The Wayside

by Krin Dreamweaver

A sequel to Birthday Wishes. Shiko, the black sheep of Nobuyuki's family, comes to stay at the house, throwing an already tense situation into further chaos.

**Standard disclaimer**
** This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters or
**events portrayed herein to real people or places is entirely
**coincidental.
** Most of the characters in this work are the property of Pioneer,
**AIC, and quite probably a number of other Japanese people, all of
**whom are vastly more wealthy than I. Thank you, you wonderful
**people, for providing us with such quality realms of fantasy to
**which to escape, and please do not sue this humble explorer.
**/Standard disclaimer**
**Author not thingum**
** This is my third work of fan fiction. It is a sequel to my first,
**so those of you who read my second (Survival) and are hoping for
**a continuiation of that plotline, I'm sorry but this isn't it.
** This fiction takes place in the same universe as my first, Birthday
**Wishes, but is not a part of that story. The events here begin
**immediately after those, and a full understanding of these requires
**the fore-knowledge of those, but the story told here begins a new
**plot line that is considerably darker than that of Birthday. This
**story will be rather longer than Birthday as well, but it's important
**to note that if you wanted only a story of Tenchi and Ryouko falling
**in love and are not interested in anything more, you should probably
**stop here. If you don't stop, I hope you enjoy this work and I look
**forward to hearing from you.
** The continuity is OAV (with my 2 year temporal shift) plus, as I
**said, my first fic.
** I hope you enjoy this, and please send me feedback.
**Krin (krin@hotmail.com)
**/Author note thingum**

The Wayside

-- one --
apologies

Ryouko stared at him, completely unable to form so much as a syllable of
response. Though her heart was racing, Ryouko's thoughts had shuddered to a
halt before he finished saying 'yes.' Now, as they sped back into motion, she
wanted to do a hundred things at once. She wanted to shout her joy, wanted to
throw her arms around him, wanted to fly across the midafternoon sky screaming
out to the world that he loved her, her Tenchi loved her. Instead of any of
them she simply lay there and stared into his eyes, savoring the glimmer of love
that finally shone there where she had so long searched. She never wanted to
forget this moment. She wanted to memorize every line of his face, the way the
subtle, indirect light of Washuu's lab played over his features, never wanted to
forget the tiny eyelash that had fallen loose and stuck to his sweat-sticky skin
just at the corner of his eye.

"I love you Ryouko," Tenchi repeated. He said it more forcefully this
time, she thought, with a note of something extra in his voice. She pondered
that hint of added emotion. Finally she realized what it was. He was afraid.
Ryouko nearly laughed at the concept. Tenchi was afraid that having said it she
wouldn't respond in kind. He was afraid that after all this time she would not
share his emotion. Ryouko's mind churned as she tried to compose a suitable
reply, to describe to him the depth and breadth of her love, how her passion for
him could outshine the sun and would outlast the universe, but between the day's
ordeal and the shock of Tenchi's long-awaited revelation it was all she could do
to form a complete sentence.

"I love you too Tenchi," she said softly, mustering all the energy she
could find in her exhausted body to put the passion she felt but could not
express into her words, "Hold me Tenchi? I.. I want to touch you, but I
can't..." She smiled weakly and fluttered her hands in a gesture of her current
impotence, "Can't seem to move much right now."

He stood and leaned awkwardly over the device above which Ryouko floated.
The pulsing green field of energy supporting her tickled his hands as he slid
his arms around her and tried his best to hug her while leaning half bent over
and with no leverage. Tenchi's knee bumped the edge of the machine and he
stumbled, nearly falling onto Ryouko before catching himself. She laughed then,
freeing her earlier humour at the mental image of how they must look together.
Tenchi looked down at her in confusion and the expression on his face sent her
spiraling off into uncontrollable gales of laughter.

Finally she regained her control and whispered, "I'm sorry Tenchi, but we
must look like idiots." She struggled to find purchase against the supportive
but overly malleable forcefield and finally gave up, saying, "Help me sit up
Tenchi, I think I can manage to sit but I'm too weak to get up."

Moving carefully with one arm around her waist and the other supporting
her neck Tenchi moved Ryouko to a sitting position. She wrapped her arms around
one of his and leaned her head on his shoulder, as much to keep from falling
back over as to be close to him. Ryouko looked up at him and was delighted
again by the love she could see in his face.

"I love you Ryouko," Tenchi repeated gently, seeming to know exactly what
she wanted to hear. Ryouko's whole body tingled at the sound of the words and
she hoped desperately it would always feel that way, that he would say it again
and again.

"Do you know how long I've waited to hear you say that, Tenchi Masaki?"
Ryouko asked in a tone of mock reproach.

Tenchi sighed and squeezed her hand. "I think so," he replied seriously,
"And I wish I'd said it sooner. I'm sorry I made you wait so long."

Ryouko snuggled against his shoulder and nuzzled his neck saying, "Well,
you just keep on saying it and maybe I'll forgive you." Tenchi laughed in
response and Ryouko chuckled softly along with him.

They sat quietly together for a long while. Ryouko was too drained to do
more than simply cling to him as the energy slowly filtered back into her body
and Tenchi was content to simply sit with her, occasionally whispering his love
and smiling when she seemed to almost vibrate against him with happiness.

Finally Tenchi sighed and squeezed her hands with his. "I should..." he
trailed off, unable to bring himself to say Aeka's name after what had happened.

Ryouko nodded sadly. She didn't want him to leave her side, ever, but she
was too weak to stand, much less walk with him. A month ago, in another life,
she would have been hurt that he thought about Aeka while sitting with her, that
he would leave her side to go explain to Aeka. But Ryouko had changed in that
month. Instead of jealousy she felt concern for the princess and inwardly
cringed at the pain Aeka must be feeling.

"Hurry back Tenchi, and tell her..." Ryouko tried to think of something
for him to tell her, but could come up with no words that were likely to ease
the pain the princess must feel, or the even greater pain she would experience
when she found out what had happened here in the lab. So instead she simply
squeezed his hand and smiled supportively as Tenchi lowered her back onto the
regenerative field. His face was only inches away from hers and she wanted
desperately to kiss him, but she was afraid of how he would react. He loved
her, she knew it was true and that he'd meant the words when he said them, but
he was still Tenchi and however he felt in his heart he had been too shy about
physical expressions of affection for too long to change that much in the span
of a month. She ached to feel his lips against hers the way she had that night
in front of his fathers camera. He had kissed her then and she knew he would do
it again, and that the next time it would be real, not a show put on for
Noboyuki's camera. That knowledge alone was enough that she felt confident she
could wait until the end of time if necessary.

* * *

Tenchi had been gone only moments when Washuu reappeared. The little
scientist tapped at the controls arrayed on the edge of Ryouko's 'bed' for a
moment before settling onto a suddenly available floating cushion.

"Well? Did he do it?" Washuu asked with an air of obviously feigned
detachment. Ryouko looked up at her and asked with equally false innocence, "Do
what?"

Washuu sighed theatrically in exasperation and scolded, "Don't tease your
mother Ryouko, it's not nice. Now tell me, how'd he do it? What'd he say?"

Ryouko saw the gleam of excitement in Washuu's eyes and wondered at the
crab-haired genius' apparent happiness for her. Ryouko had vaguely expected
Washuu to be jealous, even a little dismayed perhaps, at Tenchi having chosen
Ryouko over herself and the others. But now that she actually considered the
idea Ryouko realized that Washuu had not made a single advance on Tenchi in the
past month, had not even made any casual innuendoes involving him except
concerning his relationship with Ryouko. Ryouko remembered her recent
conversations with Washuu, marveling at how open she had been without even
realizing it, at the emotions she had shared with the little scientist which she
could hardly believe she had even spoke aloud, much less to Washuu. She
remembered suddenly a moment at the shrine a week ago, when she had mentioned
Washuu in passing and Tenchi had stopped to stare at her. Ryouko hadn't been
able to figure out what had startled him so at the time, but realized now she
had unthinkingly referred to Washuu as simply 'mom', with none of the usual
sarcasm which she would have weighted the word with in the past.

Ryouko reached out from the energy field, using what little strength had
returned since her near fatal collapse, and grasped one of Washuu's hands.
Then, haltingly, Ryouko told her mother how the man she loved had finally told
her that he loved her too.

* * *

Tenchi spent the walk toward Funaho trying to decide how to deal with
Aeka. He knew where she would be of course, Aeka always went to Funaho when she
was upset. The feeble aura of Jurai energy that the tree still possessed
soothed her and Aeka would gravitate toward it seemingly unconsciously whenever
she wanted to be alone.

*How do you tell someone that you love them deeply, but not the way they
want you to?* Tenchi considered a dozen possible ways to tell her and discarded
each in turn. He couldn't bear the thought of lying to her, especially not
after all the pain he had already caused her. Whatever else he said, he had to
tell her what had happened, how he had been bonded to Ryouko and fallen in love
with her. He realized now, as he examined his own feelings to be able to better
explain them to Aeka, that he truly had fallen in love with Ryouko over the past
month. He had loved her before, had loved all of the girls before, but his fear
of hurting them had been so overwhelming that he had not allowed his emotions to
go beyond those he would feel for a close friend, or a member of his own family.
Aeka, of course, was technically family all along, but he knew she had hoped for
considerably more than the affection he would feel for an aunt. Tenchi shook
his head sadly and discarded two more possible opening lines.

Too soon Tenchi reached the edge of the clearing in which Funaho stood,
surrounded by the pond which had formed in the impact crater of his
grandfather's injured ship so many years ago. He saw Aeka sitting near the
trunk, her face in her hands and her back jerking up and down as she sobbed
helplessly. Tenchi's most recent plan for comforting her dissolved before the
reality of the situation and he stepped forward woodenly, his mind utterly blank
of anything but sorrow for the pain he had caused this poor, beautiful,
misfortunate girl.

"Aeka?" Tenchi asked quietly, her name being the only thing he could
think of to say.

The princess looked up at him, too deep in her own misery to have heard
him approach. She hastily tried to wipe the tears from her face and gave Tenchi
the weakest, most pitifully transparent false smile he had ever seen. "Hello
Lord Tenchi, I... I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I am sure it was all a
misunderstanding and I will be sure to apologize to Ryouko as soon as I see her.
How is she anyway? Not injured I hope?" It all came out in a rush, the words
seeming to trip over one another in Aeka's haste to get it all out without her
voice breaking. Tenchi could tell she had been rehearsing it mentally for a
while.

"Aeka, I..." Tenchi looked down, trying to find some inspiration in the
grass growing around the ancient tree. He looked up again to find Aeka staring
at him, seeming to search his face for something and growing more and more
agitated as she failed to find it.

"I," Tenchi started again, taking a deep breath, "Aeka, I love Ryouko."
It came out before he knew he was going to say it. He winced at the words and
instantly wished he could take them back, start over again, but it was too late.
Aeka's face fell, the emotion draining from it and leaving a dull, blank mask of
pain too deep to be expressed.

"Aeka, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... It wasn't supposed to... How can
I..." Tenchi babbled meaninglessly, unable to complete a sentence while faced
with Aeka's cold, dead gaze. How could he have hurt her like that? Tenchi felt
the old walls that had slowly crumbled over the weeks slamming back into place.
How could he have said that? Why didn't he break it to her more gently? Who
was he to deserve Ryouko's love? Him, a callous, unthinking idiot who had been
too blind to see how much his own indecision hurt those around him. And now
Aeka... Tenchi looked away, he couldn't bear to face her anymore, couldn't bear
to look into the hollow stare leveled at him.

"Go away Tenchi," Aeka whispered, her voice thick and slow. He looked
back cautiously to find her staring down at the water surrounding the tree. He
could see she was crying again, silently this time and with no effort to wipe
the tears as they ran across her cheeks.

"Aeka..."

"Go away, Tenchi. Just go away."

* * *

Ryouko was waiting in Tenchi's bedroom when he stumbled through the door.
She could see he had been crying and her heart lurched. Ryouko stood carefully,
her strength was returning but her joints all still felt a bit wobbly, and went
to him. She tried to take his hand, to reassure him and ask what had happened,
but he shrugged her off silently and went to sit at his desk.

"Tenchi?" Ryouko asked cautiously, resting one hand on his shoulder, "Are
you okay?"

He shook his head, muttering only, "How could I?"

Ryouko sighed softly. It obviously had not gone well at all with Aeka.
"Maybe I should go talk to her," she suggested.

Tenchi looked up at her. "Do you think it would help? She was so..." he
trailed off, seemingly trying to find a word to describe what he had seen.
Finally he gave up and simply looked at her, hoping she would offer him some way
out of the pain he was so obviously in.

Ryouko closed her eyes and shook her head sadly, "I think maybe she's
angrier at you right now than she is at me. I know you didn't want to hurt her
Tenchi, and it was inevitable that it would happen eventually, to one of us, but
maybe she'll listen to me where she won't listen to you." It wasn't much of an
idea but Ryouko hoped it might be true. If Aeka could be taking it badly enough
for Tenchi to look like this... She had to do Something to help the princess.

* * *

Aeka heard someone coming but didn't bother to look up. If it was Tenchi
she would send him away again and if it was anyone else they would get the idea
if she ignored them.

*How could I have been so foolish?* Aeka wondered silently, *How could I
have believed that he could actually love me?* She had hoped he had come to
tell her just that the first time. Hoped Tenchi had seen the error of his ways
and come to repent for spending so much time with Ryouko. But while he stood
there searching for the right words she had seen only pain and confusion in his
face, not a hint of the love she yearned for. And when he looked at her again
and said... said those awful, awful words, she had seen only pity. Aeka hoped
desperately it wasn't Tenchi again, whomever was crossing the stones toward the
tree now. She didn't think she could send him away again if it was. She
couldn't talk to him, she knew. She wasn't sure what she could say even if she
felt confident in her voice not betraying her. So when Ryouko softly called her
name she was almost relieved, but only for a moment. Then the anger came.
Tenchi's words had hurt so much... Aeka couldn't remember anything in her life
that had hurt like hearing him say.. say That had hurt. Even when Youshou had
never returned, she had thought it was because he was simply unable, not because
he didn't want to. Tenchi had come right out and told her he didn't want her.
To him she was nothing and now she felt like nothing, all her life and energy
siphoned away like water down the drain. And it was all because of Ryouko.
Aeka had stopped crying long ago, all the tears were gone and she merely sat,
silent sobs occasionally jerking her half upright. But now the misery receded
as rage took its place. How dare that woman take Tenchi from her? What right
did she have to him?

"What do you want, Ryouko? Coming to gloat?" Aeka's words dripped malice
and she more spat them out than spoke them.

"No Aeka," Ryouko replied quietly from the last step before the island
where she had stopped her approach, "I just wanted to talk to you. I thought
maybe you needed someone to talk to." She sounded confused and worried, but
Aeka didn't care how Ryouko felt.

"Go away. If I talk to anyone it certainly won't be you."

