Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of
Pioneer/AIC. As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this
fiction other than my own enjoyment, because the thought of
getting sued is rather unpleasant.

Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue"
story line, parts one, two, and three, and the characters created
therein. His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi
Muyo Fan Fiction Page: http://www.tmffa.com


Disclaimer: All characters *I* have created are purely a work of
fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure
coincidence. Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably just itching
for a fight. Also, please do not try and distribute this story in
some lame attempt to make a buck; it would be bad karma to say
the least.





Tenchi Muyo!
"No Need For Sasami"

A Fan-Fiction by Michael McAvoy



Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.
-- Miyamoto Musashi


-* Chapter Five *-


Things were definitely not getting off to a grand start
that morning. I mean, if you set aside getting accidentally
assaulted by a seventeen year old and beat up by a staircase, then
you *might* manage to try and `buck up' for the rest of your
adventure. After all, things could not get much worse than that,
right?

I looked up through my blurry vision at the innkeeper who
was sitting behind his desk.

"Isn't there *anything* you can do?" I asked in a
plaintive voice.

There is this old saying that goes something along the
lines of `never tempt Worse, because Worse will go out of its way
to show you just how bad it can really get'. At the moment I was
finding out that indeed it could get just so, seeing as how the
apologetic innkeeper was effectively evicting me.

"I know I've been gone for two days," I tried to explain,
"but I was injured and couldn't make it back here."

The innkeeper shrugged his shoulders and gave me another
once over. "Yeah, Mr. Swann, you sure don't look good, but your
reservations specifically stated that you would be out by noon
today."

Scratching the back of his head, he then said, "Your room
is going to have new occupants this afternoon, and the rest of our
inn is filled through the weekend."

"Ne," interjected Sasami, "there are a couple of other
inns around town. Will any of them have a room?"

The innkeeper shook his head in the negative. "No, not
with the festival in town starting tomorrow night. Everyone will
be booked for days, I assure you."

Bringing the fingers of my uninjured hand to my temple, I
squinted at the fellow and asked, "Well, we have an errand to do
in town that may take a little while. Can I remove my things
after we're done?"

The innkeeper nodded his head sympathetically at me. "Go
ahead," he motioned with his hand, "you're supposed to be out by
noon, but I think I can stretch that till one. After that, we
*must* begin to get the room ready for its next occupants."

"I appreciate it," I smiled wearily, "Thank you for your
understanding."

With that, I turned away from the desk with Sasami and
trudged towards the back courtyard to my room. Beside me, Sasami
had her hands behind her back and was making little humming
noises.

"This complicates things a little," I grumbled.

Sasami raised an eyebrow at me. "What happened to the
good humored Nathaniel that was sitting with me on the bench?" she
asked curiously.

"Ah, nothing really," I responded, "he's just spending a
couple minutes in the penalty box for cross-checking."

"Cross-checking?" Sasami echoed with a totally blank look
on her face.

I nodded. "Yep, ice hockey term. Means my good humor is
out of the game for a while." I made a grand effort at a smile
and said, "Should be back in a little bit, though."

She nodded seriously, "Well, that's good. How am I
supposed to figure out how to be so upbeat again from your example
if you start getting gloomy on me?" Her eyes appeared to be
narrow and searching, as if I were a puzzle she was trying to
figure out.

"Uh, you really want to learn how to be upbeat?" I asked
as we crossed the courtyard. "Huh. I'm not sure how I'd explain
it, actually."

Sasami pouted at me for a moment and returned to her
humming, apparently in thought.

"Please try to think of a way," she said, ceasing her
humming and smiling suddenly, "I could really use a refresher
course."

"All right, then, I'll do my-"

There was a loud exclamation from in front of us, stopping
us in our tracks. Before me was the elderly woman who had
directed me to the Masaki shrine days ago.

"My, my! Young man," she began with wide eyes, "whatever
happened to you?"

Slowly walking over to us, she peered up at me and
examined my bandages. "I was wondering where you had been the
past two days! Who did this to you?"

"Oh," I said seriously, my humor suddenly returning,
"remember than sleeping demon you told me about?"

"Oh, dear, yes!" she said in expectation.

"I'm afraid I woke it."

Her hands went up to the side of her face. "You don't
say!"

I smiled down at the old woman. "Don't worry," I said,
winking at her, "the demon looks a lot worse than I do."

The elderly woman chortled happily at my joke and turned
to wander off in the courtyard. Sasami and I could hear her
talking to herself about the demon as she walked away. A blurry
eyebrow from my long-haired companion asked volumes of unspoken
questions.

"Ah," I motioned, "that was the lady who suggested I visit
your shrine in the first place."

"Really?!" responded Sasami.

"Yep, really. She said there was a shrine with a sleeping
demon, so naturally I was curious to see it."

Opening the door to my room, I looked over my shoulder and
said, "I always find it neat how people believe in these imaginary
stories, don't you?"

In a bland tone of voice behind me, Sasami replied, "Sure.
Who knows why people make this stuff up."

Entering my room, I quickly located my portable brain and
turned the little computer on. Behind me, there was a slight
thump as Sasami slid my backpack off her shoulders and deposited
it in a corner. With a quiet whirring noise, the laptop came to
life, and its screen brightened. As I waited patiently for the
bios to run through its system checks, Sasami brushed several
locks of hair out of her eyes and leaned over my shoulder.

"So *this* is your portable brain," she said innocently.
"I wonder if it's interchangeable with the one you bruised?"

I quirked an eyebrow as I considered the young woman
leaning over me. Her quiet and unresponsive nature seemed to have
evaporated from earlier this morning only to be replaced by an
offbeat wit. I did not really want to see her go back to being
quiet, so I played along.

"Perhaps," I said grudgingly, "but even if it were, I
wouldn't do so. I have a fondness for antiquity, you see."

Sasami grinned down at me. "I do see," she smiled, "just
make sure you don't get it shaken too much more. It's hard to
find good replacement parts for antique brains."

"Especially at the rate at which your family damages
them," I smiled back.

Sasami put one hand back behind her head and laughed
nervously. "Uh, heh-heh, yeah," she chuckled, slightly
embarrassed.

