[align=center]Act 3 – Love, A Warm Poison.[/align]
“Oh no, Tenchi’s not going to be happy about this.” With the moon at her back, Ryoko tried to re-sort the letters and stuff them back into the box but there was no way to make them sealed again. Even looking at the stack from a distance she could see the visible disturbances she had caused by ripping open almost a dozen envelopes. Multiple arrangements and much frustration later, she arrived at the decision that she was in trouble. She latched the box shut and held it close to her chest, looking down the mountainside at the house where everyone was at. Where Tenchi was possibly resting in his bed.
“Achika, please forgive me.”
In Tenchi’s study, he sat at his desk tending to some very late night homework by lamplight. He scribbled away, only occasionally stopping to tap the pencil to the side of his head in thought.
At the other side of the room, Ryoko teleported in clutching Achika’s letter box tightly. Tenchi had been concentrating too hard to hear her enter. She stood watching him work, afraid to disturb him. Whatever it was he was working on, it was the most important thing in the world to her. She also knew that he would most likely not be pleased with her when he found out what she had done, which caused her to drag her feet to the executioner’s block like a child knowing they got caught red handed stealing from the carnival. She felt the butterflies in her stomach, mind racing trying to come up with an excuse that sounded good to her. None of them did. They were all hollow and nowhere near acceptable for her Tenchi. She wasn’t quite ready when he turned around to stretch and locked eyes with her.
“Gah, Ryoko! How long have you been standing there?” He scooted back in his seat in surprise, but took note of the shock in her eyes. She worked overtime fumbling for anything to say.
“Tenchi, I… I didn’t mean to startle you,” was all she could muster.
“All this time and you still haven’t figured out how to knock.” It was then that Tenchi realized that something was locked in Ryoko’s arms. “What’s in your hands, Ryoko?” She pulled it back away and tried half-heartedly to block it from his view with her body.
“Nothing, it’s just something I found in the house. That’s all.”
“Well why are you holding it like your life depends on it?” Ryoko sighed, she knew there was no use hiding it from him. She slowly let her grip of the box go and held it out towards him.
“Take it.”
Tenchi stared at her, puzzled by this random display of kindness. It was not like her to show up with a gift out of the blue like this.
“Please, take it. It’s yours, not mine.” Her words weighed heavy with guilt, enough so that Tenchi was finally motivated to get up and investigate the box she held. He reached out and took it from her hands, holding it in the darker corner of the room they stood in for a moment. He ran his hand over the cool surface of the wooden exterior.
“It’s a really nice box, Ryoko. Where did you find it? I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before.” Tenchi turned around and set it on the desk, finding the latch and unhooking the mechanism. The sound the box made as the latch slapped against the lid and the creak of the hinge opening made her cringe. She wanted to teleport out of there now while she still could, vanish further up the hill and hide there until it was all over. But she knew she couldn’t do that.
“What’s this? It’s a bunch of letters…” Tenchi said as he shuffled through the top of the stack. “…from the 1980s? Huh, they’re addressed to me?” He pondered a moment.
“I’m sorry, Tenchi.” Ryoko felt the tears come on strong. She could no longer see but a vague colorful blur where her Tenchi once stood. At last he recognized what it was that sat in front of him. He quickly ruffled through the letters sitting in the box.
“Ryoko, where did you find this?! And why are some of them opened?” He turned to face her, exasperation in his every movement. “Answer me, Ryoko!”
“I found them after the fight Ayeka and I had during dinner. When everyone had left I found this box hidden behind the couch under the floor. I couldn’t help but open just one!” she pleaded.
“You opened a fourth of the letters! And why the hell would you open up letters addressed to
“I, I just…”
“Get out!”
“…huh?” Ryoko felt herself shatter in that moment.
“How could you peer into something this private with such little care? I can’t believe you, Ryoko.” He struggled to form his next words. Ryoko tried to beg for forgiveness.
“Please Tenchi, you don’t understand what I was going through!”
