welcome_home_

Well, here it is, my first Tenchi Muyo fanfic. This one is based of the OAV continuum, so there is no Kiyone. Sorry fans.

This was meant as a one-shot fic, and was written to commemorate an important event. But now, as that event has passed, I finally decided to get my but in gear and post it here, to see what everybody else though of it. I hope you all enjoy it! J

Note: I do not own any of the characters seen in this fanfic, nor do I have any affiliation with AIC, or Pioneer. This was written solely for entertainment purposes, and is not to be used in any way for profit.

Welcome Home

"Welcome home, Lord Tenchi," said Azaka, in his mono-tonal voice.

"Yes, welcome home Lord Tenchi," added Kamidake from his position at the gate beside Azaka.

"Hello you two," he answered them as he approached. "How goes the guarding?"

"Just another booooring, beautiful day," Azaka told him.

"Yes, such beautiful spring-like weather," Kamidake added again. Tenchi grinned at them as he walked by, but as soon as he had passed them, the grin slipped away.

It had been about six months since he had finally defeated the rouge goddess, Tokimi. And now…it looked like everything was almost back to normal.

The results of the goddess wars had thrown everyone apart. Aeka now was the acting Queen of Jurai. She had to be there now, helping to repair her battle-scarred planet. Ryoko…Tenchi sighed as he thought about her. He knew that he would never see her again. She was still alive, but now…

Near the end of the war, when Wasyu had disappeared, and the parts of the universe that had been held together by her goddess power had started to fade away, Ryoko had made the decision herself to absorb her gems, thus becoming a goddess herself, and taking Wasyu's place. Now, she presided over half of the remaining galaxies in the universe, preventing them from further harm.

Nobody knew what had happened to Wasyu. She had just disappeared, without a trace. The best Tsunami and Ryoko could guess was that she had been captured and destroyed by Tokimi somehow. Yet another person Tenchi was sure he would never see again.

The only one of the girls that still lived with Tenchi was Sasami. She might technically be his great-aunt, but he still looked on her as a little sister. She wanted to grow up on the planet that her brother Yosho had chosen to live on, and experience it the way Tenchi had. She now went to a Junior High, near Tenchi's school, but class ended later for her, so she wouldn't be home for a few more hours.

Tenchi thought about all of the girls as he walked up the many steps to his house. All of them, but one. The one that he had been trying not to think about for the past six months.

At that last showdown between him and Tokimi, when he was the closest to dying that he had ever been, he could only think of one thing, at it was her. But now, she was gone. Not dead, just very far away. He had no way of contacting her, and he was sure that he'd never see her again.

Out of the silence of the forest, a high-pitched scream was suddenly heard through the air, like a bomb falling at high speed. The sound brought sudden joy to Tenchi's heart.

Maybe I was wrong, he thought to himself. Turning back toward his house, he ran as fast as he could in the direction of the lake.

****************************************************

It had been six months. Six month since she had disappeared from his life. And now, it looked like she was finally back!

When Tokimi had been defeated, Mihoshi had won a huge promotion, bringing her to the very top of the Galaxy Police. Right under the level of her grandfather, the Grand Marshal. This was one promotion that she couldn't refuse, no matter how much she had wanted to. And so, she had returned to Galaxy Police Headquarters, and had seemingly disappeared from his life forever. But now…she was back!

He finally made it up to the top of the steps, just in time to see the red-hot GP ship make a splash-down into the nearby lake. He braced himself for the tidal wave, but this time, it didn't come. He looked up and saw that it had washed out before it had reached him.

"She's getting better at that," he noted with a smile. He ran over to the dock, and waited for her to appear. While he waited, he realized how incredible it was that the dock was still there, after all the times Mihoshi had crashed into the lake. It must have been made of some pretty strong wood.

As he expected, Mihoshi soon appeared on the end of the dock in her GP uniform, with her command cube in hand, whining as usual.

"Waaaaaaaaah! I'm wet again!!!!!" She stopped when she noticed Tenchi at the other end of the dock, smiling at her. "Oh…Tenchi!" With a flick of her wrist, she made the cube disappear, and ran over to Tenchi, grabbing him in a hug. Not one of her normal, squeeze-the-breath-out-of-you hugs, but an affectionate, caring one. "Oh Tenchi," she mumbled, with her face pressed against his school uniform, "I've missed you so much!" He returned her embrace, just happy to be holding her again.

After a few minutes, he took a step back from her and lifted her chin with his finger. He noticed the tears of joy in her eyes. "Come on," he told her, smiling. "Let's go inside. You should change our clothes before you catch a cold."

Mihoshi looked down at her still dripping form in surprise. "Uh Tenchi," she asked him as he started to turn.

"Yes?"

"Um…How did I get wet?"

****************************************************

She hasn't changed at all, thought Tenchi. The thought brought a smile to his face. That's one of the things I love most about her.

He sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for Mihoshi to finish changing. He had taken the chance to change his own clothes, and now was wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans. He heard footsteps on the stairs, and turned to see Mihoshi walking down the steps, in her favorite pink sweater and her light kacki pants. She walked over to the couch, and sat down next to him. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and looked down into her beautiful blue eyes. "Hello…Mihoshi," he said.

