(Author's note: This one's kinda boring... It's gonna get way more action-packed in the next chapter... Try and keep up though? This one's just for setting some of my plot in motion for later...)
The day continued as a normal day in the Masaki household would. Mihoshi was too lost in her daytime TV to even remember what chores she had to do. The GP detective had even dared to try and make Ryoko sit through an entire hour's worth of "Pretty Police Women". Luckily for the space pirate, Mihoshi fell asleep halfway through, so she was able to creep away unnoticed.
Ry-oh-oki and Sasami remained in the kitchen for most of the day, only venturing out occasionally to see if anyone was missing them. The young girl had no real desire to run into Tenchi or Ryoko again - for fear that they might pry into the reasons behind her sudden escape from the fields. She was lucky for once. Tenchi spent most of the day outside, finishing his chores alone of training with his grandfather. Ryoko - after escaping from Mihoshi with her sanity barely intact - had decided to spend the day with Washu in the sub-space lab. Ayeka was the only one to lend Sasami a hand, and even she failed to notice the metaphorical cloud hanging over her younger sister's head.
Dinnertime arrived, with all it's usual chaos. Mihoshi managed to spill everything she even looked at. Ryoko and Ayeka spent the majority of the mealtime arguing over who was going to sit next to Tenchi. The boy sat next to Sasami, ignoring her look of unease as he ate his meal.
Sasami was quiet and subdued. She ate quickly, and left the table unnoticed. It was a good thing too. Moments later, Ryoko rugby-tackled Ayeka to the floor.
'Who are you calling demon-breath, fish-face?' she yelled. Sasami sighed. Just another typical mealtime.
She walked into the kitchen - glad that Ryoko and Ayeka's fighting had distracted Tenchi's attention away from her. She didn't want him to ask about what had happened that morning. She didn't want...
'Hey Sasami,' Tenchi's voice echoed suddenly through the empty kitchen, scaring Sasami half to death and causing her to drop her bowl onto the floor, where it cracked and broke.
'Here... Let me get that,' Tenchi said, rubbing the back of his head with one hand . Before Sasami could even take a breath in, he was knelt down on the floor, gently picking up the broken pieces of pottery.
'Thank you...' she murmured, hoping that he would leave soon.
'I uh... noticed you slip away,' Tenchi started as he picked up the last piece. Sasami blushed and stared down at the floor. Trust Tenchi to notice her when she least wanted him to.
'Yes...' was all she could say in reply. Tenchi stood, again ignoring her obvious unease, and smiled warmly at her. Sasami looked up for a moment - up at that smile. Tenchi's smile always made her feel better, but today it wasn't working. Instead, his happy expression seemed to open the void in her soul up even wider - deepening the sense of dread she had been feeling for so long.
'You've been avoiding me all day as well,' Tenchi continued, moving to place the pieces of broken bowl onto the counter beside him. 'Since you left the field...' Sasami blushed a little more. He noticed more than she gave him credit for.
'Did I do... something wrong?' Tenchi finished. He had always had a good relationship with Sasami, but recently she had become more distant. It was almost getting to the point where he was fearful for her. The young girl kept her head down and sighed slightly.
'It's not you... It's just... just...' Tenchi let out a little sigh and moved to give Sasami a hug.
'If you don't wanna tell me, then fine. I just thought we were friends...' The last part of his sentence was said sullenly on purpose. Sasami hated to hurt people's feelings, and Tenchi felt that he had a better chance of getting her to tell him what was wrong if he sounded upset. Sasami shook her head and stepped away from him and the hug.
'We are... I just... I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone...' Tenchi frowned slightly.
'Why?' he asked. Sasami stayed silent.
*It's because I'm afraid...* she thought. *I'm afriad that what I dream is real... And if I tell you, then it'd be like accepting it. I don't want to accept it...*
Tenchi watched his friend struggle with her thoughts and smiled slightly. She might not be willing to tell him, but she would tell someone. He was sure of that.
'It doesn't matter,' he said softly. 'Why not try talking to Ayeka... I'm sure she'll understand better than I could,' And with that, Tenchi squeezed Sasami's shoulder and left the room - leaving the girl alone with her fear and dread once more.
Washu paused and frowned - looking up from her lap-top for a moment. That cold shiver had been working it's way down her spine again, but it always disappeared quickly, so she decided to ignore it for now. She shrugged slightly and stood up.
