glass4.html
** Note **
** This is chapter four of Reflections of a Shattered Glass. If you've not read chapters 1 - 3, you are in the wrong place.
** A word of WARNING. This chapter contains strongly adult content. If you have never had a problem with my stories before (and especially if you have read Myths and Legends) then there should be no problems.
** Happy reading,
**--Krin (krin@hotmail.com mailto:krin@hotmail.com)
**http://www.geocities.com/mode6.geo/fanfic/
** /Note **

Reflections of a Shattered Glass

-- four --

meanwhile on jurai


Vianna paused, glancing back down the hallway. She knew she had not been followed, and was fairly sure she had not been observed. It was impossible to be entirely sure, short of a molecular-level scan of the surrounding area. She could do that, of course, but her movements were not sufficiently important to warrant that sort of effort.

*Why does visiting Misaki always put me so on edge?* Vianna wondered, running a hand through her short pink hair. *She is only a woman, and has been as much a mother as I have ever had. I should feel...love, I suppose, for her. Not...fear.*

Vianna would never admit aloud that she feared the empress. She would be hard pressed to admit she feared Anything, much less another human. But considering entering Misaki's presence never failed to send a chill down her spine.

Taking a few steps further, Vianna could hear the Guardians breathing. She stood absolutely still, slowing her own breathing and heartbeat until they did not interfere with her senses. After seven hundred seconds of listening-Vianna kept careful count of the time, even when she was otherwise occupied-she heard the tick of wood on metal.

*Sloppy,* Vianna thought sourly, *they make enough noise to wake me from a sound sleep. It is no wonder Misaki began training us, the Guardians are growing inefficient in their old age. No matter, I must speak with her.*

Vianna strode silently forward, making no special effort to conceal herself. Even so, the Guardians did not notice her until she was nearly upon them. She knew she had a way of blending into the surroundings, even when not trying, and used it often to her advantage.

The Guardians snapped to attention, crossing their staves over the door to the Empress' apartments.

"I will speak with her," Vianna stated.

*The best way to deal with Guardians is to show them who is in charge,* Vianna reminded herself. *They expect everyone to grovel at their feet as though they were the empower himself. Stand up to them and they don't know what to do.*

The Guardians frowned. It was almost always the same pair when she came to Misaki's chambers, but she could not remember their names. The one on the right was Po something, she thought.

"The Empress has ordered she not be disturbed, she is engaged in preparations for the evening meal."

Vianna tossed her head and sighed. "Are you truly That behind on events? The meal has been cancelled, I learned that much on my way here Sasami's quarters."

The Guardians frowned again, the elder one speaking this time. "Your position demands we respect you, but we need not tolerate such impropriety-"

"I will speak with her," Vianna repeated, cutting off the Guardian's protest, "now."

"We will announce you," Po-something said, "you will wait here."

"No," Vianna disagreed, "I will see her. She is expecting me." Technically that was a lie, Vianna had no reason to believe that the Empress was expecting a visit from her. She had not, in fact, requested her presence in some five centuries. Somehow, though, Vianna always seemed to arrive in her presence when the Empress required her, and Misaki never seemed surprised when she came to her unannounced. And every single time, she had to put up with the hard-headed Guardians.

Vianna stepped toward the door, reaching up to push the staves out of her way. The Guardians tried to protest again but Vianna touched the door, sliding it open. She flashed a grin at Po-something, thinking not for the first time that he was kind of cute, in a clean-cut sort of way. If Guardians were not all such egotistical, male-centric pigs she might even consider pursuing him. But they were, so she would not. *Must All men be such idiots?*

Misaki was sitting at a desk against the right wall, wearing a deep blue kimono decorated with brightly colored flowers. She was doing...something on the desktop. At first Vianna thought she was painting, but after a moment she realized that Misaki's hand motions were too rhythmic for that. She appeared to be writing. On paper. With a brush.

Vianna slid the door shut, letting it click audibly. Misaki did not respond immediately. Instead, she continued writing until she reached the bottom of the page, then carefully set down her brush and turned to look up at her guest.

"Vianna," Misaki greeted cordially, tipping her head in the pink-haired woman's direction.

"Misaki," Vianna returned, utterly motionless besides her lips.

"You have come for a reason," Misaki observed, folding her hands in her lap.

"I have," Vianna agreed. "I am here about my Japanese tutor."

"There is some problem?" Misaki asked, tilting her head curiously. "I found him to be quite fluent, and he came with the highest recommendations from the University as a teacher."

"He is efficient," Vianna admitted. "But he is too slow. I must learn more quickly."

"He is not matching your tutelage to your progress? Have you requested that he give you more challenging material?"

"No," Vianna said, shaking her head. "His curriculum matches my development speed, but that speed is not satisfactory."

"That sounds like your failing, Vianna, not his."

"Do not bait me, Misaki," Vianna said angrily. "I already speak six languages fluently, learning this backward tongue should not be a challenge for me."

Misaki frowned. "It is the first tongue of my sister, and quite beautiful in its way. Many of its rhythms are similar to Jurain. And I would caution you against excessive boldness, Vianna."

"You taught me to bow to no one," Vianna reminded the empress. "And Japanese feels brutish on my lips. It does not flow the way Jurain does."

"No," Misaki agreed, "it does not, but in its spoken form it is not a backward language. And I would remind you that I taught you that you do not Need to bow to anyone. That does not mean you should hold no respect. In many situations it is to your advantage to give the expected reaction. As with Ponua and Vess."

"Backward or not," Vianna insisted, ignoring Misaki's comments on propriety for the moment, "I am learning too slowly. If I am to converse in that language, I must attain fluency more quickly."

"Then work harder," Misaki suggested.

"That is not good enough. The Guardians laugh at my attempts to speak the language when they do not believe I am listening. Even the palace staff chuckle."

"You wish them to show more respect?" Misaki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Vianna agreed. "It is degrading, being unable to do something even the simplest scullery maid can achieve with a few moments under the Lessons."

"You know why that is impossible for you, Vianna."

Vianna nodded curtly. "There still must be some way. Is not Jurai the greatest scientific power in the galaxy? How is it that I must learn Japanese in such an awkward manner?"

"There is a way," Misaki agreed. "Perhaps you will remember your...special training?"

"You do not mean--"

Misaki nodded. "Yes. That is the only means available. If you feel that this is so important, then you should be willing to take the consequences. The decision is yours."

Vianna frowned thoughtfully, thinking back to the looks she had gotten when attempting to speak Japanese in public. The way Mataeo and Ai struggled to understand her. The stifled grins from Guardians and palace staff alike, and the giggles voiced when she was out of sight. Was putting an end to that disgrace worth this? Vianna shook her head, the question was pointless. She knew the answer to that even before she approached Misaki's chambers.

"Do it," Vianna said firmly, voice clear of the nervousness she refused to allow herself to feel.

Misaki nodded, rising from her desk. She went to an old globe of Jurai, carved of wood and carefully painted. *Probably by hand,* Vianna thought. *That would be like Misaki. It must be ancient; the creator depicted Jurai as a perfect sphere. And the continents extend too far toward the poles.*

Misaki's fingers danced across the globe, touching here and pressing there. Bits of mountains rose and fell under her fingertips, the surface of the globe sliding around like a puzzle box. After a few moments of the empress' ministrations, a sharp click emerged from within the object and the upper hemisphere tilted back. Within, the globe was mostly hollow, leaving space for the box which Misaki reverently removed. She carried it to the desk, setting the finely polished light-brown wooden case down well away from her ink jar.

There was a small metal plate inset on the upper surface, surrounded by delicate carvings that Vianna could not make out from across the room. To this plate Misaki touched a fingertip, pressing it there for a few seconds before moving her hands to the latches. She twisted and pressed in a manner that looked simple, but which Vianna's trained eye judged to be the key to yet another combination lock of some sort. The box popped open silently and Misaki tilted the lid back, revealing a wooden cup and a thick crystal vial resting in a form-fitting setting of deep purple felt.

The empress removed the cup first. It was of traditional Jurain design with a wide, nearly spherical bulb supported by three vine-carved tendrils leading to a separate base. Vianna noted that Misaki touched it only by the short supporting pieces, not by the base or the bulb. Once the cup was resting upon the desk Misaki turned to the vial, lifting it with all the care of an explosives expert with a live detonator. She lifted the capping seal away and poured the contents into the cup while muttering steadily in the old tongue. Vianna spoke about as much of that language as any scholar not specifically studying dead languages, but could catch only one word in a dozen.

When the vial was empty, all the thick, clear liquid it had contained having been poured into the cup, Misaki re-capped it and placed it back in the box. She then opened her desk drawer, removing a long, thin-bladed knife and a cloth thick with red and gold embroidery. The empress tilted her head back, opening her mouth wide. Half the blade vanished between her lips, emerging tinted red with blood. Misaki wiped it clean with the cloth, then replaced both in the drawer. She was still muttering in the old tongue, but her words were slurred now. She lifted the cup and turned, walking toward Vianna.

The female warrior tried to relax, knowing what would come next. When Misaki asked if she remembered the procedure, a thin trickle of blood escaping the corner of her lips to curve down her chin, Vianna nodded.

Misaki bowed her head, holding the cup up nearly at chin level and midway between herself and Vianna. Her words shifted, slipping in and out of the language most Jurains never heard outside the Inner Chamber: the voices of times past, the tongue of gods and trees. When Misaki looked back up there were flecks of silver dancing in her eyes and she seemed lit by some unseen light. With a final declaration in the language no mortal had spoken in hundreds of thousands of years the queen tipped the cup to her lips, draining the thick syrup within. Her cheeks bulging, Misaki dropped the cup to clatter to the stone floor. She grabbed Vianna by the face with both hands, pulling the woman closer.

Vianna relaxed her jaw and opened her mouth when Misaki pushed her hands together. The queen leaned closer, pressing her mouth to the warrior's, and parted her lips. The viscous, bitter, blood-tainted tree sap flowed into Vianna's mouth from Misaki's, seeming to force itself down her throat. Vianna called up all the discipline she could summon, suppressing the reflex to gag on the awful concoction and refusing to allow her throat to constrict.

When Misaki pulled away, holding Vianna's jaw to keep the woman's mouth shut should she lose control and attempt to vomit the sap back out, she wiped her lips delicately. The tree sap still on her face crystallized as Vianna watched, flaking and falling away in glittering shards. She could feel it doing the same in her trachea, forming a solid block of crystalline matter that prevented her from breathing and made her muscles scream with a desire to contract and force the invading presence out of her body. Vianna held on, running her mind through the disciplinary exercises she had learned over the past seven centuries to keep her body from reacting as it wished. Her heart slowed and her body's demand for oxygen lessened.

*One thousand six, one thousand seven, one thousand...*

In the two thousand seconds it took for the crystal of tree sap to dissolve, its mass absorbed through the tissue of her throat and passed into her bloodstream, Vianna began to fear she would never breath again. It was a horribly illogical fear. She knew she would breath again and had been through the ritual on two previous occasions. She could even Feel the blockage dissolving, the song of the trees singing stronger and stronger in her veins as it did. Yet the fear remained. When finally she drew a breath-through her nose, since Misaki was still holding her mouth firmly closed-her lungs felt as though they were aflame. Misaki released her and Vianna gasped deeply, drawing one long, ragged breath after another until finally she felt sated. Her heart beat back up to its normal speed and the sluggish pace her thoughts had taken thinned to her usual lucidity.

"It work to be having done?" Vianna asked cautiously in Japanese, then frowned deeply. "This, to be what is? Ritual, yours, to work having not!"

"It takes time," Misaki explained, retrieving her cup and taking it back to the box. She wiped it clean carefully with the same cloth she had used on the knife, then replaced it beside the vial. "Your mind must grow used to your new memories. They are not grafted seamlessly into place as with the Lessons and must be incorporated into the rest of your being. In three hours you will speak Japanese as well as I do."

Vianna nodded, trying to focus her mind on thinking solely in Japanese. She found that doing so often helped in acquiring a new language, though the effort left her casual thoughts occurring in a complicated jumble of tongues. Much as she disliked Japanese, Vianna supposed that words and grammatical patterns from it would soon be appearing in her normal thoughts. *So much effort for such a backward little world.*

"The cramps will begin soon," Misaki cautioned, closing the lid of her wooden case and carrying it toward the globe.

"Cra-"

Vianna did not finish the first word of her query before a sudden flower of agony had blossomed in her torso. It spread slowly, sending angry tendrils of pain along her extremities while remaining a white-hot presence somewhere near her stomach.

"You...poisoned...me," Vianna gasped accusingly. One shaking hand found its way to the handle of her sword, pulling it free of its restraining loops with the blind strength of anger despite the pain. She leveled it at the empress and focused her will, twisting the Jurain energy ambient in the air around the blade. Glittering silver flames, looking as much like moving wisps of leaded glass as they did like fire, shimmered into life around the wooden sword. The air hissed violently in its presence, the bonds holding molecules together in the atmosphere dissolving under its contact. A shimmering aura of blue built up quickly around the blade, all but hiding the flames; the result of energy released by the fragmenting chemical bonds.

Misaki laughed once, a brief bark of surprised humor. "Do not be a fool, Vianna," she scolded, tilting the upper half of the globe back into place. "If I wished you dead your soul would have been on its way to Conjoinment even before your foot touched the floor inside my doorway."

Vianna blinked. The pain was easing, slowly, but that was not the cause for her surprise. Her sword, grasped quite firmly in her hand until a moment before, was now in Misaki's possession. The flames and aura were gone, leaving only a length of sword-shaped wood pointed at the warrior woman's forehead. She would have been willing to swear that Misaki had not moved.

"I was forced to transfer a fair number of memories into you, Vianna. Language is a complex thing with many, many interconnections throughout your mind. Your brain is now trying to adjust to those connections, and to the fact that some parts of your memory suggest that your body is not put together the way that it actually Is. As you grow acclimatized to the new memories, the cramps will cease."

A new flare of pain erupted in Vianna's left shoulder, but she was better prepared for it this time and merely winced.

"You may also experience some residual memories that were unavoidably transferred with the language," Misaki warned, tucking the sword under her arm and returning to her desk. "I trust that you will keep them to yourself."

As though summoned by the empress' suggestion a flash of memory flickered through Vianna's mind. Empress Funaho lay reclining on a sun-dappled orange blanket. Above her stretched the welcoming branches of mundane trees and the Empower himself knelt at her side. He had a cup in each hand, one proffered to...Vianna supposed it would be toward Misaki. He smiled and laughed, then the moment ended and the memory retreated into the annals of Vianna's mind, no more or less obtrusive than any of her own.

"I always have," Vianna agreed.

The sword's familiar weight hung at her back again and Vianna realized it was no longer in the empress' hand. Had Misaki really moved that quickly, or was it some sort of illusion? Was she tampering with her memory? Vianna shook her head. However the empress performed her magic tricks, her point was made quite clearly.

"Go, now," Misaki commanded, "I have no further use for you."

Vianna turned angrily, not even sure why she was upset. The pain, perhaps? Or Misaki's demonstration of just how much Vianna did not know?

