I am not making any money off of this project. Freddy the Freeloader has more money than I do. I do not own Tenchi Muyo or Harry Potter. I own only these writings and any original characters herein.
Enjoy.
Sasami Masaki and the Keys of Myth
A Tenchi Muyo!/Harry Potter fanfiction
By Kevin Grundhofer
Chapter One
The missing water
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It was five in the morning and Sasami couldn't sleep. Her eleventh birthday had been a few days ago but she didn't feel any older. She lay on her futon staring at the ceiling and trying to convince herself that she was indeed another year older. She wiggled her toes, rolled her head from side to side and waved her hands in front of her face, testing each limb individually for any changes. But nothing felt or looked any different. She thought about how she looked in all her old pictures and tried to remember how she had felt when they'd been taken. Did I feel so small when I was that young? She thought. I don't think I did. She actually could not think of any time she'd ever felt like she was growing up; it just sort of happened.
She looked over to where her sister Ayeka was sleeping, who still managed to look like a princess even though she was softly snoring and drooling a little. Sasami giggled to herself as she remembered how Ayeka had acted during her birthday party. She wondered what her Father would say if he heard about that. On the pillow beside her, Ryo-ohki 'meowed' softly and moved to a more comfortable position. She wondered if Ryo-ohki ever worried about growing up, and what it would feel like to turn into a spaceship. That got her thinking about Washu. She was over twenty-thousand years old! One time Sasami had tried to count that far, but she could barely make it to five thousand before she gave up. She rolled over and stared at the wall for a while. Her mind kept wandering from one person in her life to the next. She thought about Ryoko, and if she even grew at all. She thought about Mihoshi and if she missed her family. And of course she thought about Tenchi. She hoped he would never change.
By the time five-thirty rolled around Sasami still didn't feel any older and she still couldn't sleep so she gave up trying. She thought about getting up to start fixing breakfast when she remembered that one of her birthday presents had been a reprieve from all housework for a week. She decided to take a long bath instead. She gathered her things, being careful not to wake Ayeka or Ryo-ohki, and headed for the onsen. After she entered the huge, floating structure, she took a long look in the mirror. What she saw was no different from any other morning; the same long blue hair bundled in its night wraps, same freckles, pink eyes and green forehead markings.
Sasami sighed and began to prepare to get in the nice, hot water. After she had scrubbed clean and wrapped herself in a towel she slowly eased into the steaming water. She was usually asleep or cooking at this time in the morning, and rarely took a bath this early, if ever. It was very relaxing. I could get used to this, she thought.
~~~
The first thing Sasami noticed was that it was hard to breath, then she realized that it was hot. She opened her eyes. Big mistake. She clamped them shut against the painfully bright light and rubbed them hard. She was just wondering what she was doing outside when her brain caught up with her senses and told her that she was in the bath. She slowly opened her eyes again, it still hurt, but at least this time it was bearable. The sun was high enough to fully light the onsen, but only barely, so it was shining right in her eyes. She turned her head and rubbed her eyes one more time to work the sleep out of them. She tried to remember what she was doing in the bath this early in the morning. Wasn't she supposed to be making breakfast?
"Oh my god," she gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth, "I fell asleep!" She climbed out of the steaming water and ran over to where her bathrobe and other things were set. She threw off her wrap and started drying herself in front of the mirror. "What time is it anyway, I wish there was a clock in here," she mumbled as she finished drying and put on the robe. She turned around to get her hairbrush out of the basket when she saw the clock hanging on the wall. "Who put that there?" she asked no one in particular. It read only a little after seven. The others would only just be getting up, so she had plenty of time to get ready.
She began combing her hair, no small task considering how much of it there was. It took a lot of work to keep it from getting all tangled up like a bird's nest, especially while washing it, but Sasami didn't mind. Her hair was her favorite thing about her. She liked its color; it reminded her of her mother. She had tried wearing it in a ponytail like her mother's once, but decided it made her look silly. She also tried wearing it down one time, with a clasp partway down to keep it all in place. Everyone liked it and Tenchi said it made her look like Tsunami. That made her stomach turn over a few times, so she never wore it that way again. In the end she decided that the best way was the way she had been doing it all along, so there was no reason to change it. At least not for a while.
She finished combing her hair and dropped the brush back in the basket. As she reached for the red berets she always wore (also one of her favorite things) she noticed that her hands were all wrinkled. "Oh man, I got way to much water this morning," she muttered.