I grinned as I put my face inches from the laptop screen,
trying to focus on the options. After clicking through several
incorrect files and directories, I finally stumbled onto what I
was looking for.

"Ah," I exclaimed happily, "there she is!"

"Let me see," said Sasami, gently nudging me to one side
of the table. I moved over a tad and gave her some room.

"It's in English," she mused with a slight frown, "but I
think I can do a fair job at translating this. Maybe we'll get
lucky and someone at the eye glasses shop will speak English,
too."

"Maybe," I nodded hopefully, powering down the laptop.

Closing the monitor shut, I stood up and collected some
things, including a little extra money from my suitcase.

"We should be back before one, I guess," I said, scanning
the room.

Sasami nodded and picked up my portable brain, giving me a
once over. "Hey, if you look miserable enough, maybe they'll give
you an 'abused
tourist' discount."

For certain, Sasami's personality was out of the quiet
phase, and I could not have been happier. The thought of spending
an afternoon with the one friend I had seemed to have made in
Japan would not have been too nice had she still been lost in
whatever world she had been in on the bus.

* * *


"Ah, don't look so glum, Nathaniel."

Sasami stopped and held the door of the local eye glasses
shop open as Nathaniel walked outside into the sunlight.
Squinting as he entered the bright light, he turned his head
towards where Sasami was patiently standing.

"I look glum?" he asked.

Sasami pondered him for a moment, letting the glass door
swing shut.

"No," she disagreed, "you have more of a serious look on
your face. Cheer up! You'll have your glasses on Monday."

"True, but that's four days from now," he said, shifting
his injured arm a bit.

Looking down at his watch, Nathaniel grimaced, "and I have
to be out of that room in about forty-five minutes."

"Oh, right," Sasami said, smiling goofy, "I forgot.
You're worried about where you're going to be sleeping tonight!
That's really not a problem, because you'll be staying at my
home."

As the idea took hold in her mind, Sasami skipped down the
store front steps to the sidewalk, her hair cascading behind her
in long waves. In the midday sun, people walked past her on their
way to wherever.

At the top of the stairs, Nathaniel rubbed the back of his
head with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Let me guess," Sasami mused, looking up at him, "the idea
of staying at my house makes you feel uncomfortable, because
you're afraid of being a nuisance?"

"Uh, something like that, yep."

With a genuine laugh, Sasami put her hand on her hips.
"You sure *are* a gentleman, aren't you? Tell me something, O'
Courteous One, where exactly do you plan to spend your time till
Monday?"

"Well, uh." Nathaniel stammered, at a loss.

Sasami leaned forward slightly, tilting her left ear
towards him. "Hmm, what was that? Sleeping on a park bench did
you say?"

"Okay, okay," Nathaniel surrendered, "I see your point."

Sasami sighed and nodded sagely.

"That's good. I was starting to wonder if the jolt to
your head had really started to affect you. Besides," she grinned
as he started to walk down the steps, "it's the least we can do
for you."

Sasami backed up another step and promptly ran into
someone behind her with a grunt.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she said, turning around as she
apologized. "Are you - hey!" she exclaimed as she got shoved
roughly by a young man wearing a leather biking jacket.

"You stupid foreigner," he sneered at Sasami nastily, "why
don't you watch where the hell you're going!"

Behind him, two other young men about nineteen or twenty
and also wearing leather jackets appeared with threatening looks.

"Hey now," Nathaniel called out in Japanese with a
deceptively pleasant voice, "I'm sure my friend here is sorry for
bumping into you. No need for any shoving."

"No one asked you, jerk," the first punk replied
threateningly. Regaining a bit of composure, he straightened his
jacket slightly, and looked around at the people walking past.

"You're just lucky there're so many people around to keep
me from personally kicking your ass outta my country," he smirked.

One of his buddies spoke up from behind him. "Yeah, why
don't you get out of our town and country *real* fast,
foreigners."

Placing his body in the space between the punks and
Sasami, Nathaniel gently pushed the stunned young woman away from
the men.

"Sure, no problem," he smiled with a polite tone still in
his voice. "We were just leaving."

Keeping his body between Sasami and the three punks,
Nathaniel guided the dumb-struck princess away until they had
sufficiently melted into a group of pedestrians. Not caring to
hang around to see if the punks would decide to try and follow
them or not, Nathaniel quickly led Sasami around a corner and
headed back in the direction he thought the inn was.

"Think I'm heading the right way?" he asked Sasami.

"T-those three were mean to us!" she stammered in a
slightly panicky voice. "I tried to apologize, but he just
*shoved* m-me."

Nathaniel stopped his hurried walk and turned to face the
startled young woman. "Hey, hey there. Are you okay? Don't
worry, those guys aren't following us."

"I-I thought he was going to hit me!" blurted Sasami. "He
was so spiteful, too. Why?!"

With an expression of complete reassurance, Nathaniel
calmly gave Sasami a comforting hug and rocked the princess back
and forth slightly.

"I don't know, Sasami. Some people just don't like
foreigners in their country, and those guys seemed just to be some
young troublemakers with a chip on their shoulder. But, it's all
right now, see?"

Gradually, Nathaniel felt the tension in Sasami's muscles
ease away as she calmed down from her shock of being shoved. He
waited a few moments more after she seemed totally relaxed before
releasing her.

He looked down at her with a soft smile. "All better?"

Sasami, with her head tilted down at the street a bit,
nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Yes," she said as she
looked up, "I'm okay. It's just... the look in his eyes. It was
sinister."

"Was it?" asked Nathaniel with a frown. "I couldn't
really tell. He just sounded none too pleasant. Anyway, are we
headed the right direction to get back to the inn? It's almost
one."

Placing her hand to her head, Sasami looked around for a
moment. "Uh, sure," she said as started to walk slowly, "it's
this way a little bit."

Nathaniel nodded and quietly fell in step beside her.

"We'll just grab my stuff quickly and head back to your
home," he said, still looking over at Sasami. "I think we're more
than finished here."

