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



I drank what?
-- infamous Socrates misquote


-* Chapter Six *-


It was turning out to be a wonderful vacation for Major Kiyone.
Leaning her command chair back a bit in her spacious office at Galaxy Police
headquarters, the major sipped a warm beverage and gazed contentedly out a
massive port window at the million stars visible in her part of the galaxy.
Kiyone lazily stretched her legs out in front of her and sighed happily.

No Mihoshi. For three whole weeks, no Mihoshi.

Kiyone did feel a momentary sensation of guilt for deceiving
Mayuka Masaki slightly, thus trapping the young woman in near empty
space with the outrageously silly captain, but only for a moment.

"Far better for her to see the worst of it now than later," she
murmured to the empty room.

Though promotion had inevitably removed Major Kiyone from the
pilot's command chair of a patrol cruiser in favor of more administrative
duties, the past twenty odd years had been kind to her. A few slight hints of
lines around the corners of her eyes and an occasional stray silver hair
amongst the long black strands were all that could be said for wear on the
woman.

Besides, being promoted gave Kiyone these tiny excuses to send
Mihoshi away from time to time on some harmless assignment. At least, the
major *hoped* the assignment would be harmless. Kiyone had no scientific
proof of this, but she often suspected that Captain Mihoshi was some kind of
cosmic antenna for attracting trouble.

An electronic buzzer from her office door captured Kiyone's
attentions, drawing her away from the large window into space.

"Enter, please," she announced, setting her beverage down on her
desk.

With a swoosh of hydraulics, her office door slid open quickly,
revealing one of the lieutenant officers directly under Kiyone's command. He
stepped rapidly through the door and saluted smartly, waiting to be
acknowledged.

Kiyone sighed inwardly. For several weeks she had been trying to
break this new officer's rather stiff behavior, but to no avail. For some
reason it seemed to Kiyone that the Academy was putting out a lot more uptight
graduates these days.

"Good morning, lieutenant, what do you have for me?"

"Good morning, sir," the young lieutenant replied, moving quickly
towards the major's desk. "Command dispatch picked up activity from a GP
patrol cruiser early this morning near the Sol system." Reaching the desk,
he set a series of short briefs on Kiyone's desk.

Without looking at the briefs, Kiyone asked, "Captain Mihoshi?"

"Yes, Major Kiyone," the young man replied, "As per your
instructions regarding all communications from Captain Mihoshi, this was
brought to your attention as soon as it was received and decoded."

"And?"

"Sir, Captain Mihoshi reports contact with a suspicious vehicle
heading at high speed towards the colonized planet Earth in the Jurai
restricted zone." Gesturing towards the top page of his report, the officer
continued, "The captain reports that the ship is traveling under highly
advanced passive stealth technology and not transmitting identification
codes."

Kiyone raised an eyebrow. "Analysis?" she inquired.

"Sir," he responded, "it is highly unlikely any of our standard patrol
cruisers would have been able to detect the vessel. That Captain Mihoshi is
commanding one of the advanced prototype GP cruisers is probably the only
reason she was able to detect the unknown craft."

Something struck Kiyone as wrong as she glanced down at the
report in front of her.

"Lieutenant," she said, flipping through several pages, "this doesn't
look like one of Mihoshi's regular reports. As a matter of fact, it would
appear not to have been written by her at all. These are all complete
sentences with no hand drawn pictures."

"Sir, I assure you-"

"No, no, nevermind" Kiyone interrupted him, "I'm sure this came from
the captain. What is the status of the Mihoshi's vehicle now?"

"Sir, it is on an intercept course with the unknown vessel."

"Excellent, carry on lieutenant," Kiyone said, waving her hand at
the young man.

"Excuse me, sir."

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"Pardon me, sir," he began, "but standard procedure requires that
violation of the restricted zone of Jurai space be reported to the Jurai royal
house immediately."

Kiyone considered her subordinate coolly as she drummed her
fingers on her desk.

"Lieutenant," the major said, "you are aware of the heated political
disputes within the Jurai nobility regarding Earth, are you not?"

"Yes, major, but-"

"Then in this instance," Kiyone replied, cutting him off again,
"seeing as how Captain Mihoshi has not made a positive ID on whatever
vessel she is pursuing, perhaps it would be more prudent to withhold
notifying Jurai until she has."

"Sir?"

"After all, lieutenant," Kiyone concluded, "we do not need the
Galaxy Police to be seen as a source of inciting rumor or conjecture
regarding Earth under these circumstances until we have more conclusive
information."

"I see, sir."

"However, keep me informed the moment the situation changes.
Once we have a positive ID, we will need to contact the Jurai royal house
directly."

"Very good, sir!" the lieutenant saluted, spinning on his heel and
walking briskly out of the major's office.

Kiyone sighed after the young officer and thought, 'Was I that stiff
at his age?'

Swiveling her chair back towards the view of the stars, Kiyone
looked out the massive window and smiled.

"Mayuka Masaki, you're writing Mihoshi's command reports. What
else are you up to?"

The major grinned and went back to sipping her beverage.

* * *


With a small grunt, Tenchi Masaki brought down the hatchback to
his mini-van and dusted his hands. Wiping just a touch of perspiration from
his brow, he then turned towards the front porch and looked up at his wife.

"Are we ready?" Tenchi asked Ryoko.

Ryoko put a finger thoughtfully to her chin and lazily strolled down
the couple of steps towards her husband. "Sure," she replied, "I think we
have everything left that Yosho and your father didn't have room for in their
van."

Tenchi nodded and smiled. "We should be leaving soon then,
Ryoko-san. Even with Sasami with them, they're going to need more
helping hands to get the booth up before grandfather performs his Shinto
duties this evening."

"Teeeenchi," Ryoko smiled back at her husband, "we'll get there in
plenty of time. As a matter of fact, there's our guest now."

Ryoko waved at the porch and in English called out, "There you are,
Nathaniel! Are you ready see our idea of a party?"

Nathaniel Swann stepped out into the late afternoon sun and smiled
hesitantly.

"I love a festival," he replied in slow Japanese, "and this sort of
thing is exactly what I wanted to see in Japan."

Ryoko raised her eyebrows. "Ah, making a continuing effort to
adapt to the local language?"

Nathaniel nodded. "Well, you don't make progress by not making
attempts."

"Good attitude, Nathaniel," Tenchi approved. "We're waiting for
my mother-in-law, so why don't you go ahead and get in the van?"

"Don't bother, because you're not going," Washu's voice rang out
from behind Nathaniel.

"He's not?" asked Tenchi, slightly confused.

"I'm not?" echoed Nathaniel, disappointment crossing his face.

"Affirmative," Washu replied, strolling past Nathaniel towards the
van.

"Washu," growled Ryoko, "what's the problem? Why can't he
come?"

"That's *doctor* Washu, Ryoko," she replied primly, "and the
problem *is* Nathaniel hasn't recuperated enough to handle being at the
festival all weekend."

Washu turned to Nathaniel and eyed him up and down. "You
experienced exhaustion and some continuing dizziness yesterday in town
after walking around just a little bit, correct?"

"Well, yes," Nathaniel replied.

"And," the little red-headed scientist plowed on, "you've also
admitted to feeling somewhat weak today as well, correct?"

"I wouldn't exactly say 'weak'—"

"Well, then," Washu beamed all-knowingly, "it is *obvious*, as
your doctor, that your being exposed to the crush of people at the festival and
being up half the night isn't in the best interests of your health. We'd
probably just end up having to bring you back home tomorrow sometime
after you collapsed."

"Oh," Nathaniel replied, somewhat despondently, "I'm sorry. I
didn't realize I was going to be such a potential hassle."

Ryoko bristled. "Washu," she began with a small edge to her voice.

"No arguing, Ryoko," Washu interrupted smartly, headed for the
mini-van. "Come along, Tenchi. We don't want to be late."

With that, she hopped up into the tightly packed vehicle and shut
the small side door. Tenchi looked after Washu and then back to his wife,
who looked like she was doing her best not to explode.

"Nathaniel, I'm sorry," Tenchi started to say apologetically.