"Vianna?" Misaki asked, causing the woman to pause in her path toward the door.

"Yes?"

"Is there anything else you wished to tell me?"

"No," Vianna replied, taking another step.

"You will not lie to me again, Vianna. I took great risks in training you and your sisters as I have, do not make me regret them."

*Lie?* Vianna wondered, then realized her error. *Sasami's message... I forgot.*

"Misaki, I am sorry. I forgot that-"

"Speak with me in four days," Misaki interrupted curtly. "Before my daughters leave Jurai. And Vianna? See that you do not forget."

Vianna made no response, only went to the door and opened it. Misaki would know that her student would attend her, there was no need to tell her that she would obey the order.

*The princesses will leave Jurai again?* Vianna wondered. *Back to Earth, most likely. With that impudent little boy who wore the robes of a nashim. I wonder if it is true, what they say of him. It would be interesting to fight one of the treeborn; that is something I have not done. Though I wonder, would a child of that backward little world fare better than one of the Guardians, no matter what power he might possess?*


Misaki held herself carefully until Vianna was gone. Once the warrior woman was well on her way, Misaki slumped against the back rest of her chair and pulled the cloth from her desk drawer with one shaking hand.

*I can not do this many more times,* Misaki thought, dabbing carefully at her newly-pierced tongue. She focused her mind and drew on the power of the trees, slowing the flow of blood and quickening the healing process. The wound would be gone in a matter of hours, but it stung fiercely while it remained. *Each time I perform that ceremony I feel my mind slipping further into the Network. I have maybe a dozen times left before I cannot draw myself back from the trees.*

Misaki sighed and replaced the cloth in the drawer, lifting her brush. She dipped it carefully in the ink, then set it back down on the stand. One thick drop of obsidian dripped onto her blotter, leaving a spreading blotch.

"You will hurry back?" Misaki asked the empty room, her eyes focused into the distance of time.

"I know," Misaki agreed quietly, "but I worry. He has been gone three years, Aeka. We must face the possibility that he is no longer there to be found. Three years without a word."

Misaki nodded to an un-heard response. "Yes, of course. But be careful. And hurry back to us."

Misaki waited while her daughter replied across the centuries, then spoke again the words she had then. "Azaka and Kamadake will protect you. They served Hinoa well for many years."

With a sigh Misaki lowered her head, closing her eyes against tears. "Yes, it is best that you take your sister. She would be so lonely here without you. I am afraid I have not been with her as much as I would like in recent years. With Yousho gone and you after him, I do not know what she would do. But I will miss you so. As will Funaho, and your father."

"Of course he loves you," Misaki said gently. "He knows how important this is to you, that is why he gave permission so readily for you to follow Yousho. But he doesn't want to lose you anymore than I do, Aeka. Azusa... Azusa is not always sure how to tell you how he feels. He has to be strong for the people, you understand that, don't you? He must be so strong all the time... He forgets how to be weak, I think. But he does love you, do not doubt that."

Misaki's eyes opened slowly and she lifted her brush once more. The episode was done and her mind fully back in the present once again. They were a side-effect of the ritual she had just performed, and their frequency was increasing every time she performed it. The trees did not delineate well between points in time and joining her spirit so closely to theirs left her thoughts ranging across the centuries as well. But it was not memories of the past which worried the empress most. No, it was what glimpses she had seen of the future which motivated her actions now.

The brush scratched against the page as Misaki resumed writing. She had not thought she would ever write such a letter, but there were things which must be said that could not be spoken on the soil of Jurai. Her chambers were secure from inspection, even by the eyes of her sister-wife, as were Funaho's own, Azusa's, and the bed-chambers they shared. But anywhere else... It was nearly impossible to tell who may be listening at any time, and it would be dangerous even to call the audience of her letter into her chambers for palaver. None could spy from afar within those walls, true, but there were other ways. There were Always other ways.

* * *

Katsuhito folded the robe and placed it carefully within his newly-acquired luggage case. He was not sure what he would do with the little log-shaped accessory after he returned to Earth. Put it away in a closet somewhere, perhaps. Or give it to one of the girls. But he needed something to transport the clothes he had gained possession of-in one manner or other-since returning to Jurai.

*Really I suppose I should leave them,* Katsuhito considered, running his fingers over the intricate design woven in silver around the sleeve of a purple shirt, one half of a nia. *But it has been a long time since I wore the clothing of Jurai, I had forgotten how comfortable it could be. No one will realize they are not of Earthly manufacture. And it would be simpler to have something fitting to wear the next time I return here.*

Katsuhito chuckled. *A week ago I did not believe that all the devils together could drag me back to Jurai, and now I consider returning again of my own will. When is the last time I made such changes in my life? It has been...sixty-eight years now, since I married her. And fifteen since she left me. I suppose my mourning period is well over, even by Jurain standards. Even after a marriage of centuries we do not mourn more than a decade.

*We. A week within the Palace and I am Jurain again? Nine hundred forty six years, nearly seven hundred of them on Earth. A long life, and I can not honestly say that I would change a moment of it.*

Katsuhito took a long, slender wooden case from atop the pile of clothing he intended to take back to Earth. The case contained a shonekea, a Jurain musical instrument that he had not played in...he could not remember the last time he had played one. It came easily though, with the curved metal flute in his hands. Washuu had bought it for him, somehow having learned that he knew how to play one and demanding he play her a tune.

*Hakubi Washuu,* Katsuhito thought, opening the case and lifting free the gently curving instrument. Odd that he had never realized how much it resembled a katana before. Coincidence? He had not believed in coincidence for centuries.

The case clicked when he closed it, the shonekea safely inside again. *What do I intend with her? When I went to her in the garden I did not even know what I was doing. How long since I took an action without planning it first? Why did it touch me so that she was willing to force me to return to Jurai to save my life?* He knew, of course. It was nearly two thirds of his lifetime ago, but the memories of Jurains are longer than most.


"Yousho," Katsuro sighed, resting his bokken against the edge of the porch where he sat. His house rose behind him and Yousho could smell Arai's cooking within. It would be dinner time soon, time to end their sparring for the night.

Yousho put aside his own weapon, sitting beside the elder man on the wooden slats of the porch. "Yes father?"

"Tell me, Yousho. What in this world holds value?"

"Father?" Yousho asked, unsure of the meaning of the question.

"Of all the things in the world," Katsuro expanded, "what is there which proves value? Is it gold and gemstones? Land and title?"

Yousho shook his head. "No. Gold and gemstones vary from place to place. Jade is of value here, but I hear that to the west it is of less importance. Many there see it as no more than another rock. And gold... I have seen palaces gilded base to tip in gold. What is rare in one land is abundant in others."

"Land and title, then?" Katsuro asked.

"No," Yousho denied again. "Can you truly even own land? Land is only yours so long as you can defend it, and one may never truly defend more land than the patch upon which he stands. And title... Title exists at the whim of the local lord, to be bestowed or stripped as he wishes."

"Then what, Yousho?"

Yousho paused and finally shook his head in defeat. "I do not know Father. What Does incur value?"

"Sacrifice, Yousho. What are you willing to give up for a thing? That is what tells you what it is worth."

"Sacrifice?" Yousho asked. "I do not understand."

"When you go to the market, you give the vendor money and he gives you goods. You sacrifice the ability to buy some other thing in order to have This thing. The value of the money is transitory, as you said. It is the sacrifice which is of value. What did you give up for your sword? You may have bought a fine horse or a small piece of land for what you paid to have it made. You sacrificed those things in order to have it, and that is its value to you."

Yousho nodded. "And for this house, you sacrificed having one somewhere else. In order to live in this place, near the river and in view of the mountains, you gave up living nearer town."

Katsuro nodded. "I sacrificed much to have this home, and I have sacrificed to keep it. It is worth a great deal to me, but to others...perhaps not. It is a simple home, not of the finest construction, but it is My home."

Yousho nodded again silently, considering what his wife's father had said.

"And my daughter?" Katsuro asked. "She is your wife, she must be of value to you, no?"

"Yes," Yousho agreed. "I would give my life for her."

"And that is the greatest value," Katsuro agreed. "To give up your life... You sacrifice all that my be in the future for that to which you give it. Men throw their lives away on foolish causes, hoping to gain honor. Honor is important, but is it of that great a value? Every man should have something in his life for which he would sacrifice everything, but finding that thing... It is not as simple as many men believe."

"Father, Yousho, dinner is ready."

Katsuro looked up at his daughter where she stood, framed by lamplight, in the doorway.

"Come Yousho," he said, picking up the bokken and rising to his feet. "Enough philosophy for one night, time to eat."


Katsuhito put the case into his travel chest and sighed. *She was willing to sacrifice my love to save my life. She believed, perhaps not without some justification, that I would hate her for sending me back to Jurai. Yet she did it anyway, only because she could not stand to see me die, even at my own wish. She would rather live with my hatred than live while I died. But what can I give her in return? I will be with her if she wishes it, but can I ever love her? She certainly is a fit companion. Honest, loyal, brave, and has shown her ability to love often enough with her daughters. I could not hope to find anyone more capable of intelligent conversation, and she is beautiful. Particularly now that she has abandoned that foolish child disguise.*

Katsuhito abandoned the rest of his clothes to sit down in a chair against the wall of his room. *Then why do I fear I will be unable to love her? She is a good woman and a fine person. She cares deeply for me, much more so than I had believed, and is willing to endure my eccentricities. I could live with her without fear of outliving her. I do not believe the spirits of my wives would disapprove, and Aeka is no longer interested. There could be nothing between us anyway, I do not think. She holds Tenchi in her heart yet, whether she is willing to admit it or not, and it will take a stronger man than I to wrest free a place for himself.*

With a sigh, Katsuhito leaned his head back against the wall, rubbing his face with one hand and massaging his temples. *Perhaps I only need time. I am nearly a millennia old, I do not rush into things well. But then, she is at least ten times that age and she has fallen in love with me.*

Katsuhito shook his head, grudgingly admitting to himself, *I simply do not know. But I will try. I promised her I would, and finding a place in my life for her is the least I can do after she returned it to me. To think, I would have denied myself Jurai forever without her. Father regrets his actions and has rescinded his ban on Namaeto's name. He has even struck the lesson of pain from the Lessons of the House. And I would not have lived to see it, without her.*

"She's right," Katsuhito muttered, running his fingers through his newly black hair, "you Are an old fool, Katsuhito."

He looked down at his hand, admiring the absence of wrinkles and the strong look of his fingers. They had looked even younger before, of course, but he had worn his disguise so long that his new body felt younger than the old. *And even in this, I would not go to her. I did not want to indebt myself further to her, and I knew she would never have accepted payment. So instead I went to the Binodi.

*I could take a lesson from Tenchi, I suppose. He has found a way to put aside his old pains to love a Hakubi woman, it should not be impossible for me to do the same.*

* * *

"So you're leaving today?"

"Yeah," Sasami agreed, looking down at the dirt path past the bench where she sat in the gardens.

"When will you be back?"

Sasami sighed. "Look, Ponua... You're really nice, but- it couldn't work. I mean, if we were on Earth... But I'm the minos and you're my mother's Guardian. You're really cute and if I weren't-" Sasami shook her head. "But I Am. It sucks, but this week is it. After I leave today you'll probably find some other girl, and maybe I'll meet someone back on Earth..."

"We could make it work," Ponua protested. "The Empress could allow it, or-"

"No, Ponua," Sasami said firmly. "She doesn't know and I'm not going to tell her. Walking and talking with you was fun and everything, but I mean... We don't even have anything in common. I'm sorry, Ponua. I figured you knew it couldn't last."

He sighed. "I suppose I did." He rose and tapped his chest formally. "Enjoy your journey, Minos. In your absence the sun's light shall shine less brightly."

Sasami watched him walk quickly and purposefully down the path away from her and sighed. She had been sure he knew that she was not seriously pursuing any sort of relationship with him. He was just someone to have fun with while she was on vacation. She knew it would end when the week was over and had assumed he knew that too. It had given her something to think about instead of Eto.

*So when do I get to find my Tenchi?* Sasami wondered, leaning back sullenly against the bench. She would need to go supervise the last of her packing soon, they were due to leave in three hours. *Ryouko gets Tenchi, and what do I get? First Eto who just wants to get into my pants and now Ponua who wants me to tell my Mother that I want to go out with a Guardian. She'd freak. Maybe I should talk to Ryouko. Maybe she can give me some advice about finding a good guy. But how would she know? Tenchi was her first boyfriend. And I Can't ask Washuu. That would just be too weird. Maybe- maybe Aeka? She's never- but maybe she's had boyfriends besides Yousho. Katsuhito. Whatever.*

Sasami stood, straightening her dress, and headed for the nearest exit from the gardens. The trip back to Earth would be three days, more than enough time to talk to Aeka if she wanted to. For now she had to go tell the maids what clothes she wanted to take home with her.

*Home,* Sasami thought. *I guess Japan is more my home than Jurai, now. I barely know my parents and everything seems so...weird here. How can they stand having Guardians following them around all the time? Ponua was nice, but I think if they thought they could get away with it Azaka and Kotori would follow me into the bathroom.*

Sasami tossed her hair and tried to think about something happier. *I wonder what kind of wedding Ryouko and Tenchi are going to have. I hope they have a Jurain one. Maybe Ryouko will let me stand as her sister with Ryou-ohki.* The news of Tenchi and Ryouko's engagement had come as a surprise only to Aeka, Mataeo, Ai, and Nobuyuki and even for them it was not Really a surprise. Everyone knew the couple would get married eventually, the question was just when they would do it.

Sasami knew she had worried over how Aeka would take it, when the announcement finally came, and assumed at least some of the others had as well. But her sister seemed happy for them. Really happy, not just putting on a show. Aeka cried and rushed over to Ryouko's side of the table, pulling the surprised woman up for a long hug. Then Ryouko was crying, and Aeka hugged Tenchi and congratulated him. Sasami was not sure, even then, five days later, why she had started crying, but she had. Even Katsuhito had a misty look in his eye. Nobuyuki pounded the table and shouted a toast with the sake Tenchi and Ryouko had brought back from their unexpected trip to Earth.

*That's my family now,* Sasami thought, smiling as she remembered the rest of their private dinner that night. Dinner with her father and mothers had been nice too, Azusa surprised them all by toasting Tenchi with nearly as much enthusiasm as Nobuyuki. He said that marriage was one of the most important events in a man's life and that he should know, he had been through it three times, after all. But it was, all in all, a state dinner. After Funaho left the night of the aborted dinner, apologizing for the cancellation and saying that she had matters to attend to, it was just Sasami's new, extended family. Tenchi and Ryouko, Katsuhito and Washuu, Mihoshi and Kiyone, Mataeo and Ai, Nobuyuki and Ryou-ohki. Those were her Real family. She might not be as closely related to some of them as to her father and mother, or at all in some cases, but she felt close to them. Azusa tried hard, she could see, and she Did love him. But he had been distant for so long...a few days could not begin to make up for it.

