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.

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The Great Cabbit Search

Chapter 6

Wherever You Go, There You Are.

Part 3

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Ayeka, Empress of Jurai paced restlessly from room to room in her suite.  She didn't know what was going on, the cryptic message from Washu only said that the gang was coming for a visit and for her to be prepared for a surprise.  A surprise! she snorted mentally.  Did Tenchi and Ryoko get married?  Is that pirate pregnant?  Did Kiyone get a promotion away from Mihoshi?  What could possibly surprise me?

*****

The Empress watched as the great silver form of the GP cruised settled into the landing bay.  Looks like they got a new ship.  I hope that's not the surprise.   The ship's ramp lowered and Kiyone and Mihoshi started down.  She moved forward to meet them.  Bowing her head gracefully to her friends she said "Detective Makibi, Detective Kuramitsu, It is nice to see you again."  Then losing all decorum she ran forward to give them both a hug.  "Kiyone!  Mihoshi!  It's been so long…"

"Uh, Your Highness, it's not quite what you think…" said Kiyone.

"Kiyone, you don't need to be so formal with me.  We've been through quite a lot together."  Ayeka laughed.

"Well, actually your highness, we haven't.  Allow me to introduce my partner and myself.  I'm Colonel Makibi Kiyone and this is Lieutenant Kuramitsu Mihoshi.  And we're not quite who you think we are…" Kiyone began to explain.

Ayeka was only half listening as she looked up the ramp to see the rest of the party descending.  There was Sasami, with Ryo-ohki perched on her head as usual, Tenchi and of course Ryoko, a tall redhead that reminded her of Washu, a young dark-haired girl with strange facial tattoos, and of course Sasami.  Wait a second, she thought, something's wrong with this picture.   She looked closer.  Sasami?  Check.  Ryo-ohki?  Ok.  Tenchi and Ryoko?  Yep.  Woman and girl?  Ok.  Sasami?  Ah ha!  I counted Sasami twice…  No, there are two Sasami's.  TWO Sasami's?   A look of confusion came into her eyes.

Just then a port official came running up to her.

"Highness…" he gasped, out of breath from his sprint.  "Ryo-ohki is in orbit requesting landing clearance…"

"That's imposs…" she looked again at the two Sasami's, now standing at the bottom of the ramp smiling at her, Ryo-ohki sitting on the head of one of them.

"Um, Highness, I suggest you let them land.  There's no telling what Ryoko'll do if you don't, let alone the princess nowadays.  If either one really, really gets mad…" said Mihoshi.

Ryoko?  Princess?  She looked at the group again, realization washing over her.  She turned to the official.  "Let them land.  We will greet them."  She eyed the group.  "All of us."

*****

"So, in your reality you both married Tenchi?"  Empress Ayeka asked her counterpart.  "Is that allowed?  How unusual."  They had all gathered back in the Empress' suite after some awkward introductions and apologies had been made.

Princess Ayeka nodded, "Yes, among our Jurai Royal Family it is.  But the union has still to go through a formal ceremony on Jurai before the Holy Council recognizes it.  That's just a formality though, the relationship's already been consummated."  She smiled at her Ryoko and Tenchi.

The Empress sighed.  "I wish it were so here.  It would have made our lives much easier, eh Ryoko?" she asked her Space Pirate.

"I dunno Ayeka, I rather like having Tenchi to myself," she replied, giving Tenchi a hug and causing him to turn bright red.

"Who says he's yours?  You're not even engaged yet."

"I thought you gave up," sneered Ryoko.

"Then you don't know me very well, do you?" snarled Ayeka.

"Oh yeah?" the pirate said, energy beginning to crackle between her hands.

"Yeah!" said the Empress, small logs appearing around her.

"Girls!  Girls!" yelled both Tenchi's.

"They really are the best of friends you know," said one Sasami to the other.

"Yeah, I know," answered the other one.

*****

Sasami wandered from Tree to Tree in the great nursery looking for one in particular.  She didn't know why, but something told her she had to find it.  She turned to her double.

