Note (1-24-03) Apparently, I am a giant coward. Let this be a lesson folks, never assume anything. Just today I gathered the courage to finally check some of the reviews you all sent in on my fic, and I was fully prepared to be reading how you all hated it. Instead, I read many positive reviews. Sorry to keep you all waiting for this, but to make amends, I've done my best to improve it.
Note 1: I don't own any of these characters (If I did, do you think I'd
spend my time writing fanfics? Hell no. I'd spend all my time spending the profits I make from Tenchi Muyo merchandise.) Anyway, Pioneer owns this all, so please don't sue me (Not that you'd get any money, I'm broke.)
Note 2: this takes place in a modified Tenchi OAV Universe. (Yes, they're
"modifications", not inconsistencies or plot holes heh heh.) Basically, everything that happened in the OAV happened here. Also, I've decided to borrow a page out of the book of Alfred Hitchcock. No, I'm not going to write intelligent and thrilling mysteries. Rather, I will cameo in all my fics from now on. They won't become self-insertion fics. Rather, I'll just have a line or two.
Jurai Blues Part 4: Persistence of Memory Revision
By James Kane (Or Confucioussays, if you prefer)
===== Tenchi's House, Earth, Friday =====
The front door clicked open and a young man darted through.
" I'm home." Tenchi said, slamming the door shut. With a flick of his wrist his bag flew towards the couch in the living room. Tenchi ran straight to Washu's lab and threw the door open. As usual, a black field was revealed as the door opened. " Any word yet?" He shouted through the door. After a few seconds of silence, he poked his head through the black wall that Tenchi knew connected Tenchi's home to Washu's lab.
" It's only been one day, Lord Tenchi." Said Washu, as she left the kitchen. She was kettle and a cup, and wore an expression of unconcern. " Not even Jurai can contact each and everyone of its ships in just one day." She said as she walked towards the couches.
" You really must learn some patience, Lord Tenchi." Said a new voice. It was calm and controlled. The quiet strength spoke volumes about its owner. Tenchi scrambled into a quick bow.
" Lady Funaho! Excuse me, you're highness, I didn't see you there." The queen of Jurai was sitting on the couch, looking slightly flustered. Her long hair lay covering her soft robes of blue and silver. She held a cup of tea in one hand, with the other laying gently in her lap, holding a familiar brown object.
" Your aim would suggest otherwise, Lord Tenchi." She said, with a gentle smirk, placing the bag on the table, and Tenchi noticed for the first time she had a small bump on her forehead. Tenchi felt his face catch fire as he realized he had hit her with his bag as he threw it. " Don't worry about it, Lord Tenchi. I'm made of tougher stuff than that to get hit by a tiny little bag. Come, sit down." She smiled and motioned for him to sit down next to her.
" But I had four classes worth of books in that bag..." He mumbled, staring at his great-grandmother.
" I was just explaining to Lady Funaho what happened in a little more detail." Said Washu, as she plopped down on the chair. She gently poured herself some tea, and took a sip. " It turns out she knew about Sasami and Tsunami for a while now."
" Yes, Tsunami approached us very soon after Ayeka and Sasami left searching for Yosho. You can imagine my surprise when, walking peacefully through the royal gardens with Azusa," She said quite conversationally. She swept open her arms as if to give an impression of great size as she talked about the gardens. " When we bump into Tsunami, the Goddess of Jurai. Now, it's not unknown for Tsunami to show herself to the emperor, but she hasn't done it for twelve hundred years, when..." Tenchi found himself staring at Lady Funaho. He had to remind himself that she was not related to Ayeka at all by blood, only marriage. They looked so much alike. ' It's the hair. The hair and the way they act. You can tell they're both royalty.' He thought to himself.
"... Misaki especially didn't quite grasp what she meant. She thought Sasami really was dead." She shook her head in annoyance as the memory the frantic Misaki came back to her, and even that looked cute. " It took some time to really explain what happened. Though now she seems quite happy to know Sasami will live forever as the goddess of Jurai."
" I can imagine." Washu smiled at Funaho and took a sip of tea. " How was your day, Lord Tenchi?" She inquired. Tenchi shifted uncomfortably as he became the center of attention.
" Well it's school." Tenchi said. " Nothing too exciting ever happens at school." He said, and then flinched as he remembered his first meeting with the rejuvenated Ryoko. ' I haven't thought about that in the longest time.' He brushed the thought away.
" Would you tell me about what you learn in these Earth schools?" Funaho said, with a charming smile.
" Learn?" Tenchi repeated. His mind went back to what had happened today, and as usual found himself blanking. He hadn't paid much attention today. " Well, we learn about lots of things. History, foreign languages, mathematics, sciences. We try to learn a little bit of everything here on Earth, at least in the beginning. I don't know how it is on planet Jurai."
" Sounds wonderful. We try and do the same things on Jurai."
" So we really don't know anything about where Ayeka might be?" Tenchi asked. Lady Funaho smiled a bit patronizingly.
" My my, right to the point, aren't we." She chuckled. " We don't know where she and Sasami might be, but we know some places they're not. They couldn't have gone to any Jurai controlled planets, because our intelligence operatives would have reported it almost immediately. And we also know that she must have gone somewhere with a Jurai tree, so that limits it to ships and a few facilities. Since civilian Jurai ships are powered by a fusion reactor, the only place she could be is on a military ship." She paused to take a sip of tea. " We've already ruled out ships that have been in contact with Jurai since she disappeared, and that's quite a few ships. So far we only have 81 ships. And the navy is going to contact each of them to find out if anyone knows where she is. We should be finished by tomorrow."
Tenchi let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. 'Tomorrow I'll know.'
" I really must apologize for Ayeka." Funaho said. This got Tenchi's attention, as he nearly face faulted in surprise.
" Apologize? Why should you apologize? It's not your or Ayeka's fault this happened." Tenchi said.
" Told you." He heard Washu mutter, and saw Funaho smile in bemusement.
" Yes, but Ayeka's shameful actions reflect poorly on all members of the royal family." This took Tenchi back a bit. 'Shameful actions? Ayeka didn't really do anything shameful, unless she did something I didn't know about.'
" What do you mean shameful?" He said, tilting his head up.
" I realize that Ayeka is a young girl in love, but her reaction is completely unexcusable for someone of her stature." She said. Tenchi stared at her unbelievingly.
" It's not her fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." He said, shaking his head in disapproval at himself. " If I had been tougher on Ryoko when she teased Ayeka, or she wouldn't have gone too far." Funaho smiled gently at him, and for a moment Tenchi could have sworn she was Ayeka's twin.
" You're right..." She said, and Tenchi felt his hear sink. "... Washu." She felt inside her robes and removed a small object. Tenchi noticed it had markings he'd never seen before, but appeared to have an engraving of a tree on the back, which Tenchi thought must be a Jurain coin. Funaho handed it gracefully to Washu.
" Thank you." She said, putting it in her pocket.
" You were betting on me?" He said in surprise.
" Yes, I didn't think you could possibly blame yourself for the actions of other people. I suppose it was foolish to bet against the number one genius scientist in the universe but it seemed a safe bet. After all, who could blame themselves for things that aren't under their control."
" Yes, but she obviously never lived with you." Washu chuckled.
" Oh, nice." Tenchi muttered. Washu and Funaho shared a girlish chuckle.
" It's pointless to blame yourself for what other people do. Ayeka and Ryoko make their own choices in life." Lady Funaho replied. " If I had just tried harder to raise Ayeka better, then this wouldn't have happened. So it's my fault." She said ironically. Tenchi tried to reply but Washu beat him too it.
" If only I had kept my equipment under better security, this wouldn't have happened. So it's my fault." The little red head offered, in mock apology.
" And if Yosho had come back to planet Jurai after he defeated Ryoko, then this wouldn't have happened, so it's his fault." Funaho said, taking another sip of tea.
" You see the point Tenchi?" Washu said. " You can't blame yourself for the choices of others. If you go down that road, in no time at all you'll be blaming yourself for the Alderberan war, which claimed 500 million lives, and happened ten thousand years before you were born." Tenchi could only smile sheepishly and scratch the back of his head.
" I guess you're right."
" Of course I'm right. I'm a genius." Washu smiled cutely.
" Well now that that's settled," Funaho said. " If I'm going to stay here I'm going to need a room."
" You're going to stay here, then? On Earth?" Tenchi said curiously. Tenchi suddenly felt very embarrassed about his house. He didn't think he really had any rooms worthy for a galactic queen.
" We think it's best if someone not involved is here to talk to Ayeka if she should show up again. Plus it's been ages since anyone did a survey of this planet, so I might as well do that too while I'm here." She smiled sweetly. " I have to admit to it's been to long since I've spent much time here. I'd forgotten how beautiful Earth can be.
" Well if you want to stay here, we've got quite a few rooms opened up just recently." Tenchi joked slightly, with a tinge of guilt. " Do you have any bags you need brought up? I should do it now, because grandpa, err Yosho wants me at training pretty soon."
" I wouldn't worry about that, Lord Tenchi." Funaho said. She said it without looking at him, and got up to refill her tea.
" Well, I've kind of missed everyone this week, so I really need too, but we can talk afterwards." Tenchi said.
" I really wouldn't worry about it. I already had long talk with Yosho about it. He seemed more than willing to part with you for one day." Funaho smiled and wrapped one arm around him. " So for the rest of the day, you're mine." She said, with mock authority. " So please tell me a bit about what's been going on lately, Lord Tenchi."
Having Lady Funaho around the house was a bit re-assuring to Tenchi, almost like having Ayeka back. Tenchi could easily see whom Ayeka had learned it all from. Funaho was quiet, demure, easy going, and quick to smile, just like Ayeka was (Wasn't she? Tenchi afterthought). Tenchi and Washu had helped her unpack, and set up for her stay in Ayeka and Sasami's room. Tenchi had apologized for not having anything fit for a queen, but Funaho just smiled and patted him gently on the shoulder. After that they sat and talked about many things. School, life with the girls, Dr. Clay and Zero, and Earth in general. Lady Funaho knew a bit about the major events of the past few centuries, like the world wars, Japans Meiji wars and America's revolutionary war, the Soviet Union's rise and fall, the computer revolution, but didn't know many details, and seemed eager to hear them. Washu actually chimed in with insightful commentary. They talked until...
" I'm home." Noboyuki said. He was carrying several plastic bags and still wearing his work clothes. " Could I get a little help here?" He shouted. " I stopped and got some take out." He closed the door roughly with his foot. Tenchi excused himself and went to help his father, while Washu went to go wake Mihoshi up. Lady Funaho met them in the question.
" That smells wonderful, Mr. Masaki" She said. Noboyuki double taked, then adjusted his glasses to look more closely at her.
