Author Note: Read and Enjoy

Feeling totally rejuvenated I step out of the shower grinning ear to ear "Ahhh! I feel like a new man!" The shower served to provide much needed relief as I took refuge in the steamy oasis and forgot about all my problems, if only for a little while. Wrapping a towel around my waist I set off to the cockpit to check on my arrival time to Torafan. The door swishes open and the computer display pops up.

1 Hour 10 Minutes till arrival at the Hawking Sea Cluster.

Hmm…got an hour to kill eh. I shiver slightly as I feel the ships A/C start blowing on my naked form. Better get dressed. Walking back to my room I throw on a pair of track pants and a loose fitting white t-shirt. While getting dressed I couldn't help but throw a few cautious looks around the room. The uneasy feeling from my flashback earlier hadn't completely left me just yet and I was full well expecting Jean to pop out at any moment with gun in hand ready to shoot me. Taking a deep breath I take a seat on the bed and open my nightstand drawer. Looking inside revealed a scatter mess of photos and notes I kept from the war. Scrounging through the mess I pull out the note that Yasuo had given to me in the dream. I knew what the note said but I opened it up and read it anyways, almost needing to reassure what I already knew.

Jurai was once two.

Shaking my head I just stare at the note and read it again. "Jurai was once two" I whisper the words out low and slow, searching for meaning behind the words. During the war I wasn't too sure what Yasuo ment….and damn it I still don't. Folding the paper back up I put it back in my drawer and sigh in frustration. Jurai was once two…what the hell does that mean? While I was on duty I did some research on Jurai's history but found nothing of their ever being two separate ruling houses but then again if there were documents about something like that I doubt that even an officer as I was in the military could access those kinds of records. "O well. Not my problem anymore." The war was over. Tera-7 lost and Jurai won. There was no reason to investigate the note anymore. But still…what were you trying to tell me Yasuo? Knowing that I'd probably never find out what the note ment I just sigh and start going through the drawer looking for a particular photo. Damn it where is it? I know its in here…ahh!

"Gotcha!" I hold up the photo triumphantly and take a moment to look at it. It was a photo of my family after my father's wedding. We all look so happy…my fingers idly trace the smiles of all my family members as I remember a happier time in my life. Things had been so simple back then…

My vision starts to fade a little bit…

Everything was so much better back then but…my eyes fall on Washu and I start to feel dizzy as I think about her. My hands start to shake and my skin starts to feel cold and clammy. Damn…think I feel one coming on. I take a couple deep breaths but I start still feel even dizzier and the room starts spinning. I drop the photo and grab my head. Shit…I'm gunna pass out.

After the war I started to have blackout spells. I saw a couple of doctors and the diagnosis was always the same, Syncope. The doctors told me I probably developed it during the war. My brain had blocked out a lot of the things I saw and even now still had barriers on those images. So if I saw something that reminded me of the war or a traumatic experience then my body used my Syncope as defense mechanism to keep me from reliving that memory. At least that's what the physiatrist told me.

Shakily I stand up. Water…I need water to calm down. I try to inch my way to the door but fall on my knees after two steps. I attempt crawl but I just fall down on my stomach. I manage to push myself over on my back as I stare up at the cold metallic ceiling. My vision is fading into dark as my field of sight is quickly shrinking. I feel a few tears slide their way down my cheek. Damn it…I hate…the…dar…my thought incomplete as I succumbed to the dark.

13 Years Ago

I'm sitting at the breakfast table crying to myself silently. I couldn't believe it. Nothing had prepared me for the pain I was going through now. Never in a million years did I imagine that this would happen to me. We had been so happy together so why did she push me away? Her words echoed through my mind and burned my soul.

"I'm sorry Tenchi…we can't keep doing this…"

I felt like someone jammed a knife into my chest "Wha-what?"

"We can't be together Tenchi…I'm sorry we just can't do this anymore."

My mind races widly, searching for a reason why. "Is it because of the other girls?" I rasp out quickly "We can tell them as soon as they get back! I promise! No more sneaking around! Please don't leave me!"

She looks at me sadly and places her hand on my cheek. I whimper slightly at her contact and hold her hand to my face. "I'm so sorry my Tenchi…we….I just can't…I'm sorry…" She pulls her hand away at which I whimper even more and she turns away from me "You should go Tenchi. The girls will be back from Tokyo in a week. We need to put this behind us so things can go back to normal ok?" I can see her shaking and place my hands on her shoulders to provide some comfort.

