To be a Princess, Day 15: The Day Before
Tenchi awoke again, and he was surprised again. Not as he has been with waking up to find Ryoko in bed with him, but that she was not in bed, much less in the same room. Grabbing his pants he hurried out the door of the bedroom into the living room. As he burst into the room he also burst in on Ayeka and Sasami talking to Ryoko.
"Oh morning Lord Tenchi," said a calm Ayeka, at least until she saw him dressed like that. She let out a startled cry and covered her eyes.
Sasami and Ryoko just started laughing as he tried to discover what the problem was. Ryoko appeared in front of him so she was between him and the two princesses. "Um Tenchi, did you forget something?" He looked at her strangely before she continued. "You forgot your pants."
"No I didn't they're right here," he said as he held up his pants in his hand. It took him less than a second to realize the problem was that he was standing in the room and the only clothes he had were the pants in his hand. The blush he bore was a brighter red than she had ever seen, and before she could utter another word he raced back inside the bedroom.
When Sasami had finished laughing Ayeka said still behind her hands, "You know Miss Ryoko it is not proper for you to engage in that sort of activity until after the wedding." The smile she bore though suggested that she would have done the same if it had been her though. Ryoko just laughed and went back to the table.
"Yea well tell that to him it was his idea. You know, he was the one that made the first move?"
"Really?" Ryoko looked at the littlest princess who was leaning forward with her eyes huge.
"Yea, it was so romantic, I could hardly believe it..." Ryoko's voice was lost as she replayed the memory in her mind. When she came to her senses two princesses were listening intently for some juicy story. "But I don't think he would want me to say what all happened..." As she spoke their heads fell forward obviously disappointed that she would not tell them more.
"Well now, since you won't tell us any more about it then let us get back to the wedding." Ayeka tried to regain her regal composure but after seeing Tenchi like that and then being teased by Ryoko about some juicy information she found it increasingly difficult. For some reason she wanted to know more about what had happened even thought talk of that sort of thing was not at all 'proper.'
Ryoko had said very little about what took place that night other than when at dinner he proposed. For most of the morning she had talked to the two princesses about that night. It was not much longer after that had been said that Tenchi returned to the room, now fully dressed. "Good morning everyone."
The two princesses told him morning and Ryoko looked up from her chair at him, and before she could say a word he kissed her. The kiss was just a quick one that lasted only a moment, but it proved to Ayeka beyond a doubt that they loved each other. Right after the kiss ended she said good morning to him as well. He was about to launch into an apology about stumbling in without clothes when he noticed that both princesses were staring at Ryoko and him.
When Ryoko turned her attention back to Ayeka she saw her friend starting wide-eyed and open mouthed at her. "What?" To Ryoko nothing seemed out of the ordinary or strange. Tenchi leaned over to her ear and whispered to her what he thought the problem was and Ryoko soon joined her friend at being wide-eyed. "You mean just seeing a kiss caused them to be like this?" He just nodded his head as the two princesses came out of their trance. "Damn if I knew it was that easy to do that I would've done it a long time ago!"
Both Ryoko and Tenchi laughed as the two princesses looked curiously at them and then they too laughed. All of them knew that this would not have happened before, but she was correct in thinking that it would have surprised them none the less. The four friends talked about some of the things that had happened since leaving Earth and also they talked about what would happen the next day.
"Auntie Funaho says that the wedding is scheduled for tomorrow evening in the great hall. Why the rush and secrecy?" Ayeka looked at her friends and she genuinely could not understand the problem.
"Well..." Tenchi began but was not sure how to put it.
"People still don't like me," Ryoko offered. "And it was thought that if word got out what was being planned that there would be trouble. As it is I am supposed to wear this big hood thing and..."
Sasami interrupted asking, "Trouble? What kind? And why do they want you to wear that?"
Ayeka understood though, "Sasami, you remember when we first arrived on earth?" The little princess nodded her head. "Well Ryoko's galaxy wanted file had been deleted and I still attacked her out of my anger." She hung her head in shame, as a true princess would not have done that. "So not everyone has forgiven her, if it was made public they might try to hurt her."
Sasami cried out, "Oh that's horrible!" When she saw Ayeka shudder and cringe she quickly added, "Not you sister, it's horrible that someone would want to hurt them now."
For some reason her words help no comfort, but the comforting words came from the least likely source. "You now princess I don't blame you for what happened. It was probably what I would have done too, but I would not have missed that first shot."
