Chapter 3

Chapter III

Tenchi woke up. His knees were becoming very painful. He looked around to see what was causing the pain. He then realized it was caused from sleeping while kneeling next to a hospital bed. He looked up and saw Sasami. Lying there unconscious with a painful look on her face. He then remembered why she was there. He remembered returning to Jurai from the ordeal on the dark man's ship and taking Sasami to the hospital. The drug that the dark man had injected into her had affected her health in a horrible way. She became very sick and delirious. Tenchi, among others, had become very concerned. She has been here over a week. Going in and out of consciousness while enduring pain associated with a serious illness. Tenchi had been here at her bedside for most of that week. The nurses were successful in dragging him out occasionally to eat and get some sleep but not often. Now, after waking up from his restless nap, he looked at her. He slowly leaned over and caressed her cheek with his hand, sensing her life force getting stronger at a slow pace. He had fallen madly in love with Sasami, which made this all the worse for him. How was he to protect her if the entity trying to kill her is inside her body? He stared at her face, falling in love with her more and more as each second passed. He wasn't sure how long he watched her pretty face before he fell asleep again.

Sasami opened her eyes. At first everything was out of focus…like in a dream. She lay there for a moment until everything became clear. She saw the ceiling of a room. A hospital room on Jurai. She laid there, pondering over why she would be in a hospital room. She tried to remember…then, memories started slowly coming back. She remembered Tenchi, whom she had fallen in love with, she remembered the date she was asked to go on with the dark man…suddenly everything clicked and she remembered the sheer terror she experienced on that ship while strapped to that table. A lightning bolt of anxiety and fear shot through her heart and she started to panic! She looked around the room and saw one figure kneeling beside the bed with his head resting in his arms, asleep. Tenchi. Tenchi's here. She called to him as her anxiety grew and he woke up in surprise with a look of concern. His face was red and sweaty. When he comprehended the fact that she was conscious at last, he immediately jumped up and lightly hugged her while bursting into tears once again. Sasami only felt relief by having him in her arms. He rocked her in his arms murmuring words of comfort to her while caressing her head. She wanted nothing else but for him to hold her. By this time, the nurses and doctors had noticed her and came rushing into the room to take over.

A couple days later, Sasami was declared well enough to go home to the palace. Tenchi was with her every moment helping her through the emotional healing of her ordeal. He had finally managed to convince her that the only thing the dark man had done to her was inject the drug that made her sick. Sasami's greatest wish is to have a big family with Tenchi and was afraid that this incident might have prevented that wish. Soon after, she was diagnosed mentally and physically healed. That night Tenchi took her out to a Jurai festival to celebrate. Azaka and Kamadake were following at a discreet distance of course but Tenchi didn't mind that. They were both very comfortable around Azaka and Kamadake, Sasami's protective guardians. They spent most of the night at the festival and then went to a small, private beach nearby. They were walking along the beach, Sasami resting her head on Tenchi's shoulder, arms wrapped around each other, with Sasami's long, beautiful hair flowing through the wind. Just then, the largest of Jurai's moons came out from behind the clouds, providing moonlight that reflected off the waves. Tenchi was able to gaze at Sasami's face and ponder her beauty. She smiled, blushing.

Tenchi suddenly took her hand very gently, kissed the back of it very tenderly, and bent down on one knee. He pulled out a small box and opened it revealing the most beautiful ring on Jurai. Refusing to let her hand go, he placed the ring on her finger, and in the most respectable manner he could, he said, "Sasami, Princess of Jurai, I confess my love to you. Will you accept my hand in marriage?" Sasami was totally taken aback by what had happened, and suddenly, emotion mixed with intense happiness flowed through her body. She couldn't say anything. Instead, she embraced him, kissing him as hard as possible. Her legs were threatening to give out on her so she hung on to him for support. After a few moments, Tenchi let go, and while tenderly caressing her face, he said, "I guess that means yes." She said "Of course."

They found a soft place in the sand, and tenderly made love throughout the night. Effectively taking away Sasami's Virginity. After a while, they laid together under the moonlight, wrapped in each other's arms. "I want to have a big family. I want to raise my family the way they should be raised rather than the way I have been raised, amongst the chaos this family tends to cause." Sasami said. Tenchi agreed. "And I will be there for you always, my love…." He said.

The next day, Sasami was reminded of the fact that in one week, she would be merged with Tsunami. The night before was the last time she was allowed to leave the Jurai palace due to the increased security that was imposed on her and Tenchi. Apparently, last night while they were making love, Azaka and Kamadake were fighting off assassination attempts most of the night, determined to allow the two lovers to enjoy that evening they would never forget. But, per the guardians' recommendations, they would need to stay put until the "merge" was completed. For if Sasami were to be killed now, Tsunami would not be able to merge and Jurai would fall. Sasami was a wreck. All her insecurities regarding the merger returned and she was trembling all over most of the week.

Tenchi was pretty much allowed to be with her the entire time, since he was now her Fiancée. He was always comforting her and somehow managed to calm her down. She had a lot of unanswered questions that he didn't know how to answer. "What if after we merge I'm not the same person? What if I'm forced to like things she likes? What if for some reason…I stop loving you?" She said with a tear stricken face. Tenchi would only smile. "Sasami, honey, that would never happen. Trust me. I will never let you go!" He said. Sasami had a talk with her father about it as well. "Sasami, my beautiful daughter. Please do not fret. For I have spoken to Tsunami directly when she approached me so long ago. She specifically said that you would still be the same person you are now. You will just nevertheless have Tsunami's knowledge and power. She has promised that once the merger has completed that you will understand everything." He said to her gently. Sasami looked at him. "I just hate this dad. I feel like I am losing my soul." She said. The look on her face made him concerned about his daughter even more. "I trust her Sasami. I trust her enough to entrust my youngest daughter's life to her. And that takes a lot of trust. Always remember something Sasami. I will always be here for you for as long as I can, and Tenchi will take care of you forever. You will never be alone." He said.