"No, no, she's right," Nathaniel replied, putting his hands in his
pockets, "I don't want to inconvenience your family any more than I already
have."

Ryoko's anger momentarily dissipated as she felt a sudden sympathy
for him. "You're not an inconvenience, Nathaniel, no matter what my
*mother* might have said."

Nodding slightly, Nathaniel asked quietly, "Is it all right then, I
mean… I can stay here this weekend while you're all gone?"

That question made Ryoko feel like cringing.

"Of course," Tenchi said quickly. "In fact, I'd appreciate it if you
could keep an eye on things while my family is away."

Ryoko flashed a smile at her husband for trying to find a way to
lessen Nathaniel's disappointment.

As the van pulled away from the house, however, Ryoko looked
back and saw the American's figure standing alone on the porch in the
retreating distance.

And in that moment, Ryoko was personally reminded of what it
meant to be isolated.

* * *


Watching the mini-van pull away from the house into the late
afternoon haze, Nathaniel observed the small swirls of dust its tires kicked
up, hanging low over the driveway that lead to the main road. He continued
to stare for a while down the driveway until the dust settled back down,
carried away slightly by a light breeze.

His hands still in his pockets, Nathaniel stood staring out away from
the house until, finally, his shoulders slumped significantly. Feeling
completely isolated and incredibly lonely, he struggled for some words to
articulate his emotions.

"Crud."

That about summed it up, as far as he was concerned.

* * *


"And just *what* was that all about, Washu?" a very irate Ryoko
demanded of her mother, as the vehicle they were in traveled down the
winding mountain roads.

"Why, Ryoko," Washu replied in a feigned, hurt voice, "such a
harsh tone for your mother."

"Don't give me that 'mother' crap, Washu," Ryoko snapped.

"Ryoko-san," Tenchi began, in an effort to soothe his wife.

"Don't try to distract me, Tenchi! I know Washu, and she's up to
something, and I guarantee it has nothing to do with Nathaniel's well-
being!" Ryoko continued to snarl. "Nathaniel looked fine to me, and all that
talk about the crowds and having to bring him home collapsed was
nonsense."

"Right you are, Ryoko," Washu agreed, "it had almost nothing to do
with Nathaniel's health. As a matter of fact, I am quite certain my patient is
doing more than well enough to have spent the entire weekend at the
festival."

Ryoko sent Washu a chilly stare.

"Washu," Tenchi said, his brow furrowing as he looked at the
scientist in the rear-view mirror, "what is this all about, then? I don't like
the fact that you lied to him and to us so we'd leave him behind."

"Oh, fine," Washu sighed, "since you're going to bother me until I
explain. It's simple. Sasami communicated to me earlier today that she is
greatly unhappy with her life, and that while Nathaniel is not the cause of
that unhappiness, he is a significant irritant."

"She *told* you this?" Tenchi asked, stunned.

"Well, in not so many words, but—"

"Oi," Ryoko said quietly, "you mean you had us abandon Nathaniel
for the weekend, as isolated as he must be feeling, just to accommodate
Sasami's having a bad day?"

"More or less," Washu replied.

Ryoko turned back in her front seat and crossed her arms tightly,
staring out at the road ahead, quiet for several moments.

"Washu," she finally spoke with a deep and emotionless voice, "do
not talk to me again for the rest of the weekend."

"What's the matter, Ryoko?" Washu inquired with some annoyance.
"Can't you trust that the Universe's greatest scien—"

"Oh, hush, Washu," Tenchi uncharacteristically chided the little
woman.

Uncharacteristically for Washu, she complied and stared out a
window. Tenchi sighed and considered going back for Nathaniel, but
decided against it. They were already running late as it was, and Tenchi felt
his doing so would not help the situation any tonight.

'Maybe I can get him tomorrow,' he thought, looking with concern
at his wife out of the corner of his eye.

The mini-van zoomed down the mountain road quickly, heading for
town.

* * *


Racing through a remarkably empty section of the restricted zone of
Jurai space, the latest prototype Galaxy Police patrol cruiser was a blur of
motion against the stars. Bathed in its sleek, blue GP colors, sections of the
bow reflected the light from the sun of the distant Sol system.

Inside the ship, the door to the command center swooshed open,
revealing a slightly disheveled Mihoshi. Yawning hugely, the blonde
scratched at an arm and looked around blankly.

"Are we still chasing the ship we can't see?" she asked sleepily.

Swiveling one of the two command chairs around, Mayuka Masaki
turned towards Mihoshi and nodded.

"We're keeping up with it," she replied, "but not easily."

"Oh," Mihoshi mumbled, deep in what might be mistaken for
thought. "Well, why don't we just speed up and catch it with our new
engines?"

With a quiet thunk, Corolla disengaged itself from the ceiling and
pivoted down to eye level with the two women.

"Mihoshi," the computer chimed, "we are unable to close on the
vehicle in question due to the difficult nature of tracking it."

Mihoshi looked blank.

Mayuka rolled her eyes. "Remember how I told you the ship had
some very advanced stealth technology," she asked Mihoshi.

"Um…I think so," Mihoshi replied.

"Well," Mayuka continued, "even with the most advanced ship in
the GP patrol fleet, the ship is *so* hard to get a fix on, if we go too fast
there's the danger that ship could alter course and we wouldn't even know it
until it was too late."

Mihoshi blinked.

"Sooo, we *have* to go slowly, you see?" asked Mayuka hopefully.

"Right!" answered Mihoshi confidently. Crossing her arms across
her chest, the captain then asked, "So why don't we just go to Earth before it
gets there?"

"Mihoshi," Corolla replied, "we are not absolutely certain that is the
target vehicle's destination. Additionally, were we to pass the vehicle,
we would effectively lose our cover."

"Oh."

Mihoshi took the command chair beside Mayuka and sat back with
a plop. Looking blankly at the data on the screens in front of her, she took
time to adjust her GP hat.

"So, why can't we go faster?" she asked again.

Mayuka counted to ten to prevent herself from exploding.

"We can't go faster," she said through a tight jaw, "because the
posted speed limits won't let us."

"Oh, that makes sense," Mihoshi beamed. "As a potential Galaxy
Police officer, it's important for you to observe all the laws!"

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Mayuka muttered.

Running a hand through her short hair, the young woman drummed
her fingers on the console, waiting for Corolla to report any intermittent
signatures of the ghost ship. Instead, the little computer whirled around and
faced Mihoshi.

"Captain Mihoshi," it announced, "incoming traffic from Galaxy
Police headquarters!"

Mayuka involuntarily tensed. She wondered if Kiyone might have
realized she wrote Mihoshi's reports. Even worse, she might have Mihoshi
disengage the ghost ship because there was a civilian on the patrol craft.

"What's the message, Corolla?" the captain asked.

"Decoding in progress. Decoding complete. Ahem," the computer
cleared its throat, "Captain Mihoshi: by order of Major Kiyone, you are
directed to maintain pursuit of suspicious vehicle and make all possible
attempts at identification. Report identification of target vehicle immediately
upon verification on secured GP channel."

Mayuka relaxed noticeably.

"Additionally," continued Corolla, "you are to avoid engaging target
vehicle if there is an obvious threat of endangerment to your civilian
passenger."

"Understood!" Mihoshi declared. "Corolla, report to headquarters
that we will engage this ship soon and arrest the trespassers!"

Corolla nodded to the captain and turned to Mayuka. "Mayuka
Masaki," it said, "while Major Kiyone enjoyed for the first time reading a
coherent brief submitted under Captain Mihoshi's name, she requests that
you cease writing her reports, as it sets a bad precedent."

Mayuka laughed.

"Also, she requests you exercise caution in this pursuit as Major
Kiyone has no desire to explain to your father why the ship you are in
plunged into a black hole or the side of a planet."

"Aye, aye, Major Kiyone," Mayuka replied, doing her best to imitate
a pirate.

Without missing a beat, Mihoshi asked worriedly, "We're not going
to plunge into a black hole, are we?"

"I doubt it," Mayuka said, shaking her head.

"Whew!" the captain exclaimed. "I'd end up missing my Earth
dramas on television if *that* happened!"

