Tenchi Muyo in the west...

"Tenchi Muyo!" and characters were created by Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and is the property of AIC/Nippon Television, Geneon Entertainment and FUNimation Entertainment.

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Chapter...09...

( Some miles outside town )

They'd been riding for some time...

Tenchi hadn't had any thing to say and Ryoko was too angry to speak...

As they top a ridge, they came to a halt...

Below lay a beautiful sight... The J-M ranch...

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Tenchi had seen some very wondrous sights, but this was truly among them...

This was indeed some of the best land he'd seen since getting off the stage...

Just across the valley he could see the main ranch house, two-story with a number of other buildings, including a large barn... Surrounded by trees and grass... Off to the left was a large small lake, brush and trees on two sides...

If Tenchi remembered the sheriff's map right, this was the largest water source in the area...

No wonder Kagato had targeted the ranch...

A road headed off to the right, down the valley... Back towards town...

Tenchi didn't know how long he'd been admiring the landscape before he heard Ryoko chuckle...

" Breath taking, isn't it?... "

He turned to find her smiling at him...

" My thoughts exactly... "

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A movement on the porch of the house caught his eye... A small figure had come out and was standing on there... Suddenly it turned and rushed back inside, soon returning with a larger figure... At this distance Tenchi couldn't tell if they were male or female...

Soon a third larger figure joined them carrying what seem to be a rifle...

" That'd be old man Juria... Making the other two, Ayeka and Sasami, his daughters... "

The stance the larger figure took said they weren't going anywhere...

Yea... That's the Uncle Azusa...

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Tenchi reached down and began to adjust his belt buckle... Checking a few things, he began to move the buckle in an up-down way...

I really hope I'm doing this right...

The figures on the porch were now all looking his way...

Tenchi smiled as he continued his buckle movements...

" Tenchi?... "

Tenchi continued, not taking his eyes off the house...

" Give me a minute, Ryoko... "

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Ryoko sat and looked from the figures on the porch to Tench and back again...

To her surprise, the larger figure threw back his head and seem to be having some kind of a fit... She watch as the girls rushed to his side and helped him into a chair... Once seated the figure raised an arm and waved for them to come down...

Ryoko looked over at Tenchi, who had that ' I know some thing you don't know ' look in his eyes and a big smile...

" Shall we?... "

Ryoko closed her eyes...

I'm not going to ask... I'm not going to ask...

Opening her eyes she found him still smiling at her... She sighed...

You can't shoot him... You can't shoot him... You can't shoot him...

Turning, she headed her horse down the slope, Tenchi close behind her...

Maybe he'll fall off his horse and break his neck?...

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As they approached the house Tenchi rode up beside her...

" I used my Belt Buckle... "

Ryoko turned to stare at him... He continued looking ahead...

" I used it to reflect the sun and used Morse code(1) to tell them who we were... Uncle Azusa learned it in the army while serving in the Mexican war(2)... "

Ryoko was surprised, it was the first time she'd heard some one use his first name... Her mother and sheriff called him 'old man juria', even Ayeka and Sasami had referred to him as 'father' as long as she'd known them...

She looked at Tenchi again...

Such a strange person...

Then she found herself smiling...

But he is kind of cute...

to be continued...

(1) Morse Code was invented by Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872)

(2) Mexican-American War ( 1846 - 1848 )

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