"Please don't do this…I love—" I don't get to finish as I was cut off by a slap to the face. I place a hand on my cheek and look at her, fear and confusion taking me over.

"Damn it Tenchi just go!" Tears are streaming down her face as she drills holes into me with her eyes that held no love but anger.

Slowly I turn around and walk away, only sparing one last glace at her before I open the door. "Why Washu..?"

I let out a hoarse sob and bury my head in my arms as I cry harder than I ever had. Even harder than when I realized that mom had died. "Why Washu! Why why why why!" The pain was unimaginable. My whole body ached. My mind was numb with sadness and all I can do is cry. The only comfort I have is that the other girls are in Tokyo with my father on vacation…they wouldn't have to see me like this. I stayed behind because someone had to tend to the carrot fields while they were gone and even though Noike had insisted that I go instead. I refuted her offer. Noike cooked, cleaned, kept the house in order, and helped do the fields every day. She deserved a vacation. Washu had also stayed behind because of the mountain work that had piled up in her lab. Of course there was no work in the lab to do and the carrot fields weren't really my primary concern. When Washu and I learned about the vacation me and her plotted how we could stay behind and have much needed alone time. Apparently we wanted alone time for totally different reasons.

Slamming my fist on the table I bark out bitterly "Should have seen this coming." Everything in my life always turned out weird and totally opposite of how I thought things would go. Why would Washu be any different? Slowly I stand up from the breakfast table and walk to the kitchen. I grab a glass and open up the cabinet that holds all the cooking spices. Pushing past the spices I start taking out my father's special reserve alcohol. Whiskey, Jin, Vodka, Sake, and several other kinds of drinks. In movies you see when people get sad they drink booze to try and stave the pain away so I decided that's what I would do too. I chose to forget that the booze wouldn't take away the reason why I was in pain, it would only serve to numb it for a short while.

Taking my assortment of liquor back to the table I began to experiment with the alcohol. I never drank before so much to my surprise I found that alcohol tasted terrible. I nearly barfed after taking a swig of whiskey. "O my God that's awful!" my eyes are watery from sting left in my throat. How in the hell Ryoko and Ayeka pounded this fowl stuff down was beyond me but I trudged forward, determined to get rid of the pain I was in. I found the vodka to be more tolerable while Sake was the easiest to get down. Several shots later and I was completely smashed. "Whash goin oooooon." I rolled my head in a circle and slammed my head hard onto the table. "Ow!...hahahahaha!" I start cracking up for no reason and fall over on my side. "O wooow…this is awesome!" I slowly push myself back up and spy the remote to the holo-TV. "Shum T.V. would be nice." I fumble with the remote for a moment, my hand and eye coordination was off by a lot. I manage to get the T.V. working after fumbling with the remote for a minute or two. I flip through the channels till I find some random cartoon about a penguin and proceed to laugh my ass off. Thirty-minutes later and a whole bottle of sake down I am officially smashed beyond all belief. "Whoa…." I'm in a stupor as I watch the credits for the cartoon roll by. I don't think I could have told you who my mom was at this point. "Put…put the penguin back on damn it!" I throw the empty sake bottle at the screen. *Bzzzzt* the bottle passes through the screen and hits the wall with a thud and drops to the ground. Uggg…I'm sho druuuunk….what shooould I do nows…. I debate on going into Washu's lab and giving her a piece of my mind or going to the toilet to throw up, the latter being more appealing. Before I can get up and hang my head in the porcelain beauty the T.V. catches my attention. A man in his early 30s is standing in front of a window with a beautiful celestial cosmos for his background. He s wearing formal military Juraian garb and has black hair that is neatly combed back. After a few moments the man turns around

After the man turned around he flashed a perfect set of pearly white teeth and waved at me. "Hey there friend. My name is Captain Mahito and if you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions." Mahito then folds his arms across his chest and continues "Do you feel like your life is in a rut? Feel like no matter what you do your trapped in a box that you just can't escape?"

"Well…yeah…sorta…" I look down sheepishly. My brain can't function properly to tell me that I wasn't talking to an actual person.

Mahito unfolds his arms and gestures towards the screen. "Do you lack a sense of fulfillment in your life? Don't feel like your contributing something to your community?"