" Achi..." He said under his breath, and then shook his head, as if to shake an idea away. " Well, young lady, who might you be?" He composed himself.
" No one special. I'm Yosho's mother. Funaho." She said lightly, and then went to help him with the bags. " I visited here earlier, but I didn't get a chance to meet you. You must be Noboyuki."
" Yes, I am. But isn't grandfather... so you're..." He said, turning blank.
" The queen of Jurai? I try not to make a big deal of it." She said.
" Oh." He said uncomfortably. " I hope we have enough, I didn't know we'd have a guest. Actually, you can have mine. I actually ate on the way here. You know whatIhavesomeworktodosoI'llbegoing." He said, turned and left. Shocked, Tenchi started after him as Noboyuki left the kitchen.
" Hey Dad, don't just run off like that!" Tenchi couldn't believe his father could be so rude, especially to family who just happened to be a queen of Jurai. Right as he got to the door, an arm rose up and blocked his path. " Lady Funaho, I'm really sorry about that."
" Let him go Tenchi. I'm sure he has work to do." Tenchi stared at her. Surely she hadn't believed his excuse. He hadn't even tried to make it believable, and Lady Funaho was not stupid. She should have seen right through it.
" But Lady Funaho..." She wagged her finger at him like a mother would to a naughty son.
" Remember what I told you about apologizing, Tenchi. I'm sure Noboyuki has reasons for leaving so quickly." She said, though Tenchi couldn't help feeling she knew what they were. Tenchi tried to but in, but she wouldn't have it, and motioned him towards the table. " No buts. We should eat now." She said sternly. Tenchi nodded absent-mindedly and followed her.
" Oh Yum! Sushi rolls!" Sparkled Mihoshi. The last remnants of her nap left her eyes as she spotted the food.
" Hey, where was Noboyuki going in such a hurry?" Washu asked. She didn't really care so much as she was trying to make conversation.
" Oh, he had things to do." Funaho said. Washu caught the hint and didn't bring it up again. Tenchi muttered something about work, but by this time Mihoshi had already dived into the food, and everyone else had to move and make a claim on his or her dinner, before it "disappeared".
===== The next day =====
A bruised and battered Tenchi Masaki wandered down from the mountain with an unusual limp. The day had started out perfectly enough. He'd woken up peacefully, something he was beginning to enjoy with Ryoko gone. Breakfast had been served courtesy of Washu. Tenchi guessed she was doing it for Funaho. Washu and Funaho had seemed to form a bond, ever since they'd first met when Funaho way back when she and Misaki had come to visit Ayeka and Sasami.
Breakfast had gone well, though Tenchi had been a bit uncomfortable being the only male there. Yosho still seemed uncomfortable whenever his mother was around, and Noboyuki was still acting weird, and went out to work early. With them gone, it had just been Washu, Lady Funaho, Mihoshi and himself. Washu and Lady Funaho had spent a good deal discussing intergalactic politics. Having spent 5000 years stuck in a crystal, Washu had a lot of catching up to do, something Tenchi couldn't help with. Mihoshi added whatever she could, which she did surprisingly often. One thing Tenchi had learned about Mihoshi was that she was actually pretty smart about outer space history. It was common sense she was short on. Tenchi had listened for a few minutes, trying to understand, but eventually his eyes just glazed over as the three talked.
After breakfast, Lady Funaho asked if Tenchi would show her around the shrine, and of course Tenchi agreed, though he admitted there wasn't much to see. They went to the carrot fields first, and Tenchi related the story about the masses, and how they had tried to help him, then kill him. Lady Funaho couldn't help laughing, and Tenchi feigned injury at her laughter. After that Tenchi took her inside the cave where Ryoko had been held. Tenchi felt a little strange being back here. He hadn't seen any reason to visit it after the first time, in fact he'd avoided it like the plague before Ryoko found him at school. A dull twenty minutes later, they left and Tenchi showed her the training ground where Katsuhito trained him in sword fighting. And that's where it happened. Tenchi was showing her a few of the techniques he had learned, when Katsuhito silently crept up behind him, and nudged him slightly, but enough to send Tenchi flat faced into the ground.
" Tenchi, you are too easily distracted." He had said sternly.
" Wasn't that a little harsh, Yosho-chan?" Funaho said. Katsuhito seemed a little ruffled by this, but continued.
" If it's all right, mother, I'd like to borrow Tenchi from you for training. He hasn't been up in over a week. Frankly I'm surprised he remembered the way." He said. Funaho sighed, and gave Tenchi a hand up.
" Very well Yosho. I'll let you boys play together." She said playfully, and walked off. She smiled and gently waved. " Take care lord Tenchi." Tenchi stared after her pleading, but she never turned around.
" Come Tenchi. We must get started."
So an hour later, he walked back to the house beaten and bruised, and with a slight limp due to a cheap shot his grandpa had placed on the back of his knee. Add to that Funaho had avoided answering the question every time he'd asked about Ayeka with great political skill during his tour, this day was turning out less than perfectly then he'd hoped. It was still early though, he reminded himself, and Jurai could call with information later. This was going through his mind as he opened the door. He had intended to go to bed and lie down for a little bit, but it wouldn't ever be that simple.
" Hey Tenchi, your finally back." Hiroshi said. Tenchi sighed as he saw his friend sitting on the couch in the living room, right next to lady Funaho. Daisuke, never far behind, was sitting on the other side of Lady Funaho. They were both acting pretty casual, but closer to Funaho then Tenchi liked, and grinning widely. Funaho seemed fine with it though.
" Tenchi, your friends arrived a while you were training." Funaho said. Both Hiroshi and Daisuke were acting a little to comfortable with the queen of a galactic empire, and Daisuke looked like he was about to put a hand on Funaho's thigh, but thought better about it after seeing Tenchi's frown and put it back in his lap.
" What are you guys doing here?" Tenchi asked in disbelief.
" Well, we thought you could use some cheering up, so we thought we'd do something today." Hiroshi said.
" I don't know, I'm kind of waiting for an important call..." Tenchi started, but Funaho wouldn't hear it.
" It's all right, Tenchi. Even if the call comes, we won't be able to do anything about it immediately anyway." She said.
" Geez, Tenchi what happened to you? Looks like you were trying to pick up some big guys girlfriend." Daisuke said, ignorant of the irony.
" Yeah, that's never a smart thing to do." He said flatly. " Grandpa wanted me to do some extra training today." Tenchi said, rubbing his knee as the pain came back.
" So is there anything you want to do today?" Hiroshi asked. Tenchi didn't feel like going out, especially since he didn't feel well, but they had come all this way...
" Sure, I guess. Just let me go take a shower then."
" Sure thing, Tenchi. We'll be fine down here for a little bit." Daisuke said, throwing a glance and a confident smirk towards Funaho. Tenchi wasn't sure he wanted to leave them alone. He didn't think they'd give lady Funaho any trouble, but he hadn't thought they'd hit on an older woman either. Tenchi hurried upstairs, and was back down in less then ten minutes, after a quick shower and changing into more casual clothes. He was not amused by what he found. Daisuke was still sitting next to Lady Funaho, blatantly hitting on her, telling her how beautiful she looked with that robe on. Hiroshi, however, had apparently decided to be a nice guy, and keep Mihoshi company after she had wandered in while Tenchi was upstairs. Daisuke was complimenting Funaho on her looks and choice of clothes, which she seemed to be enjoying, while Hiroshi had reduced Mihoshi into a fit of girlish giggles with tales of Tenchi in elementary school.
" Hey Tenchi, I just had an idea. We can just stay here and watch a movie instead of going out." Hiroshi said quickly. Daisuke got the idea quickly and nodded his agreement.
" Yeah, I mean, it looks like it could rain later, best to stay inside." Daisuke said, pointing out to the cloudless sky.
Tenchi nearly face faulted. He didn't really want his friends hitting on Mihoshi and Funaho, so he needed a good excuse.
" Actually, the VCR's broken. Sorry. Actually, though, there were some things I meant to do today, though. I need to get some things from the store." He said. Hiroshi and Daisuke sighed heavily.
" All right." Daisuke said, and then muttered, " We never have any luck."
" Tenchi keeps all the best girls for himself." Hiroshi added under his breath. Funaho chuckled a bit at their reactions. She really had enjoyed the attention, if only from two high schools kids.
" You boys have a good time." She said, and waved as they sadly got up and moped over to Tenchi. As they reached the door, she called to them and softly blew them a kiss. They turned bright red and started wrestling for each other, as if trying to steal the kiss from one another. Hiroshi claimed victory as Tenchi grabbed them both by the collar and dragged them out.
" Tenchi, your aunt is HOT!" Daisuke said for the fifth time. They were on the train bound for Kurashiki city and all they'd been able to talk about was Funaho and Mihoshi.
" Why'd you have to drag us out?" Hiroshi practically cried, ignoring the looks people on the train were giving him. " I think I was about to score with the blonde! She really likes me! Did you see the way she looked at me, and giggled at everything I said???" Tenchi shook his head in annoyance as Hiroshi went on to declare his undying love for Mihoshi. His leg was feeling a bit better after the shower, so he wasn't limping anymore. He still ached though.
" You weren't about to score. Mihoshi acts like that with everyone." Tenchi replied. Outside the countryside was flashing by.
" I man can dream can't he!" He said, clasping his hands together and looking love struck, tears pouring down his face. " And why do you get all the girls?" Tenchi suddenly felt very self conscious, as everyone on the train stared at him. They continued obliviously.
" Yeah." Daisuke said angrily. " Even if you want to keep Mihoshi to yourself, you can at least let me have your aunt. You can't add your own aunt to your personal harem!" He said, then suddenly looked at Tenchi suspiciously. " You don't want your own aunt do you? This isn't some quasi-Oedipal complex thing, is it?"
" Of course not. She's married!" He replied.
" What!" Daisuke hollered and went into a perfectly executed face fault. Almost the entire train turned to look at him. " But she... she told me her husband married someone else." He pouted. That was true, Tenchi thought, but she didn't mention that multiple marriages were allowed on planet Jurai.
" It doesn't matter what she said, she's still married." Daisuke nearly wept.
" What about Mihoshi?" Hiroshi said.
" She's not married, but I think she likes me." He said, as Hiroshi's eyes stared angrily at him.
" First thing we do in Kurashiki city," Daisuke muttered " is get Tenchi neutered."
" And then we take his women!" Hiroshi added, and they both laughed maniacally.
" You can have them." Tenchi said, under his breath.
They spent most of the early afternoon wandering around the shopping district, discussing what had been going on lately. Hiroshi and Daisuke quickly picked up that talking about Ryoko, Ayeka, and Sasami was a sore point for Tenchi, and tried to find out about it subtly.
