Chapter 17

Morai was unaccustomed to such work, but it was better than being on the run - or in a cell.
The food was good too, but He wasn't so happy with his lodgings. He found and old shack to sleep in that was behind a house nobody lived in. He considered breaking into the house but saw people coming in and out of it sporadically throughout the day. He had the impression that they were potential buyers and a sales person was showing them the home. Nobody came out to the shack at night fortunately. He managed to snag a few items during his nocturnal explorations, such as a couple sheets and some clothes. He hated the way he smelled after work so he usually dumped the clothes somwhere after washing up in the stream. There was a seeming unending supply of fresh clothes hanging out to dry.

He only needed to work one more shift to have enough money for his next plan. He wanted to get to the biggest city possible, knowing that more opportunities would be available in such a place. Tokyo was the name he found out, and to get there he needed to pay his way.
He had enough now for transport - but he wanted a little extra just in case. Soon he'd be on his way.

Lawrence Arthur Hamilton III had not been contacted yet, and as was his nature - he began to get edgy with impatience. It was difficult enough to not dwell on how much money he was losing by being out here unduly delayed, but after an entire day of no contact for a guy not used to having to wait for someone it was nearly unbearable. The worst part was he couldn't leave for fear his contact would miss him.

During the evening of his second day at the hotel he was sitting in the bar for an after dinner cocktail when he noticed a beautiful japanese woman taking a seat across the bar from him. He was not here for flirting purposes so he didn't do anything other than glance at her from time to time. After about an hour he got up to leave when the bartender brought him another drink and said, "From the Lady, she asked if you would join her at a booth."

Pleasantly suprised, he followed her with his eyes as she moved to a booth in the corner of the bar, and shortly he joined her there. He didn't mind the distraction. He put on his best game and after a few more drinks and lots of flirtatious conversation they left the bar and laughed on their way up to his suite.

In his bedroom she pulled him close and gave him a long passionate kiss. Then she pushed him forcefully down on the bed. He say up quickly and she held out a finger and said,
"Wait right there - I'll be right back" and she disappeared out of the room.

Art began to loosen his tie, then got up to close the cutains and adjust the temperature in the room when he heard footsteps returning, but they didn't sound right. He turned from the thermostat and saw an old Japanese man standing in his doorway. It was obvious to him then that the whole thing was a setup, much to his disappointment.

"Hamerton-san, what can we do for you?"

No greeting or pleasantries, just straight to business. He regained his composure as he adjusted his tie and said, "I'm looking for a woman. She lives somewhere in Japan."

He had a thick envelope on his desk and slid it over to the older gentleman. It contained numerous photos from his estate, videos made from his security tapes, and notes Art had written summing up all he knew about Ryoko and Tenchi.

The older man took a seat and took a quick look through his notes. After about a minute he looked up and said, "Hamerton-san, you believe this woman to be a ninja?"

"From what I have seen, yes I do."

The man gave a slight smile and said,"No such thing exists anymore Hamerton-san, however we will find this woman for you. We will contact you again when we do."

With that, the old man rose and departed. Art breathed a big sigh of relief to have his business here finished, and immediately made plans for departure.

The second day training with Nate had been easier than the first. Tenchi remembered what his Grandfather had taught him after the first day. It was a lesson taught not long after he defeated Kagato. When he had first crossed swords with him, Kagato overpowered Tenchi easily. Yosho had been a witness to the whole thing and later gave Tenchi a critique on his poor handling of the situation.

"Tenchi, we have discussed redirection of someones strength so that you do not absorb the full force of the strike. There is one more step beyond this which you already know, but have not applied to swordplay. That is how to use an opponents strength against them."

"How are you supposed to do that? I know how to use someones momentum against them, but strength?"

"Yes - it is just another form of redirection. If they do not over-extend themselves, you can push them to"

They spent a few days practicing techniques that involved avoiding a strike, then actually bringing the back of the blade onto the back of the other - forcing it further than it normally would have - then striking on the backswing.