"Which of these is Tsunami?  This is different from our nursery."

"Tsunami?  The Goddess Tree?" the other asked, "Over this way I think.  We're not allowed in here often, only for bonding ceremonies and I haven't bonded yet."  She led the other Sasami to a great Tree tucked into a niche at the rear of the nursery.  "Here.  This is Tsunami's Tree, but no one has ever been able to bond with it.  They say the goddess that created the Jurai Royal Family resides in this Tree."

Sasami ran her hands over the Tree's smooth bark and smiled.  Yes, this was it.  "Would you like to meet her?" she asked.

"Meet her?  The goddess?  Oh, that's just an old legend," scoffed this reality's Sasami.

"No, it isn't," came the quiet reply.  Sasami placed both hands on the Tree and concentrated.

"Little ones.  What can I do for you?" Tsunami's smiling form appeared before them.  "Princess Sasami, I know you.  And this other…  Ah.  It is myself from another reality.  I sensed a disturbance in space/time and this explains it.  Sister, you may call on me if needed."

Sasami looked at the apparition with wide eyes.  "Are you really the goddess Tsunami?" she asked in wonder.

"Yes, as is this other.  But different."  She smiled benignly at the two.  "In one year return to this place Princess Sasami, and I will bond with you.  We will become like this other; together, yet apart.  In one year…"  The vision faded.

"Wow!" was all that Sasami could manage.

*****

"Professor Washu?" asked the goddess Skuld, "What exactly are we looking for in these old books?"  She sneezed as she opened yet another dusty volume.  "I mean, I know we're looking for any mention of strange animals that can transform into giant spaceships, but really…"  She sneezed again.

"We're trying to find the earliest record of cabbits.  I mean, we've already found that there've been others over the millennia, but we need to find out when they first appeared," the red headed scientist replied.  "I won't know for sure until I get more data, but I have a sneaking feeling that they showed up about 90,000 years ago.  And that they didn't come from this reality either."

"But Washu…" Skuld saw the look on her mentor's face.  "I know, I know, keep looking."  She buried her face in the book and sneezed.

*****

Empress Ayeka had found time to be alone with Princess Ayeka.  She had some questions that she wanted to ask the princess and she didn't want anyone else to overhear.  They were seated in the drawing room of her suite sipping tea.

"So princess, what's it like being married to Ryoko?" the Empress asked.

Ayeka took a sip of tea before answering.  "Not as bad as you might think.  Both of us have matured greatly since the wedding.  Once we didn't have Tenchi to fight over we discovered we had much in common.  I suspect it would be the same with you and your Ryoko.  She really is a nice person you know."

The Empress snorted, "Ryoko?  She asked Tenchi to abandon me to Kagato and fly off with her."

"How odd," the princess gave the Empress a quizzical look.  "My Ryoko actually risked her life to save me from our Kagato, and then Tenchi had to save her.  And didn't your Ryoko say something to me about the time you two spent together searching for Tenchi when he disappeared with that Haruna woman's ghost?"

The Empress blushed.  "Yes, I suppose that's true.  We did get along very well during that period."

"And what was different about that time?" the princess asked, trying to draw the answer she already knew out the Empress.

"I'm not sure what you mean," the other replied.

"What was missing?  What were or weren't you two doing then?" Ayeka asked again.

"Well, we weren't fighting over Tenchi that's for certain.  We were too busy looking for him."

"Exactly.  And it's the same with us.  Once Tenchi was removed from the equation we discovered that we were actually friends," the princess said with satisfaction.

"He chose her you know," the Empress said in a low voice.

"And this bothers you," the princess stated.

Tears crept into the Empress' voice.  "Yes.  I still love him.  I have many suitors as Empress, but none will replace him.  It hurts when I see him and Ryoko together."

"Were you happy on Earth?  Even after he chose her?" Ayeka asked her counterpart.

"Yes, oh yes!" came the tearful reply.

Ayeka smiled, knowing exactly how the Empress was going to take her next words.  "Abdicate," she said.