"I'm sorry you're hurting Aeka," Ryouko tried again, "I don't know what
Tenchi said, but you know how he can be sometimes." It was a weak joke and fell
flat in the venomous silence that stretched between them. Finally Aeka looked
up at Ryouko, her face twisted into a mask of pain and fury. "I said go away,
Ryouko. Just go away! You've got what you wanted, do you really need to rub it
in? You've finally twisted Tenchi's mind, made him believe that he actually
loves a monster like you. Why don't you just go back to the house and fuck him
like you've wanted to for so long? Go! Get out of here, you filthy whore!"

Ryouko was stunned into silence. Had she not heard the words with her own
ears and seen Aeka's mouth forming them she would never have believed the
princess capable of it. Aeka never swore, and when she was angry she shouted,
not spoke in the horrible, near-monotone in which she'd uttered her accusations.
And the content of her words... Twisted Tenchi? A whore? Ryouko shook her
head to dispel the ideas, Tenchi loved her. He'd said so. But he was so cold
to her in his bedroom, hadn't even wanted her to touch him... No! She refused
to believe it. Tenchi had been hurt seeing Aeka like this and it had forced him
back into his shell, that was all. He loved her.

Aeka looked back down at the water, silent once more, while Ryouko stood,
trying to decide if she should just leave the princess be or try again.

Finally sympathy won out. She knew Aeka didn't mean what she had said,
knew the words were born of anger and that no matter how much they hurt, Aeka
was in a thousand times the pain.

"I'm sorry Aeka," Ryouko said gently, not entirely sure what she was
apologizing for. She sank down to sit on the stepping stone upon which she had
stood and reiterated, "I'm so, so sorry."

* * *

Tenchi looked up, startled, when his watch beeped the hour. He had been
sitting, his chin on his hands, staring out the window for a long time. Since
Ryouko had gone to talk to Aeka he hadn't moved, had barely even had any
conscious thoughts. He had been so happy before, sitting in Washuu's lab with
Ryouko, finally feeling as though he'd found someone he truly belonged with.
But seeing Aeka had shattered his happiness. She was in such pain, and all
because of him...

Tenchi shook his head and got up. He had completely forgotten about
practice with his grandfather and was already late. The familiar routine of
putting on his gi and stretching before heading out of the house and up to the
shrine let him clear his mind of all the confused emotions rushing around in it.


Tenchi stopped a moment at the top of the stairs near the edge of the
paved courtyard around the shrine and bent over to catch his breath. He had
pushed himself hard on the way up, trying to keep his mind empty through
exertion. After a moment he straightened and walked quickly across the
flagstones to the room where he knew his grandfather would be waiting.

When Katsuhito answered his knock Tenchi dropped to his knees and placed
his hands flat on the ground before him, saying, "Forgive me for being late
Sensei, I am without honor." Tenchi knew it was way over the top, that his
grandfather would have accepted a simple 'Sorry I'm late', but after Aeka he was
determined to say only the things he knew would be right.

Tenchi flinched involuntarily when the bokken clattered on the wooden
slats in front of him.

"Well then," Katsuhito said heavily, "Perhaps you can win some of your
honor back."

Tenchi snatched the wooden sword and whipped it up above his head just in
time to catch his grandfather's swing, letting the force of the attack carry
Katsuhito's blade down along his own in an arc rather than absorbing all the
impact himself. Tenchi had been practicing with his grandfather long enough not
to expect any formal introduction. Katsuhito would say that an enemy did not
stop long enough to bow, so in practice one should not put oneself in the habit.

Tenchi pushed himself upward and backwards, rolling back across his
shoulder and off of the wooden steps of the shrine. He brought himself only up
to a crouching position, positioning the sword once more in a defensive posture
as he searched for his grandfather. The old man wasn't in the doorway anymore,
he had somehow moved out and away from Tenchi's field of view in the moments he
had spent rolling away.

The subtle sound of cloth whispering against cloth was Tenchi's only
warning. He barely snapped the wooden sword backward in time to catch his
grandfather's second attack, this one coming from behind and above him. Tenchi
sprung forward, flicking his wrist to deflect the force of the blow away from
the direction he wanted to move and giving himself enough time to spin around
before Katsuhito could bring his blade back up to bear.

Tenchi assumed a neutral stance, the bokken held low near his hip with the
blade pointed out and downward, neither overtly aggressive nor entirely
defensive. Katsuhito brought his own practice sword up level with his eyes, the
tip of the thick, scarred wooden blade pointed toward Tenchi. Tenchi held his
upper body carefully still as he shuffled to keep his grandfather in view while
the old man slowly circled around him.

"So you told Ryouko you love her, eh?" The question caught Tenchi off
guard and he momentarily relaxed his grip on the bokken.

"How did you-" Tenchi cut himself off in mid-sentence to snap the sword
back up before him in the hopes of stopping his grandfather's attack. The old
man had only been trying to shake his concentration, give himself an opening for
attack, and it had nearly worked. Tenchi didn't have time to position his sword
to deflect and was too off balance to send the force anywhere even if he had, so
he gripped the handle in both hands and grunted as his arms absorbed the full
force of Katsuhito's blow. After the initial attack Katsuhito backed away once
more, resuming his slow, leisurely circle.

*Sloppy Tenchi,* Tenchi scolded himself, *You can worry about the girls
later, pay attention to the fight or you'll end up with a broken arm.*

Tenchi saw the leg of Katsuhito's pants twist the wrong way, momentarily
throwing his balance off by a tiny fraction. It was next to nothing, but Tenchi
had learned long ago to take any advantage he could find when fighting his
grandfather. He leapt forward, bringing his sword upward in an arcing cut aimed
for Katsuhito's abdomen. The old man was a fraction of a second slow, but he
easily deflected the attack. Tenchi let his grandfather's defense carry his
arms up above his shoulders, then snapped his weapon back down on the far edge
of his opponent's blade, aiming for Katsuhito's shoulder. Katsuhito twisted
away, the sword slicing only empty air as he brought his own weapon around for a
cut at Tenchi's exposed flank. Tenchi was overextended and couldn't bring his
weapon back around to defend, so he threw himself sideways away from the attack.
He hit the ground with his shoulder and rolled to his feet, bringing the bokken
up in a defensive posture.

"You told Aeka too, didn't you?" Tenchi didn't let himself become
distracted by his grandfather's question, but he did wonder inwardly how the old
man could possibly know that. Even Ryouko didn't know what he'd said. Tenchi
caught himself, pushed the thoughts away, and tried to keep his mind clear of
distraction.

"And if I did?" He asked, hoping conversation might throw Katsuhito off.
Usually Tenchi didn't respond to his grandfather's bluffs and taunts during a
fight, hoping that saving his breath would give him the advantage. It never had
so far.

Katsuhito feinted to one side, then spun the other way, bringing his
wooden blade out in a wide arc as he stepped in toward Tenchi. "What did you
tell her?" Katsuhito asked as Tenchi easily deflected the blow.

"I told her the truth," he replied simply, not wanting to elaborate as
much to save himself distraction as because of the pain related with the memory.

"But were you compassionate?" His grandfather asked, launching a brief
flurry of attacks that kept Tenchi from responding immediately.

"Truth is its own compassion," Tenchi finally gasped, quoting a phrase he
had long thought to be cold and unfeeling when Katsuhito used it. Now he
realized the truth in it, there were times when the truth was better than a
caring lie. If only he had phrased it better, she'd looked so devastated...
Tenchi once more wrenched his focus back to the matters at hand.

"Then you have no regrets?" Katsuhito asked it plainly, no indication
that he expected Tenchi to answer one way or the other. Tenchi brought his
sword up warily, but no attack followed the question, Katsuhito had resumed
circling him slowly.

Tenchi began to feign a step toward his grandfather, then shuffled and
completed the motion, whipping the practice sword up and back down in what he
hoped would be a surprise attack. "I regret not realizing sooner, I could have
spared her pain."

Katsuhito sidestepped and shifted his own posture to defense. "How were
you to know?" he asked, "You were only a boy."

Tenchi gave a minute shake of his head, fighting to keep his mind clear of
emotion while struggling to continue the conversation between sword blows. He
had never put Katsuhito on the defensive before, perhaps this method had its
advantages afterall. "Youth is no excuse," he gasped in the midst of another
easily blocked attack, "I should have know. I hurt her and that is
unforgivable."

"So you wish you did not love Ryouko?" Katsuhito asked, following
Tenchi's movements as the younger man began circling him in search of an
opening.

"Of course not," Tenchi replied, waiting for his grandfather's defense to
show a weakness, "I could never wish that. I only wish I could have seen
through to that truth sooner and let Aeka down more gently. I should have
realized where my feelings for Ryouko were heading. She looked so hurt..."

Suddenly Katsuhito leapt forward, whipping his sword upward into Tenchi's
and twisting his grandson's weapon out of his hands. "Never let emotion cloud
your judgement."

Rather than submit as he always had when disarmed Tenchi let himself fall
backward, away from his grandfather's weapon. He struck the ground with his
arms as he'd been taught to absorb the blow and quickly rolled away from
Katsuhito's follow-up swing. Not bothering to go for his lost bokken Tenchi
leapt up into a crouch and then launched himself Katsuhito's arm, snapping a
punch to the old man's hip while simultaneously jabbing his grandfather's sword
hand with extended and stiffened fingers. Katsuhito's hand was momentarily
numbed by the attack and his own weapon slipped from his fingers. Tenchi
flicked it with his toe and sent it skittering across the paving stones.
Katsuhito looked at his grandson in surprise. Tenchi grinned back at him.

"Strike from the void, attack where your enemy does not expect
resistance," Tenchi mixed quotes, taking a step away from his grandfather and
bringing his hands up in an open-handed fighting stance. He'd never fought
Katsuhito without a weapon and had no idea how good he might be, but swords were
obviously not working and Tenchi was determined not to give up so easily today.

Katsuhito grinned and stepped backward into his own, more defensive,
stance. "Learning something afterall, eh?"

Tenchi stepped forward, aiming an open-handed thrust for his grandfather's
chest. Katsuhito casually pushed it aside and followed with his own attack.
Tenchi deflected and they traded move after counter-move in silence broken only
by an occasional grunt of effort.

Finally Tenchi stepped away, assuming a defensive stance as his
grandfather moved to the offensive. "You were foolish," Katsuhito scolded, "You
should have anticipated the results of your actions and known what the outcome
would be before making them." Tenchi was unsure whether his grandfather was
referring now to his move to take the fight away from weapons, or to his actions
with the girls. The remark stung either way.

Katsuhito swung his foot up in a quick kick toward Tenchi's head, but the
younger man managed to duck beneath it at the last instant. "How could I know?
I'd never been in love when I met them, never even had a girlfriend." Tenchi
unconsciously chose the meaning of his grandfather's words that applied to his
own problems, offering an excuse he realized he had already dismissed himself.

"Nevertheless," Katsuhito paused to deflect a brief and futile attack from
Tenchi, "You should have realized how your actions would affect them, love is a
strong emotion."

Tenchi realized that his grandfather was, if anything, even better without
a weapon than with one. Every attack he tried to make Katsuhito pushed aside
with no more apparent effort than waving a fan. "I wasn't in love then," Tenchi
offered, looking around for his lost weapon, "How could I know how strong their
feelings were?"

"They told you often enough." Katsuhito saw Tenchi moving for his bokken
and noted the position of his own discarded weapon.

"But how could I know?" Tenchi asked again, sidestepping quickly and
flipping his practice sword into his hands with a touch of his foot. "How could
I choose between them when I didn't even think I deserved their affection in the
first place?"

Katsuhito dropped to one knee, simultaneously ducking Tenchi's first
thrust with the recovered weapon and scooping up his own. When Tenchi attacked
again Katsuhito stepped into it, bringing his wooden blade up to lock with his
grandson's. He stepped forward again, holding the swords locked between them so
Tenchi couldn't find leverage enough to slide his loose without freeing his
grandfather's to go to his throat. "You were a foolish little boy," Katsuhito
growled, his face only inches from his grandson's, "You thought only of your own
feelings and had no concern for others. Now they pay the price in their pain
and you cannot handle that which you have claimed by your own actions."

Tenchi stepped back involuntarily, thinking only at the last moment to
bring his sword up in a weak defense against his grandfather's blade, now freed
once more to attack. Katsuhito's words hurt, they were exactly what he had been
thinking all afternoon and had struck him hard. Tenchi fought automatically,
taking one step, then another, then another backward as his grandfather's
unceasing attacks forced him further and further into defense.

"How could I know," Tenchi whimpered, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
Katsuhito's bokken scored a grazing hit against his shoulder. It was a light
tap, but it flared like a burning brand in Tenchi's overstimulated mind. "How
could I know?" He whispered again.

Katsuhito stepped back, delaying the inevitable momentarily. Tenchi's
sword sagged in his hands as Katsuhito raised his own for the final blow,
saying, "How is immaterial. You should have realized and acted. Now it is too
late for questions."

Tenchi looked up to see his grandfather stepping forward, his bokken
curving down for what would undoubtedly be a painful reprimand. Tenchi shook
his head, "No... No, I couldn't have know. It's not my fault! I didn't know!"
His eyes blazed and three thin lines of green appeared in the center of his
forehead. The bokken exploded in his hand and Katsuhito's weapon dissolved
where it intersected the Lighthawk wings now shining before Tenchi. Katsuhito
dropped the smoldering remains of his practice sword and turned away from his
grandson.

"You allowed your emotions to overcome your ability to reason. Today's
lesson is over."

Tenchi fell to his knees, the Lighthawk wings flickering back out of
existence. "It wasn't my fault." Tenchi said it softly, but with the firm
knowledge of truth.

Katsuhito walked slowly toward the shrine, calling out in a voice much
more gentle than his tone during the fight, "Come inside Tenchi. Let me put
something on your hand." Tenchi looked down at his hand where he had
unconsciously cradled it in his lap. Slivers of burnt wood pierced it in a
dozen places and blood ran down his fingers to drip on the paving stones, but he
only shook his head again and repeated, "I didn't know."


*He's right,* Tenchi thought as he slowly and unsteadily rose to follow
his grandfather, *I let my fears overcome my ability to think. I was so
devastated by hurting Aeka that I didn't bother to think that it had to happen.
I can wish it didn't, but there was no way to move past the situation without
someone being hurt. Wishing the past happened differently won't change it and
the only way to go forward is to deal what the consequences of my actions.*
Tenchi looked at the retreating back of his grandfather with new respect, the
old man had maneuvered him into coming to a realization that he could never have
accepted as simple advice.

* * *

The surge of energy was unmistakable. Ryouko looked up toward the point
she knew the shrine to occupy despite that it was hidden from view by the canopy
of trees surrounding Funaho's pond. Aeka, too, broke her reverie to look up in
shock as the expanding wavefront of energy generated by Tenchi summoning the
Lighthawk wings washed over her. She turned to Ryouko, the rage and hatred now
gone from her face, even the pain washed away by concern for Tenchi's well-
being.

