Tenchi looked up from the game board, taking a considering look at his opponent. Zelgadis ignored his look, concentrating on the game. Sasami, who was clearing away the breakfast dishes, paused briefly on her way to the kitchen. "Tenchi, Zelgadis, if you're done with your cups, I can take them into the kitchen."
Zelgadis shook his head no, while Tenchi reached a hand up to the water jug Sasami was carrying. "I think I'll hold onto mine for a bit longer Sasami. Would it bother you to leave the water here?"
"Not at all, here you go." Sasami disappeared into the kitchen, and soon vague sounds of water and dishes drifted to them. Tenchi glanced across the board at Zel. "Hey, Zelgadis."
"Yes?"
"How long have you known Lina?"
Zelgadis was silent for a second before answering. "Almost three years."
"Three years? That's quite some time. Care to tell me how you met her?"
"In an Inn on the border of Kenmarl, almost into the foothills of the Renmare Mountains."
Tenchi waited for Zel to continue. He waited for a good five minutes before trying to prompt more of the story out of Zelgadis. "And . . . ?"
"And what?"
"And how is that you met her there?"
"She had stolen treasure from a bandit gang just a bit before. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that treasure included something that Rezo had sent me to find. I offered to buy it from her, and she decided to charge me some very ridiculous prices. I attempted to bargain with her, and ended up having to warn her that the following morning, once she left the inn, I would have to take that item from her by force." Tenchi blinked in surprise. That had not been what he was expecting.
"Over the next few days, I sent some beserkers, as well as a group of trolls and my friend Rodimus after her, to retrieve the item. On the third encounter, I fought her myself, defeated her, and took her back to our hideout to ascertain where she had hidden the item."
Tenchi watched Zel, mute with surprise and no little amount of shock, as Zelgadis took a sip of water from his cup. "As it was, she had given the item to Gourry, who was out looking for her. During the night, I decided that the best chances I had of retrieving the item was to free her, and guard her from Rezo until I had a chance to retrieve it."
A small, fond, smile drifted across Zelgadis's face briefly before it settled into a more neutral expression.
"She is quite an unusual young lady, although I doubt she's as young as she looks. Most likely about twenty-four or twenty-five, but that could be even more way off than a guess of two hundred and seventy-three."
Tenchi nodded, still unnerved by how calmly Zel was talking about being an enemy to someone who was obviously a friend now.
"Aaaahhh ... nothing like a hot bath ... except having a hot man ...." Ryoko leaned back, sipping her sake. Lina smirked at Ryoko from her spot across the pool, giggling and a little tipsy. "Depends on the man."
"Miss Lina! We're too young to know about that!" Amelia looked utterly shocked, staring at the woman she had taken as a teacher in magic. Amelia had never asked Lina how old she was, and had assumed she really was the fifteen she looked like. Lina turned towards Amelia, looking indignant. "Did you really think I was the age I look? Gah, you can be such an idiot at times Amelia!" A look of disgust passed over Lina's face at Amelia's hesitant nod. "I never told you, did I?"
"Told me what?"
"About magic and aging."
"Oh?" Ryoko moved over towards Lina with a new sake bottle, curious about this. Lina took a swig from the bottle before answering. "Magical ability slows down the aging process, in and of itself, but untrained magic, even of the highest quality, will only add, say, fifty years total to the complete lifespan of that person." Lina gave the bottle a considering look. "Hmm, I'd better stop, or I'm going to have a hangover." She set the bottle on the side of the pool. "Each spell learned, in proportion to the amount of your talent it focuses, slows down your aging process. The dragon slave alone has slowed my aging down to three times the human norm. Heh, the only reason why I don't look as young as I should is that I only learned it about, oh, six years ago."
Ryoko blinked, thinking about that. "How old are you?"
Lina smirked, a faint note of bitterness crept into her voice. "I'm twenty-five, still a virgin, and I won't look eighteen until I'm in my late forties at the earliest."
They had been sparring for three hours straight, alternating between one-to-one, two-to-one, and free-for-all to make the most out of the ongoing fight. The brief rests the one-to-one parts of the fight allowed them to rest, at various times, and thus enabled the fight to continue for longer. Rezo was currently sparring with Kagato as Yosho sat to one side and called out criticisms of their styles, as well as an occasional suggestion.