With a sigh Sasami left the gardens, Azaka and Kotori falling in behind her instantly. The fact that she left from a different direction than she entered the gardens made no difference, the Guardians' network would have had them at her side no matter where she made her exit.

*It'll be nice to be back on Earth,* Sasami reflected, *where I don't have someone following me around all the time.*

* * *

"I can't believe we're leaving," Mataeo sighed, trying to remember how to work the seal on his new Jurain baggage. Ai leaned over and touched a near-invisible knot on the wooden surface and the lid slid silently closed.

"Yeah," she agreed, carefully placing a package within her own luggage-chest. "But we'll come back. Tenchi said they'd bring us back here on holidays whenever we want. And the Empower..." Ai sighed happily. "Can you believe we ate dinner with an empower, Mat? I mean, a real, live Empower?" She shook her head, not waiting for a response, and went on, "He announced me as 'Yodonoa Iaea ro,' eighty-fourth princess of the House Iaea. I still can't believe it, Mat. It's like some kind of fairy tale. I'm a princess. A Real princess!"

Mataeo chuckled. Ai got like this whenever she talked about her new-found title. He was afraid she was going to start signing things 'Yodonoa Iaea Ai' when they got back to Japan. But who could blame her? It was not every day that you find out that you are descended from space-fairing nobility. Even if the line of descent was fairly muddy. Ai got to be eighty-fourth in line for the seat of House Iaea because there were already eighty-three others before her. Not that anyone expected her to ever stake a claim to it. For a Jurain it might not be out of the question, but Ai's Jurain ancestry was so thin that she aged like any other Earth human. Though that Could change. Aeka said that if they ever chose to come to Jurai permanently there were procedures which could give them both lifespans extending into the millennia, rather than a mere century at the outside.

*Maybe we will,* Mataeo thought, putting his hands on Ai's hips and leaning close to kiss her neck. She covered his hands with hers and leaned back slightly, sighing contentedly. They would be having a Jurain wedding, even if they got married on Earth with an Earth wedding first. Ai was quite insistent about it and Mataeo had no arguments. The wedding would be paid for by her House, as would most of their expenses when they came to visit. It turned out that having bloodlines extending to oddball little worlds like Earth was something of a fad among Jurain nobility just then and the current leader of House Iaea, one Lord Plairee, had documents of investiture drawn up for Ai immediately upon hearing of her announcement. Mataeo himself was her official prince consort, lodriam in Jurain, and thus entitled to whatever portion of her estate she chose to give him. When they were married-they had made no official announcement yet, but everyone, including Ai, seemed to assume it would be soon-he would be officially a member of the House. Mataeo was not sure how he felt about that, really. It seemed so...unreal. But it was all very real, he knew. The world around him was every bit as real as Earth, for all its magical wonders, and the people every bit as human as he was, for all their alien-ness.

Ai turned in his grasp, sliding her hands around his waist, and leaned forward to return his kiss. "Come on lodriam," she whispered, "we're only on Jurai for a few more hours. Lets make a few more interesting memories."

"As you have spoken," Mataeo said seriously, trying to keep a straight face, "I obey, yodonoa Ai."

* * *

"Halt, you approach the Inner Chamber."

Ryouko looked between the two Guardians. To a lesser eye than hers they would have seemed to materialize out of the shadows of the hall leading to the great Chamber doors. For her, though, it was obvious that they had been waiting in the wings, hidden by the huge potted plants, and had approached by quite normal means.

"I wish to enter," Ryouko said formally, "and claim my right to do so as a member of the House Jurai." Her Jurain was much better, she felt, than when she had arrived. She and Tenchi had shared her memories of learning it, fairly painless ones since it was done in a matter of seconds within the bowels of one of the Soja's labs, and practiced on one another over the past week. Tenchi's grammar was still a little off, but he sounded wonderful speaking it. His voice was suited to the slightly stuttering vowels and the smooth consonants, Ryouko felt. Even more so than to Japanese. *But then, I think he sounds sexy when he gargles in the morning.*

The Guardians glanced at one another, then tapped their chests and turned away hurriedly. "We apologize, wife of the nashim Tenchi. We had not been briefed with your description nor informed of your intent to visit the Inner Chamber. Please, proceed and forgive us our presumption."

"Forgiven," Ryouko said, still with her best tone of formality. The Guardians moved back to their places on the sides of the hall and Ryouko continued down its center, toward the doors.

*They weren't informed of my intent because I only decided five minutes ago,* Ryouko thought pleasantly. *I really should be helping Tenchi pack, but he's better at that than I am anyway. This is my last chance to do this before we go back to Earth.*

The doors swung wide when Ryouko touched them. She had been afraid they might not, since she was not Really of the House Jurai. She and Tenchi had not had any formal ceremony yet, though Azusa had announced them as husband and wife, and she had less Jurain blood in her veins than Mataeo. Ryouko was not even precisely sure that the stuff in her veins Was blood. She asked Washuu once, but after ten minutes of lecture on dynamically modeling cellular formations with massu proto-forms Ryouko decided it really was not that important a thing to know.

*Now, to find Tsunami...*

Ryouko stepped onto the paths of the Inner Chamber, the doors swinging shut almost silently behind her.


"Ryouko."

Ryouko stifled a yelp, turning to look back. She had taken no more than a half dozen steps toward the nearest tree, trying to focus her mind on Tsunami, when the voice spoke. When she looked, she saw that the doors were not where she had left them. Instead, the intense white of the Chamber deepened to near-black as she rotated, and where the path had been level it now descended toward a wide, flat area covered in curving flows of water. At its center was a tall, thin tree dancing with silver flames.

"H-hello, Tsunami," Ryouko said nervously in greeting to the woman standing before her. Tsunami had chosen to appear in her adult form, but Ryouko had no trouble seeing Sasami's face in her features. Little Sasami-not so little anymore, Ryouko reminded herself-would be this woman one day, that was obvious.

"How are you?" Tsunami asked, startling Ryouko. She had not been sure what to expect, but casual chit-chat was not it.

"I- I guess I'm okay." Ryouko followed automatically with, "How're you?" She winced inwardly after speaking. What kind of question was that to ask a goddess?

Tsunami chuckled. "Do not be nervous, Ryouko. I would like to think we are friends, you and I. I am sorry for so frightening you at Christmas, I have not apologized for that."

"It's okay, you're- I mean, you probably have a lot more on your mind that not scaring me."

Tsunami nodded, almost sadly, then smiled. "Why did you come to me today, Ryouko? You are leaving soon, are you not? Should you not be preparing?"

Ryouko nodded, feeling guilty again for leaving the work to Tenchi. "I- I just... I wanted to talk to you. Away from Sasami, I mean. I don't know if that will work. Sasami says she knows pretty much everything when she's you."

"She may," Tsunami agreed. "I only redistrict her knowledge a very little, the better to prepare her for when she has access to it at our will."

"Well then," Ryouko said, "if you're listening to this, Sasami, just stop right now. I need to talk to Tsunami and you're not supposed to hear. Remember what I said about listening when people whisper."

Tsunami chuckled. "A novel approach, Ryouko. Do you think it will work?"

"No," Ryouko sighed. "Sasami does what Sasami wants to do. And don't you think I don't know about Ponua, Sammy. I know you've been sneaking off and ordering him into the gardens. You'd better hope all you did was talk, young lady. He's a Guardian, do you have any idea what those men Do with each other? G-" Ryouko paused, remembering her company. "Who knows where his mouth has been?"

Tsunami laughed then, a deep, rich laugh so full of life and happiness that Ryouko could not help joining her.

"I see why Sasami cares so deeply for you," Tsunami said when her laughter had gentled, wiping a glittering tear from one eye. "You are a unique woman, Ryouko. Have you any idea how long it has been since I laughed? Truly laughed?" She shook her head and smiled sadly. "Too long, Ryouko. Much too long."

"She- she cares?" Ryouko asked. "That's what I came to talk to you about. I- I'm worried I'm not treating her correctly."

"How so?" Tsunami asked curiously.

"You know," Ryouko said uncomfortably, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"No," Tsunami disagreed. "I am not using my Knowing now, Ryouko. Tell me, what do you mean? How might you have mistreated Sasami?"

"Not mistreated," Ryouko sighed, sinking down to sit on the path and dangle her legs over the edge. Tsunami startled her again by joining her, her feet kicking gently over the void. "Not exactly anyway. I just- I don't know if I'm doing the right things. Washuu wasn't around when I was... Well, not growing up, I guess. I looked like this, pretty much, the day she made me. But when I was learning to be... Well, to Be. I don't know what a mother should do with her daughter."

"You think of Sasami as your daughter?" Tsunami asked. Her tone betrayed nothing, but at the same time was neither emotionless nor cold.

"I- I don't know. But she comes to me with her problems, and I like trying to help her. I'm not her mother, I know that. And I don't want to take Misaki's place, or Aeka's. But I- I love Sasami. I want to see her happy and have a good life."

"That is all anyone might wish of a mother," Tsunami said gently, patting Ryouko's hand in companionable warmth.

"But I don't know if I'm doing it right," Ryouko protested. "I've told her about sex, but I don't want her actually Having sex. I think if she really did any of the things I've told her about I'd be as upset as Aeka would. And it's not just because Aeka would be upset... I don't even know Why I'd be mad. She's an adult now, her body is her own. I just can't stand the idea of some perverted boy with his hands all over my Sasami--"

"Your Sasami?" Tsunami asked.

Ryouko sighed. "I've known her for so long... Almost as long as Tenchi, and that's almost my whole life, now. I just worry about her, Tsunami. Like with that Guardian. I heard about it fourth hand as a rumor from the nurse who lent me her clothes, but I couldn't say anything to Sasami about it. If I fussed at her like I just did she'd think I'm a hypocrite. I explained the other day why people would want to have oral sex, and now I'm upset because I think she might've kissed that guy."

"She won't think you're a hypocrite, Ryouko."

"I don't know... But am I doing the right things? Telling her the right things? Do normal mothers tell their daughters that it's okay to wear whatever kind of clothes they want, then teach them where to hit a guy who's coming on too strong?"

"The good ones," Tsunami agreed.

Ryouko sighed and shook her head, staring down into the black depths. "It's so hard though, sometimes, Tsunami. I just want to grab her and shake her and tell her I love her and she'll find someone better than Eto or whoever because she's such a great girl. But I know if I did, she'd only get even More depressed. And how would she react if I told her that sometimes I Do think of her like a daughter?"

"I think she knows," Tsunami observed quietly. "It seems obvious to me how much you care for her welfare, even without Knowing it."

"Sometimes, though... Sometimes I lay in bed at night and I- I pretend that Tenchi's my husband and Sasami's my daughter and that we're all just a normal family. I never dared to actually Tell either of them that." Ryouko glanced at the goddess warily. "I can't believe I'm even telling You all this."

"Then do not," Tsunami said gently, "if you do not wish to. We can speak of other things, if you like."

"No," Ryouko sighed, looking back out at the void, "it's okay. I'm getting better at having friends, and I guess you are one. I mean, it's not like I've talked to you a lot; but it's like talking to Sasami, if she were my age."

"I'm a bit older than you, Ryouko," Tsunami pointed out, "but otherwise you are correct."

Ryouko chuckled. "A bit older." She shook her head and hooked a loose lock of hair back over her ear before continuing where she had interrupted herself, "I might tell Tenchi. He's seen it anyway, even if he doesn't remember it. I know he's had the same fantasy sometimes. But Sasami? How would she react if she knew I wished she really were my daughter? If I told her I couldn't wish to have a better little girl than she is? She's so hard on herself, sometimes. If she didn't get perfect grades in school, or if her friends picked on her for something, and the whole Eto thing... I think she still thinks it was her fault that he left her. That little prick. I swear, if I ever get my hands on him..."

"Tenchi Is your husband now, Ryouko," Tsunami pointed out. "In the eyes of the Living Throne, anyway. And I think that perhaps Sasami feels the same way you do, at times."

"Really?" Ryouko asked, startled. "But I don't-"

"I know," Tsunami interrupted gently. "You do not wish to replace her real parents or her sister. And you won't. Not ever. Misaki is her mother and will be all her life, as is Aeka her sister. What Sasami has with you is yours and hers alone. Your relationship is your relationship, as special and unique as is her relationship with her mother or her sister."

Ryouko nodded. "I guess I can accept that. I'm glad she likes me. But are you sure I'm doing right? I'm teaching her the right things and not being too strict or too lenient?"

"Every mother must be different, Ryouko, even when you are not her birth mother. That's because every child is different, and Sasami is, perhaps, more different than most. But she is happy much of the time, as are you. If that is not sign enough that you are doing well, Ryouko, then I do not know what more I can offer you."

Ryouko smiled and leaned over to hug the goddess around the shoulders. "Thank you, Tsunami. I think I needed to hear that right now."

"You have other matters on your mind," Tsunami observed.

"Going all-knowing on me?" Ryouko asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No," Tsunami chuckled softly, "but you do not hide it well. Do you wish to speak with me of them?"

Ryouko started to speak, then paused, and finally said, "No. I think I need to think about it some more, and then talk to Tenchi."

Tsunami nodded. "Your husband is wise, in his way."

Ryouko chuckled, "In his way. He's an idiot in his way, too, sometimes. But if he were wise all the time I don't think I'd love him half as much."

"Mm," Tsunami agreed, "the flawed gem is all the more interesting for its imperfection."

"Tsunami? Will you- will you do me a favor?"

"If it is allowed to me," Tsunami agreed.

"Watch out for Sasami? I don't want her getting hurt anymore."

"There are things she must see and do-"

"No," Ryouko interrupted, "that's not what I mean. I know she's becoming a goddess, and that Can't be easy for her. But I mean with... boys and things. I can't be there for her all the time, and I can't tell her what to do in every situation. Those Lessons did that, but she seems to be able to get over them most of the time. I just don't want anything like with Eto happening again. If she's confused about where a relationship is going, make sure she comes to me instead of just keeping it bottled up until something snaps?"

Tsunami nodded. "A reasonable request. But I can make no promises, Ryouko, much as I might wish to. I am becoming her as much as she is becoming me, and I have little force over her free will. But when she is hurting or confused, I will make sure that she remembers those who love her."

"Thanks," Ryouko sighed, pushing herself up to her feet. "I'd better go help Tenchi pack. He can't fold women's clothes for anything."

"Farewell, Ryouko," Tsunami replied, rising to her feet. "Have a pleasant journey home."

"I will," Ryouko agreed. "It should be nice. Tenchi and I are going to take a little side trip. I want him to see the crystal falls and we'll be passing by Yall on the way home anyway."

"Mmm," Tsunami murmured appreciatively. "They are beautiful. I have seen all the worlds in the universe, and there are few waterfalls as wonderful as those on Yall."

"Really?" Ryouko asked curiously. "They're nice, but they're the best? In the whole universe?"

"One of," Tsunami agreed. "But it is a relative thing, Ryouko. Over the light years and the eons there have been a million million sights more splendorous than the crystal falls. But against the span of the universe, that is a tiny number indeed."

