Jurai no Nozomi: Snippet "Ryoko and Nozomi's flashback in full"
Although some of this was used in what was going to be the story, not all of it could be. So this is it in full ;) Just in case anyone cares :)

Another sunshiny day on the planet Jurai.

Ryoko stretched out on the branch of the tree, gazing up dreamily through the clustered foliage at the wisps of cloud that floated over her head. Summer was here in full force, and high up in the sky, the planet's native birds called and whistled to one another as they hurried to find food.

At her side, a small whimper alerted her to the fact her companion was awake and she sat up, gently scooping the tiny baby out of the wooden carrier and into her arms. The infant opened her eyes wide, and Ryoko grinned, settling her burden down in her lap as she indicated the trees.

"See, this is Jurai." She said softly. "This is the place where they worship trees and get really really sniffy if you don't wear the right dress to dinner. So that's why we're not going to be here much longer. Take it in while you can, Nozomi. This world is a big pile of social crap waiting to fall on your head and we'll be heading back to the Earth as soon as the physicians stop being so fussy about me."

"Hey, Ryoko!"

A voice from the ground below startled her and she clasped her baby tightly to her, gazing down through the branches and sighing as she met the accusing gaze of the Crown Princess of Jurai. Ayeka put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow as she registered where her companion was sitting.

"Ryoko, what are you doing up there? The medics at the infirmary are going out of their minds trying to find you and...what in Tsunami's name are you doing to that poor baby? She's barely a week old! What do you think you're playing at? Do you think you can put her in a bird's nest and let them feed her from now on?"

"You know, you're not funny." Ryoko glowered down at the irate princess. "I'm here because I'm fed up with being poked. I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me - I always heal quickly and I don't need their fussing around. Plus, they keep calling me Princess Ryoko and it's doing my head in."

"I can't imagine where they got the idea that you were a Princess." Ayeka grimaced. "Ryoko, I know you're new to this mother thing, but taking newborn babies up into the trees isn't a normal part of their development. Bring her down to the ground at once - you might hurt her!"

"I'm not going to hurt her!" Ryoko objected. "She's going to have to learn about heights sooner or later, and she's my child. She's not that delicate. Just because you have a thousand nannies to raise your son doesn't mean you can go round telling me how to look after my daughter. All right? She won't be one of your pampered princess clones. At least when we're on the Earth, you won't be able to tell me what to do."

She placed the child back in the wooden cradle, crossing her legs in front of her. "Well? Did you want anything else, or just to give me a lecture?"

"You know Tenchi is looking for you too? And Washu?" Ayeka snapped back. "You're making everyone worry and it's not fair!"

"Tenchi's worrying too?" Ryoko started, catching the edge of the bassinett with her knee as she did so. She let out a yell as it shuddered and tumbled off the branch, sending the baby rolling out of it.

"Nozomi!"

"Ryoko, what are you doing!" Ayeka screamed. "I told you...do something!"

Ryoko flickered out of the branches, re-materialising beneath the falling baby and catching her deftly in her arms as the basket in which she had been laying clattered onto the ground, splintering across the base as it did so. Ayeka drew a shaky breath into her lungs as her companion touched daintily down onto the ground beside her, defiance blazing in her amber eyes.

"What?" She demanded, as Ayeka sent her a disbelieving glare.

"What?" The princess echoed, incredulous. "I'll tell you what! What if she'd hit the ground? What if you hadn't caught her? Ryoko, I told you that you shouldn't be taking her up into the trees!"

"She wasn't in any danger! I caught her!" Ryoko protested. "You worry too much, Ayeka - and if you hadn't startled me, nothing would have happened."

"Are you saying that this was my fault?" Ayeka's eyes widened, and the baby began to whimper at the shrill nature of her tone. Ryoko scowled, clutching the child more tightly to her.

"And now you're making her cry!" She snapped. "You should start taking your own advice before you come bothering me and my baby, Ayeka. She was perfectly happy before you started barging your nose in."

"Why you..."

"Ayeka! Ryoko!" Before the angry princess could retaliate, a fresh voice interrupted the conversation and Tenchi hurried across the courtyard, Washu in tow. At this further interruption Nozomi's whimpers became full blown screams and Ryoko cursed, sending Ayeka the vilest look she could muster.

"Now look what you did." She muttered.

"What I did? Ryoko..."

"What are you doing to that poor mite, Ryoko-chan?" Washu pursed her lips, walking straight up to her daughter and prising the child out of her defensive hands. "Come to Obaa-chan, Nozomi...yes, I know, your mother's a menace but whatever it was she did, you're safe now."