Yosho whacked the gong by his side, signaling the end of the fight. Rezo and Kagato easily dropped out of the fighting stances they had just been in, despite the fact that one of those stances had been three feet off the ground. And still was, as Kagato tilted his head to one side in consideration, looking at Yosho. "Why stop now?"
"You're both pretty rusty." Yosho said flatly, a look of resignation on his face. He stood, lifting the bokken he held in one hand. "And it seems I shall be the one to bring you back up to par."
If anyone had been watching them, the identical smiles on their faces would have given that person the heebie-jeebies.
Mihoshi yawned, waking up from her nap on the porch. It had been a nice nap, but now it was over. It took her mind a few seconds to absorb that information, but once it had, she looked around perkily, trying to find out what was going on. Maybe the blonde haired man sitting over there knew what was going on.
"Hello, what are you doing? You're new here, aren't you? Have you met Ryoko yet? She's a space pirate, you know, although she hasn't done anything like that for over seven hundred years. Can you imagine what it would be like to be trapped in a cave for seven hundred years? I think it would be rather lonely, don't you think so ..." Mihoshi chirped, and kept on chirping, going straight over poor Gourry's head for the most part. However, this was all right with him, as he was watching Mihoshi instead of listening to her. Mihoshi, in all of her general forgetfulness, had forgotten to put on a bra today. And she was wearing shorts and tank top. Gourry was quite enjoying the view, and in his usual direct from brain to mouth mode of conversation, said so. She was quite flattered, and in her normal, chattery, style, told him so. He was surprised, to say the least, as he normally got slapped whenever he said something like that.
About an hour later, Mihoshi and Gourry had obtained a small audience, consisting of Aeyka, Washu and Lina. "It's amazing, isn't it, that two idiots could talk for hours on absolutely nothing?" Lina commented, answered by firm nods from Washu and Aeyka.
Much later that night, after everyone was asleep in their various, rather crowded, rooms, Ryoko and Washu were in Washu's lab, talking over tea and crackers. As Washu watched, crackers were disappearing into Ryoko's mouth at record speed.
"You know, Ryoko dear, your table manners are atrocious. It's little wonder that Tenchi sometimes feels uncomfortable around you." Washu promptly found herself grabbed by the neck and hauled in to within one inch of a furious Ryoko's face. "Just what do you mean by that?!" Ryoko shouted, the black tail of her dress frizzing out completely in a hostile set of curves. Washu sighed, leaning back slightly to be able to look her daughter straight in the eye. "Ryoko, I'm not saying there is something wrong with the way you are, and I am sure that Tenchi appreciates that you are honest with him about who you are .... "
Something in Washu's tone of voice made Ryoko let go, falling back slightly. Washu continued, seemingly not noticing. "But, and I do mean but, what you are also terrifies him. You're so very different from what he's been raised to expect, what most of the women in his life were like, you overwhelm him. It's not just your manners or habits, or your powers, it's all three of those things combined. He was less annoyed with Zero because she took no for an answer, unlike yourself. That and she was also willing to do her portion of the work. Zero, who was also you, was your power and your habits, but not your manners. Do you remember how Tenchi acted then?"
"No." Ryoko looked away, not sure of what else to say or do. Washu frowned worriedly, concern growing on her face. "You should, the merge was complete!"
Ryoko shook her head. And suddenly, it wasn't Ryoko sitting in front of Washu. The body was the same, yes, but the posture, the body language, of this person was much calmer, far more dignified. A chill raced up Washu's spine.
"No, it wasn't. Physically, it was, but mentally, we have merged only with our youngest self, the one we were as a child. She and I, like reflections in a mirror, act upon what we see with these eyes." Ryoko gestured gracefully with one hand towards her eyes. The grace of that movement was far more cat-like than Ryoko normally was, and yet, also very alien in it's smoothness. Whoever was speaking continued, and she was now the one in control of the conversation. "The Ryoko that emerged from the caves, and the one born of Zero, we are one at our deepest levels, and yet at the surface we still fight .... or more accurately, she controls voice completely and action to some extent while I perceive. But we do, on occasion, switch. As it is now. You may speak to only her, if you wish, or you may speak to me. Keep in mind, there are spots of our unity that are unclear to both of us." Washu nodded timidly, terrified for and of her daughter, and yet knowing that she would be unable to help Ryoko unless she knew more.