Making their way out of the center of town, the suddenly
tired pair made a slow progress towards the inn. With a
vulnerable look on her face that Nathaniel could not make out,
Sasami keep her eyes locked on the pavement a few feet out in
front of her and did not speak for many minutes. After a while,
she hesitantly spoke up.

"Um, Nathaniel," she asked quietly.

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted to say... that is..." stammered Sasami as a
slight color rose to her freckled cheeks, "... I just wanted to,
uh, you know for back there, say... thank you."

Missing the blush completely, Nathaniel smiled over at her
again. "You're welcome, Sasami."

Together, they continued rest of the way in silence, not
really noticing anything around them anymore as the earlier
happiness of the day evaporated.

* * *


The rest of the way back to the inn could have gone
better. As far as I could tell, the run-in with those punks
outside the glasses shop had really upset Sasami. And yet, there
seemed to be something deeper that was affecting her, as if the
encounter had served to push her into a disposition born long
before I ever met her. Though her expression was difficult for me
to see and read, her silence and the way she kept her arms tightly
crossed the rest of the day was more than clear.

The Sasami that had tried to be cheerful and fun earlier
in the day was gone and not looking to come back.

Still and yet, I did try to break the silence more than a
few times. I could tell she did not want to talk, so I limited my
conversation to rather one sided comments that did not require a
response from her. As I finally checked out of the inn, thanking
the owner for extending me the understanding and extra hour to
vacate, the only sound Sasami did make was a small grunt when she
hefted my internal frame backpack up on her shoulders. I grabbed
my suitcase with my good hand quickly to ensure that she did not
try and make an issue out of my carrying it.

I don't think I needed to worry about it. Sasami had such
a zoned behavior about her that she probably did not even realize
I had a suitcase. I did though, and lugging the thing through
town towards the bus stop was not getting any easier, especially
with the hot and humid sun right above us. I had not really
noticed the increasing heat until I found myself wiping my brow
now and again. Sasami was not having the small struggle with the
heat that I was experiencing, and as I thought about it, there
seemed no reason why I should be
getting over exerted either. Thinking a little more about it as
we finally reached the small bus station, I chalked it up to my
still being weak from my fall.

'Or maybe it's a lack of food,' I thought, listening to
the first hint of my stomach starting to growl.

As we sat for a while on a small bench, waiting for the
mid-afternoon bus to arrive, I was able to rest for a bit and just
listen to the surroundings. Part of traveling for me is not just
seeing sites and experiencing things, but it's also stopping and
doing nothing at all. Every place that I have ever been to has
had its own special sound to it, and that is how I tend to
remember some of the more wonderful places that I have been.
Perhaps it has something to do with my desire for a little inner
searching from time to time.

I think somewhere someone once said that you understand
yourself best when you just stop the chattering. If they did not,
then I said it.

This little town had an ambient noise that I had never
quite experienced before. Certainly, I had been in any number of
similar towns, both in Japan and America, and most of the noises I
heard were by no means unique. However, I think the occasional
drifting conversation in Japanese that came to my attention as
people would walk by really made this place special in my mind.
The musical quality of a language that I was not wholly in command
of made the difference, for sure. I closed my eyes and tried to
store the memory of the sounds as best I could.

About thirty minutes from the time Sasami and I had sat
down in silence, a bus finally arrived that would take us back up
to the Masaki residence. Hauling my stuff onto the bus and
stowing it, we found a pair of seats together easily on the mostly
empty bus. Looking at my watch, I noticed it was only about one
fifteen, and I guessed that the bus was probably more crowded in
the late afternoon when people were getting off work or coming
back home from school, like Yui. Suddenly, a massive yawn caught
me off guard.

Sasami finally seemed to take notice of something other
than her own funk, and looked at me. "Oh, I wish you hadn't done
that," she said sleepily.

"Uh, really," I responded, "why is that?"

"Because," Sasami said right before yawning hugely
herself, "everyone knows yawning is contagious." Looking around
the bus, she stifled another yawn. "I don't think I'm going to
make it back home awake."

"I feel quite tired, too," I nodded, "don't let me keep
you from taking a nap."

As the bus started up, Sasami said though another yawn,
"There you go, being a gentleman again."

I smiled in response and turned to look out a window at
the trees and houses moving by. After a few minutes I turned to
ask Sasami about the festival the innkeeper had mentioned, but as
I looked at her, I saw that she had her chin down nearly on her
chest and her eyes closed. Snoring ever so softly, her head would
wobble around a little bit every time the bus hit a small bump in
the road.

Forgetting my question, I turned back and stared out the
window for a few more minutes.

Suddenly, the bus hit a slightly larger bump in the road
than normal, causing the vehicle to sway to the side a little.
Just as that happened I felt a something heavy and soft land on
my good shoulder with a thump.

Turning my head I saw pretty much what I had expected.
Still asleep and completely oblivious to the world, Sasami's head
was rolled gently onto my shoulder with some of her long hair
tumbling down past her eyes and onto my arm. Watching her sleep,
that lonely feeling I had while she held my hand down the steps
the previous night came back with a vengeance. For the first time
in more years than I could even recall, I had the vague, but very
strong, notion that there was something profoundly absent in my
life.

Whatever that might have been, I stopped pondering as
Sasami's shoulder and head slid a little more to the right, until
the top of her head was resting against my cheek. Her hair smelled
lightly of flowers... or a warm spring breeze.

Closing my eyes, trying to deal with the flood of odd
feelings that were washing over me, I hoped I could fall asleep as
readily as Sasami had.

I did not have a problem doing so.

* * *


The next day, with the morning sun already well on its way
into the summer sky, Tenchi Masaki and his wife Ryoko sat quietly
in the kitchen, each sipping a cup of tea and enjoying a light
breakfast. Now and again, the two of them would look up at the
kitchen clock, look at each other, and smile knowingly. There
seemed to be a familiar sense of expectation in the air.

In time, there was a muffled crash and exclamation from
upstairs.

"Five," remarked Tenchi, his eyes gazing up at the clock.

Another crash sounded from upstairs, and this time an even
louder, incoherent yell.

"Four," Ryoko chimed in, not bothering to gauge the clock.

