Tenchi Muyo!
______
Disclaimer: This episode of Tenchi Muyo! is
of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Tenchi
Muyo. "Tenchi Muyo!" and all related characters, names, etc. are
©1992-2003 AIC Inc. and Pioneer LDC. All rights reserved.
Note: This story line is a sequel to 'The Choices We Make' by C-kun. I
recommend reading it, it is pretty interesting.
______
The Darkness Within
Alternate Ending:
My Life, My Love
______
Nine years have passed since that day, a day in which the mighty planet Jurai fell to an unknown foe and several people of great
importance lost their lives. The people of Jurai have
moved on from that time and adjusted to life without their goddess Tsunami.
They have now grasped more modern technology and have industrialized their
planet, though of course there is still plenty of foliage throughout Jurai, these being planted and grown naturally, without the
influence of a goddess. They have also changed their way of ruling over the
populace, becoming more of a democratic lifestyle where the common people have
more say on how things are done and they also elect their leaders, instead of
having them born through a royal lineage.
The former royal leaders of Jurai, Azusa, Funaho
and Misaki, have moved on as well. Shortly after the terrible
event where they lost all three of their precious children and close friends,
they stepped down as the Royal Family. The people of the planet understood and
respected their decision and, as a way of saying thank you for all the hundreds
of years of helping make their planet a better place, they have let them live
out their lives in peace, the press not even bothering to go after them. The
three now have a rather large yet quaint county side residence and have taken
to a normal life quite well. So well, in fact, that both Funaho
and Misaki are expecting new members into the family
in a few months time. The soon to be born babies are not replacements for their
other children, rather they are more of a sign that the former Royal Family has
finally gotten over the past and are ready to move on with their lives. They
are happy.
______
Far, far away, on colonized planet 0315 (known as
Earth by its inhabitants) near Okayama, Japan, a slightly large and
very comfortable looking house stands, where it once blew up nine years ago.
Nobody knows how or why the house came back, looking as if nothing had ever
happened to it, but since a lot of strange things have been known to happen in
that area, the house's sudden reappearance wasn't questioned, it was just left
alone, which is how the main inhabitant of house likes to keep it.
Tokimi Masaki is currently in the kitchen, cooking a
small snack while humming a sweet song she heard sung a long time ago to the
man who changed her life in so many ways. The goddess herself hasn't changed
one bit, seeing as how she is immortal. She still reigns
over this dimension, but rarely influences anything anymore, seeing ad how she
has more important matters to attend to. Her eternally loyal servant D3 watches
over everything in her absence.
Tokimi more or less looks exactly the same, with her
shoulder length light brown hair, pristine porcelain skin with the green
stripes coming from her neck to both cheeks, luscious red lips and her
enigmatic blue and purple eyes, but those are the one thing to have changed as
well. Nine years ago, she lost that special sparkle in her eyes,
that little gleam of life that proved she was alive and happy with where
she was at and who she was with. Over time, she has gained a bit of that old
sparkle back, and the main reason why is walking through the front door right
now.
"Mom, I'm home!" A young girl says, sliding off her shoes and walking
into the living room.
Tokimi smiles and changes the heat settings for the
snack from cook to simmer. She wipes her hands clean on a nearby towel and
walks out to the living room to greet her young daughter. "Welcome home
honey," the goddess lovingly greets, wrapping her child in a warm hug,
"how was school?" Tokimi backs up to get a
look at her.
Eight-year-old Keiko Achika Masaki is practically the
spitting image of her mother, only smaller and much less developed. The main
differences in her appearances from her mother are her waist length raven black
hair and her eyes, a pretty mixture of deep violet with chocolate brown around
the pupils which are very stunning in their own regard, but not quite equal to
the sheer beauty of her mother's wild blue and purple eyes. Though
one thing about her eyes that surpasses her mother's is the warmth, love and
compassion in them that her father's eyes once held so strongly.
"It was okay Mom," the youngster responds, now taking off her
backpack. "We took a test today but it was sooo
easy! I aced it and I wasn't even trying!" Ever since she was just a baby,
Keiko has shown signs of having a highly advanced intelligence. By the age of
two, she was solving complex formulas that most high
school graduates would have difficulty doing. She was offered to be skipped
ahead several grades, but Tokimi did not want her
child to miss out on her childhood and growing up normally, so now she is in
all advanced classes, and is the top student in each and every one of them.
The goddess smiles warmly and hugs the young girl tightly. "That is my
Keiko," she whispers, causing her little girl to giggle slightly. "Do
you have any homework?"
Keiko shakes her head. "I did but I finished it on the bus." She
clasps her hands together and gives her mother a pleading look, her eyes
sparkling with unshed tears. "Can we go to town in a little bit Mommy? I want to go to the mall."
Tokimi raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "We
were just at the mall last week. Why do you need to go again so soon?"
The child of Tokimi and Tenchi
rolls her eyes. "Mom...it's a girl thing, you'll never understand."
"You are correct in that assumption." The goddess and her child look
up as their doorbell rings. "Now I wonder who that could be?" she
ponders out loud, hoping it isn't another suitor that has come for her. Shortly
after she arrived on Earth and made the house her permanent residence, word
spread far and wide about her great beauty and how it appears that she is
single. Soon men from all corners of the universe flocked to this then little
known planet, searching for the goddess' hand in marriage. She rejected every
one that came her way without a second thought. There was only one man who she
was and still is interested in, and he died unfortunately nine years ago,
prompting her to alter her lifestyle to what it is now. Tokimi
opens the front door and is genuinely surprised to see a rather familiar face.