"Yeah," Ryouko agreed thoughtfully, trying to politely avoid looking at Tsunami's eyes. She had still not forgotten the way they looked on Christmas night.

"Ryouko? When you have returned to Earth, remember that I am with Sasami?"

"I- I'm not sure what you mean," Ryouko said hesitantly.

"Only that I am there, if you wish to speak with me. There are times when a woman needs a friend, and such a being is not always easy to come by."

Ryouko nodded, trying to decide if Tsunami was talking about her, or about herself. "I will," she promised.

* * *

"All you have to do is wear it while you're in the room," Washuu explained, trying her best to remain calm with the police woman. "You don't have to actually Do anything. And I won't interfere with the examination, this will just transmit the data back to my lab."

"No," Kiyone said firmly, pushing the earring Washuu held out in offering away. "I told you before; the last time was the Last time. No more, Miss Washuu. If Mihoshi remembers on her own, good for her; but I'm not going to try to force her anymore. And if I find out that you're still tangling her up in your little schemes without my help, I'll do my best to make sure you don't get to follow through."

"Kiyone," Washuu sighed, "you don't understand-"

"Yes," Kiyone interrupted, "I do. I've known University people before, Miss Washuu. You all get this way to one degree or another. Something gets under your skin that you don't have an answer for, and you obsess over it until you find one. I'm sorry, but this time you're not going to. If it were a plant or a bug or something I'd be glad to help, but it's Mihoshi. She's a human being, Miss Washuu. She's got real feelings, even if it's not always really obvious what they are. And I will Not be party to screwing with her head, understand?"

Washuu nodded irritably and tried one last time. She had not intended to play this card, but she could not simply let the Mihoshi Question, as she had started to think of it, slip away this easily. "But if she remembered who she is, she would be the officer you looked up to again. Just think of it, Kiyone. Mihoshi, brightest star in the GP again, and you as her partner. If she were back on the ball again, she'd make Vice Commissioner inside a decade and you'd be right there alongside her."

"No," Kiyone said again, even more firmly. "Mihoshi can make it on her own. She's doing better now, she just needed someone who would show her how without getting pissed off at her."

"But she wouldn't Need anyone to show her how," Washuu protested. "And just think, Kiyone, she'd be a normal person again. No more of this weird juvenile persona she's developed since losing her memory. Wouldn't that be nice? You said you worried about making a move on her because she's so innocent. She'd be a real woman if she had her memory back, Kiyone. You two could have a real-"

"That is none of your god damn business!" Kiyone shouted, face flushing rapidly. "And there's nothing to Be your business, even if it was! I'm not like that, and I don't know what the hell you're talking about about making a move... I never said anything like that! Mihoshi is my friend, dammit. That's All she is. So just take your stupid little toy and go back to your stupid little lab and shove it somewhere!" Kiyone stormed past the stunned scientist, grumbling loudly about know-it-all University women who didn't even know what the hell they were talking about.

Washuu sighed and tucked the earring back in her breast pocket, not quite willing to give up just yet. It was too big a puzzle to just leave alone. Something chimed softly in her pocket and Washuu unfolded her computer, thinking how nice it would be to be away from Jurai where she could use her holo-computer again.

*Thos idiots on the Council need to get their priorities straight,* Washuu thought sullenly, paging through the programs currently running to find the one that had requested her attention. *They could link my holographic computer technology with their trees if they hadn't banned my hyper-space transceiver designs first. Then they wouldn't have to maintain this stupid policy on physical-only number crunchers and I wouldn't have to carry this backward little thing around all the time.*

As it turned out the chime had only been a reminder that the transport ship they would be taking home to Earth would be leaving in fifteen minutes. Not enough time to approach Kiyone again, then. She would simply have to come up with something else.

Washuu folded the computer and stowed it back in her pocket. She turned to the door of her room and touched the metal plate beside it in order to signal the staff that she was ready to leave, then went back to the bed. Everything was packed away in travel logs except the clothes on her back and a small bag containing a change of clothes and her makeup kit. She had seen to it that she would have the cabin beside Katsuhito's aboard the ship and intended to waste no time in paying him a visit.

* * *

"They are safely away, then?"

"Yes, my lady." The speaker was cloaked in black cloth from toe to forehead, his-or her, the individual's sex was impossible to determine outwardly and their voice too neutral to give hints-hair spilling out in an ebon cascade down his/her neck.

"Good," Funaho replied, resuming her seat. She had risen when the person entered the room but before he/she made themselves obvious. It paid to remind her spies that she knew not only knew all their tricks, but had means around most of them. "And Vianna is aboard as well?"

"Yes, Empress. She has been instructed to serve as the minos' personal guardian during her time on Earth. The minos was most displeased with this news."

"Mmm," Funaho replied indifferently, touching the top of her desk and activating a holographic display. "She will get over it."

"She was Most displeased," the spy said again. "She attempted to order the guard off of the ship and hid in her cabin when the command failed."

"I feel sorry for her," Funaho sighed. "Truly I do, but there is nothing to be done for it. My sister feels this is a necessary precaution. Our man was aboard as well?"

"M'lady," the spy agreed. "Ser was aboard the vessel."

"And their baggage was checked?"

"Ser did a thorough job, Empress. The one called Hakubi Washuu had a great number of transmitters and other odd devices in her luggage, but none were active and none appeared to be of Jurain manufacture."

"The one called Hakubi Washuu," Funaho repeated, looking up from her display terminal. "Why do you refer to her that way?"

"We have been unable to ascertain if she is the renowned scientist, Empress. It is most frustrating, all our roots have struck stone."

Funaho chuckled. There were few in the galaxy that could foil her staff, but Washuu would be one of them. "Do not concern yourselves with the matter. Her past is unimportant. Our man aboard the ship, ser is of the circle?"

"Ser is," the spy agreed. "We have no doubt that ser can be trusted with this mission, but precautions have been taken as appropriate. Ser's first report is due in seven minutes, at m'lady's pleasure."

Funaho nodded, touching off her display and rising once more to her feet. "Convene a council," she ordered. "We will discuss the Uran situation and how best to proceed with it. And of the one I have sent with my daughters and their friends; none will know that ser boarded that ship."

The spy nodded, a barely discernable motion in the black-on-black. "The wind shall carry no voice."

"Good," Funaho said, gesturing to the door. "Let us go. How are you called?"

"M'lady may use the name Ilatrois."

"Ah, you are male?"

"Ser has assumed that role," the spy agreed neutrally.

Funaho chuckled. That was the proper response, but it was good to keep them on their toes. Relaxed spies made for dead spies.

"Come then, Ilatrois."

The spy stepped toward the door and ser's body shifted, the black flowing together and apart. Where ser had stood was now apparently empty space, though Funaho could easily discern the presence. She went to the door and opened it, the spy having already passed through, and stepped into the hallway.

*Something must be done with Uran,* she thought, *before he goes any further. If Azusa will not act, I shall. And I must not let my concern for Sasami and Aeka mar my judgment. I will put them from my mind for the time being, and that is that. Vianna is capable, even if I do not trust her, and the ser aboard the ship will keep ser's eye on her.*

"What is your opinion on the Uran situation?" Funaho asked of the spy who walked invisibly and nearly intangibly a few steps ahead. She did not actually speak, only moved her vocal cords as though sub-vocalizing a command. She had not doubt that her servant would hear, though. Ilatrois' senses were aided by sufficient devices that anything more vocal than a strong thought was picked up easily.

"We feel that Uran's security network is well built, but we have analyzed it thoroughly and found several weaknesses. In the case of foreign affairs..."

* * *

"What did you wish to talk about Sasami?"

Sasami shifted uncomfortably on her chair. Not that the chair was anything but comfortable, everything in Aeka's cabin was of the finest quality. Sasami was actually slightly jealous, her room was not nearly this nice. She forced her mind to the matter at hand, trying to find some way to ask her question that would not upset her sister.

"Aeka," she started cautiously, "have you- that is, I know that you... Before you--"

"What is it Sasami?" Aeka asked, frowning in concern when her sister was unable to complete the question. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Sasami sighed. "Not- not really, I guess. Do you- do you remember me talking about Eto?"

Aeka nodded. "Yes, I believe so. He went to school with you in Tokyo, didn't he? As I recall you mentioned that- that you had something of a crush on him." It was obviously difficult for Aeka to say that, but she said it anyway. Sasami could not decide if she wanted to be hurt by her sister's dismissal of her feelings as a 'crush' or if she should be happy that Aeka was at least willing to talk about it.

"Yeah," she agreed eventually, "I guess. But he was a real as- jerk. He tried to-" Sasami shook her head, that was not a conversation she wanted to have just then. "It doesn't matter. He dumped me. I mean, I guess we sort of dumped each other."

"Oh?" Aeka asked. She had never been very good at hiding her emotions and it was painfully obvious that she was quite pleased with the news. "Well, I'm glad that you came to me about this, Sasami. You'll find someone else, someone much better suited to you. I never met this Eto boy, but I'm sure mother never would have approved. I hear that there is a young man in House Gin that's about your age. Court gossip says he's quite handsome, did you hear of him? I think his name was Teril. Maybe Meril. There are so many new names to remember..."

*This is exactly why I didn't want to talk to her,* Sasami thought sadly. *I knew she'd either blow up at me or start in on what was proper. I don't want to marry some stodgy prince from House Gin. Mom tried to get me to go on a marriage interview the fourth day after we got to Jurai, doesn't Aeka remember how awful they are? I just want to meet someone nice and have a Normal relationship. Someone sweet and funny, like Tenchi. He doesn't even have to be all That good looking.*

Aeka was still going on about Court, she seemed to have forgotten Sasami's situation entirely and was talking about some stupid border conflict somewhere.

"Aeka," Sasami interrupted, "did you ever have any boyfriends other than Yousho?"

Aeka halted mid-sentence to stare at her sister. "Wh- Sasami- I- I don't see how that's any of your business."

Sasami sighed. "I guess it's not." She started to rise, intending to just go back to her cabin and take a nap, but Aeka stopped her.

"Sasami, I'm sorry. Sit down." When her sister had settled again Aeka went on, "I was just startled... I know you're a- a grown woman, now, Sasami. I just have such a hard time remembering that. When I look at you, I still see the little girl who's been my sister for so long. But I know you're not her anymore, so I'll try to stop treating you that way. Why do you want to know if I've ever had a boyfriend?"

Sasami thinned her lips and looked at her sister appraisingly. Was this for real? Aeka was almost always honest with her, sometimes brutally so, but could she really be admitting that Sasami was an adult now? Somehow the princess had not thought that admission would come so easily. Aeka had seemed determined to continue treating her like a child no matter what she said.

"It's just- I was hoping you could give me some advice," Sasami said carefully, watching Aeka for a reaction, "about meeting boys, I mean. Eto- I liked Eto and I kinda... I just want to know how I can find someone nice instead of just another jerk like him, or someone dense like Ponua that I'm just going to end up hurting." Sasami's eyes widened and she stifled a gasp when she realized what she had said. Aeka did not know about Ponua, and she had not intended to let her find out.

"Ponua? Mother's Guardian? What about him?"

Sasami looked away from Aeka's gaze and toyed nervously with the hem of her shirt while trying to think of a convincing story to spin for her sister.

"Sasami? What's going on between you and Ponua? Do you realize the scandal that a relationship between the minos of House Jurai and a Guardian would cause? Tell me you only had a crush on him. You didn't actually- you didn't Do anything, did you?"

Sasami sighed. "Why do you have to be like this all the time? I was hoping I could-" What was she hoping? Her sister had always been this way, why had she expected anything else? If Sasami had a problem she could go to Aeka and Aeka would fix it, if she could, and she would be gentle about it if gentleness was called for. But if it was something improper or if Sasami had done something that Aeka didn't like, the younger princess had never had any doubt she would be told quite plainly what her sister's opinions on the matter were. Aeka loved her, and she loved Aeka. *She was just about my only friend when I was little,* Sasami thought sadly, *but Aeka can be... She can be such a Bitch sometimes. Why can't she just forget about the throne and be my sister for a little while? That's all I want.* And the worst of it was that Aeka would do so, she knew, if it were about almost anything else. If she were upset over the sorts of things that had upset her a year ago, Aeka wouldn't even mention Court or scandals.

"Now tell me what you did with mother's Guardian," Aeka was saying. "I'll call her and we will make sure that no one finds out about this. Really, Sasami, I don't see why you-"

"Why can't you just be more like Ryouko?" Sasami asked desperately, regretting her words the instant after speaking.

Aeka's eyes widened and she gasped, "Sasami!"

"I'm sorry," Sasami sighed, getting up from her chair and moving toward the door. "I'm sorry, Aeka. This was a bad idea."


Vianna was waiting for her when Sasami left Aeka's cabin and fell in behind her as she headed up the corridor. Sasami turned when she was halfway back to her own room, frustrated with her sister and even more angry at herself for what she had said and thought. "Go away!"

"I am charged with protecting you," Vianna said calmly, "I will not neglect my duties, however distasteful they may be."

"Distasteful?" Sasami asked in shocked disbelief. "Distasteful?! You- you- I could--"

Vianna made no response, just stared levelly back at the princess, the soft lights of the corridor gleaming off her slightly shiny pink hair.

*Aeka probably hates me now, Ryouko's gone with Tenchi to Yall, Mihoshi and Kiyone are off on Dalris, Washuu's busy somewhere with Grandpa... I haven't even seen Ryou-ohki since yesterday. The only person that wants to be around me is Vianna, and she's such a... Arg! Why did Mom have to send her? Why does everything have to be so- so- so Difficult?*

"Just leave me alone! I don't care What mother told you, I don't need a guard and I don't want one!"

Vianna scowled. Well, not Really scowled, Sasami had to admit. More like frowned slightly, but in her present mood it Looked like a scowl to Sasami. "Misaki charged me with your protection and I will follow her order. But it would be much easier if you did not act like an ignorant child."

"An ignorant child," Sasami repeated quietly, staring the other woman in the eye. Vianna had been nothing but a pain since the moment they met. She did not treat Sasami with anything like the respect that the princess was used to from anyone not of royal birth, and half the time she even talked down to her.

"You- you arrogant bitch!" Sasami growled, "Who the hell do you think you Are? I'm not some prissy little princess like you're used on Jurai, Vianna. I haven't lived there for five years, and on Earth Nobody talks to me that way. Maybe you can get away with saying something like that to the donos of House Jon, but if you call me ignorant or a child again-"

"What?" Vianna asked neutrally. "You will what, Sasami? Do you think that I wished to be made your babysitter? I am a warrior; your mother's personal student. I've bested more Guardians than I care to remember, and even my own sisters cannot match me. I am fit to protect the Empower himself, and instead I am charged with protecting a spoiled little brat who thinks herself above the throne. You wish to threaten me? Do not make promises you cannot keep, Sasami. Speak rudely to me again and I will not hesitate to give you the sort of lessons your mother used in teaching me."

"Why you-" Sasami pulled back and swung at Vianna, meaning to slap her. The pink-haired woman snatched her hand in mid-air without so much as twitching her eye, squeezing painfully hard on Sasami's wrist.