The house shuddered violently with the sound of a door
being thrown open and continued to shake as footsteps thundered
above them.

Tenchi quirked an eyebrow at the violent vibration.
"Three, and a door to repair."

The footsteps made a screeching noise as if rounding a
corner and stomped like thunder as they came down the main
staircase.

"Two," Ryoko murmured, holding up a packed lunch.

With a disturbing Doppler effect, the sound of running
footsteps came ever closer until a burred figure slammed the
kitchen door open.

"One," the pair said in unison as Yui Masaki darted past
her mother snagging the lunch from her hand without even slowing
down.

Speeding for the outside door without hesitation, Yui
shimmered and phased out of sight, sliding her form harmlessly
through the door just before it would have been turned to
splinters.

Please remember, dear, sent out Ryoko to her daughter,
we'll meet you in town later this afternoon at our booth. Try to
be on time, would you?

Okay, okay, mom! a frustrated Yui's mental call came.

Unaware of the conversation that had just transpired,
Tenchi asked his wife, "Did you remind Yui to meet us this
afternoon on time, Ryoko-san?"

"Mmm-hmm" came Ryoko's soft reply.

"Honestly," Tenchi exclaimed in exasperation, "no matter
how I adjust her training or work her harder for being late, she
still manages to barely make it to school each day."

Without much forethought he then asked, "Ryoko, is this
something that runs in your family?"

Ryoko's golden eyes serenely shifted towards her husband
from over her tea cup.

Lowering the cup slightly, she said, "What *exactly* do
you mean by that, Tenchi?"

Had Ryoko been in a pot of water, in spite of her neutral
voice, Tenchi swore he would able to have seen the water around
her beginning to boil.

"Ah, well, that is," he stammered, desperately seeking a
safe avenue out of the kitchen, "I mean, no one on *my* side of
the family has ever had problems getting up in the morning-"

'I can't believe I just said that.'

"Oh, *really*?" The tea cup hovered in place below
Ryoko's lips as her eyes took began to gleam. "Interesting idea.
Please continue."

Tenchi gulped, still edging out of his seat. "W-well, I,
uh, just thought that maybe someone in your family had, uh,
problems being on time, like maybe, uh-"

With a slight hum, a virtual viewing screen popped up over
the kitchen table with Washu's face spread across it.

"Maybe like *mom*?" Washu asked archly.

Sighing dramatically, Washu shook her head and said sadly,
"I just don't know how you could think so poorly of our side of
the family, Tenchi."

Brightening considerably, an idea occurred to the
scientist, "I think this definitely calls for Tenchi to be
punished, don't you Ryoko? What do you think Tenchi?"

Washu and Ryoko looked across the kitchen table where
Tenchi had been sitting, now as empty as a ghost town.

"Oh, well. So much for my new lab experiment," Washu
grumbled, switching off the view screen.

Taking this all into account, Ryoko took a last sip of her
tea and set the cup down gently on the table. Standing
gracefully, with a look of playful serenity, an energy sword
ignited from the palm of her hand.

"Oh, Tenchi, my prince," she sighed happily, "how I've so
missed playing with you." That said, Ryoko phased out of sight
and went hunting for her husband.

* * *


It was already well into the morning when Sasami finally
decided to emerge from her room, bleary eyed and rumpled. Wearing
a long, green robe, tied at the waste loosely, and carrying a few
bath implements in one hand, she rubbed at one eye slowly as she
stood under the door frame. Doing her best to stifle a yawn,
Sasami leaned up against the side of the door frame and absently
scratched the back of her left calf with her big right toe.
Setting her foot back on the ground slowly, the urge to itch
satisfied, she began walking towards the bathroom.

Reaching the door of the bathroom, she slid it open to
reveal what could only be described as a washroom paradise.
Scientifically engineered by Washu, the women's bathroom was a
marvel of inter-dimensional architecture and placement. Across a
wide expanse of area, grossly disproportionate to the actual
Earthly dimensions the regular Masaki residence bathroom normally
occupied, a series of springs spiraled high up into the air.
Supported by massive trees of Juraian origin, also engineered by
Washu, the springs were terraced and supplied each other through a
series of sparkling waterfalls. The bath springs, supplying both
steaming hot and frosty cold water, were made of a dark wood
polished to a gleaming finish. As a result, they dazzled brightly
from the sunlight pouring through the crystal clear dome
protecting the environment overhead.

Sasami winced visibly at the happily gleaming wood and
adopted a frown as she wobbled through the entrance to the
springs, the door closing automatically behind her. Over the past
twenty or so odd years, Nobuyuki's attempts at 'peeping' had
dropped off considerably with his advancing age. Nevertheless,
none of the women living at the Masaki residence could ever be
quite certain that Tenchi's crafty father might not be hiding
around a corner with the newest in video technology, ready to
steal a glimpse for posterity. Washu would be hard pressed to
admit it (if anyone had actually been suspicious), but over the
years she had found it necessary to make small design adjustments
when Nobuyuki surprised her with his ability to *almost*
successfully weasel his way past the security door.

Letting her eyes adjust from the dark gloom of her room to
the bright quality of the springs, Sasami paused before a full
length mirror near the door and stared glumly at her reflection.

It was not exactly inspiring.

Having neglected to carefully wrap her long flowing hair
the night before, Sasami observed that she was now suffering the
consequences of her lack of forethought. Her hair was tangled, to
say the least, and fell down around her shoulders in great long
mats with an almost dingy sheen. Hopelessly mussed from another
near sleepless night of tossing and turning, the mess of hair
would require at least an hour of painful combing to untangle it
all. Raking her fingers through a lock of the mess, Sasami
grunted.

The rest of her was not in much better shape. Surrounding
her tired looking eyes were dark lines, indicative of her
inability to sleep the past several nights. Freckled cheeks,
normally full and painted with a natural rosy blush, were pale and
rather hollow looking. The rest of her face around the corners of
her eyes and mouth also bore a similarly unhealthy look. Taking
all this in without any real expression, Sasami stood before the
mirror and quietly observed herself for several minutes.

'Who are you?'