“You weren’t thinking, like always. Why do you have to be such a snoop? I hate you so much some times! Get out!” He threw his arms up in frustration and turned to the box. Sitting down in his chair, he devoted all attention to checking the dates on each letter as he sifted through to the back of the pile. Ryoko was gutted. Any semblance of happiness she had gotten from those letters earlier and her initial discovery of them was vaporized. She wanted nothing more than to continue to ask him to forgive her, but she stood and watched a moment just as she had when she first teleported in. Reading these letters was the most important thing now. And she accepted it.
Ryoko found herself a total mess on the roof. Tenchi’s words hammered away at her resolve, at last letting her tears stream out now that he was no longer in front of her. Still, she buried her head into her arms and cried under the moon for what felt like hours. In her head she kept trying to pull herself towards happier thoughts but the replay of what transpired between them continued to invade every single one. It was the longest night she’d ever had, a low she’d not reached since her 700 years of solitude.
That is, until she heard someone approaching from the other side of the roof.
“Ryoko,” Came a soft voice from behind her shoulder. “I knew I’d find you up here.” She couldn’t look at him, fresh tears still dripping down her cheeks. There was no doubt in her mind that he heard her crying. She didn’t want to have Tenchi see her like this, though she also felt her heart sting as she hung on to his voice saying her name. She was angry with him. Angry with herself. His footsteps drew near.
“Tenchi, we need to talk.” Her voice wavered, feeling the whirlwind of emotions she had tried to put aside long enough to speak choking her up.
“I know.”
Ryoko lifted her head out of her arms and locked eyes on the forming sunrise. The way it painted the deep night sky with hues of red and dark orange was such a romantic sight to behold. This moment in time was, regrettably, not one of romance. Tenchi took a seat beside her, his legs danging over the roof next to hers. So many sights matching up to her happiest daydreams of the two of them.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you, Ryoko. It wasn’t right of me to lose my head, no matter the cause.” Ryoko heard his words but tried her hardest not to turn and look into his eyes. She knew she would lose herself the moment she did.
“I made a mistake that I have to own up to,” she started, pausing a moment to collect as many thoughts as she could. “I share responsibility in this, Tenchi.”
“No, I-” He wasn’t sure how to respond. Ryoko was not one for accepting when she was the cause of something let alone admitting any amount of punishment was needed. He felt a light-hearted quip almost escape his lips, but thought better of it.
“But… can I help it?” Ryoko gave in and turned to face the man she loved. In the ruby light of the cresting morning her tears, streaking across her face, appeared all the more vivid to Tenchi. He hadn’t seen her like this since they were storming Jurai’s fleet to defeat Kagato.
“Help what?”
“When I found those letters, I almost couldn’t believe it. Curiosity got the best of me and I couldn’t just stop myself after the first letter. I was hooked. I finally found the words I’ve always wanted to say but couldn’t. Your mother is the only other woman to have lived who understood the way you make me feel!” Ryoko turned away, feeling the tears welling back up. There was a moment between them where neither said a word. Just two hearts beating and minds racing along on the roof of the house, with only the sounds of the wind rustling the trees and the idle lapping of the water to break the silence.
“In a way, I couldn’t stop myself either I suppose. Seeing my mother’s handwriting, my name in her pen’s ink, and a whole box of it at once? If I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes I wouldn’t have believed it.” Tenchi put his hand on Ryoko’s shoulder. She flinched and snapped her head to meet his warm face. It was then she noticed telltale dried tear streaks on his cheek. “But it doesn’t excuse what I said. It was hurtful. And I don’t think just saying ‘I’m sorry’ will be good enough to make it up to you.”
Tenchi dug into his pocket and produced one of the letters. He held it out towards Ryoko who looked at it for a moment before looking back up at him.
“It’s the very last letter she wrote to me,” he pointed to the date marked on the envelope. “I want us to read it. Together.”