Tenchi practiced some of the moves the first night he was there in private - then used them the second day in combination with other deception techniques that would never have worked on his grandfather.

Handling Nate without too much difficulty gave Tenchi an amazing confidence boost. They had several sparring sessions in the morning, then took a long lunch break. Afterwards,
Tenchi found it a bit more challenging because Nate was not getting as fatigued as him.
He was also adapting to the old trick Tenchi had remembered. Before Tenchi was totally worn down it was time to quit for the day.

AFter getting out of the gear they got cleaned up and Nate took him to a nice Japanese Steakhouse in town.

Tenchi asked, "Is this the taste of home you mentioned?"

Nate smiled and said, "Oh no, not this - that will be tomorrow - you'll see."

When they got back to Nate's place, Tenchi drank as much water as he thought he could hold and said goodnight. After a day like that he needed as much rest as he could.

The next morning on awaking, he didn't feel like getting out of bed. He was a quite sore in just about every muscle he knew about - and a few he didn't. The very first thing he did was some stretching exercises to get the muscles limbered up. It hurt a bit but it would be worth it in the long run. Unfortunately, there was no traditional Japanese bath available, so he made do with Nate's bathtub. He filled it with water as hot as he could possibly stand, and while bathing massaged all the muscles in his arms and legs. Later on he went downstairs and had a few glasses of green tea from a pitcher in the fridge.

He was relaxing at the table enjoying his final glass when Nate returned from his morning run. Tenchi had to wonder where he found all the energy.

Nate greeted him and said, "Glad to see you are up, we'll be heading out as soon as I get cleaned up."

With that he went upstairs and got ready. Tenchi was not looking forward to another day of being worn down. He believed that Nate would defeat him with his incredible endurance alone. After he came downstairs he told Tenchi to grab his gi and meet him outside. They got in his truck and drove out to town. They parked in the back of what appeared to be a high school and went inside. At the door there was a table setup with a sign that said 'Seminar Registration'

They both signed up and went into a large gymnasium. People were talking amongst themeselves in clusters here and there. They went to a curtained off area and changed.
Once back out among the others Nate noticed one person in particular. He brought Tenchi over to greet him.

"Hey Carl, how's it going?" Nate greeted.

"Hey Nate, how's things going on the job?" Carl asked.

"You know - the usual stuff. Kicking ass, taking names." Nate smiled back.

"well, from what I've heard you aren't half bad - for an Army guy" Carl smirked back.

"Don't pay any attention to these jarheads Tenchi, they think they're good or something."

"Hey - Masaki Tenchi - pleased to meet you." Carl bowed to Tenchi, who returned it.

"Good to meet you too. Am I coming to see you next week?" Tenchi asked.

"That's right. Hope you aren't beating Nate up too bad." Carl joked.

Feeling sore Tenchi changed the subject,"What's going on here today?"

Nate smiled and said, "We have a treat this week. Today and tomorrow we have a visitor from Japan here to give a seminar on sword techiques. I'm sure you have heard of him,
Tanaka Hanjiro."

Tenchi was suprised at this - wondering how they managed to get him out here. Tanaka Hanjiro was considered to be the top grand master of the sword in all the world. This would be a great time to learn new things. Everyone went through the usual opening rituals as the grandmaster arrived. There was a translator available but Tenchi, Nate,
Carl and a few others present didn't need translation.

Tanaka Hanjiro covered a few refinements of existing sword techniques, and demonstrated a few bunkai considered esoteric. It was good stuff Tenchi thought, and picked up on a few things he didn't know.

There was a two hour lunch break during which Tenchi, Nate and Carl ran to Taco Bell for a quick lunch. They returned immediately after and meditated until the seminar started up again. More bunkai were gone over in detail and then everyone was paired up to try out some of the techniques. Nate paired up with Tenchi and they followed along with everyone else.