'That's enough work for now,' she said, putting her keyboard away and stretching her small body out. It was a few hours after dinner had finished. Washu had come to her lab - alone for a change. Ryoko was always following her around these days. Not that the scientist minded.
'Nice to have some help around here,' she said, grinning. Not that Ryoko was much help. She tended to start a task madly and then get bored with it after about two minutes. Washu shook her head and grinned, sitting back down.
'That girl of mine...'
She took a moment to look around her sub-space lab. It fitted quite nicely here - under Tenchi's stairs. Many new projects were going on at once in the large space, but there was one thing that held her attention longer than anything else.
The spaceship egg.
Washu stood and walked over to the egg, smiling softly. No-one knew she had this egg. Well, Ryoko knew.
'She's always sneaking around in here when I least expect it,' Washu said with a slight smile. She stood over the egg, watching the light bounce off it's surface.
'Hello Sou-oh-oki...' she whispered, stroking one hand over the egg's smooth surface.
'Almost time for you to hatch little one,' Yes, this was the offspring of the Souja. Just like Ryoko's ship, the Souja was able to reproduce just before it died. Washu had found this egg just before they had left the Souja and come back down to Earth, but she had hidden it. Just in case someone asked about it.
'You're my ship,' she said softly, her voice trailing off slightly at the end. So that was not entirely true. Sou-oh-oki was not just her ship, but Kagato's ship as well.
'But he's not around, is he?' she said to the egg - smirking widely.
'Nope. He's just a pile of dust floating around in the upper atmosphere!' Washu said, snickering loudly before turning away from the egg. Her smile faded as her gaze fell on the jar.
Again, what she said was not entirely the truth. Not all of the evil genius was floating around in outer space. Washu had taken a few specks - a few dots of the final remains of her former assistant - purely for research purposes.
'I always wanted to know how he got so strong...' she murmured, keeping her distance from the jar. It always had this dark aura around it - some kind of silent menace. It was the only jar in the lab that gave Washu the creeps.
'Next time I clean up, you're going out with the rest of the trash!' she said, waggling an accusing finger at the jar.
'But... not right now,' she finished, yawning slightly. It was very late now - almost time for her to leave the lab and go to bed.
'But I just have enough time to finish some calculations before I do,' she said, producing her lap-top once more. She took a final look around the otherwise empty lab and shuddered before starting to tap on the keypad.
The day continued as a normal day in the Masaki household would. Mihoshi was too lost in her daytime TV to even remember what chores she had to do. The GP detective had even dared to try and make Ryoko sit through an entire hour's worth of "Pretty Police Women". Luckily for the space pirate, Mihoshi fell asleep halfway through, so she was able to creep away unnoticed.
Ry-oh-oki and Sasami remained in the kitchen for most of the day, only venturing out occasionally to see if anyone was missing them. The young girl had no real desire to run into Tenchi or Ryoko again - for fear that they might pry into the reasons behind her sudden escape from the fields. She was lucky for once. Tenchi spent most of the day outside, finishing his chores alone of training with his grandfather. Ryoko - after escaping from Mihoshi with her sanity barely intact - had decided to spend the day with Washu in the sub-space lab. Ayeka was the only one to lend Sasami a hand, and even she failed to notice the metaphorical cloud hanging over her younger sister's head.
Dinnertime arrived, with all it's usual chaos. Mihoshi managed to spill everything she even looked at. Ryoko and Ayeka spent the majority of the mealtime arguing over who was going to sit next to Tenchi. The boy sat next to Sasami, ignoring her look of unease as he ate his meal.
Sasami was quiet and subdued. She ate quickly, and left the table unnoticed. It was a good thing too. Moments later, Ryoko rugby-tackled Ayeka to the floor.
'Who are you calling demon-breath, fish-face?' she yelled. Sasami sighed. Just another typical mealtime.
She walked into the kitchen - glad that Ryoko and Ayeka's fighting had distracted Tenchi's attention away from her. She didn't want him to ask about what had happened that morning. She didn't want...
'Hey Sasami,' Tenchi's voice echoed suddenly through the empty kitchen, scaring Sasami half to death and causing her to drop her bowl onto the floor, where it cracked and broke.
'Here... Let me get that,' Tenchi said, rubbing the back of his head with one hand . Before Sasami could even take a breath in, he was knelt down on the floor, gently picking up the broken pieces of pottery.
'Thank you...' she murmured, hoping that he would leave soon.