"Do not think to treat my as a servant," Vianna growled. "Because I am charged to be your protector does Not make me subservient to you. I am your elder and I will be treated with respect, even if you do not deign to show such to your own sister!"

"Let go," Sasami pleaded, tugging in vain on her arm. Vianna's grip was like iron, though, and similarly immovable.

"Apologize," Vianna demanded. "And agree to treat me as an equal. I do not relish this duty, but it may be bearable if we can come to some understanding."

"Apologize..." Sasami glared at the warrior, her lips twisting into an angry frown. "Let go of me, Vianna. Right now."

"Not until you admit that you are a spoiled child," Vianna said sternly, squeezing harder on Sasami's wrist. "Your rank does not matter to me, Sasami. I have never had your precious Lessons. To me, even Misaki is only another woman. I respect her for her skill and her strength. She knows more than I do, and I will learn from her until such time as that is no longer true. But you have neither skill, strength, nor knowledge. You are a petulant child who is far too full of herself."

"Let. Go. Now." Sasami's eyes gleamed dangerously, but Vianna took no notice."

"Apologize," she demanded instead. "And promise to heed me as your elder in the future."

"I said," Sasami said quietly, drawing her free hand back, "to let the fuck go of my arm, you arrogant, self-righteous, superior little Slut!" Sasami thrust forward with her open hand, a sphere of crackling silver flame exploding into her palm as it moved toward Vianna's chest. The warrior woman had time only to gape at it for a split second before the orb of Jurai energy struck her, sending her flying backward down the hall like a rag doll to slam bodily into the far wall. Sasami inspected her arm and, when she was sure no damage had been done, went to Vianna. She knew the woman was alive and mostly uninjured. She had meant it only as a lesson, not as an attack.

"Ignorant child," Tsunami spat. "You will learn to speak with more caution to your betters."

* * *

"Misaki, what have you not told me?"

"Vianna," Misaki said in greeting from the comm display. "There are a great many things I have not told you, which particular one are you inquiring about?"

"By the daughters of Jurai," Vianna swore angrily, "you know what I'm talking about! Your daughter nearly killed me, Misaki. Why was I not warned that she had such power? She commands the silver flames, Misaki. You lead me to believe that none but myself and my sisters had that power."

Misaki looked away and gestured at a terminal before refocusing on the fuming guard. "Really, Vianna. You should not allow your anger to overcome your good judgment so. Speaking of such things on an unsecured line... Really."

"It was secure," Vianna grumbled, "I did it myself."

Misaki sniffed and rolled her eyes. "Your talents do not lie in such directions, Vianna. And as for my daughter... Will this cause you to be unable to perform your duties?"

Vianna grimaced but shook her head. "No, I will do as you have bid. But I do not like being sent blind into danger, Misaki. She knocked me cold and I was forced to tell the medical staff aboard that it was a training accident. A little more power and she could have killed me."

"The silver fire is not easily tamed," Misaki said calmly. "If you are still alive, she meant you to be. What did you do to engender her wrath?"

"I did nothing! We were merely speaking and she attacked me!"

Misaki raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "Lying does not become you, Vianna. Perhaps I should send one of your sisters to perform this task instead? Milea would be eager, I think."

Vianna's lips thinned in anger and she said, "No, I will do as I have been commanded. Milea would as soon take your daughter by force as protect her, you know her habits as well as I."

"I have never known her to rape," Misaki denied. "And you seem quite confident that Sasami could defend herself. Perhaps it would be better that way. Milea would certainly keep it more discreet than Ponua. I had to have the poor boy's memory wiped just to keep him from grumbling around the palace."

"I said that I would perform my duties," Vianna growled.

"Good then," Misaki said pleasantly. "I will expect your report two days after your arrival on Earth. And please avoid contacting me in the future, Vianna? Secrecy is Not your strong suite and I have, I believe, stressed sufficiently that your movements at the present are not to be public knowledge."

Vianna started a retort but Misaki cut the connection before she had even opened her mouth to speak.

*Trying to give my duties to Milea of all people. I would as soon see Guardians take the job. Milea may have trained with me as my sister, but she does not understand honor or restraint. She would have her legs around Sasami's head inside a week, whether the girl wished it or not.*

Vianna stalked angrily out of her room, thinking that she would have a talk with the minos. She would not apologize, certainly. It was the girl's fault, not hers, but anyone who could command the silver flames was not to be readily trifled with. It took great discipline to use the power of Jurai in that way, and if Misaki's daughter had mastered it at such a young age then she was deserving of at least some modicum of respect. Even if she Was a spoiled little bitch.

* * *

"What's wrong, Tenchi?" Ryouko spoke in Japanese, thinking that her husband would more readily share his feelings knowing that the people around them could not understand.

Tenchi glanced over at her, then went back to looking half-heartedly around at the sights of Nedri Port. "Nothing," he sighed, not at all convincingly.

"Come on," Ryouko prodded, holding his arm a bit tighter. "What's up? You look really down and we're supposed to be having fun."

Tenchi patted her hand gently and shook his head. "It's really nothing honey. I just- it's just that in a few days we'll be going back to Earth."

"You want to stay longer?" Ryouko asked, thinking that an extended stay on Yall would hardly be out of the question. It was months still before the fall semester and she was having a wonderful time. It had been twelve hundred years since she visited the planet, back when Nedri was little more than a couple of landing pads and a bank. Now it was a bustling metropolis, and the crystal falls had been even more spectacular than she remembered. Nowhere else in the known galaxy could you see a three hundred meter waterfall inside the half-buried remains of a huge geode. Last time she visited had been under Kagato's order and she had seen the falls only in passing. Now she knew that the massive crystal had been an exceptionally rare meteorite that impacted the planet millions of years ago, fracturing and eventually being intersected by the rivers that formed the falls.

Tenchi, she had thought, was enjoying himself too. Up until now he had been all smiles and laughter, holding her hand and pointing excitedly at this or that. When they went to the falls he seemed even more moved than she herself had been, staring slack-jawed at the roaring waterfalls for long minutes. They kissed in the light spray that was kicked across the hundreds of yards distance between the falls themselves and the observation deck, and had another tourist take their picture in front of the view. Ryouko thought the trip would be a sort of prelude to their honeymoon, and until now it had seemed like exactly that. But now Tenchi seemed depressed about something and her attempts to peek at his thoughts were gently but firmly denied.

After long moments of silence Tenchi sighed. "No. I mean, it'd be nice...but that's not why I'm feeling down. It's just that after all this; can we really just go back home? While I was on Earth with all of you, I could just sort of ignore that you were all from space. I mean, sure you were from wherever...but I'd never been there. The Earth and Japan were all I'd ever known, so it wasn't hard to forget that Aeka and Sasami are princesses of Jurai, or that I was supposed to be some kind of prince."

"And now that you've seen it, you're not quite so willing to be the simple Earth boy?" Ryouko asked, understanding dawning.

"I guess," Tenchi agreed, looking up at the Nedri elevator. "I mean, look at that. Space elevators are science fiction back home. I never thought I'd see one for real, but there it is. We even rode down on it. I can never tell anyone about that back home except maybe Mat and Ai. How can we just go back there after all this?"

"I've done it," Ryouko reminded him. "I was 'out here' for thousands of years, Tenchi, and gave it all up for Earth. It's not that hard, really. Nedri Port is nice, but Tokyo has nice things too. And it's not like we can never come back here, or go back to Jurai."

Tenchi sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry honey." He smiled and kissed her quickly to show he meant it. Tenchi was still reluctant to show more affection than holding hands in public, but he was getting better. Ryouko hoped he would hang on to at least a little of his shyness though, it was cute the way he blushed when she gave him more than a buss on the lips where anyone could see.

"Want to go back to the hotel?" Ryouko asked. "I'm kind of hungry and my legs are getting tired."

Tenchi nodded, then glanced at her sideways. "You? Tired? Are you okay?"

"Fine," Ryouko lied. She was afraid she knew why she felt tired, but was not at all ready to talk to Tenchi about it.

* * *

"Thanks Kat," Washuu sighed, "I'm just sorry that's the last dinner we'll get before we're back on Earth."

"Oh?" Katsuhito asked, stopping in front of the door to Washuu's cabin. "I think Sasami's cooking is at least as good as the ship's dining room."

"It is," Washuu agreed. "But there's just something special about eating in a restaurant with someone you love."

Katsuhito frowned slightly and Washuu regretted saying it. She Did love him, but she knew how he felt about her saying it.

"Do you- do you want to come in?" Washuu asked, touching open the door to her room. "I could have tea sent up."

*Listen to me,* Washuu chastised herself. *Stuttering like a child. Am I nervous that he will say no, or that he might say yes?*

Katsuhito seemed about to accept, then shook his head. "No. Thank you for the offer Washuu, but tomorrow will be an busy day and I think I'm going to bed."

"So early? You're a young man again, Kat, you can be active at night now."

"Old habits die hard," Katsuhito sighed. "I'm sorry, Washuu. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Kat," Washuu said worriedly. She did not think he was talking about his bedtime when he said 'habits,' and worried that he was beating himself up over his reluctance to be more affectionate. She knew she was probably over-analyzing, but it was a trait she could not deny and which seemed to assert itself at the most inappropriate times. Washuu took a step toward Katsuhito and kissed him quickly on the cheek before turning and going into her cabin, wondering at the blush that rose on her face.

*You'd think I was Sasami's age, blushing over a kiss on the cheek. What is it about that man that makes me act this way?*

The door slid shut on a surprised Katsuhito and Washuu sighed. She knew what made her act that way. Having all the answers was Really annoying sometimes.

"You always were an idiot when you were in love," Washuu scolded herself. "And why him, anyway? Just because he's handsome and charming, or is it because he's funny and just sophisticated enough to make you nervous? Or maybe because he's old enough to be able to identify with you without making you feel ancient? Or because he's smart enough to talk to without having to censor yourself?"

Washuu sat down heavily on her bed, kicking off the shoes she had worn to dinner. It was all of those things, of course. She did not know when it started, but once she had begun down the path of attraction to Katsuhito she spiraled inward like a planet being sucked into a gravity well. She had never in her life been a woman that did things in half measures, and with relationships it was just as true as with science. Even with Ryouko, she went from nervous ally to full motherhood in a matter of months. And Ryou-ohki she stopped thinking of as a pet and started thinking of as a daughter almost overnight. The fact that the girl could talk now helped, of course. There was something utterly irresistible about that furry little face saying, "Mommy! Teach me some more, Mommy?"

"You're as foolish as the old man," Washuu said, not really angry with herself. She could not deny her nature and trying would do no one any good. She had at least convinced Katsuhito that she was worth having as a friend and that a closer relationship would not be entirely out of the question. Now she only had to break down a few more barriers and he would be putty in her hands. Adorable putty, but putty none the less.

*I wish he'd come to me for his alteration,* Washuu thought, taking the folding computer from atop her luggage and tapping idly at it. *And not just because I want to see him naked. He was lucky with the Binodi. He might've come out of their clinic with three eyes and nothing but scars for a chest. I could have done the procedure when we got back to Earth and my lab, and I wouldn't have charged him a credit.*

But, again, she knew why he had done it. Or thought she did. Katsuhito was the kind of man who could not stand owing someone a debt that he could not repay. There was only one thing that Washuu wanted of him, and he knew it, but he was obviously not ready to give her his heart the way his grandson had her daughter. So he had tried to avoid owing her anything more than he already did. Not that Washuu counted him in her debt for what she had done in the campground. The fact that he was willing to let her be a part of his life was more than payment enough for preserving his continued existence, after all.

Washuu stretched out on her bed, feet kicking idly in the air, and went to work on a few neglected experiments as a means of distracting herself.

*I wonder if I can talk Kat into a trip to Dalris to visit Mihoshi. Maybe I can get the astral scan data out of their records, even if Kiyone won't help me.*

* * *

Tenchi took one hand away from Ryouko's chest, reaching for the table beside the bed where his bag of personal things sat. The movement disturbed her enough that Ryouko opened her eyes, looking to see why Tenchi had paused in his entirely enjoyable ministrations.

*This again,* she thought, a little irritably. Anything that interrupted foreplay was something that annoyed Ryouko.

"Tenchi," she breathed softly, removing her hand from his. He did not need guidance in finding the right spots to touch anymore, but she liked holding his hand. "Don't stop, Tenchi."

"I'm just--"

Ryouko leaned over and kissed his throat at the collarbone, running her fingernails lightly down his chest. "Not tonight, Tenchi."

"Ryouko," Tenchi sighed.

She let her fingers drift lower, making sure he was ready. He was. Ryouko rolled over, straddling Tenchi's waist, and lowered herself purposefully onto him before leaning down to whisper in his ear. She knew how much having her hair tickling his face in that position turned him on, and made use of that knowledge quite freely. "Go ahead, Tenchi. I'll get off if you want to put on a condom..."

Ryouko lifted herself slightly, squeezing his thighs, then let her body's weight settle atop his. "Hmmm?" She murmured, nipping gently as Tenchi's neck.

Tenchi made a soft little noise, halfway between sigh and moan, and Ryouko knew she had him. "But what if-" he protested weakly, his hand already moving away from the bag on the night stand.

"We've already done this twice," Ryouko reminded him, rocking ever so slowly. "Don't you like being inside me without one of those on, Tenchi? Doesn't it feel-" Ryouko contracted around him as best she could. It was a skill she had only discovered recently but which she could tell Tenchi liked, "-good?"

Tenchi made that noise again and Ryouko smiled, tossing her head so that her hair would tickle his face. She felt his hands on her hips and Ryouko knew she would have no more argument out of Tenchi that night. He liked it without the condoms as much as she did. More, she thought. But he was nervous about pregnancy.

*Odd,* Ryouko mused, trying to keep her rhythm slow and leisurely while Tenchi stroked her thighs, *I was the one that was nervous about that before. I guess that makes sense. If I'm already pregnant, what's one more time going to hurt? And it Does feel better this way.* Ryouko lifted, contracted, and pressed back down; a sequence that never failed to draw a groan from Tenchi. *God, does it feel better this way...*

She leaned down and kissed him, venting her own pleased moan when he cupped her breast and thrust against her gently rocking hips.

When she felt the feather-light probing of Tenchi's mind at the edge of hers Ryouko's paused, startled. She looked down at him, her rocking motion interrupted, and asked, "Tenchi? Are you- are you sure?"

"Mmm," Tenchi agreed, moving one hand around her back to draw Ryouko's body own atop his while pressing more urgently at the boundaries of her psyche. He could enter without asking, of course. Not only did he have the power to bowl through whatever defenses Ryouko erected, she would not stop him if he tried. They had already shared everything, she no long had anything to hide. *Well, almost nothing.*

But the last time they did that while making love the last time... It was sixteen hours before Ryouko could stand unaided, and nearly twenty for Tenchi. He must have picked up the edge of her thought, for Tenchi reminded her, "We're staying two extra days, honey..."