" So what was that call you were expecting?" Hiroshi asked, while Daisuke sipped a drink. The first thing they did after getting off the train was grab some lunch at the first fast food shop they could find. Daisuke was just finishing it off.
" It's kind of complicated." Tenchi deflected.
" So, waiting for one of those girls to call you?" Daisuke said. " Don't look surprised. That was the same thing you said last time we asked last time."
" Yeah, Tenchi, you never told us about what happened. You just stalled." Hiroshi added. Tenchi sighed and considered what to tell them. Eventually, he related a slightly modified story about Ryoko using a computer to doctor a photo, making it seem like she and Tenchi had been having sex, and Ayeka running off with Sasami to visit relatives, and Ryoko leaving to stay with her half-sister (which was what Ryo-oh-ki technically was). Hiroshi and Daisuke listened quietly, not even commenting with the sarcastic quips they were known for. When he finished, Hiroshi lightly shook his shoulder.
" That's terrible. I can see why you kicked her out." Hiroshi said.
" Well I didn't really kick her out..." Tenchi muttered, thinking perhaps he should have.
" What I don't get is why she left after one photo. I mean, did she even ask you about it?" Daisuke questioned, then did a jump shot and put his empty cup in the trash bin ten feet away.
" I know. It's really strange. She never acted that emotional before." Something about that last sentence left a bad taste in Tenchi's mouth, like there was something just wrong about it. He shrugged it off, and they got up and headed down the street.
" She's normally so nice and quiet. Everything you could want in a woman." Tenchi said, admitting silently to himself that wasn't exactly true. He knew she couldn't cook very well, but that was forgivable. And she could be a tad possessive...
" Well if she was so perfect, why didn't you just break if off with Ryoko?" Hiroshi asked. Before Tenchi could answer Daisuke had already guessed it.
" Didn't have the balls, did you Tenchi?" He remarked.
" Of course I did!" Tenchi shouted defensively, but his friends looked skeptical. He knew it was hopeless though. His friends had known him to long enough to know he was spineless when it came to girls. He'd never told Ayeka or Ryoko, but he had several brief relationships, and they had all ended badly. The only exception was Hiwa Takashi, and that's because they'd been childhood friends (see manga volume 3). " It's just that - Hey watch it!" He shouted, as a group of teenagers on in-line skates flew by him. One turned around, an American only visiting from Austin, Texas. He wore a pale blue T-shirt, and some khaki shorts.
" You watch it! You should be more careful when you're in our territory!" He said, and then waved at the reader as if he knew he was in a fanfic.
(Authors note: Forgive me, I just found my copy of Jet Grind Radio for DC, and it's all I could think of for my cameo.)
They stared after him, waiting for an apology. After he turned the corner, they continued walking, albeit slightly irritated.
" Man, those graffiti punks are ruining this city." They heard someone say. Meanwhile, Tenchi spotted a pay phone.
" Could you hold on a second, I need to make a call home." He said. The duo waited patiently as Tenchi made a very short call. Hiroshi and Daisuke could tell what he'd learned.
" No luck, huh?" Daisuke asked. Tenchi nodded.
" Actually a little. We know where she's not. There are only three shi... relatives she might be with. Funaho learned that. But she's still not talking to us."
" This must be really serious. I've never seen you this depressed about a girl before." Hiroshi said. Tenchi nodded silently to himself. He had never felt this way about a girl before.
" Ayeka was really special to me." He said. His eyes looked up, as if to see Ayeka. " I remember this one time, we were all on this picnic, and Ayeka went off to find some mushrooms. She found these really poisonous ones, but they didn't look dangerous, she didn't know they were poisonous, but at least she was trying. Ryoko just grabbed the first ones things she saw. She never took the time to think about things. She'd living in Japan long enough to know what good mushrooms should look like, shouldn't she? (That's Manga vol. 3 again)" He walked a few steps, then noticed Hiroshi and Daisuke weren't following him. They were holding on to each other, as if for support.
" That's so sweet." Hiroshi sniffled.
" How romantic!" Daisuke swooned. Tenchi sweat dropped as he noticed that they had drawn a crowd. At least a half dozen people were staring at them.
" Stop it, you guys. You know I'm comfortable with your being gay, but you don't have to advertise it." Tenchi deadpanned, and it was Hiroshi and Daisuke's, along with most of the crowd, turn to sweat drop. Most of the crowd, believing Tenchi, turned around and left the two alone. " I'm going on. You two can catch up with me when you're "finished"." Tenchi turned around and walked off.
" We're not gay." Hiroshi said. The remaining people just shrugged it off and walked away. " Really, we're not." He shouted after them. They found Tenchi a block ahead, window-shopping at an electronics store. He was looking over a Pioneer brand digital camera, wondering if he should buy it or ask Washu to make him one like it. Unfortunately neither seemed a good idea. He didn't have a whole lot of money, and things Washu made seemed to have special options that endangered the planet.
" Real funny Tenchi. Now half the town thinks we're lovers." Daisuke said. Tenchi just smiled ironically at them.
" Then I guess you shouldn't have been hugging then." HE said. They both glared at him. " Besides, only a couple people heard it, and they didn't even know you. How could the whole town know? It's not like you live here." This disarmed them a bit, and they stopped glaring at him. But Hiroshi still punched him hard in the arm.
" With that lovable charm, no wonder the women can't resist you." Daisuke said.
" Yeah, drives girls crazy." Tenchi said, rubbing his arm. But Daisuke was looking past him.
" Oh cool, an arcade. Must be knew" Tenchi and Hiroshi flinched at the word. Tenchi had never really been into video games, with the exception of the original Nintendo system. After his mother died, things like that seemed kind of unimportant. But Hiroshi knew his way around a Street Fighter machine, and Daisuke seemed to get all of his exercise from a Dance Dance revoloution machine, so he knew it was pointless to argue.
An hour later, the constant high-pitched noise was beginning to grate on Tenchi's nerves, but he'd known Daisuke since elementary school, and he knew better then to try and pull him away until he ran out of money. After a few minutes, they Hiroshi and Tenchi realized Daisuke had brought a lot of money, and settled in for the long haul. Right now, Daisuke was taking a couple of young boys to school on a Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 machine.
" Lesson number 5, kid. That move has way to much recovery time to be useful except in combos." He chuckled, as the kid kicked the machine and walked off. " Hey, don't blame the machine."
" You through yet, Daisuke?" Hiroshi asked.
" I've still got one credit left!" He replied.
A loud arcade was not the best place for deep thought, but Tenchi had been doing it anyway. It started when Daisuke started telling them about Andy and Mai, two characters from that game that were in love and that he wished they would get married. Tenchi started thinking about something that had never occurred to him. What if he asked Ayeka to marry him? Ayeka had always wanted it, and now Tenchi began to wonder if he didn't want it too. Without Ryoko around to cause trouble, things would be pretty quiet. He was no longer quite as mad at Ryoko, but he couldn't see himself being with someone who thought so little about other people's feelings. The choice had never been so obvious as now, but he still wasn't sure. He had to ask.
" Do you think I'm too young to get married?" He suddenly said. Hiroshi's head snapped around to stare at him, and Daisuke seemed to flinch at the controls, and receive a critical hit, losing the match. He turned around to look Tenchi in the eye.
" Yes. Yes I do, Tenchi." Hiroshi said. There was no a trace of a joke in his voice.
" Why do you want to get married Tenchi? I mean, even if this girl is so great, you still pretty young. She's got to be pretty young too. I mean, I know you miss her, but are you sure she's everything you think?" Daisuke said.
" I've known her for almost a year now. I know it's what she wants, or what she wanted before all this. It's what I want I don't see why not?" Tenchi said. He sighed and leaned up against an arcade machine. Hiroshi shook his head and crossed his arms.
" If she's everything you say, then she'd wait for you to at least turn eighteen." Hiroshi said. " Assuming of course she hasn't 'rebounded' into someone else by now. Some girls go with the first guy they see after a break up just to spite the ex."
" Why are you complaining, isn't that how you get all your girlfriends?" Tenchi countered harshly. He didn't like Hiroshi saying these things about Ayeka. Maybe he never actually met her, but still...
" No that's Daisuke." He said quickly, ignoring his friends protestant "Hey!".
" Tenchi, how do you know it will work out? You've had a couple of girlfriends before, but nothing this serious. To be honest your not the best judge of character. Remember Yumi?" Hiroshi said. Tenchi frowned at the name. He'd met Yumi Touma when he was twelve. They'd both been young then, but that hadn't stopped her from playing girlfriend to get money out of him.
"Just cause you both want to get married doesn't mean it will work out." Daisuke said. Tenchi silently admitted that he had a point, but he also knew Ayeka loved him. Would that love last forever?
" You're still young, man. You have to get out there, see the world. Have you ever been outside Japan?" Hiroshi said, and Tenchi silently corrected him. He'd been outside Japan, he'd been outside of the planet, and battled immensely powerful enemies like Kagato and Garyu (see Manga, vol 12), although, he had to remind himself, he hadn't exactly spent a whole lot of time out there.
" There's a whole world, go and see it. Then you can get married. If it's true love, then a couple of years wouldn't really matter." Tenchi again knew he had a point, but he also thought that what he had with Ayeka was true love.
" What's the difference between a few days and a few years? I know Ayeka would never betray me."
" Even if she thinks you betrayed her? Like I said, she might have just jumped into the arms of the first guy she met?" Hiroshi said. Tenchi steadfastly trusted Ayeka.
" Even if."
A few hours later, Tenchi hiked down the road to his house. It was about eight PM, and the sun had already set. The exhaustion had hit him full first, and he was shuffling a bit. Tenchi had argued with Hiroshi and Daisuke for about a half hour more, growing more and more convinced that he was right. After a while they just stopped fighting, and told Tenchi to make sure they were invited to the wedding. It went downhill from there. Daisuke noticed the Dance Dance revolution had just opened it up, and dragged them both over to it. For the next hour they occasionally took turns on it, except when someone else came and challenged Daisuke. Tenchi actually enjoyed it a lot, though his grade average was probably about a C (Lowest grade I ever got, ever, Tenchi thought). After an hour Daisuke ran out of money, and they finally managed to drag him out of the arcade. They spent the next couple of hours walking around aimlessly, window-shopping until they decided to go home. They'd split up at the train station, with Tenchi saying he'd walk back.
So Tenchi found himself walking home, sore from Yosho's training, and tired from a day out. As he turned a corner and saw the house, he noticed how empty it seemed. Most of the lights were out except for the living room, and Noboyuki's room. ' Least he's finally home', Tenchi though. Tenchi's legs ached but he managed to make it inside before nearly collapsing on the couch.
" Tough day, lord Tenchi?" A young voice inquired. Tenchi lacked the strength to look up, and almost enough to respond.