“Just us?” Ryoko felt her soul beginning to calm. The anger that poisoned her veins turned into that normal warmth she felt when sharing even but a single moment with her Tenchi. He flipped the envelope over to show the seal unbroken, no tear in the paper.
“No one’s eyes have seen what’s inside except for my mother’s. Grandpa hasn’t seen it, Dad hasn’t seen it, I haven’t seen it. Please, I want you to open it.”
Her hand cautiously reached up for the envelope. These had been the cause of her own self-inflicted misery and even with Tenchi holding it in front of her there was a bit of reservation in her movement. Her fingers clasped the edge of the envelope, Tenchi letting go of his half and leaning himself in a bit. Ryoko tore at the envelope’s edge. She looked over to him as if to ask if it was ok, and he nodded her along. She completed the tear, pulled the letter out from its resting place and unfolded the paper.
[align=center]~.~[/align]
[align=right]February 15th, 1984[/align]
My snow angel,
[tab=30]Look at you out there playing in the snow with such vigor, as though it’s the first time you’ve ever encountered it! Like delicate pedals they fall around you with such grace, pieces shaved from the stars just so. To sit and observe the slow but steady construction of a snowman by your hands is one of life’s greater pleasures.
[tab=30]Though, as I sit indoors away from the brisk winter air I find my mind adrift towards the future. It was only weeks ago that you turned five. By this time next year you’ll be preparing to enter school for the first time. I can’t help but feel a little sorrowful that this shall be our last full year together as just mother and son. In 12 months’ time you’ll be burrowing your head into books, studying hard and making friends. You’ve got a sharp head on your shoulders and you will no doubt do well.
[tab=30]I can’t help but feel that your mother will become a lesser part of your life then, but… To expect you to remain mine forever would be such a greedy thought. There’ll come a time when there will be another girl in your life as well, one whom I hope is able to fill your heart with wonder. One who will wish to give you everything your mother couldn’t. She will take you away from our home, but you will always remain in my every thought. My soul will ache for the comfort I find in your eyes. But so long as you are happy, my Tenchi, I will march on behind you forever.
[tab=30]Ah, I could write so much more were it any other day but today. The chill outside is rather draining, I can feel the grip of winter slowing my hand. Nothing a nice dinner won’t cure. I think I’ll end this here and take to the kitchen so you can have a warm meal to come inside to. I’ll be sure to add a little extra love this time.
[tab=60]Eternally,
[tab=60]Mama.
[align=center]~.~[/align]
Before Ryoko had fully pulled herself back to the present day, Tenchi wrapped his arms around her tightly. She was almost in shock, only returning his sudden display after a moment had passed. She felt her heart pounding out of her chest. She heard stifled sniffling coming from him. She wanted to say so much to comfort him, to use words so elegantly and powerfully as his mother had all those years ago. But her tongue remained tied.
“Thank you, Ryoko.”
“No need to thank me, Tenchi…”
“If it weren’t for you and Ayeka being yourselves, I may have never been able to get this. I’ve grown up so long not knowing much about my mother other than what we saw of her back in 1970 and the stories dad and grandpa would tell while they were drunk. I feel like a part of me that’s been missing since I was a child has come home at last.”
Ryoko was soaring.
Tenchi began to hum, leaning back out from Ryoko’s shoulder and turning his head to the brightening morning horizon. It was a simple, repetitive little tune. Ryoko wracked her brain but could not recognize it. If only she had Mihoshi or Kiyone to grill on it, certainly one of the two of them had sung it on one of their Karaoke binges.
“What song is that, Tenchi?”
“I don’t know, I can only remember so much of it. This lullaby my mother used to sing to me. Probably put me to sleep so fast I never heard the whole thing anyway.” Tenchi let out a little laugh.
“It’s beautiful, whatever it is.” Ryoko rested her head on Tenchi’s shoulder and stared out at the sunrise with him. Ryoko took to humming the short song. Each note seemed to make the sun rise just a little bit more over the two of them.
“Who knows,” said Tenchi. “Maybe one day, we’ll write our own words for it.”
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