Letting her bath items slide out of her arm with a
clatter, Sasami raised her hand up to the side of her temple.
Letting it rest there momentarily, she slid two of her fingers
across the length of her forehead, brushing a number of errant
locks of hair aside. Coming to the other side of her face, she
continued to trace the contours of her temple and her cheekbones
with her fingers, slowly dragging them lightly across the skin,
observing the tingling
sensation their trail left.

'Who are you?'

Dropping her fingers down from her cheek, Sasami directed
them to the delicate hollow right underneath the center of her
nose and proceeded to trace the outline of her lips, switching
from her fingers to her thumb. A small and dispassionate part of
Sasami noted those lips were a little dry. Parting her lips a
bit, she paused her thumb at the center of her lower lip, pulling
down slightly, before switching back to her fingers again and
running them along her neckline to the bottom of an earlobe.
Rolling her head to one side slightly, Sasami let her fingers
slide down the side of her neck and follow her collarbone, coming
to a rest underneath her chin.

'Who are you?'

Not changing her expression from its featureless
contemplation, Sasami's head swung low to one side as she made an
attempt to loosen the muscles in her neck slightly, her eyes never
wandering from her reflection. Dropping both her hands down to
her sides, the princess ran her tongue across her dry lips until
they were sufficiently moistened again. Then bringing her hands
together in front of her robe, they worked in slow unison until
the small knot that held her garment together was undone. The
soft green robe quietly rustled as it fell open, exposing her bare
skin underneath to the air of the bathroom.

At first, Sasami shivered slightly as goose bumps ran down
her abdomen from some chilly air, but then a patch of hot steam
from one of the springs wafted over her, warming the narrow length
of her body no longer covered by the robe. Still looking at her
reflection, now with more of a curious expression beginning to
form, Sasami brought her hands up to either side of the open
robe's collar and parted it slowly, feeling the fine cloth brush
over her shoulders and breasts until it slipped off, falling down
her across her back until it reached the bend in her arms.

'Who are you?'

Sasami turned slightly and observed her half nude body in
the mirror.

'A princess?'

'An adult?'

'A woman?'

Sasami dropped her arms down by her sides again, letting
the robe fall all the way to the wooden floor, forming a crumpled
pile at her feet.

'A child.'

'A child princess.'

'Still a little girl?'

Setting her feet apart slightly, Sasami brought her hands
up to her temples and lifted a large part of her hair up and back,
the small muscles in her arms and legs rippling lightly under her
skin. Turning further to one side, still holding her hair up so
that it spilled down behind her, Sasami eyed her body's profile.
Disengaging one hand from her hair, she slid it down the center of
her chest between her breasts until coming to a rest on the flat
of her stomach.

'No, not a little girl.'

'I *am* a woman.'

'Then why do I feel so small?'

'Alone.'

'Unhappy.'

'Controlled.'

'Why have I let the years just slip past?'

'Alone.'

'Poor little princess.'

Letting her other hand slip down from her hair, she placed
it on the side of her face and cupped her cheek.

'Poor little girl.'

'Afraid.'

'Afraid of what?'

The princess dropped her eyes slightly in shame,
attempting to force the answers to her unspoken questions from
surfacing. After a moments struggle, she finally failed.

'Of exploring life beyond the palace walls?'

'Beyond this house?'

'Alone.'

'Always tagging along with everyone else.'

'Never living your own life.'

Sasami blinked repeatedly as she felt her chest begin to
tighten up inside from self-pity.

'The happy-go-lucky princess?'

'Breakfast's ready!'

'Only a supporting character?'

'Lunch's ready!'

'A useless aside?'

'Dinner's ready!'

As her lower lip started to tremble, Sasami's vision
blurred as hot tears streamed from the corners of her eyes,
tracking down her cheeks and splashing on her hands.

'Surrounded by family.'

'But always alone.'

Burying her head in her hands, Sasami drew in a ragged
breath and sobbed brokenly, tears running from her eyes
uncontrollably.

'Just waiting for big sister to make a decision for you.'

'Coward.'

Still shaking, the princess dropped to the hardwood floor
and hugged her knees tightly, weeping as she rocked her body from
side to side. For several moments she stayed like that, silently
crying.

"I don't want to go," she suddenly cried out loud to the
massive empty room, hearing her voice echo back at her.

Sasami planted her face down in her knees and let her
cascading hair hide her from the world. As her weeping tapered
off momentarily, her mind cleared, and the truth of an awful
realization dawned on the princess.

"And I don't want to stay, either," she admitted before
erupting in a fresh torrent of sobs and tears.

* * *


That morning I woke up feeling decidedly out of synch.
Waking up late in the afternoon and rolling out of bed, I had the
distinct impression that my head was not lined up with my spinal
cord for some reason. My movements, response time, and even my
thinking seemed to have about a three or four second delay.
Disorientation and confusion. I hoped a quick shower would put me
back in order, but it did not.

The Masaki bathroom was a good deal larger and more
comfortable than any number of bathrooms I had been using since I
began my little journey, and I was happy to have the chance to be
able to dally a bit in the bath. Since it was late morning, I
figured everyone must already be up and about, and I would
not be keeping someone waiting outside. Though it was a nice
bathroom, tiled and well-lit, I really could not imagine all the
people who lived here sharing it every day. After all, it was not
all *that* big.

Finishing up in the bathroom, and still trying to escape
the 'off' feeling I woke up with, I got dressed and wandered
downstairs. As far as I could tell, the house was completely
quiet and empty of all people. I did not know exactly what time
it was, but by looking at all the sunshine through a window, I
guessed it might be pretty close to noon. I shrugged my injured
shoulder and looked for a clock.

11:45.

The realization that I had slept away about a third of my
day made me feel even more horrid. Sighing noisily, I entered the
quiet kitchen and looked around for something to eat that would
not be much trouble to concoct. Opening up the refrigerator, I
saw a large variety of foods, all of which had either unreadable
Japanese kanji or looked to be troublesome to prepare by myself.
The bottomless pit called my stomach growled loudly in protest.

Rumble-grooowwwl.

"Right, right," I said wearily, "don't get excited. I'm
working on it."

Rumble.

