Chapter II
Chapter II
Walking
along one of Jurai's sandy beaches, Tenchi and Ayeka were strolling through the
breezy night air after watching a breathtaking Juraian sunset. Meekly followed from a distance by the
mechanical version of Azaka and Kamidake, they were now silent, listening to
the calm ocean. But one of them had a
lot on his mind.
**What
am I doing? –– Is this right? –– Is this what love is about? –– Does love
always end in disaster in one way or another?** Tenchi thought to himself as he walked along. Ayeka once again picked up on his
troublesome state. "Lord Tenchi, I have
noticed your sadness and Depression for months now. Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Ayeka said with a concerned look. As usual, Tenchi looked at her, smiled, and once again told her
that he just had a lot on his mind.
That
was an understatement. Five years had
passed since Tsunami appeared before the king.
Five years since Jurai started being attacked from neighboring worlds. Five years since the king made the suggestion
that he wait a little bit longer before he and Ayeka made any long term
decisions. Truth of the matter was, he
needed the time anyway.
Now,
that seems like a long time ago; A long time to be courting one Feisty
princess. Ayeka is a very attractive,
competent person, but it takes quite a while to truly get to know her. On a positive note, when you court a
princess, you also get to know the Royal Family. The queen, Misaki, has practically adopted Tenchi as her
son. He gets the same treatment of being
squeezed to death as the girls do. The
king, always has been and always will be hardheaded, quiet, and tends to keep
to himself most of the time. That
leaves Princess Sasami. Sasami... No
matter what he does, he can't get her out of his head. She is 16 now, almost time for her "merge"
with Tsunami. She has become every bit
as beautiful as I had expected. She
always has that innocent smile on her face that makes everyone seem to pause
and attempt to take a mental picture.
Within
the past year, she had started dating various Juraian nobles, with Azaka and
Kamadake following close behind. The
attacks on Jurai had gotten worse so her protectors were not going to take any
chances. Sasami enjoyed the time she
spent with them, but never really connected with any of them. In the mean time, Tenchi had become good
"friends" with her over the past few years.
While waiting for Ayeka to arrive home from political visits to neighboring
planets, Tenchi and Sasami had spent many hours talking, laughing, and exchanging
stories to pass the time. Sasami
connected with Tenchi better than any other Suitor. But, alas, Tenchi was courting Ayeka. Sasami was probably too young anyway.
Ayeka
and Tenchi have walked down this beach countless times, and it always makes him
start thinking about his feelings. But
recently, he has grown tired of these feelings and must make a decision soon.
One turn of events that has made him feel this way is the way Sasami has acted
around him during the past few months.
She has taken every opportunity to see him, all the while smiling at him
with that shy, innocent face that tends to make you week in the knees. Standing there in a Juraian robe, long, blue
hair reaching to her waist, and big, round, expressive eyes looking at
you. She has wanted nothing more than
to spend time with him.
What
he didn't know was, one of those occasions where they were waiting for Ayeka to
return, Ayeka returned early and secretly watched them while they were waiting
for her She saw how happy they were. All
of the depression and deep thoughts that usually engulfed Tenchi were no more
when he was with Sasami. Ayeka and
Sasami have always loved each other.
Sasami has always looked up to Ayeka in just about every aspect except
those stuffy princess responsibilities.
Ayeka has always been willing to defend Sasami as her little sister but
has always been a little jealous of Sasami's beauty. Ayeka now realized what might have been on Tenchi's mind
lately. Sasami has always been
there. Tenchi will make his
decision. There's no sense in
confronting him.
The
next time Tenchi came to wait for Ayeka, once again Sasami was there waiting
with him. He decided to talk to her
about his feelings. "Sasami?" he said
with a quiet voice. She looked at him
intently. "Hmm?" she said sweetly. Tenchi continued. "I – I have something I want to talk to you about." he said. "Ok."
She said with a smile. "I – I
have had a very good time with you these past few months; In fact, a really
good time. Do you... I mean... Have you..." he stammered. Sasami looked up with a shy face. " I've had a good time too, Tenchi." She said smiling at him with an increasingly
blushed face. Tenchi blurted out, "I
know we've known each other for a long time since I've been courting Ayeka and
all but..." He said now blushing
himself. Just then Sasami reached over
and put her hand on his arm. Tenchi
immediately felt a wave of emotion shoot through his body. He felt her incredibly soft hand on his arm
and it only intensified the blush on his face.
Sasami then looked down with sadness and said, "But – you are courting
my sister, Ayeka. And I don't want to
hurt her." Tenchi smiled. "Don't worry, Sasami. I know your sister very well. In time, we will come to an understanding. For now, I just needed to know if you felt
the same way." He said. Sasami blurted out "Yes, I do! I – I love you, Tenchi!!" She said.
Tenchi then leaned over and did something he never imagined he would
do. He lightly and tenderly kissed her. He then whispered "I love you too..."