Mayuka slapped her hand to her forehead and counted to ten again.

"Attention!" Corolla exclaimed. "Target vehicle seems to have
increased velocity!"

"Can you verify that, Corolla?" Mayuka asked, leaning forward
eagerly.

"Due to the intermittent contact with the target vehicle, I can not be
certain," the computer admitted, "but the last faint contact seemed to indicate
a significant increase in velocity."

"Destination?" Mihoshi demanded.

"Best estimate is still Earth, captain," replied Corolla.

Mayuka shook her head and sighed. "Can we continue to track the
ship at our current speed?"

"Negative, Miss Mayuka. At our current velocity, all possibility of
maintaining contact with target vehicle will be lost due to the increasing
distance between our ships."

"So, basically we have to increase our speed as well, and hope we
don't run right past that ghost ship," Mayuka concluded.

Mihoshi looked up from a comic book she had brought up from
somewhere. "We can go faster now?" she asked hopefully.

Mayuka sighed and nodded, "Yep, Mihoshi, we can go faster now.
Corolla, please do your best to match the ghost ship's velocity."

"Increasing thrust to the main engines," Corolla replied dutifully.
"Current ETA of Earth arrival is now 2.9 Jurai standard days."

Mayuka nodded solemnly. That was fine with her, actually. There
was not as much fun leisurely strolling around the dead of space when you
could really burn some galactic rubber, so to speak.

* * *


As evening settled on the small Japanese town several valleys over
from Masaki residence, the normally sleepy area erupted into excited noise
and motion. All over the main square of the town, as well as most of the
streets that interconnected as far as the eye could see, people
moved in waves of bright color from their clothing. Across the streets
lanterns of all descriptions hung from sturdy rope cables, each decorated with
art, prayer, or advertisements of all kinds. Below the numerous lanterns,
booths lined either side of the many streets that ran through the downtown.
People running games, making food, and selling everything under the sky
called out loudly from their areas, doing their best to encourage passersby to
stop for only a moment.

As the evening progressed, the number of festival attendees steadily
increased. Eventually, around nine in the evening, people were shoulder to
shoulder as they moved through the streets, laughing and cheering out loud
now and again as someone demonstrated particular skill at one game or
another. Now and again, little pools of clearing would form around some
musician, performer, or other as they did their best to entertain and amuse
the crowds.

All in all, it was a noisy affair.

The Masaki booth was a regular feature of the town festival, and had
been for more years than anyone would ever to bother to count. Situated very
near the center of town, Tenchi and company enjoyed a constant stream of
people seeking both food and amusement. A fairly large operation, the
Masaki booth had several items a passerby could choose from. Naturally,
there was food galore, steadily prepared by Tenchi, Sasami, and a slightly
intoxicated Nobuyuki. Over an open grill and portable cooking table, the trio
sliced, diced, and prepared a small variety of goodies for hungry patrons.
Ryoko returned to her position as the cheerleader for the group, using her
loud voice and seductive looks to entice customers in, while manning a
decent sized goldfish pond and other small games. Washu, having been
banned many years past from ever putting on another 'House of Horrors' by the
festival organizers, had chosen instead to read fortunes. This generally
involved the patron being hooked up to something that looked like a straight
jacket which gave mild shocks of electricity, all the while Washu took
scientific readings and made up whatever futures she wanted. As for Yui,
she had been released by Ryoko to run around the festival with her friends,
having helped get the booth ready for everyone earlier in the day.

Ryoko smiled fondly thinking of her daughter's youthful excitement.

And yet, while laughter and amusement abounded all around, Ryoko
felt herself coming back to the image of their guest fading away in the
distance as their van left the Masaki residence. For some reason, despite her
attempts to remain festive, Ryoko would return to brood about that more and
more as the evening progressed.

Sneaking a glance over her shoulder, the one time pirate observed
the cooking area, where her husband and her father were busily making
orders for people walking by. Shifting her gaze, Ryoko then looked at
Sasami who was… well, who was doing the same thing she had been doing
all evening.

Looking despondent and moving around as if she could care less
about being there.

This made Ryoko bristle with annoyance. Not only did it bother her
immensely that she had been involved in Washu's lying to Nathaniel, but it
was obvious to Ryoko that it had all been for nothing. Regardless of whether
or their guest was here or not, Sasami was obviously determined to sinking
into her depression all on her very own. For a moment Ryoko considered
exactly what she could do to smack some sense into the unhappy looking
princess.

'I can't believe this,' she grumbled silently. 'She's acting just like
her spoiled sister used to; self-absorbed with her own problems and not
caring about any one else around her.'

A flash of anger darkened Ryoko's face, momentarily causing
several would-be goldfishing children to melt away hurriedly into the crowd.
Ryoko cursed to herself and smoothed her face into something less scary.
With a small break in the crowd in front of the booth, Ryoko relaxed her
mind and let her thoughts drift over the mountains and back to the Masaki
residence.

Meee-oow! came Ryo-ohki's happy recognition of Ryoko's
mental presence.

Ryo-ohki sent Ryoko, have you been keeping an eye on him?

Meow! the cabbit affirmed and sent the her a series of images
showing Nathaniel's activities during the evening.

Ryoko processed the images and sighed with a frown. Dropping her
arms to her sides, she brought her brows together as she considered the
possibilities. Nodding to herself with decision, Ryoko turned away from the
goldfish pond and walked over to the grill, where her husband was preparing
another batch of food.

"Ah, Ryoko-san," Tenchi smiled warmly, "would you like
something to eat?"

"Actually, Tenchi," she replied, "I'd like the keys to the van."

"Keys?" he asked. "Did we forget something?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," she nodded solemnly. "I'm heading
back home."

"Home," Tenchi said, looking surprised, "what's wrong, Ryoko-
san?"

"What's wrong is that we abandoned Nathaniel this evening just to
humor the princess over there," Ryoko answered, nodding her head over to
Sasami, who was turned away, looking around uncaring for something or
another.

"Are you sure, beloved?" he asked, letting the food on the grill start
to burn a little.

"Tenchi, Ryo-ohki showed me what he's been doing this evening,
and he looks alone and miserable," she stated matter-of-factly. Looking
down at the ground uncomfortably, Ryoko then said quietly, "I know what
isolated and alone, Tenchi. And that we did this to him tonight…"

"Ryoko-san," Tenchi said understandingly, fishing the van's keys
out of a pocket. "You can drive it, right?"

Ryoko raised an eyebrow.

Tenchi grinned and said, "Never mind."

Ryoko took the keys from her husband. "I'll bring Nathaniel back
to the festival tomorrow around midday."

"All right, Ryoko-san. I love you."

"I love you, too, my prince," leaning over the grill and giving her
husband a quick kiss, "but your food is starting to burn."

With a unhappy yelp, Tenchi turned his attention back to the
burning food as Ryoko turned away fondly and walked past Washu.

"Hey, Ryoko," Washu called out, looking up from her latest fortune
subject, "where you going to?"

True to her earlier conviction, Ryoko refused to acknowledge her
mother as she melted into the crowd.

* * *

It was near midnight when Nathaniel saw the headlights of the
mini-van pull up the driveway. Sitting out on the edge of the lake's dock
with his feet in the water, he decided not to move until he had a better idea of
exactly who was in the vehicle. Looking over his shoulder, Nathaniel heard
the car door close and seconds later the kitchen door open and close quietly.
Not long after, the kitchen door opened and closed shut again, and this time
he could make out a silhouetted figure with a large mane of hair walking
towards him. As the figure came closer, he eventually made a guess to who
it was.

"Uh, Ryoko?" he called out tentatively.

"The one, the only," Ryoko returned in English as she walked out
onto the dock. "No, don't get up, I was planning on joining you out here.
Nice warm evening to be outside, eh?"

"Um, yeah," Nathaniel nodded, settling back down and putting his
feet back in the water. "Why aren't you at the festival, Ryoko?"

Ryoko made her way to the end of the dock and nudged Nathaniel
with one of her feet, indicating for him to make some room on the end for
her. He slid over a bit.