" You could say that little Washu." He groaned, as the aches and pains washed over him. " Where's Lady Funaho?"
" In your father's study." She said. She moved from the doorway to the couch and sat down next to Tenchi, sitting with her arms folded behind her head, and swung her feet like a little kid. At first Tenchi didn't understand what she meant, and then he realized she was referring to Noboyuki's library. He never though of his dad's massive collection of girls comics as a 'Study'.
" What's she doing in there?" He asked. Could she have started reading those old romance comics?
" Reading some books on history and geography. We visited the public library after she talked with your father. She visited to look for some books on travel. I humiliated a guest speaker talking to college students on particle physics." Washu said, getting a sadistic gleam in her eye at the last part. " She wanted to see you when you got home. Oh, and your dad ordered a pizza. There's still a bit left, since the only people who like eel on their pizza are your father and grandfather. Blech. Not even Mihoshi would touch that." She giggled. Tenchi nodded, then summoned his little strength to stand up.
" Thanks little Washu. Did she say what it was about?" He asked. She nodded.
" Yes, but I think she wanted to talk to you first." She said. A little surprised, Tenchi made a couple of guesses at what Lady Funaho might want, but couldn't think of anything. He found Lady Funaho at a book-covered desk at the back of his fathers' library. At first he thought they were comics, but as he got closer he noticed they were travel guides. She noticed him before he got within ten feet.
" Hello Lord Tenchi. How was your day?" She asked, looking up with a smile. Tenchi suddenly felt strength return to his legs. He smiled back, and sat down on the other side of the table.
" Tiring, but I had a good time." He said. " I'm sorry about their behavior earlier." Funaho gave him a disarming smile.
" Don't be. I think you'll find most women like being reminded from time to time that they're attractive. Even if it is by young boys." She said. She flipped a couple of pages in the book she was reading, but didn't take her attention away from Tenchi. Tenchi picked up a book, and examined it. It was about the history of Montreal.
" Canada huh? Heard it's a nice place. Never been there though. Planning on going?" He asked. Tenchi could think of any specific reason for Canada.
" Yes. Thought it might be nice if I visited home while I'm here." She said, and Tenchi became even more confused.
" Ah. So, why do you want to go to Canada?" He said.
" Because I was born there." Funaho said. Tenchi stared at her for a moment.
" But I always thought you were from Japan?" He said.
" You never asked, although I can understand why you thought that." She replied. " No, I was born in Northern Canada." She picked up a map and looked at it. " Not entirely sure where though, we weren't big on maps back then."
" Are you serious?" Tenchi asked. He had never thought about where Lady Funaho had come from. He knew she was from Earth, but Jurai culture was so similar to Japanese he had just assumed she was from Japan.
" Yes, Tenchi, I am." She said. She didn't sound annoyed that Tenchi didn't believe her, just answered him calmly. " The Earth is a very big planet, and Japan is very small. The law of probabilities alone suggests that I'm not from Japan. I was an..." she looked through a guide book. " Amerindian seems to be the term they use now, though we called ourselves the Ka hoi. Azusa came with a scouting party to check on some readings they picked up from the ship. My clan was there to meet them." She shrugged. " Certainly looks different then I remember." She said, looking at a picture of Modern day Quebec.
" Your right, I guess." He said, still adjusting. 'I'm Canadian?' He thought. ' That doesn't sound too bad, um... eh.'
" Of course I am." She said with a smile.
" I heard you talked to my father today. Is he part of the reason your going?" Tenchi asked. Funaho gently put her book down.
" A little bit. I asked him today why he was acting strangely whenever I was around. It was pretty much as I thought." She said. Her voice was calm, but still a little sad, like she didn't like thinking about it.
" Why?" Tenchi asked.
" He's uncomfortable because I remind him so much of your mother." She said. " It's not really a big deal. I came to Earth to survey cultural and Technological development, I guess I can do that in Canada too."
" You don't have to go. I'll talk with him." Tenchi said firmly. " I mean, it's silly. You don't even really look like my mom." Funaho gave him a disbelieving smile, and reached over to a small desk near the table and picked up a small picture, and handed it to Tenchi. It was a picture of Achika holding Tenchi as an infant. They were on what appeared to be a picnic, with Mount Kyushu in the background. Tenchi was surprised by how much Lady Funaho really did look like his mother. " Wow. I always thought you looked more like Ayeka."
" Not really. We have the same color hair, but that's only because Yosho liked it better so Ayeka changed it." Tenchi knew that part; Washu had discovered it some time ago. . I hate to say it about my own son, but Yosho always seemed to be a little too attached to me." She said, and it suddenly occurred to Tenchi why grandpa's tree was called 'Funaho'. " Don't tell him, but I was of glad when I found out how independent he had become." She leafed through the book. " Ayeka, though, always looked more Misaki."
" Speaking of Ayeka..." Tenchi said.
" Of course. We know where she probably is. Of the three ships we haven't been able to contact, Jurai Sun, Derra IV, and the Eternity, Jurai Sun and Derra IV are in places likely to cause communication interference. The Eternity was on border patrol. There's no reason they shouldn't answer us, except perhaps there's a Jurain princess aboard ordering them not too." She joked. " We think that's where she is, and we've sent a ship to their last known coordinates. We should know in about a week, if they're there."
" Can she do that? Order a ship to do whatever she wants?" Tenchi asked, and Funaho nodded gravely.
" As long as there are no orders contradicting it from Azusa, me, or Misaki, the captain has to accept orders from a member of the royal family, especially if she said she were on a special mission or somewhat."
It occurred to Tenchi that now might be the time to ask. Since Ayeka might be coming home soon, and Lady Funaho would be leaving after that, he had to ask her.
" Lady Funaho, I think you need to know something. When Ayeka returns I plan on asking her to marry me." He said, and Lady Funaho could only stare at him wide-eyed. For a few moments she couldn't speak.
" I suppose that's between you and Ayeka." She said, regaining her composure and calmness. Tenchi began to realize that her outward calmness might just be a facade. Most of the time he might have no idea what she was really feeling. " But if you're asking my permission, then I'd have to say no." This time it was Tenchi's turn to be surprised. Tenchi had expected Lady Funaho to be supportive of this.
" May I ask why?" He said. " I thought you'd be happy for us."
" I would be, but Tenchi," She said delicately. " I think you're too young." This surprised Tenchi. It was the same thing Hiroshi and Daisuke had said. He'd ignored them because he believed that they just didn't know Ayeka well enough, but Lady Funaho was over seven hundred years old, and one of Ayeka's mothers. She knew Ayeka better probably then he did. And she was hardly stupid. If she thought he was too young... " Especially since your not from Jurai. I met Azusa when I was twenty three, but we didn't marry until I was fifty four. I needed the time to get used to Jurai, and," she added thoughtfully. " For Jurai to get used to me. People were not happy when the king of Jurai choose to marry someone from a barabarian planet like Earth. They might have put up more of a struggle if Misaki and I hadn't been friends. She was very popular on Jurai and made life very uncomfortable for anyone who disliked me." She added quietly " And there were a lot of those people."
" You have a point, I guess. Still, even if we don't get married right away, we could still become engaged." Funaho eyed him for a moment, before asking a very strange question.
" Are you sure the Ayeka you want to marry is the same that left?" She said. Tenchi looked at her queerly.
" What do you mean?" He said.
" People have a way of remembering things to the way they want. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. Perhaps you've grown too fond. "
===== Two days later, 2:14 AM =====
" GO TENCHI GO!" Ayeka shouted. She was dressed in a tight fitting blue and gray cheerleaders outfit, and doing cartwheels while Mihoshi, also in a cheerleader's uniform, was jumping into the air with her pom-poms. Tenchi hit a smash across the ping-pong table that Hiroshi had to dive to return. It hit Tenchi's side of the table and went straight up. As Hiroshi returned, his cheering section, Ryoko and Washu in maroon and white cheerleaders outfits, went wild. Tenchi shivered a bit, in the cold auditorium, and wondered how the entire school had fit in here. He paid no mind about the fact he was in his underwear, and Hiroshi was in a panda outfit. Tenchi, in an amazing display of gymnastics, did a triple forward flip and was able to return the ball. Hiroshi spun around and made a mad dash for it but missed it by a few inches. The crowd went wild.
" Tenchi! Tenchi! Tenchi!" They chanted and cheered. He basked in their love while the crowd noise died down, and the voices all merged into one.
" Tenchi. Tenchi. Wake up, Lord Tenchi." Washu was saying. He felt a hand gently shaking him out of his sleep then a good hard slap.
" owwww." He looked and saw Washu.
" What's going on?" He said, but he could barely understand it himself, since he was so tired.
" They found Ayeka." She said. Tenchi sat straight up. All traces of sleep vanished immediately. Those were the words he'd been dying to hear for weeks. He felt like those were the three best words he'd ever heard. So why didn't Washu look happy? Washu wore an expression of concern and sadness on her face.
" Where is she?" He said. Washu just shook her head.
" It's complicated. You'd better see for yourself, Lord Tenchi." She said. He got up and threw on a T-shirt. Washu held the door and motioned downstairs. He hurried downstairs, still wondering why Washu seemed so depressed. He noticed that Washu's TV was on. Washu had created a TV capable of picking up intergalactic transmissions and TV networks. The girls sometimes watched alien soap opera's on it. It was normally disguised as part of the wall, but now it was displaying an image. There was a tall white building standing out against a skyline crowded with buildings and a blue sky above it. And in the sky was a Jurain battle cruiser, Tenchi could tell by it's sleek look and wood finish. Tenchi felt happy, but he couldn't help but get a bad feeling. Washu had looked so worried, and an announcer on the station was in what sounded like a panicked voice talking in some alien language. It wasn't until an announcer came on and started translating it into Japanese that he realized what was going on.
" This is on Earth?!?" He exclaimed, turning to look at Washu. Washu nodded.
" New York, to be precise. The United Nations building to be exact. The Jurain battle cruiser Eternity showed up about fifty minutes ago, during a meeting of the general assembly. That's every member nation. Immediately afterwards Azaka and Kamidake went down and announced Princess Ayeka of the Jurain Empire would address the UN. She should be down soon." She said. Tenchi stared unbelievably at the screen.
" ... I repeat this is not a joke. An apparent alien spacecraft has appeared over the United Nations building in New York City. Details are sketchy as to what is happening inside." The announcer said. " This feed is coming in live. No one is quite certain... Something appears to be happening." Tenchi knew immediately what was going on. Someone was using a Jurain teleportation system. The entire area seemed to darken, except for one small circular area, which brightened. There were what looked like cherry blossoms falling around it, and seven people appeared. Ayeka stood in the center, in an aquamarine hooded Jurain robe. To her left, stood Sasami in Turquoise and pink robe. A man in what looked like a military uniform stood to her right, and four guards formed a box around them. Azaka and Kamidake appeared a few moments later, and the group headed inside. Tenchi had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was about to happen.