Snagging a carton of what looked like orange juice (it had
the picture of a squeezed orange on it. Hey, I am an engineer,
not a rocket scientist), I closed the door of the refrigerator and
immediately spied salvation in handy, easy to unwrap packaging.

Bananas.

Hunting around the kitchen cabinets, trying to be quiet
and irrationally nervous about poking through someone else's
house, I took down a glass, poured myself some juice, and took two
bananas from the bunch. Setting the juice cartoon back inside the
refrigerator, I took my bounty and headed out the side door to the
little deck.

It was at least as twice as bright outside than I first
imagined, but not terribly so. Still and yet, I decided to halt
my forward progress right there and have a seat. Letting my legs
drape over the side, my bare feet easily reached the grass below,
which felt warm from the sun. In fact, everything around me felt
that way, and as I munched away at my breakfast/lunch, the sun
began to make me pleasantly warm as well.

All except for where my stupid bandages were. Those felt
like foreign lumps ruining what would otherwise be the start to an
improved day.

"An improved day," I mumbled.

I figured there was a pretty good reason to why I was
feeling this funk, and it all had to do with coming back into the
mountains yesterday afternoon. I had more or less slept the
entire bus trip back, waking for brief, odd moments when the bus
rocked a little more severely than normal. Sasami stayed pretty
much knocked out as well, her head resting on my shoulder, or so I
thought. When we finally got to her bus stop, she was awake first
and shook me gently.

* * *


"We're here," Sasami said warmly, stretching her arms
above her head with her fingers intertwined.

Working her way though a yawn, Sasami then smiled at
Nathaniel and got up, hefting his backpack and bringing it down
from the small luggage rack above.

"Oh," he had yawned back rather unenthusiastically. "We
have to actually move around ourselves now, right?"

"Yep. Hope you like steps."

"Ugh, sounds dreamy."

The two then stepped off the bus and began walking up the
path towards the house. As the bus motored off behind them,
Nathaniel took his suitcase from Sasami and let her keep the
backpack since he still had one perfectly functioning left hand.
Making their way unhurriedly around the bend in the path,
Nathaniel turned just in time to see the bus start rolling and
motor off to its next destination. In doing so, he promptly
bumped into Sasami.

"Oh, gee, sorry 'bout that," he said, feeling himself
blush as his head bobbed apologetically.

Smiling slightly, Sasami turned and commented, "Hrm, if
you're having problems walking before we even *get* to the steps,
does this mean I'm going to have to get someone to help me carry
you up them *again*?"

"Let's hope not!"

Giggling softly, Sasami then turned back down the path,
and together they continued in silence. Finally arriving at the
bottom of the first staircase, Nathaniel looked up and sighed.

Sasami looked at him from an angle. "Think you can make
it all right?"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Nathaniel nodded and said, "Oh,
sure. I was just marveling at my ability to be so klutzy."

Gathering a little inner fortitude, he put his foot down on the
first step and started climbing.

"Klutzy?" Sasami replied with a disapproving note, "I
really don't think it was clumsiness that got you knocked over."

Adjusting Nathaniel's pack on her shoulders, Sasami
skipped a step to catch up with him.

"Maybe," replied Nathaniel doubtfully.

With the summer sun beating down on the pair, no more
words were exchanged as each concentrated on the small and not
entirely effortless climb. After a few minutes of work and
concentrating on each step, both Sasami and Nathaniel had worked
up a small line of sweat on their foreheads from carrying the
luggage. Reaching the top of the stone staircase, finally,
Nathaniel paused and wiped at his brow with the back of his hand,
turning to admire the view behind him.

"Wow," he exclaimed quietly in admiration, "I really
failed to catch this view when we were coming down these steps
this morning." Shading the glare of the sun from his eyes,
Nathaniel peered about.

"Catch the view?" echoed Sasami suspiciously.

Smiling sheepishly, he put his suitcase down and scratched
his temple. "Well, it may be all fuzzy, but even like this I can
tell it must be a fantastic view."

Fingering the straps of the backpack and chewing her
bottom lip slightly, Sasami shifted her weight from one foot to
the other. An idea was forming in her head that was, to Sasami
anyway, wild, reckless, and making her indecisive and nervous.
Finally, she thrust aside her momentary fears and took a deep and
silent breath.

"Would you... I mean, you want to sit here for a while?"
she blurted out a little loudly.

Turning with an eyebrow slightly raised at the level of
Sasami's voice, Nathaniel wiped his brow again and gave her a
quizzical look.

"You can rest a bit, see the view," she added somewhat
lamely.

"Doesn't sound like a half bad idea," smiled Nathaniel,
"just as long as we can grab a little something to eat soon."

With that, he set his suitcase down on the ground and let
himself plop onto the topmost of the stone steps with an umph.
Taking a deep breath of the afternoon air, Nathaniel then leaned
forward and settled his elbows on his knees, taking care not to
jostle his bad arm. With no small hesitation, Sasami stood above
and behind Nathaniel, still fingering the straps of the backpack
nervously with half frozen fingers.

'Oh, come on,' she chided herself silently, 'you're a
*princess* of Jurai, for crying out loud. Just *do* it!'

Taking a little time to loosen the pack, Sasami slid the
frame off her shoulders and set it on the ground beside the
suitcase and stood up straight. Spreading her fingers out from
hands that were placed at the sides of her body, the princess
gathered her courage for a moment before taking a quick breath.

'Just sit down right beside him real close. That's it,
Sasami...'

Easing down to the right beside Nathaniel on the step,
Sasami settled back into a sitting position resembling his until
she was no more than a few inches from him. Nathaniel looked over
at Sasami and smiled a little before returning his gaze to the
mountain horizon, squinting a bit.

For several minutes nothing was said as both of them
rested. The momentary bravado that Sasami had conjured to sit
down beside Nathaniel evaporated more and more as time passed.

"I can sort of see why you wouldn't want to leave this
place," Nathaniel spoke, breaking the silence and startling Sasami
completely.

"What?" she responded with the slightest hint of panic in
her voice.

Nathaniel did not notice.

"These mountains," he explained with a small gesture,
"they seem very beautiful. Almost like green waves that never
break."