"Yeah…I do…I feel useless…" Mahito was reading me like an open book.

Mahito once again flashes that million dollar smile and stretches out the hand of hope "Well I've good news my friend."

"Good…newsh…" I give the man on the T.V. all the attention as I can as I teeter left and right while sitting up on my knees.

Mahito nods his head in affirmation "Yes, good news indeed. Have you ever considered a life in the Juraian military?" Mahito casts me a curious look. "The military can help you escape that box your in. You'll travel and see the majesty that is the universe that we live in." the T.V. changes from Mahito to a beautiful snow capped mountains with impossibly blue skies.

"O wow!" my eyes light up as I'm in astonishment at the beauty before me.

Several images later Mahito comes back. "Like what you saw? Well that's only the tip of the iceberg my friend! Not only will you see things that most people never will but the military can give you that sense of fulfillment you crave! It can fill that void in your life!"

Losing Washu had defiantly left a void in my life and this man was offering me a way to fill it and end the pain. I was sold. Captain Mahito proceeded to go on something about discipline, strength, and honor but I was far too focused on the blue skies and snow capped mountains to care. It was only when he started talking about how to join that he got my attention again. I shoot up from kneeing position and stumble towards the T.V. "Shign me up man!"

"Well if you're interested in joining then please visit a recruiter's office or simply press the button on the screen to start the easy one step sign up process."

Looking down at the screen I press the button and Mahito was suddenly replaced by a long running legal form. I was to wasted to bother reading the mubo jumbo. I just wanted to go see that snow capped mountain and live that extraordinary lifestyle and most of all forget all about Washu. Scrolling down I see a rectangular box. In small text it reads "Thumb Print Here" After a few failed attempts I managed to put my thumb in the box. A small buzzing sound, a blue scanning light and it was done. Suddenly Mahito was once again on my television screen.

"Congratulations…..TENCHI MASAKI…..you just made the best decision of your life! Soon you'll be living a life that few have ever experienced!" Mahito is beaming and claps for me, which in turn gets me smiling and clapping for myself.

"Hurrrray for me!"

Mahito grins "You can expect a Jurian military ship to pick you up in two weeks to take you to basic training. So get packing….TENCHI MASAKI….you got a big trip ahead of you!" Mahito then waves good-bye and the screen goes blank. Slowly I stumble my way back to my room upstairs and fall asleep, totally unaware of the monumentally stupid mistake that I had just made.

Back to the Present

"Uhhhnnnn…" my head is throbbing as reluctantly open my eye. Metallic ceiling…that's right…I passed out…slowly I sit up and push up on my knees to stand up. "Damn…that sucked." Stumbling slightly I make my way to the bathroom and grab some aspirin. I swallow three pills and duck my head under the sink and suck down some water. Shutting the faucet off I walk to the cockpit. Wonder how long I was out? The door swishes open and the computer screen comes to life. Destination reached. Hmm well at least an hour. Taking a seat at the pilots chair I plot the jump to Torafan. After inputting the commands I set the ship back on auto-pilot. It won't take but ten minutes at the most to get there. Getting up I walk back to my room and start looking for warmer attire. I end up picking a white turtle neck with some baggy but warm camo pants and my black combat boots and to top it all off my tan military trench coat. After putting my clothes on I head back to the pilots seat. God…I hope my trip to Torafan goes well…shits been kinda crazy lately and I rather enjoy my brief respite here. I smile as Torafan comes into sight out my ships window. I got a good feeling about this. Grinning I turn off the ships autopilot and make my approach for landing. Laughing out loud I yell "Watch out people! Here comes Tenchi!"

At the Torafan Dock Authority

My stomach is doing summersaults as the dock master spies my ship credentials and looks at me. I feel beads of sweat traveling down my forehead as the dock master looks up from my ship I.D. then towards me several more times. What's taking him so damn long…he can't honestly tell it's a fake can he? I debate on making a break for my ship when the dock master looks up at me and smiles.

"Welcome to Torafan Mr. Tenjo. Enjoy your stay." He hands me my ships I.D.s and I smile back.