Please R&R.
Note 1: I don't own any of these characters (If I did, do you think I'd
spend my time writing fanfics? Hell no. I'd spend all my time spending the profits I make from Tenchi Muyo merchandise.) Anyway, Pioneer owns this all, so please don't sue me (Not that you'd get any money, I'm broke.)
Note 2: this takes place in a modified Tenchi OAV Universe. (Yes, they're
"modifications", not inconsistencies or plot holes heh heh.) Basically, everything that happened in the OAV happened here. Also, I've decided to borrow a page out of the book of Alfred Hitchcock. No, I'm not going to write intelligent and thrilling mysteries. Rather, I will cameo in all my fics from now on. They won't become self-insertion fics. Rather, I'll just have a line or two.
Jurai Blues Part 4: Persistence of Memory Revision
By James Kane (Or Confucioussays, if you prefer)
===== Tenchi's House, Earth, Friday =====
The front door clicked open and a young man darted through.
" I'm home." Tenchi said, slamming the door shut. With a flick of his wrist his bag flew towards the couch in the living room. Tenchi ran straight to Washu's lab and threw the door open. As usual, a black field was revealed as the door opened. " Any word yet?" He shouted through the door. After a few seconds of silence, he poked his head through the black wall that Tenchi knew connected Tenchi's home to Washu's lab.
" It's only been one day, Lord Tenchi." Said Washu, as she left the kitchen. She was kettle and a cup, and wore an expression of unconcern. " Not even Jurai can contact each and everyone of its ships in just one day." She said as she walked towards the couches.
" You really must learn some patience, Lord Tenchi." Said a new voice. It was calm and controlled. The quiet strength spoke volumes about its owner. Tenchi scrambled into a quick bow.
" Lady Funaho! Excuse me, you're highness, I didn't see you there." The queen of Jurai was sitting on the couch, looking slightly flustered. Her long hair lay covering her soft robes of blue and silver. She held a cup of tea in one hand, with the other laying gently in her lap, holding a familiar brown object.
" Your aim would suggest otherwise, Lord Tenchi." She said, with a gentle smirk, placing the bag on the table, and Tenchi noticed for the first time she had a small bump on her forehead. Tenchi felt his face catch fire as he realized he had hit her with his bag as he threw it. " Don't worry about it, Lord Tenchi. I'm made of tougher stuff than that to get hit by a tiny little bag. Come, sit down." She smiled and motioned for him to sit down next to her.
" But I had four classes worth of books in that bag..." He mumbled, staring at his great-grandmother.
" I was just explaining to Lady Funaho what happened in a little more detail." Said Washu, as she plopped down on the chair. She gently poured herself some tea, and took a sip. " It turns out she knew about Sasami and Tsunami for a while now."
" Yes, Tsunami approached us very soon after Ayeka and Sasami left searching for Yosho. You can imagine my surprise when, walking peacefully through the royal gardens with Azusa," She said quite conversationally. She swept open her arms as if to give an impression of great size as she talked about the gardens. " When we bump into Tsunami, the Goddess of Jurai. Now, it's not unknown for Tsunami to show herself to the emperor, but she hasn't done it for twelve hundred years, when..." Tenchi found himself staring at Lady Funaho. He had to remind himself that she was not related to Ayeka at all by blood, only marriage. They looked so much alike. ' It's the hair. The hair and the way they act. You can tell they're both royalty.' He thought to himself.
"... Misaki especially didn't quite grasp what she meant. She thought Sasami really was dead." She shook her head in annoyance as the memory the frantic Misaki came back to her, and even that looked cute. " It took some time to really explain what happened. Though now she seems quite happy to know Sasami will live forever as the goddess of Jurai."
" I can imagine." Washu smiled at Funaho and took a sip of tea. " How was your day, Lord Tenchi?" She inquired. Tenchi shifted uncomfortably as he became the center of attention.
" Well it's school." Tenchi said. " Nothing too exciting ever happens at school." He said, and then flinched as he remembered his first meeting with the rejuvenated Ryoko. ' I haven't thought about that in the longest time.' He brushed the thought away.
" Would you tell me about what you learn in these Earth schools?" Funaho said, with a charming smile.
" Learn?" Tenchi repeated. His mind went back to what had happened today, and as usual found himself blanking. He hadn't paid much attention today. " Well, we learn about lots of things. History, foreign languages, mathematics, sciences. We try to learn a little bit of everything here on Earth, at least in the beginning. I don't know how it is on planet Jurai."
" Sounds wonderful. We try and do the same things on Jurai."
" So we really don't know anything about where Ayeka might be?" Tenchi asked. Lady Funaho smiled a bit patronizingly.
" My my, right to the point, aren't we." She chuckled. " We don't know where she and Sasami might be, but we know some places they're not. They couldn't have gone to any Jurai controlled planets, because our intelligence operatives would have reported it almost immediately. And we also know that she must have gone somewhere with a Jurai tree, so that limits it to ships and a few facilities. Since civilian Jurai ships are powered by a fusion reactor, the only place she could be is on a military ship." She paused to take a sip of tea. " We've already ruled out ships that have been in contact with Jurai since she disappeared, and that's quite a few ships. So far we only have 81 ships. And the navy is going to contact each of them to find out if anyone knows where she is. We should be finished by tomorrow."
Tenchi let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. 'Tomorrow I'll know.'
" I really must apologize for Ayeka." Funaho said. This got Tenchi's attention, as he nearly face faulted in surprise.
" Apologize? Why should you apologize? It's not your or Ayeka's fault this happened." Tenchi said.
" Told you." He heard Washu mutter, and saw Funaho smile in bemusement.
" Yes, but Ayeka's shameful actions reflect poorly on all members of the royal family." This took Tenchi back a bit. 'Shameful actions? Ayeka didn't really do anything shameful, unless she did something I didn't know about.'
" What do you mean shameful?" He said, tilting his head up.
" I realize that Ayeka is a young girl in love, but her reaction is completely unexcusable for someone of her stature." She said. Tenchi stared at her unbelievingly.
" It's not her fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." He said, shaking his head in disapproval at himself. " If I had been tougher on Ryoko when she teased Ayeka, or she wouldn't have gone too far." Funaho smiled gently at him, and for a moment Tenchi could have sworn she was Ayeka's twin.
" You're right..." She said, and Tenchi felt his hear sink. "... Washu." She felt inside her robes and removed a small object. Tenchi noticed it had markings he'd never seen before, but appeared to have an engraving of a tree on the back, which Tenchi thought must be a Jurain coin. Funaho handed it gracefully to Washu.
" Thank you." She said, putting it in her pocket.
" You were betting on me?" He said in surprise.
" Yes, I didn't think you could possibly blame yourself for the actions of other people. I suppose it was foolish to bet against the number one genius scientist in the universe but it seemed a safe bet. After all, who could blame themselves for things that aren't under their control."
" Yes, but she obviously never lived with you." Washu chuckled.
" Oh, nice." Tenchi muttered. Washu and Funaho shared a girlish chuckle.
" It's pointless to blame yourself for what other people do. Ayeka and Ryoko make their own choices in life." Lady Funaho replied. " If I had just tried harder to raise Ayeka better, then this wouldn't have happened. So it's my fault." She said ironically. Tenchi tried to reply but Washu beat him too it.
" If only I had kept my equipment under better security, this wouldn't have happened. So it's my fault." The little red head offered, in mock apology.
" And if Yosho had come back to planet Jurai after he defeated Ryoko, then this wouldn't have happened, so it's his fault." Funaho said, taking another sip of tea.
" You see the point Tenchi?" Washu said. " You can't blame yourself for the choices of others. If you go down that road, in no time at all you'll be blaming yourself for the Alderberan war, which claimed 500 million lives, and happened ten thousand years before you were born." Tenchi could only smile sheepishly and scratch the back of his head.
" I guess you're right."
" Of course I'm right. I'm a genius." Washu smiled cutely.
" Well now that that's settled," Funaho said. " If I'm going to stay here I'm going to need a room."
" You're going to stay here, then? On Earth?" Tenchi said curiously. Tenchi suddenly felt very embarrassed about his house. He didn't think he really had any rooms worthy for a galactic queen.
" We think it's best if someone not involved is here to talk to Ayeka if she should show up again. Plus it's been ages since anyone did a survey of this planet, so I might as well do that too while I'm here." She smiled sweetly. " I have to admit to it's been to long since I've spent much time here. I'd forgotten how beautiful Earth can be.
" Well if you want to stay here, we've got quite a few rooms opened up just recently." Tenchi joked slightly, with a tinge of guilt. " Do you have any bags you need brought up? I should do it now, because grandpa, err Yosho wants me at training pretty soon."
" I wouldn't worry about that, Lord Tenchi." Funaho said. She said it without looking at him, and got up to refill her tea.
" Well, I've kind of missed everyone this week, so I really need too, but we can talk afterwards." Tenchi said.
" I really wouldn't worry about it. I already had long talk with Yosho about it. He seemed more than willing to part with you for one day." Funaho smiled and wrapped one arm around him. " So for the rest of the day, you're mine." She said, with mock authority. " So please tell me a bit about what's been going on lately, Lord Tenchi."
Having Lady Funaho around the house was a bit re-assuring to Tenchi, almost like having Ayeka back. Tenchi could easily see whom Ayeka had learned it all from. Funaho was quiet, demure, easy going, and quick to smile, just like Ayeka was (Wasn't she? Tenchi afterthought). Tenchi and Washu had helped her unpack, and set up for her stay in Ayeka and Sasami's room. Tenchi had apologized for not having anything fit for a queen, but Funaho just smiled and patted him gently on the shoulder. After that they sat and talked about many things. School, life with the girls, Dr. Clay and Zero, and Earth in general. Lady Funaho knew a bit about the major events of the past few centuries, like the world wars, Japans Meiji wars and America's revolutionary war, the Soviet Union's rise and fall, the computer revolution, but didn't know many details, and seemed eager to hear them. Washu actually chimed in with insightful commentary. They talked until...
" I'm home." Noboyuki said. He was carrying several plastic bags and still wearing his work clothes. " Could I get a little help here?" He shouted. " I stopped and got some take out." He closed the door roughly with his foot. Tenchi excused himself and went to help his father, while Washu went to go wake Mihoshi up. Lady Funaho met them in the question.
" That smells wonderful, Mr. Masaki" She said. Noboyuki double taked, then adjusted his glasses to look more closely at her.
" Achi..." He said under his breath, and then shook his head, as if to shake an idea away. " Well, young lady, who might you be?" He composed himself.
