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The Pledge 7
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These characters do not belong to me, they belong to AIC and Pioneer. No money is being exchanged. The Talking Ryoko blinked her eyes to clear them. "Hey, my little Ryoko." Washu said softly. "How do you feel?" "Like a spaceship ran over me. What happened?" she demanded. Washu sat down on the edge of the hospital bed. She snorted. "He does take up a lot of room, doesn't he?" she gestured to Tenchi. Ryoko turned her head to look at him. Her eyes softened. "He stayed with me?" she asked. Washu nodded. "He only left your side to eat and sleep in his bedroom when you came home. I guess he thought I wouldn't let him sleep with you." Washu grinned. "He did his chores yesterday, then went to his grandfather. From what I understand, his grandfather gave him a good talking-to about leaving your wife when she's sick." Ryoko didn't take her eyes off Tenchi's sleeping form. "He stayed with me." She said incredulously. Washu smiled softly at her daughter's expression. She thought to herself, what did you expect. He did marry you. Did you think that part about helping you throughout life's troubles was a false oath? "What happened was Belegorthas dragged your memories to the front, then made sure you'd relive them. And if I ever get my hands on that god, he won't be a god very much longer." Washu snarled. She ran a hand through her hair to calm herself. "I broke into your memories and solved the problem." "Thanks, Mom," Ryoko smiled softly at her mother. "Those memories still make my skin crawl." Washu fixed her with a stern look. "That's why I'm making sure you will have some sort of defense net put up today. I can't teach you enough to prevent this from happening again." Washu amended herself. "Well, I can't teach enough in a day to counteract all that the gods/goddesses can do. It'll take years." Ryoko resigned herself to another decade or two of a new type of fighting lesson. At least this one wouldn't be with swords. Washu went on. "And I want you to stay in bed today. I'll move you to the house, but I want you to stay in bed." "Mom!" Ryoko whined. "No amount of whining is going to get you out of this. I know you don't like to stay in bed when you're sick, but if you don't there could be something else wrong that could cause you to use up your energy and I'd have to replace it." Washu told her. "I think that your memories is all Belegorthas did, but I want to run more tests and make you up something that will prevent this from happening again. And for me to do that, you need to stay still." Tenchi woke up and supported Washu. Ryoko grumbled at both of them. Washu grinned at her. "You always where fussy when you were sick." "I thought I couldn't get sick." Ryoko asked. Washu looked a little doubtful as if she didn't want to tell. "Well, you see, you don't get sick like other humanoids do. You suffer power drainages." At Ryoko's shocked look, she hastened to say, "But you haven't had one since you were little." Washu briskly stepped over and gathered her daughter up in her now-adult arms. "I know you'd rather have Tenchi carry you up to bed, but you'll have to settle for me." Washu told her daughter bluntly. Washu strode off toward the house with Tenchi trailing behind her. *** After Washu had tucked Ryoko into bed with orders not to get involved in anything "strenuous", she fled downstairs. Tenchi watched her go with a slight shake of his head. Ryoko punched her pillow to plump it up. "So now what?" she heaved a huge sigh. Tenchi looked around. "Why don't you tell me about the stuff in here?" Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "Okay, if you really want to know." She said in an uncertain voice. She pointed to the jewelry box. "Mom gave me that when I started accumulating enough jewelry to need one." "What's in it?" Tenchi asked. "Get it for me and I'll show you." Ryoko fluttered her eyelashes. Tenchi laughed and brought the jewelry box to the bed. Ryoko braced herself up on her elbow and laid the jewelry box down. There were five drawers and two that swung out from the sides. The glass window had a stained glass rose painted on it. Ryoko slid the first drawer out. "These are my rings." She said as if it was self-explanatory. She chose one that was a paste-jewel amethyst with several paste-diamonds around it. "This was my first. It may seem gaudy now, but it was my favorite and I never took it off." She placed it back in the box. "Mood rings from when Chiro and I went through that stage, a ring that Washu tried to tell me was from my grandmother, several rings that Washu and I bought together, you'd never think that my mother has such a fascination with antique shops, but she does." Ryoko replaced the drawer and chose the second one. "Pins." Ryoko said. She picked up a Dalmatian with several Dalmatian puppies around her feet. She smiled. "I had a thing with dogs at the time. Ryo-ohki