THREE PRINCESSES...
Author: Daferge
Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! is a copyright AIC/Pioneer Ltd.
All respective characters are property of their original owners. All original characters and ideas are property of the author.
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Chapter 21... Secrets!...
( Within sub-space… )
A young female stood before a very large multi-purpose screen, looking up at another female, who didn't appear to be very happy…
When Lady Seto Kamiki Jurai was upset, it usually meant that those around her weren't going to be happy ether…
However, the red-headed female, one Professor Washu Hakubi, was one of those few who weren't affected by her mood changes…
Washu found the surroundings of her Lab to very helpful in staying calm
The fact that Lady Seto was on the far side of the Juraian Empire tended to help too…
" So you believe it is time to let her know?... "
Washu had known this was coming as soon as she'd learned that they were going to have a new guest and done her research - as she did on any one who entered the Masaki house, in that she had Tenchi's blessing, within reason ( no experimenting on them… )…
" Yes… "
Lady Seto looked directly at Washu for the first time, looking for some hint of humor, ANY Hint…
Finally she began to calm down…
" And you will handle it?... "
For the first time, Washu did smile…
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( A hilltop some where… )
An elderly male, wearing comfortable garb, was resting against a tree as a soft breeze brushed by…
He couldn't remember the last time he'd been on such a beautiful world…
From his vantage point he could clearly see all directions, all 360 degrees of it, clear to the far horizon…
As with most of the surrounding area, it was covered with thick green forest…
One of the exceptions was the fair size lake, situated just below him…
However, his only real concern was the small, flat island in the lake's center…
Though small when compared to the lake surrounding it, it was still good size and was actually two islands…
One end was broken off by a number of feet, connected by small boulders which just broke the surface of the lake…
Both 'Islands' had a thin covering of green grass, but only the smallest one had a small bush at it's center…
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It was his ( and others ) job to protect this world, which meant protecting the lake, the island and that small bush…
With his life, if need be…
DING!...
With a wave of his hand, a small screen appeared before him and after a while, the face of a smiling young boy appeared…
" Ready?... "
The older male smiled at seeing the younger one for the first time in a while…
" Proceed… "
There was a gleam in the young boy's eyes as he nodded and disappeared…
The screen remained, but it now showed the lake and it's surrounding area, including the hilltop he was on…
On the hilltop was a small dot of light, which indicated a life-form, him…
There were no other dots in the area at the moment, as only life-forms of a certain size or larger would be indicated on the screen…
BONG!...
And a door appeared in the middle of the larger of the two islands…
While nothing seem to happen below, the screen told a different story…
On the screen, a large transparent dome formed over each of the islands, these were very powerful force fields…
At the same time, dots of light began to appear in the woods at the edge of the lake, forming a tight ring around it, a ring of steel…
As the last dot appeared, a number appeared in the upper right hand corner of the screen…
The elderly Male smiled…
At least 3 seconds off the record…
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( Washu's Lab… )
Washu sat at her desk, watching the large screen hovering before it…
It showed the living room of the Masaki house and at the moment, it's only occupant…
Sitting on the couch, Galaxy Police Detective first class Kiyone Tanaka, was staring at the TV screen…
There was a commercial on, but she wasn't watching it…
In fact, although she was wide awake, she wasn't looking at any thing…
Her mind was racing and she was quite unaware of her surrounding…
What?... How?... Why?...
So many questions and no answers…
It was now that her eyes fell upon the small red-headed bobble-head doll, sitting on the top of the television, that Washu had created for little Mayuka…
WASHU!
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( A peaceful world… )
Every thing was in place…
A small window had appeared in the top left corner of the screen, indicating that defenses were at 100...
The door slowly opened, sliding into one side…
Alertness was noted at 110...