" No one special. I'm Yosho's mother. Funaho." She said lightly, and then went to help him with the bags. " I visited here earlier, but I didn't get a chance to meet you. You must be Noboyuki."
" Yes, I am. But isn't grandfather... so you're..." He said, turning blank.
" The queen of Jurai? I try not to make a big deal of it." She said.
" Oh." He said uncomfortably. " I hope we have enough, I didn't know we'd have a guest. Actually, you can have mine. I actually ate on the way here. You know whatIhavesomeworktodosoI'llbegoing." He said, turned and left. Shocked, Tenchi started after him as Noboyuki left the kitchen.
" Hey Dad, don't just run off like that!" Tenchi couldn't believe his father could be so rude, especially to family who just happened to be a queen of Jurai. Right as he got to the door, an arm rose up and blocked his path. " Lady Funaho, I'm really sorry about that."
" Let him go Tenchi. I'm sure he has work to do." Tenchi stared at her. Surely she hadn't believed his excuse. He hadn't even tried to make it believable, and Lady Funaho was not stupid. She should have seen right through it.
" But Lady Funaho..." She wagged her finger at him like a mother would to a naughty son.
" Remember what I told you about apologizing, Tenchi. I'm sure Noboyuki has reasons for leaving so quickly." She said, though Tenchi couldn't help feeling she knew what they were. Tenchi tried to but in, but she wouldn't have it, and motioned him towards the table. " No buts. We should eat now." She said sternly. Tenchi nodded absent-mindedly and followed her.
" Oh Yum! Sushi rolls!" Sparkled Mihoshi. The last remnants of her nap left her eyes as she spotted the food.
" Hey, where was Noboyuki going in such a hurry?" Washu asked. She didn't really care so much as she was trying to make conversation.
" Oh, he had things to do." Funaho said. Washu caught the hint and didn't bring it up again. Tenchi muttered something about work, but by this time Mihoshi had already dived into the food, and everyone else had to move and make a claim on his or her dinner, before it "disappeared".
===== The next day =====
A bruised and battered Tenchi Masaki wandered down from the mountain with an unusual limp. The day had started out perfectly enough. He'd woken up peacefully, something he was beginning to enjoy with Ryoko gone. Breakfast had been served courtesy of Washu. Tenchi guessed she was doing it for Funaho. Washu and Funaho had seemed to form a bond, ever since they'd first met when Funaho way back when she and Misaki had come to visit Ayeka and Sasami.
Breakfast had gone well, though Tenchi had been a bit uncomfortable being the only male there. Yosho still seemed uncomfortable whenever his mother was around, and Noboyuki was still acting weird, and went out to work early. With them gone, it had just been Washu, Lady Funaho, Mihoshi and himself. Washu and Lady Funaho had spent a good deal discussing intergalactic politics. Having spent 5000 years stuck in a crystal, Washu had a lot of catching up to do, something Tenchi couldn't help with. Mihoshi added whatever she could, which she did surprisingly often. One thing Tenchi had learned about Mihoshi was that she was actually pretty smart about outer space history. It was common sense she was short on. Tenchi had listened for a few minutes, trying to understand, but eventually his eyes just glazed over as the three talked.
After breakfast, Lady Funaho asked if Tenchi would show her around the shrine, and of course Tenchi agreed, though he admitted there wasn't much to see. They went to the carrot fields first, and Tenchi related the story about the masses, and how they had tried to help him, then kill him. Lady Funaho couldn't help laughing, and Tenchi feigned injury at her laughter. After that Tenchi took her inside the cave where Ryoko had been held. Tenchi felt a little strange being back here. He hadn't seen any reason to visit it after the first time, in fact he'd avoided it like the plague before Ryoko found him at school. A dull twenty minutes later, they left and Tenchi showed her the training ground where Katsuhito trained him in sword fighting. And that's where it happened. Tenchi was showing her a few of the techniques he had learned, when Katsuhito silently crept up behind him, and nudged him slightly, but enough to send Tenchi flat faced into the ground.
" Tenchi, you are too easily distracted." He had said sternly.
" Wasn't that a little harsh, Yosho-chan?" Funaho said. Katsuhito seemed a little ruffled by this, but continued.
" If it's all right, mother, I'd like to borrow Tenchi from you for training. He hasn't been up in over a week. Frankly I'm surprised he remembered the way." He said. Funaho sighed, and gave Tenchi a hand up.
" Very well Yosho. I'll let you boys play together." She said playfully, and walked off. She smiled and gently waved. " Take care lord Tenchi." Tenchi stared after her pleading, but she never turned around.
" Come Tenchi. We must get started."
So an hour later, he walked back to the house beaten and bruised, and with a slight limp due to a cheap shot his grandpa had placed on the back of his knee. Add to that Funaho had avoided answering the question every time he'd asked about Ayeka with great political skill during his tour, this day was turning out less than perfectly then he'd hoped. It was still early though, he reminded himself, and Jurai could call with information later. This was going through his mind as he opened the door. He had intended to go to bed and lie down for a little bit, but it wouldn't ever be that simple.
" Hey Tenchi, your finally back." Hiroshi said. Tenchi sighed as he saw his friend sitting on the couch in the living room, right next to lady Funaho. Daisuke, never far behind, was sitting on the other side of Lady Funaho. They were both acting pretty casual, but closer to Funaho then Tenchi liked, and grinning widely. Funaho seemed fine with it though.
" Tenchi, your friends arrived a while you were training." Funaho said. Both Hiroshi and Daisuke were acting a little to comfortable with the queen of a galactic empire, and Daisuke looked like he was about to put a hand on Funaho's thigh, but thought better about it after seeing Tenchi's frown and put it back in his lap.
" What are you guys doing here?" Tenchi asked in disbelief.
" Well, we thought you could use some cheering up, so we thought we'd do something today." Hiroshi said.
" I don't know, I'm kind of waiting for an important call..." Tenchi started, but Funaho wouldn't hear it.
" It's all right, Tenchi. Even if the call comes, we won't be able to do anything about it immediately anyway." She said.
" Geez, Tenchi what happened to you? Looks like you were trying to pick up some big guys girlfriend." Daisuke said, ignorant of the irony.
" Yeah, that's never a smart thing to do." He said flatly. " Grandpa wanted me to do some extra training today." Tenchi said, rubbing his knee as the pain came back.
" So is there anything you want to do today?" Hiroshi asked. Tenchi didn't feel like going out, especially since he didn't feel well, but they had come all this way...
" Sure, I guess. Just let me go take a shower then."
" Sure thing, Tenchi. We'll be fine down here for a little bit." Daisuke said, throwing a glance and a confident smirk towards Funaho. Tenchi wasn't sure he wanted to leave them alone. He didn't think they'd give lady Funaho any trouble, but he hadn't thought they'd hit on an older woman either. Tenchi hurried upstairs, and was back down in less then ten minutes, after a quick shower and changing into more casual clothes. He was not amused by what he found. Daisuke was still sitting next to Lady Funaho, blatantly hitting on her, telling her how beautiful she looked with that robe on. Hiroshi, however, had apparently decided to be a nice guy, and keep Mihoshi company after she had wandered in while Tenchi was upstairs. Daisuke was complimenting Funaho on her looks and choice of clothes, which she seemed to be enjoying, while Hiroshi had reduced Mihoshi into a fit of girlish giggles with tales of Tenchi in elementary school.
" Hey Tenchi, I just had an idea. We can just stay here and watch a movie instead of going out." Hiroshi said quickly. Daisuke got the idea quickly and nodded his agreement.
" Yeah, I mean, it looks like it could rain later, best to stay inside." Daisuke said, pointing out to the cloudless sky.
Tenchi nearly face faulted. He didn't really want his friends hitting on Mihoshi and Funaho, so he needed a good excuse.
" Actually, the VCR's broken. Sorry. Actually, though, there were some things I meant to do today, though. I need to get some things from the store." He said. Hiroshi and Daisuke sighed heavily.
" All right." Daisuke said, and then muttered, " We never have any luck."
" Tenchi keeps all the best girls for himself." Hiroshi added under his breath. Funaho chuckled a bit at their reactions. She really had enjoyed the attention, if only from two high schools kids.
" You boys have a good time." She said, and waved as they sadly got up and moped over to Tenchi. As they reached the door, she called to them and softly blew them a kiss. They turned bright red and started wrestling for each other, as if trying to steal the kiss from one another. Hiroshi claimed victory as Tenchi grabbed them both by the collar and dragged them out.
" Tenchi, your aunt is HOT!" Daisuke said for the fifth time. They were on the train bound for Kurashiki city and all they'd been able to talk about was Funaho and Mihoshi.
" Why'd you have to drag us out?" Hiroshi practically cried, ignoring the looks people on the train were giving him. " I think I was about to score with the blonde! She really likes me! Did you see the way she looked at me, and giggled at everything I said???" Tenchi shook his head in annoyance as Hiroshi went on to declare his undying love for Mihoshi. His leg was feeling a bit better after the shower, so he wasn't limping anymore. He still ached though.
" You weren't about to score. Mihoshi acts like that with everyone." Tenchi replied. Outside the countryside was flashing by.
" I man can dream can't he!" He said, clasping his hands together and looking love struck, tears pouring down his face. " And why do you get all the girls?" Tenchi suddenly felt very self conscious, as everyone on the train stared at him. They continued obliviously.
" Yeah." Daisuke said angrily. " Even if you want to keep Mihoshi to yourself, you can at least let me have your aunt. You can't add your own aunt to your personal harem!" He said, then suddenly looked at Tenchi suspiciously. " You don't want your own aunt do you? This isn't some quasi-Oedipal complex thing, is it?"
" Of course not. She's married!" He replied.
" What!" Daisuke hollered and went into a perfectly executed face fault. Almost the entire train turned to look at him. " But she... she told me her husband married someone else." He pouted. That was true, Tenchi thought, but she didn't mention that multiple marriages were allowed on planet Jurai.
" It doesn't matter what she said, she's still married." Daisuke nearly wept.
" What about Mihoshi?" Hiroshi said.
" She's not married, but I think she likes me." He said, as Hiroshi's eyes stared angrily at him.
" First thing we do in Kurashiki city," Daisuke muttered " is get Tenchi neutered."
" And then we take his women!" Hiroshi added, and they both laughed maniacally.
" You can have them." Tenchi said, under his breath.
They spent most of the early afternoon wandering around the shopping district, discussing what had been going on lately. Hiroshi and Daisuke quickly picked up that talking about Ryoko, Ayeka, and Sasami was a sore point for Tenchi, and tried to find out about it subtly.
" So what was that call you were expecting?" Hiroshi asked, while Daisuke sipped a drink. The first thing they did after getting off the train was grab some lunch at the first fast food shop they could find. Daisuke was just finishing it off.
" It's kind of complicated." Tenchi deflected.