wouldn't let me drive for weeks." Tenchi chuckled. "This one's the one I wore to functions." She held up a bronze colored pin with amethyst stones in it. "As far as I know, they're real. Washu gave it to me." She replaced the box full of assorted pins that had no specific memories to them and withdrew the third and fourth drawers. "Charms." Ryoko's eyes glittered when she saw a small book with a mother-of-pearl cover. "Chiro gave me this. She said I read so much I ought to have one with me always." Ryoko showed Tenchi other charms, ones with pearls, academy ones for being a student, etc. The fifth drawer was full of earrings. The ruby ones that Ryt had given her Tenchi already knew about. Now he saw that she had almost every kind of stone under the rainbow. Ryoko braced the jewelry box with one hand, making it stand upright. She opened the left door. Bracelets and necklaces spilled out onto the bed. Her hand that was holding up the box started toward the spilled jewelry to pick it back up. The other door opened. Tenchi chuckled. "Now what's this?" he asked. Ryoko looked at the necklace he had picked up. "That is the necklace that wards off evil spirits." She sighed. "Pity I didn't have it on when Kagato kidnapped me." Tenchi laughed. "And this one?" He picked up a bracelet out of the tangle. "That is from when Chiro and I went on a field trip and spent most of the time in the stores instead of in the caves." Ryoko informed him with a grin. She slipped her hand through the colored butterfly bracelet. Jangling her hand to make it glisten, she laughed. Tenchi held up a plastic strip. "What's this?" Ryoko took it from him. "That is my id bracelet from when I was a baby." As Ryoko looked at it fondly, Tenchi's mind swirled in turmoil. "Hi, you two!" Washu announced cheerfully as she strode through the door a tray in her hands. "Washu, can Ryoko get pregnant?" Tenchi blurted out. Washu dropped the tray. She stared at Tenchi. "Uh, Washu?" Ryoko pointed to the tray. "What?" Washu asked in annoyance. "Oh." The tray had stopped in mid-air, its contents not quite hitting the floor. She snapped her fingers and everything flowed backward and she set the tray down this time before staring at Tenchi with her mouth hanging open. "What's pregnant?" Ryoko asked innocently, reaching for a cookie. Washu slapped her hand. "No moving." She said absently, handing Ryoko a stack of cookies and a mug of tea. "What does pregnant mean?" Ryoko asked looking pointedly at Tenchi. "Um," Tenchi looked at Washu. Washu looked at the sky. "Grab some cookies, Tenchi, this is going to take a while. I didn't expect you to think about this for at least another week or year or decade or so." Tenchi helped himself to the cookies while Washu organized her thoughts. "Okay," she began, "to answer your question, Ryoko, pregnant is when a mother is having a child." "Oh," Ryoko nodded. "That's not telling me anything at all." "That's because you want everything out of order, my little blueberry." Washu told her cheerfully. "You've heard me talk about having you? Well, pregnancy is by combining the egg of the mother and the sperm of the father. In other words, the female has eggs inside her and the male has little sperm inside him. When those two combine, there's a baby. The female knows that she's pregnant when her period stops." "What's a period?" Ryoko asked. Tenchi looked at Washu. "She doesn't have one?" "No, she doesn't." Washu told him. "Most galactic women don't. It's a pain in the abdomen, literally. Why put up with pain one week out of four if you can find a way to stop it that's not going to hurt you. As a goddess, I don't have a monthly interruption, but when I was fully human I did." Washu paused. "An immortal human, kind of like Tenchi. That's where I got the idea for him being immortal from." "What's a period?" Ryoko said. "You're leaving me out of the conversation." She said angrily. "A period is... Oh, good grief." Washu snapped her fingers and the TV came on. A picture of a uterus, vagina, fallopian tubes, and ovaries came on the screen. "This," Washu said with a pointer pointing to the vagina, "is where Tenchi's penis goes. When he's through, little sperm go up into the uterus and collide with an egg in the fallopian tubes, if an egg is there. The egg comes down, attaches itself to the lining in the uterus, and the woman is pregnant. During your period, the lining in the uterus dissolves and you bleed for 5-7 days." "Ewwww," Ryoko scrunched up her nose. Her mouth dropped. "People actually carry babies inside them?" "Yes," Tenchi nodded. "No," Washu shook her head. Ryoko swiveled between them. "Which one is it?" she screamed. Washu looked at Tenchi. "You don't have the technology on this planet. Ryoko, most women now place their newly attached eggs into an incubation sort of thing. It gives the baby all it needs for nine months, then you pop it out, and you take it home. Plus you don't have to carry it around in your uterus for