The day came for the merge. Sasami had a room full of girls dressing her up for the occasion. Sasami had no choice but to enjoy this privilege, after all, she was a normal girl. Per Sasami's request, there would be very few people in the room when it would happen. She was afraid that if something bad happened, embarrassment would be added to it by being in front of hundreds of people. The king and Tenchi agreed, after all security would need to be very tight. The high counsel of Jurai disapproved of this for they wanted to be present for such an occasion in Jurai's history. But in the end they respected the princess's wishes. After all, she would soon be the most powerful person on Jurai. She was brought into a medium sized room with a big, comfortable couch. The king, Tenchi, Azaka, Kamadake, and her mother were present. Outside, there was a security force on guard that would impress most neighboring worlds. They didn't want anything to go wrong.

Within the designated hour that Tsunami had specified, Sasami was in place. Tenchi was by her side, holding her hand. Within a few minutes, Sasami's long, blue hair started to glow. Everyone watched with amazement. Just then, the entire palace was shaken with a terrible force. Azaka and Kamadake went to see what had happened. When they returned, they quietly informed the concerned king that the palace was under attack. The neighboring worlds had gotten word as to when the merge was to take place and decided to capitalize on that chance to commence an attack while Tsunami was not available to fight back with her ship. Soldiers were running everywhere fighting with black clad ninja's that had come to the surface. Battleships and scouts were taking off to fight off the enemy scouts. The enemy had one goal: destroy the palace, and destroy Tsunami! One would observe that this battle greatly resembles the historic battle when Ryoko attacked the palace under Kagato's control. Many soldiers were dying during the fight against the well-trained ninja's. Seconds seemed like hours to everyone in Sasami's room. They could hear what was going on outside and were afraid that Sasami would be killed. When the walls started to crack, the king made a last minute decision. "Azaka! Kamadake! Very gently pick up the couch Sasami is sitting on and lets evacuate to the basement of the palace!" He whispered to them. "Yes sire!" they said in unison.

With Sasami still glowing and Tenchi attached to her hand like a barnacle, totally oblivious to what was going on, they made their way down to the rarely used "shelter" at the bottom of the palace, made just for an occasion like this. They barricaded the door to buy Sasami some more time. After a few minutes they heard a group of enemy soldiers trying to break in the shelter. Everything was in total chaos. And just when they thought it was too late, Sasami stopped glowing, stood up, and with a waive of her hand, all of the enemy ships, soldiers, and ninja's disappeared. They were later reported a few hundred light years away in uninhabited space crammed inside one ship that would take years to travel back home.

Shortly after the realization of the fact that the enemy no longer existed on Jurai, everyone turned their surprised attention on Sasami. There she stood, in a white Juraian robe, her blue hair flowing to the floor, more beautiful than they could ever imagine. She had a confident, kind look on her face and she still had a faint glow left from the merge. No one knew what to think. No one knew who she was. Not even Tenchi. Then, just when everybody was convinced that they now had a very different princess standing in front of them, she changed her expression to that familiar "Sasami" cuteness that everyone was familiar with. "Hi, guys! I'm back." She said. Then she looked down at Tenchi who was looking intently at her. She then started blushing. "This is Sasami all right." Tenchi said smiling with a slight blush of his own.

Sasami tried to explain everything the best she could. "I don't feel like a different person. I'm quite confident that I am still me. It's so weird, though, because I answer to Tsunami like I've always had the name. And I know a whole lot more than I did before too." She said. She then turned to her father. "King of Jurai, dad, I am Tsunami. I have successfully come to Jurai in human form. I thank you for your support. I swear to you and your kingdom that I will protect Jurai with the Jurai power that I possess while still providing the main link of communication with the Jurai trees." She then turns to Tenchi. "And Tenchi, I still love you with all my heart if you will still accept me." She said, lowering her head. Tenchi immediately stood up and embraced her, about to cry. "Of course, Sasami!" he managed to say. They held each other for a long time. Tenchi was totally convinced now that he had not lost his Sasami. "We will walk the beach again soon!" He said with a small smirk. Sasami's face turned so red that it attracted the attention of Azaka and Kamadake and they just grinned.

The king spoke up. Sasami…er…. how should I address you from now on? You are my daughter but you are also the most powerful being on Jurai. It seems strange to treat you like my little girl." Sasami thought for a moment and then smiled. "I think the best way to decide that is to address me with the name associated with the being you wish to speak to. For instance, if you want to talk to me about Jurai issues, address me as Tsunami. Anything else, I'll always be the same old Sasami!" She said with a cock of her head and a wink. "And I will always be your little girl, dad." She said. "Which reminds me. I need to have a private conference with you to get you up to speed on the Jurai trees. And after that…if its ok with you, I want to spend some time with Tenchi." She said timidly on that last part. The king acknowledged her. "You might also want to talk to your mother sometime because she has made some wedding arrangements for you." The king said with a grin. Once again Sasami blushed. She hugged Tenchi again, while feeling the engagement ring on her finger. "I will!" she said.