With only a couple of small wrinkles on the corners of her eyes to show that
time has indeed passed, Mihoshi Kuramitsu,
now a Captain of the Galaxy Police, stands before the goddess, still the vision
she was all those years ago with her dark skin, blonde hair and bright blue
eyes. She smiles kindly and bows respectfully, not ever having really met Tokimi before. "Hello, my name is Mihoshi.
Do...do you live here?"
The goddess does a quick bow back. "Yes, this is my house, why do you
ask?"
"Well...um...I used to live here a long time ago. I was wondering, do you know anything about the people who used to live in
this house?" The blonde rubs the back of her head, an innocent smile on
her face.
"I do not know anything about them," Tokimi
lies, keeping a neutral face as Mihoshi's smile fades
slightly. "I am sorry I could not help you further."
The GP Captain waves her hands around, tossing aside the goddess' apology.
"No! I'm the one who should be sorry! I didn't mean to bother you,
so...I'm sorry!" she bows down again.
"Apology accepted," the goddess curtly replies. "It was nice
meeting you Captain Kuramitsu."
Mihoshi's head snaps up, frowning slightly.
"Hey, how did you know my last name? And how did you know I'm a Captain."
Tokimi points to the gold nametag on the front of the
blonde's uniform shirt over the left pocket which says, 'Capt. M. Kuramitsu.' Mihoshi blushes
deeply, an embarrassed smile now on her still youthful
looking face. "Oh! I'm sorry again! Well it was nice meeting you too
Miss..."
"Tokimi," the goddess answers. "My
name is Tokimi." With another short bow and a
wave, the GP Captain turns around and leaves. The
goddess closes the door and walks back into the living room, where her daughter
is now watching the television while eating some of the rice balls her mother
was preparing for her when she walked in from school. Tokimi
smiles at her young child for a moment. "You should make sure that you
have changed your clothes by the time I come back down from the shrine,"
she begins, getting the young girl's attention. "I do not believe you will
desire to wear your school uniform to the mall."
Keiko smiles widely and rushes over to her mother, wrapping her arms around her
in a warm and loving hug. "I love you Mom."
"I love you too my little Keiko." She watches as her daughter rushes
upstairs to her room before walking out the front door.
The stone steps leading up to the Masaki Shrine and the shrine itself have been
kept in good clean order all these years, mainly by Tokimi's
influence. She calmly walks up the stairs and makes her way past the shrine to
a small secluded spot, where three graves are laid down next to one another.
The goddess procures up three red roses, one for each grave. The first grave is
the oldest, having been placed there about twenty-seven years ago. The second
grave is much younger, having been set down a little over nine years ago while the last, and most important grave to Tokimi, was set only a few months after that one.
The goddess lowers her head and closes her eyes. "Mother, Father, Tenchi," she calmly begins, "it has been hard,
living like I have for the past nine years. Everything is so different and
difficult. I find myself waking up in the middle of the night at times, my body
covered in sweat and tears pouring from my eyes. I feel...cold and lonely...and
frightened. Keiko has helped improve my moods greatly, but it is not all that I
need. I desire you, my beloved Tenchi, to stand by my
side once again, so you can watch our daughter grow up and become a beautiful
woman and be proud of her. Mother, Father, I desire you to be here as well, and
complete the remnants of this broken family. I desire to have the power to
bring all of you back, but I cannot and even if I could, I do not think I could
do so, knowing my actions would bring with them cataclysmic consequences. I...I
am sorry. I wish I could be stronger, but I need your help. Please." she
falls to her knees as she covers her face with her hands, the tears now flowing
freely from her eyes.
She looks up suddenly as all three graves begin to glow a faint blue and hum in
rhythm. Tokimi shields her eyes as a brilliant light
emerges from each grave. When she looks back, she gasps as the ghostly images
of Kiyone Achika Masaki, Noboyuki Masaki and Tenchi Masaki
stand before her. All three smile warmly before molding into one particle of
light and slowly coming towards the goddess.
At first Tokimi backs up, but freezes as she hears,
'Do not be afraid my love. We heard your plea and we wish to help you...so just
stay calm and remember that I'll always love you.' That old sparkle of life
that left her eyes nine years ago suddenly returns at the sound of her beloved Tenchi's voice. She closes her eyes and smiles, allowing
the spirits to help.
They envelop her body and as soon as it began, it ended. The goddess opens her
eyes, a brilliant smile on her beautiful face. "I...I understand now. I am
sorry for allowing myself to sink to such a state." She wipes the tears
from her eyes. Tokimi then places both her hands on
her heart. "Even with you gone, a part of you still remains with me, and
always will. Thank you. I can now go on with my life, knowing that you are
watching over me, protecting me. I love you...goodbye." She turns around
and leaves the graves, soon walking down the steps to her home and her awaiting
daughter. Though life has dealt her great tragedy, she has moved on and will
gladly go through her life with her loving daughter, knowing that she is loved
and admired. Tokimi is happy and always will be, now
and forever.
The End
______
Author's notes: *sniff* Oh, that was so sad just to
write it! To tell you the truth, this was the original ending I had set up when
I first started this series, but I went with the other one after the series
became more popular and I wanted a way to continue it. I hope you all enjoy the
original ending to The Darkness Within.
I'm still going through ideas for the prequel story. I could really use some
ideas if you people have any good ones. Since this fic
will focus all on Tokimi watching Tenchi
grow up, I need some ideas of things he could go through while growing up. I
want to see this fic done and posted as much as you
guys so any good ideas would be much appreciated. - lighthawkdemon
Questions or comments? E-mail me at: [email protected]