The mountains were beautiful in Springtime.

As the sun rose gently over the landscape, touching the hills and valleys with it's delicate golden beams, a lone figure flitted idly across the sky, a dreamy look in her bright amber eyes as she absorbed her surroundings fully. For a moment she just hovered above the roofs of the few houses that littered the landscape, oblivious to the fact that on the ground below, two children playing had seen her and were pointing excitedly to where the 'angel-woman' was watching over them. As she drifted towards the old Shinto shrine that was still the property of the Masaki family generations on, she touched gracefully down on the tiled roof, settling herself in a comfortable position against the end stone as she relaxed back on her hands, staring up at the gleaming blue sky.

"Another bright, sunny day." She whispered contentedly, as from somewhere to her right there was a scrabble of claws on tiles and a small, furry bundle tumbled into her lap. "You know something, Ryo Ohki - sometimes I can't imagine a world more beautiful than this one...anywhere in the universe."

The small chocolate-coloured creature mewed her agreement, flicking her long feathery ears as if to emphasise her point. The woman smiled, reaching down absently to scratch her companion under the chin.

"I'm not sure how we came to be this lucky, but I don't think I'm going to question it." She added. "Since we came back from Jurai, I've had a lot to think about. Ayeka's confession, and the way she's felt about things since Tenchi and I became a couple. The way we trust in one another, he and I...the fact that it didn't matter to me then, what she said. I really do believe now that we're meant to be together. How can it be any other way? We've been through far too much!"

Ryo Ohki eyed her mistress mournfully, and Ryoko bit her lip, nodding her head.

"I know. I've really had it better than you." She said regretfully. "I'm sorry about Ken Ohki, Ryo Ohki. I know you feel about him the same way as I do about Tenchi. I've kind of kept you apart, in a way, by making all the decisions. But I'd miss you, if you went away...and I think you'd miss me, wouldn't you? So I guess this is just how it's going to be."

Ryo Ohki set her head down on her paws, and Ryoko felt a flicker of acceptance dart across her senses. She grinned.

"I knew I meant more to you than that beige ball of fluff, anyway." She said off-handedly. "You and I are a team, after all. Although I do still think it's odd - almost contrived - how you were built by Washu and in a sense, so was I."

Ryo Ohki yowled indignantly at Ryoko's choice of words, and Ryoko looked sheepish.

"Sorry. You were created by Washu." She corrected herself. "I forgot that you don't like that any more than I do. You're my sister."

Ryo Ohki flicked her ears again, and Ryoko nodded.

"Yes, I know." She agreed, letting out a heavy sigh. "Washu has so many secrets, it's hard to be sure what is and isn't the truth sometimes. You know? I'm not sure what she does and what she doesn't know. Sometimes I feel like she is my mother - or that, in some fleeting way, she might have been, once. When we battled Yugi, it was almost like she was coming to my defence, as a true parent might protect her child. But the next minute she was scolding me on my imbalanced magic and talking about training. For a moment, I guess I thought she might have seen me as more than one of her experiments. But then, at other times, I've been so completely sure all her interest in me is just monitoring how much progress her little project has made. Like everything I do - all my forays into life and love - are just footnotes in her analysis. Do you feel that way, too?"

Ryo Ohki looked thoughtful for a moment, then she rubbed up against her mistress's arm with a soft purr, and Ryoko laughed.

"All right. I guess it isn't important." She acknowledged. "I don't need validation from her, anyway. I have my Tenchi and I have you to look out for me. So I'm all set, really."

"Ryoko!"

As if bidden by her thoughts, the sound of her fiance's voice startled the former pirate to alertness and she sat upright, a hand automatically coming out to catch Ryo Ohki as the cabbit tumbled awkwardly out of her lap. Ryo Ohki scrambled up Ryoko's arm, settling herself more securely on Ryoko's shoulder and sending the newcomer a self-righteous glare.

