Tenchi ran with reckless speed. He tried to look over his shoulder, and this led him to trip and fall flat in the summer dust. He didn't pause. His arms pushing him up quickly, Tenchi's feet were moving before he was even half upright.

On the side of the path was an old storage shed that served the shrine buildings and grounds. Tenchi narrowly avoided crashing into it in his hurry to seek cover. Once inside, he slammed the door, his back keeping it closed. He let the warped boards of the door hold him up as he gulped air and considered his situation.

It didn't take long to realize that the shed was the only building between the training ground and the Masaki home. It was not the best of hiding places. Still a bit winded, Tenchi risked a look outside. There was no sign of anyone back the way he had come, but there was a figure on the path leading to Masaki House. Tenchi pulled his head back inside.

Grandmother, his brain said. The person he saw was Grandmother. He'd wait until she got as far as the shed, then pull her to safety. So he stood there a few minutes, then checked on her progress.

There was no progress. Grandmother was standing at the same place he'd seen her the first time, leaning heavily on the old cane she was never without. Tenchi withdrew again and almost swore. She'd seen him, obviously, and just as obviously would stand there all day waiting for him to come to her. Why was she always like that? And so stubborn?

Cautiously, Tenchi looked again for pursuit and saw none. He slipped out of the shed and walked quickly in her direction. His fright made the walk faster and faster, so he was almost at a dead run before skidding to a stop near the old woman.

"Grandmother!" he panted, "We have to get out of here!"

"My, Tenchi! What is your problem, boy?" She didn't seem very worried.

"It's that Yosho guy, Grandmother! He's not human!"

"Oh, is that all?" Grandmother Masaki smiled, and slowly began walking towards the house.

"I'm serious, Grandmother! We really have to get away from here!" He wanted to grab her arm and pull, but that thought scared him more than whatever was chasing him.

"These old bones give me one speed, boy! You can leave me behind so Yosho can eat me, or you can settle down and walk with me."

Tenchi would not abandon her, but he didn't quite settle down either.

"Now then, Tenchi." She took his arm for support. "Tell me what happened. Start at the beginning, please."

Tenchi nodded. "Okay, I was practicing with Master Yosho, and it was just like it's been for the last three weeks. I wasn't getting it and I wasn't getting it, and then! I just sort of let it go, you know? It was kind of Zen-like. And I felt it, this High Style was kind of a feeling. So I just let it go, and for the first time I'm doing it, I'm fighting Master Yosho like I know what I'm doing! And I felt this opening, I knew I could touch his thigh with the practice sword and I just let it happen and POOF! I missed!"

"You missed?"

"He jumped out of the way!"

"In a life or death fight, Tenchi, jumping is allowed!"

"Yeah, but Grandmother, he jumped twenty feet straight up! He was up there among the branches, Grandmother!"

"You must have really scared him, Tenchi!"

"Maybe, but once he got up there, he stayed up there! He was floating two stories off the ground!"

"Did you go up after him, Tenchi?"

"Grandmother! This is serious! He isn't human!"

"I heard you the first time! As I remember it, I agreed with you. Because you are right. Yosho isn't human, and Jurai isn't a fighting style. Jurai is a planet, Tenchi, and a star, too. And Yosho is from that planet. He was born there nearly seven hundred and thirty years ago."

"You're kidding, aren't you?"

"Only if you're kidding about the floating business." They had reached a point where another path joined theirs. Grandmother looked down into the glen, and at the huge solitary tree at its center. "Tenchi, take me down to the Masaki Tree. I need to sit on one of the benches for a moment. I have much to tell you and I want to relax while I do it."

They turned down the new path and came before the Tree. Benches made a semi-circle on the drier parts of the natural shrine, and Grandmother eased herself on one of them. "No, not you!" she said, meaning he shouldn't sit with her. "I need you to go to the Tree."

"Huh?"

"Go to the Tree, Tenchi!" Confused, Tenchi walked the stepping stones through the damp soil until he stood beside the great trunk.