'I uh... noticed you slip away,' Tenchi started as he picked up the last piece. Sasami blushed and stared down at the floor. Trust Tenchi to notice her when she least wanted him to.
'Yes...' was all she could say in reply. Tenchi stood, again ignoring her obvious unease, and smiled warmly at her. Sasami looked up for a moment - up at that smile. Tenchi's smile always made her feel better, but today it wasn't working. Instead, his happy expression seemed to open the void in her soul up even wider - deepening the sense of dread she had been feeling for so long.
'You've been avoiding me all day as well,' Tenchi continued, moving to place the pieces of broken bowl onto the counter beside him. 'Since you left the field...' Sasami blushed a little more. He noticed more than she gave him credit for.
'Did I do... something wrong?' Tenchi finished. He had always had a good relationship with Sasami, but recently she had become more distant. It was almost getting to the point where he was fearful for her. The young girl kept her head down and sighed slightly.
'It's not you... It's just... just...' Tenchi let out a little sigh and moved to give Sasami a hug.
'If you don't wanna tell me, then fine. I just thought we were friends...' The last part of his sentence was said sullenly on purpose. Sasami hated to hurt people's feelings, and Tenchi felt that he had a better chance of getting her to tell him what was wrong if he sounded upset. Sasami shook her head and stepped away from him and the hug.
'We are... I just... I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone...' Tenchi frowned slightly.
'Why?' he asked. Sasami stayed silent.
*It's because I'm afraid...* she thought. *I'm afriad that what I dream is real... And if I tell you, then it'd be like accepting it. I don't want to accept it...*
Tenchi watched his friend struggle with her thoughts and smiled slightly. She might not be willing to tell him, but she would tell someone. He was sure of that.
'It doesn't matter,' he said softly. 'Why not try talking to Ayeka... I'm sure she'll understand better than I could,' And with that, Tenchi squeezed Sasami's shoulder and left the room - leaving the girl alone with her fear and dread once more.
Washu paused and frowned - looking up from her lap-top for a moment. That cold shiver had been working it's way down her spine again, but it always disappeared quickly, so she decided to ignore it for now. She shrugged slightly and stood up.
'That's enough work for now,' she said, putting her keyboard away and stretching her small body out. It was a few hours after dinner had finished. Washu had come to her lab - alone for a change. Ryoko was always following her around these days. Not that the scientist minded.
'Nice to have some help around here,' she said, grinning. Not that Ryoko was much help. She tended to start a task madly and then get bored with it after about two minutes. Washu shook her head and grinned, sitting back down.
'That girl of mine...'
She took a moment to look around her sub-space lab. It fitted quite nicely here - under Tenchi's stairs. Many new projects were going on at once in the large space, but there was one thing that held her attention longer than anything else.
The spaceship egg.
Washu stood and walked over to the egg, smiling softly. No-one knew she had this egg. Well, Ryoko knew.
'She's always sneaking around in here when I least expect it,' Washu said with a slight smile. She stood over the egg, watching the light bounce off it's surface.
'Hello Sou-oh-oki...' she whispered, stroking one hand over the egg's smooth surface.
'Almost time for you to hatch little one,' Yes, this was the offspring of the Souja. Just like Ryoko's ship, the Souja was able to reproduce just before it died. Washu had found this egg just before they had left the Souja and come back down to Earth, but she had hidden it. Just in case someone asked about it.
'You're my ship,' she said softly, her voice trailing off slightly at the end. So that was not entirely true. Sou-oh-oki was not just her ship, but Kagato's ship as well.
'But he's not around, is he?' she said to the egg - smirking widely.
'Nope. He's just a pile of dust floating around in the upper atmosphere!' Washu said, snickering loudly before turning away from the egg. Her smile faded as her gaze fell on the jar.
Again, what she said was not entirely the truth. Not all of the evil genius was floating around in outer space. Washu had taken a few specks - a few dots of the final remains of her former assistant - purely for research purposes.
'I always wanted to know how he got so strong...' she murmured, keeping her distance from the jar. It always had this dark aura around it - some kind of silent menace. It was the only jar in the lab that gave Washu the creeps.
'Next time I clean up, you're going out with the rest of the trash!' she said, waggling an accusing finger at the jar.
'But... not right now,' she finished, yawning slightly. It was very late now - almost time for her to leave the lab and go to bed.
'But I just have enough time to finish some calculations before I do,' she said, producing her lap-top once more. She took a final look around the otherwise empty lab and shuddered before starting to tap on the keypad.