Later
that week, the king had attended an important peace conference with a
neighboring world that had been in contention with Jurai. One of the conditions of the peace agreement
was that the son of the leader of the neighboring world would be able to court
Princess Sasami for one evening. The
king didn't like the idea but meekly agreed as long as her guardians, Azaka and
Kamadake would be allowed to accompany her as usual. Sasami discussed this with Tenchi and he said that he needed time
to work things out with Ayeka anyway so just to go and try to have fun.
When
the evening came, Sasami was nervous and uncomfortable but determined to endure
in order to see Tenchi again after she got back. Later that evening, after Sasami and the dark, handsome man from
the neighboring world had departed, Tenchi and Ayeka started conversing in the
royal palace. Tenchi was trying to come
up with the right words to express his feeling when all of the sudden, Azaka
and Kamadake, who were supposed to be accompanying Sasami, stormed through the
door, out of breath. Azaka yelled out
"Sasami has been taken hostage!!"
Princess
Sasami had been kidnapped. After the
royal family overcame the initial shock of the news, Azaka and Kamadake gave
their report. Apparently, the dark,
handsome man that had come to Court Sasami was actually a member of the
neighboring world's government. Shortly
after taking off, the man had confined Sasami in a room, stated his demands to
Azaka and Kamadake, and then transported them to the surface of Jurai. His demands were simple – if they wanted the
precious Princess back alive, they must give up their most powerful ship and
all of its secrets contained thereof.
Tsunami. In the mean time, he
would hold Sasami hostage until the demands were met. In addition, if they took too long deciding, he would commence
medical experiments on the princess.
Little did he know that the princess herself was the key to Tsunami's
power.
The
king, Misaki, Ayeka, Tenchi and other members of the royal family were all
listening to the story Azaka and Kamadake were relaying to them. They were full of shame because they had
failed to protect the princess despite their promise to the king that they
would. The king wouldn't have it. "You two did what was necessary to prevent
harm to my daughter. If you had tried
to rescue her on board, he might have killed her. Please do not be shameful, for we must come up with a plan to
rescue her." The king said with
authority. "And I'm going to need some
suggestions!" He added.
All
the while this is going on, Tenchi is sitting in the corner, next to Ayeka,
trying his best to hide the sick feeling in his stomach. In fact, he was a mess. He looked like he had just lost his
mother. This finally attracted the
attention of Ayeka and the king.
"Tenchi! What in blue blazes is
wrong??" The king barked. Tenchi looked up at the king, and then to
Ayeka. Their eyes locked, and at that
moment, Ayeka knew. Knew that Tenchi
loved Sasami. But instead of becoming
upset or jealous, she smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "Tenchi, my dear, I know you love Sasami and
she loves you. Please take good care of
my darling baby sister. Please protect
her and comfort her in the hard days ahead."
She said gently. Tenchi looked
at her with a surprised expression on his face followed by relief and joy. "Ayeka.
You're not mad? You'll be
ok? I didn't want to hurt you!" He said.
She looked at him with a smile.
"I want you to be happy, Tenchi.
I also love my baby sister and can't think of anybody better to marry
her. Besides, I've been eyeing some of
those handsome, single nobles just dying to court royal princesses!" She said in a half giggle.
Tenchi
was revitalized. He stood up,
addressing the now impatient king, and said "Sire, I love Sasami with all my
heart. I respectfully request
permission to lead the rescue operation."
He said rather officially. The
king slowly made out a sly grin and said "Granted. Rescue my daughter, and take care of her, Tenchi." Tenchi looked up at the king with
pride. "I will".
Ryo-Ohki insisted on helping
with the operation and Tenchi decided that it would not be a bad idea. Our pursuant wouldn't be expecting a Cabbit
to be sent out to rescue the princess.
Plus, Ryo-Ohki knew which direction to head off to since she shares a
mental connection with Sasami. When it
was time to take off, Tenchi was dressed in his Juraian battle dress and a
determined, love struck look on his face.
He boarded Ryo-Ohki along with Azaka and Kamadake, promising once again
to the king that he would return his daughter safely. Before no time, they were heading off into deep space. Ryo-Ohki was piloting so Tenchi had some
time to prepare for the battle ahead.
Azaka and Kamadake approached him to talk about Princess Sasami. "Tenchi.
We want to tell you something.
We have been Sasami's protectors for a very long time. We have watched her grow up, and have become
very close to her. We love her very
much, and she is very important to Jurai; And not just because she is merging
with Tsunami. We have always wondered
how we were going to handle making sure that the man she marries is going to
love and protect her, and we feel that that requirement has been met. We approve and support you all the way,
Tenchi. We give you our oath that we
will serve you and Princess Sasami for the rest of our lives." Azaka and Kamadake said, alternatively
speaking each sentence. "Which is why
we must ask you to leave most of this battle up to us. We do not want you to get hurt, Lord
Tenchi," they added. Tenchi
grinned. "Don't worry. I have some tricks up my sleeve"
When
they located the ship, which was hovering at a stop a few light years away from
Jurai, they approached slowly so as to not alert the dark ship's scanners. When they came within Ryo-Ohki's transporter
range, they safely ported over to an unused corridor in the dark ship. Quietly, they sneaked down the corridor, and
peaked into the lighted room at the end.
