Brief Introduction and Disclaimer
This story was written to lock onto the end of my two earlier endeavours - Dark Heart Parts 1 and 2. So if you haven't read them already, you're welcome to take a stab at this one on it's own. It just might not make a lot of sense in places!
As with Dark Heart, the basis for this story is strongly Tenchi Universe. However, there are several OVA themes which have been overlaid into the plot in places where I've seen fit to add them. I have done my best not to force an OVA storyline in where it could not fit - but to me, most of the OVA concepts can fit into Tenchi Universe without too much complication.
I must note once more my butchering of the Jurai family tree from the OVA and from Universe to make a workable dynasty with recognisable characters. As I said before, the dynastic situation in Universe just does not make any sense whatsoever, and for my purposes, having Yosho and Ayeka as blood brother and sister does not fit the Universe template. So I have done some meshing, and this follows the same scheme as the last one in that regard (I.e Azusa is Ayeka's uncle and Yosho's father, and the living emperor of Jurai.).
No other major character liberties have been taken with this story, except to transfer certain OVA concepts to their logical positions in the Universe-sphere (for example, if Kagato was a Prince of Jurai, he must have had a spaceship tree, and his OVA spaceship is named Souja, therefore his tree is logically called Souja in my story-verse.).
I'm still getting to grips with these characters, and I hope they won't do too much slipping OOC throughout the course of writing. And of course, cards on the table from the start - if you are NOT a fan of Tenchi x Ryoko pairings, you will probably hate this story (and also me for ever and ever!). However, if you are a fan of other characters than Ryoko, I have done my best to retain the show's objective balance and not be too harsh when representing any other character. Hopefully I've succeeded! It's worth noting (and probably obvious if you've read Dark Heart) that Sasami is going to feature quite a lot in this as well!
Finally - as I've said before - thank you to everyone who takes time to read my story and to people who take time to review it also! I appreciate comments and don't mind criticism so long as it's constructive and not abusive (which I think is what most people think, so...)
This is a story in progress, in that it's being written bit by bit rather than all going up at once like the others. It's been a particularly dull and rainy day off work today, so I decided to mess around a bit and see what happened:D
SYNOPSIS
With Ayeka's marriage to Lord Takeru imminent, all
seems to be well on Jurai. The deadly space pirate Haki and his devil
ship Karasu have been successfully imprisoned in a remote subspace
dimension from which they will not find it easy to escape, and Ryoko
is recovering slowly but surely from the beating she took aboard the
Phoenix vessel. The three Juraian gems are back in Royal custody,
sealed safely in the Royal Vault, away from prying eyes and hands.
For Ryoko, the future could not look any brighter. At long
last, she feels she has Tenchi in her hands and that somehow they
will be able to make a go of things, despite their many differences.
A pardon for her crimes and the ear of the Juraian emperor Asuza
seems to ensure that her life will no longer be plagued by bounty
hunters and the Galaxy Police, and despite having a complete memory,
she sees no reason to dwell on the past. Her family, like her battle
with Haki, are things to be forgotton and left behind. Sasami's
unusual behaviour has become impossible to keep hidden, and her
parents are anxious and angry that their youngest child has been
exposed to such danger and intrigue. Sasami's behaviour is neither
shock nor teenage attitude, however - for with Tsunami's spirit
stirring within her, she feels sure something much bigger is on the
horizon. Then the cries for help start...cries from a dying
spirit begging to be
released... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter
One
by
VraieEsprit
In the Before Time, there were no trees on Jurai.
A barren, flat ball of rock, it spun aimlessly around it's solar star, held in place only by the force of the Gods.
Life was hard on this rock. There was little water, and less shade. Days were long and hot, and nights cold and bleak. Of the tribes that lived there, many perished, and those who did not fought among one another for the few lakes and pools the planet boasted. Food was scarce, and animals scarcer. But the people had nowhere else to go, and so they lived on on this bleak planet, toiling and fighting to keep themselves and their families alive.
A girl was born in this Before Time. She was the heiress of her tribe, the daughter of a great and respected chief and her beauty was legend across the whole of the beleaguered planet. Many travelled simply to see her face, for beauty was rare and precious, and few things glowed with it in the way that she did.
The child was born the day a new star shone in the heavens, and because of this, her people believed she was blessed by the Gods themselves. Soon their beliefs bore fruit, for the child grew strong and healthy where others failed and died, bringing strong harvests to barren desert land with the strength of her faith and gentle nature. As her fame spread, the tribes put down their weapons, humbled and awed by the greatness of the One who had come to them in their hour of need. As she grew older, she summoned rainfall and flooded plains, and as the huge waves crested over the cracked, parched soil, the people named her Tsunami in the Old Language, for she was the bringer of water, and water was the foundation for life.
Tsunami grew and blossomed, and as she developed, so she became wise and strong. And while her father's people toiled the surface, she often felt a voice, calling to her from deep beneath the ploughed fields and glistening flowers. When she slept, she heard her planet crying, and calling to her through it's tears, telling her that though it's face was beautiful, still it's heart was cold. Through her dreams, Tsunami forged a bond with her World, and swore that she would one day release it's heart and teach the people how to reach it.
When Tsunami grew up, her father had many suitors for her hand in marriage. But Tsunami turned them all down, saying that she had but one husband and he was the rock on which they stood. She said that she wanted no other heart but the heart of their World, and that she would win his heart or die in the attempt. The people did not understand, and returned to reaping their harvests and sowing their crops in the land that Tsunami had brought life to. For a while, Tsunami helped them, but she grew weary of this life, knowing as she did that she could touch the surface of the World forever without truly reaching the planet's heart.
One day she left her father's settlement, and journeyed deep into the depths of the world. As she travelled deeper, the light became darkness and Tsunami realised that the World was not beautiful beneath it's developing exterior. Tsunami was sorry for the World, and as she reached it's core, she pressed her hands to it's beating heart, feeling the deep loneliness within. As she touched the crystal heart, light began to glow all around her, and the world spoke to her, begging her never to leave it's side again.
Tsunami told the World that her people relied on her to bring the rain and keep the fields happy and full of crops for harvest. The World promised that, if she stayed, all the landscape would become as her lands were, full and rich with plants and life like none that had ever been seen before. When she heard this, Tsunami agreed to stay with the World, and forged herself with it's heart, promising that she would never leave it, no matter what perils they should face.
As Tsunami slept deep within the core of the World, the landscape above rippled and shone, and all across the land trees began to sprout, spreading their branches wide into the sky and sending out glittering beams of light that touched the people and made them feel the power of the World's heart. And where Tsunami's house had stood, the tallest and most beautiful of the trees grew up, twisting it's branches high into the blue.
And the people of the world knew that this was Tsunami's tree, the mother of every tree and the guardian of her tribe. Though she sleeps still beneath the soil of Jurai's prosperous landscape, her people believe she will one day rise up and defend them all from Eternal Darkness.
So tells the legend of the Goddess Tsunami, the keeper of the Tree of Life.