I am glad that most of you like this fic. Please keep R&R. I have recieved some flames, but "I don't like it" doesn't help me with the writing. I wrote this story because I love Aeka and Tenchi (although Ryoko and Tenchi is ok too). I got the idea when I suddenly realized how much Lady Tokimi sounds like Aeka (American Version), albeit a bit colder.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tenchi Muyo! but this story is mine. So NO copying.

OK, then. The show...

Tenchi Muyo! Lost Souls Ch. 6

"Hello, Aeka," Yosho, her brother, said, "Welcome home."

Andromeda quivered at the sound of that name. It wasn't who she was anymore; she had denounced that life, then she had killed it. She was Andromeda, now and forever more. She smiled coldly, "I have no home, so how can I be welcomed."

Yosho smiled dropped when he saw that cold smile. He didn't understand what she meant. He turned his eyes towards the bed where Sasami sleep peacefully. For the past six days she had had a fever and nightmares. For the first time in awhile, she look like she was at peace.

"She's all right now," Andromeda brought him out of his reverie.

"Why did you come, if not to come home," Yosho asked.

"I didn't plan to come here, but when I heard about Sasami," she turned to face her sister on the bed, "I had to see her."

"Why did you come to the planet then," he asked, probing deeper.

She never answered the question, but asked one of her own, "How come you didn't know what was happening to Sasami. You could've helped her, you know."

Yosho was surprised, then looked at the woman. He was silenced with his shock. She was blaming him for not understanding Sasami.

"That's right, I'm blaming you for not taking care of her," she admitted out loud. She turned away from him. "You let one sister die, and now you almost let another one die. Your record is dropping."

"What do mean I let one sister die," Yosho asked confused.

Andromeda shook her head, "You don't even know." She humphed, then continued, "Aeka is DEAD, Yosho. You let her die, and she can never be brought back."

It was then that there was a commotion heard coming from the hallway. Andromeda turned toward the door when it was swung opened with a bang to reveal Ryoko followed by Tenchi, Washu, and some of the royal guards. Ryoko stopped suddenly as her eyes fell on the woman standing at the far end of the room. The others stopped just as suddenly when they also noticed the woman also.

"Aeka," Ryoko whispered shocked. Andromeda's eyes narrowed at the name, she really detested that name. She shrugged it off and then took off towards the secret passageway. Upon entering the tunnel, she soon disappeared. The three, brought out of their shocked state, ran after Aeka. When they reached the doorway they were met with a high voltage of electricity.

"Aeka," Tenchi yelled after her, "Please, stop." When she didn't seem like she was coming back he brought up his power and broke the shield. Then started down through the tunnel with Ryoko in tow.

Washu walked up to Grandfather and asked worriedly, "Grandfather, are you all right?" He simply nodded his answer. Washu turned her attention towards the woman sleeping on the bed. She seemed to be all right, matter of fact, she seemed to be doing better than she had been doing for the past six days. Then she noticed it, the two dots of her forehead. She wasn't just Sasami anymore, she was Tsunami. Had Aeka known this was happening to her sister, is that why she had come. She looked towards the dark passageway and hoped they could bring Aeka home.

Andromeda ran far away from them as fast as she could. She couldn't allow them to capture her, and then force her into the life that she had destroyed. She wasn't Aeka any longer; no one would control her life. If she didn't allow her father to control her life, why would she let the others do that?

"Aeka," Tenchi called after her. She really detested that name; she would have to do something about that. She finally made it to the main cavern, and sighed with relief. It would only take her another few minutes and she would be away from them. She turned toward the tunnel that would take her to the base of the hill outside of the palace walls, when Ryoko appeared just in front of her. Tenchi finally caught up and stood behind her. Aeka stood in a battle stance ready to fight them off.

"Why are you running away, Aeka," Ryoko said.

"Don't call me that," Andromeda said through clenched teeth. Ryoko was shocked. That was her name, why wouldn't she want to be called that.

"Aeka," Tenchi said, "Please, stop. Come back home."

"I don't have a home," she spat out, "Now move or I'll be forced to hurt you, Ryoko."

"You've always said that before, and you have never been able to do it," Ryoko spat back.

Andromeda stood up straight, leaving her hands at her side, then she admitted, "Yes, you're right. I could never hurt you." Then she looked Ryoko straight in the eyes, and Ryoko shivered at the coldness that was there. She was reminded of the look of cold godliness that she had received from someone else, but they had destroyed her a long time ago. "But I will move you with force, if I have to."