Grandmother balanced her arms on her walking stick. "Tell me, Tenchi, what kind of tree is Masaki Tree?"

"I don't know ..."

"Is it oak? Maple? Ash? What kind?"

"I don't know! It isn't any tree I'm familiar with! It's always been just ... the Tree!"

"That is because it, too, is from space! From Jurai, as a matter of fact. She has a name. It's Funaho!"

"She?"

"Funaho is alive, as in alive as a person, Tenchi. She can think, though she thinks in a different way than you or me. I suppose you could say she's a living computer, except I consider that term is demeaning."

"The Tree is a computer? I can't believe it, Grandmother!"

"In the right environment, she could control the systems of an entire starship, and do it in the back of her mind!"

Tenchi gave Funaho a look filled with doubt. "Okay, " he said, his voice reflecting that doubt.

Grandmother sighed. "Very well, Tenchi. You need to see more before you can learn more. I'm sorry, boy, but I have to turn your life upside-down now. I've been holding off, delaying, letting you keep your innocence as long as possible, because that innocence is a crucial key to our victory. Well, that ends now. Forgive me, Tenchi."

Tenchi could make no sense of what she was saying.

She shifted a bit on the bench. "Please place one hand upon Funaho. Yes, that's it. Now, close your eyes and reach out around you with your mind. I believe you've had enough training to know what I mean by that. Yes! Yes, Tenchi! Reach out!"

Tenchi stood there, eyes closed, palm upon the rough bark, letting his senses of touch and hearing open up to the world about him.

Something in that world touched him back.

He started, pulling himself away. "YIIIII!"

"TENCHI! Do not be afraid, boy! Put your hand back and let Funaho touch your mind! You must do this, Tenchi!"

Tenchi studied the trunk. Something had touched his mind. There was no doubt about it. He wasn't sure of Yosho, but this, this was definitely alien. He was about to touch an alien mind from another world.

Cool.

He placed his hand back where it had been and reached out again. The second time was almost immediate. Softly, thoughts and memories flashed by, a slide show of mixed images, some of which were his past, most of which made no sense whatsoever. Repeatedly among those images was the face of a girl, that beautiful face framed in silver hair with soft cyan highlights, her eyes golden, wicked, playful. He wanted to see more, and in response, Funaho began to concentrate on her. He watched her mature, start to grow old. He didn't want that, and the images became young again. She laughed. She cried. Many times she came to the tree crying. She fought. She fought Yosho! There was a flash. The images were gone. She was gone. Just sadness. Sadness.

The Tree pushed against his hand. Before he could think, Tenchi grabbed what had sprouted from the side of the Masaki Tree. It thrust itself out and clear and he held it in his hands.

It was a sword hilt ancient and beautiful. At first glance it seemed to me made of wood, but the feel of it was more of a firm rosin.

"Come here, Tenchi. Bring the Key with you, please."

He did so. "The Key?"

"That is Tenchi-ken, also called the Master Key. Only blood members of the Royal ruling house of Jurai can touch it, so don't try giving it to me. The person holding it can give commands to any of the ship-trees of Jurai, and Funaho, her sisters, her daughters and granddaughters, all her nieces, the whole bunch of them, they all trust you implicitly as long as you hold it. As will their mother, Tsunami. Hold the sword in Jurai grip, please."

"Like this?"

"Yes. Now, begin the first routine or whatever it's called."

Tenchi stood, holding the sword, concentrating as Yosho had taught him. He stood a long moment in thought.

"HA!" yelled Grandmother.

"HA!" returned Tenchi automatically. From the hilt there came a burst of light and a hum of sound and the Tenchi-ken became whole, the power of Jurai creating a glowing white energy sword. Tenchi could only stare in amazement at what he held. Then he relaxed, and the beam sword disappeared.

"Now, I think, you'll accept what I have to tell you. Come. Sit."

He sat beside her."Grandmother?" he said, "Who is Ryoko?"