Summary: AU. Sasami is having visions of her lost brother. And how does the Demon's Cave, that Tenchi finds, connect with Yosho Jurai? And how does the pink-haired demon inside, one with an odd obsession with small, red, crabs, connect to Yosho, too? Or is it Tenchi's grandpa!? This a Young-Yosho story. ;) And this is an AU—with vignettes of Jurai and Yosho's life here and there, as well.

Author's Note: This is my first Tenchi Muyo! fanfic … And it is about three years old. I decided to actually post it on fanfiction.net so … Are there any questions/comments? Email me at greenteariot@aol.com or just read/review! Constructive criticism is very welcome—but so are complementing reviews! ^_~ I try to reply to all my reviewers.

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- - » No Need for Memories!
chapter one.

__ a tenchi muyo incident.

*//rei.

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"Yosho…" The name came to Tenchi Masaki like a bottle of saki to Ryoko. But, still, he could not figure out why the name seemed so familiar, and yet, so distant. Was it the name of a boy at his school? Or was it the name of an alien from some other galaxy?

Questions flew through his mind as he swept the flagstones and steps of the Masaki Shrine. It was a quiet, tranquil day in Okayama, Japan, deep in the hills and mountains. It was positively a lone town. It was so solitary, that it could hardly be called a town. No matter, it was a beautiful place to live.

Tenchi Masaki was probably the luckiest seventeen-year-old boy in Japan—with five quite attractive girls living in his household: (along with his mysterious grandfather, Katsuhito, and his father, Nobuyuki,) Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, and Kiyone. (And, not to forget, Ryoko's spaceship, Ryo-Ohki, the cabbit.) But those girls… they weren't normal. Sure, they had their ups and downs, as Ryoko and Ayeka are always bickering over something small, but these girls… they were all from different planets! They were all aliens! Humanoid aliens, that is. Every single one of these girls either loves Tenchi or likes him. (All of which flirt with the poor boy, though.)

Tenchi looked around apprehensively, his eyes darting through the trees and shrubs—he did not feel very comfortable up at the shrine alone sometimes. His grandfather, Katsuhito, had told stories about the shrine and its evil demons that lurked in there. Luckily, Katsuhito wasn't there to make him feel even more nervous. Tenchi had to admit that his grandfather did seem strange. That old man looked like he held a lot of secrets in his mind.

It's so quiet, he thought. The silence, besides the seldom chirping of birds and leaves brushing in the breeze, did make him feel slightly uneasy. A gentle current of cold air breezed through Tenchi's short, spiky black hair. He shivered slightly and tightened his grip on the wooden stick of the broom. Looks like it could snow.

As if on cue, a snowflake fell from the sky and landed on Tenchi's nose as he watched it flutter down. Staring back up at the gray clouds, he saw that night was approaching quicker than he thought. He looked around and made sure the leaves were swept away from the stone stairway he was standing on, then he turned towards the shrine at the top of the steps.

He heard a steady clicking sound coming from the top of the stairs. It sounded like the footsteps of the wooden sandals his grandfather wore. Seeing his grandfather slowly walking down the stairs, he wasn't surprised.

Katsuhito Masaki's long, gray hair was tied up in its usual ponytail that dropped down to, at least, his waist. His glasses shined eerily with the little sunrays there were. He stopped short when he reached Tenchi and looked at him, smiling. The clicking of his sandals ceased.

"Ah, you did good Tenchi," he said, almost sarcastically. "That would be all for today."

"Whew," Tenchi sighed.

"Well…" Katsuhito began, eyeing Tenchi, then bringing his gaze to the sky slightly. His glasses were reflecting the light, so Tenchi could not see his eyes. "I only want you to do one more thing: Go and find little Princess Sasami."

"Where'd she go?" Tenchi asked.

Katsuhito cleared his throat and looked towards his grandson. "Why do you think I asked you to go and find her, eh?" Tenchi was sure his grandfather rolled his eyes at him.

"Eh, all right." With those words, Tenchi grabbed the broom and ran towards the shrine, up the stairs, to put it away.

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"Tsunami!" Princess Sasami called out through the woods. "Tsunami! Help…" The very young Princess of Jurai had been lost in the woods for three hours now. It started to snow increasingly, and showed no sign of ceasing. The temperature was also dropping terribly and all the girl had on was her usual kimono and a light jacket put over that since it was, after all, winter.