At Ryoko's try at levity Ayeka actually snickered, then told them, "That first shot was a warning shot meant to drive you into the open." The four of them laughed about old times and as they talked the three of them picked up quickly on Ayeka's fondness of Kinata. Every time he was mentioned she would sigh and get a dreamy look in her eyes. Tenchi had to admit that Ryoko was right, he was perfect for Ayeka.
About a few hours later he arrived and Ryoko had to be careful not to laugh out loud at how the two of them were acting. They all sat in the sitting room beside the bedroom that Ryoko and Tenchi shared. During their conversation he kept glancing at Ayeka and she kept glancing at him with a slight blush. The original reason for his arrival was to inform Ryoko that she needed to be fitted for the gown but he nearly forgot about it. In fact it was nearly an hour later when he suddenly remembered.
"I apologize my lady," he said bowing to Ryoko. "I forgot to mention that the Ladies Funaho and Misaki want you to meet them to get your dress sized properly."
"Hum, I wonder what could have made your forget something like that," she said teasing him. It was now that she got to see first hand the mighty Jurai captain blushing and stammering trying to cover his mistake. "I'll let you off the hook if you'll tell me where I am supposed to go and if you keep these two out of trouble," she pointed a finger accusingly at Ayeka and Sasami as she spoke to him.
"I would be honored," he told her then bowed. The direction he gave was simple and direct, but Tenchi would not let her go alone.
Tenchi accompanied her to the fitting room and there he had to wait outside as she tried it on. Sitting there he had time to think of many things, mostly how would they make his plan look realistic. He was worried that not enough ships would show up and then it would be impossible to not win. With as powerful as Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki were he needed legions of ships to face them to ensure that it ended the way he wanted it to.
As he sat there he happened to notice a monitor with some one talking in a strange language. The image shifted to another person and this time he understood not only the language but also what he was watching. This was some sort of news cast that was in several alien tongues. Now all he had to do was find a way to get a message to them and hope it will be aired. He grinned a little and quickly whipped it off as the door opened suddenly.
"Oh there you are, come in here we have to get you fitted as well," bubbled Lady Misaki as she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside. Once there he noticed Ryoko just lounging off to the side still in her casual dress. They had his strip down to his boxers so that they could get an exact measurement. This was hard in it's own right, but it was compounded by the fact that Ryoko was watching, as were the two queens.
What seemed like hours passed by slowly as he was fitted with several different suits. Some of them Ryoko absolutely hated and she made her opinions known, but there was a few that she did like, and with her help the Queens finally decided on the perfect suit for him. However, he was ready to go with the first one, and he was glad that they finally decided on one. How many suits he had tried on he dared not guess, but after the long hours he was ready for the end. The one thing that kept him going was the thought that he wanted this to be special and perfect for Ryoko, so even though he hated them all if she liked it then it would do.
Because of the fittings the four of them were late for lunch. Not that any of them noticed except Tenchi, who has recently been trying to hide it. So when they finally went to lunch he was very relieved, but he still had some thoughts of tomorrow running through his mind. He ate a hasty dinner and then while Ayeka and Sasami were fitted for their dresses Tenchi and Ryoko went to see Washu.
Washu was eager to see them again, but she did have one warning for him, "Ya know Tenchi, I really like having you in here, but with all the time you're spending in here aren't you worried that someone will notice that you are missing?"
"I know. But this should be the last time, I hope." He talked to the two for a while discussing a few of the things that has crossed his mind. From trying to get an armada big enough to make it look like it's a tough fight, down to not wanting to actually kill or harm anyone else while setting this up. "So you see," he told her after rattling off his thoughts for almost an hour. "If we don't have a big fight then it will be hard for anyone to really believe that we are dead, not only that but if it is a big fight there is a possibility that someone might get hurt needlessly."
"He's right," chimed in Ryoko, "I have had too many nights where I can't sleep from seeing people get hurt at my hands under Kagato, I… I can't just let people die now that I have a choice."
Washu thought over it some and finally came up with an idea. "This should be easy for the Galaxy's Number one Scientific Genius!" She stood there for a moment after proclaiming this as Tenchi and Ryoko waited for her to tell them how. When she saw that her audience was waiting fore her to say more she brushed it off. "Oh don't worry about that, I will take care of it. There are ways to kill you both easily." She began cackling as she turned to walk away.