nine months." "Nine months!?" Ryoko shrieked. "You," she addressed Tenchi, "actually put women through this on this planet?" Tenchi nodded uneasily. "What's wrong with this place?" Ryoko yelled. Washu hesitated. "A lot." The cookie continued on its way into Washu's mouth. "It sounds horrible." Ryoko concluded. Washu snorted. "Oh, please. I haven't told you the highlights yet. You gain water, you can't sleep on your stomach, you feel fat and undesirable, you throw up your food for three months, you swell like a balloon, and then at the end..." Washu snapped another picture on the screen. A full-grown baby of nine months was pushing its head out of the vagina. Ryoko stared at it in horror. "Yup, it goes out the same way it came in." Washu told her. Ryoko turned angry eyes on Tenchi. "You didn't tell me about this. You wanted me to go through that!" She screamed, pointing at the screen. "Uh, Ryoko..." Tenchi held up his hands, his eyes bulging at his wife. "Calm down, Ryoko." Washu reached out a hand and dragged her daughter back down onto the bed. "That's not going to happen to you." Ryoko laid back down with a scowl on her face. "You bet it's not." "For one thing, I can't see you trying to fight an assassin with a belly a foot in front of you." Washu told her. "For another, you can't get pregnant." "WHAT?!" Tenchi and Ryoko shouted. Washu picked up her mug of tea and sipped. "Ryoko can't become pregnant normally." "What do you mean, Washu?" Ryoko asked suspiciously. Washu took a deep breath. "I'm going to explain this in detail, so bear with me." She warned. "As a goddess or god, you cannot give or cause birth. When I became human but immortal, I could not conceive either." "Then how'd you have your-?" Tenchi clapped a hand over his mouth. Washu looked at him with a grin but had a sad look in her eyes. "It's okay, Tenchi. My husband and I had a baby from one of my egg cells and his sperm. Our baby was created in a lab, not my uterus. When I became human, I had egg cells. I could not release eggs, but they were there and fully normal. My period was suppressed just like every other female's. My egg was taken out of my body, cleaned because I did not know my parents, and then fertilized. My son was born in an incubator unit." "Ryoko," Washu nodded to her, "was born of an egg cell I cleaned myself and the mass. I was surprised to find no combining of male and female in my eggs, but the technology has been around to make female clones of each other. I thought perhaps that was why I had no memory of parents." "Is your son immortal, too?" Tenchi asked. Washu smiled wryly. "Human but immortal vs human mortal. My son took after the mortal side of his heritage. Before you ask, my husband is dead and my son as well. My son died in a starship accident and my husband died before that because his second wife poisoned him. I don't like to talk about it." She said pointedly. She continued. "Ryoko had no mortal side to take after so she is truly my daughter. Any questions?" "Yeah, why can't I get pregnant?" Ryoko asked shrewdly. "You haven't said that yet." Washu sighed. "No, I haven't, have I?" She looked at Ryoko. "To put it shortly, gods/goddesses can't have children. We're not built that way. Gods and Goddesses come into being from the energy of the universe. Since I truly thought I was human and was in a human immortal body, that meant I could have children through the proper channels. No goddess has ever had a child before. Belegorthas, you remember him goading me to tell you that you are the only child of the gods?" Ryoko nodded. "Well, you are." "You're the only one?" Tenchi glanced at Ryoko. She nodded, her thoughts bitter at the thought of Belegorthas. Washu looked at her daughter apologetically. "As such, I don't know what would happen. You might be able to have a child the old-fashioned way, conceiving in your uterus. You could attempt having a child in an incubator. Either way, I have no idea whether the child would rip you apart, steal your energy away from you, or any number of things." Washu looked distressed at her daughter. "Think about what would be running through this child's veins. The three elder goddesses of the universe's energy, the Lighthawk wings, Tenchi's immortality, your powers, your energy, your gems..." Washu grabbed her head. "It's a chemical soup inside your veins!" Ryoko looked blankly at Washu. "What are you worried for?" "I'm worried that you're going to want me to cook you up a bunch of little kids on the spot!" Washu screamed. Ryoko looked at Tenchi. "Well, if Tenchi doesn't object, I'm not really thrilled about the idea of kids right now." Tenchi shook his head. "Not for a very long time, if ever." They smiled at each other. "Just remember, you have eternity." Washu reminded them, relieved. Her laptop popped up. Washu typed for a few seconds and grinned. "You're free of aftereffects, Ryoko. All I have to do is fit you with some kind of shield." She frowned and started to work on