"Well," she said seriously, "that's a story I'll get to in a bit, but
first I thought we'd have a drink or two." With that, Ryoko displayed a bottle
of alcohol and a couple of cups. "Lift your spirits?"

Nathaniel smiled half-heartedly and reached for an offered cup.
"Normally, I don't drink to feel better, but what the heck."

"That's the attitude I like to hear!" Ryoko declared and filled his
cup to the brim before topping her own off. "Bonsai!"

"Cheers," Nathaniel replied, and then took his drink in one pull.

"Hey, not bad," Ryoko approved, "have another?"

"Please."

As Ryoko refilled the American's cup, she wondered how much to
tell him about why he was left earlier in the evening. Ryoko decided she had
had enough of lies for the day, and decided to come clean.

"I suppose I should tell you why I'm here so late," Ryoko began
quietly, swirling her untouched drink in her cup. "It seems my mother lied
to you, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel stopped drinking in mid-tilt, and eyed Ryoko in the
darkness. "Lied to me?" he echoed.

Ryoko sighed. "I'm sorry, Nathaniel. It seems there was no good
reason to prevent you from coming to the festival with us this evening."

"I don't understand," he said confusedly, "Doctor Washu said it
wasn't a good idea, right?"

"Well, yes," Ryoko nodded, sipping her drink, "but not for the right
reasons."

Sighing a bit while looking out over the dark lake, Ryoko then said,
"Nathaniel, I'm afraid you just happened to drop in with us at kind of a bad
time. Specifically for Sasami, it seems."

"For Sasami?" Nathaniel asked. "This have anything to do with her
having to leave soon?"

"You know about that?" Ryoko looked surprised in the moonlight.

"Yeah," he said, "Sasami mentioned having to go home soon while we
were in town, yesterday. She didn't seem too happy about it."

"Actually, yes, that has something to do with it," Ryoko agreed,
taking another drink. "Sasami has some pretty big… issues with her family
when she gets back home, and she's not handling them too well, as far as
I'm concerned."

"Oh."

"And that's why my *mother* lied to you Nathaniel," she
continued, "She felt that you might be adding to Sasami's aggravation and
unhappiness. That's why Washu made up that garbage earlier today."

"Me?" Nathaniel blurted out, startled.

"I know, I know," Ryoko said shaking her head while putting her
empty hand on his arm, "don't even worry about it one bit, please."

"It's kind of hard not to," Nathaniel complained involuntarily.

"I'm so sorry, Nathaniel," apologized Ryoko. "It's just my mother
gets these ideas in her head, and she automatically assumes that her methods
are always for the best."

He simply nodded and took another drink. "So," he sighed, putting his
cup down, "what happens now?"

Ryoko picked up his cup and refilled it thoughtfully, before topping
hers off, too.

"Well," she said, "first, we're going to finish off this bottle and then
go to sleep. Tomorrow morning, we'll head out to the festival and this go
around I'll make sure you have a good time."

"Are you sure I'm not going to be a bother?" he asked worriedly.
"After all, Doctor Wash—"

Ryoko snorted harshly and glared. "If it wasn't for my mother and
Sasami being ridiculous, you'd be there right now, as far as everyone else is
concerned."

Ryoko emptied her cup with a flourish and brought it down
forcefully on the dock. "Believe me, Nathaniel," she stated, her golden eyes
gleaming in the night, "I'm not going to allow any crap like this to go on
again!"

Nathaniel believed her.

* * *


With the coming of dawn, the light morning fog and mist that had
collected over the valley town began to slowly burn away. The momentary
cover the fog provided kept the hot summer sun from heating up the air, at
least for a little while. Eventually, the sun did manage to pierce the
thick veil, and temperatures began to climb to something more expected for the
summertime. By midmorning, in fact, it was significantly warm enough that
people attending the festival were starting to seek refuge from the direct
sunlight. As for most of the booths at the festival, it was still a bit too
early for them to be really hopping with business. Aside from a few vendors
selling cool drinks or ice treats, activity really would not start hopping
again until later in the afternoon.

Slouched in a fold up chair underneath the canopy of the Masaki
booth, Sasami sat with a dour expression on her face, tapping the side of her
head with a pencil in a bored fashion. Observing the festival patrons moving
about the street, the princess found it remarkably easy to criticize their
various attributes in her sour state of mind. Sasami had not slept well, as
usual for the past couple of weeks, and camping out under the canopy on the
side of the street had done little to improve her rest. There were small lines
under her eyes, betraying her weariness, but a trip to a public bath had helped
enough to wash away the rest of the previous night's activities.

Sighing discontentedly, Sasami frowned at the thought of having to
endure another evening of work at the festival. The princess had come to the
conclusion earlier the day before that she was certain she did not even want
to be here, much less help cook all weekend long. However, in the end,
Sasami simply chalked it up as something similar to a royal duty; regardless
of how boring it might seem to her, it was important to keep up appearances.
Anything less might be a sign of weakness and make the common people
think less of the royal house.

Sasami snorted so violently to herself that her entire body shook.
"Sounds like a sorry page taken from sister Ayeka's philosophies of life," she
muttered darkly.

At any rate it was obvious to anyone walking by, who would have
even bothered to notice, the princess had no desire to be anywhere near a
festival, or anyone else for that matter. Still tapping the side of her head
with her pencil, Sasami plucked a bit of her long hair with her other hand and
idly examined it for split ends.

'At least that American isn't here,' she consoled herself. 'This
weekend would be even more unbearable if I had to put up with being his
nursemaid anymore.'

As if trying to rewrite recent events in her own mind, Sasami had
convinced herself over the past day that Nathaniel was the end-all be-all of
her problems, completely glossing over the fact that she had brought all her
feelings upon herself. In an less than admirable attempt to bolster her own
self-esteem, Sasami had been methodically tearing down Nathaniel in her
mind with any number of depreciating and unkind thoughts.

'He's nothing more than an insignificant vagabond from across the
Pacific,' she concluded. 'Why I've bothered to waste my time with an injured
free-loader is beyond my comprehension.'

With that, Sasami propelled herself up and out of her chair and
headed off into the crowd, seeking some kind of diversion that would keep
her from confronting the fact that her biggest problem was herself.

* * *


The crowds at the festival were just starting to build again when
Ryoko and Nathaniel finally made it back into town. Parking the mini-van
some distance out of town, due to the blocked off streets, the pair were forced
to make the rest of the way on foot. It was quite hot by this point, and
Nathaniel found himself frequently mopping his forehead.

Nathaniel was glad he had one less thing to deal with, though.
Early in the morning he had decided his shoulder looked well enough to
warrant a lot fewer bandages and wraps. As a result his shoulder felt a whole
lot cooler than it had the last time he had been walking through town.
Nathaniel seemed to think his shoulder felt better in general, and he even
thought there was more mobility, albeit stiff, in his arm. He did not think it
would hurt to remove most of the bandages even if it did expose his shoulder
a bit more, but Washu was not around for him to ask her opinion, and he was not
sure he really trusted her anyhow.

In the distance, where a good number of people seemed to be
heading, Nathaniel heard a large amount of organized yelling and cheering.
Threading his way through the crowd, closely behind Ryoko, he tapped the
cyan haired woman on the shoulder.

"Wha?" asked Ryoko loudly over the din.

"Ryoko!" he said back, "What's all that shouting over that way?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed back at him, after observing the direction he
had pointed to, "That's the staging area for the floats!"

"You mean like for a parade?"

"Sort of," she nodded, "except all these floats are on huge wagon
wheels or carried by hand!"

Nathaniel had seen pictures of these before, but he still looked rather
amazed. "You're kidding? I'd love to see them!"

As the pair continued to move forward closer to the center of town,
Ryoko called over her shoulder, "Well, I'll make sure you get to see them up
close, then. Tenchi's grandfather is one of the Shinto priests blessing the
occasion, so it shouldn't be a problem!"

"Cool, Ryoko, thanks!" Nathaniel exclaimed.

The pair plowed on through the crowds, making steady progress
towards the center of town. Frequently, Nathaniel, impaired by his blurry
vision, would accidentally bump into another passerby, sending interesting
bit of pain lancing through his shoulder, but he managed to make due.
Actually, he felt a little awkward when he realized he was by far one of the
tallest people in the crowd. It made him feel a little self-conscious and
exposed for some weird reason.

