Author's note: All the Tenchi stuff belongs to somebody who is not me, so there. With that out of the way, this is going to be my third, and perhaps final, Tenchi-related story. My first was a fairly-intricate look at Nagi and her possible past, and the second concentrated on the relationship between a certain princess and pirate. Believe it or not, these two tales are connected, though I won't say how so as to not give away anything. This third tale is also connected to the other two, but I'm going to try to make it so that reading the first two isn't a prerequisite. If you already read my other two Tenchi stories, you'll probably know what's going on a whole lot more than the others, and if you didn't… well, you'll still have the advantage of being surprised. To old fans, this tale picks up pretty much where my last one left off, at the alternate ending, and for all you newcomers, be prepared to take many things with a grain of salt.

FOUR STARS

By Al Kristopher

I: No Need for Peace!

It was a Monday. The sun said so.

Said orb of fire was already up and awake, but the rest of the world did not share its bright enthusiasm. There were still thousands of people asleep in their beds, and many of them would remain so even as the light of the world rose up to its highest peak. Of course, many more had been up and about even before the sun, and were already making the most of the day given to them.

But most of the world was asleep, and with very few exceptions, so were the residents of House Masaki. To be certain, one or two individuals were already up, considering that the hour was not too early, but for the rest of the house, it was still time for bed (for one or two residents, it was always time for bed). Two people in particular were asleep, and both were in the same bed--but not because the house was small and cramped, no. They shared sleeping quarters together out of choice.

One of them stirred as the sun hit her eye, and she squinted to try and shield her retinas from the glare. The bright yellow ball of fire reminded this girl of her sister: always sunny (no pun intended), and cheerful, and on occasion annoying, and seemingly omnipresent during daylight hours. Then again, the sun never sang out loud, and it knew nothing about cooking…

This young woman turned around in her bed, and gently bumped into the lady whom she was bunking with. This other woman had no family--at least, none that anybody was aware of--and up until recent times, she had not been a very well-respected member of the Masaki Home. It was true that she was loved, and on occasion she loved back, but to respect somebody and to love somebody were often two separate feelings.

This woman, and the woman laying in bed next to her, were both very beautiful and quite warm-hearted. It was shocking how similar both these ladies were, especially when considering the fact that they had once been the bitterest of enemies. Of course, like all people do, they changed over the years, and gradually, like a whittler carves wood, they had shed their hatred for each other and turned it into love.

The woman who had stirred first was the eldest princess of a planet far beyond the reach of the one she lived on now. She ruled over Jurai, a planet existing only in the imaginations of some, and the realities of only a select few billion. Her name was Ayeka, and since she was a princess, one would be led to believe that she was incredibly snotty and pushy and vain--and at one point, she had been.

Never again.

The other woman was both very different and very similar to the woman who had stirred first. Her name was Ryoko, and nobody knew anything else about her, save for the fact that she had once been a space pirate, as well as the mortal enemy of the princess beside her. Obviously, all that had changed over the years--otherwise, the two would have been on opposite sides of the galaxy instead of sleeping together.

It had been a long and winding road for both Ayeka and Ryoko. They had started this journey hating each other, and though the end was not anywhere close by, they now walked side-by-side, and sometimes hand-in-hand. They had slowly grown from hate to endurance, from respect to admiration, from caring to trust, and from friendship into love. They were now closer than most sisters, and both loved and trusted each other to the brink of inhuman imagination. They were not lovers--they had tried that path once and found it covered with thorns--no, they loved but were not in love, but the bond they shared was better somehow: unbreakable, unshakable, and unquestioned.

The ordeals they went through to get to this point had paid off.

Ayeka yawned first, stretching herself just enough so that she wouldn't touch her sleeping friend. She smacked her lips, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as the sun screamed for her to wake up. The princess gazed down at one of the many people who were especially close to her, and smiled. Her hand went for the beautiful turquoise-blue hair that Ryoko had, and she began stroking it with the greatest of care.

A long inhaling sound came from Ryoko, and the one-time space pirate stirred as she too heard the song of the sun. Her golden eyes opened very slowly, and even though her vision was blurry, she smiled as she saw her closest friend comb through her hair.

"Morning, sunshine," whispered Ayeka gently, and of course, since the sun was hitting Ryoko on the cheek, she meant it. The ex-pirate smiled and gave her friend a wink.

