Disclaimer
Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. I don't own any rights to them. Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.
*****
Newlyweds
Chapter 4
In the Wild
*****
Tenchi woke up in the middle of the night, his leg cramping painfully. He tried stretching, but the sleeping bag got in the way. "Ow, ow, ow! Damn, that hurts."
"What is it honey?" Ryoko asked sleepily.
He groaned, "Leg cramp. I have to stand up and stretch it out and I can't get the damned sleeping bag unzipped."
"Just a sec. I'll help you." She put an arm around him and teleported both of them outside the tent. "There. Now you can stretch all you want."
"Ryoko! I'm naked!" he exclaimed.
"So what? So am I, and so's Ayeka. Don't worry, there's no one else around for hundreds of kilometers."
"T… that's not the p… point. Y… y… you don't f… feel the cold and sh… she's still warm and c… comfy in the sleeping b… bag. It's f… f… freezing out here."
"No it's not. It just feels that way since you were in the warmth a minute ago."
"It doesn't m… matter! I'm still c…c… cold!" he replied, shivering violently.
Ryoko stomped her foot and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Fine. See if I help you next time." She turned away and phased back into the tent, leaving her husband standing alone, naked and cold in the middle of nowhere.
*****
"Tenchi?" Ryoko whispered in his ear.
"Yes Ryoko?"
"I'm not mad at you anymore." She nibbled his earlobe.
"That's nice Ryoko. Go back to sleep."
"Hmmph!" She rolled over until she was back-to-front with the sleeping princess. A minute later she rolled back over facing him.
"Tenchi?" she whispered.
Tenchi groaned, "What now Ryoko?"
"I can't go back to sleep. If I rebuild the campfire, will you sit and talk to me for a while?"
He sighed. "Sure. But what about Ayeka?"
Ryoko reached over and touched his shoulder. "She's asleep. Leave her alone, she'll be fine."
The princess rolled over and poked Ryoko with her finger. "I'm not asleep. How could anyone be asleep with all this noise? Go and build the fire and I'll make some hot chocolate for us." Ryoko teleported from the tent. Ayeka grumbled, "Uncivilized pirate. She didn't even bother to get dressed."
Tenchi got up and put on a pair of sweats that he kept handy for just that purpose. He heard Ryoko outside putting logs into the firepit they had built. Unzipping the flap, he stepped outside in time to see his wife, fully dressed in sweats similar to his, fire a small energy burst from her hand to get the fire going. After dragging over the log they had been using as a seat, he and Ryoko sat down while Ayeka prepared the drinks.
Over the hot chocolate the three talked about the things they'd done so far, and the things they planned to do in the future. Ryoko laid her head on Tenchi's shoulder and sighed in happiness. After a little while Tenchi noticed she wasn't saying much anymore and looking down he saw that she was asleep. Gesturing for Ayeka to open the tent, he carried her inside and tucked her into the sleeping bag; he then rejoined the princess by the fire. They sat with their arms around each other until the sun came up.
A well-rested Ryoko bounded out of the tent to find her spouses sound asleep, leaning against each other next to the embers of the fire. She grinned and threw some more wood into the pit, causing the fire to flare up again. Then she set about gathering up the things she'd need to make breakfast. Eggs were the one food she'd gotten good at preparing, and she thought that omelets sounded good this morning.
She took inventory, Let's see. Eggs, cheese, mushrooms (non-poisonous ones), onions… no better leave the onions out today; peppers, ham (or what passes for ham at this end of the galaxy anyway), butter, frying pan, spatula, rack for the fire… yep, got everything I need. When she finished cooking the breakfast, she picked up the pan and started banging on it with the spatula. "Yo! Lovebirds! Breakfast is ready."
Ayeka sat up suddenly and Tenchi, with nothing left to lean against, fell off the log with a soft thud. His head slowly rose over the log to look at Ryoko. "What was that all about?" he asked.
"Breakfast is ready," she repeated, gesturing to the three plates full of omelets. "Come on and eat you two." She picked up one of the plates and began shoving food into her mouth.
Ayeka walked over and took another. "You did this by yourself Ryoko? That's very good." She took a bite. "Yes, very good indeed."
*****
"So what do you want to do today?" Tenchi asked.
"I dunno. Whadda you wanna do?" Ryoko turned to Ayeka.
"I don't know. How about you Lord Tenchi?" the princess asked him.
"Wait a minute. I'm the one who started this, remember?"
"Then you should finish it. What are we going to do today?" Ayeka asked again.
"Well, we could go hiking," he said, scratching his head.
Ryoko frowned, "Hiking? As in walking? I don't know… How far?"
"The planetary guide we've got says there's a waterfall about three kilometers from here. Tell you what, why don't we try hiking to it and if it's too rough a trail, you can teleport us back here."
"Well… I suppose," Ryoko said, still frowning. She phased into a flannel shirt, blue jeans and hiking boots. "This is what hikers always wear on TV, is it ok dear?"
"Um, the jeans might be a little much, or at least a little less tight." He gave her an admiring look and wondered what shows she'd been watching. "And a short-sleeve shirt I think. The boots are a good idea though. All I have are my tennis shoes."
