A Few Days Later.

"And this is where the kitchen is going to be!" Nobayuki cried happily as he ran forward into the lot, his arms wide and he showed Tenchi and Washu the area where their house was soon to be erected. The sunlight glinted off of his glasses as he ran about the lot showing them the locations of the various rooms that he had drawn up. "And here is where the bedroom is going to be," he said as he stopped his parade about the area, a knowing smile upon his face as he spoke of the final room. Washu, looking thoughtful, stepped up towards her future father-in-law and smirked coyly.

"Who said we needed to use bedroom?" she asked calculatingly, her jade eyes glimmering.

"WASHU?!" Tenchi cried, turning 15 different shades of crimson. Nobayuki, after regarding his son's facial expressions, began to crack up hysterically along with Washu. The mirth was evident in his dark eyes as he slowly began to make his way back around the lot, finishing off his tour through spurts of laughter. Tenchi looked as though he were about to die of embarrassment. Washu joined back up with him, but as she did so, she caught a glimpse of a figure flying gently above them and landing in a tree, watching Nobayuki's antics. The scientist laid a hand on her fiancé's shoulder and made him look at her, her once jovial eyes now serious.

"Tenchi, Ryoko's up in that tree," she began, gesturing towards a nearby cache of foliage. "Go talk to her; she'll listen to you more that she would me."

Tenchi, the blush now gone from his face, nodded a bit and smiled slightly. He then turned and walked off, his father never noticing that he was gone.

"Ryoko?" he called as he neared the trees, looking up into their branches. He caught a glimpse of light blue and red and suddenly saw her sitting upon a tall branch near the top of the tree. She glanced down at him silently. "Ryoko, could you come down here? I.I want to talk to you."

Sighing visibly, she vanished from the branch and apparated down to stand before him, regarding him with quieted golden eyes. "Yes, Tenchi?"

Tenchi sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, but she turned a bit and spoke. "Let's walk." So on they went, the sunlight casting through the leaves onto them. After an extended bout of silence, Ryoko kind of glanced back at him and took a breath. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Tenchi, a thoughtful look upon his features, looked at her for a moment, deliberating. "Ryoko, I don't pretend to know exactly what you're thinking, but I have an idea." He paused, giving her a moment to mumble an indecipherable sound, and he continued. "Ryoko, no matter what you may be thinking, I still love you, just as I love all of the other girls here. But," he paused, letting his words sink in a bit, "I also love Washu; I am going to marry her."

Ryoko stopped at that; taking in the tone of his voice; gentle, not forceful; and glanced out through the foliage at the scenery below. She let him finish, her mind whirling with mixed thoughts. What was she to say now? She let the stillness sit for a few, then turned to face him, her eyes brimming with unspilled tears.

"I love you too, Tenchi; and I always will," she said; her voice filled with emotion. "But, if being with Washu makes you happy, then I won't try to stop you."

"I'll still be here if you need me, Ryoko. I still want you around, just like I always have." Tenchi's eyes were full of sincerity, not a drop of sarcasm was in his countenance. Ryoko smiled a bit and suddenly took Tenchi into a hug, leaning her chin against his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered. She leaned back and looked into his eyes, then kissed him gently on the cheek. Tenchi complied, understanding well her new intentions. She pulled her arms from about him, her eyes now full of new vigor, and smiled. Tenchi smiled back and chuckled.

"But, Ryoko, you're a beautiful woman; you could get anyone you want."

Ryoko laughed. "True, too true. You know, you didn't need to tell me that, I know I'm dead sexy. But it seems that my charms didn't have much of an effect on you!"

Tenchi crossed his arms. "Well, if you remember well, I've been busy trying to keep from getting myself blown to bits by you guys!"

"Oh yeah." Ryoko muttered, and both continued to laugh; the air lightened quite a bit. "But anyway, you might want to get back down there before your father has a conniption. Either that or Washu vaporizes him into a thousand little squeaky dad thingies. And believe me, one's enough."

