Baby Mine

Chapter Eight

~~~ indicates a flashback.


“Come with me, Ryoko, I only have an hour before I leave and I want to spend it with you,” Tenchi pulled Ryoko outside towards the woods.

“You make it sound like we’ll only see each other occasionally,” laughed Ryoko as she followed her fiancé.

Tenchi looked back at her and grinned. He led her to a clearing and then stopped. He pulled Ryoko around to face him and reached into his pocket.

“I told you I would get you the most beautiful ring and I did. Here, this is for you.”

Ryoko stared at the navy blue velvet box in Tenchi’s hand. She slowly reached out, took it and then opened it. She gasped when she saw the ring inside. “Oh, Tenchi, you shouldn’t have. This…this must have cost you a fortune!”

Tenchi shrugged. “I had it custom made if you hadn’t noticed. You are worth it though, Ryoko, so don’t worry about it.”

The ring was a thin band of gold. The setting was made of three emeralds in the shape of the three triangles that formed on Tenchi’s forehead whenever he formed the light Hawk Wings. In the middle of each triangle was a round ruby representing Ryoko’s gems. Inscribed on the left side of the setting was Tenchi’s name and inscribed on the right was Ryoko’s. Inside the ring Tenchi had had the simple phrase ‘I love you’ inscribed. Tenchi took the ring and slipped on to Ryoko’s finger. Then he pulled her to him and kissed her deeply then proceeded to make love to her for the last time for quite a while.

* * *

“We better start getting back, you leave in about fifteen minutes,” Ryoko said softly as she sat up to get dressed.

“I don’t want to. I want to just stay right here with you by my side,” Tenchi moaned as he reached for Ryoko’s hand.

“Sorry, Tenchi, but you can’t. You’ll just have to live without me by your side for a couple of months. Then you can come back and have me stuck to you for the rest of our lives.”

Tenchi laughed as he got dressed and stood up. “Yes, but I’ll also have one more along for the ride as well.” He patted Ryoko’s slightly rounded stomach.

“I have something for you, too,” Ryoko reached into her pocked and pulled out a box that was slightly bigger than the one Tenchi had given her.

“You really didn’t have to, Ryoko,” Tenchi said softly as he took the box. Ryoko just shrugged.

Inside was a beautifully crafted pocket watch. On the front was inscribed Tenchi’s name while on the back was inscribed ‘I love you’ and it had Ryoko’s signature inscribed underneath the note. Tenchi looked up at Ryoko with love shining in his chocolate brown eyes.

“It was the closest thing to a locket for a guy I could think of,” Ryoko admitted softly.

Tenchi looked back down at the watch and opened it. On the inside of the front cover was a picture of him and Ryoko. He remembered the day it was taken.


~~~Ryoko had entered a contest but had not won. Instead she had received coupons to get family photos taken at half the price for the holidays. So the whole gang had piled into the Masaki van and driven to the mall to get their photos taken. First Tenchi, his father and grandfather had had theirs taken then Ayeka and Sasami, then Kiyone and Mihoshi, then Ryoko, Washu and Ryo-Ohki. Washu had had a problem with deciding whether or not to have her picture taken in her adult or child form.

“You’re always in your child form Washu, why don’t you just take it that way?” Tenchi had suggested.

“Yeah, I can say you’re my little sister,” Ryoko had reassured.

That had been the deciding factor for Washu. She had decided to be in her adult form, much to Ryoko’s relief. Once all the individual pictures had been taken, they took a picture of the entire gang. There was one picture left and Ryoko had had trouble deciding who it should go to.

“You take it Ryoko, after all, you did get the free coupons,” Kiyone had smiled.

After looking at everybody else to make sure it was okay, Ryoko had gone over to the stool in front of the screen and sat down. She waited for the photographer to get the camera ready in silence while Ayeka made noises of annoyance off to the side.

“Oh, are you in the photo as well?” the photographer suddenly asked.

Ryoko looked up at him in confusion and she opened her mouth to tell him that she was the only one in it until a voice had spoken up.

“Yes, of course I’m going to be in this picture, that is, if it’s okay with you, Ryoko?”

“Of course, Tenchi, I have no complaints,” Ryoko had smiled.