*He has to be really worked up to do that,* Ryouko thought anxiously, *What
could possibly have given him enough reason to generate the wings up there?*
She stood, looking over at Aeka who had retreated back into herself once more.
"I'll go check on him, I'm sure it's nothing serious." She tried to make
herself sound calm but failed miserably. Tenchi couldn't have created the wings
in anything except a serious situation. Ryouko concentrated her energy, hoping
she had regained enough strength to fuel teleporting all the way to the shrine.
"I'll be right back."

As the world dissolved around her Ryouko caught a hint of movement. It
was a tiny motion but she was almost positive, Aeka had nodded.

* * *

The telltale energy signature of Tenchi's wings vaporized the black
curtain of misery enshrouding Aeka's mind. She looked up, concern momentarily
replacing pain and anger. She saw Ryouko stand, looking toward the origin of
the brief surge of power. Hearing the concern in Ryouko's voice brought all the
negative emotions crashing back down on Aeka's spirit like a collapsing giant,
ending their brief respite as quickly as it had come. Tenchi had no interest in
her, what right did she have to be concerned about his well-being? He was
Ryouko's now and she would simply have to remember that.

Aeka had regretted her words nearly before she finished speaking them when
she told Ryouko off. She hadn't realized she was even capable of speaking that
way and the anger which fueled her accusations vanished like morning mist as
quickly as it had come. Tenchi loved Ryouko, Aeka had heard him say it herself
and there was no denying the emotion that had been behind his words. She knew
he hadn't meant to be so harsh about it, knew exactly what Ryouko had meant with
her failed joke about knowing 'how Tenchi is.' She loved him with all her
heart, but by Tsunami the boy was dense sometimes. Aeka sighed inwardly. She
would have to stop thinking about him like that. He wasn't interested and it
would be best, she knew, if she simply kept her feelings to herself. In any
case, Tenchi and Ryouko were a couple now and her words had been the spawn of
jealousy. Tenchi didn't have the necklace anymore, so even had Ryouko been
somehow controlling him with it, an absurd idea Aeka now realized, he should be
free of it. No, Tenchi had come to his emotions honestly and she would just
have to deal with it. Cursing at Ryouko would do her no good and she felt like
a fool for having done it. Here the woman had left Tenchi behind and come to
her alone to try to cheer her up and she'd responded with hatred. If Tenchi had
chosen her over Ryouko, could she have done the same? Would she have had it
within herself to come out here and try to comfort Ryouko? Aeka wanted to
believe she would have, but if that were true, if she had that capacity for
compassion, why had Tenchi chosen Ryouko over her?

When Ryouko said she would be back Aeka nodded, she would try to be more
grateful of the company when Ryouko returned. Tenchi would be fine, Aeka knew.
Between his own powers and Ryouko's there was nothing that she could have helped
with anyway. Aeka sighed deeply and tried to think about something other than
Tenchi but it seemed an impossible task. Every thought lead eventually and
inexorably to him and always to the question that reverberated through Aeka's
mind like an animal pounding against the bars of its cage. What had she done to
make him have so little feeling for her? She had hoped over the past month,
when it seemed clear that Ryouko was pulling him away from her, that at least he
would still love her as a friend. If she couldn't have him as her lover Aeka
thought that perhaps she could survive as his friend. She'd known long enough
that there was some chance she wouldn't win his heart, that no matter how clear
destiny seemed to have intertwined their threads there was always a chance it
wouldn't be. In all her moments of doubt, moments when she thought Tenchi might
choose Ryouko, or Washuu, or her own sister, or even sweet, clumsy Mihoshi, Aeka
had consoled herself with the knowledge that no matter how things turned out
Tenchi would love them all. They couldn't all become his bride, but Tenchi's
heart had seemed so big that perhaps they could at least be his family. But now
she knew it all to be a lie. Tenchi had chosen his lover and now Aeka was
merely an obstacle on his road to happiness. The pity in his face when he told
her he didn't love her had driven that fact home as solidly as a hammer blow.
He didn't tell her that he still loved her as the family member she was, didn't
reassure her that she could stay here on Earth with the closest friends she had
ever had. He had just looked down on her with the pity she imagined he would
feel for a dying animal.

Aeka thought she had cried all the tears she had to cry, but somehow more
of them were flowing down her cheeks as she leaned back against Funaho's trunk
and covered her face in her hands, moaning Tenchi's name into the wind over and
over again.

* * *

Ryouko stumbled through the last few steps toward the door she knew Tenchi
to be behind. She had only made it halfway by teleporting and flown unsteadily
the rest of the distance, setting down heavily at the edge of the paved clearing
and walking shakily toward the building. She had thought herself mostly
recovered from her collapse, but Ryouko now realized just how much energy she
used up flying and teleporting around. Normally it was barely a drop in the
proverbial bucket, a tiny fraction of the power she could draw from the gems,
but her stroke had weakened her so much that she didn't dare draw more than a
trickle of energy out of the gems she had carefully removed from Tenchi's
necklace and replaced at her wrists. Any more than that tiny flow would
probably put her back in Washuu's lab, unconscious from overstimulating her
taxed body. Now, as she reached out to push open the rice-paper door, she could
barely keep her hands from shaking with exertion. Whatever Tenchi was facing,
she hoped he could handle it himself because right now she wasn't good for much
besides moral support.

"Tenchi..." Ryouko meant to yell his name as the door slid open, but it
came out closer to a whisper. Tenchi looked up from where he sat near the far
wall of his grandfather's office and seemed happy to see her. "Oh, hi
Ryouko..." his initial happiness turned quickly to apprehension as he realized
she was hanging on to the door for support. Tenchi rose and walked quickly
across the room, putting his good arm around Ryouko and maneuvering her raised
arm around his shoulders without touching it with his injured hand.

"Did you run all the way up here? You should be lying down after this
afternoon, not climbing up all those steps."

Ryouko smiled and shook her head, deeply touched by his concern. Despite
her logical denials Aeka's words had shaken her more than she cared to admit.
Seeing that Tenchi still appeared to love her went a long way to restoring her
bruised confidence. Then she looked down at his hand.

"Tenchi!" Ryouko managed to summon the energy required for a proper
exclamation, "What did you do to your hand? And why did you summon the
Lighthawk wings?" Tenchi looked surprised, he apparently had not realized that
anyone within a mile with any sensitivity to Jurai energy at all would have felt
that.

"I..." Tenchi grinned weakly, "Grandfather was teaching me a lesson and I
got a little carried away."

Ryouko looked doubtfully at him. Katsuhito's lessons usually stopped at a
couple of whacks with a bokken, not mangling his grandson's hand. "Sit back
down Tenchi, let me call Washuu to look at that. Doesn't it hurt?" It
certainly looked like it hurt. Tenchi had pulled all the larger splinters out
but his hand was still a mess of cuts and abrasions, two of his fingers bent too
far to one side to be anything but broken. Tenchi looked at it and shook his
head saying, "No, I think I must be in shock or something. I can't even feel it.
Grandfather's already calling Washuu, he's in the other room." The old, Shinto
topic of conversation came through an interior door and smiled at Ryouko.

"Ah, Ryouko. Come to check up on your boyfriend, eh?" Ryouko wondered at
his choice of words. That was an odd way to say it, unless... She looked at
Tenchi and asked, "You told him?"

"Not exactly," Tenchi replied with a weak smile, "He already knew. He
knew about Aeka too. I figured you must have told him." When Ryouko denied it
they both turned to look at Katsuhito. The old priest only laughed, "Ah, so the
old man is the center of attention, is he? Well, you'll get no secrets out of
me."

"Quit teasing them Lord Katsuhito," Washuu said brightly as she stepped
through the door Ryouko had left open behind her. She slid it carefully shut
and walked toward Tenchi explaining, "I told him about you and Ryouko. And what
would happen with you and Aeka after that was fairly obvious, don't you think?"
When Tenchi nodded Washuu knelt beside him and held out her hands, "Now lemme
see that hand of yours. Hmm, you really blew it up good didn't you? Are you
sure you did this yourself? Mihoshi wasn't anywhere nearby?"

Tenchi chuckled softly at the perfectly serious manner in which she posed
the question. Washuu, in the meantime, clamped a large bracelet around Tenchi's
arm just above the beginning of the damage. "Here we go Tenchi, I'll have you
playing the piano in no time."

Tenchi looked at the little scientist quizzically, "Err, I've never played
the piano Washuu."

"Exactly!"

Tenchi shook his head, deciding that attempting to understand anyone more
than ten thousand years old probably wasn't worth the effort. Since Washuu
seemed occupied with a swarm of glyphs and symbols now floating around his hand
and his grandfather had disappeared off somewhere to make tea, Tenchi turned
back to Ryouko.

"How'd it go with Aeka?" He asked quietly.

Ryouko looked down at her hands where they lay folded in her lap and was
silent for a few moments before answering, "You know how upset she was... But I
think she might be starting to come out of the worst of it. When I said I would
be right back she nodded. I didn't expect that after," Ryouko paused, "After the
other things she said."

Tenchi raised his eyebrows but didn't ask. Ryouko obviously didn't want
to talk about those other things yet. "Do you think she'll be okay?" he asked
instead.

Ryouko nodded slowly, "Eventually she will. Aeka's a survivor. I wouldn't
have been okay if it were me. If you had picked her I don't think I could ever
have been okay again, but Aeka will come out of this eventually. She's got a
family and a throne to live for."

Tenchi reached out and hugged Ryouko carefully to him, trying not to move
his injured hand. "I love you Ryouko," he whispered softly into her ear, "And
I'll make sure you have plenty to live for too."

"Oh you two just go ahead," Washuu grumbled, "Just ignore the genius, I'll
be fine."

"Indeed you will be," Katsuhito stated, having seemingly materialized at
her elbow holding a small bowl of steaming green tea, "Anyone can be fine with
tea." Washuu laughed and took the cup, bowing her head slightly as she did so.

"So what's the verdict Washuu?" Tenchi asked, looking down at the
confused mass of graphs and charts hovering around his hand.

Washuu smiled gently and sipped her tea before replying, "I already told
you I'd fix it Tenchi. Wood is a very powerful conductor for Jurai energy and
when you summoned the wings holding that bokken you pretty much fried the nerve
endings up to your elbow. Your hand could have healed eventually, but without
me it would be paralyzed for life. Good thing you have a resident genius, huh?"
Washuu smiled brightly but went on before Tenchi could reply, "You'll need to
wear that bracelet for a week or so, but your hand will be good as new. Maybe
even a little bit better." The scientist-cum-physician's eyes gleamed at that
last and Tenchi decided he probably didn't want to know.

Tenchi stood and bowed to Washuu saying, "Thank you Washuu, I don't know
where I would be would be without your skills."

Washuu blushed and looked away. She was used to compliments, of course,
but when Tenchi gave a compliment you knew he really meant it and Washuu wasn't
at all accustomed to sincere gratitude.

Tenchi turned next to his grandfather, bowing even lower and saying
formally, "Thank you for teaching me, Sensei."

"What else are old men for, eh? I'm sorry you had to hurt yourself to
learn the lesson."

Tenchi shook his head, looking down at his hand. "I think it was worth
it. I was falling back into my old ways of thinking and if the temporary loss
of one hand is the price to avoid that I'm willing to pay it. You taught me
something important about consequences today. Thank you."

Katsuhito looked appraisingly at his grandson, then smiled and squeezed
Tenchi's unharmed forearm, "I'll make a samurai of you yet, Tenchi."

"Now if you'll excuse me Grandfather, Miss Washuu," Tenchi turned back to
Ryouko, "I need to talk to Ryouko alone for a moment."

Washuu nudged Katsuhito and whispered something indistinct about Tenchi
'talking' to Ryouko alone.

"Take your time Tenchi. It's nearly supper time, we will meet you back at
the house. Will Aeka be joining us for dinner Ryouko?"

Ryouko stood, holding Tenchi's arm for support, and shook her head
indecisively. "Probably not. She might be feeling a tiny bit better, but I
don't think she wants to be around people right now."

Katsuhito nodded in understanding and replied, "I'll have Sasami save her
some food."

Tenchi gave Ryouko a significant look and led her out the door, leaving
the two ancient and mysterious aliens to make jokes behind his back about what
Tenchi could do with Ryouko with only one hand.

* * *

"What's up Tenchi? You look awfully serious, something wrong?"

Tenchi sat down next to Ryouko on the small bench near the edge of the
wood and held one of her hands with his working one. He looked up, above the
tree line, where sunset had set the sky aflame. He was silent for long moments
and Ryouko waited silently, knowing he still had a hard time being open about
his feelings.

*He's not the only one,* Ryouko thought ruefully, *I should tell him about
what Aeka said. He'd just tell me what I already know, that she was upset and
that of course he loves me, but I'd feel better hearing it. This talking about
my feelings thing is going to take some practice.*

"I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier Ryouko," Tenchi said finally, "I
was so upset about Aeka that when you tried to comfort me I just pushed you
away. I realize now that seeing Aeka that way pushed me back to feeling like I
didn't deserve to love you. I know it must have hurt, after you've waited so
long and so patiently for me to wake up and fall in love with you, for me to
treat you like that the first time I got upset.

"Grandfather made me realize today that as much as I'd like to change the
past, what's done is done and worrying about it isn't going to help anything.
So from now on I'm going to focus on fixing the mistakes I've made rather than
wishing I'd never made them. I've let my fears and emotions rule my ability to
reason, and that wasn't right. Telling you I love you is the first reasonable
thing I've done in a long time."

Ryouko stared at him when Tenchi finished talking. She hadn't been sure
what to expect when he brought her out here, but certainly not this. She knew
Tenchi had a lot more going on emotionally than he let show most of the time,
but he must have really been ripping himself apart to have generated a
confession like that. Ryouko wasn't sure how to respond so she asked what
seemed like the obvious question, "So where do we go from here?"

"I don't know Ryouko. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted. We should
probably start heading back to the house or we'll be late for dinner."

Ryouko nodded and tried to stand but couldn't find the strength to keep
her feet so had to settle back down onto the bench to avoid falling over.

Tenchi knelt in front of the bench and said, "Climb on and I'll carry you
back down. You've had a longer day than I have."

* * *

"Lord Tenchi! Allow us to help you, sir!" Azaka and Kamadake drifted up
to Tenchi as he stumbled off of the last step. Ryouko had fallen asleep on his
back halfway down the mountain and Tenchi seemed to be feeling weaker with every
step.

"Oh, hi guys. Yeah, some help would be nice..."

Azaka and Kamadake's forcefields snapped into place around Tenchi and Ryouko
just before his face hit the ground.

"Hmm, asleep on his feet," observed Azaka.

"Not technically on his feet, actually," Kamadake pointed out.

"It's just a saying."

"Yes, but he's not actually on his feet. You can't say he's asleep on his
feet when he's hovering."

"Well, what's he asleep on then?"

"Ryouko."

"Oh. Quite right."