"I didn't do anything!" Ryoko protested. "Washu, give me back my baby!"

"So you can throw her out of the tree again?" Ayeka demanded. "Well, maybe we could play catch. What do you think - Tenchi, Washu? Shall we play volleyball with Nozomi?"

"Ayeka, what are you talking about?" Tenchi shot the princess a confused look.

"She had the baby up there." Ayeka pointed, and Tenchi's face paled as he registered how high up the branch was. He sent his wife a horrified look.

"Ryoko, you know, up a tree isn't the best place for a little baby. Not even if she is your daughter."

"We both know that Nozomi is going to fly." Ryoko said sullenly. "It's not like I was hurting her. Ayeka thinks I'm some kind of monster, but I'm not. I was just showing her Jurai. That's all."

"And I'm sure the first thing you did when they put you in your cradle was start flying effortlessly around the hospital room." Ayeka snapped. "Oh wait, no - in your case it was a laboratory, wasn't it? No wonder you haven't got any maternal common sense - your mother was a lab unit!"

"Ayeka!" Energy flickered across Ryoko's palms at this, but Washu stepped between them, handing the now quiet baby to Tenchi as she sent both the princess and the pirate a dark look.

"No fighting in front of the baby." She said quietly. "Ayeka, I'll thank you to remember that Ryoko is my daughter and if you must fling insults at her about how she was born, I'd rather you did it when I wasn't here."

Ayeka flushed, looking ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Washu." She said sheepishly. "I...I think it just slipped out."

"Why are you being so mean to me anyway, Ayeka? What did I do to you, exactly?" Ryoko demanded. "So I took my baby up a tree - what business is that of yours? Do you really think I'm so bad a mother that I'm going to start throwing her from branch to branch?"

"Why not? You already dropped her once." Ayeka returned, and Ryoko reddened as Tenchi's eyes widened in horror.

"Ryoko!"

"What? I caught her, didn't I?" Ryoko defended herself. "It wasn't like she was going to get hurt."

"Ryoko." Tenchi bit his lip. "All right, promise me you won't do that again. Take her up so high, I mean. Ayeka has a point - you couldn't fly when you were first born and nor can Nozomi. I know you don't mean to hurt her, but something might happen and she's not as able to protect herself as you are."

Ryoko stared at him for a moment. Then a strange look flickered across her expression. .

"In short, you're unfit to look after her without a minder." She said quietly. "Well, fine then. Ryoko's a pirate and she happened to be born in a lab. Obviously she has no idea about her baby's needs and she really doesn't care whether Nozomi is safe or not. Clearly she's a liability waiting to happen and shouldn't be let anywhere near the child. Isn't that about right?"

"I never said any of those things." Tenchi protested. Ryoko shook her head, tears glittering on her lashes.

"You didn't have to." She whispered. Before Tenchi could stop her, she flickered and blurred her form into nothing, disappearing across the palace grounds to a remote copse on the furthest side of the land. Once alone, she secluded herself in the branches of the tallest tree, burying her head in her arms as she fought to get control of her emotions.

"I'm not having Ayeka queening it and treating me like I can't do this." She muttered fiercely, clenching her fists. "I'm not! And I'm not hopeless. I'm not! Is it really wrong to raise Nozomi my way? She's my daughter, isn't she? Dammit, what gives her the right to play Queen over me? She doesn't know better than me. She doesn't!"

-----

"Where do you suppose she's gone?"

It was Ayeka who first broke the silence, casting a troubled glance between her companions as she took a step towards the place Ryoko had last been. Washu sighed, tut-tutting under her breath.

"Somewhere to be alone, so we don't see her cry." She said quietly. "Ryoko's sensitive about those things - and she's still hormonal. Ayeka, you should know that women are far more vulnerable to emotional outbursts after the birth of a new baby."

"It's my fault." Tenchi bit his lip, glancing down at the tiny infant who gurgled and kicked in his arms. "I shouldn't have said...I mean..."

"No, Tenchi, it wasn't you. It was me." Ayeka sighed, gazing at her hands. "I said some things before you came. I was angry with her for worrying everyone like she did, and then when the baby fell - I suppose it frightened me into saying other things. She did catch Nozomi, and the child didn't seem to be too upset by it, but honestly, that she could even think having her on the branch was sensible..."

"Ryoko likes to be up high. She feels safe there." Washu shrugged, meeting the Princess's gaze with a grave one of her own. "And so it's natural to her to take her child there, also. She doesn't see things exactly the same way as you do, you have to remember that. Ryoko loves Nozomi. She just has a different way of showing it than you have your love for Shigure."