So the photographing had commenced. Like all the other photos there were numerous takes. The first one had Ryoko sitting on the stool with Tenchi behind her with his hand on her shoulder. The second one had Ryoko still sitting on the stool only this time Tenchi had his arms wrapped around her shoulders and his cheek was pressed against hers. That one had caused some rather loud complaints from Ayeka who’d had to be taken out of the store. The third one was the same position only their roles were reversed. The next one had Tenchi and Ryoko standing with their bodies facing each other but their faces faced the camera. Tenchi had his arms wrapped around her waist while Ryoko had her left arm wrapped around his neck and her right hand rested on his upper arm. For the last picture they had to wait for the photographer to reset the camera. Tenchi had happened to glance upwards and had caught sight of the sprig of mistletoe hanging almost unnoticeably from the ceiling. As soon as the camera was all set the photographer turned back to them.

“Okay on the count of three, one, two…” Tenchi pulled Ryoko close to him and kissed her, “Three!” The camera flashed.

“Toki, you have one weird sense of humor,” the camera man muttered with a grin as he turned to his partner.

“Hey, not everyone sees that and when they do it’s kind of funny to see what they do,” Toki grinned.

“Yeah, those two seem to still be finding out the effects of your mistletoe,” the cameraman pointed out as he gestured towards the still kissing Tenchi and Ryoko.

That had been the first time Tenchi had ever kissed Ryoko and it had pushed his heart even further over the line towards choosing her. Of course, he had used the excuse of the mistletoe to explain his reasons for the kiss but at the time Ryoko hadn’t cared since she had received a kiss from him in the first place and Ayeka hadn’t.~~~


Tenchi smiled as he thought about that day. Ryoko didn’t know that Tenchi had bought that picture. She had decided to get the one with her and Tenchi standing in each other’s arms and the one with her sitting and Tenchi standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder. The one with them standing was in the front inside cover and in the back cover was the other picture of them.

Tenchi looked back up at Ryoko as he came back from his memories.

“Thank you, Ryoko, I love it.”

Ryoko smiled as she ducked her head. Tenchi pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

“When I get to college I don’t want to hear your voice, I don’t want to know what you look like and I don’t want to see you at any point while I’m gone. I don’t even want to see you when I come back for our wedding. I want to be surprised by how beautiful you look when you walk down the isle towards me,” Tenchi informed his fiancée.

“Don’t you want to know anything about me?” Ryoko questioned in confusion.

“I only want to know that you are doing fine.”

“Okay, but you have to promise me that you will take care of yourself and not let any thoughts of me distract you from your school work. I will not have you come home looking like a walking zombie. Do that for me, dear, and I will inform everyone that you do not wish to have any word regarding me,” Ryoko smirked.

“Deal,” Tenchi promised.

The two of them headed back to the house where Nobuyuki and all the rest of the gang were waiting. Tenchi went around and said his good byes and received his ‘college gifts’ from everyone then he climbed into the passenger seat in the van. He rolled down the window and motioned towards Ryoko. As soon as she approached he reached out and put a hand on her cheek.

“I love you, Ryoko,” he whispered.

“And I love you too, Tenchi. Take care of your self,” she whispered back as a tear trickled down her cheek. Tenchi leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers for the last time until their wedding. Everyone stared in surprise at Tenchi. He had never expressed his love for Ryoko in such a physical way in public. The closest he had ever done was hug her, hold her hand, or kiss her cheek.

“Everyone, I don’t want to come home and find Ryoko unwell. I expect you all to take good care of her while I’m gone other wise you will have to answer to me,” Tenchi ordered.

“Don’t worry, Lord Tenchi, we will take good care of her,” Ayeka bowed as she reassured him.

‘See what I told you, Mom? He’s become a protective husband already!’ Ryoko pointed out to her mother through their link as she suddenly burst out into tears. Washu made her way over towards her daughter to envelope her in a hug while Ryoko cried.

“What’s wrong with her, Washu?” Sasami asked, concerned.

“Because of her pregnancy, her hormones are really unstable at times. This is one of them. So if she starts crying at random times or becomes angry for no real reason, don’t worry, it’s just the hormones. If that happens it’s best to just leave her alone until she calms down,” Washu explained.

“Oh. Don’t worry, Ryoko; everything will be just fine, you’ll see. Just think, only two months until you become Mrs. Tenchi Masaki!” Sasami reassured the space pirate.

Ayeka, who had been watching the van drive off with a waving Tenchi, turned towards her former enemy. “Miss Ryoko, I don’t know if this is an inopportune time to tell you this but I would like to take you up on your offer for being one of your bridesmaids.”

“Of course, Ayeka. Thank you,” Ryoko sniffed as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“Come on, everyone, let’s get back inside. We have a wedding to plan,” Ayeka smiled gently.

With that, they all entered the house and got back to their daily routine.