"You made Ryo Ohki jump." Ryoko eyed the young man playfully. "Do you want to come up and play with us, Tenchi-kun? Or has Ojii-san sent you on some shrine-cleaning errand?"

"Actually, I came to tell you that breakfast is ready. Yume's had an early start this morning and it all smells delicious." Tenchi told her, sending her a grin. "Sorry about the surprise, Ryo Ohki. I didn't mean to startle you."

"Breakfast?" Ryoko looked interested. "All right. I guess we're coming down, then. Hang on tight, Ryo Ohki."

She flickered her form out from the top of the roof, re-materialising on the ground not far from her companion and placing her hands on his shoulders, leaning forward to give him a playful kiss. "I haven't seen you since last night, either. What has had you so busy, my Tenchi? You don't usually keep me out of your room late at night."

"Don't say things like that - people will get the wrong impression about what we do." Tenchi looked embarrassed, and Ryoko laughed.

"Well, that's their problem." She said unrepentantly. "Why are you really keeping me out of your room, Tenchi-kun? Don't you like having me there?"

"No, it's not that." Tenchi shook his head, and she linked her arm in his as they turned back towards the house. "It's more that I've got important exams coming up in the next week or so. I want to pass, so I've been going over things again and again. I've let myself get too distracted with saving the world, and I've fallen a little behind. That's all. It's just boring study...nothing more."

"Oh, I see." Ryoko pouted. "As if you don't do enough of that in Osaka. And Tenchi, it's your birthday this weekend, too. Are we still going to hang out with Ikeda and Sakura in the city? Or are you going to cancel that in your pre-exam panic?"

"No, I think we're still going ahead with that." Tenchi looked rueful. "As far as I know. Exams are a stressful time for everyone, you know - we will probably need the break."

"Well, that's good at least." Ryoko gazed thoughtfully up at the sky. "I wouldn't know about exams. I've never really taken any."

"Didn't you ever have school, when you were a kid on Jurai?"

"I had a tutor, for a while. Several, actually." Ryoko pondered. "Put most of them in therapy. It was all so boring and pointless."

"I guess I can see that." Tenchi looked amused. "You've always been a much more practical person, than a theoretical one. I can't picture you with books, pen and paper."

"Well, me either." Ryoko eyed him coquettishly. "Being practical is more fun, anyway. I'm good with my hands, you know."

"Yes, I know." Tenchi laughed. "But right now, we're keeping Yume and Washu waiting."

"Yume and Washu? What about Otousan?" Ryoko looked startled. "He can't have left for work already?"

"He has." Tenchi grimaced. "If you want to talk to someone about too much work, he's the one to target. I swear he's going to make himself ill if he carries on working all days, all weeks, all weather. But then, he's always been like that, pretty much."

"You won't be like that, Tenchi, will you? When you graduate?" Ryoko asked plaintively. "I don't want to be the wife of some guy who's never there."

"I don't think I'd like it, either." Tenchi said thoughtfully. "But really, I don't know what the future holds yet."

"That's part of the fun." Ryoko said philosophically. "So tell me, Tenchi, when we're in Osaka, what are we doing after we go out to celebrate? Are you going to let me give you a very special birthday present...or what?"

"My birthday isn't actually till the Monday, you know." Tenchi pointed out. Ryoko shrugged.

"So? It can be an early surprise." She said playfully. "Tenchi, this is the first birthday we've really had together since we became a couple. It's special. The last time you had a birthday, I was still at the pleasure of the Galaxy Police, locked up in that poky, nasty little cell. And you sure hadn't told me that you'd finally seen sense and fallen in love with me. You really took way too long about that - and this is the first chance we've had to celebrate your birthday as a proper couple. An engaged couple, no less. Don't you think it would be nice? We could find a cute hotel, maybe make some reservations...if you want, Ryo Ohki can fly us to anywhere in the universe. You choose. But..."

"Woah there." Tenchi laughed, putting up his hands. "Shouldn't you ask Ryo Ohki about this, first?"