"Shigure." Ayeka looked troubled, then she sighed heavily. "Yes, I suppose I do know that. I didn't mean to make her cry, though. I didn't really think about her hormones...she can usually take it, when I shout at her."

"I need to go find her." Tenchi made up his mind. "Washu, will you take Nozomi and make sure she's all right? I need to find my wife and convince her that none of us meant to question her ability as a mother."

"Will she be able to cope, though? With all of this mother stuff?" Ayeka asked hesitantly. "It's a big change and yes, even though I have had help with Shigure, it's still a huge responsibility. When you leave Jurai, you'll be far away from any royal support, and..."

"And maybe it will be better for Ryoko once we are." Washu said pensively, taking the infant carefully and expertly from the prince's hands and cradling her gently against her body. "She's keeping Nozomi so close because she's afraid someone will abduct her. That's all. She doesn't want to let the child out of her sight."

"Why would anyone abduct her?" Ayeka stared. Tenchi looked stricken.

"Tsunami's prophesy." He murmured. "Is that why, Washu? Is that what's going on?"

"What prophesy?" Ayeka looked troubled. "Sasami's been saying things to you, as well?"

"What do you mean, as well?" Washu turned sharp eyes on the princess who flushed, shaking her head.

"Not important. Family matters." She said hurriedly. "What do you mean, then, Tenchi? What prophesy?"

"When we defeated Kagato, Tsunami sent Nozomi from the future to help us." Tenchi said slowly. "That Nozomi didn't ever know her parents...she'd only just met Ryoko before she was sent back here, only to see her mother die in front of her. In that timeline, Nozomi was abducted by Kagato's followers as a baby, renamed and groomed to be the one to raise him, when the time came. Even though Kagato is gone, I guess some doubts still linger in Ryoko's mind. I hadn't thought about it myself...but I guess she has. Has she, Washu?"

"She has. She mentioned it to me herself." Washu agreed grimly. "Which is why we'll be leaving for the Earth as soon as the doctors give the okay for her to go. Then maybe she'll relax at long last."

"I'm sorry." Ayeka looked penitent. "I had no idea."

"Well, you weren't here at the time, so it's not your fault if you didn't know." Tenchi told her quietly. "Washu, take Nozomi back to the Infirmary. I'll find my wife and convince her to go back there, too. She's probably tired and emotional, like you say - and I don't think she should be left alone."

"I quite agree." Washu offered him a smile. "Right now I think you're exactly the person she needs to reassure her. After all, my opinion or Ayeka's opinion of her maternal skills aren't going to matter to her in the long run. Yours, on the other hand..."

"Where do you suppose she went?" Ayeka wondered.

"Somewhere up high, no doubt." Tenchi grimaced. "I'll find her. I know Ryoko...I'll track her down."

He touched Nozomi's brow gently, eliciting a squeal from the baby, then, "And I'll see you later, with Okaa-chan, when I find her. Okay? So be good for Obaa-san."

"She couldn't be anything else." Washu assured him. "Go, Tenchi. Baby is in safe hands with me, I promise."

"Right." Tenchi nodded, casting the child one last glance then hurrying off across the palace grounds. As he ran, his thoughts raced through his head, teasing at him as he tried to reason out where his unpredictable wife had gone to. For a while he searched around the palace surrounds itself, but as he gazed across the horizon he thought he saw a flash of something in the branches of a tree and as he quickened his pace towards it, he was certain he could hear the sound of a woman crying.

As he reached the copse, he made out his wife's pitiful form huddled up against the trunk of the tree, head buried in her arms as she gave in to her fit of emotion. Slowly he approached, not wanting to startle her, but as he drew nearer, she raised her head, meeting his anxious brown eyes with hopeless gold ones.

"Tenchi." She murmured, and without a word he held out his hands to her. Ryoko hesitated, then blurred out from the tree branch, re-materialising in front of him as he gently took her fingers in his.

"Stop crying." He told her firmly. "I wasn't questioning your ability or your right to be a good mother to Nozomi and I'm sorry if you thought that I did."

"Ayeka was right." Ryoko choked, flinging her arms around him as she buried her head in his shoulder. "I shouldn't have taken her up there, and she could have been hurt, and...and I am a bad mother, putting her in danger. But the thing is, Tenchi, I...I...I don't know what to do and it scares me that I don't. She's a baby and I've never even seen a baby this close up before, let alone had to take care of one. I...I didn't think about it, taking her up in the tree. It's where I always go, and I wanted to share it with her. So...so I went there. I didn't think about...about her getting h...h...hurt."

