like that, I am trying to apologize here, okay?"

As she sweatdropped lightly, Ryoko just nodded, "Sure ya do, now do you want some sake or not?"

"Why not, one cup won't hurt me." She smiled faintly and gently took the cup from Ryoko, who filled it once Ayeka took a hold of it. Ayeka took a sip from the sake then looked at Ryoko and said, "I really am sorry for my behaviour out in the kitchen."

"Is okay and understandable." This was followed by a short wave of Ryoko's hand, indicating that she did not care about that anymore nor wanted to talk about it.

Ayeka smiled and leaned back onto the side of the onsen, "I needed this, a nice relaxing bath. And for once I do not mind having you here I guess." Ryoko chuckled softly at this and took another gulp from the bottle, picking up another one after it and asking Ayeka if she wanted a refill, which she gladly accepted, before taking another gulp of the liquid herself. As Ayeka closed her eyes till mere slits, she started thinking some more about the recent happenings g between her and Ryoko. It was weird for her to having Ryoko actually being nice to her, but she did not think of it as a bad thing. More on the contrary, she thought she could get used to this if Ryoko was planning on keep being this way. This was what brought her to think what could be the reasons for Ryoko behaving this way and why she decided to drop Tenchi. The only thing she could think of would be... `no,' Ayeka thought, `Ryoko could not have those kinda feelings for me, could she?' Ayeka widened her eyes slightly and looked at Ryoko through the sides of her eyes, mentally shaking her head, `No I am pretty sure that is just the sake making me think those kind of things.' She smiled at this and looked up at the sky, `Yeah that must have been it.'

Ryoko looked at Ayeka as she lay staring up at the sky, she usually would make some comment about this, but with her feelings finally sorted out, she found this a rare and enchanting sight. A beautiful sight even. At that moment however, Ayeka decided to ask for another refill, catching Ryoko look at her, which caused a faint blush to creep up onto Ryoko's cheeks. Refilling the small cup, Ryoko handed it back to Ayeka, her blush still present on her cheeks. As Ryoko's hand softly brushed against the one of Ayeka, she found herself leaning closer to the princess and suddenly felt her lips caressing those of Ayeka. At firts instant Ayeka did not respond to the kiss and Ryoko feared that she had been a little too forward with her feelings, but just as she wanted to pull away, she felt Ayeka's arms encircling her neck. At the same time she felt Ayeka returning the kiss, her tongue softly brushing against Ryoko's lips, as if silently asking permission to enter. But when Ryoko's lips parted, Ayeka pulled away, leaving Ryoko startled and worried.

Stammering lightly, Ayeka shook her head and stepped a bit away from the cyan-haired spacepirate, "T-this is not right, I should not be doing this. Y-you are a girl too a-and I love Tenchi...not s-some demon." After she said this, she run away from Ryoko, leaving the girl standing there, stunned. A soft sigh escaped Ryoko's lips as she teleported herself out of the onsen, a single tear landing into the water just as she left.

***

A/N Well guess this was the first hint of shoujo-ai in this fic and I hope you all liked this chapter, sorry for the terrible delay on it, but I have been having several things working me up against this one. Work, writerblocks, vacation (where my laptop decided to give up) and then of course the now again starting school. And a lot of thanks goes this chapter to BobR, he helped me big time with this chapter after I got stuck somewhere on the ending. Next chapter is already being worked on, but I am not sure if there are gonna be much more delays, I hope not anyways.