Momentarily lost in thought, Nathaniel almost walked right into
Ryoko's back as she stopped suddenly before a brightly colored booth.

"Here we are!" Ryoko smiled at him. "Go on in and get out of the
sun."

Nathaniel complied and entered the canopy, squinting around
looking for Sasami. Noticing her absence, he felt very relieved. Nathaniel
decided he would much rather avoid getting in her way, if at all possible.
Looking around, though, he instantly noticed Washu engaged with a small
group of children on one side of the booth and Nobuyuki and Tenchi working
on either side of a large grill not far away.

"Ah, Ryoko-san," Tenchi smiled warmly, pausing to wipe at his
forehead from the combined heat of the day and the grill, "welcome back."

Ryoko walked up directly to her husband, giving him a fierce hug
and a kiss before stepping back to observe him. "You look tired, Tenchi."

"Well, it was a busy night," he replied. "We didn't get rid of this
crowd until well after midnight."

Beside him, Tenchi's father spoke up. "Indeed," the older man said,
"and the crowds came back a lot earlier than we expected. There's hardly any
time to watch the pretty women walking by!"

"Hrm," Ryoko pondered, "would you agree with your father's
observation about women walking by, Tenchi?"

Tenchi shook his head. "I wouldn't know, beloved, I haven't been
paying attention to things like that."

"Good answer," Ryoko said, nodded wisely.

"I can be trained," Tenchi replied, bowing gallantly.

Nathaniel laughed, having been following the Japanese
conversation. Tenchi turned towards Nathaniel and bowed.

"Please accept my deepest apologies, Nathaniel," Tenchi said. "Had
I known what my mother-in-law was up to, I would have never have left you
behind."

"Suuure, Tenchi," Washu called from over at her fortune telling
experiment, "blame it on the wicked in-law!"

Nathaniel put his good hand behind his head and managed to look
quite a bit uncomfortable. "That's okay," he said, "No harm done, really."

"Speaking of which," Ryoko muttered, looking around, "where is
our ray of sunshine anyway?"

Tenchi shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he returned
with his father to the grill. "I have no idea, Ryoko-san, but we could use her
help. These crowds are only going to get heavier."

"Can I help?" Nathaniel asked hopefully, wanting to really
contribute something to the folks who were taking care of him.

Tenchi looked thoughtfully at the American. "How's your close
range vision," he asked, "think you can handle vegetable chopping?"

"Dicing is my specialty," Nathaniel nodded. "Just put the knife in
my hand and I should be able to do the rest."

Tenchi grinned. "Hop on over here then," he said, waving a hand.

"I suppose I'll leave you three boys, then," Ryoko said with
satisfaction. "I have a pond of goldfish that needs attention."

Falling into a rhythm of work, Nathaniel soon relaxed into his work,
chopping away at various vegetables with good speed, despite his injured
shoulder.

* * *


It was much later in the afternoon when Sasami finally wandered
her way back towards the center of town. For most of the time, she had just
let her feet take her wherever they desired. To be honest, Sasami had
enjoyed the time to herself, away from her family, away from the
responsibilities of the booth, and thankfully away from Nathaniel. In the
crowd of thousands, Sasami found she could be wonderfully anonymous and
unburdened.

That all ceased when she returned to the Masaki booth. Stepping
under the canopy, she was unhappily greeted with the site of Nathaniel doing
*her* job at the grill. Sasami turned to see Ryoko leveling a cool stare in her
direction.

"It was nice of you to cut out this afternoon, Sasami," Ryoko said
offhandedly so the others could not hear, "especially without telling anyone.
Of course, you can see we managed to find a poor, half-blind fellow to fill in
nicely."

Sasami's jaw instantly began to open in apology, when she suddenly
clamped it shut. With an exaggerated toss of her hair, she instead adopted a
bored expression of apathy. Ryoko smiled ever so slightly.

"So," she grinned wolfishly, "the old Jurai nobility streak of
haughtiness isn't limited to your sister, eh?"

"I resent that, Ryoko."

Ryoko waved a hand at the princess. "If it makes you feel better,
princess, go right ahead. I've had a lot of practice cultivating resentment
from other members of your family, so I can more than oblige you…"

Ryoko paused and eyed the princess. "… that is, if you want to keep
*acting* like a spoiled child," she finished.

Before Sasami could get over her shock at being spoken to like that,
Ryoko looked over her shoulder and called back to her husband.

"Oi, Tenchi! Look who decided to show up," she said in a much
louder voice.

"Ah, Sasami-chan," Tenchi smiled, unaware of the conversation
that had just been exchanged, "you've been gone a long time. We were
starting to get worried." Beside him, Nobuyuki nodded while Nathaniel
made a detailed attempt to keep busy chopping at the grill.

"You're just time," continued Tenchi, reaching under the grill and
pulling out a lunch box. "This is dinner for grandfather. Would you mind
walking it over to him?"

Sasami stalked past Ryoko and took the box from Tenchi's
outstretched hand. "I'd be more than happy to," she said in an icy tone.

As she turned to leave the booth, Ryoko spoke up behind her.

"Well," Ryoko said innocently, "since you're going by the floats,
you won't mind escorting Nathaniel, will you?"

"What?" asked Sasami, off guard.

"Hey, that's an excellent idea, Ryoko," agreed Tenchi. "After all,
Nathaniel has been telling us all day how he'd like to get a close look at
them, since he doesn't have his glasses."

Part of Sasami wanted to argue vehemently against escorting
Nathaniel across town, and had it just been Ryoko's idea she might have
done so. However, as much as she wanted to avoid Nathaniel, she found
herself wanting to argue with Tenchi even less.

"Fine," she said flatly. "Come on, Nathaniel."

With that she turned and walked out from under the canopy. Nathaniel
removed his apron quickly and followed Sasami, with a hesitant look on his
face, before he lost her in the crowd.

As Ryoko watched them go, Tenchi moved up beside her and slid
his hand into hers.

"Do you really think this was a good idea, beloved?" Tenchi asked,
watching the pair melt into the crowd.

Sighing loudly, Ryoko admitted, "No, my prince, I'm not sure. All I
know is Sasami has been getting more and more difficult to deal with, and
I'm not going to let her start walking over me, my family, or our guests."

"There's a streak of Ayeka in her," noticed Tenchi sadly. "That's
the first time I've ever seen it come out."

Ryoko slipped her arm around her husband's waist. "Maybe it
comes from being raised in a palace," she said thoughtfully.

"Have I mentioned lately how glad I am I never left Earth for that
Jurai palace and married you, instead?"

"No," Ryoko smiled, squeezing Tenchi, "but I could really get used
to hearing that."

"I'll make a note of it," Tenchi smiled back.

* * *


Nathaniel made a decent effort at keeping up with the princess for
the first five minutes, but after that Sasami had no problem ditching the
American in the crowd. She actually made the pretense of looking around a
little bit, just so she could tell herself it was an unfortunate accident, but
Sasami was satisfied when she could not find him.

"There you go, Ryoko," Sasami smirked, "now *you* can go and
find your lost pet of a patient."

Turning on her heel, Sasami made her way purposefully towards
one of the nearby booths and pulled out some money. Within moments, she
had purchased four bottles of sake, all of them in a bag for easy carrying.
Satisfied, Sasami then began to make her way towards the edge of town
where a large and probably deserted park and forest lay waiting.

Sasami smiled to herself. She had decided she would see just what
Ryoko found so great about getting thoroughly drunk. Humming almost
happily, the princess picked up her pace.

* * *


"Dammit all!" Nathaniel swore as he tried in vain to spot Sasami.

He had only been following her for five minutes when, in the press
of the crowd, the two had been separated. For several more minutes,
Nathaniel had wandered back and forth, calling out Sasami's name, but to no
avail. Now, he was so thoroughly turned around, he could not even tell
which direction he had come from.

Accidently shoved from behind by someone in the crowd, Nathaniel
headed over towards the side of the street out of people's way and fruitlessly
scanned the scene.