At this she brought her arms up slightly and her hair was blow up as her tiara and the jewel at the base of her neck began to gather power. Tenchi saw what she was doing and tried to stop her, but he was too late. Andromeda lifted Ryoko and threw her at Tenchi. Ryoko and Tenchi were pushed into the wall of the cavern.

"Aeka is dead. She no longer exists. I have no home because I am not Aeka. I am Andromeda, learn it, live with it, because I am here to stay," she said coldly. She then turned to the correct tunnel and ran through.

Ryoko rose and then so did Tenchi, and so they were following her through the tunnel. They weren't about to give-up just yet.

"She called herself Andromeda, Tenchi. Back in the city, Andromeda's crew said that she had killed Aeka."

"I know Ryoko. What I don't know is why Andromeda would say this when she is Aeka."

"I don't know, Tenchi, this person is not the Aeka that I had known before. Her eyes were different. They reminded me of..." She shivered as she let the sentence trail.

"You are right," Andromeda said as they finally exited the tunnel and found themselves at the foot of the hill were the palace rested on. They stopped when they noticed that Aeka had stopped just a few feet in front of them. "I am not Aeka. As I told you before, I killed Aeka, and the person you see now is what is. I am Andromeda, space pirate princess."

"Please, stop this Aeka," Ryoko said, trying again.

Andromeda, furious at the insistence that Ryoko call her Aeka, began to power-up once again. Tenchi readied his shield, as mush as he loved Aeka, he could not allow her to hurt Ryoko. They were just trying to get Aeka back.

"I do not think that is wise, your highness," a steady female voice said from just the right of the three. Andromeda, knowing the voice, powered-down.

"Perhaps you are right. I do not wish to hurt them. Prince Tenchi can not miss the coronation tomorrow. Beside, even with my new powers, he is more powerful than I am. I am no match," Andromeda declared. The six crewmembers of Andromeda's ship gathered behind her. "Iris I do believe that it is time that we left."

"Of coarse, your highness," she said as she closed her eyes. Realizing what she was doing Tenchi and Ryoko ran towards them, but where too late. They had disappeared once again.

"No," Ryoko cried, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Back at the hotel that they were staying at, the crew of the Olympus materialized in the bedroom suite that the women were staying. They had gotten away safely from the prince and lady.

"That was close, your highness," Eros said taking a comforting seat on a nearby chair. Aurora joined him at the foot of the chair, sitting with her legs crossed in front of her.

"Will we be leaving now that they know that you are here," the little girl asked innocently.

"No," Andromeda said taking off her cloak and laying it across the couch that she had walked behind, "We came here for another reason, not to visit my former life."

"What, exactly, is the reason that we came, Andromeda-hime," Ares asked sarcastically.

Andromeda ignored his tone and answered, "The coronation of the new emperor will be a grand event, and it will be a holiday for everyone on the planet. I chose this time because of that reason. We will need that distraction if we are going to get the schematics to the last Juraian bank that we are to attack."

"Of coarse, it is a good plan," Atena surmised, "but they know that you are here." Andromeda sighed in agitation. "Maybe, though, we can use that." Everyone's eyes were on her now. "They do not think that you will steal from Jurai. They are distracted with your actual appearance here, the only thing that will be on their minds is a way to get you back and there is, of coarse, the coronation."

"Yes, you are right," Andromeda agreed. She turned towards Iris, her wings still out. She had not spoken at all since they had gotten there. "What are the chances that this will work, Iris? Are they good?"

Iris never looked-up, her head bowed she said only, "I failed." Andromeda was startled. She was about to ask what she had meant, when Iris began to explain, "I was trying to get to Washu's computer. She was getting so close, I couldn't allow her to figure out what hotel we were staying at. A little sooner, I would have done it without being detected. But I failed, and that is why they almost caught you."

Andromeda looked at Iris with understanding eyes. She walked up to the person that had been with her the longest, and placed her hand on Iris's slumped shoulders. The form she had taken allowed her to grow in ways that one had never imagined before. One of them was the feelings that went through a person, including failure and disappointment along with joy and happiness.

"I had already been caught by Yosho before those three arrived. If your distractions hadn't worked, even your failed distraction, I might never have been able to get out of Tsunami's room." Iris lifted her head and looked into her princess's face and her pain eased a bit. However, there was still quilt there, but she wouldn't be who she was if she didn't feel anything. Iris smiled gently her thanks, Andromeda nodded.