Ryouko was still slightly hesitant, but Tenchi rolled over on the bed, taking her with him. Ryouko yelped, startled, but grinned up at her husband when his weight settled atop her. He re-arranged himself comfortably, leaning on his elbows only enough that his chest rubbed hers with every breath rather than simply resting atop it. *I never should have told him his chest hair tickled...*

Tenchi pressed against her mind again and Ryouko gave up. She opened herself to him, simultaneously wrapping her legs around his waist, and whispered, "Be gentle, Tenchi."


He was. He always was. And, not much later, when she wanted him to be anything But gentle, he was that too.

* * *

"Thank you for dinner Quan," Atiena said, not without real gratitude. "Your ship is quite nice. Much larger than the Corona."

"Isn't it?" Captain Takima agreed.

*Most guys wouldn't insult the starship of a woman they're trying to get into bed," Atiena thought. *So is he trying to impress me with his honesty, or is he just a moron?*

"We have boarding available, if you or your crew would prefer to stay here," Takima offered. "If we are to have an extended relationship between our two vessels, it only makes sense that we all be as comfortable as possible."

*And it would be so much easier for you to just 'drop by' my room if it were up the hall from yours, wouldn't it? Or maybe you would just happen to run out of rooms and we captains would have to bunk together?*

"I'll ask my crew."

"Shall I walk you back to the lock then?" Takima offered, Smiling Cheerfully.

Atiena suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and, instead, smiled. "Sure, Quan." Unable to resist the urge she added in an affectedly uneducated accent, "These Fleet ships are just so...Big. Why, a girl could just get lost for Days wandering around the corridors without someone to show her were to go."

"Quite so," Quan agreed, seemingly impervious to her sarcasm. "Why, I got lost once myself. Can you imagine? Lost aboard my own ship. But don't tell any of the crew about that."

"Oh, of course not," Atiena agreed, "I wouldn't want to undermine their confidence in their superior officer or anything."

Quan cast a Suspicious Glance at her, then Chuckled Amiably. "How is the work going on your...lens...thing?"

"The Hakubi Trans-spatial Diffraction Lens?" Atiena asked, the name rolling easily off her tongue quite on purpose. "Very well. We should have it ready for the first smoke test in another day."

"Smoke test?"

"Where we turn it on to see if anything starts smoking," Atiena explained, thinking that using that particular phrase was probably a bad idea.

"I assume that that would be bad?"

"Yes, Quan. Generally if the project catches fire, you've done something wrong."

"Interesting," Quan said, managing by some minor feat to actually sound interested. "All that technical jargon... I'm afraid I'm simply not an engineer, Atiena. It is a pleasure having someone so charming to explain these things to me, really. So often University people are...distasteful. Present company excluded, of course-"

"Of course," Atiena agreed, suppressing another eye roll.

"But having such a witty, personable young woman to deal with... It makes this difficult situation so much easier to handle. Why, I can't imagine what would have happened were I to have to deal with someone like your under-professor Kittan for the duration of this ordeal-"

"Look, Quan," Atiena interrupted, stopping in the hallway. "Are you going to ask me to sleep with you or not?"

Quan blinked. "Wh-what? Atiena, I would never- I am an officer in the Royal Fleet of Jurai. We Do have some standards, you know. I do not simply go about propositioning young women-"

"I'm probably older than you are, Quan. You're kind of cute, and I've never been with a Fleet captain. A Guardian, once, but never Fleet. So if you want to, come out and say it. I Hate screwing around with dates and innuendo and double-talk. If you want to have sex, say so. If not, let's cut the bullshit and get to work, alright?"

"Atiena-"

"Last chance, Quan. I'm counting to three, then I'm going back to my ship. If you don't speak up now I'm going to assume you are only interested in a professional relationship. Face it, Quan. You're Fleet, I'm University. There can never be anything between us. The last person who tried it was Prof. Hakubi, and it didn't even work out for Her. You and your boys are out here light-years away from port and you get a little lonely. I understand. I'm not half bad looking, I know, so you get a little hot under that pastel collar of yours, right? If you want to do it, say so. I'm not Totally opposed to the concept, but I'm Not going to pretend I'm in love with you to do it. No more dinners, no more half-suggestions. We'll be out here a couple weeks together, maybe we'll have some fun, then it's over. So either speak up, or shut up, Captain Takima."

"I don't-"

Atiena held up a finger and said threateningly, "One..."

"It's simply not-"

"...two..."

"Listen, Atiena, I am a captain of the Royal Fleet. I cannot simply-"

"...three. Sorry Quan, it might've been fun. I've heard Fleet boys have big trees." Atiena tossed her hair and walked off, leaving Captain Takima staring after her, still stammering about propriety. She paused at the turning of the passageway and called back, "I'll have a status report on the Lens for you tomorrow, Captain. Goodnight."

* * *

"Guest at the door."

Sasami looked up at the door, seeing Aeka on the little monitor beside it. Her sister looked nervous. *Probably coming to yell at me about Ponua some more,* Sasami thought sadly. *Guess I deserve it.*

"Open," Sasami commanded and the door slid open silently.

"Sasami," Aeka began, "I- I wanted to--"

"I'm sorry," Sasami sighed. "I was wrong, before. You're right about me and Ponua. It was stupid, and I shouldn't have said- what I said. I already called Mom, she said she took care of it."

Aeka blinked, mouth moving silently for a moment. "Sasami- that is... That was very mature of you."

Sasami shook her head silently.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted to your question. You're a grown woman now and I suppose I should expect questions like that."

"It's okay. I know how you feel about that stuff, I shouldn't have asked."

"No," Aeka insisted, "if you need my help with something you should have it. I just-"

"Guest at the door," announced the automated voice of the ship.

Aeka turned to look at the door. Vianna's head and shoulders were visible on the display beside the doorway. The woman glared up at the camera as they watched, then glanced up and down the hallway.

"Open," Sasami ordered, thinking that Vianna probably would not just go away.

"Sasami," Vianna said even before the door was fully opened, "I need to speak with- Aeka. I did not know you would be here."

"What is it Vianna?" Sasami asked irritably.

"I need to speak with you," Vianna explained.

"Not now, Vianna. I'm talking with Aeka. We were about to order room service, right Aeka?"

Aeka glanced at her sister questioningly, then nodded and said, "Yes, Vianna. We were about to have some dessert sent up. Perhaps you can speak with Sasami later?"

Vianna narrowed her eyes slightly but nodded. "Very well."

"And Vianna," Sasami added as the woman turned to leave, "do not listen at the door."

"I would not-"

"You're a bad liar, Vianna," Sasami said coldly. "If you Must wait outside my door, do so on the other side of the hall."

For a moment Vianna looked as though she were about to growl and Sasami wondered if she had, perhaps, gone too far.

"Fine," Vianna snapped, stepped through the doorway and touching it shut behind her.

"Sasami?" Aeka asked curiously.

Sasami shook her head. "Why did Mom have to send her?"

"You're an adult now," Aeka pointed out. "You need protection and for some reason mother chose her over Guardians."

"I don't need protection," Sasami argued. "I can protect myself, and there's nobody after me anyway."

"As a member of the House Jurai you must-"

Aeka paused and sighed. "I'm sorry, Sasami. I go on about what you must do a lot, don't I? Yousho did that when I was your age. He's certainly changed, hasn't he? And doesn't he look handsome now?" Aeka shook her head, pausing again. "I'm sorry, Sasami. I am- I'm nervous. But if Vianna is to be with us you should try to at least get along with her."

Sasami snorted angrily. "I don't think that's possible, Aeka. She's so- so full of herself. And she says she has never had the Lessons. She Must be lying."

"She said that?" Aeka asked, looking toward the closed door. "That Is odd."

Sasami shook herself and went to the comm screen in the corner of her cabin. "What do you want to order from room service?"'

"You meant that?" Aeka asked. "I thought we were just getting rid of Vianna."

"We were," Sasami agreed. "But I could use some cake. And we haven't- I guess I haven't really tried to spend much time with you lately. Everything's just been so confusing since- since Eto left me."

"Cake sounds good. Sasami? Why don't you...tell me about Eto? I'm afraid that besides Yousho and...Shiko I haven't had any boyfriends. Marriage interviews, but no real boyfriends. But I'll listen, if you want to talk."

Sasami bit her lip and looked down at the floor, trying to decide if it was worth trying. It would be nice being able to talk to Aeka again. Sasami could not remember the last time she had been able to ask her sister about anything really important.

"Okay," Sasami said a moment later, smiling at her sister. "That'd be nice."

* * *

"Mom? Are you in here?"

Ryouko poked her head around another cluster of tubes, looking for Washuu. There was a tracking program for the mammoth, labyrinthine complex that was her laboratory, but it was hardly precise. Washuu said that she had never bothered to fine tune it because she did not use it. Whatever it was that she Did use, though, Ryouko had no idea how to operate. So she knew that her mother was somewhere in the area, but that could be a mile away or right around the corner.

"Ryouko?"

She turned, finding the red-haired, older woman sitting on a floating cushion not ten feet away with a semi-transparent computer terminal floating before her.

"There you are," Ryouko sighed. "I've been wandering around in here for an hour."

"I'm sorry," Washuu said sincerely. "I didn't even know you were back. How was Yall?"

"Great," Ryouko said, smiling, as she approached her mother. "It was wonderful, and Tenchi had a good time too. We're going back on our honeymoon."

"Oh?" Washuu asked curiously. "I thought it was off to Dalris and Oon?"

Ryouko nodded. "We're going to go to all three. Tenchi really wants to see the galaxy, now that he's had a little taste."

Washuu chuckled. "The old explorer's bug. I knew he'd get it, once he got off this dirtball. Tenchi's not the kind of guy to spend his whole life on one planet."

Ryouko smiled, eyes looking off into the unseen distance. "We're talking about moving to Jurai, one day. Tenchi wants to take classes in living architecture at the University branch there." Ryouko shook her head then, focusing back on her mother. "But that's not why I'm here, Mom. I- I needed to talk to you about something."

"Sure," Washuu replied indulgently, summoning up another cushion for her daughter. "Talk away."

Ryouko sat down and stared at her hands, fiddling idly with her fingers in her lap while composing her thoughts. Washuu waited quietly, knowing this to be one of the times when Ryouko needed her to be silent. It was a long, difficult process learning the little cues that told her when her daughter needed a silent companion, when she needed someone to be talkative and supportive, and when she just wanted a shoulder to lean on. But it was worth it all for Washuu to see a smile on Ryouko's face and know that she had helped put it there.

"Mom... Can you... Is there any kind of pregnancy test you can use on me?"

"Of course," Washuu agreed, stifling an urge to reach for her terminal. "Why, Ryouko? I thought you and Tenchi were being extra careful?"

"We- we were. But I-" Ryouko sighed. "That night when we disappeared back to Earth... We had a fight. Afterward we- we didn't use anything. I really wanted it, then, and I- I don't regret it. And since then... Tenchi bought condoms when we got the sake, but he hasn't opened the box. He's tried, but I stopped him."

"If it was your decision and he's okay," Washuu asked, not sure how to respond to this situation, "what's wrong? You both knew there was a chance you might get pregnant if you did that, Ryouko. And you were so adamant about not risking it before, if you convinced Tenchi to have unprotected sex, you must have changed your mind."

Ryouko nodded. "I- I did, I guess. Having a baby with Tenchi would be wonderful. I can imagine playing with it and teaching it and Tenchi and I taking her all over the galaxy with us... But actually Being pregnant... I'm not ready, Mom. I think I might be, and I just can't handle it."

"Does Tenchi know?"

"No," Ryouko sighed, "I haven't told him."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not sure. If I Am pregnant then I'll talk to him. I- I can have an abortion, can't I? That's possible right?"

Washuu nodded silently and her daughter went on, "But if it's nothing... I don't want to upset him."

"When did you have unprotected intercourse?" Washuu asked, pulling her floating terminal around in front of her.

"The first time? Or the last time?"

"Both," Washuu said, tapping a few keys.

"The first time was... ten days ago. The last time was about seven hours ago."

Washuu sighed and closed her terminal. "Ryouko, I can't help you."

Ryouko blinked in confusion and asked, "What? Why not? I thought- you said you could run a test and tell me..."

"Your body chemistry isn't like a typical human's Ryouko," Washuu explained, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Your cellular cycle is way off from what anyone else in the galaxy would expect to have. There's absolutely no way for me to tell if you're pregnant except by actually detecting a blastocyst in your womb, and in your body that will take over a month to form. If you conceived the very first time, and I don't have to tell you the odds of that, I couldn't tell you about it for at least another twenty-two days."

Ryouko sighed, deflating, and stared at the floor.

"But Ryouko... Whatever you're feeling, it's not pregnancy. You might be imagining symptoms out of a desire to Be pregnant, but there is no way for you to actually be exhibiting them yet. What sort of things have you felt?"

Ryouko was silent for a long few moments, then said, "Weakness, nausea, a little light-headedness."

"I'm sorry," Washuu sighed, "but it can't be symptoms of a real pregnancy, Ryouko. It's just not possible. I know mothers usually think they can tell before any doctor can tell them, but your body isn't the same as most women. You won't experience any of those things until nearly the end of the first trimester."

"I- I won't? At all?"

"No," Washuu agreed. "The fetus will develop more slowly than in a normal woman's body because it will actually be composed of massu-based cellular structures. Part of your reproductive system is a sort of massu hot-bed. When one of your eggs is fertilized, it kicks in and starts pumping out massu raw material to use in building the baby. If you and Tenchi have a child, she will have all the powers you do without your gems because she'll have nearly the same physiology you do. Her genetic pattern will be different since it will include parts of Tenchi's dna, but she'll be made of massu-cells, not regular cells. But even I couldn't make massu breed at the rate that regular cells undergo mitosis, so for you a full-term pregnancy would last twenty months."

"T-twenty?" Ryouko asked, her eyes widening as Washuu talked.

"Yes," the scientist agreed. "But after the first six I could remove the fetus and place it in an artificial womb. Then it could either be allowed to develop naturally using blood drawn from you and some regular nutrients, or I could infuse it with fresh massu from my holding tank and speed the maturation process to something closer to a normal child."

"I- I never thought..."

"You thought you would get pregnant and have a baby the same as anyone else? I'm sorry, Ryouko. I tried to make sure you could have the healthiest, most wonderful little baby I possibly could, and I tried to make the process as close to normal as I could; but you can't have it both ways. It's really not That different, anyway. Jurains leave their children in gestation until a physical age of a year and a half, and there are a number of races within the Empire that have natural gestation periods ranging into the years rather than months."

"But you can tell me in twenty-two days?" Ryouko asked.

"I can."

"And- and if I want to have an abortion... How long..."

"If the fetus develops naturally in your body? Nine months. After that I wouldn't risk it. The link with your biochemistry would be too tight and aborting the fetus would risk shutting down your cellular respiratory cycle."

"And if I... If you took it out?"

"Any time up to thirteen months. After that the child is capable of sentience and couldn't be willfully destroyed. That's Jurain law, not mine, but I won't break it."

"So I have time to decide?"

