Chapter 3: Visitors from Afar

The restaurant they visited turned out to be one of the ramen shops that were becoming so trendy and popular in some of the larger cities such as Tokyo and Nagoya. Unlike the typical ramen stalls so frequently found around the country, this was a sit down establishment, that took orders, and as Nobuyuki had stated, was quite suitable for private conversation. After the waitress had taken their order and departed, Tenchi asked, "So, Dad, what's all this about?"

"Well," his father began, looking a bit flustered, "there's so much i want to tell you... tell both of you, I don't really know where to start." He looked to Rea, who put her hand on his arm and said, "Why don't you start with the house?"

He nodded, turning back toward his son, saying, "Tenchi, there's a reason why I never sold the land where our house use to sit. I'm going to build another house there."

Tenchi, displaying mild surprise, then curiosity, asked his father, "Does that mean we're going to be moving? Ryoko and I passed by the lot today and we talked about how we like living near the shrine..."

"No... no Tenchi," his father reassured him. "You and Ryoko and the rest don't have to move. Everyone is welcome to stay there as long as they like." He paused, and then added, "I'll be moving."

"You'll be moving?" asked Ryoko. "Why Nobuyuki? Did we do anything to make you want to leave?" A little hesitantly she added, "Did anyone?"

He smiled at her. "Ryoko. Don't you think it's about time you started calling me Dad? You are marrying my son after all." He chuckled as Rea, beside him, smiled.

Ryoko at first slightly taken aback, returned his smile with a warm one of her own. "Okay. Dad," she said, her smile broadening. She took Tenchi's hand who was obviously quite happy with this.

Nobuyuki continued, "In answer to your question, no one did anything wrong. This plan has been in the works for some time, but I guess you can say that it's happening now because of you two."

Tenchi looked at Ryoko, who was looking at him with the same concerned expression. He looked back at his father asking, "Because of us?"

"Well, yeah. Um... You see, son... I... uh, we... um..."

Rea, next to him, let out a sigh. "Tenchi." she said. "Your father and I have been seeing each other, outside of work, for a very long time now."

"Seeing each other?" asked the slightly shocked young man. "You mean you two have been... dating?"

Nobuyuki again nodded. "That's right Son. We have."

"How long have you two been seeing each other... Dad?" asked the former space pirate, with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Um, quite a while. Well before all you ladies appeared on the scene."

"That long huh?" she commented. Then with a slightly wicked grin she asked, "So. Exactly how often were you really working, all those time you had to 'stay over' at the office?"

The elder Masaki cleared his throat, while Rea looked to the side, a slight smile matching the slight blush on her cheeks.

Remembering that more than a few times his father's 'late night work sessions' had involved him 'sleeping over at work,' Tenchi looked at him, saying "Dad..."

"What?" his father replied a little too quickly, his face turning red as well.

Ryoko giggled, "It's nice to know what I have to look forward to when Tenchi gets older." She looked at Rea who looked her in the eyes, and with a mischievous glint of her own, gave the younger woman a quick, if slight nod.

"Ryoko!" said her more than slightly shocked fiancé.

"Oh c'mon Tenchi," she chided. "We're all adults here, right?"

"I know," he admitted, "but... it's just a little awkward talking like this with my dad here and all..."

She reached over and touched his cheek. "You're so adorable when you're embarrassed," she said, causing him to blush yet smile nonetheless.

Trying to change the subject as quickly as possible, Nobuyuki said, "Anyway, to make a long story short, when you two became engaged, we got to talking more about it, and well..." He turned and smiled at Rea, who then brought up her left hand. She was wearing a ring not too dissimilar to the one Ryoko was wearing, but unique in its own right.

Their eyes widened at first, Tenchi and Ryoko's expressions changed to broad smiles. "Congratulations!" said the young man, his fiancée nodding beside him.

"I hope good taste in jewelry is another inherited trait," Ryoko wondered as looked at the ring and then turned toward her paramour with a slightly cocked head, mischievous smile, and raised eyebrow. Tenchi looked at her and rolled his eyes, yet kept his smile as he turned back to his father.

"You're okay with this son?" his father asked. "With Rea and me?"

Tenchi smiled at him, "Of course I am, Dad. Why wouldn't I be? Honestly I don't know why I never thought about it before. It all makes such sense that you two would get together. You both been in each other's life for so long, I really shouldn't be that surprised."

He turned to Rea. "You always looked after both of us, after Mom.. left." With a thoughtful expression, he added, "Come to think of it, most of my childhood memories... well... you're in them. You'd do the cooking, make sure I was ready for school, take care of me when I was sick or bruised. Try to cheer me up when I was sad." He paused. "It's been so long since mom... died. So long that besides her face and the feelings I had for her, there's not much else I can recall."