"Thanks. I will." I put the I.D.s in my pocket and walk outside the Dock Authority Station. I'm greeted with a chilly wind and snow cascading down on the bustling city. Taking a breath of fresh air I start making my way towards the beach. I'd been to Torafan before and there were a few good bars beach side that were open year round. There was a bar in particular that I was looking forward to visiting. Blue Melody. It was two story building that served two different types of patrons. On the first floor there was a dancing where lively techno music was played. You'd stay on the first floor if you were looking for a good time and someone to talk to. I wasn't much for the first floor. It wasn't that I didn't like dancing or was anti-social, it was just too damn noisy for my taste. That and the strobing lights gave me such a headache. I preferred the second floor. The second floor was a quiet smooth jazz bar. It's a place for people to go when all they wanna do is sit down, have a drink, and de-stress from that day's events. The lighting was low and the band that was there 24/7 played a steady stream of smooth jazz that relaxed ones nerves. Yeah….I'm gunna enjoy this… I have a soft smile on my face as I can already feel the warmth of the bar and music takes hold of me.

"Help me please!"

I snap out of my pleasant memory. Hmmm?

"Someone help me plea-mpph!"

"Shut up asshole!"

The cry for help sounded like a man. Looking around I spot an alley way and run over. Looking down the alley I see a middle age man being cornered by some street punk holding a switchblade.

"Just give me yo damn money asshole!"

I feel my anger flare as I see the young punk wave the knife in front of the poor man's face.

"Hey!" I take several quick steps forward "Stop that!"

The street punk turns around "The hell you want?"

I stop as I see the kids face. It's filled with piercings all over. His eyebrows are pierced, his nose is pierced, his tongue was pierced, his ears were pierced, and I mean jesus! The kid had piercings everywhere! And to compliment his punk look he was sporting a green fohawk.

"The hell you think your doing punk? Robbing a defenseless man! Get outta of here before I kick you're sorry ass into next week!" I put some bass into my voice hoping I could intimidate the kid out of a fight.

The kid laughs out loud "YOU! KICK MY ASS? THAT'S GOTTA BE A JOKE!" the kid continues to laugh while I size him up. The kid was about 5'8 while I was 5'11. He had a lanky muscle build at best while I had a athletic body build. My years of military service and hiding from GP / Shadow of Jurai agents had not been in vain. Kid must really believe that knife is gunna save him. I give a smug grin and he's still laughing…and his eyes are closed….now's my chance. Springing forward with lightening speed I give the kid a right hook followed up by a left and to finish him off a round house kick the face. The punk went spiraling into the air and hit the ground with a loud thud. I doubt he even felt anything after the first punch. The kid had a real glass jaw.

"That was amazing!"

"Huh?" I turn to look at the man who I just saved. He was a man of later years as his salt and pepper hair indicated. He was slightly the pale and had violet eyes. He was a tad lanky and was wearing an expensive business suit. The man stretches out his hand.

"Hideo Toshima at your service."

I shake his hand and before I can think I respond

"Tenchi Masaki. Glad I could help."

! I mentally scream I JUST USED MY REAL NAME DAMN IT! I do my best not to let my uneasiness show as he thanks me.

"Thank you Mr. Tenchi! A thousands thanks! I thought that young ruffian was going to kill me for a bit of pocket change but you saved me! How can I repay you sir?"

I wave a hand in front of my face "It was nothing. I could never stand and watch someone get hurt."

The man slaps a hand on my shoulder "No no! You deserve a reward….Ah ha! I got it. Stay at my hotel!"

"Hotel?" My interest piqued up a bit. I hadn't thought about lodging yet.

"Ah yes you see I'm the owner of the finest hotel on Torafan, The Za Za!"

"The Za Za huh?" I heard about the Za Za on my previous stays on Torafan. It was a five-star hotel with some of the fanciest commodities money could buy. It was a real home away from home. I had also heard though it cost an arm and a leg to stay. Needless to say I didn't have that kinda cash to throw around. Scratching my chin I respond "I'm flattered really but I can't really afford to stay… I'm kinda broke at the moment…"

Hideo gives out a chuckle "No no no you'll stay free of charge! That includes room services, our health spa, our fitness gym, and bar!"

I feel a surge of optimism go through my body "Well if you don't mind I could use a place to stay for awhile…" I trail off as I smile sheepishly and scratch the back of my head.

"No problem at all Tenchi! You saved my life after all!" Putting an arm around my neck he ushers me back onto the street. "Come now! The Za Za is only a couple of blocks away!"

Man…things are finally starting to go my way! A goofy grin creeps on my lips "Alright! Lets go!"

Author Note: Another chapter down! Hope you enjoyed it!