A small tingle ran up her spine as a slight breeze blew past. She shivered and turned to look at the door, but it was still closed. She tightened her robe and began to gather all her things up in her arms when she noticed something odd. She could not hear any water. The onsen had many pools at different levels, creating a whole series of waterfalls. After spending any time in the floating bath-house you grew quite accustomed to the noise and barely even heard it. In fact, it was very relaxing. This made the current silence seem very loud. Sasami put the basket down and slowly walked towards the pools. She already knew what she would see, but that didn't make it seem any less strange.
There was not a single drop of water in any of the pools.
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He knew it would happen sooner or later, as much as he wished it wouldn't. He was actually surprised it hadn't happened yesterday or even the day before. The past few mornings had gone well enough, with Washu and Mihoshi preparing the food, Ayeka setting the table, and Ryoko napping on the futons as they aired out on the roof or lazing in the onsen until all the chores were done. Tenchi had taken it upon himself to do the dishes and make sure everything went smoothly (mostly by keeping Ayeka and Ryoko away from each other), but he knew he couldn't keep the peace forever. So it was with helpless acceptance that he found himself lying dazed on the floor as Ayeka and Ryoko sized each other up.
This morning Ryoko had decided that she had wanted to help in the kitchen, "To make something special for you," she told Tenchi.
Ayeka had been on the other side of the room getting the table ready for breakfast. "If you start cooking, the only thing Tenchi will get is stomach cramps," she said under her breath.
"What was that?" growled Ryoko.
"I was just saying that the only thing you're good at is destroying things." Ayeka said, standing up and walking towards Ryoko and Tenchi.
Ryoko glared at her and then hopped behind Tenchi and wrapped her arms around him. "Tenchi," she whined, looking over his shoulder with huge, water-filled eyes, "you think I can cook, don't you?"
He tried to think of an appropriate reply, but all he could come up with was, "Oh … uhm … err … I think … "
Ayeka chuckled. "Oh please, the only thing you can make is a warm bottle of sake."
Ryoko glared at Ayeka. "I didn't ask you. Besides, I believe the last time you tried to heat up some soup you burned the bottom of the pan."
Ayeka's smile disappeared. "The timer was broken! And at least I don't start drinking during my morning bath!"
"Unless it's snowing, you mean."
"You gave me no choice that day!"
"Come on, Princess, I've seen you, you can pack it away with the best of them. Or have you already forgotten Sasami's party? I wouldn't be surprised if you have." Ryoko chuckled.
Ayeka turned four different shades of purple. "How dare you insinuate that I'm a drunkard you ... you ... you monster!"
Ryoko pushed Tenchi away and he went crashing to the floor. She didn't notice. "I wasn't insinuating anything, and who are you calling 'monster' little miss perfect."
The two women glared at each other. Tenchi was picking himself up off of the floor when the kitchen door slid open and Washu walked through carrying a tray of food. She was closely followed by Mihoshi and Ryo-ohki, who was in her humanoid form.
"Breakfast is ready," Washu said. She set the tray down on the table and walked over to where Ryoko and Ayeka were fighting. "Okay you two, break it up," she said, grabbing each of them by an ear.
"OW! OW! OW! What did you have to do that for! Washu?" Ryoko cried as Washu led them to the table. Washu deposited them at the table and sat down next to her daughter.
"Now now, Ryoko," she said, "don't go ruining everyone's breakfast by fighting, at least wait until we've eaten."
"Miss Washu! I would appreciate it if you stayed out of our business." Ayeka said as she rubbed her ear and glared at Ryoko.
"She started it," Ryoko said, sticking her tongue out at Ayeka.
Tenchi finished dusting himself off and said, "has anyone seen Sasami this morning?"
Ayeka thought for a second. "No, now that you mention it, and she wasn't in bed when I got up this morning."
"Oh no," said Mihoshi putting her hands over her mouth, "do you think she's in trouble?"
"No, you," said Washu. She grabbed Mihoshi by the shirt and pulled her down to the empty seat next to her. "She's probably just taking a bath. Ayeka can go tell her breakfast's ready."
At that moment the dining room door slid open and Sasami walked in. She was still in her bathrobe and her hair was down, she had a dazed look on her face. Ryo-ohki ran over to her. She hugged Sasami's legs and looked up at her with a smile. Tenchi was about to ask her if anything was wrong when she shook her head and said.
"Uhm, Miss Washu, I think you should come look at this."
~~~
Tenchi could not believe his eyes. He was standing in the girl's side of the onsen looking at the completely dry pools. Not one drop was left. The bottoms of the pools weren't even damp.
"Sasami, what happened here?" He asked the princess.
"I don't know. One minute there was water, and the next it was gone."