* * *
-- two --
visitor

"Mmm, Ryouko, I was having the worst dream..." Tenchi sat up in bed,
startled. He'd been having a nightmare, though the details seemed to vanish as
soon as his eyes opened. Tenchi looked around, wondering where he was, how he'd
gotten there, and where Ryouko had gotten to.

*Oh yeah,* Tenchi remembered, *Azaka and Kamadake... I must have passed
out right there and they brought us inside. And Ryouko wouldn't be in here
because this is my bedroom.*

*Yes, and your point there is?*

*Well, I mean, I guess it would be nice if she were there when I woke
up... But am I ready for...* Tenchi forced himself to complete the thought, *Am
I ready to have sex with her? I'm fairly certain she wouldn't object to the
idea, but...*

*But what? You're a man now, right? Men do that, and you love her,
right?*

*Of course I love her. But I only told her that,* he looked at his clock,
*Yesterday. I've never even taken her out on a date.*

*There was that picnic...*

*Okay, but I've never even kissed her. Sex is kind of a big step from
hugging.*

*You did kiss her once, in front of a camera too.*

*That's not really the same thing though...*

*So you don't want to kiss her again?*

Tenchi shook his head and got out of bed. *You have some bizarre thoughts
when you wake up in the middle of the night Mr. Masaki. And now, I need
something to eat. I'm starving.*

* * *

Aeka hit the ground hard and didn't move.

"I'm ready Miss Washuu," Katsuhito said into the thin, crab-decorated
bracelet he wore.

"Okay Lord Katsuhito, you're set on this end. Even I couldn't find you in
the next half hour if I wanted to."

Katsuhito knelt beside Aeka's still body, placing one hand on her neck and
the other between her breasts.

"Live sister, it's not your time yet."

Katsuhito's head whipped backward involuntarily and he gritted his teeth
to keep from screaming as his body was wracked with seizures from the immensity
of the power he channeled. The green aura that had begun to grow around his
hands when he touched Aeka grew to blinding intensity and Funaho's branches
rustled gently despite the stillness of the night.

* * *

Aeka opened her eyes slowly. She had not expected to open them again, and
certainly had not expected to see her brother staring a her when she did.

"Yo... Yousho? But... Am I... Am I dead?"

The young Jurain prince shook his head and smiled, "No sister, you're not
dead yet."

"Then this must be a dream."

Yousho only smiled.

Aeka sighed and looked down at herself. She was wearing only a thin shift
against the cool night air. It was an accurate dream at least. Aeka reached up
to her neck, but felt nothing there.

"Yousho... I... I was going to hang myself. From Funaho's branches."

Her brother nodded and pointed to her kimono where it lay on the ground
between Funaho's roots. It was tied in a rough loop and severed a few inches
above the knot.

"But," Aeka looked between it and her brother in confusion, "I don't
understand Yousho."

"It isn't your time Aeka. You have much to live for yet."

Aeka shook her head and stared at her hands. "No I don't," she mumbled,
"I'm nothing. Tenchi... Tenchi doesn't love me."

"Yes he does Aeka," she looked up at Yousho, sure now that this was a
dream. "He loves you very much sister. It is not the love of a man for a
woman, but you will always be in his heart. You are more than family to him and
he would never wish you out of his life."

Aeka sighed and shook her head again, "I wish I could believe that
Yousho."

"If I am only a dream I can tell you nothing you do not already know to be
true."

Aeka did not answer him, only stared up at the moon where it hung above the
trees.

"Hold me Yousho? This maybe be only a dream, but it's cold and I'm so
lonely."

The young prince wrapped her in his arms and touched his fingers lightly
to her forehead, whispering, "Sleep, Aeka. Sleep, my sister."

* * *

"Yours is in the microwave."

Tenchi blinked. After deciding that he wasn't going back to sleep without
something to eat he had headed down to the kitchen, only to find Ryouko already
there, eating something that smelled delicious and reading a book. She hadn't
even looked up when he padded silently into the room, just pointed over her
shoulder at the microwave oven.

"Uh, thanks Ryouko. But how did you..."

She looked up and smiled at him. She had her hair pulled back and was
wearing a pair of pajamas decorated with little Ryou-ohkis. Tenchi decided she
looked almost unbearably cute.

Ryouko pointed at his hand, now covered in a long glove up to Washuu's
metal arm band. It might be healing, but it still looked pretty bad.
"Spontaneous tissue regeneration takes a lot out of you. Believe me, I'd know."

Tenchi looked down at his hand. He hadn't really thought about the fact
that damage that would take months or years to heal was being regenerated in,
what had Washuu said? A week? He'd just sort of assumed it would be as much
like magic as most of the things the little scientist did.

"Besides," Ryouko went on, "We both slept through dinner. And thanks to
me we missed lunch too. I knew you'd be down for something to eat eventually."

Tenchi headed for the microwave. The kitchen floor was tiled and quite
cold against his bare feet, so he snatched the steaming bowl and hopped up onto
the stool next to Ryouko's at the kitchen table. He leaned over and kissed the
corner of her lips saying, "Thanks dear, I was just going to have a sandwich."

After eating a few bites in silence Tenchi looked up. Ryouko was staring
at him, her eyes wide and her hand held to her lips where he'd kissed her.

"Er... Did I do something wrong?" Tenchi asked, scratching the back of
his neck.

Ryouko shook her head slowly and smiled, lowering her hand. "No. Not at
all. I just wasn't... What did you call me?"

"Er," Tenchi thought for a second, reviewing what he'd said in his mind in
case it hadn't come out like he thought, "Dear? Do you not want me to?"

"You can call me anything you want," Ryouko grinned, "If you kiss me when
you do it."

Tenchi laughed quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else in the house since
it was still only three am. He picked a piece of chicken out of his bowl with
his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth before using them to point at Ryouko's
book and ask, "What're you reading?"

"Oh, this?" Ryouko picked it up and showed him the cover, looking
slightly embarassed, "I had Noboyuki get it for me at the library."

Tenchi raised his eyebrows as he read the title and asked, "Why are you
reading about Japanese history?"

"Well, I was thinking... Next spring you're going to be starting college,
and I know you'll get into that one in Tokyo you wanted to go to. With the
architecture program. And I was kind of thinking maybe I'd go with you, and we
could, you know, get a place together. And maybe I'd go to school with you,
since I'm going to be there anyway..." Ryouko was bright red now and couldn't
seem to look directly at Tenchi's face.

"And you're going to major in history?"

Ryouko's eyes snapped back to his face from the refrigerator where she'd
been staring at nothing intently. "You mean it's okay? I can come with? And
we'll have an apartment and everything?"

Tenchi laughed again and squeezed her wrist. "You thought I was going to
leave you behind?"

Ryouko looked down again as she said, "I don't know. College is so
important to you. Back when you first let me out I wanted to take you all over
the galaxy and show you all the places you've never seen. I still want to, but
we have forever to do that in... You've worked so hard at school, and we haven't
made it any easier for you. I thought you might not want me around to mess
things up while you were in college."

Tenchi cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face gently back up
toward his. "It took me years to realize I was in love with your Ryouko, and
now that I have I don't plan to let you get further away from me than the other
side of the house. You're right, college is very important to me. Dad's always
wanted me to go and I want him to be proud of me, but I want to go for myself
too. I'd like to be able to build a house for.. for us, one day. We'll go see
all the worlds you want, but one day we'll have to stop somewhere and I'd like
to make you a place to live, like dad did for mom."

Ryouko reached up and wrapped both her hands around his. She'd spent
years dreaming about what he would say and do after he admitted he loved her,
but she'd never dreamed it could feel so good when it finally happened. The way
he talked about being with her, like it was a fact that would always be true and
he had no doubt about it whatsoever. *And he doesn't,* Ryouko realized, *And it
will. My Tenchi will be with me forever...* Ryouko had never had anything she
really cared about. Before getting out of the cave she'd never even owned
anything for more than a few days at a time. The concept of something being
permanent was fairly new to her, but it was definitely one she liked.

"Tenchi?"

"Mmmhmm?"

"You know that stuff you were saying before, about not letting emotions
overcome your ability to do things reasonably?"

"Mmmhmm?"

"Is it okay to do what your emotions say, even if you're not sure it would
be the right thing to do, if they are good emotions?"

Tenchi's face was only a few inches away from hers now. They had been
drifting closer, almost unconsciously, while Ryouko questioned him softly.

"I think so. It's just when you let anger or fear take over that it's
bad..."

"Oh, that's good then."

When her lips touched Tenchi's Ryouko decided she could probably die
happy. When she felt his arms moving around her she began to think maybe she
already had and this was one of the heavens Earth religions always talked about.
When she felt his lips opening against hers Ryouko stopped thinking entirely.

* * *

Ryouko sat up on her futon automatically when someone knocked at her door.
It wasn't until the second knock that she was actually awake, and not until Aeka
called her name through the door that she realized there was someone there.

"Yeah, I'm up, I'm up," Ryouko started to get up from the futon but
decided it was too much work. She'd hoped that a decent night's sleep would
restore some of her energy, and it had, but she still felt like she had drunk half
her volume in sake. Finally she just bunched the covers around her waist and
called muzzily, "Come in Aeka, door's open."

Aeka stepped quickly through the door, sliding it shut behind her like she
was afraid someone would see her coming in. "I... I just wanted to thank you
for coming out to see me yesterday Ryouko, and to apologize for the things I
said."

Ryouko blinked at her. It was too early in the morning, she decided, for
anything this weird to happen. Yesterday at least all the big events had waited
for lunchtime.

Eventually she found her voice, "You don't have to Aeka. Thank me or
apologize that is. I knew you were upset and I know if it had been me I'd have
needed someone to talk to.. and I'd have said a lot worse than you did. I'm
sorry I never came back after I went after Tenchi... Teleporting turned out to
be a bit much and he had to carry me home."

Aeka smiled, her eyes looking somewhere far away, "He did that for me once
too... Back when we first met..." Aeka closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I'm sorry Ryouko, here I am barging into your room when you need your rest,
what must you think of me?" Aeka started to leave but Ryouko grabbed her by the
wrist and pulled her back.

"Come sit down for a minute Aeka, if you don't mind?"

Aeka bit her lip but shook her head and sat.

"I was just wondering how you were doing. You seem a lot better than
yesterday, but I know sometimes people hold things in when they're too big to
let out..."

Aeka seemed to consider the question, almost responding once or twice
before finally sighing and looking down at Ryouko's blanket while she answered,
"It still hurts. A lot. But I... I had a dream after... I had a dream, and
Yousho told me that Tenchi loves me." Aeka saw the look in Ryouko's eye and
hastened to add, "Not like that. I know that you and he... I'm not trying to
delude myself, Ryouko. Yousho told me that Tenchi loves me like... Like family,
more than family. I'm not sure I can believe that yet, but... It would be nice
if it's true.

"I only have my mothers and my father back on Jurai, and just Sasami here.
I... I'd hoped that if I couldn't be Tenchi's wife maybe I could still be his, I
don't know, not sister... But be a part of his life somehow. And yours, and
Washuu's, and Mihoshi's. You're the only real friends I've ever had besides
Sasami, and when Tenchi told me he loved you I thought he would send me away. I
think maybe I realized even before his birthday that he wasn't going to pick
me... Now that it's not all so fresh and sharp I think maybe I've known for a
while now. But it's still very hard. I think maybe I should go back to Jurai,
at least for a little while."

"Tenchi will understand if you do, but I know he would never make you
leave."

"I called father this morning from Washuu's lab, but it will be a week
before the nearest ship can get here. The fleet is doing field training in
sector 15 so border patrols way out here aren't very important right now."

Ryouko put her hand on Aeka's wrist and smiled in what she hoped was a
supportive manner, "Well, we'll talk whenever you feel like it, and if you still
want to go in a week we'll talk to Tenchi. Maybe you'll change your mind."

"You've changed a lot Ryouko," Aeka said, staring into the other woman's
golden eyes, "I... This is very hard for me to say. If Tenchi and I aren't..
meant to be together, I'm.. I'm glad that it was you. Washuu told me about
your link with him this morning and I'm sorry for the things I've been thinking
about you. You helped Tenchi find himself. Maybe the Tenchi I was meant for
just got lost along the way."

Ryouko leaned forward and hugged her one-time rival. It was strange,
trying to decide what her relationship was with the woman with whom she had so
long vied for Tenchi's affections now that their rivalry was over. Ryouko was
beginning to realize that sometime between the fights Aeka had become her first
real friend. Tenchi was her lover and would always be her best friend, and
Washuu was slowly becoming the mother she hadn't even known she wanted, but Aeka
was her friend.

* * *

"Mmm, Ryouko..." Tenchi sat up and looked around, wondering where he was.
*This is becoming a habit,* he thought, *And why am I on the floor?*

Tenchi stood up, looking down at himself. He was wearing the same shirt
he remembered putting on before going downstairs for something to eat, and his
bedding seemed to have migrated from his bed onto the floor near the door.
Definitely too far for him to have simply rolled off the bed. Tenchi scratched
his head and thought back to the previous night. He remembered going down for
something to eat and talking to Ryouko, and he most assuredly remembered kissing
her, he was fairly sure he would never forget that. After that first kiss he'd
done it again, and then...

Tenchi drew back so he could look down, he'd been fumbling with the top
button of her pajama shirt with his one good hand without even realizing it.
Ryouko put her hands around his and lowered it gently, smiling at him.

"I'd love to Tenchi," she'd said, "I'd love that more than almost
anything, but... I don't think it's time for that yet. Besides, we'd probably
fall asleep in the middle anyway."


Tenchi blushed at the memory. He had been about to... *Well, at least she
didn't say no,* he thought, *And she was right. On both accounts. I must have
passed out in my food fairly soon after that, and I was so tired I hardly knew
what I was doing.* Tenchi started picking up his sheets and realized that
Ryouko must have carried him up here and not been able to get him all the way to
his bed.

*And then she went all the way to her room, just because she worried I'd
be uncomfortable if I woke up with her here and I couldn't remember how I got
here.* Tenchi smiled and shook his head in amazement while making his bed.

"Tenchi! Time for breakfast!"

"Okay, Sasami!" Tenchi called through his door while he hunted around for
something clean to wear, "I'll be right down!"

* * *

Ryouko and Aeka looked up simultaneously when the door slid open a crack
and Sasami peeked in.

"Oh, you're awake! Washuu told me not to wake you up, but I figured if
you were up you wouldn't want to miss breakfast. Hi Aeka!" Sasami opened the
door further and came in to hug her sister, "I was so worried when you didn't
come home last night, but Grandfather said you would be back in the morning.
Where'd you go? Hey, why are you crying?"

Aeka hugged her little sister tightly and Ryouko asked, "Do you want me to
tell her, Aeka? Or are you okay?"

Aeka gave a little shake of her head and let her sister out of her
crushing embrace, saying, "Sit down Sasami, I have to tell you something
important."

"Okay Aeka," Sasami sat, looking worriedly back and forth between the two
women.

Aeka sniffed and wiped her eyes with the edge of her sleeve before saying,
"Yesterday Tenchi told Ryouko that he loves her, Sasami."