Smiling at no one in particular, he then sighed with
contentment.

"I used to come out here a lot," Sasami said unexpectedly,
inwardly startling herself as her nervousness had dissipated with
the sound of his deep voice. "The commotion from all the people
staying up at the house when I was younger could really drive you
batty at times."

Shifting her gaze out across the mountain tops, Sasami
allowed herself to drift back through pleasant memories that
continued to surface unbidden. All the days through all the years
she had come out to this spot to sit a while and enjoy the
quiet... it seemed so distant and yet so close in time to her.

Nathaniel had broken his gaze from the horizon and shifted
it towards Sasami, cupping his chin in his hands.

"That's one of the reasons I decided to come to this area,
actually," he smiled. "I was looking for someplace quiet to spend
a few days."

Her initial plan completely forgotten, Sasami turned and
looked at Nathaniel smiling at her, soaking up the ease with which
her heart seemed to be lightening from its worries.

"Well," she sigheded ruefully, "this wasn't always the
serene place you see now. From time to time, years ago, this
place could be so noisy that I'd come out here before daybreak
just to catch a moment's peace with the sunrise."

"No kidding?"

"No kidding," Sasami nodded. "In fact, during the summer
time the sun comes up right over there between those two peaks,"
she added pointing over to Nathaniel's left, her hand brushing
against his right forearm in the process.

As Nathaniel turned his head in the direction she had
pointed, Sasami felt something akin to electricity flash through
her skin where she had brushed against his arm. Withdrawing her
arm slowly, she unconsciously let it drag slightly against
Nathaniel's again, shivering a tiny bit at the sensation. She
looked up at Nathaniel's head, turned mostly away from her as he
observed the mountains to the best of his limited ability.

And with a flash, Sasami's unspoken agenda resurfaced in
less than a fraction of her heartbeat.

'I can do this,' she said to herself, half frightened,
half thrilled.

With Nathaniel totally oblivious to her movements, Sasami
leaned back slightly and edged her head towards him, until her
face was hovering just over his right shoulder.

Her heart hammered.

'He'll turn around to say something,' Sasami planned
breathlessly, 'and I'll just do it.'

Another heartbeat.

'I'll just kiss him...'

True to Sasami's predictions, Nathaniel did start to turn
back towards the princess to say something. Sasami's breath
caught and her heart fluttered like the wings of a sparrow.

Events, however, went a little differently than she
planned.

Nathaniel turned his head, right on cue, leaning ever so
slightly towards Sasami so her face was that much closer to his,
and promptly smacked his forehead into hers. Sasami having
misjudged the distance, withdrew her face down sharply from the
pain and drove her chin right into Nathaniel's injured shoulder.
Nathaniel then instantly winced from the double intensity of both
his forehead *and* shoulder, causing Sasami to bite her tongue.

Sasami recoiled quickly in embarrassment and pain as she
tasted a hint of salt in her mouth from where she had bit through
her tongue just a little. Clasping her hands to her face from the
pain and also to hide her humiliation, Sasami drew her knees away
from Nathaniel's off to her right and tucked her face into them,
her hair neatly concealing the rest of her profile.

Recovering from the sting in his shoulder and rubbing his
forehead, Nathaniel looked over in concern at the princess.

"Ouch, Sasami," he called worriedly, wholly unaware as to
what Sasami had attempted, "hey, are you okay?"

Knowing he was probably unable to see the hot tears that
stung at the corners of her eyes, Sasami steeled her voice of
emotions and said calmly through her fingers, "I-I'm okay. I just
think I bit my tongue a little. Just give me a moment."

"Uh, sure. Sorry about that."

Sasami, drawing on her royal upbringing, quickly recovered
her emotions while deftly wiping her eyes so that Nathaniel could
not see her do so. Finally pulling her hands away from her face,
she looked up to see Nathaniel gazing at her with sincere and warm
concern. The princess could almost have started crying in shame
had she not instantly slammed those emotions down.

And in doing so, Sasami realized that she learned more
lessons from her sister, Ayeka, than she would ever have willing
admitted to herself.

'Is this how you felt, sister?' Sasami asked herself
miserably, still looking at Nathaniel. 'Is *this* like the clumsy
frustration you felt with Tenchi-niichan?'

Standing up quickly, Sasami picked up Nathaniel's backpack
and shouldered it deftly. Turning back to Nathaniel, who was
still sitting on the steps more than a little surprised, she threw
him a forced smile.

"Well, enough of this sitting around," she said in a
quick, business-like tone, "let's get back to the house."

With that, she quickly turned away from Nathaniel and
headed down the path towards the lake. Nathaniel picked himself
up off the steps clumsily and reached for his suitcase, struggling
to catch up to the rapidly disappearing Sasami.

* * *


I did not see much of her the rest of the day. After
getting back to the house in record speed, Sasami dropped off my
backpack in my room and disappeared completely. Not thinking much
of it at the time, I concentrated on getting my things stowed away
neatly in my room. Still very self-conscious about having to stay
here for the next several days, I made my way downstairs to
scrounge up something to eat.

To my relief, Ryoko and her mother, Washu, were both
sitting in the kitchen with the remains of a lunch already laid
out.

"You're in luck," Ryoko said, smiling up at me, "had you
been any later, I'd have put this food away."

"Thanks," I breathed, taking a seat beside Washu. Looking
over my choices for lunch, I asked, "Say, where is Sasami?"

Quirking an eyebrow, Ryoko replied, "I have no idea. She
ran in with your backpack and left just as fast without anything
to eat."

Pouring me a cup of tea, Ryoko continued. "Everything
went all right in town, ne?"

Sighing and thanking her for the tea, I shook my head and
said, "No, not really."

Ryoko and Washu sat back and listened attentively as I
related our brush with the punks in town. Washu seemed fairly
impassive after hearing my rendition, but Ryoko's voice had a
harsh edge to it when she declared what would happen to those guys
if she ever ran into them.

Afterwards, I spent my day taking a nap and then sitting
for a while on the front porch. Sasami never made an appearance
all the rest of the afternoon, and when it was time for dinner,
Yui came outside to find me.