"Come on, Sasami," he mumbled to himself, "where are you?"

* * *


Where Sasami was, some time later, was completely sloshed.

Sasami tilted the last empty sake bottle and peered into it with a
dour expression. Despite her willing it to do so, no more alcohol suddenly
appeared from the neck of the bottle, save one tiny drop. Letting the empty
bottle slip from her fingers and land quietly in the thick grass, the very drunk
princess sighed heavily and sagged up against the cherry tree behind her.

"That whushn't... supposhed to happen," Sasami declared
belligerently, glaring at the discarded bottle which was now left alongside
several of its fellows. "I think I fiiiinally understansh why Ryosho always got
so… UPSHET when her bottles got emptshy."

Drawing her face into a pout, Sasami let her arms sag and drop
beside her propped up body, her hands lying in the warm grass, palms
upward. For several moments her head lolled from one side of her shoulders
to the other, trying to decide if attempting to stay up straight was really
worth it. Finally settling on her left shoulder, she stared down her body until
her eyes rested on her feet. With a look of total concentration, Sasami then
tried to tap out a beat with her toes in the air. Humming an offbeat tune in a
slurred voice, she failed utterly to make any kind of connection between her
mind and her toes that resembled control.

Being drunk, she decided, was not as easy as Ryoko had made it out
to be. It was an interesting progression, however, from Sasami's point of
view. First, she had started off in a bit of despair, wandering around the fair
with her bottles in a bag until she found her way to a more secluded part of
the park. Then, after a few drinks, most of her more morose thoughts
seemed to evaporate, and Sasami felt a great deal better, even kind of happy.
Encouraged by her progress, she next downed a second bottle, at which point
the pleasant buzzing between her ears turned into a sluggish intoxication.
Everything seemed very thick to the princess, and her emotions were
suddenly very dull and far away.

It felt very good.

Finally, Sasami was in her present state, thoroughly intoxicated with
some of her emotions beginning to make their way to the surface again.
Every thing around her seemed to be moving in extreme slow motion, and
the blackness of her mood she had thought drowned was creeping back into
her consciousness.

"Bah!" Sasami muttered, wildly throwing her hand out in front of
her in a dismissive gesture. "Who needsh me to be a marrigshed prinshess
anyhow?"

Almost toppling over with the wild throw of her hand and arm,
Sasami lurched to one side and sat there, hanging limply like a marionette
whose strings had been severed.

"Who needsh me... anywaysh?" she asked sadly.

* * *


Hot, tired, and thoroughly disgusted, Nathaniel Swann finally gave
up trying to make his way through the tight crowds and accepted the fact he
was hopelessly lost. Doing his best to extricate himself from the mobs of
people, he headed instead away from the center of town towards a less
crowded area. In the space of only a few minutes, he had plenty of walking
room all around him as he found himself at one of the entrances to a rather
large park. Spying several trees nearby with rather large and inviting
patches of shade, Nathaniel slowly made his way towards the park. Picking
one of the trees at random, he settled himself down heavily in the shade and
began to cool off.

"Hell with crowds," he sighed after a while, "and bother with people
named Sasami who act like some kind of spoiled-brat princess!"

Nathaniel leaned back against his tree and closed his eyes, taking
deep breaths while trying to cool down. Resting for several minutes,
Nathaniel decided that he would simply wait here for a while until he had
enough of his energy back. One thing he was completely certain of, though.

"I want my glasses back," he complained unhappily.

Before he could bemoan his situation anymore, however, he heard a
sharp scream come from somewhere deeper within the park. For a moment,
Nathaniel considered ignoring it, but then he decided better.

"After all," he said out loud to himself as he moved to his feet,
"someone might really need some help, even from someone as blind as a
bat."

He hopped up and moved as quickly as possible in the direction the
woman's voice had come from.

* * *


Sasami was almost asleep from her intoxication when she was aware
of several shadows passing right over her. Forcing herself to sit up straight,
she knocked over a couple of empty sake bottles in the process. This cause a
series of rather evil chuckles to emit from above her. Sasami squinted
through her alcoholic haze.

Standing above her were the three leather-jacket-wearing
troublemakers she had bumped into the day before. Sasami's jaw managed
to fall open, though the rest of her body was beyond her control.

"Well, well, well," said the shortest of the three punks nastily.
"Look what we have here."

The largest of the hoods grinned evilly and smirked at the princess.
"Looks like the foreigner didn't take our advice and clear out. Now we
might have to do something about it, right?"

"She's quite the alcoholic, isn't she?" the middle sized punk
laughed.

"That's just the way I like 'em," the large one said, hauling Sasami
roughly to her feet.

Being handled so roughly brought Sasami a moment of clarity.
Leaning hard into the unsuspecting punk, she managed to shove him
backwards, despite his great size.

"How *daresh* you," Sasami seethed drunkenly, "how dare you
putsch yer hands on ME, a memsher of the royal housh of Juuurai!"

The smallest punk shoved Sasami back against the tree. "So, we
have ourselves a royally drunk princess, huh? Well, we'll bring you down off
yer high and mighty perch.

Impacting against the tree, Sasami instantly raised her hands up in
front of her and through her haze prepared to obliterate her aggressors.

"That's IT!" she declared. "I'lsh shend you to an aftsher-life of pain
and shuvvering for your impudensh!" With that, Sasami tried to concentrate
and reach out for the power from the Jurai Tree of Light, her birthright.

And to her horror found she was unable.

Putting her hands to her head, Sasami realized in terror that she
could not focus through the alcohol to make contact with the Jurai energy
within her. Wobbling slightly, she teetered against the trunk of the tree.

"Oooo, we're scared, your highness," the little punk sneered. "I say
we teach the royal bitch a little lesson!"

Seeing the punks draw in on her, Sasami did the only thing she
could think of through her haze. She let out a terrified scream, but only to
have it cut off as the largest hoodlum put his big hand around her throat,
effectively choking her.

"Shut up, princess!" he snarled at the weakly struggling woman.
"Make another sound, and I'll snap yer skinny neck!"

The middle punk looked around nervously. "You think anyone
heard her?" he asked.

"Nah," the little one replied, "you know how empty this park is
during the festival."

They turned their attention back towards Sasami, who was so
intoxicated that she had by now stopped struggling all together. The little
punk grinned nastily.

"Why don't we have ourselves a little fun now," he said, reaching
for Sasami's blouse and undoing the first couple of buttons.

The punks were so focused on the princess, that they never heard or
saw the figure behind them approaching rapidly over the grass.

* * *


The first punk never knew what hit him.

I skirted up behind the three young men who had Sasami pinned
against a tree, my feet mostly silent in the soft grass as I had kicked my shoes
off just moments before. All three of them had their backs to me, with the
smallest and largest of the punks holding Sasami. The middle punk was
about my size and never heard my approach, but there was not much
available to hit except his back, and I wanted him to go down quickly.

"Hey there," I said maliciously in Japanese.

This had the desired effect of making the first punk turn his head in
surprise, giving me the perfect target to my already moving fist. Before the
rest of his body could follow his head's lead, my fist connected on the side of
his face right where the jaw met the ear. His head snapped back and eyes
rolled as his knees gave way instantaneously. Before his body hit the ground
I sidestepped to the right of the largest punk, who threw his left arm out in a
wild attempt at a punch while still clutching Sasami with his right.

This guy was huge, at least fifty pounds heavier than I was. In fact,
I could count on my fingers the number of people I'd seen so far in Japan who
even came close to his size. I had no intention of going toe to toe with this
young fellow, so I let his punch come towards me, pushing it aside softly
with my right hand as I continued to sidestep behind him to my right. Following
my right hand's progress, I used my left to trap and secure his extended arm.
With his back still mostly towards me, my right hand slid up to where his
arm met his shoulder. A violent push with my right hand and a twisting jerk
with my left and his arm gave way easily as it dislocated.