"Morning, ugly." Ayeka laughed out loud, and bent down to give her friend a tight hug. Insults like that would have usually caused the princess to scream out, but in the years they spent sharpening their relationship, Ayeka knew to interpret any and all insults as a bizarre but endearing expression of Ryoko's love.

(Translation: Morning, my most wonderful and precious friend.)

"Same old Ryoko," smiled Ayeka as she squeezed her friend. "Sleeping in and abusing poor helpless me. Ah well, I guess I shouldn't complain. All the therapy in the world wouldn't change you." Ryoko smiled back in that came Cheshire Cat grin, and popped a few loose joints as she stretched. Both ladies eventually forced themselves out of bed, and played a brief game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who would shower first. Ryoko won.

After both of them took their shower, they each marched down the stairs, their elbows locked together like a pair of young lovers--or in their case, just two crazy ladies who had become good friends over time. They simultaneously poked their heads into the kitchen, both of them victims of the Siren's call that was Sasami's Cooking. The fact that it was lunch she made and not breakfast perturbed them not; they were both hungry enough to eat the table that the food was being served on, and they almost did.

Plates of macaroni, rice, potato salad, grilled salmon, and apple slices landed neatly on the table, and while there were more people living in the house than there were fingers to a human's hands, most of the food seemed reserved for Ayeka and Ryoko. On a usual occasion, they would not be so greedy as to take all the edibles in front of them, but they were excused just this once. After all, they had been on that journey towards friendship for some time.

Amidst the ravenous feeding frenzy, everyone else more or less picked and poked at their meager servings. The eldest among them, a Shinto priest called Katsuhito, required very little to eat, as did the adorable little creature perched on the chef's head (she just ate carrots). Two log-like guardians, each with a symbol on their bodies, ate next to nothing, so perhaps in a way, everything was balanced.

But Mihoshi was still hungry.

"No fair!" she whined. "Ayeka and Ryoko get to eat all the food! I'm starving!"

"You'll just have to bite the bullet," said her partner in crime [prevention] calmly. "I think after what they've been through, they deserve a little more attention."

"But Kiyone…!!"

"Please… no whining…" sighed the beleaguered police officer. Her eyes were already twitching in preparation for the day's disasters, and with the normally-destructive duo of Ayeka and Ryoko now on good terms, there would be a great void to fill up. To compensate, a small chuckle came out of the mouth of the most intelligent one among them, and things suddenly grew interesting as the self-proclaimed Universe's Greatest Genius got an idea.

"I just thought of something," muttered said Genius to herself, and everybody grew nervous. The genius' name was Washu, and if she ever got an idea, it usually meant that the Masakis would have to use the old bomb shelter again.

"Pray tell us," muttered a very uninterested Kiyone. Washu did just that.

"All righty! Now it's obvious that both Ryoko and Ayeka are no longer the enemies they once were, correct?" No response. "…Right. Anyway, they're both pretty close. And it seems as if they're even civil when it comes to Tenchi, God forbid we ever see the day. Well, my suggestion is--"

"Save it, Washu," muttered Ryoko, a ball of rice held delicately in her chopsticks. "We can talk about it later. Let's just eat, okay?" Ryoko resumed snarfing down her food, leaving the fiery-haired genius to shake her head.

"Same old Ryoko…"

When the world is above you and the skies are below, it's probably because you're upside-down. Ryoko was in this very position--or, to be exact, she was hanging by the branch of a tree, watching the road in front of her. Ayeka might have joined her, but Ryoko insisted that she not get her legs scratched, or her kimono dirtied, and Ayeka let out a smile as she obeyed her concerned friend. Besides, somebody had to be right-side up.

Both girls were waiting for the same young man, Tenchi Masaki. In days long gone by, the girls were not only bitter enemies but bitter rivals. They had both vied over the same unfortunate man, and had nearly killed each other multiple times over him. They both had very good arguments for being his wife--Ayeka the sensible, strong, and sophisticated; Ryoko the carefree, noble, and spontaneous--and many of their former distastes for each other had often sprang up from arguing over rights to Tenchi.

But now that they were friends, they had both decided to not waste such a good relationship arguing all the time. Ayeka had given Ryoko the brilliant suggestion that they both marry Tenchi (when the time came), and Ryoko liked the idea so much that she squealed just like a schoolgirl. Since her suggestion went up in the air, both girls made it plain that they loved Tenchi (or actually, Ayeka had. Ryoko had been quite open with her feelings ever since day one), and now here they were waiting for him.