Tenchi nodded. He looked over at Washu who was busy typing away on the computer that was floating in front of her. He could see her face though the screen. She was frowning at something so he decided the question that was forming in his head could wait.
"Did you accidentally pull the plug?" Mihoshi asked. "Sometimes I do that when I'm taking a bath." She was standing in the bottom of the large main pool looking around her in confusion.
"No, I was standing over by the mirror when I noticed that I couldn't hear the water anymore." Sasami replied.
"Do you have any ideas as to what could have caused this, Miss Washu?" asked Ayeka. She was standing near the edge of the same pool Mihoshi was in.
Washu looked up at her, "Well, I can tell you what didn't happen. For starters she couldn't have pulled the plug, it's on the other side of the room. Besides, the ground is too dry, it would take hours for all the water that was left to dry out. Which also means it couldn't have evaporated. If Sasami was in the water only minutes before it disappeared, that rules out the possibility of a leak as well." She started typing away at her computer again.
Ryoko floated over to Washu from the pool she had been looking at. "So what did happen? How could it have just disappeared?"
Washu waved a distracted hand at her and said, "If you would be quiet, that's what I'm trying to figure out."
"Well, excuse me," Ryoko grumbled under her breath. She turned and floated back to the pool she had been studying earlier.
Washu typed a few more commands into her computer and then turned to Sasami. "Now, I need you to tell me everything you were doing before the water disappeared. Start from the beginning. And remember, even the little things may be important, so don't leave anything out."
Sasami thought for a second. "Well, I fell asleep in the water. I must have been there for about an hour because when I woke up the sun was shining in my eyes. After that I got out and dried off. I was fixing my hair when I noticed I couldn't hear the waterfalls anymore. That's when I saw that the water was gone and came to get you."
Washu typed something on her computer. She looked around and pointed at the mirror near the entrance. "Is that where you were?"
Sasami nodded.
"And you're sure you left nothing out?"
She nodded again.
"Okay! That's all I need here. I should be able to figure this out. I already have a few theories, but they need to be tested. And Sasami, I'll need you down in my lab a little later for a few minor tests."
At that Ayeka tuned on Washu and said, "Miss Washu, I will not allow you to hook Sasami up to one of your insane machines like she's some experiment of yours! It's bad enough when you do it to Lord Tenchi" Tenchi couldn't disagree with her on that one.
Washu put her hands up and grinned at Ayeka. "Don't worry! I'll treat her just like she's my own daughter."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about!"
Tenchi glanced at Ryoko, she was down in the pool with Mihoshi, apparently not paying any attention to what was being said.
Suddenly Sasami gave out a little gasp and said, "Oh, Miss Washu! I forgot to ask, who put the new clock on the wall? I noticed it when I was drying off."
Ayeka and Washu both turned to look at Sasami. "Huh? What new clock?" asked Washu.
"The one on the wall across from the mirror, over there." Sasami said, pointing towards the entrance.
Washu looked over to where Sasami was pointing. "Well, I sure didn't put it up. I'd never use a crude piece of equipment like that. Hey! Ryoko! Did you put this up?"
Ryoko materialized next to Washu. "No need to yell, Mom." She said sarcastically. "I can hear, you know." She looked at the clock and thought for a moment. "Nope, never seen it before."
Mihoshi climbed out of the pool and looked at everybody. "What are you all looking at now?" She followed everyone's gaze over to the wall. "Oh! Who put up the new clock?"
"That's a good question," replied Ayeka, "because I sure didn't."
The girls all looked at Tenchi. His stomach dropped to his feet and he backed away a few steps. "Don't look at me," he said, his voice higher than he intended. "I never use that door, you know that!"
Washu stretched her arms out and cracked her knuckles. "Well, what's one more mystery to a genius like me?" She brought up her computer again and typed a few commands into it. It beeped and whizzed for a few seconds before disappearing. She put her hands behind her head and said, "Well, I'll be in my lab if anyone needs me. Come on down in about an hour, Sasami." With that, she left
"Come on Sasami," Ayeka said, "let's go get you dressed."
Sasami nodded and followed her sister out of the bath-house.
"Hey! Wait for me!" cried Mihoshi as she trotted after the two princesses.
Tenchi was about to follow the others out when he felt Ryoko's arms form around his chest. "Tenchi," Ryoko whispered in his ear, "We're all alone."
He groaned.