"Oh, Ryoko." Tenchi held her tightly, stroking her hair as her body shook with sobs. "I told you, stop crying. You're not expected to know everything right away, and I'm not angry with you because you made one mistake. Nozomi survived the experience and well, you've learnt that for future reference, babies shouldn't be in tree branches unless they know how to safely fly themselves back down. Right now she can't do that, but eventually you'll be able to share it with her - she'll learn, soon enough."

"I was eight or nine before I started to fly." Ryoko murmured, gazing up at him with melancholy amber eyes. "I should have thought of that, but I guess I just...didn't."

"Stop beating yourself up about it." Tenchi ordered. "And whatever Ayeka said to you - she didn't mean it. She was just anxious about you and where you were, that's all. She said as much - that the fright made her say things that she didn't mean."

"But maybe she was right about everything." Ryoko said softly. "About me not ha...having maternal instinct because of being born in a...a lab. No mother ever held me when I was born, after all. What do I know about babies?"

"You don't think Washu held you, when you were born?" Tenchi asked gently. Ryoko bit her lip.

"All right. I guess she did. I guess I know that she did." She admitted. "But it doesn't matter. What I mean is that no mother raised me. I raised myself, pretty much. There was never a woman involved in my childhood after Kichi was murdered. How can I possibly raise Nozomi without anyone ever having raised me?"

"If you raised yourself, why do you doubt that you can raise her?" Tenchi countered. Ryoko groaned.

"I'm allowed to mess up my own upbringing. After all, I'm the one who lives with the result." She said frankly. "But I won't wish all of that on her."

"So you've already taken the first step in the right direction." Tenchi grinned, hugging her tightly. "Worrying about her and how she'll turn out is a big part of being a Mom, isn't it? You want her to learn from your mistakes, just like any mother wants their daughter to do. Right?"

"Well, maybe, but..."

"Listen to me." Tenchi put a gentle finger to her lips. "I know you and I know you can do anything you put your mind to. And in truth, all of this is just as new and as scary to me, too. I don't know how to be a father yet...but that's okay. I'll learn how. We're not alone, Ryoko, even when we do get back to the Earth. Washu will be there, and Father, and Grandfather. And Yume, she'll be around, too. We have plenty of people to help us mould Nozomi into the best young lady we can."

"But I'm her m...mother."

"Yes, but noone is asking you to do this alone." Tenchi reminded her. "Nozomi is my daughter too. She's Washu and Otousan's grandchild. She's Jii-chan's great grand-daughter. And I know that Yume will love to be around a new baby - I'm sure there are lots of things she can learn from Nozomi, just as sure as there are things she can teach her, too. We'll all be fine, Ryoko. I promise. Just fine."

"I hope you're right." Ryoko leant up against him with a sigh. "You always know how to make me feel better, but I wish I knew if you were right."

"Do you want to stay on Jurai a while longer, Ryoko?"

"No...not at all." Ryoko shook her head. "I know it's irrational, but I don't feel Nozomi is quite...safe here."

"It's all right. Washu told me about your fears in that department." Tenchi said gently. "And we will go home, as soon as we're able to. Nozomi will love the mountains just as you and I do, you'll see. And you'll feel happier, once we're back there."

"I suppose you're right." Ryoko agreed cautiously. "Even though everything has changed."

"Change can be good." Tenchi reflected. "And Father and Grandpa will be anxious to meet the newest member of the Masaki family, you do realise that? Neither of them have yet, after all."

"That's true." Ryoko nodded. "And well, they did a good job raising you after Achika-sama died. I suppose we will be all right, and they will be there to help, if need be."

"Exactly." Tenchi grinned, tenderness in his brown eyes. "So you're feeling better now?"

"A bit." Ryoko agreed. "Tired, though. And stupid, crying like that. It's so unlike me, but..."

"But you've had a hard few days and it's to be expected." Tenchi told her gently. "So come back with me to the Infirmary and take a nap, all right? Washu was going to take Nozomi there anyway, and everyone has been worried about you. You're rushing yourself back to fitness and it's taking it's toll."

"All right." Ryoko sighed. "I guess you win. I'll go back and be good. But only because you asked me so nicely."

She reached up to wipe away the last of her tears, offering him a wan smile.

"Sometimes I don't know how I wound up keeping you." She murmured. "But I'm glad that I did."