"Princess Sasami?" called a voice behind her, distant, abstracted…

Sasami stopped running immediately. The voice was so quiet, she wasn't even sure she heard it. Wrapping her bluish coat around herself, she turned around, her gaze flickering from tree to tree, space to space. That voice, she thought, sounds so familiar… Could it be—could it be Yosho?

The voice did sound so familiar… Sasami whirled around in all directions, ready to face her long lost brother, Yosho, Prince of Jurai. She realized, no one was there to greet her. No one was behind that voice—that faint voice she heard.

"Yosho?" she whispered, almost in a gasp. "Brother… I heard you! Where are you?! Come back. I'm scared…" She was talking as if Yosho Jurai was actually there—but he had gone away.

"Little Sasami… Dear sister…" called the voice again.

Sasami's pale ruby eyes widened in terror, and in anticipation. Who was this? This could not have been Yosho Jurai. He was no where in sight—no one was! And, he had gone missing so many years ago… She was greatly frightened now. Someone or something was there—calling her—in her brother's voice.

"What's wrong, Sasami?" the voice asked again, but this time, it was behind her, not just around her—coming from no where. It was behind her.

She spiraled around slowly to come face to face, finally, with him—Yosho.

"Sasami, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." His voice was so soothing, so gentle and calm, and his smile was so soft, Sasami felt tears in her eyes. No one—no one could be Yosho. No one could impersonate him correctly. Sasami remembered him so well… Before she could say anything more, she threw her arms around him.

Her cheeks flushed, eyes glittering, as she buried her face in his Juraian clothes. "Yosho!" she almost sobbed. "It's really you! I missed you so much…"

His gentle smile grew, he said, as he pulled Sasami closer, then kneeled so they were at eye level, "Missed me? I only saw you last night… At dinner, silly Sasami."

Sasami stared at him blankly, just focused on his violet eyes… It's been so long since she had seen him. But what he had just said, puzzled her to totally. "What?"

Yosho's gaze left her suddenly. He removed his arms from around her, and took her arms from around his neck. He held her wrists. "Sasami." He took a deep breath, then let it out. He turned his eyes from the ground to look at her shimmering reddish-pink eyes. "You must leave Jurai… now." His voice was distant, as well as his gaze, even though he stared straight at her.

"Leave Jurai?" she gasped, finally regaining her voice. "But we're on Earth. What are you talking about?"

Yosho stared at her for a few moments, eyebrows raising. "What are you speaking about?" Then he smiled slightly, almost worriedly. "Don't worry, Princess. Ryoko and Kagato will not destroy Jurai. I will stop her." It was almost as if he was trying to convince himself.

Ryoko? Kagato? It can't be, she thought questionably, desperately. No… She knew where she was now, and when she was.

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In that instant, Yosho disappeared, as well as the forest, the sky, the snow, the ground, and the colors. Flashbacks screamed through her mind. It was all coming back to her: that night on Jurai, that night when she died, that night when she was saved by Goddess Tsunami, goddess of Jurai. They were plummeting towards her now. She was standing in space—darkness all around her… just darkness.

Suddenly, a vision, a picture of Yosho and Azusa, her dignified father, Emperor of Jurai, appeared in front of her. She couldn't see where they were; all she could see was their bodies.

"I command you to stay here," Azusa sternly commanded.

"I can't, father. All of Jurai will perish if I stay and not fight. Everything will be destroyed, along with you, and the princesses! Why can't you see that?!"

"Stay here! We'll get the Galaxy Police to catch him! You are our only male heir, Yosho. You can't desert Ayeka like that. You will not desert Ayeka like that." Azusa glared threateningly at his fuming son.

"Listen to me!" Yosho practically shouted, "If I do not kill Ryoko and Kagato, they will destroy Jurai, as well as its whole star system! You have to let me go!"

"Are you raising your voice at me?!" Azusa bellowed.

Yosho's lips quivered for a moment, his eyes narrowing. "I…" He kept a firm stare with his father. He would not let the man intimidate him.

"You are staying here, and that is final! The Galaxy Police are more than enough to defeat Kagato!"