It was near the time for the seminar to end and the grandmaster asked for a volunteer to come up and spar with him. As he asked, he looked directly at Tenchi. Nate grinned at that, patted Tenchi on the back and made a 'go ahead' gesture. Tenchi stood and Tanaka beckoned him forward. Both armed with bokken, they bowed to each other and faced off.
Tanaka stood there serenely in a defensive posture, as did Tenchi - unsure how to proceed.

Tanaka had to be pushing 90 years of age, and Tenchi didn't want to hurt the old guy.
Deciding to take it easy at first - he moved in to strike and...

...looked up at the ceiling from the floor. (What the hell just happened?) Tenchi got up and the old man stood there serenely again in the same stance. (Ok, maybe on the holding back - not so much.) Tenchi came in aggressively this time, feinting with a diagonal strike from the left...

...and found himself on his back once again. Getting to his feet again, he looked at the old man and it seemed as if he never moved from the spot where he stood, or changed position. It was very disconcerting to Tenchi. (Okay - forget the holding back) and he made as if to move forward, to fake out the grandmaster - but he didn't even react.
Tenchi then just moved in to deliver a direct strike...

...and this time actually felt the powerful strike that knocked him down. Tenchi got up again, but this time bowed out. He returned to his place most humbled by the experience. He was totally dumbstruck. After the closing rituals, Nate, Carl and Tenchi changed and went to dinner together. Tenchi was very subdued, and hadn't said much since the demo spar - and what he did say was limited to single word answers to questions.

Tenchi felt as if the whole world had been turned upside down. All the grueling training he had in his life, with skills honed to the point where he was actually beginning to equal his Grandfather - who he believed to be the greatest swordsman in existence - and against the Grandmaster he didn't even have a chance. The only word repeating through his head was "HOW?"

Tenchi didn't eat much of his dinner, and as his companions were finishing up Nate asked in a puzzled voice, "Talk to me Tenchi - what's biting you?"

Tenchi considered for a few moments before answering, "I don't know how he did it - how can anyone be that fast? Especially at that age?"

"Isn't it like that with your Grandfather Tenchi?" Carl asked.

"No way - not even close." Tenchi replied.

"He's holding back for you maybe?" Nate asked.

Tenchi shook his head, "No, no way. He's superb - but nothing like the Grandmaster just now."

"Noboby ever said Katsuhito Masaki was a Grandmaster." Carl said to Nate.

"Then that might have been the first time Tenchi had the experience." Nate grinned.

"What experience?" Tenchi asked.

"Most of the Grandmasters are like that Tenchi - they hardly move and stomp ya." Nate said.

"It's eerie in a way, watching them do that. Tomorrow sit and watch as someone else goes up there to get their ass handed to them. You'll see what we mean." Carl said with a smile, "In the meantime, are you up to showing us some kata we might not know - I figure since I lived so close to Nate I could get a couple extra days with you."

"You better believe I'll be at your place next week to make up for these two days I'm losing out on," Nate added.

"Ok then - how about it Tenchi? You game?" Carl asked.

"Sure, why not? It might help me focus and clear my head." Tenchi answered quietly.

Carl followed them back to Nate's place, where they all sat back and relaxed in the living room and watched the evening news and weather. Despite the relatively easy day at the seminar, Tenchi felt like he would not be able to get up off the couch again. His body was a bit worn out from the previous day, and his mind was not up to speed either from his recent experience.

Still...when they did get up and move to a suitable size practice area, Tenchi found as he ran through a kata a few times it did help as he thought it would. Tenchi only went though one kata with them that evening - but so as not to short change them he made sure it was a more elaborate one than usual. Focusing on the more difficult kata served to clear his mind exceptionally well. At the end of the evening, Nate offered Tenchi a beer again - which he accepted this time. It went down easily, and shortly thereafter he went down to sleep the same way.