Washuu nodded seriously. "But we don't know if there's a decision to make, Ryouko. Don't worry about what you'll do if you're pregnant until we know. And talk to Tenchi. He should know that you think you might be, even if it's impossible to find out."

"I- I don't want to worry him, Mom. You know Tenchi, he'll get all hyper about it."

"He should know," Washuu insisted. "And you'll feel better if you're not holding it in, won't you?"

Ryouko sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"Good, so you'll talk to him?"

"I will," Ryouko said, nodding. "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"If- if I'm not pregnant, could you make me a pill or whatever to turn off my reproductive system like you said? I mean, that's reversible, right?"

Washuu nodded. "It would be, and yes, I can make a pill to do that. But I won't give it to you until after we know you aren't pregnant. That'll be a month from now."

"A month? I thought you said twenty-two days?"

"Minimum," Washuu agreed. "But if you were impregnated on any occasion after the first it will not show up on a test for thirty-two days from the moment of ejaculation. If you had intercourse seven hours ago, it will be over a month until we know if that one took."

"Why can't I have the pill now, while we wait?"

"If you took it now it would be equivalent to an abortion, Ryouko. Your reproductive system would shut down and the developing blastocyst would be re-absorbed into your body. If you decide that you don't want to continue the pregnancy, if you Are pregnant, then that's one thing and I'll support you. No baby should be born if her parents are not one hundred percent sure they want her, that's just common sense. But I won't let you abort before you even know if there's something To abort. That wouldn't be fair to you. How would you feel if you took the pill right now, and never knew if you were pregnant at all?"

"Pretty bad," Ryouko sighed. "I'd always wonder what she would have been like, if she existed."

"You want a little girl, don't you?" Washuu asked, voice softening from her professional tone back to that of a mother and confidant.

"Yeah," Ryouko agreed quietly. "I want to have a daughter. She'd be just like Sasami."

Washuu smiled gently and touched her daughter's hand. "I'm sure she would."

"But not yet," Ryouko said, voice still soft. "I'm not ready yet. I can think about it now, but I- I couldn't handle it, Mom. One day I'll be able to, but not yet."

Washuu nodded. "If you're not ready, you're not ready. Nobody can tell you when is the right time except you, Ryouko. But talk to Tenchi. If he's ready and you're not, he should know that. Before it's time to decide what to do about an abortion."

Ryouko nodded. "You're right, Mom. I'll talk to him tonight. But I don't think he's ready either. He said he wasn't, and he's been nervous about getting my pregnant every time. Is there- is there Anything you can give me right now? That won't hurt the- the baby? If there is one, I mean?"

"Something?" Washuu asked. "For what?"

"For- for me and Tenchi."

"I thought you said he bought condoms?"

"He did," Ryouko agreed, "but--"

"You don't want to go back to using them," Washuu finished, fighting a grin. "It doesn't feel the same, does it?"

"No," Ryouko agreed, blushing. "It's--"

"I know," Washuu sighed, releasing a soft chuckle that she did not think would upset her daughter. "When- when my first husband and I were still together... He was stationed on a world like Earth; undercover work for the Fleet and the GP together when they were trying to bust some kind of smugglers. We were talking about having children, so I'd gone from the injection to regular pills. The assignment ran longer than I thought and I was out of contraceptive medicine with no way to get any more. So we had to use the local stuff." Washuu chuckled again and patted Ryouko's hand. "It's almost not worth it, if you have to use those things."

"Almost," Ryouko agreed, grinning slightly through the flush coloring her cheeks.

"I'll put something together for you," Washuu promised. "Think you can abstain for a day or two? Or not... It's up to you."

"I think we can," Ryouko said, smiling softly. "Thanks Mom."

"Any time, honey."

Ryouko hugged her mother tightly, then sat back and squeezed her eyes shut while summoning up one of the little floating terminals for herself. She ordered hot tea and sipped delicately when it arrived from subspace.

"So tell me about Yall," Washuu requested, tapping away at her terminal. "I haven't been there in... Come to think of it, I've never been there. I saw the falls in simulation, though."

"It's beautiful," Ryouko sighed. She reached into the pocket of her blouse and took out a print of the photo she and Tenchi had had taken with his disposable camera. "This was at the falls. You should go some time, Mom. Maybe take Grandpa."

"He's Grandpa now?" Washuu asked, taking the photograph and smiling at it. Her daughter was happier much more often in the past year than she had been before, but moments of such clear elation as that caught in the image were still rare enough to be special.

Ryouko blushed and nodded. "Tenchi's my husband now, so Katsuhito is my grandfather. I always thought it was kind of silly, calling him that before, but it feels right now. I think- I think I'd like to get to know him. I've been kind of distant with him...all the time, I guess."

"Understandable," Washuu said, returning the picture and going back to her keys. "He Did lock you up."

"It was for my own good, though," Ryouko said absently, looking down at the picture in her hands. "I think I can forgive him for it, now that Tenchi and I are together for good. And if you two--"

"What would you call him then?" Washuu asked curiously.

"I don't know... Probably Grandpa. Tenchi was my husband first."

Washuu chuckled. "That'd make me Tenchi's grandmother and his mother, and you would be his aunt, wife, and sister. We'd be like real Jurains." She winked and Ryouko laughed softly.

"I'll have to have a boy and a girl so we can have them get married. I've never understood how they could do that. Wouldn't it be weird, making love with someone you grew up with like that?"

Washuu shrugged. "I'm not Jurain, Ryouko. Ask Aeka, if you really want to know, but I don't think it's too weird for them. It's normal in their society, so children aren't raised the way they are on Earth or on most worlds. When they grow up, they're not taught that their siblings are taboo for relationships, so they see them as sexual beings as much as anyone else. You know there have been a number of instances of tri or quad marriages where a couple's child joined the union?"

"Really?" Ryouko asked, stunned.

"Mmm," Washuu agreed. "Not at a young age, of course. The only ones I've heard of, the 'child' was well over a thousand in every case. I suppose that by then a man can look at his mother and see her as a beautiful woman without thinking of his childhood."

Ryouko shuddered slightly and shook her head. "I guess I've been around Tenchi too long, Mom. I just can't imagine that. Siblings... I can understand that, I guess. The taboo here on Earth seems to all be based around genetics, after all. But parents and children? That's just..."

"Sick?" Washuu asked curiously. "Don't be closed-minded, Ryouko. Just because it isn't what you're used to doesn't make it wrong."

"I'll try... But you'd better not try to get Tenchi to agree to make a quad with me, you, him, and Grandpa."

Washuu laughed. "Don't worry, I want Kat all to myself. Besides, Tenchi would never go for it. I don't think he could even have handled a tri with you and Aeka."

"Neither could I," Ryouko sighed. "I feel bad for Aeka, Mom. I mean, I can't wish she had gotten Tenchi instead... But I wish she had somebody."

"Could invite her to join you two," Washuu pointed out. "You'd get used to it eventually."

"I don't think so," Ryouko said doubtfully. "Aeka's not so bad once you get to know her... But I couldn't do that. Tenchi would never go for it, I think he's the only human male who's never fantasized about having two women at once."

"He hasn't?" Washuu asked. "He's probably lying, you know. Most men won't admit to it and I've never met one who didn't want to try it."

"Nope," Ryouko said with a hint of pride. "He doesn't. I know."

"If you say so."

"But even if he did... I couldn't, Mom. I'm just not- I couldn't even make love with a man who wasn't Tenchi, much less with a woman. Especially Aeka. She's a friend, but I--"

"It's okay, Ryouko, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I wasn't serious anyway. Aeka will find someone eventually, but Jurains can mourn for a long time when they want to. Tenchi may not be dead, but she'll be mourning her chances with him for a while, I think."

Ryouko nodded. "I wish there were some way to cheer her up. She's doing better now, but she's still not the same old Aeka."

"I don't think she ever will be," Washuu said gently. "She's been through a lot, Ryouko. People change when they have experiences like Aeka has. She'll be full of life as she ever was eventually, but I don't think she'll ever be the same woman she used to be."

"That's sad," Ryouko sighed.

"Not really. Change isn't always bad, Ryouko. You've changed for the better, haven't you? Anyone looking at you now two years ago wouldn't believe you were the same person. Aeka is different and will probably keep changing before she's done... But it doesn't have to be bad."

Ryouko nodded thoughtfully, then rose from her floating cushion. "I'm going to go find Tenchi and talk to him. Then I think I might see if Aeka wants to go into town for lunch. I haven't done anything with her in a while."

"Have fun," Washuu said with a smile, patting her daughter's hip.

"Thanks again, Mom. I'm really glad we're- I'm glad you--"

"Me too," Washuu said, agreeing with Ryouko's confused sentiment.

* * *

"Tenchi, I think I'm pregnant."

Ryouko shook her head, that was no good at all.

"Tenchi?" She tried again, looking at herself in the mirror while she spoke, "I think I might be pregnant."

*No, too indecisive."

"Tenchi," Ryouko said firmly, "I'm pregnant."

*Too decisive. I'm not even sure yet.*

"Tenchi, honey? You know how you we had sex without a condom? Well--"

*Ugh, definitely not.*

"Tenchi! You'll never believe... It's so wonderful... I might be...pregnant!"

*Yeach, too... Mihoshi.*

"Tenchi, my love? I think- I think I may be having your child."

*Too Aeka.*

"Tenchi? Your sperm may have fertilized-"

*Ick, Way too Mom.*

"Well big boy, looks like you might've knocked me up."

*Too old-me.*

"If it's a girl, we should name her-"

Ryouko shook her head, this was not going well at all. She had intended to have a whole speech ready for Tenchi when she went to talk to him but could not even get past the first line.

"Tenchi?" Ryouko tried one last time, "I think I might be-"

The door slid open and Tenchi entered, interrupting Ryouko's rehearsal.

"Oh, hi honey. You think you might be what?"

Ryouko gaped at Tenchi as he crossed the bedroom and poked around in his closet for a moment before removing his gi. He pulled off his shirt and turned to look at her, unbuttoning his pants. "Well?"

"Tenchi, I-"

Ryouko took a deep breath, then pushed on in one quick burst of words, "Tenchi, I think I might be pregnant."

Tenchi's hands froze on his zipper and he stared at her, unmoving, for what seemed a very, very long time to Ryouko.

"Did- did you hear me?" She asked nervously. "I- I think I'm pregnant, Tenchi. I might be having your baby."

"B-b-b--"

"Baby," Ryouko agreed to Tenchi's stammer. "But I'm not sure. Mom says we won't know for twenty-two to thirty-two days because of my body chemistry."

"P-p-pre--"

"Pregnant," Ryouko finished. "But I'm not sure."

"But I," Tenchi protested, making incoherent motions with his hands, "We- When I--"

"Tenchi, honey?" Ryouko asked worriedly, crossing the room to stand in front of him. "I'm sorry I made you not wear a condom. I- I didn't think... And now-"

"I didn't know- You said- Pregnant?"

Ryouko nodded. "We had sex without using anything. That's the leading cause of pregnancy, last time I checked."

"Ryouko," Tenchi gasped, "how- how can you joke about this?"

"I'm sorry," Ryouko sighed. "I'm just- I'm so nervous, Tenchi. I knew I shouldn't tell you until I knew for sure. Now you're going to get all worried and you're mad at me for making you-"

"Honey?" Tenchi interrupted, putting one hand on Ryouko's shoulder and tilting her chin up with the other. "I'm not mad."

"Promise?" Ryouko asked, looking at him searchingly.

"Promise," Tenchi agreed. "I knew this could happen when I- I was just...startled. That's all. You said we'll know in a month?"

Ryouko nodded. "Thirty-two days from the last time we made love."

"And if- if you are--"

"I can have an abortion," Ryouko agreed to her husband's unspoken question. "If we- if we want to, I mean. Mom says she can make me a pill."

Tenchi shook his head and sat down on their bed. "Ryouko, I- I'm sorry. This is just so--"

"I know," Ryouko agreed, sitting beside him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, honey. I wasn't sure, and I- until Yall I didn't even really suspect. I thought it was just Jurain food disagreeing with me or something. But Mom says that I can't possibly be feeling pregnant yet, so that's just my imagination."

"So- you don't really have any reason to suspect?"

"No," Ryouko sighed. "I'm so sorry, Tenchi. I guess- I guess now that I'm starting to think maybe having a baby would be okay... I just sort of wished it could happen right away."

"Do you- do you want it to? I mean, if you're pregnant, do you want to keep it?"

Ryouko sighed and looked down at the floor. "What do you want, Tenchi? Do you want me to keep it, if I'm pregnant?"

"I- Ryouko, I--"

"You don't."


"No, it's not that," Tenchi protested. "I just- I'm not ready to be a father yet, honey. I mean, we're still in school. I guess with the money from Aeka it doesn't matter if I ever get a job... But I-" Tenchi sighed. "It's selfish, I know, but you know how important school is to me. I don't want to just drop out, and I'd have to to help you while you're pregnant and then to help take care of the baby. But if you're really pregnant and you want to keep her- we can. I don't have to go to school, or I can wait until she's old enough or something. I- I don't really Feel ready, but if you do I think I can be."

"She?" Ryouko asked curiously.

"Yeah," Tenchi agreed, smiling and rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "I- I guess I'd like to have a little girl."

"I'm not ready," Ryouko said, staring into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tenchi. If I'm pregnant, I can't keep it. I just can't handle this yet, honey. I'm ready to be your wife and to be a human for you- but I'm not ready to be a mother yet. I'd be pregnant for twenty months, Tenchi. I don't want to drop out of school either, and I'd have to if I was pregnant for two years."

Tenchi took her hands gently and smiled supportively. "It's okay, Ryouko. If you're pregnant- it's not our daughter. Our daughter will be born when we're both ready and we can give her a good home. It's just- just some cells, right? You can take the pill and we'll just forget this happened."

Ryouko nodded, trying to feel the way she thought she should. "I- I guess so."

Tenchi sighed. "You don't want to have an abortion, do you?"

"I- Tenchi- I can't give up your baby, Tenchi. Even if I'm not ready. She's Your baby. Yours and mine. We made love and made her. I can't just--"

Tenchi tilted her chin up again and kissed her once, lightly. "We'll make it work, honey. Somehow."

Ryouko looked down again, touching her stomach. "I'm probably not pregnant anyway," she sighed. "I'm probably just worrying us both over nothing."

Tenchi placed his hand over Ryouko's and kissed her again. "If you're worried, I want to be worried too. But let's not worry about it until we know, okay?"

Ryouko nodded. "I'll try. But, Tenchi... If I- if I'm pregnant for real... If I don't have an abortion, what will you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You- you said you're not ready to be a father yet. If I have our baby, will you--"

"I'll love her," Tenchi promised. "How could I ever not love her? I love you. Even if I'm not totally ready, of Course I'm going to love our little girl. I'll spoil her rotten and teach her to be a little tomboy, and then when she starts dating I'll worry myself sick and hate every guy she brings home."

Ryouko laughed softly and squeezed Tenchi's hands. "You're too wonderful."

"No I'm not," Tenchi demurred.