She said that Sasami was not feeling well and would not be
joining the family for dinner. Though the rest of the Masaki
household more than made me feel welcome, I turned in early
feeling a bit lonely and homesick.

Now, here I was, sitting on a deck in Japan with my toes
in the grass, munching on bananas and sipping orange juice. The
blurry charm of the sunshine and birds swooping and diving over
the lake was lost on me.

"Lovely," I mumbled.

* * *


Erupting a huge and fairly obnoxious yawn, Washu staggered
through the closet door entrance of her laboratory into the
brightness of the Masaki residence main hallway. Holding her arms
way up above her head, she then stretched up on her toes and
sighed just as noisily. Rubbing blearily at one eye, Washu then
headed off upstairs.

Despite her weariness, the petite red-headed scientist was
more than pleased with the progress of her newest experiment.
Just the thought of her work made the universe's greatest
scientific mind began to giggle slightly, and then a little more.
Unable to control herself, Washu finally exploded.

"BWHAHAHAHA!" she chortled in a manner that would have
frozen anyone's veins had they been in earshot.

Almost dancing the rest of the way up the stairs, Washu
skirted around a corner and headed towards the bathroom, all the
while singing to herself.

"I'm an evil *geeeen-yus*! I'm an evil genius!" she sang
as if she were in a limbo line.

Stopping before the door of the bathroom, Washu snapped
her fingers nonchalantly. Out of thin air, a small wooden bucket
filled with washing items appeared and dropped lightly into her
waiting hand. Peering up at the door through one squinting eye,
as if daring it to not recognize her supreme intellect, Washu had
to wait only a millisecond before the bathroom door slid open
quietly. Stepping across the threshold, the scientist entered
into the onsen paradise, immediately engulfed by a cloud of steam.

Once the steam passed her by, Washu spied a figure sitting
slumped over in one of the nearby springs. Narrowing her eyes
tightly, the scientist considered making a quiet exit. Instead,
she neatly stepped out of her clothes and made her way to the
dejected looking figure.

Princess Sasami of Jurai was slouched to the point where
the only part of her body not in the water was her nose and the
top of her head. Her long, thick hair was not tied up at all, and
as a result fanned out in various directions as well as hung
matted against her forehead. Washu could see her eyes were puffy
and tired, an obvious indication of an emotional outburst of some
kind.

Oblivious to Washu's approach, the princess proceeded to
blow bubbles from her submerged mouth into the water.

Washu took a look at her little washing bucket, containing
her wash cloth and soap, and then took stock of Sasami again
before shrugging and setting her things aside. Stepping towards
the princess, Washu then eased herself directly into the steaming
water. A characteristically loud exclamation passed the red-
head's lips as she adjusted to the shock of the heat.

Sasami's eyes dully drifted over to Washu for a moment
before looking out straight again into nothingness. Several
minutes passed by as both women soaked in total silence. Neither
really moving much at all. Washu finally scrunched her brow.

'Hrm,' she pondered to herself, 'I should be able to
initiate some kind of dialogue with Sasami. After all, I *have*
gotten better at all that motherly stuff with Ryoko recently.'

Feeling a little more emboldened, Washu spoke out, her
voice echoing loudly against the wood.

"Want to talk about it, Sasami?"

No response, except a few more bubbles.

"You look a lot like I do when one of my experiments goes
wrong. You spend a few weeks couped up in a laboratory with
nothing to show for it, you get rather bent."

Sasami continued to breathe through her nose, staring out
into space.

Washu momentarily played with the idea of fetching a small
cattle prod and poking the princess. Instead, she tried a
different line of thought.

"You missed dinner last night," Washu noted, "usually I'm
the one to do that. How did your day in town go with --?"

"I don't want to talk about it," interrupted Sasami
sharply, her mouth having risen out of the water.

Washu raised an eyebrow at Sasami's sudden outburst.
Crossing her arms underwater, the scientist looked sideways at the
sullen princess.

"I heard you had a run in with some young deviants in
town," Washu plowed on anyway. "Nathaniel said---"

"I do *not* wish to repeat myself, Washu," snapped Sasami
angrily. Pulling herself out of the water, Sasami walked over and
picked her robe off the ground.

"I am a royal princess of Jurai," she continued sharply,
"and I have no concern about Earthling thugs or klutzy, blind
hikers."

With that, Sasami knotted her robe shut, and stalked out
of the onsen. Washu watched the door slide shut behind the
princess before stretching out in the hot waters. In her dry,
clinical detachment, Washu thought about the outburst she had just
witnessed.

'More like her sister than I ever would have imagined.'

It was not hard for Washu to make a connection between
Sasami's behavior and her trip to town with Nathaniel. As far as
Washu was concerned, something more than the run in with those
punks was eating as Sasami. And it was a fairly easy deduction,
based on Sasami's scathing comment, Nathaniel was somehow at the
center of it. Washu closed her eyes and sighed.

"Looks like Ryoko's little experiment isn't working out as
hoped," she said to no one in particular.

Soaking a while longer, Washu wondered if the entire
household would not have to start tip-toeing around the princess
the closer Sasami's departure came. Washu poked an eye open as a
thought hit her brain.

'Certainly, the easiest answer is to remove any and all
sources of potential annoyance from Sasami's presence for the
remaining duration of her stay on Earth,' the scientist reasoned.

Making small waving motions underwater with her hands,
Washu stoically came to the conclusion that perhaps Nathaniel should be
on his way as soon as possible... and at least out of Sasami's
sight for a while.

Washu decided that it was not a perfect solution, and was
certain to make their guest feel unwelcome, but better him than
Sasami.

'At least for the time being,' she reasoned. 'He'll be
gone soon enough.'

The scientist let her mind drift to other matters, like
her new, secret project, as she lifted herself out of the onsen
and wandered over to her wash bucket.

* * *



Coming up in Chapter Six:

"You could have been raped or worse, you dummy!"

The town festival arrives, Nathaniel gets abandoned (twice), while
Sasami sinks into a bottle, or two, or three...

Comments and criticisms more than welcome!

Send comments to Mike McAvoy
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/

Last updated December 14, 2000.