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Sasami had to admit that she was nervous. She had seen Washu giving a few tests to Tenchi before. And while he always seemed fine afterwards, it looked like they were very... embarrassing. She really hoped Washu wouldn't need her to take off her clothes and get hooked up to that machine. That was why she was glad Tenchi wasn't there with her; she would just die if he saw her hooked up to that machine in nothing but her underwear. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, he did, but she had asked him to stay behind so he reluctantly agreed. Her sister Ayeka was a different story, however. Nothing she said could change her mind. It actually made her feel a little better, knowing Ayeka was there and would stop Washu from doing anything to crazy or unnecessary. Ryo-ohki was with her too. She was always with her, perched atop her head and meowing away, or in her humanoid form helping in the kitchen. She knew she was probably overreacting, that Washu would probably only put that funny looking yellow ball on her head, and that would be it. But she also knew how Washu could get when given something new to study, like Tenchi.
She was surprised that Washu had never tested her after everyone learned about the original Sasami's accident. It still made her feel a little sick to think about it, even after all these years. She had fallen off of that bridge and she had died. How or why she was here, she really didn't know. She only knew that Tsunami had something to do with it. And now Tsunami was always with her. She did know that someday she and Tsunami would be the same, one person. That worried her too, the thought of becoming someone else. But every time she thought about that she had to remind herself that she was not even the original Sasami, that she was only something made to look and act like Sasami by Tsunami. Whenever she started thinking too much about it and got depressed, she reminded herself that her sister and everyone else still loved her. That always made her feel better, but it still didn't change anything. Sasami forced herself to stop thinking along those lines. It only made her more nervous.
She and Ayeka found Washu in the large, well-lit portion of her lab. That made Sasami feel a lot better. Whenever Washu was testing Tenchi they were down in the dark parts with all the machines and experiments. Sasami saw no sign of any testing equipment anywhere. Washu was sitting on her floating cushion and studying some complicated looking charts and numbers spread over three computer monitors. She was so intent on whatever it was she was studying that she didn't hear them come in. After a few moments Ayeka gave a little cough. Washu jumped and turned around.
"Oh! It's you! Has it been an hour already?"
"Actually, it's been three," said Ayeka. "Since you never called for Sasami we decided to wait a little and see if you could figure out what happened without her."
"I see. Well, you were right about one thing, I did need the extra time. This is one doozy of a mystery. I think I'm close to figuring it out though. The bit about the clock helped put a few of the pieces together, I think." She hopped up out of the cushion and put up a finger. "But! Before I can prove anything, I still need a few readings from you," she said, looking at Sasami and grinning.
Sasami shuddered and held Ryo-ohki close. "You're not going to hook me up to that machine you always have poor Tenchi on, are you?"
Ayeka was about to say something to Washu, but before she could Washu laughed.
"No, Sasami. I only put Tenchi in that thing to tease him. I would never do that to you." She bent down and looked Sasami in the eyes. "All I need to do is put that little yellow ball on your head, okay?"
Sasami instantly felt better about the whole thing and she smiled and nodded at Washu. "Uhm-hm"
Washu stood up and clapped once. "OKAY! let's do this!"
A large, comfortable looking chair rose up out of the ground next to Sasami. She climbed into it. A hole appeared in the air next to Washu and she reached into it and pulled out a round object the size of a small beach ball. It was yellow with two black eyes and a mouth on it. It had two small feet on the bottom. Washu placed it on Sasami's head.
"Now, just sit still and do as I say." Washu said. Sasami gave a little nod. Washu sat back down on her cushion and typed a few commands into her computer. The cushion and computer turned around so that Washu was facing Sasami. All the screens but the middle one disappeared. Some charts popped up and a little crab said "GO!"
Washu had her perform a series of actions like smiling, frowning, laughing, talking and closing her eyes. After a few minutes Washu had all she needed. When the ball was put back in subspace, she typed away at her computer while Sasami and Ayeka waited. Sasami stayed in the chair.
"Little Washu," Sasami said after a few minutes.
"Yes, Sasami?" said Washu, without looking up from the screen.
"Why did you need to test me? Do you think I made the water disappear?"
"Yes, Sasami. That's exactly what I think. I also think that you are the one who put that clock on the wall."
The clock surprised her, though she didn't know why. She had already thought the same thing earlier. "But, how? I thought the clock was already there."
"Miss Washu," Ayeka said. "How can you possibly think Sasami could do anything of the sort? She never has before."
"Let me rephrase that," Washu said, turning around to look at them. "I don't really think Sasami did it. More like Tsunami did it."
Ayeka gasped and covered her mouth. Sasami thought she was going to be sick.
"I think you're wrong, Ayeka, about Sasami never doing anything like this before. I don't know all the details, but you remember the Kagato incident, right? It is my understanding that Sasami stayed behind on earth while you, Tenchi and Mihoshi went to save Ryoko, right?"