"Now," Atena started, "let us begin readying for our surprise." Everyone nodded and the talking began.

Tenchi and Ryoko walked into Sasami's room where they had left Washu and Grandfather. Washu looked at them hopeful, but was saddened when they shook their heads. Grandfather still looked away, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"We almost had her, but then she blasted me with a power I could not match," Ryoko said. Washu was intrigued by this news. "We followed her again," Ryoko continued, "and reached her when she was outside, but those people came and took her away."

"Her power has grown and now she can control it," Washu said voicing her thoughts, "this is not good. The power of Jurai is great, but Ryoko's power is almost as great as Tenchi's. Aeka never had power like that."

"She admitted though that she was not as strong as I was," Tenchi said. Tenchi turned towards his grandfather, then said, "What did she tell you?"

His grandfather looked up with a defeated face and said, "She said that Aeka was dead. That she killed her." Tenchi was shocked at Grandfather's look more than he was about what he said. He had already heard this from the others; it wasn't new to him. What was, was the look on Grandfather's face. He had never seen him look so defeated, it wasn't like his grandfather to get defeated.

"Grandfather," Tenchi reassured, "Aeka isn't dead, she's just lost. And I have promised to get her back. I won't give-up." He placed a hand on Grandfather's slumped shoulders. "We have been working this past five years, off and on, searching for Aeka. Had I know that she now called herself Andromeda, I think it would have been easier."

"I was wrong, I failed to protect her," Grandfather said, "I might not have pushed her like my father did, but I didn't pull her back. She still fell over the edge, and now she is dead." With his head bowed still, he began to walk out of the room. A soft voice stopped his retreat.

"No, Aeka is not dead. Tenchi is right, she is only lost." Everyone turned to the bed where the voice had come from. Tsunami was sitting upright in her bed, Ryo-Ohki held in her arms still sleeping, all strength returned.

"Sasami, you're all right," Ryoko said relieved.

"Yes, I am quite all right now. I didn't understand something and Andromeda pointed that out to me. I was lost, and she helped me find my way."

"You were lost," Tenchi asked with confusion. Tsunami merely nodded.

"I understand," came Washu's understanding voice, "Your final transformation. You were confused about something and it hindered the transformation."

"Yes," Tsunami said, "I didn't know that Aeka would recognize me after the transformation. It was really an absurd idea, now I know that."

"She reassured you that she would be able to know whom you were when you had finally completed the transformation," Washu explained to the others.

"Mm-hum," Tsunami began, "She showed me that love could see through any facade to see the true self of a person. My love for her has shown me that she is still in there, she is only lost like I was."

"But you were going through a transformation," Ryoko said. Tsunami nodded and every then understood.

"She is going through a transformation of her own," Washu replied.

"We have all gone through a transformation of sorts. Tenchi, Ryoko, me. The last will be Aeka."

"Tenchi and Ryoko's transformation was the realization of their power," Washu though out loud, "You were the transformation of combining two souls. Aeka's will be..."

"The same as mine, the combining of two souls," Tsunami finished.

"Who's this second soul, Andromeda, then," Ryoko asked.

"That is only a name that the soul uses," Tsunami replied, "it is not the true name of the soul. That name has been vanquished, so it had no name. It let Aeka pick the name, and she chose Andromeda."

Then it dawned on Washu who was the second soul of Aeka, the vanquished name. It was... "Tokimi!"

"Yes, our sister."

"What, Tokimi went into Aeka's body," Ryoko said with vehemence, "I will kill her for that."

"No, if you kill Tokimi's soul, you will really kill Aeka. Tokimi is now apart of Aeka," Tsunami said. "If you want to save Aeka, you must show her the way."

"You were sick when you couldn't finish you transformation, Aeka's not," Tenchi mentioned.

"I fought the transformation, Aeka is not fighting," Tsunami stated.

"Aeka has let go completely," Grandfather said when the realization hit him. He had been quietly listening to the whole conversation.

"That is correct, brother. Aeka was tired of fighting against all the pushing," Tsunami acknowledged.

"Father," he asked. Tsunami nodded in response.

"She turned herself over completely to her second soul. Andromeda has taken control, but Aeka is not gone, else she wouldn't have come her to help me but to kill me in my weakened state," Tsunami finished her response.

"Then we have to find her and show her the way," Tenchi said with conviction.