She caught his look and gave her behind a little wiggle, then changed into light blue hiking shorts and a yellow tank top. "I'll have Ryo-ohki replicate a pair of boots for you and the princess. Is there anything else?"
He thought for a minute. "Maybe a hat for the sun and a hiking staff."
A wide-brimmed hat appeared on Ryoko's head. "We don't need a whole staff. I was hoping it'd be just us three."
Ayeka chuckled at the pirate's naiveté. "No Ryoko, a hiking staff is a stout stick, about your height or a little less. It's used to help you walk on rough trails, like a long cane."
"Oh. We can pick one up along the way, can't we?"
"That's usually how it's done, yes." Tenchi answered. Two pairs of boots appeared in a shaft of light, transported from the cabbit-ship still in orbit. He tossed the smaller pair to the princess. "Ayeka, do you have something besides those robes to walk in?"
Ayeka glanced at Ryoko, who nodded almost imperceptibly toward the tent. "Yes, I believe I do." She disappeared into the tent to emerge a few moments later in an outfit identical to Ryoko's except with the colors reversed. She walked over to stand next to her ex-rival.
Tenchi looked at his two wives. "Wow!" was all he could manage.
Both of them grinned at him, thinking identical thoughts, You just wait 'til later, Lover Boy!
*****
Tenchi's clothes were soaked with sweat and he thought that Ayeka was just as miserable. Ryoko didn't seem bothered too much, although he would occasionally catch her wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, he thought, stopping yet again to wipe the sweat out of his eyes with his shirtsleeve. At the very least I should've worn a bandana.
"Tenchi, I hear something up ahead. A kinda rushing sound." Ryoko exclaimed.
He listened carefully, once again marveling at the extra-sensitive senses his not-quite-human wife displayed. "That's probably the waterfall Ryoko." He turned to help Ayeka over a large tree root. "It can't be too much farther now," he told her as he saw the discomfort on her face.
"Good," she said, "I don't know how much farther I can walk. I never knew a few kilometers could be this far."
They rounded a bend in the so-called trail and there it was, about 15 meters high, falling into a big azure pool surrounded by large rocks, with a few boulders sticking up out of the water. The light filtering through the trees gave it an almost fairy-tale aspect.
Ryoko's eyes lit up, in all her travels she'd never seen anything like this place. She noticed that the far end of the pool was fairly shallow and calm; a little ways out into the deeper part was a large boulder that seemed almost ideal for sunning oneself or for diving off into the deeper part of the pool. She sat down on a rock, took off her boots and eased her sore feet into the cool water. Aaahh! Now I remember why I like flying and teleporting. Eyeing the boulder in the middle of the pool, an inspiration hit her and she turned to Tenchi who had just joined her. "Do you think it'd be ok to swim here?" she asked.
Ayeka had joined them just in time to overhear Ryoko's question. "Yes my love, a dip would be wonderful."
Tenchi considered for a moment before answering. "We didn't bring any bathing suits."
"Oh, that's no problem," said Ryoko, phasing out of her clothes. "Any other concerns?"
"Um, no. Just be careful of sharp stones on the bottom."
Ryoko dove into the water. Ayeka quickly stripped and joined her. Tenchi continued to sit on the rock and watch them splash around. After a minute or two, Ayeka realized that he hadn't followed them.
"Aren't you coming in dear?" she asked him.
He sighed, nodded assent, and then slowly began to take off his clothes. When he was down to only his underwear, he eased himself into the pool. Ryoko was immediately by his side.
"Hey! No fair! We're both naked and you still have clothes on. We'll have to do something about that, won't we princess?"
Ayeka gave her a wicked grin. "Yes indeed, pirate. You hold him and I'll see if I can't correct the situation."
Ryoko gabbed him, pinning his arms to his sides while the princess dove under the water. He felt her tugging at his shorts, then after getting them off, she popped to the surface. Her hand remained underwater however. Tenchi began turning bright red. Without moving her hand Ayeka whispered something in Ryoko's ear that Tenchi couldn't quite make out (but he had an pretty good idea what it was about) and both girls giggled.
Ayeka whispered something else and Ryoko nodded agreement to her friend, then nibbled at her husband's ear, "Later honey." She teleported away to reappear on a large flat rock near the shore. She looked at the two still in the water, grinned at both of them then stretched out in a sunny spot and closed her eyes for a nap.
Ayeka removed her hand from where it had been resting, smiled and took a stunned Tenchi's hand in hers. "Come Lord Tenchi. There's something I want to show you." He meekly followed as she led him around a big boulder to give them some privacy.
A little while later the exhausted duo joined a still drowsy Ryoko in the sun for their own naps.
Over the next few days the quiet forest pool became one of the trio's favorite spots to visit and they would return there many times over the years.
*****
Author's Notes:
Well, this chapter's a little short and not much action, sorry. I mean, how much trouble can you get into hundreds of miles out in the middle of nowhere? Oh, that's right. We're talking about Ryoko here… Well, the next one should be a bit longer and have more action in it, as it's now Ryoko's turn to pick a destination again.
Correction from the notes in Chapter 3: The newest TPB of the Manga is "Mother Planet" not "Mother Earth". Author smacks himself in the head a few times for not looking on his bookshelf first. Oh well, at my age they say the memory is the first to go…
BobR
12/2/2001