" So, waiting for one of those girls to call you?" Daisuke said. " Don't look surprised. That was the same thing you said last time we asked last time."
" Yeah, Tenchi, you never told us about what happened. You just stalled." Hiroshi added. Tenchi sighed and considered what to tell them. Eventually, he related a slightly modified story about Ryoko using a computer to doctor a photo, making it seem like she and Tenchi had been having sex, and Ayeka running off with Sasami to visit relatives, and Ryoko leaving to stay with her half-sister (which was what Ryo-oh-ki technically was). Hiroshi and Daisuke listened quietly, not even commenting with the sarcastic quips they were known for. When he finished, Hiroshi lightly shook his shoulder.
" That's terrible. I can see why you kicked her out." Hiroshi said.
" Well I didn't really kick her out..." Tenchi muttered, thinking perhaps he should have.
" What I don't get is why she left after one photo. I mean, did she even ask you about it?" Daisuke questioned, then did a jump shot and put his empty cup in the trash bin ten feet away.
" I know. It's really strange. She never acted that emotional before." Something about that last sentence left a bad taste in Tenchi's mouth, like there was something just wrong about it. He shrugged it off, and they got up and headed down the street.
" She's normally so nice and quiet. Everything you could want in a woman." Tenchi said, admitting silently to himself that wasn't exactly true. He knew she couldn't cook very well, but that was forgivable. And she could be a tad possessive...
" Well if she was so perfect, why didn't you just break if off with Ryoko?" Hiroshi asked. Before Tenchi could answer Daisuke had already guessed it.
" Didn't have the balls, did you Tenchi?" He remarked.
" Of course I did!" Tenchi shouted defensively, but his friends looked skeptical. He knew it was hopeless though. His friends had known him to long enough to know he was spineless when it came to girls. He'd never told Ayeka or Ryoko, but he had several brief relationships, and they had all ended badly. The only exception was Hiwa Takashi, and that's because they'd been childhood friends (see manga volume 3). " It's just that - Hey watch it!" He shouted, as a group of teenagers on in-line skates flew by him. One turned around, an American only visiting from Austin, Texas. He wore a pale blue T-shirt, and some khaki shorts.
" You watch it! You should be more careful when you're in our territory!" He said, and then waved at the reader as if he knew he was in a fanfic.
(Authors note: Forgive me, I just found my copy of Jet Grind Radio for DC, and it's all I could think of for my cameo.)
They stared after him, waiting for an apology. After he turned the corner, they continued walking, albeit slightly irritated.
" Man, those graffiti punks are ruining this city." They heard someone say. Meanwhile, Tenchi spotted a pay phone.
" Could you hold on a second, I need to make a call home." He said. The duo waited patiently as Tenchi made a very short call. Hiroshi and Daisuke could tell what he'd learned.
" No luck, huh?" Daisuke asked. Tenchi nodded.
" Actually a little. We know where she's not. There are only three shi... relatives she might be with. Funaho learned that. But she's still not talking to us."
" This must be really serious. I've never seen you this depressed about a girl before." Hiroshi said. Tenchi nodded silently to himself. He had never felt this way about a girl before.
" Ayeka was really special to me." He said. His eyes looked up, as if to see Ayeka. " I remember this one time, we were all on this picnic, and Ayeka went off to find some mushrooms. She found these really poisonous ones, but they didn't look dangerous, she didn't know they were poisonous, but at least she was trying. Ryoko just grabbed the first ones things she saw. She never took the time to think about things. She'd living in Japan long enough to know what good mushrooms should look like, shouldn't she? (That's Manga vol. 3 again)" He walked a few steps, then noticed Hiroshi and Daisuke weren't following him. They were holding on to each other, as if for support.
" That's so sweet." Hiroshi sniffled.
" How romantic!" Daisuke swooned. Tenchi sweat dropped as he noticed that they had drawn a crowd. At least a half dozen people were staring at them.
" Stop it, you guys. You know I'm comfortable with your being gay, but you don't have to advertise it." Tenchi deadpanned, and it was Hiroshi and Daisuke's, along with most of the crowd, turn to sweat drop. Most of the crowd, believing Tenchi, turned around and left the two alone. " I'm going on. You two can catch up with me when you're "finished"." Tenchi turned around and walked off.
" We're not gay." Hiroshi said. The remaining people just shrugged it off and walked away. " Really, we're not." He shouted after them. They found Tenchi a block ahead, window-shopping at an electronics store. He was looking over a Pioneer brand digital camera, wondering if he should buy it or ask Washu to make him one like it. Unfortunately neither seemed a good idea. He didn't have a whole lot of money, and things Washu made seemed to have special options that endangered the planet.
" Real funny Tenchi. Now half the town thinks we're lovers." Daisuke said. Tenchi just smiled ironically at them.
" Then I guess you shouldn't have been hugging then." HE said. They both glared at him. " Besides, only a couple people heard it, and they didn't even know you. How could the whole town know? It's not like you live here." This disarmed them a bit, and they stopped glaring at him. But Hiroshi still punched him hard in the arm.
" With that lovable charm, no wonder the women can't resist you." Daisuke said.
" Yeah, drives girls crazy." Tenchi said, rubbing his arm. But Daisuke was looking past him.
" Oh cool, an arcade. Must be knew" Tenchi and Hiroshi flinched at the word. Tenchi had never really been into video games, with the exception of the original Nintendo system. After his mother died, things like that seemed kind of unimportant. But Hiroshi knew his way around a Street Fighter machine, and Daisuke seemed to get all of his exercise from a Dance Dance revoloution machine, so he knew it was pointless to argue.
An hour later, the constant high-pitched noise was beginning to grate on Tenchi's nerves, but he'd known Daisuke since elementary school, and he knew better then to try and pull him away until he ran out of money. After a few minutes, they Hiroshi and Tenchi realized Daisuke had brought a lot of money, and settled in for the long haul. Right now, Daisuke was taking a couple of young boys to school on a Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 machine.
" Lesson number 5, kid. That move has way to much recovery time to be useful except in combos." He chuckled, as the kid kicked the machine and walked off. " Hey, don't blame the machine."
" You through yet, Daisuke?" Hiroshi asked.
" I've still got one credit left!" He replied.
A loud arcade was not the best place for deep thought, but Tenchi had been doing it anyway. It started when Daisuke started telling them about Andy and Mai, two characters from that game that were in love and that he wished they would get married. Tenchi started thinking about something that had never occurred to him. What if he asked Ayeka to marry him? Ayeka had always wanted it, and now Tenchi began to wonder if he didn't want it too. Without Ryoko around to cause trouble, things would be pretty quiet. He was no longer quite as mad at Ryoko, but he couldn't see himself being with someone who thought so little about other people's feelings. The choice had never been so obvious as now, but he still wasn't sure. He had to ask.
" Do you think I'm too young to get married?" He suddenly said. Hiroshi's head snapped around to stare at him, and Daisuke seemed to flinch at the controls, and receive a critical hit, losing the match. He turned around to look Tenchi in the eye.
" Yes. Yes I do, Tenchi." Hiroshi said. There was no a trace of a joke in his voice.
" Why do you want to get married Tenchi? I mean, even if this girl is so great, you still pretty young. She's got to be pretty young too. I mean, I know you miss her, but are you sure she's everything you think?" Daisuke said.
" I've known her for almost a year now. I know it's what she wants, or what she wanted before all this. It's what I want I don't see why not?" Tenchi said. He sighed and leaned up against an arcade machine. Hiroshi shook his head and crossed his arms.
" If she's everything you say, then she'd wait for you to at least turn eighteen." Hiroshi said. " Assuming of course she hasn't 'rebounded' into someone else by now. Some girls go with the first guy they see after a break up just to spite the ex."
" Why are you complaining, isn't that how you get all your girlfriends?" Tenchi countered harshly. He didn't like Hiroshi saying these things about Ayeka. Maybe he never actually met her, but still...
" No that's Daisuke." He said quickly, ignoring his friends protestant "Hey!".
" Tenchi, how do you know it will work out? You've had a couple of girlfriends before, but nothing this serious. To be honest your not the best judge of character. Remember Yumi?" Hiroshi said. Tenchi frowned at the name. He'd met Yumi Touma when he was twelve. They'd both been young then, but that hadn't stopped her from playing girlfriend to get money out of him.
"Just cause you both want to get married doesn't mean it will work out." Daisuke said. Tenchi silently admitted that he had a point, but he also knew Ayeka loved him. Would that love last forever?
" You're still young, man. You have to get out there, see the world. Have you ever been outside Japan?" Hiroshi said, and Tenchi silently corrected him. He'd been outside Japan, he'd been outside of the planet, and battled immensely powerful enemies like Kagato and Garyu (see Manga, vol 12), although, he had to remind himself, he hadn't exactly spent a whole lot of time out there.
" There's a whole world, go and see it. Then you can get married. If it's true love, then a couple of years wouldn't really matter." Tenchi again knew he had a point, but he also thought that what he had with Ayeka was true love.
" What's the difference between a few days and a few years? I know Ayeka would never betray me."
" Even if she thinks you betrayed her? Like I said, she might have just jumped into the arms of the first guy she met?" Hiroshi said. Tenchi steadfastly trusted Ayeka.
" Even if."
A few hours later, Tenchi hiked down the road to his house. It was about eight PM, and the sun had already set. The exhaustion had hit him full first, and he was shuffling a bit. Tenchi had argued with Hiroshi and Daisuke for about a half hour more, growing more and more convinced that he was right. After a while they just stopped fighting, and told Tenchi to make sure they were invited to the wedding. It went downhill from there. Daisuke noticed the Dance Dance revolution had just opened it up, and dragged them both over to it. For the next hour they occasionally took turns on it, except when someone else came and challenged Daisuke. Tenchi actually enjoyed it a lot, though his grade average was probably about a C (Lowest grade I ever got, ever, Tenchi thought). After an hour Daisuke ran out of money, and they finally managed to drag him out of the arcade. They spent the next couple of hours walking around aimlessly, window-shopping until they decided to go home. They'd split up at the train station, with Tenchi saying he'd walk back.
So Tenchi found himself walking home, sore from Yosho's training, and tired from a day out. As he turned a corner and saw the house, he noticed how empty it seemed. Most of the lights were out except for the living room, and Noboyuki's room. ' Least he's finally home', Tenchi though. Tenchi's legs ached but he managed to make it inside before nearly collapsing on the couch.
" Tough day, lord Tenchi?" A young voice inquired. Tenchi lacked the strength to look up, and almost enough to respond.
" You could say that little Washu." He groaned, as the aches and pains washed over him. " Where's Lady Funaho?"