"Oh! But that's good news!" Sasami smiled brightly at Ryouko before her
expression turned back to one of concern, "So why were you crying? And where'd
everybody go last night?"

"You see Sasami," Aeka explained gently, trying to keep her voice steady,
"Tenchi is in love with Ryouko. That means he won't be marrying me or coming
back to Jurai with us. I... I was very upset yesterday, Sasami, and I went out
to sit with Funaho and think."

Sasami frowned, "Tenchi doesn't want to come to Jurai with us?"

"He might Sasami," Ryouko said when Aeka remained silent, "But he wants to
go to college first. And if he.. if we come to Jurai, Tenchi won't be king."

Sasami's frown deepened, but in puzzlement rather than sadness, "But
Tenchi loves Aeka too. Daddy has two wives, can't Tenchi marry both of you?"

"Tenchi..." Ryouko tried to think of a way to explain to the little girl
since Aeka seemed to have lost the ability to do it and was now staring at her
sister quietly, "Tenchi does love Aeka, but it's not a get-married kind of love.
Do you want to marry Tenchi, Sasami?"

Sasami giggled and shook her head, "Tenchi's cute, but he's like my big
brother would be if I had one."

"Brothers and sisters get married on Jurai, don't they?"

Sasami stopped to consider it, "Well, yeah. But Tenchi's... I dunno, I
guess Tenchi's not really like a brother like that..."

"See? That's how Tenchi feels about Aeka. And about you too, Sasami."
Ryouko glanced at Aeka, hoping she was taking all this well. The princess was
staring at her now instead of at her sister.

"Oh," Sasami said thoughtfully, "I guess I understand. And you were sad
'cause Tenchi wants to marry Ryouko?"

Aeka nodded silently.

Sasami grabbed her sister in one of the bone-crushing hugs they had
inherited from their mother, saying, "Don't be sad Aeka, it'll be okay." After
Aeka was sufficiently strangled Sasami sat back and, wrinkling her nose cutely,
said, "Besides, Tenchi wouldn't have made a very good king anyway."

Aeka looked puzzled and was sufficiently curious to ask, "Why do you say
that Sasami?"

"He's too nice," Sasami answered, "Daddy's mean all the time 'cause he has
to yell at people or they don't listen. Tenchi's no good at yelling at people,
so he wouldn't have been very good at being king. Can you imagine Tenchi
yelling at those silly ambassadors from Gorva that always want daddy to ban red
spaceships 'cause they hurt their eyes?"

Aeka laughed, a genuine laugh, not at all forced, and smiled at her
sister. "You always could make me laugh Sasami. Let's get going before
everyone comes looking for breakfast."

* * *

Ryouko grabbed Tenchi as he headed out the door for his chores after
breakfast and asked him to come with her for a bit first. When he nodded she
gripped him tightly and phased out, reappearing on the roof.

"Sorry Tenchi," Ryouko apologized when she saw the look on his face, "I
should have warned you."

"No," Tenchi said, sitting down carefully, "It didn't hurt or anything. I
was just worried, should you be doing that? You almost hurt yourself yesterday
teleporting around."

Ryouko smiled and sat down next to him, "It's okay, breakfast helped a
lot."

"That's good. Not having you popping in and out all the time was kind of
weird," Tenchi joked, "But what'd you want me up here for?"

Ryouko looked out at the lake for a moment before answering, "I just
wanted to make sure you were okay about last night. I... I'm sorry I turned you
down like that, Tenchi. I never imagined that when you were finally ready I
wouldn't be, but it felt too soon."

Tenchi put his arm around her waist and said gently, "It's okay Ryouko. I
don't think I was either, I didn't even realize what I was doing until you
stopped me. I guess I just got a little carried away kissing you." He looked
down at his gloved hand, "Seems to be a habit with me lately, getting carried
away."

"And if you're carrying me up to my room again," Tenchi added a moment
later, "You don't have to go all the way to yours." Tenchi stopped, blushing as
he realized what that sounded like and quickly explained himself, "That is, I
mean, you can sleep on the bed and I'll sleep on the floor or something. I
mean-"

Ryouko put her finger across his lips. "Shh. I know what you meant. I
might take you up on it too." She leaned over and replaced her finger with her
lips, putting her arm around him and teleporting them both back down to the
front porch just as their lips met.

Eventually Tenchi broke the kiss and looked around, startled, "Wow,
Ryouko. That was..."

Ryouko coughed and looked down at her feet. She hadn't expected it to
feel quite like that when she teleported back. Usually it just felt like
normal when she took someone with, but that time... It had felt like she'd
somehow merged with him for the timeless instant that they were neither Here nor
There. Ryouko's blush intensified as she thought, *If sex is anything like
that, I'm not stopping him next time.*

"Want to come wax the shrine with me?" Tenchi asked, reluctant to leave
her.

Ryouko was no less reluctant to let him but shook her head, "I'm going to
stay here and help Sasami with the house chores so Aeka doesn't have to. I'll
bring lunch up to you though, and we can have another picnic, okay?"

Tenchi nodded agreeably and kissed her again, briefly, before heading off
toward the stairs up the mountainside. The whole kissing thing, he had decided,
was much easier after the first one.

* * *

"Tenchi! Your father's out here to talk to you Tenchi."

Tenchi looked up from the floorboards toward the doorway where his
grandfather stood. *What's dad doing home from work already?*

"Hi Tenchi," Noboyuki said as his son emerged from the building, pulling a
wax-stained glove off of his good hand with his teeth. "How's the hand?"

Tenchi held up the appendage in question and shrugged, "Washuu says it's
healing. It kind of itches on the inside, so I guess she's right. What're you
doing home so early?"

Noboyuki took a deep breath before saying, "There was an accident
Tenchi... Your aunt and uncle Nayuki were in a car accident this morning.
They'll be okay, but they're in the hospital."

Tenchi frowned, "That's awful news. I'm glad they'll be okay, but why did
you come all the way home to tell me?"

"Well Tenchi," Noboyuki said slowly, "They're going to be on bedrest for a
while and then probably need some physical therapy, so they're going to go stay
with my brother's family. But after what happened a few years ago Shiko isn't
welcome in that house, so he's going to be staying here for a little while."

Tenchi continued to frown. His cousin Shiko coming to visit was possibly
worse news than that his aunt and uncle had been in an accident. "Why does he
have to come here?"

Noboyuki sighed, "Kisame is my sister, I couldn't turn her son out onto
the street."

Tenchi sighed too, resigned to the card fate had dealt, "Well, when does he
get here?"

"In two days. He has to finish summer school tomorrow."

Tenchi sighed again and wiped the sweat from his forehead, it was a hot
day. "I guess we'd better tell the girls."

Katsuhito coughed quietly and Noboyuki said, "I'll do that. You can go
ahead and finish up with the shrine."

Tenchi grumbled quietly and started trying to use his numb hand as a hook
to pull the glove back onto his good one.

* * *

Washuu looked up from her floating, transparent keyboard and tapped a
final key with a flourish. "That does it!"

Tenchi and the others looked around.

"Er," Tenchi asked, "Does what?"

Washuu rolled her eyes and stood up, the keyboard vanishing as she walked
through it. "I expanded the basement and moved my lab down there, added a
second closet to your bedroom, Tenchi, re-furnished Ryouko's room as a guest
room, cloaked the onsen, and added a mock-up of a women's bathroom on the back
of the house. Really, none of you appreciate all the work I do around here..."

Washuu had spent the last day tapping away at her keyboard, ostensibly
preparing the house for Shiko's arrival to avoid suspicion and grumbling the
entire time about how she could just as easily have put him in stasis and
supplied false memories later. Tenchi thought that was a fairly good idea, but
Noboyuki said it wouldn't be the honorable thing to do, so they were stuck with
the modifications Washuu had apparently just completed.

"Hey, if you're putting the new guy in my room," Ryouko asked, "Where am I
supposed to sleep?"

Washuu looked over her shoulder as she headed into the kitchen for a
snack, "Oh, I figured you'd stay with Tenchi. That's why I gave him another
closet."

"Mom!"

Washuu's only reply was a fading snicker as she headed for the
refrigerator.

"I'm sorry Tenchi," Ryouko said, turning to the blushing volunteer, "I
didn't know she was going to do that. I'll get her to make another room."

Aeka nudged Sasami and they quickly found something interesting to do in
the kitchen.

Tenchi shook his head, "She's already gone to enough trouble. We'll just
put your futon in my room and I can sleep on that. Besides, your cover story is
that you're my live-in girlfriend, remember? It won't be very convincing if
we're in separate rooms."

"Well," Ryouko considered, "I Am your live-in girlfriend, separate rooms
or not. But I guess you're right. If it gets too inconvenient I'll get mom to
stick an extra bedroom in the new closet."

Tenchi looked at Ryouko consideringly and asked, "You two really are
getting closer, aren't you?"

Ryouko blinked, momentarily confused by the sudden shift in conversation
and not entirely sure how to respond. "Yeah, I guess we are," she said
thoughtfully, "I can talk to her without her always being the goofy genius
anyway. Are you sure you're okay with this Tenchi? I'm sure if I talk to her I
can get her to do something."

He grinned at her, "I'm okay. It's only for a month or so. I hope you
don't mind, I usually sleep in my underwear." He winked, letting her know that
despite the serious tone in which he made the statement he was just teasing her.

"Well, I guess I'll let Washuu slide this once then. And I usually sleep
naked." Ryouko exerted conscious effort to keep herself from winking and to
avoid blushing when she saw Tenchi's reaction. *I forgot how much fun it is
teasing him like that. I like being able to share my feelings with him, but
that shouldn't mean we can't have some fun.*

"So what's the deal with this guy anyway?" Ryouko asked as they went to
join the rest of the females of the house in the kitchen. Katsuhito and
Noboyuki had gone into town to visit Noboyuki's sister Kisame and her husband
Mikalu at the hospital while Tenchi and the rest got the house ready for Shiko's
impending arrival. Mihoshi was, thankfully, still in transit from her last
patrol. She would be back in a few days but Tenchi hoped Noboyuki would have
gotten fed up with his nephew by then and let Washuu freeze him.

"Shiko's a real jerk. When we were kids he used to beat me up all the
time. He's two years younger than I am but his dad is a big Australian guy, so
he was bigger than me. When I was twelve he got kicked out of school for
lighting a girl's dress on fire and my aunt and uncle Nayuki had to move away so
he could go to another school."

"If his father's Australian," Aeka asked, having listened to Tenchi's
explanation, "Why do they have a Japanese family name?"

"His grandfather was Japanese but uncle Mikalu was raised in Australia.
His real name is..." Tenchi paused to remember, "I think it's pronounced
Michael. He goes by Mikalu because it's easier to say."

Ryou-ohki picked that moment to wander in from the livingroom and hop up
onto the counter looking disgruntled.

"Miya," she said forlornly.

"Well," Sasami said, "You had to be either a cat or a rabbit. There
aren't any Ryou-ohkis on earth, and you sound more like a cat."

"Miya," Ryou-ohki agreed sadly and wiggled her new ears as though to say
they were far too short. Washuu had worked her magic on Ryou-ohki as well as
the rooms of the house, making the cabbit appear to be a medium-sized, fluffy
brown cat. There was also a large supply of 'catfood' that Washuu had whipped
up to go with Ryou-ohki's disguise. The bags said tuna and beef, but the
content was mostly carrots.

* * *

Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryou-ohki in her girl form-the last time she would get
to use it for a month-were outside playing catch. Ryouko leaned forward in her
chair and turned down the volume on the television.

"So you're not going to leave in a few days afterall?"

Aeka nodded, saying, "With Tenchi's cousin coming I can't very well take
off in a Jurain spacecraft a few days after he gets here, and I'm doing a bit
better today anyway. It's not as hard as I expected, living with him and
knowing he can never be mine." Aeka sighed, "Okay, maybe it is, but I think
I'll be okay. I still might go back to Jurai once this Shiko person is gone,
but I can play Tenchi's cousin from his grandmother's family until then." Aeka
paused, searching for words, "I'd like to thank you, Ryouko, for being..
discreet."

Ryouko looked at the princess, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you," Aeka paused, a blush rising to her cheeks, "You and Tenchi
have been very discreet about your relationship. I know it's for my benefit and
I wanted to thank you. I worried that I wouldn't be able to handle seeing the
two of you together, but besides a few hugs I can almost pretend it's still like
before."

*Have we been being discreet?* Ryouko wondered, *I hadn't even thought
about it, but I guess Tenchi and I do usually only kiss when we're alone and I
know he's not embarrassed about it or anything. Maybe we just did it
subconsciously...*

"Don't mention it Aeka," Ryouko said gently, "It's no big deal. Really."
A sudden thought occurred to her, "And you know we're not... You know. I'll be
in his room so Shiko doesn't think anything's up, but we aren't..."

Aeka's blush deepened. "That is your business, Ryouko," she said, "Yours
and Tenchi's, you don't need to tell me."

Ryouko felt herself blushing in response and wondered why she had said it
in the first place. *Am I still upset about what she said... Gods, was it only
two days ago? It feels like it's been a year since then.*

* * *

"Sure are a lot of girls here," Shiko observed when he and Tenchi were
alone in the guest bedroom. Tenchi's cousin had arrived an hour ago and they
had spent the time on a tour of the house, ending with the room Shiko would be
using.

Tenchi nodded, "Yeah, but the food's good." Shiko had turned out to not
be nearly as abrasive as Tenchi remembered. So far he would have thought his
cousin was a nice enough guy, had he never met him before. Maybe the years had
changed him. *They certainly changed me enough, afterall.*

"I'm going to get unpacked," Shiko said, hefting his suitcase onto the
bed, "You want to show me that shrine a little later? I've never met Grandpa
Masaki, but mom's told me enough stories that I'm half expecting a samurai in
glowing armor or something."

Tenchi laughed, thinking, *He doesn't know the half of it.* Aloud he
said, "Sure, I'll be in my room when you're ready." Tenchi turned to go, then
paused and turned back. He put out his hand and said, "What do you say we
forget about the old days, Shiko? Make a fresh start?"

Tenchi's cousin gripped his hand and nodded, "Sure thing Masaki. I'm a
whole new man." Something about the way Shiko grinned didn't set at all well
with Tenchi, but he shrugged it off as the influence of old grudges.

* * *

Tenchi's room was covered in women's clothing. Ryouko was kneeling next
to the bed, gathering up her dresses as he walked in.

"You would think that the greatest genius in the known universe could
actually move the contents of my closet into my new closet, instead of just
dumping them randomly around the room."

Tenchi grinned and started helping her pick up her clothes, carefully not
looking at about half the things he found. "I'd kind of wondered where you kept
your clothes... I mean, I know dad put in a closet for you when he rebuilt the
house, but before you had a bedroom you never seemed to have them lying around."

"I used to keep them in a trunk up in the attic," Ryouko responded,
pulling something red that Tenchi looked away from quickly off of his lamp,
"After Noboyuki put in my bedroom I put most of them in my closet. Apparently
mom didn't manage to catch my trunk when she moved my stuff, since everything
that was in it is scattered all over the place."