"WHAT?"

"Give up the throne.  Give it to Sasami, or a cousin or one of the nobles that you trust.  Go back and live with them; I think you'll find that they'll both accept you as just Ayeka.  We're not that different after all."

"What about my people?  What would they say?" the Empress wondered.

"What about Ayeka?  What does she need?  Talk it over with them, I think you'll find them receptive to the idea; after all, they've had a chance to see how happy the three of us are…" the princess returned.

The Empress cleared her throat.  "Speaking of which, are you and Ryoko, you know…"

"Lovers?" the princess laughed.  "We weren't at first, although neither of us were ever dead set against it; but our cabbits have forced the issue."

"And what does your Tenchi think about it?" the Empress asked.

"Actually, I think he's relieved.  It gives him a break once in a while," the princess said with a grin.

The Empress smiled back.  "I've been meaning to ask you something ever since you arrived."

"Oh?  And what might that be?" the princess inquired.

"What happened to your hair?  I sort of like it that way…"

*****

"Hey guys!  We found something!" Skuld yelled as she and Washu entered the dining room.

Mihoshi looked up from her dinner.  "What?  What did you find?  Boy, are you two dirty.  Yuck!"

"Never mind that now," said Washu, sliding into a seat and reaching for the salad.  "We think we found the planet the cabbits first appeared on.  We had to go waaay back though; there's been no contact with it for at least 95,000 years.  That fits our timeframe since I was never able to pin down an exact date on the derelict ship."

"So, when are we leavin'" asked Ryoko-with-gems.

"Oh, not for a few days," answered her mother between mouthfuls of food.  "This is good, we were so deep into the books we missed lunch."

"Why so long Miss Washu?" asked the Empress.

"Tryin' to get rid of us, eh?  Well, 95,000 years is a long time.  We have to calculate the current position of the planet.  It may even be known by another name now.  Happens sometimes, people just get tired of a name…"  Washu took a bite of steak.  "Good stuff, can't get food like this at home you know."

"We wanna go with you guys," said Ryoko-without-gems, "right Tenchi?"

"Uh…" was the reply.

"Oh come on.  It'll be fun, roaming the galaxy again.  Please?" she pleaded.

"How about you Sasami?" the Empress asked her sister.

"I'll stay here with you for a while, sister.  You guys can pick me up on the way back, right?" she asked Washu.

"Sure thing.  We have to bring Tenchi and Ryoko back anyway," the scientist replied.

"Can't they use Ryo-ohki?" asked Sasami-with-two-dots.

"They could, but we don't know how far we'll be going and Ryo-ohki is pretty short-range for some trips.  Best they travel with us little one."

"Besides," said Ryoko-without-gems, "Our Ryo-ohki wants to stay here with you, don't you furball?"

"Miya!" the cabbit agreed.

*****

To be continued

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Author's Notes

Ok, I've finally made Ryoko and Ayeka a pair. (Kind of, but you knew it was coming eventually, didn't you?)  Nagi has yet to appear, but she will; and someone makes another special guest appearance to try to throw a monkey wrench into Washu's plans.

Review Responses

DennisuD – I'm working on a plot device to get them into the manga universe.  It isn't one they would be visiting by choice as it only has the one cabbit.  I don't think I'll use Yume or any of the Ryuten stuff; too complex for these short chapters.  I definitely want to use Minagi though.  She's a fun character, what Ryoko could have been if not for Kagato.  Hmmm.  Now that I think about it, maybe it would be better to draw Minagi to them.  Think about it… two Ryoko's, Minagi and Nagi all in the same place…  Oh, what fun!

Taelyn – Ayeka's hair is going to be something of an on-going issue (read: side joke) in the different realities they visit, and maybe afterwards as well.

Priest – Oh, I will keep it up.  I already know what Tsunami has in mind for our hapless trio a few millennia into the future.  It's the space between that I have to fill up.  I may follow H. Beam Piper's lead (not the suicide part of course) and write just a story or two from each epoch.  No Fuzzies though…