A/N: As a response to reader's reviews I have decided to add an epilogue. I agreed with it being too brief and wondered why I didn't think of an epilogue to begin with. Though I must admit… this in itself is a pretty short epilogue and may leave you wanting more. However that is exactly why I'm writing a sequel ^_^. Stay tuned for SPT II! Please read and review!

The Space Pirate Tales

Epilogue: Revelations

Rio let her feet sift through the snow on the ground, leaving tracks as she made her way to the docks. Anyone else who had dared to come barefoot might have suffered some serious frostbite, but it wasn't all that bad for her. She sat down at the docks and admired the mirror surface that the lake had turned into, and then looked at her hand. The future she came from no longer existed, but she still did. It had troubled her somewhat when trying to work everything out (she had even conducted serious research on it, but kept on finding too many loose strands with each theory and experiment.) In the end she had just given up and decided there was no point in worrying about it—alive was alive after all.

"Just because you don't have to wear shoes, doesn't mean you shouldn't." Rio looked up to see her mother hovering about her.

"It feels refreshing." Rio defended herself as she lied herself on the snow-covered dock.

"Is that so?" Ryoko lay next to her daughter and sighed—so much had happened since that terrifying night.

"Shouldn't you be inside? I mean with the way you are, and all…" Rio smiled as she eyed Ryoko's mid-section. "Wouldn't want my future sibling to become a popsicle." She rubbed her mother's belly with a gentle touch.

Ryoko grinned and pulled Rio in for a hug. "You'll provide the necessary warmth." She strangled her daughter with affection.

Rio laughed as she struggled to break free, but eventually gave into her mother's antics. "I hope it's a boy."

"What makes you say that?" Ryoko peered into her daughter's eyes with a questioning gaze.

Rio squirmed uncomfortably as she tried to formulate an answer. She couldn't just tell her mother what she feared the most was having someone brought into the world that was just like her. In fact, Rio had never thought about it, but would this baby have been her if in fact Kronos had never existed? The possibilities only brought heartache and headaches to Rio.

"What if… she's just like me?" Rio sighed as she lay in her mother's arms. "What if I wasn't supposed to exist and she is…"

Ryoko pondered on the question—it had come to her before.

"Do you think that's possible?" Ryoko asked in earnest.

"Sometimes… I don't know." Rio groaned as her mind began to do flips in order to calculate the actual possibility.

"Would you feel replaced?" Ryoko nailed it right on the spot.

"In a way, yes. If she were to be born exactly as I am, then I wrongfully stood here, knowing full well that this time wasn't my own."

"Here's what I think." Ryoko placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Even if it's a girl, she'll be nothing like you. I think Washu knew she'd be able to save you, and sent you here to live out the rest of your life. Your place is here with me." She placed Rio's hand on her beating heart. "You'll always have a place."

Rio's eyes watered as she took in her mother's warm gaze and gesture. She wrapped her arms around Ryoko and pulled her into an embrace. For the first time, in a long time, she wept away her fears and let resolution take its place within her heart. Ryoko held her close and took in the cherry blossom scent that her daughter's hair produced—deep in her heart she had always known that Rio had been her gift. No one may have realized it yet, or would ever for that fact, but Rio was Washu's way of saying sorry—a correction for all the mistakes she had never fixed. When she had been in control of all six of the gems, much of Washu's purpose came through and Ryoko finally understood why Washu was so narrow-goaled in the first place.

"Which reminds me…" Ryoko cupped Rio's face as she examined her thoroughly. "Who's Salvatus?" She asked in a motherly tone.

"Who?" Rio tried her best at playing dumb—it wasn't working.

"Don't try to pull that on me." Ryoko smirked as she pulled at her daughter's elongated ear—she knew how much this hurt.

"Ow, ow, owwww! Ok!" Rio threw her hands up in surrender. "He's my…he's my…first kiss." Rio blurted out as she lightly touched her lips.

"What?"

Rio blushed at her mother's shocked expression. "I'm not sure how to explain. Kronos…changed." Rio smiled as she relived the dream. "And one day I'll see him again—Salvatus."

Ryoko took notice of the dreamy look in her daughter's eyes—it was much like the gaze she had for Tenchi. Her daughter had fallen in love and was most likely aware of it. She took her daughter's hand and helped her up.

"Well when he does come back… let's see if he passes all my tests!" She pounded her fist into her spare one.

Rio chuckled at the thought and looked towards the white sky—one day her heart would skip a beat for an unknown stranger and a long-lost friend.

A/N: I would very much like to read your reviews, specifically on what you'd like to see in the sequel.