"Hello…Tenchi…" She leaned up to him, and he leaned down to her. Their faces were just inches apart. Tenchi felt out of breath, his heart beating rapidly. He leaned down to kiss her, but before he could…

"I'M HOME!!!!"

"Ahh!" Startled, Mihoshi and Tenchi both let out a short yelp, and jumped to their feet. They turned to the door as Sasami walked into the living room.

"Hey Ten-…MIHOSHI!!!!" She dropped her books, and ran over to Mihoshi, giving the GP a big hug. "What are you doing here," she asked with a big smile on her face.

"Weeeeelllllll… I was just about to tell Tenchi, right before you got here," Mihoshi told her, giving her a grin.

"Oh, okay," said Sasami. "Well, if you wait a minute I can get us some rice crackers and tea!"

"Oh boy1 That'd be GREAT," Mihoshi shouted gleefully, clapping her hands together.

"Okay, I'll be right back," said Sasami, and she turned and ran back into the kitchen. When she was gone, Mihoshi and Tenchi sat back down on the couch.

"You said you were about to tell me why you came back," he asked her as he stared down at her.

"Yes," she said, blushing under his gaze. "This is why." Suddenly leaning forward, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips, lingering a moment before pulling back and turning away sheepishly. He turned her head back, and gave her a quick kiss of his own.

A few minutes later, Sasami walked back in carrying a tray with tea and rice crackers on it. Setting the try down on the coffee table, she sat down opposite of Tenchi and Mihoshi. "Here you go," she told them.

"Thank you, Sasami," said Tenchi, as he reached over to grab a cracker. Mihoshi did likewise, and they ended up grabbing the same cracker. "Oh, you can have it Mihoshi," he told her.

"No no, you take it!"

"It's all right, you can have it!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure"

"OK, thank you Tenchi!"

"You're welcome."

Sasami sat across from them, watching the strange conversation. "Um…Mihoshi?"

"Mmph," Mihoshi asked her, her mouth full of cracker already.

"Weren't you about to tell us why you were here?"

"Oh yeah," she remembered, swallowing the rest of her cracker. "Well, I just missed you all so much! So, I pulled a few strings through my new position, made a call to Aeka, and now the Galaxy Police are going to built a new station right here in the Sol system! Isn't that great?!"

"Really," asked Sasami. "That is great!"

"I know," said Mihoshi. "And, my new office will be in the station. But, my grandfather the Grand Marshal is letting me be a resident officer here on Earth! So now I can be with you all the time!"

"That's wonderful Mihoshi," Tenchi told her. "So, when do you first start?"

"Today! That's another reason why I'm here. I came to scout out the best place for the new station. I think the best place will be somewhere around Venus."

"Really," asked Sasami. "I would have thought the best place would have been around Jupiter, or Saturn."

"Well, to tell the truth, probably not. You see, those planets are very popular, and studied a lot here on Earth, because they are really easy to see. But it's harder to study Planets closer to the Sun, like Venus, because the only time you really have a good line of site is during the day time! So, the only way that they would be able to see the station is if they use their satellites, and those are easy enough to fool."

"Wow Mihoshi, you sure know a lot about this stuff," Sasami commented.

"I'm a Galaxy Police Officer, Sasami! I'm supposed to know about this stuff," she told her matter-of-factually.

"Oh, well, maybe I can get you to help me with some of my homework later! That reminds me though, I'd better get to work on it!" Sasami jumped up from her seat, grabbed her books, and ran up the stairs to her room.

After she had left, Tenchi and Mihoshi sat back down on the couch, and continued to stare back into each others eyes.

"Mihoshi, I…"

"Tenchi, I…" they stated at the same time.

"No, you go first…"

"No, you go first…"

"Hahaha…"

"Hahaha…"

They sat silent for another few minutes. Tenchi realized that he couldn't take his eyes of her beautiful face. He struggled to find the words he wanted to say.

"Mihoshi…," he started again but he quickly ran out of words. He sighed. "Isn't it strange," asked her, "that the one man powerful enough, and brave enough to defeat and entire goddess, is intimidated by…No…Actually, I guess it's normal for someone to be intimidated by…the person, they…love…"

He had run out of words again. But this time, he had managed to say what he had wanted to. And now that he had, he felt a great pressure had been lifted of his shoulders.

"I love you, Mihoshi."

Tears of joy started to stream down her face as she looked up at him. "Oh Tenchi," she said. " I love you too..." With that, she leaned forward, and they embraced in a long kiss. It was several moments before they separated.

"Mihoshi…"

"Yes?"

"…Will you…marry me?" Tenchi looked at her tear-streaked face, hoping to see a sign of some answer as she suddenly fell silent. She stared into his face, in silent wonder for a few moments, amazed at what he'd just asked. But she already knew her answer.

"Oh Tenchi, of course I will!" She leaped forward and kissed him so fiercely and passionately, that he almost fell of the couch. He probably wouldn't have noticed…

Well, there ya have it. Please, as always, send any C&C to Vegtio1000@hotmail.com .

Just so ya know, I've been thinking of continuing this, or maybe writing about the Goddess Wars, as a prologue for this fic. So, if you liked it, keep looking back to see if I do! ; )