He looked directly into Rea's eyes and said, his voice filled with emotion, "You're the mom I remember..."

Rea reached over the table and placed her hand on Tenchi's, a tear falling on her check, a gentle smile on her lips. "I never tried to replace Kiyone, no one ever could," she explained. "I just did my best to care for you both as I'm sure she would have wanted me to. And I was very happy to do it, because you are my family. You have been since your mother found me and brought me home."

"Tenchi's mom found you?" Ryoko asked.

Rea nodded. "Yes. I woke up lying in a forest when I was a few years younger than you are now. I looked up and saw a pretty lady's face, upside down. She had a very curious expression, looking down at me like she was trying to figure out who or what I was."

Nobuyuki chuckled quietly. "That was Kiyone; always curious."

"I guess she must have liked what she saw because she brought me back to the house and welcomed me into the family." Rea said with a grin.

"And you were very welcome... not that I actually had any say in the matter," Nobuyuki said wryly.

"Wait a moment," interjected Tenchi. "You're saying that Mom simply decided she would live with us and didn't even talk to you about it? Really?"

"Tenchi, I don't think you have a true understanding of your mother's personality," informed his father. "In fact, I'm pretty sure you don't."

A look of consternation touched Tenchi's face. "I know that my mother was sweet and gentle and loving. And that she took care of me. Of us."

"You're right, that was all true," agreed Nobuyuki. "But there was a lot more to her than that. She was also a very confident, strong-willed and determined lady. Once her mind was made up on something, she was resolute. She never hesitated on anything, and would always see something through to the end. From the most trivial thing to the most important. She approached everything in life with the same tenacity, whether it was planting the perfect garden, working for the Galactic Union or even getting married."

Tenchi sat there in stunned silence.

Ryoko spoke up, "You mean she went off planet?"

"For many years." He turned toward his son. "She worked with your grandmother, Airi."

"My grandmother?" he said incredulously. "No. That can't be right. Grandpa told me that she died long before I was born. I asked him a few years ago. He wouldn't lie to me, not about something like that."

His father shook his head. "No Tenchi. Of course he wouldn't lie. But do you remember his words, what he actually told you?"

Tenchi's serious look softened and quickly switched to curiosity. "Now that you mention it, Dad, he put it strangely. He said that his "wife" had died, not that my grandmother had. I wondered about that, at the time, but didn't say anything." He glanced over to Ryoko, who was sharing the same curious if somewhat confused look, then back toward his father, who had a knowing smile.

"That, son, is because his wife, Kasumi... was not your grandmother," he proclaimed, after a somewhat overly dramatic pause.

"She wasn't?" Tenchi finally replied, as the impact of his father's statement hit home.

"No. Like I said, your grandmother's name is Airi. Airi Magma. She's your mother's mother. Your grandfather knew her before he came here. They met when he attended the Galactic Academy, before he ended up on earth. He met Kasumi soon after he arrived and they eventually married. Many years after she passed away, he was reunited with Airi. They had your mother and, eventually, after we married, we had you."

"Wow," Tenchi said with a subdued voice. "So when he said his wife had passed away, he was telling the truth. I guess he just forgot to mention it happened a few centuries ago and that she and I weren't really related," he added with a grin.

"Oh you are most definitely related to her... through me," Nobuyuki informed him. "Everyone in Masaki village is. In one way, or another we are all descendants of your grandfather and Kasumi."

"Why hasn't anyone ever told me this before?" Tenchi asked.

"Because, now it's time," his father answered. "When anyone, comes of age in the village, they are told of their intergalactic roots. This way they can deal with the differences between them and the rest of the world."

"What do you mean by differences, Dad?"

"Most differences are minor, but the main one is that we all live quite a bit longer than other people on this planet and we have to keep it a secret. That, along with our heritage, is why a lot, if not most of us, have spent quite a bit of time off planet. It saves from having to explain why we don't apparently age like our outside acquaintances." He smiled mischievously at his son and asked; "How old do you think I am Tenchi?"

"Honestly, you look like you are in your mid-thirties, Dad."

Nobuyuki shook his head. "Let's just say I'm a 19th century kind of guy for a reason, and leave it at that, okay?"

"Seriously, Dad?" Today was turning out to be one big surprise after another for Tenchi. "Did Mom know how old you were?"

"Of course she knew. You can't hide anything in Masaki village. In fact, she used to tease me about it, quite a bit actually. Always telling me I would take forever to be old enough for her to marry. It probably was one of the reasons she left the planet for a while. Probably not the most important one I wager, but I'm sure it was a factor."