Aeka was worried sick. Not only was her sister still missing, but Mihoshi hadn't been around for two days. Her ship was still in the usual spot, so she wasn't off in space.
Her brother hadn't been around either. Even Ryo-Ohki was sulking about, not even cheered by offerings of carrots. Washuu hadn't left her lab either, and neither Ryoko or Ryo-Ohki were cooperative in trying to reach her. The only company she had was Ryoko, and she was in a funky mood herself. Sometimes Aeka would come across Ryoko meditating somewhere in that strange way. She tried to pass the time with chores, but the princess couldn't find any to do. Nothing in the house was dusty or dirty. Even the gardens outside were weed free and perfectly trimmed. The day seemed to drag on forever, seemingly endless. Ryoko made an excellent dinner, which she and Aeka shared alone since Tenchi's father had a late evening at work. They didn't say much to each other, but the silence was not uncomfortable. They both had similar concerns and there wasn't any information to share.

Aeka tried to do some reading after dinner, but nothing could really grab her attention.
Later on she tried to sleep, but most of the night she laid on her back staring out the window unable to sleep. Sometime later, around 3 AM, she couldn't take it any longer.
Dressed only in her nightgown she went downstairs, slipped on her sandals, and went outside. Walking along, she just followed her feet, not really paying attention to where she was going. A random thought popped into her mind (Maybe I should keep track of where I'm going.)

Outloud she said, "Silly of me to worry about getting lost - I've been lost all week!"

The moon was full, and there was more than enough light to see by as her eyes adapted.
Then she entered a clearing, and it appeared her wandering was not as random as it had seemed. Funaho was beautiful, silhouetted with the white night light filtering through her branches. A light breeze made the branches sway ever so slightly, almost as if the tree was waving hello. She immediately felt better, being in her favorite place - which she had been avoiding since it was the site where Sasami disappeared. She found a spot which she could sit down in comfortably, and laid back looking up at the moon.

Aeka didn't even notice when she fell asleep, nor did she notice when a shimmering being led a small figure by the hand over to where she slept.

Washuu opened her eyes. It then occured to her she just had one of those "moments"
Quickly forgetting about it, she got down to work. She wanted to get Ryoko down in the labs to run some tests to try to estimate what the limits of her new capabilites might be. She opened the mind link to see if she could persuade her daughter to come on down, but her line was of course temporarily disconnected. Ryo-Ohki was still reachable and she told Washuu the place where Ryoko sat meditating. Washuu walked towards Ryoko as she sat quietly on the beach. Not wishing to disturb Ryoko in a peaceful state, she kept her distance and pulled up a holotop. Washuu took some readings of Ryoko's bio-energy fields and what other data she could collect without the more sensitive sensors in her lab. Once enough data for analysis was gathered and processed, Washuu pulled up a graph comparing the current info with the last set she had taken.

The differences were immense. Ryoko's bio-energy field had grown exponentially. Her brain wave patterns - even corrected for the meditative state - were the healthiest she had ever seen them. Everything was off-the-charts good. She started running simulators to try to predict where the trends were going when Ryoko opened her eyes.

"What have you been up to Washuu?" Ryoko asked.

"Just checking up on you. I wanted to take some readings before you tried out your new limits, hoping I could give you a good idea of what to expect."

"What about the last two days locked up in your lab? What were you doing."

Washuu looked suprised. (It never lasts that long!) she thought.

"what never lasts that long?" Ryoko asked, while looking her mother straight in the eyes.

"I asked you before to please not ask." Washuu answered quietly.

"Well, Mom, don't you think there might be a problem there? And if we don't discuss our problems we never get them solved now, do we? C'mon now - if you can't talk about it with me, who can you talk to?"

"Talking isn't the problem - the problem is I just don't know. I have blank moments from time to time. I feel like I was able to remember during those moments - back to before the point where my memory stops. I've told you al this before..."

"But you never had it this long before did you?" Ryoko interrupted.

"No - never that I can remember."

"Do you think maybe what is going on with me might be affecting you?" Ryoko asked.