"I doubt she'd mind." Ryoko sent her furry companion a quizzical look, and Ryo Ohki nuzzled up against Ryoko's ear with a purr. "There, you see? She likes helping."

"You know, Ryoko, you're right that we've not spent my birthday together as a couple." Tenchi looked thoughtful. "But we've also never celebrated your birthday at all. Even when you were here, on Earth, with Ayeka and all the others. You never told me when it was."

"A lady never reveals her true age, Tenchi-kun."

"And you don't keep secrets from someone you're going to marry." Tenchi reminded her. "You were the one who said we didn't have any secrets between us now. Besides, I know, roughly, how old you are. In Earth years - in the way things work out, you were born before Washu was imprisoned. So that makes you around seven Earth centuries...give or take. Doesn't it?"

"I prefer to count it in Juraian years." Ryoko objected, a rueful smile touching her lips. "Since Earth now rotates on a Juraian time axis, I think that's only fair. In which case, Tenchi-kun, I'm not that old at all. Not really."

"I don't quite know how Jurai years figure out." Tenchi admitted. "Care to clue me in?"

Ryoko frowned.

"Honestly? I'm not really sure." She admitted. "I don't know exactly how old I am, or when I was born. I think I'm about the same age as Ayeka is - but I can't be entirely sure."

"You really don't know?" Tenchi was startled. "Washu has never told you?"

"We don't have meaningful mother and daughter chats, reminiscing about my childhood." Ryoko shook her head. "I know roughly when I was born - like you, I figure it was around the time Washu was exiled, or a bit before it. It must have been, considering everything that happened. But other than that, no. I don't really know."

"Well, then we should really find out." Tenchi grinned at her, as they reached the house, Ryo Ohki bounding down off Ryoko's shoulder with a yowl of anticipation as her sensitive nose picked up the enticing scent of carrot soup. "We should ask Washu about it. Then we'd have two birthdays to celebrate. Not just the one."

"I suppose." Ryoko nodded, pushing open the front door and leading the way through to where Yume, the household's droid-cum-housekeeper was putting the finishing preparations to the morning meal. She turned as they entered, casting both a warm smile.

"You made perfect time." She observed. "We're all ready to eat."

"Ryoko always knows when there's food available." The room's final occupant put in dryly, and Ryoko turned to grimace in her mother's direction, a gesture that was repeated by the woman herself. "Yume, you've excelled yourself this morning. Everything looks delicious...and after a hard night working in the lab, I'm famished."

"Do you actually sleep, Washu?" Ryoko asked, settling herself down at the table and scooping up her chopsticks as she helped herself to fish. "I know you like spending time in your own little world, but honestly, you're getting more and more reclusive as time goes on."

"Are you worrying about me, Ryoko-chan?" Washu asked interestedly, and Ryoko snorted, shaking her head.

"No. It's just too weird, having a mother who spends all her time in the store cupboard." She said frankly. Tenchi laughed.

"There's not much about this house that isn't strange." He reflected. "I think it's part of the charm."

"Precisely. Who'd want to go with the flow when you can swim upstream and get there quicker?" Washu said carelessly.

"It all seems a lot of nonsense. It doesn't really matter what numbers belong in what sequence." Ryoko shrugged. "It's such a waste of time, when there's so much going on outside."

"You live your life, musume-chan, and I'll live mine."

"Yeah, but you're confusing life with data input." Ryoko pointed her chopsticks in Washu's direction. "And it's getting worse. Since we got back from Jurai the last time, you've spent way too long in your lab, obsessing about these stupid Kii magic powers you seem to think are suddenly important. All you do is quantify them and study them and do whatever else you do that makes your computers whirr, bleep and flash lights in random orders. This is the first time you've had breakfast with us in almost a week."

"You'd better be careful. You almost do sound concerned." Washu seemed amused. "I'm quite all right, I assure you."