Realization hit Tenchi like a freight train. "You mean to tell me that Mom was older than you?"

His father nodded.

"Just how much older was she?"

"Your mother was born in 1760," he said simply.

Doing the math quickly in his head, Tenchi blurted out, "That means she was over 200 years old?" Realizing he said it a bit on the loud side, he looked about the restaurant, but apparently no one had paid him any mind.

"More like 220 years old," his father said, correcting him.

"Wow Dad…This is all quite a bit to take in, all at once." He thought about it for a few moments and then realizing that his fiancée hadn't spoken for quite some time, he turned and began to ask. "What do you think about thi..." The expression on her face stopped him in mid-sentence. She had a pained look, very much like guilt, on her normally confident face. But what had really stopped him was that fact that she had her eyes averted.

"Ryoko? What's wrong" he asked gently.

"I... met Kasumi, I think… right after I arrived here myself." She sighed, and then continued. "I'm sure it wasn't a very pleasant meeting for her though." She looked to Tenchi with apologetic shining eyes. "Right before Ryo-Ohki crashed, she transported me to the surface. I was wounded from fighting with Yosho, who had already taken two of my gems, but I was still very much Kagato's weapon. I came upon an earth girl, took her hostage, and used her to try to get my jewels back. I couldn't... control myself and had her by the neck demanding he return them. Somehow she got away from me and he and I had our final battle. You already know what happened after that."

She chuckled humorlessly. "Seems, I tried everything I could think of to keep you from being born."

"Well, not only was I born, but it now looks like you'll be stuck with me a lot longer than either of us thought," he replied, jokingly.

"I wondered about that, with Yosho being your grandfather and all. I mean I was hoping..." she said, smiling.

Nobuyuki noticed the waitress returning with their order. "Ah good," he said. "Perfect timing." Looking at Tenchi , he said, "I know you've got a lot to think about now, son and I'm sure they'll be a bunch more questions, particularly about your mom, but why don't we go ahead and enjoy our meal for now. There's a lot more I know that you want to talk about and we will. I promise."

"Okay, Dad," Tenchi agreed. "I've got to wrap my head around everything you've told me just so I can figure out what more to ask." He paused and said, "I definitely want to ask you more about Mom and what happened to her."

After lunch, the two couple stopped outside the door of the restaurant. Nobuyuki asked, "You two headed straight home?"

Ryoko answered with a head shake. "Not yet. We're going to do a little shopping at Sasami's request first before we go back home. It was the price of my temporary reprieve from helping with lunch today." She held up the shopping list Sasami had given her.

Tenchi chuckled. "Don't let her fool you. She might sound like she resents it, and she might have a little bit, at first, but…"

"…but I admit I do like spending time with the junior princess," Ryoko said completing her paramour's sentence, "and I've gotten to be a pretty decent cook, if I do say so myself. The food looks and tastes good, so I'm told," she informed them, giving Tenchi an appreciative smile, "and hardly anything ever gets destroyed anymore," she said half joking.

"Well you two have fun shopping," said Rea. "We're headed back to the office"

"It was great to see you again Rea but I suppose we'll be seeing you much more, now," Tenchi surmised.

"You can count on that," his father promised.

Just as the elder couple turned to leave, Nobuyuki stopped and said, "Oh. There's one more thing I need to tell you. Don't worry it has nothing to do with what we've been talking about," he assured his son. "I'm having something delivered to the house at the end of this week. Just wanted you to watch out for it. Okay?"

"What is it?" Tenchi asked.

"It's a surprise," his father answered, along with a wink.

His son chuckled at his father's penchant for drama. "Okay, Dad," he said, "We'll watch out for it."

"But don't open it," His father insisted.

It was Ryoko's turn to chuckle, "Don't worry Dad. We won't. Promise."

"Okay, then I'll see you two at the house later."

Letting her mischievous nature get the better of her, Ryoko replied, "Now Dad, there's no need to worry about us. You come home whenever you want. It's not like you have a curfew or anything…" she stated with raised eyebrow and suggestive smile. She was rewarded with a blush from them both.

Tenchi, drolly smiling, took his fiancee's hand and led her away saying "C'mon. You've embarrassed them enough for today."

As she was being gently but firmly ushered away Ryoko shouted "Bye!" giving a quick wave upon departure.

Rea and Nobuyuki, having quickly recovered their composures, waved back until the younger couple disappeared in the distance, around a corner. They stood there, side by side, quietly for a moment or two. It was Rea who finally broke the silence.

"I really like seeing them together," she told him.

"Yeah, they do fit nicely;" Nobuyuki commented. "…he with his calm, sincere demeanor and her with a very Kiyone-like zest for life."

"Do you think he realizes what he's got there with her?" she asked.