This gave Washuu pause. She never liked to think about it - but her daughter had a point. So she came back with: "Maybe something is happening that affects both of us?"

Considering what Yosho had told her earlier in the week, this made more sense to Ryoko than her first guess. "Sounds good to me - so what do we do about it?"

"I just don't know." Washuu confessed, "But whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be a bad thing for you. Myself either. In the last couple weeks I've been in a better mood and trying to have more fun. Maybe we should just go with it?"

"You are asking me?" Ryoko replied incredulously, "You are the scientist, not me.
I don't have to be a scientist to see that all these changes started when I got all my gems back. The last time I had them all, things were alot different. You said so yourself - Kagato had my mind all twisted in knots, and that was what prevented me from reaching my potential use of them. You should see the things I can do now just by thinking about it. Those people over on Jurai were afraid of my power then, but if they knew what I could do now - they would be terrified...Hell, I'm starting to fear what I can do Mom!"

Washuu looked at her daughter lovinging, smiled and said, "My little girl is growing up after all."

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

"I'm not teasing. That's the most responsible thing I've ever heard you say. Tell me, what have you been doing so far?"

"Well, nobody has to do anything around the house anymore. I just think the house clean. I can weed and trim the garden and lawn on a whim. I can take care of the dishes after meals by visualizing them washed and away. When I meditate, I try to contemplate control of these powers so they don't run away from me."

Ryoko knew some additional things - but according to Yosho she shouldn't share the information. Her growing power also allowed her complete mastery of what did and didn't go through the mind link to her mother.

"That's good. You need to be cautious, because I have no idea how much potential those gems have. You are the only one who can find out."

"Why was I made?" Ryoko asked suddenly.

"I wanted a daughter. I simply wanted a child."

Ryoko could sense much that was not said and asked, "Then why did you make me so different?"

"I wanted the deluxe model, with all the options - you know, all the bells and whistles from the factory."

"I'm being serious - I want to know." Ryoko said sternly.

"I am being serious. I have many reasons for having you the way I did and making you the way you are. Above all others I simply wanted a little girl to call my own."

"What about the gems?"

"what about them?" Washuu shot back.

"Didn't you make me to control the gems?" Ryoko asked.

"First of all, lets address this issue of semantics. You were born, not made.
You were born and I made sure you could control the gems because it was important that you be able to."

"Why?"

"I don't know why - just that it was important."

Ryoko could sense the frustration over the link - but it wasn't at her. It was obvious that Washuu was very frustrated with herself - knowing without remembering,
and remembering without knowing. The other thing was the sincerity that came across.
Washuu could fake it before, but Ryoko was getting the sense that her end of the mind link had the greater control now. It began to dawn on her that perhaps this was the truth finally, or at least what her mother remembered of it. Satisfied for now,
she started to feel guilty for pushing her mother to a place Ryoko knew made her uncomfortable. "I'm sorry Mom, I just needed to know. It's been bothering me for a while now. Ever since the dream I had..."

"Has it happened again?"

"Yes - and it was weird. There is way too much weird stuff going on lately, like I said."

"Yes there is. I have an idea - let's take care of the things we can right now and figure the rest out later."

"Like what?" Ryoko asked.

"Like I'm starved - I feel like I haven't eaten in a couple days."

"I think we can handle that." Ryoko said with a wink.

Aeka woke up when the sunlight found its way into her shaded nook. Her neck was sore from the position she fell asleep in. Sitting up gingerly, she rubbed the aching area to try to loosen up the stiffness. It was then that the small bundle next to her caught her eye. Sleeping peacefully next to her was Sasami - who stirred a bit since she had been leaning up against Aeka. Relief flooded over the Princess, and she simply sat there looking at her sister as the tears started falling.

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Authors notes: Masaki Kajishima decided to finish the story, so my attempt here is now what we in fanfictiondom refer to as an AU fic. My fault for being a slacker and letting him get ahead of me. I have been busy doing many things - but I'm back in the saddle to finish this. A promise is a promise.