Tenchi laughed. "You're telling me. I'll see you later, Ryoko." As he turned and began to walk back down the inclined trail; he saw through the trees the rather amusing sight of his father running around ecstatically and jumping up and down. Washu indeed looked fairly irritated.

And he could almost hear his father screaming with great enthusiasm, "AND THIS IS WHERE I'M GOING TO HANG THE TELEPHONE!!!"

"And that's where your house is gonna be!" Nobayuki cried triumphantly for the twenty-seventh time that day. With each repeat, both Washu and Tenchi looked closer and closer to the brink of insanity. They were walking back to the house at this time, and Tenchi was about to say something when Kalea came running up the path, her sleek ebony hair waving violently as she ran.

"Nobayuki! You lost track of the time!! We're running late!"

Nobayuki, suddenly silent, glanced at his watch and his eyes widened. "Oh no!" He turned to his son and his future daughter-in-law and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, guys, but I gotta go! I've got a date!" As he was running off though, he stopped and turned back, crying out, "Now don't forget guys, that's where your house is! Over there!!"

Washu suddenly stopped and pulled out a book from out of nowhere, along with a pencil. Tenchi watched in confusion as she made a small mark in it, then closed the book.

"What's that?" he asked as he watched his fiancée regard Nobayuki's fleeting figure carefully, the book raised in his hand.

"Nothing," she replied, then reeled back and chucked it as hard as she could, sending it flying through the air. Both watched, Tenchi in horror, Washu in satisfaction, as the tome thwacked the older man soundly in the back of the head, causing his step to stumble. He fell over sideways right into the former hula girl, causing them both to land in the dirt. Tenchi gasped and put a hand over his mouth, trying to cover a laugh, while Washu let it all out.

"YEA!! GOOOO DAD!!! WHOO HOO!!" she said, as Nobayuki was so fond of doing to them before. Nobayuki blushed a bit and chuckled nervously, standing and helping Kalea up. They continued on without incident, but Washu finally went over to retrieve her book. Tenchi looked at it curiously, and almost laughed when he saw that the open pages were filled with tally marks.

"Miss Washu?" came Ayeka's voice from ahead. Both Tenchi and Washu looked up, and saw that the Juraian princess was standing at the end of the narrow trail that led to the house, looking rather embarrassed.

"Yes, Princess? What could I do for you?" the scientist queried, crossing her arms. Tenchi, although not entirely sure what was going on, had an inkling that it had to do with the wedding.

"Could I speak with you for a moment in private?"

"Sure, just a moment." At this, Washu turned to her fiancé and put a hand on his shoulder. "This shouldn't take long; I'll see you later, alright?"

"Alright." Tenchi nodded and smiled, then went along his way, saying a friendly greeting to Ayeka as he passed. She returned the greeting, then began to make her way towards Washu, who remained in her spot up on the trail. When the violet-haired princess came up to face the scientist directly, she took a breath.

"I feel I owe you an apology, Washu. My actions yesterday concerning your engagement were rash and judgmental." Ayeka paused, her head hung, obviously to hide her unhappiness. Washu watched her carefully, noting that Ayeka was still not too thrilled with Tenchi being married off to another.

"Ayeka, don't take this so hard. I understand that you love Tenchi, just as Ryoko does. But I do not want you to leave because of this. I know that Tenchi would rather you and Sasami stay that for you to leave, because he loves all of you as family. He would never want you to leave."

Ayeka looked up to face the woman whom she had once threatened to duel and let out a sigh. "I know he wouldn't want us to leave; and we won't. I just want to know what you think of all of this.my staying and such."

Washu chuckled. "I do accept your apology. And as for your leaving.do you honestly think that I'd want you to leave and miss out on all the fun? No way in Hell!"

Ayeka, now looking a bit more cheerful, smiled at Washu, looking her directly into those jade eyes. "I figured you might say something like that." Ayeka turned to walk off, then looked back to the scientist. "Also, Sasami has lunch ready. Come on!"