Every one was as ready as they could be…
As the door opened, a curtain of darkness was revealed in the doorway…
The male on the hill was sure his people were ready for ANY thing that might come through that curtain…
EXCEPT, for what DID step from the darkness…
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A young female stepped from the curtain and out onto the island…
The elderly male stared at his screen…
Taking a deep breath of the sweet air, she shook her head and ran a hand through her long black hair…
No one was watching, as the numbers in the corner box drop to 85 and then to 70…
Smiling, she looked down and slowly adjusted her top, a sleeveless vest, that was tied together in front, not buttoned…
Every one watched as her hands then went down her slim waist to adjust the pair of cut-off shorts that showed off a pair of very well formed legs…
The numbers had now dropped to 60 and then 50…
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( Washu's Lab… )
Washu was working on her keyboard as officer Tanaka approached her, stepping out of the darkness that made up the Lab's shadows…
" Professor Washu?... "
Washu continued her typing, not even turning her head…
" Yes!... "
In the short time she'd been living at the Masaki home, Kiyone had managed to fit in quite well, but she was still in awe when it came to members of the Royal family…
Given time and the fact that she TOO was a member of THE Royal family, Washu was sure she'd be OK…
She'd only recently manage to start addressing members of the Masaki family by their Given names…
Ayeka, Mihoshi, Ryoko, Sasami and the others had been fairly easy, compared to having to addressing the QUEENS of Jurai as Funaho and Misaki…
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( A peaceful world… )
However, the numbers in the corner returned to 75, then 80 as another figure stepped from the curtain…
Once again the reactions to this new comer were not as expected, the older male couldn't help smiling and the numbers quickly dropped to 50 and 45…
The new comer, a young male teenager, was wearing the most ridiculous clothes ever seen…
Besides big baggy shorts that showed off his untanned legs, he was wearing a too large, bright multi-colored short-sleeve shirt that, in the sun light, hurt the eyes to even look at…
Sitting on his head he had a hat(?) of some sort, make of what appeared to be straw…
He was also wearing a pair of large lens glasses which were darkened, then there were all those dabs of paste on his nose and other parts of his face…
( In other words, he was the perfect example of a tourist from the planet 0315, going to the Hawaiian Islands, but who'd gotten off at the wrong stop… )
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To top it all off, the scantly clothed female walked over to the young male, put her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips…
That did it, not only did the older male's jaw drop, but so did the numbers in the upper corner, all the way to 25 and 15…
In the next instant, a number of things happened…
The outlandish outfits that the couple were wearing changed into black ninja wear…
The couple then jumped apart in separate directions and tossed dozens of tiny spheres into the air, which made contact with the force dome and froze in mid-air…
As the two dove off the island, into the lake, the spheres exploded causing the dome over the larger island to collapse…
As he watched the screen, the older male on the hill saw his defenses falling apart and smiled…
Reaching over, he pressed a button on the side of the screen…
GONGGG!...
The test was over and they were going to have to begin rethinking their defenses…
But he couldn't help smiling…
The head of the Masaki family's Ninja clan was proud of his grandson and was so looking forward to being introduced to his new 'friend'…
There had been more to that kiss than just to distract his grandfather and the others, MUCH more…
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( Washu's Lab… )
It had been a real treat watching Kiyone struggle to bring herself to address the Crown Prince of the mighty Juraian Empire and future Emperor of that empire by his first name, Tenchi…
In fact, it had been her son-in-law ( she liked the sound of that ), Tenchi's polite request that she not insist on being called LITTLE Washu by Kiyone…
They'd been alone in her Lab at the time, when he asked 'Mother Washu' the small favor…
It was a good thing that they were alone, for when she agreed, he'd kissed her on the cheek before leaving…
Washu couldn't remember how long she'd stood there, staring at where he'd disappear, blushing and holding her cheek…
Her eyes had gotten moist as his quiet voice repeated the words he'd whispered in her ear before leaving…
" Thank you… Mom!… "
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( A darken room… )
Few words were spoken, few words needed to be spoken, for here the wrong words could get you killed…
The shadow at the head of the table slammed their fist down upon the cold stone table, causing it to shake…
" ENOUGH!... IT IS TIME TO STRIKE… "
The silence was suddenly ice cold…
" There is to be a small reception for the Crown Prince, his wives and other members of the Royal family… "
There was no reply, for none had been expected…
" What better place to test out our little surprise… "
He picked up the small bottle and began to laugh…
As his voice filled the room, the others were silent…
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( Washu's Lab… )
Kiyone looked at the small, old picture in her hand, an image of a young female, wearing a leather jacket, with her hair cut short, smiling at the camera…
It had always been her mother's favorite picture of her younger self and the only one, that Kiyone knew of, of her mother NOT in some type of Juraian finery…
It had been among the things recovered from her parent's bodies and was used to identify her…
For the past 10 years, it had been like a good luck charm for Kiyone, always close, always there…
NOW, it was a cause of some confusion about her mother's younger days, before her father had asked her to marry him, becoming the wife of a GP officer and Juraian Lord…
" Lady Washu, I… "
Washu managed to keep a straight face as she continued to work…
" Yes!... "
Smiling slightly, she turned to face the confused officer…
Kiyone had a question to ask, but wasn't sure just as to how to go about asking it…
Washu decided to help her out, after all, this was how she'd planned it all out…
" I said, YES… "
She managed to keep from laughing at Kiyone's confused expression…
" Yes… As in… Yes, I can probably answer your questions for you… "
She always enjoyed that stunned look on people's faces when she did some thing totally unexpected…
" And yes… There's a very good reason why that picture of your mother resembles the person who's Biography you just finished watching on the History Channel… "
She let her words settle in…
" It's because, before being adopted into the Royal family of Jurai as Haruoni Masaki, her name was Amelia Mary Earhart (1)… AND like Tenchi and Queen Funaho, she too was from this planet… "
Her smile brightened and her eyes glowed…
" Welcome HOME!… "
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Historic note:
(1) Amelia Mary Earhart - A famous American female Aviator, born July 24th 1897, disappeared in 1937, while she was crossing the vast Pacific Ocean during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in a small single engine aircraft…
There is much debate about her disappearance, even to this day…
To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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