her computer. "Mom?" Ryoko asked. Washu looked up. "What is it?" she asked. "What if Belegorthas had tried that on Tenchi?" Ryoko said, jerking her thumb at Tenchi. Washu opened her mouth to ask what, realized that Ryoko was talking about the mental thing, and closed her mouth. "He probably would have been an immortal vegetable for the rest of his life." She finished. "So I work on two of those shields, not a problem." She turned back to her computer. "You don't really need much. Just something that'll last until either I or Tsunami can get to you. The only one who's going to be attacking you is Belegorthas. The Trickster won't, because he knows I'll kill him if he tries to pull that kind of trick." A few more keys and Washu shouted in triumph. "The universe's number one genius scientist has done it again!" Washu tapped a finger against her lips. "Now, who to get to try it out?" She snapped her fingers. "Heroa." Washu looked at Tenchi. "Tenchi, don't stare into my eyes. I'm just going to extend an invitation." Washu turned and her eyes went as black as midnight with no stars and no moon. "Hey, Washu, you know you don't need to shout." Heroa said from behind her. "Hi, kids, how's it going?" he said to Ryoko and Tenchi, waving. "What'd you want me for, big bwana?" Washu heaved a small sigh and shrugged dramatically. That was Heroa for you. "Well, have you heard about what Belegorthas did?" Heroa shook his head. "What'd the idiot do this time?" Washu raised an eyebrow. "Hey, he is an idiot, messing with an elder goddess." Washu conceded the point. "He came into the courtroom of Jurai, pulled Ryoko's bad memories to the front, and set her brain on relive." Washu said shortly. Heroa whistled. "It'll suck to be him when you get a hold of him. Got any clue as to why he's singled her out?" Washu shook her head. "Other than he thinks she's fertile." "Mom!" Ryoko said outraged. "The more gods who know, the less will try to destroy Tenchi to get to you." Washu told her bluntly. "So what did you want me for?" Heroa asked. "Well, I've built a prototype of a shield for her. I need someone to test it." Washu explained. "I can't because I know I'd shatter it. But with Tokimi locked up for ten years or so and Tsunami wouldn't hurt her anyway, there's no point in making it that strong." Heroa nodded. "I gotcha. So you want me to let fly at it mentally and see if I can crack it with you protecting her from the other side?" Washu grinned. "I love a god who knows how my mind works." *** Washu took position behind Ryoko in the training area of the lab. Heroa opened his hands toward Ryoko and closed his eyes. Ryoko cringed mentally and physically. Heroa bent his entire mind toward piercing through the shield. Not even touching it! Washu crowed in Ryoko's mind. "Washu, I don't think I got through." Heroa said hesitantly. "Nope! You didn't." Washu confirmed. "If that is all you need me for?" Heroa asked. "I want to know if Tenchi's will hold up as well. There may be a difference in their mental capacities which make the shield ineffective." Washu gestured toward Tenchi. He walked toward them somewhat reluctantly. Washu took up position behind him, shielding him with a goddess's mental powers, while Heroa took up the attack at his front. When Heroa had finished, Washu grinned. "Not a scratch on either of them." "Why can't you just give him powers?" Heroa asked. Washu looked at him. "Now you of all people ought to know better. I can't put immortal powers in a body that was born mortal." Heroa clunked himself on the head. "I'm done if you have pressing engagements." Washu drawled. Heroa tugged a cowboy hat that had appeared on his head and disappeared. "What was that all about?" Ryoko asked. Washu turned around to her. "You're going back to bed." Ryoko started to protest. "I'll make you a deal. I'll let you lie on the couch in the living room. But you're staying that way until dinnertime!" Washu had put her foot down. *** Ryoko fidgeted on the couch. Tenchi was in the video room, selecting a movie to watch. Bor-ing. Ryoko glanced around. Where was that Washu? Ryoko contemplated getting up. Just as she set one toe on the floor, Washu came through the door and said, "Foot back on the couch, young lady!" Ryoko sulkily put her foot on the couch. Ayeka giggled. "She told us all the way here that you'd be misbehaving." Ryoko tilted her head up. "And I suppose you're a perfect angel when you're told to stay on the couch when you're Not Sick!" The last two words were accented for Washu's benefit. Washu snorted. "Why do you think I brought them? I wanted to keep you occupied. Come on Sasami, maybe together we can come up with something to bribe her with." The two ladies went off to the kitchen. Mihoshi, Ayeka, and Balar settled down to watch the movie that Tenchi had found. Ryoko sighed and leaned back into the couch. With her friends around, this sitting still thing wasn't too bad. |
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