Once and Never

Chapter One: I Never Loved You

Claimer: I own all of the Tenchi Muyo characters! Mwahahahaha! Sue me!

Disclaimer: Don't sue me. I only own some of Washu's experiments!

It was a day, same day as every day, sunny and bright as usual. It never rains around here, snows once every five years, and still we have green trees for me to sit in while I write this shit down. My life was hell, is hell, will always be hell. Want to argue? Read the rest of this shit, and you'll believe me.

I can't believe I just swore five times in the first paragraph! That's not like me, anymore. I'm not like that now, I've stopped…. I stopped it all for him.

It was a sunny, sunny day in the rainless green forest of Japan. I was sitting in a tree then too, same tree as I'm writing from. Tenchi was at school; Ayeka was watching some soap, and Sasami was cleaning or something. I think Mihoshi and Kiyone were on patrol, but I wasn't really paying attention to what that pair of idiots were doing. Tenchi was coming home soon, and I didn't care about much else, except for seeing that Ayeka didn't get to him first.

He walked up the path in his cute way, called a "Hello, Ryoko!" to me, in his cute way, and walked into the house in his cute way. I fell out of the tree in what I hoped was a cute way.

When I finally got up and found Tenchi, he was talking with Sasami. "Hey Tenchi." I cooed into his ear as I snuck up behind him, teleported through him, and gave him a hug. He tensed a little, but that could have been from surprise. I kissed him on the cheek, and disappeared as he pulled away. Another failed attempt to get him to respond. As I had told him once before "Another battle lost. That's the story of my life."

Ayeka finished her soap and turned off the television. She walked into the kitchen as Sasami started making dinner. I decided to watch them through the wall. "Why, hello, Tenchi." She said, blushing like she was surprised to find him there. "Did you have a good day?"

Why was she asking him that? It wasn't like she was his wife! "Did you have a good day?"

Tenchi nodded. "Hello Ayeka. I hope your day was as good as mine."

What? "As good as mine"? What kind of answer was that?

Ayeka blushed furiously, then answered "Yes, thank you."

What was going on here? I decided it was time to stop this before I figured out the answer. I had a feeling I wouldn't like the answer.

"Sasami, is dinner ready yet?" I asked, trying to look like I hadn't been listening. It wasn't hard, because they hadn't been really talking about anything.

"Just a minute!" She replied in that cheerful way that only a little kid could manage. I would have killed Sasami if I thought that would let me be carefree too. Don't little kids have any problems?

I sure did. Space Pirates don't grow out of kindness and love, you know. Maybe some, but not me. Never knowing your mother or father, living on the streets, that kind of life can make you turn out so cheerful and happy. I wish.

When I was nine I got hooked on cocaine, which was an old drug that was cheap enough for me to buy. Naturally, I couldn't afford it for long, so my rehab wasn't a horror story, but it was pretty bad. At eleven, I discovered drinking, a habit that I still have not been able to break. Anytime that I get depressed I run to the back cabinet, and dig out a bottle of saki. It says tea on the bottle, so no one knows about it, but they know what I've been doing. It's hard to hide being drunk when you blast holes in walls at midnight.

No walk in the park, let me tell you. I wasn't a space pirate until I was at least 13, and that was probably one of the easiest times in my life.

So, we ate dinner with a little more peace and quiet than normal, because Mihoshi and Kiyone were working late. I was a little bit drunk, but not so bad that I forgot anything. I was just telling one of my dumb blonde jokes, which I didn't make up to hurt Mihoshi.

"This one blonde was complaining to a brunette that her husband had really bad dandruff problems." I took a sip of my saki, which was not a big deal to drink, then. "The brunette advised her to give him Head & Shoulders. The blonde looked surprised, then asked 'Okay, but how do I give him Shoulders?'" I laughed hilariously at my own joke. "Get it? Hey, Tenchi," I stopped laughing and slid seductively to sit close to him. Nobiyuki, that pervert, stared at my breasts, but I ignored him, feeling sorry for Achika. "Tenchi, do you have dandruff problems? Want me fix them for you?"

"Ryoko…" He slid away uncomfortably. Ayeka glared, then looked relieved as Tenchi stood up to say something.

"I have an announcement to make." He said. "I, well, I know this will come as a shock to some of you, but, well, umm…Ayeka and I have decided to get married."

Yosho, Nobiyuki, Sasami, even Washu applauded for them. I'm sure Kiyone and Mihoshi would have applauded too, had they been there. I froze for a moment, then sank slowly into the floor to keep them from seeing me cry. Just a moment to late, Tenchi noticed me gone. Just a moment to late, I disappeared, leaving a tear on the floor.

Ayeka watched me leave, a smug smile on her face. No love was shining in those eyes, just hate for me, and a fierce triumph.

"Ryoko…please try to understand…" Tenchi shifted uncomfortably. "I love Ayeka, and I'm sorry for hiding it from you, but…"

"Always the man for comforting people, aren't you, Tenchi?"

"Ryoko! Please, I'm trying."

"Really? I didn't notice." Were you 'trying' to break my heart, too? I wanted to ask. Were you trying to love me?

Ayeka appeared in the doorway. "Tenchi, Grandfather wants to talk to you."

"Thank you, Ayeka." He stopped to kiss her cheek as he left the room. "Always the man for comforting people." I sighed.

Ayeka stood there, smiling at me triumphantly. She was in her element, she had won and she knew it.

"How does it feel?" I asked her.

"I could ask you the same, Ryoko, but I already know the answer. And I think that you can imagine."

I ignored the emphasis on 'imagine'. She was right. I would only imagine. "Ayeka?"

"Yes?"

"Do you truly love Tenchi?"

"Hm, never thought I'd hear the word 'love' from a space pirate. Well, I guess I could answer your question." She paused, for effect, I think. "Truly? No. I could care less about Tenchi, even if he is my great nephew. Yosho is not my half-brother anymore…he has not been since he left Jurai. I could never forgive that. You want my real reasons, Ryoko? You. I did all of this to beat you."

I was half expecting a "Congratulations, you're on 'Jurai Candid Camera'!" guy to jump out, telling me that this was all a joke.

Ayeka wasn't done, she was still relishing her victory. She continued to spew my faults to me, but I wasn't listening anymore. She wasn't noticing anything around her anymore, apparently, because Tenchi had just walked into the room and was staring at her with a mixture of horror and tragedy. I wanted to slap them both.

"See, so all that he ever was to me was a way to beat you, Ryoko. I NEVER LOVED TENCHI!" She finished, still smiling. She turned around to see Tenchi standing there, and looked surprised, but not much else.

"Oh, so know you know too, Tenchi? That's good, killing two birds with one stone. I'll be going now, as soon as I find Sasami. Goodbye, Ryoko, Tenchi." And Ayeka walked out the door.