"Yes you are," Ryouko insisted. "That's why I love you so much, you wonderful, wonderful man. I- don't hate me for it, Tenchi, but I hope I'm not pregnant. When we have our baby I want us both to be a hundred percent ready, like Mom said we should be. And I- I'm just not, honey. But if I'm pregnant, I'll have her and love her and I Know we'll make it work because she'll have such a great dad."

"I don't hate you," Tenchi promised. "I feel exactly the same way, Ryouko. And she'll have a great mom, too. Though she'll probably say she hates you when she's a teenager."

"She will?" Ryouko asked curiously.

Tenchi nodded sagely. "Every boy she brings home will want her mother."

Ryouko blushed and smacked Tenchi lightly on the shoulder. "Tenchi! Besides, I won't be any competition for our daughter. She'll be beautiful."

"Of course she will," Tenchi agreed gently.

"She'll be just like Sasami," Ryouko sighed, gently stroking Tenchi's hands and looking down at her lap.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Don't you?" Ryouko asked curiously, looking up at her husband.

"Yeah," Tenchi sighed. "Yeah, I guess I do. And you're right. Our little girl will be just like her. Maybe not quite as pretty, though."

"Tenchi!" Ryouko gasped, touching her stomach. "Don't talk about our little girl that way!"

He laughed. "I'm only saying... I don't want her attracting boys the way Sammy does. And my daughter isn't wearing those sorts of clothes, either. Have you seen that little plaid skirt she has? You can see her panties, I swear you can."

"You Would look," Ryouko baited. "And our daughter will be every bit as pretty as Sammy, and wear whatever she wants to. And I'll have you know that she borrowed that skirt from Me."

"She did?" Tenchi asked, looking at Ryouko in wonder. "I've never seen you in it."

"I got it a long time ago," Ryouko explained. "Back when you were still in highscool. I got a whole school uniform. I was going to come up and offer to help you study, but Aeka caught me. We got in a fight and she told me if I did it she'd take pictures of me and give them to your dad."

Tenchi chuckled. "I'm glad those days are over."

"Me too," Ryouko said with feeling, remembering Tenchi in the bathtub, razor against his wrist. "I'm sorry for what we put you through."

Tenchi shook his head. "It's alright. That's all over now, and I've got you."

Ryouko smiled and hugged Tenchi hard. "I love you," she whispered, kissing his ear.

"Love you too," Tenchi returned, squeezing her once before releasing and going to retrieve his gi from the floor where it had fallen.

"Going to go exercise?" Ryouko asked, watching her husband strip to his underwear and begin pulling on the uniform.

"Yeah," Tenchi agreed. "I haven't in a week, Grandpa would say I'm slacking off. Maybe I'll go up to the shrine and see if he's up for sparring."

"Katsuhito? Is he ever not?"

Tenchi chuckled. "Yeah, but he's got your mom now. He'll probably be busy more often."

"You could stay here and...exercise...with me," Ryouko offered, running a finger seductively down the center of her blouse.

"Now how can I possibly turn that down?" Tenchi asked, walking to Ryouko's side and leaning down for a kiss.

When their lips parted Ryouko sighed. "I'm sorry Tenchi, I forgot. We- we can't right now."

Tenchi frowned. "Why not? I mean, if you don't want to-"

"It's not that," Ryouko said quickly, "I do, it's just... I don't want to use condoms anymore and Mom said it'll be a couple of days until she can make us something else."

"Are they really That bad?" Tenchi asked. "I mean, I know how it feels for me, but I didn't think it made that much of a difference for you."

Ryouko nodded and grinned up at him. "I knew I couldn't go back after the first time."

Tenchi blushed but kissed her again anyway. "Alright, so no sex for a couple of days." He grinned and added, "It'll be hard, but I Think we can do it."

"In a couple of days?" Ryouko asked innocently. "I certainly Hope it's hard... We waited a whole week, now after waiting Again-"

"Ryouko," Tenchi chuckled, "that's not what I meant."

"I know," Ryouko agreed, rising to her feet. "Go play with Grandpa, Tenchi. I think I'm going to go see if Aeka wants to go into town for lunch. You don't need the car for anything, do you?"

"Don't think so," Tenchi agreed. "You girls have fun."

Ryouko nodded. "I hope we will. I worry about Aeka sometimes."

"Me too," Tenchi agreed. "But I just saw her downstairs. She was playing some Jurain card game with Sasami and looked about as happy as I remember ever seeing her."

"Really? That's great. She hasn't spent much time with Sammy since she went to Jurai, I was afraid she was upset with how I'd let her act."

"They looked like they were getting along to me.

"Alright, I'm going to get going or by the time I get up the hill we won't have time to spar before lunch."

Ryouko nodded and kissed him goodbye. Tenchi gave her a parting squeeze and smiled before walking out the door.

* * *

"Tenchi! Just the man I was hoping to see."

"Hey Dad," Tenchi called in greeting, pausing in his jog up the shrine stairs. "What're you doing up here?"

"I was just up on the hill," Nobuyuki explained. That was, Tenchi knew, his way of referring to Achika's grave. He never called it that, he said it made it sound like she was really there instead of just her body. "I wanted to tell your mother the good news."

"Good news?" Tenchi asked.

"About your wedding!" Nobuyuki beamed and gripped his son in a one-armed hug. "I'm so proud of you Tenchi! I knew you'd settle down and pick a girl one day. My son, a married man! Your mother would be so happy."

Tenchi smiled and hugged his father back. Not so long ago, he reflected, he would have been embarrassed by his father's display of affection. "Thanks Dad."

"So when are you going to make me a grandfather Tenchi?" Nobuyuki asked. "Will your children have blue hair like Ryouko? That would be interesting. Just think how cute they'll be!"

Tenchi smiled weakly. "I don't know Dad. We're not- we're not really ready yet. Ryouko and I want to finish school first before we think about a family." Tenchi thought it would be best to keep Ryouko's news between them until they new for sure one way or another.

"Of course," Nobuyuki agreed, sobering. "Your mother and I felt the same way, Tenchi. You know we were married while we were in college too. I wanted her to have a fine house to raise our son in. We knew we would have a boy, you know. We both wanted a son." Nobuyuki sighed. "We were going to have a little girl next. But Achika- your mother got sick and--"

Tenchi nodded. His mother was diagnosed with cancer only a year after he was born. There was something that had been nagging at his subconscious for years, but he had never dared ask. "Dad? Did- did Mom know? About Jurai, I mean?"

Nobuyuki nodded silently, eyes staring off into the middle distance. "She knew. Your grandfather taught her about it when she was young. He thought she would go back to Jurai one day."

"Then- why didn't she, Dad? After Tokimi's slave attacked me and Ai put me back together, they said I had severe internal bleeding but they fixed it in minutes. Couldn't they have gotten rid of Mom's cancer?"

"No," Nobuyuki sighed. "We- we thought that too. When you were three we decided to go to Jurai. Your mother didn't think that Dad would like the idea, so we contacted the Fleet through Funaho late at night. They sent a Jurain doctor right to our house the next week. He said that the Empress Funaho sent her greetings and that she felt it would be best if the initial diagnosis was made on Earth. I guess it would have caused a lot of political unrest if we went there and everyone suddenly found out that their Lord Yousho not only wasn't dead, he had a daughter who was married to an Earth man."

"So- what happened?" Tenchi asked curiously.

Nobuyuki sighed and shook his head sadly. "Jurains don't have cancer, Tenchi. Their biology... It's different somehow. The doctor said that things like that had been defeated on Jurai hundreds of thousands of years ago and defenses were built into every Jurain's body. But your mother- she was the daughter of a half-Jurain and an Earthling. Her defenses weren't quite good enough, I guess. The doctor gave her some medicine for her pain and some more to slow the growth of the cancer, but he didn't know how to fix it."

"Couldn't they find out?" Tenchi asked. "Or take her back and let the trees heal her, like they did for me?"

"I don't know, Tenchi," Nobuyuki sighed. "The doctor- he was nice, but I don't think he liked Achika. Most Jurains still don't like us. Us Earthlings, I mean. They don't like Funaho being on the throne, but they can't say anything about it. Maybe there was something they could have done and they just didn't try hard enough. Maybe there really was nothing they could do. I don't know. But that was all a long time ago, Tenchi. It's over and done and wishing it hadn't happened won't make it better."

*Wow,* Tenchi thought, staring at his father, *I've never heard him talk this way before. Usually he almost pretends Mom is still alive, or won't talk about how she died. He's never seemed so...accepting before.*

"There's something your mother and I want you to have," Nobuyuki said, reaching into his pocket. He chuckled. "Well, I want you to have it, and I think she would. I guess it's kind of selfish of me, really."

Tenchi took the little ring box from his father and looked between it and him curiously. "What is it, Dad?"

"Open it," Nobuyuki instructed, gesturing at the box.

Tenchi opened it as instructed, frowning in puzzlement at the tiny wooden plaque inside. "What- what is it?"

"It's a Jurain totem," Nobuyuki explained. "They- I don't know how much you know about how they worship Tsunami..."

"Not much," Tenchi said, looking down at the little carving of a tree. "Just that they do, really."

"They don't have many symbols of their faith," Nobuyuki explained. "No shrines or anything. Just the trees themselves, and a very few of those little carvings. That one was your grandfather's, and he got it from Misaki. Back before she married the Emperor she was a- not a priest, exactly. They call them 'followers.' They just sort of go around doing normal things and wear special symbols to tell people they're Followers. Then, when someone needs a ceremony or a blessing or whatever, they find a Follower. Those plaques are only given to very important Followers, usually ones who can't wear their symbols on the outside. Your grandfather gave it to your mother, and she gave it to me. When she was dying, she gave me a little branch from Funaho and a lock of her hair, saying that I should take it to the Inner Chamber on Jurai if I ever somehow managed to get there, and that the totem would get me in."

"Why?" Tenchi asked, touching the tiny plaque with a finger. It was loose in the box, like there was space underneath.

"Jurains don't have an afterlife," Nobuyuki explained. "They believe in something called 'conjoinment' instead. When they die, they say that their spirits join their trees and exist inside the Network. But if they're too far away from the Network when they die, their spirits get lost and need help to get back. The hair was supposed to be a link to her spirit and the branch was- like a power source, I guess. To keep the link strong."

Tenchi lifted the little plaque and found a tiny branch, one green leaf still attached, with a lock of brown hair tied around it. He looked up at his father curiously.

"I won't be here forever, Tenchi," Nobuyuki explained, smiling gently. "I'm only human and one day I'll die. When I do- I want you to take that to the Inner Chamber for me. If you will, I mean. There's a tree named Anomi that's... I'm not sure how to explain. She's like your great-great-grandmother. She was Azusa's mother's tree, and somehow she's linked to him more strongly than most Jurains are with their trees. Your mother tried to explain it, but I didn't understand. Take that to her and remind her who I am. She promised I could be with Achika when I was gone."

Tenchi touched the lock of hair, his vision blurring and a knot building in his throat at the emotion in his father's voice. "I will Dad," he promised.

Nobuyuki nodded, then sniffed and wiped his eyes. "So," he asked, "where are you off to?"

"I'm going up to see Grandpa," Tenchi explained, fumbling with the box after realizing his gi had no pockets. "I haven't worked out in a while, so I was going to go up and see if he wanted to help me practice."

"I'd come up there with you, but you know--"

"Yeah," Tenchi agreed, "your hip." His father had been nursing a hip injury for most of a decade whenever the opportunity for a bit of exercise arose.

"Say, why don't we go into town tonight? Me, you, and Dad can have a few drinks and toast your marriage."

Tenchi shifted uncomfortably. "Dad, you know I don't like drinking."

"You brought sake to dinner," Nobuyuki pointed out.

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts Tenchi. Tell Dad we're going out tonight. Nine o'clock."

Tenchi sighed. "Alright, Dad."

* * *

Natsuri opened the front door, juggling his briefcase and the package he had found sticking out of the mailbox in his other hand.

"I'm home," he announced in a half-exhausted shout. After setting down his briefcase, Natsuri did his best to simultaneously study the package and remove the jacket of his pen-striped, navy blue suit. His wife Mishio appeared, bustling through the door leading into the hallway and toweling soapy water from her hands.

"Welcome home," she said pleasantly, helping him off with his jacket. "I was just out in the garden. What's that? Oh, from Mataeo?" Mishio snagged the package out of her husband's hands and began prying at the tape.

"That is not the address he gave us," Natsuri pointed out, gesturing at the return address on the package.

"Oh, don't worry about it dear. Do you think someone else is sending us mail with his name on it? He probably got another mailbox or something. Here, look, there's a letter." Mishio opened the folded paper with a flick of her wrist, still holding the rest of the package in her other hand. She scanned the text, her eyes widening as she went.

"Oh- oh--"

"What is it?" Natsuri asked. "Did he fail a class? I told him to study harder-"

"N-no," Mishio said, shaking her head and looking up at him. "He- he and Ai... They're getting married! Isn't that wonderful, dear? Oh, our little boy is all grown up-"

"Married?" Natsuri asked, startled. "But- I have not spoken with her father. Do the Fujiharas know? When are they planning to be married? He did not ask our permission..."

"Oh, don't be such a grouch," Mishio scolded, smiling down at the letter. "I can't believe my little Mataeo is getting married... Oh, I can't Wait to tell the girls about this. They'll all be so jealous."

"What else did he send?" Natsuri asked, taking the package from his wife's hand. He extracted a pair of brightly colored boxes and a photograph from the thick envelope and peered at them curiously.

"Who are these people?" Natsuri asked, looking at the photograph. In the center stood Mataeo with his arm around Ai's shoulders, but flanking them were a pretty young woman with teal hair and an older man with a mustache, glasses, and a somewhat absurd grin on his face. In the background was something that looked like the base of a statue or monument of some sort, weathered and crawling with vines. Off on the left, barely in frame, stood two men in odd uniforms holding some sort of staves.

"Well, look on the back, dear," Mishio suggested, lifting the corner of the picture. "Here, see."

Natsuri flipped the photo over and read the back.

Mom and Dad,
Ai and I spent the week on holiday with
Tenchi and his family. This is us with
his father (on the right) Nobuyuki, his
cousin Sasami (on the left), and some
friends of hers. Remind me to tell you
about the trip sometime, you won't believe
a word of it. Hope you like the souvenirs.
Love,
Mataeo

"Oh, look at these dear," Mishio was saying. She had opened the box with 'Mom' written across the front and extracted a pair of chopsticks. They were wood, though Natsuri did not recognize the grain. It was dark grey with streaks of red and black throughout. The wide end of each stick was ringed with three lines of gold and an odd little design repeated on each of the four flat faces. They tapered down toward the point, smooth but for a little half-twist three-fourths of the way down the length.

"Very nice," Natsuri agreed, looking at his own pair. They were similar, though with silver bands and a different pattern. "I wonder where they went."

Mishio was no longer paying attention to her husband. Chopsticks clutched in one hand and letter in the other she was headed for the phone, a broad smile on her face and a happy light in her eyes. "My little Mataeo, all grown up and getting married..."