Inside, Princess Sasami was tied to a table, surrounded by medical
containers with many sharp utensils in them.
She had a very scared look on her face, and when he spoke to her, she
responded very drunkenly. Apparently,
he had given her a drug similar to laughing gas in an attempt to get
information out of her. Tenchi started
swelling up in anger and rage. Kamadake
put his hand on his shoulder but it wasn't much comfort. All three men felt the same way. The dark man was demanding information about
Tsunami, Jurai's government, and the royal family. So far, she was doing well by not cooperating. Many times she started crying under the
pressure, which wrenched Tenchi's heart.
Then, the unthinkable happened.
The dark man reached for one of the sharp, twisted, awful looking metal
utensils and started describing to her what he was going to do.
**What
do I do?? – What do I do??** Tenchi thought to himself feeling helpless. If he made a wrong move, the man might harm
Sasami. Just as he was about to jump
in, he had a mental vision. The next
thing he knew, he was standing in a crystal like room, full of Jurai
Trees. Standing in front of him, was an
image of Sasami. She was incredibly
beautiful. He stood there for a minute,
looking at her when she started to speak.
"Tenchi. I am not Sasami. I am Tsunami." She said in a soft voice.
Tenchi spoke. "Tsunami? Is it really you? But how?" He
stammered. "I speak to you now because
Sasami is in great danger. My life is
contained within her. If she dies, I
will die. And Jurai will fall. Do you understand?" She said.
Tenchi replied, "I understand. I
love her. I will save her!" He said nobly. Tsunami smiled and said, "I know you do, Tenchi. As do I.
You will both rule Jurai and be very happy. I look forward to merging with Sasami in the near future. It will be a scary experience for her so I
am glad that you will be there to support her.
And once it is done, you will understand everything. Now go and save your true love!! I will help you." She said. "But what
should I do? He will kill her!!" Tenchi said with aggravation. Tsunami started to fade out. "Enter the room, and put your hand on her
forehead. If you can do this, I can put
a barrier around her using the power of your Lighthawk wings." She said.
Next
thing he knew, he was back in the hallway with Azaka and Kamadake. He told them to create a diversion and
darted into the room. The dark man was
taken by surprise. Azaka and Kamadake
stormed in and surrounded the dark man.
He immediately put the sharp tool up to Sasami's throat and warned them
to step back. In an attempt to create a
diversion, Azaka and Kamidake started acting like the 2 stooges and commenced
slapping each other. The dark man was
totally confused and could only stare at them in disbelief. This was all Tenchi needed to sneak up to
the table with Sasami tied to it and place his hand on her forehead. Instantly, a barrier goes up over Sasami,
knocking the metal tool out of the Dark man's hand and flinging it across the
room. Azaka and Kamadake then blasted
him with a burst of Jurai energy that knocked him out cold. Tenchi immediately undid Sasami's bonds,
picked her up, and hugged her with tears running down his face. Sasami also broke down in sobs as she hugged
Tenchi. He kissed her over and over
repeating how much he loved her. All
she could do was repeat his name. After
they tied the dark man up, they transported back to Ryo-Ohki, and set a course
for Jurai. During the trip back, Tenchi
would not move from her bedside while she was recovering. "Tenchi, I'm so glad you came! I love you so much! But, how did you get my father to let you
come with Azaka and Kamadake?" She
said. Tenchi smiled. "Sasami.
Everything is fine. Everybody
knows of our love affair. Your father
has approved of our marriage and Ayeka is just fine." he said very gently to
her. She felt relieved. "Tsunami even helped me save you. She came to me in a vision." Tenchi added. Sasami looked surprised, then smiled. Azaka and Kamadake added their caring words of
encouragement.
Three
Days later, the princess still in the nearest Juraian hospital recovering from
her ordeal, Tenchi was ordered by the king to approach his throne. "Tenchi.
By order of the King of Jurai, I hear by accept you as a suitable noble to
marry my Daughter, Princess Sasami.
Love, and protect her with your life, Tenchi, for she loves you more
than life itself. I know you feel the
same." The king said. "I promise, I will" Tenchi said
proudly. A moment later, Sasami,
dressed in a beautiful Juraian robe, slowly walked into the room. She had been allowed to get out of bed for a
few minutes and had chosen to spend those minutes seeking out Tenchi. She embraced him, and whispered into his
ear, "Lets go, Tenchi!"