"You should probably practice not calling her mom," Tenchi pointed out
gently, "I know you just started, but it'll look kind of odd if you call a ten
year old your mother."

"That won't be necessary Tenchi."

Tenchi and Ryouko both turned to look at the source of the voice. Washuu
was standing in the doorway. Or, rather, a woman who bore a striking
resemblance to Washuu was standing in the doorway. Had he not known better
Tenchi would have sworn it was the mother of the Washuu he had seen the day his
aunt had come to pick up Taro. She was that height and had Washuu's features,
but her hair was closer to red than pink and he was sure he could see a few
threads of gray. She wore Washuu's usual clothing, though scaled up to fit and
a bit looser to hide the fact that her figure wasn't what it was when she
appeared in the twenty-something form Tenchi had seen before.

"Wha-"

Washuu smiled, saying, "What's wrong, Tenchi? It's just me, Ryouko's
mother."

"M... mom?"

Tenchi turned to look at Ryouko, upon whom Washuu's new appearance had had
a more profound effect. Ryouko had dropped the load of clothing she had
collected and was now staring at Washuu, seeming to be battling simultaneous
urges to laugh and cry.

"Ryouko?" Tenchi asked, "Are you okay?"

Ryouko tore her eyes off of the apparition in the doorway and nodded at
Tenchi saying, "It's just that... She looks exactly how I imagined she would
if..."

"If I looked old enough to be your mother?"

Ryouko nodded.

"I should," Washuu said, moving briskly into the room, "I got the image out of
your head. Now lets clean up this place, what kind of mother lets her daughter
leave her underthings lying around for anyone to see?"

"You what?!"

"Oh, calm down Ryouko. I had to get it from somewhere, I've never
actually looked this old."

Tenchi supposed that made sense, from a sort of skewed perspective that
one could only get by living with six alien women, one of whom was currently a
rather unhappy cat. He went back to collecting Ryouko's considerably more
expansive than anticipated collection of laundry and helping her hang it in her
new closet.

* * *

"Tenchi, I..." Aeka stopped short as she came into the kitchen and
realized her mistake, "Oh. You aren't Tenchi, you're-"

"Shiko," he stepped forward and held out his hand, "And you are... Aeka,
right?"

Aeka let him take her hand and felt herself flush when he bowed and kissed
her fingers. He said something in what Aeka was fairly sure was English, though
she had only picked up a few words of the language during her time on Earth.

"What was that?" Aeka asked, "It sounded lovely."

Shiko straightened and looked away from her, mumbling, "Just some poetry.
Dad made me learn English and all of the bard's stuff sounds better that way."

"The bard?" Aeka asked quizzically, "Who is that?"

"You know, Shakespeare?" Shiko looked truly embarrassed now and, thinking
that a normal Earthling would probably know this Aeka quickly agreed, "Oh, yes.
Shakespeare, of course. I... I've just never heard it in English before."

"You like poetry?" Shiko looked at her now, losing some of his
embarrassment in the moment of discovery.

"Oh, yes," Aeka nodded, "Have you read Naho Matumi?" Aeka winced inwardly
immediately after the words were out of her mouth, *Of course he hasn't read
Matumi you fool. He's Jurain, and you're not supposed to know anything about
that, remember?*

Shiko shook his head, "No, I've never heard of him. Is he good?"

*Well, perhaps he won't realize. There are a lot of Earthling writers
afertall.*

"Oh, very much so. Would you like to read some of his poems? I have a
book up in my room I could loan you, if you'd like."

Shiko nodded eagerly and followed the princess up the stairs, excited to
have finally found someone who not only shared his interests but didn't seem to
think he was some kind of monster before even giving him a chance.

* * *

"No, I'll sleep on the floor. It's your room."

Tenchi shook his head for the dozenth time and said, "No, you take the
bed. It's only proper."

"Proper why? Because I'm the woman?" Ryouko demanded.

"Well," Tenchi said apprehensively, "Yeah."

Ryouko blinked. She had expected another excuse. *I guess that's what
you get when most of your advice in dealing with women comes from a thousand
year old Jurain prince.*

"Okay, look," Ryouko said in frustration, "This isn't getting either of us
anywhere. I'm used to sleeping on a futon and your sense of honor prevents you
from letting me sleep on it if you're on the bed, so we only have two reasonable
solutions."

Tenchi raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.

"Either we both sleep on the floor, which will be uncomfortable for you
since I'm sure you'll make me take the futon, or we both sleep on the bed like
normal people."

"Then I guess we'll have to-"

"Remember Tenchi," Ryouko interrupted playfully, "Don't let your fears
overtake your ability to reason."

"-Sleep on the bed." Tenchi finished weakly.

"That's my Tenchi," Ryouko sighed dramatically, "Always the practical man
after he's argued for a half an hour."

Tenchi grinned and laughed, "And here I thought life with you was
interesting Before I told you I loved you."

"You just wait, Tenchi," Ryouko said, wagging her finger at him in mock
warning, "When we're married it'll get Really bizarre."

Tenchi chuckled and started for the door.

"I was kidding!"

Tenchi looked back and said, "Oh, I know. I was just going to go get
ready for bed."

"Get ready where? The bed's over there." Ryouko pointed to the object in
question, "See? It's the thing with pillows?"

"Well, yeah," Tenchi agreed, "But I was going to go-"

"You were going to go down the hall to the bathroom so you could get
undressed, walk back up the hallway past Aeka and Sasami's room and then get
into bed, so I wouldn't have to watch you take your clothes off?"

"Well, yeah," Tenchi agreed, sounding considerably less confident in his
plan after having heard it aloud.

Ryouko sighed and threw her hands up in frustration. "Tenchi, you are the
single most modest man I've ever met."

"How many men have gotten undressed in front of you?" Tenchi asked
curiously.

Ryouko picked up a pillow and hit him over the head, "That's not what I
meant!"

"Okay," Tenchi said, rubbing his head, "But how many?" Tenchi ducked just
in time to avoid the pillow being thrown at him.

"None! Okay? You happy now, Mr. I'm-Going-To-Go-Get-Undressed-In-The-
Bathroom?"

Tenchi grinned and picked up the pillow for use as a defensive measure,
should the situation call for it. "Yeah, I am." Tenchi used his new shield to
block the second incoming padded missile.

"Okay, that's it," Ryouko said after retrieving the second pillow for
possible re-use. She stepped forward, her clothing falling to the floor behind
her as she phased through it. Ryouko picked up her dress with one toe and
tossed it into the closet. "There, I got undressed in front of you. Your
turn."

Tenchi raised one eyebrow and said, "Two things Ryouko. One, I can't do
it that way, and two, I thought you said you slept naked?" Ryouko looked down
at the undergarments she had left on as a concession to Tenchi's modesty.
*Fine,* Ryouko thought, *He wants to play rough...*

Ryouko decorously placed one arm across her chest and held the pillow at
her waist before taking another step forward, leaving her underwear lying on the
floor. "Better?" She asked, trying to keep herself from blushing and failing.
*Why am I blushing? He's seen me naked before...*

*Yeah,* Ryouko replied to herself, *But he never Wanted to before.*

Tenchi took the final step remaining between them and put his arms around
Ryouko's waist, pinning the pillow between them. "Actually," he said softly,
"Yes."

"Oh," Ryouko replied teasingly, "Well then." She put the arm no longer
occupied holding the pillow around his shoulders and phased sideways, leaving
his clothes on the floor but taking the pillow with.

Tenchi looked down and turned what Ryouko thought was a fairly alarming
shade of red. Finally he recovered the use of his voice and said, "Interesting
talent you have dear."

"Remember what I said about calling me that?"

Tenchi looked momentarily puzzled, then smiled. "I believe it called for
a kiss?"

Ryouko nodded and leaned into it when her promised kiss came.

Ryouko was just running the hand she had been using to cover her chest
down Tenchi's back when she heard the doorknob click.

"Oh, damn. Sorry Tenchi, I thought this was the bathroom."

Shiko pulled the door shut.

Ryouko and Tenchi looked at one another and started laughing
simultaneously.

"Well," Ryouko said eventually, "I guess we don't have to worry about him
being suspicious about us being the real thing."

"You have a point there Ryouko," Tenchi looked down where her arm no
longer was, "Two, actually."

Ryouko hit him with the pillow.

* * *

"So what's the deal around here anyway Tenchi?" Shiko was helping him
sweep the steps up to the shrine. No one had asked, but Shiko had picked up a
broom that morning and followed Tenchi out toward the mountain.

"Sorry, Shiko," Tenchi apologized, wiping his forehead and leaning on his
broom, "I wasn't paying attention. What's the deal with what?"

"Well, I mean, You gotta admit it's kind of odd, you having so many people
living out here in the middle of nowhere. You really being straight with me,
cousin? Everything as innocent as you've been making it look?"

Tenchi smiled, they had had this conversation once already and he thought
it would probably crop up again. Shiko had changed, or at least seemed to have
changed, from the rude, violent boy he'd known, but he still didn't trust anyone
or anything. "Everyone here is exactly who they say they are," Tenchi said
honestly, "Aeka and Sasami are my second-cousins from my great-grandmother's
family, come to visit for a while with their distant relatives. Washuu is
Ryouko's mother and an inventor, and Ryouko is..."

"Yeah? Is what?" Shiko was grinning now.

Tenchi leaned the broom in the crook of his arm so he could scratch his
neck with his good hand. "Ryouko is complicated."

"Come off it Tenchi," Shiko prodded him with the end of his broom and
laughed, "I saw you two last night. It's not like I'm going to get all uptight
on you just because you're not married or something. This is your cousin Shiko,
remember? Kid that lit the girl's dress on fire? I'm not the guy to be
throwing stones."

"Alright," Tenchi admitted, fending off the broom handle, "Ryouko is my
fiancee. I mean, not officially, but..."

"But you love her and can't imagine being without her, right?" Shiko
sighed and went back to sweeping the steps, "I wish I had someone like that.
Back home all the girls just know my old rep and won't say word one to me. And
most of the guys won't hang with me 'cause I'm into books and artsy stuff, so
there's no way for anybody to find out I'm not the kid I used to be."

Tenchi began sweeping awkwardly again in the uncomfortable silence.
Finally Shiko broke it by asking, "So what'd you do to your hand anyway man?
And what's with the big metal jewelry?"

"I was practicing with Grandfather and got a little carried away. Tripped
and shattered my wrist and most of the bones in my fingers, so they had to put
metal pins in. The arm thing is to keep them even while the bone grows back
into place." Washuu had coached him on what to say about that. The story would
stand up to anything short of an x-ray, and that would be inconclusive.

Shiko grunted in sympathy and asked, "So you any good, Masaki? Wanna
cross swords with your cousin sometime?" Shiko didn't look up when he said it,
so it could just have been a trick of the wind and the angle, but Tenchi thought
his voice sounded different somehow. The words were innocent enough but he felt
a chill despite the summer warmth.

"Maybe after my hand is better," Tenchi said absently and continued to
sweep.

* * *

-- three --
cousins

Ryouko was having a good week. She could not, in fact, remember the last
time she had been this happy for so long a period of time. Every morning she
woke up in Tenchi's arms, feeling his breath on her neck, and every night she
went to bed with him. So right off the bat every day started and ended well.
They'd slept naked that first night, though all they did was sleep. Shiko had
broken the mood entirely. Since then Tenchi had found enough relief from his
modesty to sleep with her so long as they both wore underwear. Ryouko could
deal with that.

Washuu helped her set up records in a wide variety of databases so that
she would be able to go to school with Tenchi next spring and had given her
enough instant-injection knowledge to be able to at least pass most of the
courses without too much work. She wanted to be with Tenchi, and the idea of
going to school with him was nice, but she didn't want to have to study
constantly just to do it.

Ryouko was finding it more and more difficult to think of Washuu as
anything but 'mom' lately. Since she had donned her disguise and couldn't act
like her normal, eccentric self in front of Shiko she seemed to be more and more
the woman Ryouko had, usually unconsciously, wished existed since the day she
found out that she had a mother.

But her week had really peaked tonight. Somehow Aeka and Shiko actually
had something in common. Apparently during the years since Tenchi had last seen
his cousin Shiko picked up an interest in poetry and happened to have the same
taste in it as the princess. Ryouko was afraid Aeka was interested in him more
as a diversion from thinking about Tenchi than anything else, but she seemed to
genuinely enjoy talking to him and Ryouko was reluctant to say anything.
Tonight Tenchi had borrowed the van and they had all gone into town for a double
date. They had started off with a karaoke bar, which was fun even though Tenchi
couldn't carry a tune in a bucket and his cousin was even worse. Afterward Aeka
and Shiko had gone off to a restaurant he assured them had authentic Australian
food. Ryouko wasn't sure what exactly that might be since, to the best of her
knowledge, all the animals in Australia where either poisonous, endangered, or
used in making hotdogs. In any case, Tenchi had made reservations for himself
and Ryouko at the restaurant she was now standing in the bathroom of. Ryouko
wasn't sure of the name of the place, something French that she couldn't
pronounce. It was the most elegant place she had seen in her years on Earth and
Ryouko worried she wouldn't fit in.

Ryouko looked at herself in the mirror and grinned. She had only gotten
this dress a few days ago with money borrowed from Washuu and knew Tenchi would
like it. It was deep blue and went from her ankle up to her neck with no
sleeves at all, though it did have a pair of matching elbow-length gloves.
Ryouko looked around to make sure there weren't any other patrons in the
bathroom before splitting herself in two to look at the dress from the back.
Its forward modesty was offset by the open back, cut in a V from her shoulders
down low enough for it to be obvious that the only thing between Tenchi and her
would be the dress itself.

"If he wasn't already in love with you," Ryouko complimented herself,
"This would do it."

Ryouko stepped through her other self, letting the power giving it
substance fade, and exited the bathroom. Tenchi was standing next to a potted
plant, trying not to look nervous. Ryouko smiled a private little smile and
looked at him. She knew he was nervous, taking her to a place this classy and
expensive, but he looked the part a lot more than she felt. He was wearing a
black suit with a dark red tie, held in place by a little silver tie-tack in the
shape of a katana. She had never seen him in a tie before, but it suited him.
When he caught her eye across the room and stepped away from the wall, striding
confidently through the light crowd toward her, Ryouko's heart fluttered. He
looked every inch a prince. The title to which he was born and had denied, for
her.

Tenchi bowed, holding out his arm. Ryouko giggled nervously and took it,
walking with him back to their table.

"Want to eat first," Tenchi asked, "Or dance?"

Ryouko pretended to consider the question before giving the answer she had
waited to give since she saw him coming across the room. "Dance. Definitely."


*Well, I know why he can't sing now,* Ryouko thought, *All the talent went
into dancing.*

"Where'd you learn to dance like this?" Ryouko asked Tenchi curiously.
She had been taking lessons from Aeka for the past few days in preparation for
tonight but felt like she had two left feet compared with Tenchi's fluid grace.
He moved her across the dance floor to the slow beat of the music like a swiftly
flowing stream, carrying her away on the current before she even realized she
was moving.