Their patience paid off, and soon Tenchi could be seen walking down the path. Ryoko grunted and nearly fell out of the tree as she saw the man who had stolen her heart (Ayeka would have caught her if she hadn't caught herself), and Ayeka nearly screamed with rapture. It was usually Ryoko who ran (or flew) forth to tackle Tenchi, but this time Ayeka's new aggressive behavior got the better of her--and Tenchi.

"Tenchi!!!" The violet-haired princess threw herself at the poor man, who gave off that same reliable meek smile he always did. Ayeka was not normally so open with her feelings, and to see her act like this was very bizarre. Ryoko, however, ate it all up. She knew there was a sexual goddess buried deep down inside Ayeka somewhere, and being the caring friend she was, wanted this to come out to full bloom.

"Oh, uh, good afternoon, Miss Ayeka…" said Tenchi weakly. Ayeka calmed down to her usual self, and gave him a very uncharacteristic kiss on the cheek. Ryoko mutely grinned at the scene, and decided to wait until a better time before tackling Tenchi herself.

"Lord Tenchi, we have missed you. How was school today?" asked the princess. Tenchi smiled despite his awkwardness of being called "Lord", and gave Ayeka his usual report.

"Oh, it was all right. Same old same old, y'know?" Ayeka smiled and nodded her head. Up until very recently, she had never before let her feelings of Tenchi be so public, but she had grown and matured while on her journey, and she was now much more open about things. Ayeka had to admit that it felt very liberating.

"That's good. I'm glad that everything is right." Ayeka's beaming face and growing friendliness gave off signals to Ryoko--signals that now was the time to leap in and "save" Tenchi from the advances of her friend. With a yell, she leaped forward and pounced on Tenchi, nearly breaking his neck with her hug.

"Tenchi!!!!! I missed yoo!!!!" Ryoko sang out like a little baby as she rubbed her nose against his face, and as usual, Tenchi yelled and told her to go easy on her. Even though she loved Ryoko to death, Ayeka still grew angry at her friend's actions--not because she was jealous, but because Tenchi really didn't like being treated so rough. She knew that Ryoko's playful nature was just that--playful--but like the annoying actions of a three-year-old, it wore off quickly.

"Ryoko…" Ayeka pulled on her friend's arm gently, and chastised her just a little. "Please, dear, don't manhandle poor Tenchi. Isn't it obvious that he doesn't like such forms of affection?"

"Uh, well, I…"

"And another thing," continued Ayeka, ignoring Tenchi's unfinished comment. "I really wish you would exert some self-control. Ryoko, I love you to death, and I envy your ability to be so open and wild, but even you should know that there's a time and place for everything."

"Meanie," grumbled Ryoko, sticking her tongue out. Ayeka smartly pinched the muscular organ, and pulled on it just slightly.

"You creep!" she exclaimed. Ryoko's toothy grin grew more, and she snapped at Ayeka's fingers. The princess screamed, and began to gently pound her fist on Ryoko's head.

"You monster!" she screamed. "You tried to bite me!!"

"Ow, hey, what's the deal?" whined Ryoko. "You bite me all the time while we're making love!"

"WE DON'T HAVE SEX, YOU FIEND!!!!" roared Ayeka. Tenchi, as always, had been completely ignored by now. He merely kept silent, and tried to sneak away from the two quarreling girls. He now knew that they were friends, and would always be such, but even their friendly arguments were too much for him.

By the time Tenchi stepped into his home, the girls were wrestling on the ground and laughing like nuts. It was true that they still argued from time to time, but almost all of these "fights" were friendly and harmless. Should they ever have a real argument, they would most definitely approach it with maturity and logic, and not with the name-calling and fights that normally marked their battles.

The girls at long last realized that Tenchi had left them, so after literally kissing and making up (they were close enough to be comfortable in doing this), they both ran towards the Masaki house and burst in to see their love. As expected, he was chatting with Sasami.

"Oh, did you two finally stop fighting?" he asked as he noticed them. Both friends gave Tenchi a weak smile and laugh, and silently affirmed the fact that they were at peace again. Both ladies sat down next to their love, and took one of his arms. Tenchi sighed, and realized that there was no point in stopping the girls from their actions. It was better to have his arms embraced than being ripped off, after all…