"Washu, can we ask you something, whilst you're here?" Tenchi broke in at that point, before his fiancee could take the matter any further. The scientist nodded, turning sharp green eyes on him as she did so.

"Of course, Tenchi. You know that." She agreed. "What's bothering you? Something I can help you with?"

"Maybe." Tenchi nodded. "Ryoko and I were talking about my birthday coming up, and I realised we'd never celebrated her birthday, either. But Ryoko doesn't seem to know when she was born...not even what year, exactly. I hoped you could clear that up."

Washu was silent for a moment, and Ryoko frowned.

"Don't tell me you're so old you're going senile and you can't remember?" She demanded. Washu eyed her daughter for a moment, then she offered her a careless smile.

"Truth to tell, I don't remember a lot of things." She agreed cheerfully. "And I did a lot of experiments around the time Ryoko was born. So I'm not sure I do know, not exactly. I guess it didn't really matter all that much. She was a project, after all - but I destroyed all of the paperwork and the digital data relating to her when I gave her to Kichi. So I suppose I just forgot about it. Ryoko wasn't ever going to be a part of my life, so it didn't seem important to remember anything like that. My memory is only so big, after all - and I've got a lot of things to slot into it."

"You don't know when your only daughter was born?" Tenchi looked startled, and Washu shrugged.

"As I said, she was never going to be my daughter. She was a weapon, designed to defeat Kagato. It didn't matter when she was born, or where, or any of that. Kichi would have invented a new past for her, anyway. The only thing she was going to keep was her code-name - Ryoko. That was what we agreed. I severed all connection with the project. It wasn't important."

"I guess that figures." Ryoko said flatly. "Experiments again."

"That's me." Washu agreed. "Sorry not to be of more help."

"I don't know when I was born, either." Yume offered at that point, settling herself down beside them and reaching across to fondle Ryo Ohki's ears as the cabbit stalked the slices of carrot that the droid had prepared for the morning meal. "I never really thought about it...is it really that important, to have a birthday?"

"I guess not." Tenchi bit his lip. "I mean, you don't have to celebrate one, or anything. All it does is mark that you've got a year older. But it's nice, to spend it with friends and family. And you know, be thankful for all those things, too. That's all."

"I see." Yume looked thoughtful. "It sounds kind of nice."

"Yes. It is."

"Well, I suppose that the only birthday we'll be celebrating for a while will be yours, Tenchi-kun." Ryoko stretched, dropping her chopsticks into her rice bowl with a clatter. "Since my mother's lost too many braincells to care or remember about mine, and I guess she's not going to tell us when hers is - if she can even recall that far back into the dark ages. We'll just have to make the most of yours."

"Are you all right?" Tenchi eyed her in consternation, and Ryoko sent him a playful smile, quelling firmly the wave of hurt that had risen up inside her at Washu's careless words.

"I've lived this long without a birthday and it's not like it matters much to me." She said flippantly. "I told you, a woman's age is a sacred secret. If you don't know when I was born, you'll never know how old I am. Which suits me."

"Well, I suppose...if you're sure."

"Really, Tenchi. It isn't a big deal." Ryoko shrugged. "It might be on the Earth, but I'm not from the Earth. So it's okay."

She got to her feet.

"I think I'm going to go enjoy the sunshine for a while." She added. "It's a beautiful day, and since I'm awake, I might as well."

Before anyone could stop her, she blurred out of the room, re-materialising beneath RyuOh's tree and sinking back against the trunk with a sigh.

"Well, doesn't that just figure." She muttered. "Washu, my mother - the woman who can remember pi to six million digits, but who can't be bothered to keep track of something as simple as my birthday. I guess I shouldn't let it get to me. Washu will be Washu, after all - and it really isn't important that I know. It would just have been nice to know she cared enough to remember. That's all. But I guess I'm just being soft and stupid about it, anyway. We'll celebrate Tenchi's birthday - his is the one that really matters, after all. And mine, well, it isn't important. After all, it's just a day you were born. Nothing more."