Tenchi and Ryoko felt very nervous about the way she was laughing, but hoped that it would go as planned. Turning from there the two of them returned to Jurai, and shortly after they returned Ayeka returned with Kinata. The four of them had a peaceful and near romantic evening, in one of the smaller dining room. Sasami had gone with her mother to the main dining room with her father. During dinner Tenchi had a number of things on his mind, namely what Washu was going to do. Ryoko had her mind more on tomorrow and she was nearly driving Ayeka crazy with questions about weddings.
Tenchi tuned out most of it, but he listened enough to know what was expected of him, and what will be happening tomorrow. His mind though was concerned with afterwards, after the wedding was when things were really going to get rough. Kinata teased him a little though, "So Tenchi, you busy thinking about the wedding night instead of the wedding?"
Tenchi turned to him and saw Ryoko blushing furiously, "Well, um…"
Kinata laughed at how he was acting. Little did Kinata know that they had already had a wedding night of sorts. "Oh from the looks of things I'd say you two have been up to no good?"
"Oh! Why Lord Tenchi, Miss Ryoko!" Ayeka blushed at the thought and grinned a little as she remembered earlier seeing Tenchi stumble out of his bedroom holding his pants instead of wearing them.
The four of them talked for quite some time and Kinata apologized for not being able to give him a proper bachelor party, but they four of them had as good of a party as they could. With one exception, the palace was a little lax in the form of alcoholic beverages. However they made up for it in spirit. Late into the night they laughed and talked of old times, back on Earth. Three times the girls nearly started fighting like old times but the boys stopped them. Tenchi and Ryoko were startled to see how easily Kinata seemed to calm down Ayeka. All he had to do was place a hand on her shoulder or her hand and Ayeka would blush and calm down quickly. More than once Ryoko wanted to laugh or say something to tease her about it, but Tenchi stopped her.
There were deep in their merriment when one of the guards walked in. "Excuse me," he called out getting their attention. "The Queens have decided that it is time for bed. She bids the Princess Ayeka to return to her room for the night as well as the Prince. She wants you to be well rested for the wedding tomorrow."
Tenchi looked at him for a minute and then an understanding came over him. He did not mention Ryoko so he was fairly confident in what the queen's had planned, or rather had left unsaid. He Took Ayeka by the hand and lifted her to her feet from her chair.
He's right with the wedding tomorrow we should call it a night." He then bowed to the Captain and the guard. "See to it that the Princess gets to her room while we clean up our mess here."
Kinata at once knew what was being done and he bowed to Tenchi, "It would be an honor." He then bowed to Ayeka, "Princess, by the Lords bidding I am to see you to your room."
Ryoko and Ayeka looked at them and this exchange, and both were at a loss. Ayeka slowly stood and bid the others good night and then was escorted away by the guard and Kinata while Ryoko stood up beside him. When they were a safe distance away she turned to him, "what the hell was that?"
He couldn't help but chuckle a little, "You didn't get it?"
"Get what?"
"Good, then it was convincing enough." He could see the puzzled look from Ryoko, so he started clearing the dishes as he spoke, "Look the guard said that Ayeka and I had to be ready for the wedding tomorrow…"
"Yea and it's my wedding not hers!"
"Yes, that's the point. He was told that we were going to be in a wedding and not that we were marrying each other." She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes as she tossed something away. "Think about it, if that hood covers you completely then they won't know who I'm marrying. So…"
"So no one will object until afterwards," she completed as she began to understand. He smiled and gave her a quick kiss.
"And, this way no one will suspect a thing, at least not yet." She smiled and they hurriedly cleaned up the room before heading to their bed. He thought it strange that he would call it theirs as they had only been sleeping in the same bed for just a few days now, but already it felt natural to him. Tomorrow would be a big day for him, as he was getting married, then declaring war on anyone that opposed him and he hoped that it would soon end with his and her deaths.
Of coarse the thought of death was daunting, and it worried him that he now did not know exactly how it would happen. Moreover he knew that if they were not careful it might not just be a good show. He would miss everyone though, but he knew it was for the best. He was torn out of his thoughts as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking over he saw Ryoko stepping out of her clothes to take a bath. His nose instantly started bleeding but he felt his eyes glued on her as she removed each article one at a time.
She looked over at him and she slipped on a simple robe that was nearby, "Did you want to join me?" He nodded so hard she thought his head was about to fall off. "Well, you have to remove those first," she said pointing to his clothes. He looked down and saw he was still dressed, he looked up to see her a few paces from the bathroom. Before she was even halfway through he was stripped and right behind her.
"At least my last night as a single man and as a living person won't be bad," he said inwardly while smirking.