"I've never done it before," Tenchi admitted, "I asked Grandfather if he
would teach me, but he said dancing wasn't something that was meant to be
taught. He told me, 'Dancing with a woman is like wielding a sword. You hold
the sword with respect and care, allowing it to become a part of yourself. Move
with your environment, become a part of the rhythm of life and death. So it is
with the sword, it is the same with the woman.'"

Ryouko looked into his eyes, feeling a bit of awe, and thought, *I hope
he's ready. Nobody is allowed to be this charming and not get lucky. I think
it's a rule. And I want him.*

*No,* Ryouko amended herself as Tenchi moved his warm, strong hand
rhythmically across her bare lower back in time with the music, *I Need him.*

As though able to hear her thoughts Tenchi leaned his mouth next to
Ryouko's ear and whispered her name.

"Yes, Tenchi?"

"No pillow tonight Ryouko. And remind me to lock the door."

"Yes, Tenchi."

* * *

Katsuhito peered over Washuu's shoulder as though actually expecting to
understand the mass of graphs and obscurely labeled images floating above her
keyboard. "So what do you think is causing it, Miss Washuu?"

"If I knew that, Lord Katsuhito, I wouldn't be working away at it right
now, now would I?" Washuu asked testily. She had spent the last four hours
trying to crack this problem and it stubbornly refused to budge. "And you're
absolutely sure that Mihoshi is still at Galaxy Police Headquarters?"

Katsuhito raised his eyebrows, "I was under the impression that this was
not a joking matter."

Washuu turned to look at him before she replied, "Who's joking? This has
me stumped. There are only three things in the universe that have ever stumped
me, and Mihoshi seems the most likely suspect in this case."

"Three? What are the other two?" Katsuhito asked curiously as she bent
back to her labors.

"Well, one is Tokimi, but I don't see how seemingly random and apparently
harmless subspace ripples around the house could be connected with her."

"Ah. And the other?"

Washuu turned to look at the old priest again and said with a grin, "How
you've managed to avoid my feminine wiles all these years old man."

"Wiles?" Katsuhito asked with seemingly genuine surprise, "Really? Where
do you keep them?"

"Men!" Washuu returned, once more, to her work.

Katsuhito rested his hand reassuringly on Washuu's shoulder and said,
"I'll fetch us a cup of tea. Things become simpler, with tea."

"And if you see Tenchi or Ryouko around," Washuu called after him, "Tell
them to come down here and see me."

* * *

Tenchi realized that in the two weeks since Shiko had arrived he had not
once come down to the basement. Now he looked around at the bewildering array
of machinery, more than half of which appeared to be steam driven, and called
Washuu's name.

"Where's the door to her lab?"

"Don't know Tenchi," Ryouko answered, trying to peer between two
shuddering towers of hissing pipes, "It moves around."

"Well, if she doesn't show up in the next minute we're getting out of here
before something explodes or implodes or vanishes into another dimension or
whatever That's supposed to do." Tenchi pointed at a large machine that
appeared to be a cross between the innards of a steam engine, the glowing-with-
evil-intent part of a nuclear reactor, and what Tenchi would swear was the rear
half of a 1992 Toyota Carolla.

"It's the hot water heater."

Tenchi calmly turned around to face Washuu. "That doesn't work anymore
Washuu, you've surprised me enough times that I'm immune."

"Oooo," Washuu cooed, "A challenge!"

"You walked right into that one," Ryouko commented smugly.

"Come on you two, before the water heater gets hungry again." Washuu
turned and stepped through a glowing purple disc that appeared floating behind
her. Tenchi squeezed Ryouko's hand comfortingly and they followed.

* * *

"So for the past couple of days I've been picking up these little ripples
in subspace around the house," Washuu explained, "They appear and disappear out
of nowhere and I can't find anything to connect them except that they never
occur outside the immediate area of the house. Do either of you know of
something unusual that's happened recently that I'm not aware of?"

Tenchi looked at Ryouko, who looked at Tenchi, then both looked down,
suddenly intensely interested in their shoes. Washuu chose to ignore it. She
knew what had happened the previous night after they had all come back from an
evening on the town. She had, in fact, had to engage her psionic defense matrix
just to avoid having all the details blasted into her head through her link with
Ryouko when her daughter stopped trying to, or lost the ability to, control what
moved across that boundary in her mind. That was not, however, the sort of
unusual event she was referring to.

"No strange lights or noises?" Washuu clarified when neither seemed eager
to talk, "No random defiances of normal physical laws?"

Ryouko shook her head and Tenchi said, "No Washuu, nothing stranger than
usual has happened lately."

"Well," Washuu sighed, "If you notice anything be sure and tell me,
alright?"

* * *

Tenchi spun neatly on the ball of his foot and lunged forward with the
bokken. Ryouko watched her lover move gracefully through his kata, beads of
perspiration shining on his arms and bare back as he concentrated on moving in
the reverse of how he normally would have. He had told her that Katsuhito
insisted he be just as able to fight left handed as right, but Tenchi felt that
had not quite lived up to that expectation. If that were true Ryouko certainly
couldn't tell the difference. When he had released her years back Tenchi had
been awkward with a sword and a bit clumsy even without one, but between living
so close to his grandfather and his connection to the Jurai energy he had
improved immeasurably since. He had explained once that ever since he summoned
the Lighthawk wings for the first time he had been able to feel the aura of
energy around himself and that, somehow, it helped him 'find his balance' as he
put it. Ryouko thought it was probably closer to an early-warning system to
keep him from tripping over things, but whatever the case it had obviously
helped.

"So what do you see in him anyway?"

Ryouko turned to look at Shiko where he sat nearby, watching Tenchi the
same way she had been. Up until then he had been silent and the sudden question
stunned her both from its unexpectedness and from the bizarre content.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Masaki's a wimp," Shiko muttered, "Always has been."

Ryouko was confused. Shiko had seemed like a caring, thoughtful person,
if a little immature sometimes, since he had arrived. This was completely
unlike what she thought him to be.

"I don't understand Shiko, where's this coming from?"

"I don't see why a sexy little thing like you is with a wimp like Masaki
is all."

Ryouko's confusion turned to offended anger. How dare he hit on her and
disparage Tenchi in the same sentence? Either one was bad enough, but both
together...

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Shiko," Ryouko growled,
"Tenchi is the bravest, most noble man I've ever met."

Shiko snorted and rose to a squat saying, "Masaki's a wimp. Watch what a
real man can do."

Ryouko felt a vague tingle of fearful apprehension begin to twist in the
pit of her stomach as Shiko got up and walked toward Tenchi, calling jovially,
"Come on Tenchi, you look good enough with your left hand. Quite whacking at
thin air and let's go a couple rounds, whaddaya say cousin?"

Tenchi seemed a bit surprised by the sudden invitation but shrugged and
pointed at the shrine with his bad hand saying, "Okay Shiko, Grandfather'll give
you a bokken. Just go easy on me, alright? I'm half a man right now,
remember."

Shiko laughed and Ryouko's fears began to fade. The strange, frightening
aspect he had taken on for a few moments had vanished and he seemed once more to
be the boy she had gotten used to thinking of as Tenchi's cousin. She did
wonder why he had said those things though, and planned to talk to Tenchi about
it later.


Tenchi watched Shiko flourish his practice sword dramatically and began to
wonder if his cousin actually knew how to use the thing. He never mentioned
learning any martial arts and Tenchi hadn't seen him practicing any while he was
here. His doubts evaporated when Shiko leapt at him, launching a vicious series
of attacks that Tenchi had to work hard to deflect.

*He's strong,* Tenchi thought, *And fast. But what style is that? It's
definitely not kendo... It almost looks like the Jurain techniques Grandfather
taught me, but harsher, less fluid...*

Tenchi pushed the thoughts away and strove to keep his mind clear while he
danced back and forth with Shiko in a weaving exchange of attack and defense.

After long minutes Tenchi pulled back, circling Shiko as his cousin
simultaneously circled him. Tenchi moved his sword unconsciously, bringing it
into the Jurain Moonlit Branches stance, held low and to the side, blade curving
up across his waist and his free hand raised up near his shoulder. His
concentration on looking for an opening to exploit was sufficient that he did
not immediately realize when Shiko adopted the Two Moons Rising stance, sword
hand over his heart with the blade extended along his left arm, the normal
counter to Moonlit Branches. When the realization came Tenchi nearly stopped
moving, stunned thoughts racing across the careful emptiness of his mind, *How
can he know that stance? Nobody on Earth outside this family knows that...*

Tenchi was so distracted by his cousin's apparent knowledge that when
Shiko lashed out with The Maiden Dances, his bokken arcing out toward Tenchi's
neck, he barely had time to respond with Banking The Stream, catching Shiko's
blade with the tsuba of his wooden sword and sliding it upward in an attempt to
throw his attacker off balance. Shiko's response, loosening his wrist and
stepping into the force of the deflection, was exactly what Katsuhito had
instructed Tenchi to do in such a situation.

Tenchi spun left, away from Shiko's fist as it rose toward his face, and
stepped into Tree of Life, dancing sideways and forward while snapping the tip
of his sword through Greet The Dawn. Shiko flicked his own blade in response,
knocking Tenchi's away from its course toward his chest, and lunged forward, his
hand closing around empty air where Tenchi's neck had been moments before.

However Shiko had learned to fight, Tenchi realized, his cousin was no
longer interested in merely sparring. Katsuhito had only shown him Breaking
Branches once, but Tenchi recognized its power anyway. It was a blow meant to
disable or kill the opponent with one strike to the neck, not at all appropriate
in friendly competition.

Shiko turned on him as Tenchi stepped carefully backward, moving through
Tree of Life and into The Emperor Kneels, a purely defensive posture. "Shiko!
What are you doing? Calm down!"

His cousin paid no attention as he strode forward and lashed out with his
wooden sword, his face twisted into an ugly snarl. "Die, Masaki!" he screamed
as he leapt forward once more, all style gone from his movements, striking with
the power of blind rage.

Tenchi barely dodged the first blow and didn't quite make it out of the
way of the second. The bokken cracked across his injured hand, sending a
screaming inferno of pain raging across the shattered stillness of his mind.
Tenchi lashed out, unintentionally fueling his swing with Jurai power. His
bokken slammed into Shiko's like an avalanche, snapping his cousin's sword off
near the tsuba and cracking his own before powering on into Shiko's chest.
Shiko flew backward half a dozen meters and landed on his back groaning.

"Uuunhh," Shiko moaned when Tenchi rushed to his side, "Wha... What
happened..."

"Oh god Shiko, I'm sorry," Tenchi said, checking his cousin for injuries,
"You came at me like you'd gone insane and I snapped..."

"Tenchi! Get away from him!" Ryouko was running toward them now from
where she had watched the fight from the edge of the courtyard.

"What?" Tenchi looked up from his cousin in confusion, "He's hurt,
Ryouko. We need to get Washuu up here, I think I broke a few ribs..."

"No Tenchi!" Ryouko cried, trying to drag him away from his supine
cousin, "Didn't you feel it?! He was pulling dark energy out of subspace when
you hit him!"

"What?" Tenchi asked again, looking back down at Shiko, "But how? He's
not-"

Tenchi's denial was interrupted by Washuu snapping into being a few feet
away. She assessed the situation quickly and a pulsating blue forcefield
shimmered into existence around Shiko's body.

"What happened?" She asked, looking back and forth between Tenchi and
Ryouko, "There was another subspace ripple and then I detected someone
channeling Jurai energy up here."

"I... Shiko..." Tenchi shook his head, unable to get past his confusion
to explain.

"They were sparring and Shiko went nuts," Ryouko explained for him, "He
was summoning dark energy when Tenchi hit him with his power."

"Dark energy?" Washuu frowned down at the unconscious boy, "Are you sure?
Humans can't do that... It rips apart most machines that try it too."

Ryouko nodded unhappily and said, "I'm sure. K..Kagato used to experiment
with it until he accidentally blew up a small moon."

Washuu's frown deepened and she sounded worried when she said, "Tenchi, go
put some ice on your hand and you two meet me in my lab, we'll see what little
Shiko was up to." With that she and the unconscious young man vanished.

* * *

"I've erased his memories back to the moment he hit the ground," Washuu
explained as she put away the last of her medical tools and disengaged the field
holding Shiko suspended above the table, "But everything between then and about
midway through the fight was already gone. I can't find any evidence at all
that his memory was tampered with and there's no trace of dark energy in his
aura."

"So what are we going to do?" Tenchi asked, unconsciously rubbing his
injured arm.

"We can either stick him in stasis until he's ready to leave," Washuu
replied, "Or let him go back to normal and watch to see if anything else
happens. I vote for the second one. If we just freeze him until it's time for
him to go home we'll never know what happened."

Ryouko nodded, leaning against Tenchi's good arm for comfort. She didn't
like the idea of Shiko wandering around the house after what had happened, but
her mother was right. If they just put him in stasis it might happen again as
soon as they let him out.

"Okay," Tenchi agreed, "We'll pretend it didn't happen for now. But I'm
not letting him out of my sight."

"You'll have to Tenchi," Washuu said gently, "We can't let him know we're
suspicious or it will ruin the data. We all have to act like he tripped up at
the shrine today and hit his head and none of this happened at all."

"Alright," Tenchi agreed resignedly, putting his arm around Ryouko's
shoulders and squeezing her gently, "But I'm not letting him anywhere near
Ryouko after what he pulled today."

* * *

Ryouko was sitting in the livingroom trying to work her way through one of
Katsuhito's philosophy books when Sasami came in. It had been a week and a half
since Shiko attacked Tenchi and nothing out of the ordinary had happened since.
Even the subspace ripples Washuu had been trying to figure out were gone.

"Ryouko?" Sasami asked, her voice full of concern and, Ryouko noted
apprehensively, not a little bit of fear.

"What is it Sasami?" She asked, putting her book down on the coffee table
and sitting up to look at the young girl. Sasami was clutching Ryou-ohki in her
arms, the un-cat looking up at her and emanating worry across her link to
Ryouko, and appeared to have been crying. "What's wrong?" Ryouko took Sasami's
hand and the little princess sat down next to her on the couch.

"It's Aeka..." Sasami started, then had to stop again when tears began
spilling over her eyelids, "Sh..sh...sh..."

Ryouko gently put Ryou-ohki down on the table and hugged Sasami, patting
her back and whispering quiet nonsense to calm her down.

"It'll be okay Sasami, just take your time and tell me what's wrong so I
can fix it."

Sasami nodded and took a tissue from the box on the coffee table to blow
her nose before starting again, "Aeka... I... It all started a couple weeks
ago. Me and Aeka were taking a bath in the onsen and she had a big bruise on
her arm, so I asked her how she got it. She said she fell down on the stairs
and I didn't think about it anymore. But then it happened again and she had
more bruises on her shoulders and on her back, and whenever I asked her she just
said she fell down or something."