"I… I will NOT sit back and watch Jurai be destroyed!" Yosho shouted, his hands clenching at his sides. It was then, that Yosho turned violently, his dark hair whipping around his head, and he ran, his clothing rippling with his speed.

That was the last time Azusa had seen his son—the very last time.

Sasami screamed as she banged her fists on the glass where the vision was. "Yosho! Don't do it! Come back!" she cried.

Suddenly, the glass shattered. The broken pieces shimmered for a moment with the broken image of Yosho's fleeing form. The broken shards just floated… its image dimming until all the glass did was shine, then disappear.

"Yosho…" Sasami whispered sadly.

Unexpectedly, behind her, another class appeared. She turned to face it, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. This time, the vision was not of Jurai. It was showing Yosho's battle with Ryoko, the demon that was on the end of Kagato's leash. She could see their bodies now, and the whole scenery.

Yosho was holding his pale blue light sword, which was named Tenchi. (Yes, Tenchi was named after that legendary sword.) Ryoko was holding her light sword, which was double-sided and bright red. Ryoko and Yosho were standing face to face. But… they were on Earth, in a cave that looked strangely familiar to Sasami…

Both breathing heavily, they glared at each other, holding their swords out in front them.

"What," Ryoko asked in a hoarse voice, as if they had been fighting for quite a while, "are you thinking? Do you think you can destroy me: Ryoko?!" she laughed.

Yosho closed his eyes. His light saber radiated to such a brighter blue color that Ryoko was almost blinded. He then shot his eyes open and stared at Ryoko, the cyan-haired, humanoid demon. His eyes flashed a darker purplish-red.

"You'll pay for what you did," he growled lowly, vengefully.

"Hai! I will, will I?" she laughed. "Start fighting, Prince!"

With that, Yosho charged towards her and shouted, "Die, Demon Ryoko!" Ryoko flew two feet up from the ground and grinned, her teeth shimmered white. She then flew towards him with all her speed. When they were about ten feet away from each other, Ryoko and Yosho placed their swords in front of themselves and a loud crash was heard when the two swords clashed against each other.

They practically crashed into each other.

Their swords crackled against each other and Ryoko snarled, pressing all her strength against him. She was satisfied to see his stance slide back against the ground. "You," Ryoko snarled between her teeth, "will die. Then will come the Juraian Royal Family!"

"Never!" Yosho growled. He then took all his strength and rammed Ryoko in the stomach with right knee. But nothing happened.

All Ryoko did was stand there, swords still clashing, just grinning. Since he used all his strength in the kick, he lost grip on his sword for just a moment, but enough for Ryoko to ram her elbow to his chest. Yosho let go of the saber and was shoved back from Ryoko's hit. His sword flew up in the air and Ryoko then hit it with her saber and sent it flying about twenty feet behind Yosho until it hit the wall of the cave. He turned his head and looked behind himself to see where the sword landed. Catching his breath, he spotted it. He then turned his eyes back to Ryoko and their stares locked onto each other.

"Seriously," she laughed as she teleported from where she floated in mid-air and then to where she sent Yosho flying. She stared down at him, her blade raised. He looked so vulnerable, as if she could slice him right now. "I thought you'd be at least some competition for me."

"You'll never get away with this, Ryoko!" he shouted as he jumped up and ran—sped off.

"Where does he think he's going? Hai, quick one!" She shrugged and tossed her cyan colored hair over her shoulders. With that, she charged straight towards him, but this time, she was running on the ground. "Oh, no, no, no! Where do you think you're going?!" she laughed playfully as she pounced onto him, her light saber extinguishing. She had the power to form a red light saber with just her hand—she didn't need a sword. She rammed him against the wall of the cave and smiled crookedly. He took his eyes off of her and then spotted his sword on the ground just a few inches away.

"Demon Ryoko," he snarled and put his eyes back onto hers.

"Good bye, Yosho. If only you were on our side—you'd be such a great swordsman if we worked together," she laughed.

He hammered his forehead against hers, and when she let go of his wrists by surprise, which were pinning him to the ground, he grabbed her neck and punched her in the face as hard as he could. She stumbled backwards in surprise, rather then in pain, and rubbed her face. "You!"

Yosho crawled to his sword as quickly as he could, but Ryoko shot a glance at him and pounced onto him again. This time, they both slid forward, even more towards the sword, and stopped when Yosho's arm was right next to the sword. They were completely on the opposite side of the cave now.