"He thinks he does," he offered chuckling.

Rea slowly shook her head, smiling. "That poor, lucky boy."

"Yeah," he agreed with a huge smile.

Another moment passed. Rea smile lessened saying, "You didn't tell him."

Her fiancé shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Rea turned to him with asked, "Are you going to tell him ahead of time?"

"I haven't decided yet."

Her face became serious and she demanded sternly, "Nobuyuki Masaki, don't you dare play with that boy's feelings!"

Feeling her wrath, he cringed. "I wasn't going to let it go on for long, promise. I just wanted to see the expression on his face, and then I was going to tell him."

With arms crossed she rolled her eyes. To no one in particular she stated, "I'm marrying a child…"

Nobuyuki held up open hands at shoulder height, with a half grin, and shrugged.

The 'surprise' that Nobuyuki had promised, was delivered that Friday afternoon. It turned out to be a brand new personal computer that he told them, when he got home, would 'revolutionize' the house and shrine's bookkeeping.


On Saturday morning, having taken the various boxes upstairs the previous evening, he worked diligently to assemble the device. It, however, was taking more time than he had hoped, but he persevered. The reactionary looks he received from most of the extraterrestrials varied from doubt (Aeka), mild curiosity (Sasami with a sleeping cabbit on her head), downright skepticism (Ryoko), and familiar stoicism (Yosho/Kasuhito). Mihoshi was taking a characteristic nap downstairs at the time. But everyone's attention was actually directed not toward Nobuyuki, but towards Ryoko's mother.

Uncharacteristically, Washu had watched him quietly; neither commenting nor offering him her assistance, with eyes wide and only an occasional "hmmmmm." Tenchi had been patiently studying his future mother-in-law's limited reactions. He looked over at his fiancée, catching her attention and motioning towards Washu with his eyes to see if she had any clue as to her mother's unusually behavior, but she looked back at him and shrugged.

No longer able to quell his curiosity, Tenchi asked, "Uh, Washu. Why are you so intrigued by this?" he asked. "I'm sure an earth computer to you must seem like a stone tablet would to us."

"Oh no, you don't understand the significance of this to someone like me, Tenchi," she corrected him. "The chance to see such primitive and ancient technology in such pristine condition… and being put together by a native... well it's like an archaeologist who discovered an ancient forgotten tomb, untouched by time and the mummy gets up and shows him around." She looked back at Nobuyuki working on the connecting wires inside the computer's open casing. "The historical aspects are fascinating."

Nobuyuki, not sure that he liked being compared to a mummy, moved away from the computer and over to the parts box, in search of the proper connecting cord for the monitor, Washu continuing to look over his shoulder. "Just marvelous," she muttered.

Mihoshi entered the room unnoticed, having just awakened from her nap on the couch downstairs, still a bit groggy, when she spotted an unusual metal box, partly open.

"Oh, what's that?" Washu heard from behind.

She turned her head to in time to see doom approaching; it was wearing the beautiful guise of a kindhearted Galaxy Police detective. She had an almost vacant curious look on her face, the look that Washu most feared, the look she literally had nightmares about in the past, and Mihoshi was headed straight for the vulnerable personal computer lying open before her.

Time seemed to move at a snail's pace to Washu, as she realized that the young woman was going to get to her target before she could stop her. Suddenly, as the wide-eyed blonde reached out towards the helpless primitive technology, the front door chimes downstairs sounded. Washu wasted no time with this near impossible stroke of luck: "Mihoshi, would you be a dear and see who that is at the door, please?" she asked in her sweetest voice, wearing her most endearing smile, causing everyone to look back at the now noticed Mihoshi, instantly recognizing the imminent danger she posed.

"Oh, okay, Washu," replied the now bubbly blonde, who stopped, lowered her hand, and turned away. She happily headed out through the door towards the stairs, forgetting all about the PC on her way out of the room.

Washu dropped her head, letting out a huge breath of air. "That was too close," she breathed. Everyone else was still staring at the spot where Mihoshi had just been, all sharing Washu's relief on their faces.

As Mihoshi walked down the stairs the door chimes rang again. "Coming," she replied out loud sweetly in response. Curiously, she thought she heard a slight groan emanate from behind the door in response to her response. She reached the door and opened it. On the other side were three women. Unable to see the woman in the back, she focused (as much as she could do so) on the two in front. She immediately recognized the woman on the right; Airi Magma, the head of the Jurai Sector of the Galaxy Police. Looking left, the other woman she saw, wearing both a Galaxy Police uniform and a sour expression, was…

Upstairs, the rest of the Masaki household heard a jubilant Mihoshi shout from below, a single name:

"NOIKE!"