Sasami sniffed and wiped her eyes with another tissue, looking down at her
hands. Ryouko had an awful idea where this was going, but waited for Sasami to
continue.

"And then just now... I... I saw Aeka crying in our room and when I asked
her if she fell down the stairs again she yelled at me to go away and tried to
hide her arms, but they were all bloody and.. and.. and..."

"Oh god," Ryouko whispered, putting her hands on Sasami's shoulders and
shaking her gently to get her attention, "Is she still up there? How long ago
was this?"

"I... It was... It was just a few minutes ago, I think... I think she's
still there... Help her Ryouko? Please? I don't know what's wrong..."

Ryou-ohki meowed quietly and stepped across into Sasami's lap to rub her
head against the little girl's chin as Ryouko stood. "It'll be okay Sasami,
everything will be okay." *I hope.*

* * *

Aeka didn't answer when she knocked on the door so Ryouko slid it open and
went in. The princess was sitting with her back to the doorway on her futon,
her arms hidden from view and her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

"Aeka..." Ryouko walked toward her and the princess flinched away, trying
to bend over far enough to hid her hands from Ryouko.

"I slipped," Aeka whispered through her tears, "I slipped in the kitchen
and.. and I cut myself accidentally. That's all it is... That's all..."

Ryouko knelt next to her and reached out to put her hand on Aeka's
shoulder but the other woman drew away. Ryouko realized why when she saw the
livid purple bruise extending up past the collar of the shirt Aeka was wearing.

"How long as this been happening, Aeka? Today isn't the first time he
hurt you."

Aeka only rocked gently back and forth and shook her head.

"Talk to me princess. What happened? The truth. We both know you didn't
slip." Ryouko was looking down at Aeka's arms while she spoke. There was a lot
of blood, but the cuts looked fairly shallow. Some soap, water, and bandages
and they would probably heal without any scars.

"He... He didn't want to," Aeka whispered, "Shiko, he... He had to.. to
hit me... I... I wouldn't listen and he had to..."

"That's crap Aeka and you know it!" Ryouko's voice was full of anger and
it came out closer to a hiss than a whisper, "Nobody deserves this! How long
has he been hitting you? Since he got here?"

Aeka shook her head again but didn't respond until Ryouko started to
stand. Then she threw herself across Ryouko's feet and begged her, "Please...
Please don't tell Tenchi... Don't take him away from me, Ryouko... Please. I
don't want to be alone again. Please, Ryouko, please..."

Ryouko's eyes hardened and she carefully stepped over Aeka, not looking
back when the princess began sobbing her plea again.

* * *

"Tenchi."

Tenchi looked up from his desk. He was working on a sketch for his
portfolio and hadn't heard Ryouko come in. When he saw the look on her face he
stood and went to her. "What's wrong Ryouko? What happened?"

Ryouko sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Tenchi down to sit next
to her. She took a few deep breaths, obviously fighting back tears, before
saying, "Tenchi, Shiko has been hitting Aeka. I don't know for how long, but-"

Ryouko looked up, he was halfway out the door already. "Tenchi! Wait!"

* * *

Shiko's door exploded inward off its hinges and Tenchi stepped through,
wreathed in smoke from the twisted and blackened frame like an angry god. The
three marks of his birthright gleamed on his forehead and the air shimmered
around him with potential force. He hadn't done the door on purpose, didn't
even know how to do it again if he wanted to. The thought of Shiko hitting Aeka,
intentionally hurting her... It was too much. Tenchi had given over his control
to the Jurai energy, letting it fuel his actions without restraint.

"Get up!" He snarled at his cousin who was lying on the guest bed
flipping idly through a magazine before the explosion.

When Shiko didn't move fast enough Tenchi strode across the room and
grabbed his cousin by the collar, lifting him bodily from the bed and slamming
him against the wall. "I said get up!" Tenchi had unconsciously grabbed with
his right, injured, hand. Washuu had slowed down the regeneration to something
less miraculous with Shiko's arrival and Tenchi only realized distantly that
the power coursing through his body seemed to concentrate there, playing firey
rhythms under his skin.

"Tenchi! What the hell, man!"

"Shut up! All I want out of you is to hear that this is some kind of
mistake and you didn't do it. And you'd better make it damn good."

"What?" Shiko looked at Tenchi, his expression full of confusion and
fear, "I.. I don't know what the hell you're talking about Tenchi! What's going
on? What did I do?"

Tenchi slammed his fist into Shiko's stomach, causing the younger man to
gasp in pain. "The truth!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Shiko gasped the words out and
repeated them when Tenchi shook him roughly against the wall.

"If you weren't hitting Aeka, who was? Who was?!"

"What?!" The confusion in Shiko's eyes was replaced by pure horror, "I
would never hurt her! Never! You got the wrong guy!"

"You lie!" Tenchi pulled his cousin away from the wall and slammed him
back again, a halo of cracks radiating out from the point where Shiko's skull
impacted.

Shiko shook his head wildly, struggling in Tenchi's grasp, "I swear man!
I swear!"

"Then who was it you bastard? You think Aeka hit herself?!"

Shiko stopped struggling suddenly, going lax in Tenchi's grasp, his chin
hitting his chest. When he looked back up his face was twisted into a wicked
grin, his eyes on fire with malice.

"That little slut? She's a bigger wimp than you are Masaki. I hit her
alright. I didn't think you would care," Shiko laughed cruelly, "She didn't
complain after the first time. I think she liked it!"

Tenchi's fist connected with his cousin's face, sending a spray of blood
across the white wall as Shiko's head whipped to the side, his nose broken.

Shiko turned his head back and laughed, his voice distorted by the damage,
"Yeah, like that. And this time I made her ask for it. Made her beg me to cut
her up a little. Made her tell me she's the royal slut of Jurai and beg for me
to hurt her."

Tenchi punched him again, cracking his jaw, and didn't stop after one
this time. When Ryouko pulled him off of Shiko his hand was covered in blood
and his cousin's face was a ruin.

"Tenchi!" Ryouko yelled in his ear, having to use all her strength to
drag him back toward the door, "Tenchi! Stop!"

Tenchi whipped his head around and snarled, "And let him get away with it?
He deserves to die! He isn't fit to lick the ground she walks on!"

"Tenchi," Ryouko said calmly, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders,
"You're scaring me Tenchi. Calm down and think for a second. Don't let your
rage take over, Tenchi."

The fire in Tenchi's eyes dimmed as the soothing tone of her words
penetrated the haze of anger in which he moved. The symbols of his power faded
from his face and he collapsed against her. "Oh god Ryouko. I would have
killed him... What he did... The things he said..."

Ryouko stoked his back and led him toward the door, "I know Tenchi, I
heard. I let you hit him a few times for it, but you need to calm down and
think. He's scum and he deserves everything you would have done, but could you
live with having done it?"

Tenchi shook his head silently and clung to her as Ryouko led him out of
the room and away from the pitiful figure lying in a heap against the wall. "He
has to be punished," he mumbled, "Shiko has to hurt for what he did. Shiko-"

"That's not Shiko." Ryouko turned to stare at her mother as Washuu came
up the stairs at a dead run. "There's no time to explain, but you have to make
sure he doesn't get back up, Tenchi. Let him go Ryouko!"

Ryouko obeyed automatically but Tenchi showed no signs of going, he was
weeping now, torn apart by conflicting and whirling emotions.

"Tenchi!" Washuu shouted at him, "Get ahold of yourself! That isn't your
cousin in there. It's a construct, a sort of living android, if he gets back up
there's no telling what he'll do!"

Tenchi looked up at her, simultaneously trying to wade through anger,
grief, and confusion. "Wha... What are you talking about Washuu?"

"She's right." The voice was nothing like Shiko's. The young man walked
out of the ruined door into the guest bedroom, his face dripping blood and his
jaw hanging sickeningly loose. "At least, she's sort of right," the not-Shiko
amended in a voice like gravel on steel, "I'm not Shiko. But I am your cousin,
Masaki. Oh yes, I'm much more your cousin that that little faggot. But unlike
your precious Tsunami, my lady Tokimi Told me what I am."

"Tokimi," Ryouko gasped, taking a step back from the slowly advancing
figure. Tenchi positioned himself between it and the two women.

"Going to protect your harem, Masaki?" It asked, emitting a horrible,
twisted parody of a laugh, "I'd love to destroy you while they watch, but now
isn't the time for fun. My lady sent me to spy on the bitch scientist, but I
couldn't help hurting you a little Masaki. It's so much Fun seeing you in pain!
Now I'm going to have to go find myself a new face before we have any more fun.
But don't you worry," the not-Shiko's shattered jaw drew up in a horrible grin,
bloody saliva drooling from his lips, "I'll be back soon enough. And then we'll
have some Real fun."

Tenchi leapt toward the thing that wasn't his cousin, the Lighthawk wings
exploding into being around him. He didn't get within three yards before he was
flung backward, crashing to the ground at Ryouko's feet.

"Uh uh uh, Masaki." The bloody-faced thing shook its finger in reprimand,
"I said we would play Later. And when we're done I think I'll finish what I
started with the royal slut. I think I'll make her call me by your name when
she begs me to kill her, Masaki. Oh that'll be Lots of fun!"

"Never," Tenchi growled, struggling to his feet, "I won't let you touch
her ever again!"

"Oh I'm sure you won't Masaki," the thing growled, "That's why I'm going
to kill you first. Maybe I'll even let your little bitch watch while I do it."
The not-Shiko raised a hand to where its lips would have been beneath the blood
and blew Ryouko a bubbly, gurgling kiss.

"But I'm growing tired of this game now," it said, "I'll see you soon
Masaki. I'll see all of you again Real soon."

Tenchi started forward again but before he could take more than his first
step the air shimmered around the thing that wasn't his cousin. Thick tentacles
of darkness grew out of the air and enfolded the bloody-faced figure, shrinking
to a point and then vanishing entirely, leaving the hallway empty but for the
three of them.

* * *

Washuu powered down the support fields over both beds in the medical
section of her lab. Aeka was back on her feet now and wouldn't be needing hers
anymore and Shiko had gone back home to his parents.

Washuu sighed, thinking about the poor young man who had been so entangled
in the events of the past month. His parents had been in a terrible accident
and as a reward Tokimi had chosen him to be the host for her spy. The real
Shiko had come to their home somehow implanted with a subspace tranceiver that
even Washuu couldn't detect. Now and then his mental and aural patterns were
sucked away through link, stored somewhere while those of Tokimi's servant, the
thing that Tenchi had attacked in the hallway, took their place. On that day
Tokimi had yanked the boy physically through the link, replacing him with her
construct without even Tenchi being aware of the shift, despite having his hand
on his cousin's neck at the time.

After the failure of her infiltration Tokimi had abandoned Shiko in
subspace, and had Washuu not been monitoring the transfer when it occured he
would probably have been lost there forever. As it was she barely managed to
yank him back out alive. She'd had to replace his memories of his time at the
Masaki house with false, less fractured ones. At Tenchi's request she had
omitted Shiko's relationship with Aeka. The boy had had nothing but good
intentions, but Washuu knew that any possibility that had ever existed between
the two was long shattered by now. Shiko hadn't even been aware of his actions
when he had hurt her, but Aeka would never forget them.

Washuu had tried to remove those memories to dull the pain, but Aeka had
fought off her probes despite lying near comatose on a suspension bed. So the
scientist had been forced to leave Aeka with her pain for whatever reason the
princess fought to preserve it. Maybe it gave her a driving force to come back
to the world of the living, a hatred for Tokimi and her servant to drive her
back out of the depths from whence even love could not draw.

Whatever the case, Washuu's lab was empty of vistors once more. She
sighed and looked at her reflection in the polished metal of the wall. With
Shiko gone she could return to her younger body, but somehow the urge wasn't
there. The pain of having her child taken away from her all those centuries
ago was beginning to fade. Even genuises do not preserve their every memory
for all eternity. And now she had a child again. Ryouko was an adult and
was quickly cementing her relationship with Tenchi, but Washuu was still
growing closer and closer to her daughter. Ryouko seemed to like her in this
body, and since her physical form had little bearing over the scope of her
mind it was a matter of no consequence to keep the one that made her
daughter happy.

*Maybe that old fool will finally look twice at me,* Washuu thought,
running her fingers through her hair, *It's been a long, long time since
I've had anyone to love.*

* * *

"We'll miss you Aeka."

Aeka smiled at Tenchi and laughed, "Tenchi, you're acting like you'll
never see me again. I'll be back next month for Christmas."

Tenchi nodded and hugged her before saying, "I know, but we'll still miss
you. I'll miss you."

Aeka took his and patted it gently, "I know that Tenchi. You and the
others are my family now, I finally believe that, and I'll miss you all as well.
But I have to go back to Jurai, Tenchi. I... You've all been very kind, but if
I'm to ever be back to my old self I need to go home first."

Tenchi nodded. He knew all this and agreed that it would help. Aeka had
sunken into a black depression for weeks after that thing had disappeared in the
hallway. Washuu had to feed her intravenously to keep her from dying from
dehydration when she refused to eat or drink. It had been a tense, frightening
time in the Masaki household until Aeka slowly came back from the pit into which
she had fallen. She was better now, truly better, not holding back the pain as
she had after he'd told her he loved Ryouko. But she was right, she couldn't
return to being the princess who had become a precious part of his family until
she went home and found herself again.

"We'll miss you Aeka," Ryouko repeated Tenchi word's from where she stood
at his side. She hoped that the princess would find what she needed back on
Jurai. Seeing her in the condition in which she lived for so long had been
torture, and now that she was finally finding her way back to the light of life
Ryouko was anxious to have her friend back once more.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Tenchi asked for the
tenth time, "What if that thing attacks again?

"Tenchi," Aeka laughed, "I'll have the entire Jurain royal fleet
surrounding me on the trip there and will never be more than a mile from the
physical manifestation of Tsunami while I'm at the palace. I don't think
Anything could attack me."

Tenchi nodded, he knew that too, but he'd had to ask.

"We all love you Aeka," Ryouko said warmly, reaching out to hold the
princess' hand, "And hope that you'll find what you need to find while you're
home."

Aeka shook her head and squeezed Ryouko's hand. "I'm going to Jurai to
find myself again, Ryouko, but this is home. When I become empress of the
Jurain empire, this will still be home. This is where my family is."

Sasami rushed up and hugged her sister tightly, Ryou-ohki scrambling up to
the top of her head to avoid being crushed between them. "I'll miss you Aeka!
Come back quick!"

"I'll miss you too, Sasami. You take care of Tenchi and Ryouko for me,
and make sure Mihoshi doesn't blow up the house again, okay?"

Sasami nodded, wiping sudden tears from her eyes.

Aeka sighed and stepped back, looking at her friends gathered there on the
dock on the lake in front of the house that become her home. "I'll be back
soon. I just need to find myself again. Aeka got lost a long time ago, when
Yousho left home, and now I need to go find her again. I know how lonely it is
out there, where she is, stranded by the wayside."

End