Before the heavyweight could begin to scream, however, there was a
blinding light and pain as the smallest punk punched me on the left side of
my face. Letting go of the big fellow in a hurry, I let my sidestepping motion
allow me to continue to fall to the right, striking the ground hard on my
injured shoulder and rolling onto my side. Yanking my eyes open, I saw the
blurry form of the short punk rise towards me with his right leg swinging
back to kick. As his foot started to swing forward, I let my left foot thrust
out and strike his left knee, just as his kick connected with my outstretched
leg. Under my foot, I felt his kneecap give way and scrape with a nauseating
sound. The smallest punk crumpled instantly and began to howl, writhing
on the ground and clutching his leg.

Without any thought to my injuries, thanks to the wonders of
adrenaline, I pushed myself to my feet, ready to launch at the next fellow to
get back to his feet. The punk I had hit first was out cold, susceptible to
having glass jaw like ninety-nine percent of human beings everywhere. The
huge guy was gasping in obvious pain, cradling his left arm that I had hyper
extended. His arm hung from his shoulder at an obviously incorrect location,
and any attempt at much movement seemed to aggravate the pain even
further. The last punk was similarly in pain, though more severely as his
cries were loud and frantic apparently from significant damage done to his
knee.

From start to finish, about nine seconds had passed. Maybe ten.

The instant the two punks holding Sasami against the tree had
loosened their hold, her knees had buckled as she slid down the side of the
tree into a heap. I did my best to wake her quickly, but she was unconscious
and refused to come around. Over the yells of the little punk, I heard a noise
to my side as the big guy was trying to get to his feet. Spinning around from
Sasami I raised my right fist quickly and prepared to strike him hard. Seeing
my fist raise up against him, the punk flinched backwards, slipping on the
grass and hitting the ground with a thump. This sent a lot of pain though
him, because he started to scream like a banshee.

"Bastard," I snarled in English, my vocabulary of Japanese swears
non-existent.

Turning back to the still unconscious Sasami, I attempted to stand
her up on her feet, but the girl literally seemed to pour out of my hands, she
was so limp. As her head swung past my face, I caught the almost
overpowering smell of alcohol.

"Oh, crap," I swore again, scooping the young woman up with
both arms and, with some effort, began to stagger away from the injured
goons.

Making a beeline for what appeared to be a trail, as far as I could
tell, I cradled Sasami like an overgrown baby in my arms and scooted away
as fast possible into the twilight. For a good five minutes, I quickly shuffled
down the trail through thick stands of trees, my right arm and shoulder
screaming at me from the effort they were making. Pretty soon, the noise
from the injured punks faded away as we went deeper into the park,
disappearing completely once we were safely away.

My shoulder, after heroic efforts, finally had enough and forced me
to stop, almost dropping Sasami before I had the chance to ease her down
and let her spill out of my arms. The girl was absolutely limp. At first I had
thought the smell of alcohol might have been from the punks, but running
with Sasami for the past several minutes had proven otherwise.

She was tanked.

Flopping on the path beside her, I began to cradle my right arm,
feeling the sensations of pain lance through my shoulder continually. It was
not as bad as when I had first woken up in the Masaki household, thankfully,
but it still smarted pretty bad. However, it was pretty obvious I had reopened
a wound, judging by the blood stain. I propped myself up against a boulder
and took survey of my surroundings.

The twilight was getting a bit deeper, but there was still enough
light to move around in safely. All around us were trees thick with leaves,
obscuring most of the darkening sky above. As my heart began to slow down
(it really had not speeded up until the fight was over), I took several deep
breaths and listened to a little stream tinkle merrily behind the boulder I was
resting on. Enjoying a moments idle, I pondered getting back to my feet and
carrying Sasami out of the wooded park before it got too dark to see clearly.
However, much to my relief, a series of light posts, well blended in alongside
the pathway, automatically switched on in response to the dwindling
daylight.

"Whew!" I exclaimed out loud. "At least that's something."

"Huh? Wussit?" a heavily slurred Sasami uttered from beside me.

Rolling over from her side onto her stomach, the young woman tried
to speak, but ended up mostly eating a good deal of her hair that had fallen
across her face. Not knowing what else to do, I moved over and scooped
Sasami's upper body into my lap, clearing away as much of her hair from her
mouth and face as possible. Her arms struggled weakly as she tried to open
her eyes and focus.

"N-nassaniel?"

"Not quite, but close enough," I mockingly teased her. The
confused and intoxicated look on her pale face indicated she had no
comprehension of my sardonic humor, so I got a little more serious.

"Yep, it's me, Nathaniel," I assured her. "How you doing there,
Sasami?"

Watching her screw her face up in exaggerated concentration as
she tried to process my question, Sasami flopped her hand up to the side of
her chin and let it sit there for a moment.

"I-I don't shink... don't feelsh sho good," she slurred as her facial
features seemed to sag.

Brining one of my hands up to her pretty face, I felt her skin. It was
cold and quite clammy. From previous experience I knew exactly what was
about to happen next.

"Nathanshiel," she slurred again, this time with a little burp, "don't
feel... good. Chest tight."

"There, there," I soothed, adjusting her weight so she was no longer
so much in my lap, "I can help you, Sasami, but you have to do something for
me, okay?"

"Ugh," she groaned thickly. "Wha?"

"Try to sit up on your hands and knees," I said slowly and
reassuringly, hoping time would not run out, "you'll feel better, I promise."

"P-promish?"

"Promish, cross my heart and hope to die."

"Okay," she said in a small, little-girl voice.

With agonizing slowness, and several more burps, Sasami lifted
herself all the way out of my lap with my help until she wobbly made her way
to her hands and knees. She was breathing shallow and quickly now, and
her face was becoming even more pale.

"I don't feelsh any better," she complained unhappily as she started
to shiver uncontrollably.

"Trust me, you will," I lied as I began to gather her long hair from
around her face and hold it up behind her head.

"No, I'sh really don't shink-" she began to say before a violent
contraction racked her upper body.

And with the practiced ease of a skill I had the dubious privilege of
perfecting years ago in college, I held Sasami's hair well out of range as she
emptied her stomach of most of the alcohol she had drank earlier.

* * *


Wind whipped strands of hair across Sasami's face as she stood in
the midst of a barren wasteland, her eyes closed. Vast stretches of mesa,
scored by storms of unimaginable ferocity, raced towards every horizon.
Blood red and marked with deep, black shadows, the land met with
threatening skies that boiled in a metallic blue haze.

With her arms by her sides and her hands thrown open, Sasami
titled her head back slightly with the wind currents. They were dry and
ominous, sucking the moisture from her skin.

'You will know truth,' a male voice seemed to echo from nowhere
and everywhere.

Sasami's eyes opened slightly to the sight of the wasteland. "W-who
is that?"

The skies continued to boil slowly, their color reducing from blue to
a shiny green. There was a silence as the princess strained her ears for a
reply, her imagination sensing noises that did not exist in the silent features
of the terrain.

'You will *know* truth, Daughter of the Tree of Light,' the voice
spoke again, sinisterly.

In front of Sasami, a figure rose up from the red desert floor in a the
vortex of a dust devil. She shielded her eyes up from the stinging winds,
cowering behind her arms until the dust died down. Dropping her arms
when the worst of the storm seemed past, Sasami cracked her eyes open and
gaped.

"What are you?" she stammered, staring at a shadowy humanoid
that stood not ten feet from her.

The humanoid had no face.

'Yes,' the voice continued, laughing now, 'you will know truth
when you look into your own heart-'

The shadowy figure raised a silver blade of energy and charged
Sasami, moving fluidly and silently while bringing its blade down towards
her head. Sasami cried out, back peddling over the rocky earth as she tried
to avoid the weapon.

'-and see fear-'

In a total panic, Sasami reached out an sought the power from the
Tree of Light and formed her chosen weapon, a gleaming staff of Jurai
energy. Her arms shook from impact as her staff stopped the humanoid's
blade inches from her face. With a scream the princess pushed the blade
away and lurched to her feet.

'-despair-'

Seemingly caught by surprise, the faceless humanoid staggered back
and rose its blade to the defense as Sasami wildly attacked, screaming
hoarsely. Swinging her staff of energy in wide arks, she continued to thrust
the offender away until, with a strangled cry and a mighty thrust, Sasami
impaled the being through the throat with the end of her weapon.