"You're really getting me annoyed! Stay here and let me slice off your head, Prince!" She put out her hand, and her double-sided light saber appeared again. She held him down with just her other hand on his neck.

"Not," he choked, "if I finish you off first!"

He reached as far as he could to grab the sword, which he succeeded in doing so. He managed to shove her off of him with his knees because she just happened to be sitting on his legs, which had also pinned him down. Her hand slid off his throat, leaving a red mark where her nails had scratched him, but she clung onto his shirt. He twirled his deactivated sword in his fingers, then put the purplish tip of it to Ryoko's neck in one swift move. Ryoko was still hovering over top of him.

"What's that?" she asked, not noticing what it was.

"Eh…" He realized it wasn't turned on. "Heh-heh, forgot to turn it on," he laughed as he ignited it.

She screamed out in pain as the bright blue light shot out from the sword and, when it lengthened, it went straight through her neck. Her eyes widened and her scream went silent, only echoed off the walls of the cave for seconds after. Her bright red sword, that was so close to scorching his own neck, went pale and then faded completely. Her arms dangled down towards the ground from where his sword was holding her in the air, her face just a few inches away from his.

"You…" she coughed out in a whisper as her eyes stared blankly ahead at the cave wall. Yosho was under her, so she was not looking at him. He didn't move at all—all he did was lie there with his sword in her neck. She then closed her eyes and made his sword extinguish. She then collapsed onto him and her head leaned against his chest—dead.

He sighed with relief, and took deep gulps of air. He let his arm plop down onto the ground and let his grip loosen from the sword, letting it lie there on the ground, as well. He just lay there for a long time, so tired he could hardly take those breaths of air.

"Finally over…" he said quietly. Sasami knew what he was thinking. He couldn't go back to Jurai after what he did. He disobeyed his father and all of Jurai, even the Galaxy Police now. He decided to bury Ryoko in the cave and keep her locked there for all eternity, so no one will have to suffer her wrath again. But now, it wasn't done yet. Kagato was still alive.

Then the glass vision disappeared and Sasami was back in darkness. She was thinking, letting all the information flow into her thoughts. "That place was the Masaki Shrine. And that cave was Ryoko's Cave," she said quietly. "So if that was the cave, and if that was Ryoko, and if that was Yosho…" Then Yosho had to be alive. He was probably living in Japan now! Maybe even in Okayama!

"Sasami…" called the voice of Yosho again. But this time no one was in sight in the blackness. She looked around—nothing. "Princess Sasami, wake up," called the voice again, quiet, almost mute, but it was present.

Suddenly, everything was gone and when she opened her eyes, she was sitting in bed with Katsuhito and Tenchi at her side. She gasped when she looked over at Tenchi's grandfather. She had mistaken him for Yosho—those same exact eyes… and his aged voice sounded young—like Yosho himself.

"Brother?" she asked quietly as she rubbed her eyes, staring at Katsuhito.

Tenchi looked over at his grandfather and blinked. Katsuhito did not answer and looked down at her. "You're running a fever," he said quietly as he put a wet rag over the girl's forehead.

Tenchi asked questionably, "What were you doing out there, anyway, Sasami?" Something was bugging Tenchi in the back of his mind. He heard her call out the names "Tsunami and Yosho" when she was out in the snow.

"I… I couldn't find Ryo-Ohki anywhere. She wasn't in the house, so I thought she ran out somewhere… I went looking for her," she explained, skeptical herself.

"Hmm," Katsuhito murmured. Sasami looked at him. His face distorted somehow, in her mind, she knew, into that of Yosho. She gasped, but she knew the vision could not be real—just like with her encounters with the other visions in her unconscious state. Maybe it was all a dream.

"Something wrong, Sasami?" Tenchi asked as he saw her staring blankly, almost probingly at his grandfather.

"N-nothing," she stuttered as she leaned back down and closed her eyes. She fell asleep silently—sick and cold.

Katsuhito knew what she was thinking. He could not possibly hold this secret that he was holding from the two princesses much longer. Especially Sasami, she seemed very gifted… Maybe she held the power to know. But how?

And how did Goddess Tsunami fit into this, anyway?

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to be continued.