Ayeka could only nod. Sasami knew where Washu was going with this. She had hoped that the others would forget about her part in the whole thing, and for a while she thought they had. Tenchi at least had never mentioned it. Of course he had told them about how Tsunami had saved his life, but he had never mentioned Sasami. No one had ever asked her what she had been doing there, and she figured they thought she had gotten on her ship when Kagato had attacked the Earth. Now she was not so sure.
Washu continued. She looked at Ayeka and asked, "Did you ever wonder how Sasami got on the ship Tsunami in the first place? Or how it just happened to be in the right place at the right time? At the time, I just chalked it up as another one of the many mysteries of Jurai, Tsunami in particular, and thought little more of it. Besides, I was happy to finally be free from Kagato; and I had Tenchi and his Light Hawk wings to study. Then Sasami here told us about what happened to her when she was a child on Jurai, and we learned of her connection to Tsunami. I began to suspect there was a little more involved in that incident than I first thought. And now today we have this case of the disappearing water, where the only person present at the time was Sasami." She turned and looked at Sasami with kind eyes. "Sasami, dear. Do you want to tell us what happened the day Kagato appeared? It would really help me figure out what happened today."
She didn't, not really. But she couldn't see any real reason not to. Of course, she wasn't exactly sure of the details herself, half the time she had only been barely conscious of what had been happening. But she did know enough to know she could never have done it without Tsunami's help. She decided to tell them what she knew, especially if it would help Washu figure out what was happening.
She looked at her lap, where Ryo-ohki was comfortably napping, and began to speak. "A little while after everyone left, I suddenly got the terrible feeling that if I didn't do something then Tenchi was going to die. I didn't know what else to do, so I ran to Brother Yosho's tree, Funaho. When I got there, I said something; I don't remember what, and then I was on the Tsunami."
Ayeka looked down at the floor. "Washu, could I have a seat, please?" she asked. Washu nodded and a seat appeared next to her. Ayeka sat down and looked at Sasami. "Did you find Lord Tenchi?"
Sasami nodded, "Yes, he was hurt real bad, almost dead. Azaka and Kamidake were protecting him, and Ryu-oh was keeping him alive, but they couldn't save him. After that I can't remember anything until Kagato tried to capture us, but I do know that Tsunami saved Tenchi and sent him to Kagato's ship. You know what happened after that."
"Yes, we do," Ayeka said softly, "Kagato almost captured you and the Tsunami, but Lord Tenchi stopped him." After a short pause she leaned forward and looked at her sister. "Sasami, why didn't you tell us this sooner? Surely Tenchi must have known a little about it. Why didn't he ever say anything?"
Sasami only shook her head. She felt like she was going to cry. Why, she didn't know. This was nothing like the times she told Ayeka or her parents about the accident. But it was another little secret about herself that, until now, no one else knew. "I don't think Tenchi knew what to think, and he only ever talked to Tsunami. I don't know what they said." She also knew that Tenchi was far too polite to ask her about it unless she brought up the subject; which she never did.
Washu stood up and walked over to Sasami. She leaned down and gave her a hug. "Thank you, Sasami. I know that wasn't easy, but now I have more than enough information. I should be able to give you an answer in a little while. If you want, you can stay here, but it will be real boring."
"That's okay," Sasami said. She realized that she was very tired, even though it wasn't even lunchtime. "I think I'm going to go take a nap."
"I think I'll leave as well," said Ayeka. "Thank you, Miss Washu, for all your hard work."
"It's nothing," Washu grinned. She clasped her hands in front of her and grinned. "And call me 'Little Washu', won't you please?"
Ayeka grimaced a bit and Sasami gave out a little giggle. Washu grinned at them one more time before sitting back down on her cushion and typing away on her computer. She was engrossed within seconds. The two sisters walked out of the lab together and headed up the stairs towards their bedroom. When they reached the door, Sasami turned and faced Ayeka.
"Ayeka?" she said.
"Yes? What is it?"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone what was said today."
Ayeka looked down at her and smiled softly. "Of course, Sasami. Are you going to be okay?"
Sasami gave her sister a little smile and nodded. "Yes. I just want to be alone for a little while. Will you wake me when Washu has an answer?"
"Of course I will. Now you get some rest, it's been a long morning." She hugged Sasami and then tuned and walked back down the hall.
Sasami closed the door and went to the closet to get her futon down. She didn't even bother with a pillow or covers. She lay down on the thick matt and was asleep within seconds.
End of Chapter
One