The humanoid began to quiver and dropped its blade, arms dangling
loosely. Without warning, facial features began to form from the blank face
in an expression of searing pain. Sasami's features became one of horror as
the unseen voice spoke again.

'-blackness,' the voice concluded with evil mirth.

"N-n-no," stammered the princess, her body trembling as she
continued to hold her staff, "it can't be!"

The figure's lips moved slowly and with effort, trying to speak
through a red froth that was gathering in its mouth. Finally, it managed to
talk.

"Saaasshami," a feminine voice gurgled, "how... could yooou?"

The impaled figure went totally limp as its knees buckled, sliding
slowly off of Sasami's staff of Jurai energy. It landed in a soft heap in the
barren dust. Sasami's energy weapon disappeared instantly as the princess
began to stagger backwards, her hands coming up to the sides of her head.

"No. No. No," she repeated numerous times to herself. "NO!!"

Closing her eyes, Sasami dropped roughly to her knees and arched
forward till her head was almost touching the ground, her eyes closed.

Somewhere, the invisible voice laughed mercilessly.

Sasami whipped her head back and screamed. "MAYUKA!!!!"

* * *


Thrown totally off balance by the unexpected thrashing of Sasami's
body, Nathaniel shuffled desperately from side to side as he tried to maintain
his footing with her riding piggy-back. Stumbling in the low light of the
trail, he finally lost his balance. Knowing he was going to fall, Nathaniel did
his best to keep the struggling Sasami from hitting the ground as well, and
with an audible thump, Nathaniel crashed to the crushed gravel trail on his
knees.

"Frijoles, lady!" he cursed through clenched teeth as pain lanced up
through his knees and into his legs.

The extra weight of the young woman on his back managed to drive
him further into the sharp gravel, ripping through the knees of his jeans.
Sasami, still on his back by some miracle, slowed her wiggling and let her
head and arms go limp around Nathaniel's shoulders.

"M-mayuka," she croaked in small, slurred voice before going
totally limp.

Nathaniel let his head hang as he breathed heavily, letting the
energy expended in his controlled crash return. With his arms still firmly
wrapped around Sasami's legs to keep her in place, Nathaniel waited
patiently until the initial pain in his knees has subsided enough so he was
no longer grinding his teeth. Raising up slightly, he turned his head until he
could see Sasami's passed out expression.

He grimaced. "Typical, sleeping like a baby, no doubt," smirked
Nathaniel. "You better have one hell of a hangover tomorrow to even come
*close* to making up for this."

Turning his head back to the ground, Nathaniel breathed deeply
several times before launching himself roughly to his feet. Grunting with the
effort, one of his knees wobbled slightly as if deciding whether to support the
ridiculous load or not. Finally, his legs found equilibrium and stability as he
shifted here and there to center Sasami's limp weight.

Then, Nathaniel felt something wet begin to dribble down the side
of his neck as Sasami started to snore hesitantly. Screwing his eyes crossed in
utter aggravation, a little voice in Nathaniel's head considered the idea of
dumping Sasami right there and then.

Unable to do anything about the drool sliding down his neck without
depositing the wasted princess on the ground, Nathaniel looked out through
the darkness trying to figure out which way to head.

"One minute you're nice, the next minute you're about as distant as
Pluto," he grumbled, silently assessing the options presented by the trail
intersection.

"You agree to baby sit me," he continued to no one in particular,
"which I appreciate, but then diss me in the middle of a crowd when I can't
see well enough to get back to your family's *bloody* booth!"

A persistent stinging from his knees informed him, even though he
could not see the stains on the rocks where he had crashed, that he was
bleeding.

"I mean, you could have at least let me share a bottle and work things
out," he said, rolling his eyes. "But, you had to go off by yourself and get
sloshed all by yourself," he sighed, "letting those thugs take advantage of
you."

Careening his head back at Sasami, he glared at her. "You could
have been raped or worse, you dummy!"

Sasami winced slightly in her sleep from his voice. Nathaniel
immediately regretted barking at her, and turned his head back out to the
dimly lit trails.

Nathaniel's head fell a little in shame. "And you made me hurt
those guys *and* myself just to bail you out of your mess," he regretted
unhappily. "Thanks a bunch, Sasami. Let me know if I can do anything
*else* for you during my stay."

The moment he spoke those last words, he again felt regret at laying
his anger on Sasami, even though she was beyond hearing it. Shaking his
head to clear it of his frustration, Nathaniel looked up through the stands of
trees in the park looking for any sign of a way out. With his vision, all the
trails looked the same, and he had a sinking a feeling that they had been
going in circles.

"Come on," he said to the woods, "give me a sign here. I don't want
to be carrying this *princess* here all night."

No response.

He shifted Sasami's weight again. "Come on, please?" he asked.
"I'll promise to recycle more paper products if you help me out."

The leaves in the tops of the trees rustled unhurriedly, obviously
unconcerned with the plight of the two people below.

"Great," Nathaniel muttered to himself, "now I'm talking to trees.
Wonderful."

Out of the corner of his eye, Nathaniel then thought he saw a flash
of light through the darkness of the trees. He assumed it was his
imagination, until he heard the distant report of a loud bang and pop. The
noise was quickly followed by more blurry flashes of light and booms.

"Fireworks?" he said. "Well, your royal pain-in-the-ass highness,
looks like we're in luck after all."

Clenching his teeth from the pain of walking and carrying Sasami's
dead load, Nathaniel stumbled off down a trail that appeared to lead in the
general direction of the fireworks.

* * *


Back at the booth, Yosho managed to look somewhat blank while
maintaining his usual serious posture.

"No, Sasami never brought me dinner, Ryoko," he said shaking his
head. "I have not seen Sasami-chan all day, as a matter of fact. It's a shame,
because I was hungry, too."

Ryoko crossed her arms, her face repeatedly falling in and out of
light and dark with each passing flash of the nearby fireworks overhead.

"Where could those two have gotten off to?" she demanded furiously.

"I'm sure they're all right, Ryoko-san," Tenchi assured his wife
while squeezing her hand. "Though it's not like Sasami to not bring
grandfather his dinner like that."

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed, Tenchi, that Sasami's been doing a
*lot* of things lately that aren't like her," growled Ryoko.

Tenchi could only nod at this.

Yui Masaki looked up from the goldfish pond, where she had been
swirling her fingers in the cool water. "I've been all over town all afternoon,
mom," she offered with a shrug, "and I haven't seen either one of them at
all."

"Well," Nobuyuki offered, fingering one of his ever-present
cameras, "maybe they made up and decided to go somewhere a little more
quiet!"

"Daaad, be serious," Tenchi groaned.

"At any rate," his father continued, "there's no way we'll be able to
find them until the crowd thins out, so we shouldn't get overly worked up."

"Excellent point," Yosho agreed, nodding solemnly.

However, before anyone could say another word, the crowd of people
around the Masaki booth shuddered anxiously for a moment. Without
warning, the crowd parted suddenly, revealing a grotesque looking form,
hunched over in the semidarkness. Seeming to have two heads, four arms,
and four legs, the monster staggered slowly over to the Masaki booth until it
reached the front, stopping jerkily.

Ryoko gasped as even Yosho managed to look alarmed when the
monster raised up into the light of the booth. Bloodied and bruised,
Nathaniel blinked owlishly from the light above the grill and tried to shift an
unconscious Sasami into a more comfortable position. Gasping for breath,
Nathaniel managed to say something with his parched throat.

"M-made it," he croaked as his knees buckled and gave way under
Sasami's weight. Crashing to the street on his knees, Nathaniel's grunt of
pain was cut off as his forehead smacked onto the pavement immediately
afterwards.

Nathaniel could hear seemingly distant voices calling from all
around him as he happily blacked out. Sasami rolled off Nathaniel's back
lightly into a twisted heap, still wholly unaware of what was transpiring.

There was a quick flash as Nobuyuki took a picture.

* * *



Coming up in Chapter 7:


Ryoko gets bent, Sasami gets an unwelcome royal visitor, and Nathaniel's
horizons are widened.

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Last updated December 14, 2000.