" In your father's study." She said. She moved from the doorway to the couch and sat down next to Tenchi, sitting with her arms folded behind her head, and swung her feet like a little kid. At first Tenchi didn't understand what she meant, and then he realized she was referring to Noboyuki's library. He never though of his dad's massive collection of girls comics as a 'Study'.
" What's she doing in there?" He asked. Could she have started reading those old romance comics?
" Reading some books on history and geography. We visited the public library after she talked with your father. She visited to look for some books on travel. I humiliated a guest speaker talking to college students on particle physics." Washu said, getting a sadistic gleam in her eye at the last part. " She wanted to see you when you got home. Oh, and your dad ordered a pizza. There's still a bit left, since the only people who like eel on their pizza are your father and grandfather. Blech. Not even Mihoshi would touch that." She giggled. Tenchi nodded, then summoned his little strength to stand up.
" Thanks little Washu. Did she say what it was about?" He asked. She nodded.
" Yes, but I think she wanted to talk to you first." She said. A little surprised, Tenchi made a couple of guesses at what Lady Funaho might want, but couldn't think of anything. He found Lady Funaho at a book-covered desk at the back of his fathers' library. At first he thought they were comics, but as he got closer he noticed they were travel guides. She noticed him before he got within ten feet.
" Hello Lord Tenchi. How was your day?" She asked, looking up with a smile. Tenchi suddenly felt strength return to his legs. He smiled back, and sat down on the other side of the table.
" Tiring, but I had a good time." He said. " I'm sorry about their behavior earlier." Funaho gave him a disarming smile.
" Don't be. I think you'll find most women like being reminded from time to time that they're attractive. Even if it is by young boys." She said. She flipped a couple of pages in the book she was reading, but didn't take her attention away from Tenchi. Tenchi picked up a book, and examined it. It was about the history of Montreal.
" Canada huh? Heard it's a nice place. Never been there though. Planning on going?" He asked. Tenchi could think of any specific reason for Canada.
" Yes. Thought it might be nice if I visited home while I'm here." She said, and Tenchi became even more confused.
" Ah. So, why do you want to go to Canada?" He said.
" Because I was born there." Funaho said. Tenchi stared at her for a moment.
" But I always thought you were from Japan?" He said.
" You never asked, although I can understand why you thought that." She replied. " No, I was born in Northern Canada." She picked up a map and looked at it. " Not entirely sure where though, we weren't big on maps back then."
" Are you serious?" Tenchi asked. He had never thought about where Lady Funaho had come from. He knew she was from Earth, but Jurai culture was so similar to Japanese he had just assumed she was from Japan.
" Yes, Tenchi, I am." She said. She didn't sound annoyed that Tenchi didn't believe her, just answered him calmly. " The Earth is a very big planet, and Japan is very small. The law of probabilities alone suggests that I'm not from Japan. I was an..." she looked through a guide book. " Amerindian seems to be the term they use now, though we called ourselves the Ka hoi. Azusa came with a scouting party to check on some readings they picked up from the ship. My clan was there to meet them." She shrugged. " Certainly looks different then I remember." She said, looking at a picture of Modern day Quebec.
" Your right, I guess." He said, still adjusting. 'I'm Canadian?' He thought. ' That doesn't sound too bad, um... eh.'
" Of course I am." She said with a smile.
" I heard you talked to my father today. Is he part of the reason your going?" Tenchi asked. Funaho gently put her book down.
" A little bit. I asked him today why he was acting strangely whenever I was around. It was pretty much as I thought." She said. Her voice was calm, but still a little sad, like she didn't like thinking about it.
" Why?" Tenchi asked.
" He's uncomfortable because I remind him so much of your mother." She said. " It's not really a big deal. I came to Earth to survey cultural and Technological development, I guess I can do that in Canada too."
" You don't have to go. I'll talk with him." Tenchi said firmly. " I mean, it's silly. You don't even really look like my mom." Funaho gave him a disbelieving smile, and reached over to a small desk near the table and picked up a small picture, and handed it to Tenchi. It was a picture of Achika holding Tenchi as an infant. They were on what appeared to be a picnic, with Mount Kyushu in the background. Tenchi was surprised by how much Lady Funaho really did look like his mother. " Wow. I always thought you looked more like Ayeka."
" Not really. We have the same color hair, but that's only because Yosho liked it better so Ayeka changed it." Tenchi knew that part; Washu had discovered it some time ago. . I hate to say it about my own son, but Yosho always seemed to be a little too attached to me." She said, and it suddenly occurred to Tenchi why grandpa's tree was called 'Funaho'. " Don't tell him, but I was of glad when I found out how independent he had become." She leafed through the book. " Ayeka, though, always looked more Misaki."
" Speaking of Ayeka..." Tenchi said.
" Of course. We know where she probably is. Of the three ships we haven't been able to contact, Jurai Sun, Derra IV, and the Eternity, Jurai Sun and Derra IV are in places likely to cause communication interference. The Eternity was on border patrol. There's no reason they shouldn't answer us, except perhaps there's a Jurain princess aboard ordering them not too." She joked. " We think that's where she is, and we've sent a ship to their last known coordinates. We should know in about a week, if they're there."
" Can she do that? Order a ship to do whatever she wants?" Tenchi asked, and Funaho nodded gravely.
" As long as there are no orders contradicting it from Azusa, me, or Misaki, the captain has to accept orders from a member of the royal family, especially if she said she were on a special mission or somewhat."
It occurred to Tenchi that now might be the time to ask. Since Ayeka might be coming home soon, and Lady Funaho would be leaving after that, he had to ask her.
" Lady Funaho, I think you need to know something. When Ayeka returns I plan on asking her to marry me." He said, and Lady Funaho could only stare at him wide-eyed. For a few moments she couldn't speak.
" I suppose that's between you and Ayeka." She said, regaining her composure and calmness. Tenchi began to realize that her outward calmness might just be a facade. Most of the time he might have no idea what she was really feeling. " But if you're asking my permission, then I'd have to say no." This time it was Tenchi's turn to be surprised. Tenchi had expected Lady Funaho to be supportive of this.
" May I ask why?" He said. " I thought you'd be happy for us."
" I would be, but Tenchi," She said delicately. " I think you're too young." This surprised Tenchi. It was the same thing Hiroshi and Daisuke had said. He'd ignored them because he believed that they just didn't know Ayeka well enough, but Lady Funaho was over seven hundred years old, and one of Ayeka's mothers. She knew Ayeka better probably then he did. And she was hardly stupid. If she thought he was too young... " Especially since your not from Jurai. I met Azusa when I was twenty three, but we didn't marry until I was fifty four. I needed the time to get used to Jurai, and," she added thoughtfully. " For Jurai to get used to me. People were not happy when the king of Jurai choose to marry someone from a barabarian planet like Earth. They might have put up more of a struggle if Misaki and I hadn't been friends. She was very popular on Jurai and made life very uncomfortable for anyone who disliked me." She added quietly " And there were a lot of those people."
" You have a point, I guess. Still, even if we don't get married right away, we could still become engaged." Funaho eyed him for a moment, before asking a very strange question.
" Are you sure the Ayeka you want to marry is the same that left?" She said. Tenchi looked at her queerly.
" What do you mean?" He said.
" People have a way of remembering things to the way they want. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. Perhaps you've grown too fond. "
===== Two days later, 2:14 AM =====
" GO TENCHI GO!" Ayeka shouted. She was dressed in a tight fitting blue and gray cheerleaders outfit, and doing cartwheels while Mihoshi, also in a cheerleader's uniform, was jumping into the air with her pom-poms. Tenchi hit a smash across the ping-pong table that Hiroshi had to dive to return. It hit Tenchi's side of the table and went straight up. As Hiroshi returned, his cheering section, Ryoko and Washu in maroon and white cheerleaders outfits, went wild. Tenchi shivered a bit, in the cold auditorium, and wondered how the entire school had fit in here. He paid no mind about the fact he was in his underwear, and Hiroshi was in a panda outfit. Tenchi, in an amazing display of gymnastics, did a triple forward flip and was able to return the ball. Hiroshi spun around and made a mad dash for it but missed it by a few inches. The crowd went wild.
" Tenchi! Tenchi! Tenchi!" They chanted and cheered. He basked in their love while the crowd noise died down, and the voices all merged into one.
" Tenchi. Tenchi. Wake up, Lord Tenchi." Washu was saying. He felt a hand gently shaking him out of his sleep then a good hard slap.
" owwww." He looked and saw Washu.
" What's going on?" He said, but he could barely understand it himself, since he was so tired.
" They found Ayeka." She said. Tenchi sat straight up. All traces of sleep vanished immediately. Those were the words he'd been dying to hear for weeks. He felt like those were the three best words he'd ever heard. So why didn't Washu look happy? Washu wore an expression of concern and sadness on her face.
" Where is she?" He said. Washu just shook her head.
" It's complicated. You'd better see for yourself, Lord Tenchi." She said. He got up and threw on a T-shirt. Washu held the door and motioned downstairs. He hurried downstairs, still wondering why Washu seemed so depressed. He noticed that Washu's TV was on. Washu had created a TV capable of picking up intergalactic transmissions and TV networks. The girls sometimes watched alien soap opera's on it. It was normally disguised as part of the wall, but now it was displaying an image. There was a tall white building standing out against a skyline crowded with buildings and a blue sky above it. And in the sky was a Jurain battle cruiser, Tenchi could tell by it's sleek look and wood finish. Tenchi felt happy, but he couldn't help but get a bad feeling. Washu had looked so worried, and an announcer on the station was in what sounded like a panicked voice talking in some alien language. It wasn't until an announcer came on and started translating it into Japanese that he realized what was going on.
" This is on Earth?!?" He exclaimed, turning to look at Washu. Washu nodded.
" New York, to be precise. The United Nations building to be exact. The Jurain battle cruiser Eternity showed up about fifty minutes ago, during a meeting of the general assembly. That's every member nation. Immediately afterwards Azaka and Kamidake went down and announced Princess Ayeka of the Jurain Empire would address the UN. She should be down soon." She said. Tenchi stared unbelievably at the screen.
" ... I repeat this is not a joke. An apparent alien spacecraft has appeared over the United Nations building in New York City. Details are sketchy as to what is happening inside." The announcer said. " This feed is coming in live. No one is quite certain... Something appears to be happening." Tenchi knew immediately what was going on. Someone was using a Jurain teleportation system. The entire area seemed to darken, except for one small circular area, which brightened. There were what looked like cherry blossoms falling around it, and seven people appeared. Ayeka stood in the center, in an aquamarine hooded Jurain robe. To her left, stood Sasami in Turquoise and pink robe. A man in what looked like a military uniform stood to her right, and four guards formed a box around them. Azaka and Kamidake appeared a few moments later, and the group headed inside. Tenchi had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was about to happen.
Please R&R.