The characters in this story do not belong to me. I do not, and will not use creations of AIC/ Pioneer for reasons of profit.

Sasami found herself sitting in front of the Masaki shrine overlooking the surrounding forest. The sun was just beginning to dip behind the beckoning horizon, cascading its wonderful shades of orange and pink across the tops of the grisly trees, and placid lake. It was her 11th birthday that evening. Tenchi had said that he wanted to give her something. She had yet to see a party, so she assumed it was just a rouge' to get her out of the house to set up for the festivities. She didn't mind though, this would be the first party she would have seen since she was on Jurai. "I wonder what he got me." Sasami thought as a thousand ideas began zooming through her head.

She saw Tenchi climbing the stairs towards her. In his arms were about 4 fair sized gifts. With a small struggle, he made it to the top of the staircase, and set the presents down next to the little princess. "Pick any one you want except for the one on the bottom." Tenchi said, seeing Sasami's eyes jump to a long, rectangular box at the bottom of the stack of gifts.

She picked off the top gift from the pile. It was wrapped in a golden bow, and purple wrapping paper. On the tag strapped to the side of the box, Tenchi's name was neatly written. She carefully unwrapped the gift, only tearing at the places where the paper was taped. She untied the ribbon and the paper all fell neatly off the box. She folded the wrapping paper delicately and set it next to her. She opened the box and found a deluxe stainless steel cutlery set complete with 7 knives and a sharpening steak. Her arms flew around Tenchi as she thanked him for the gift. "I needed a new set of knives! The ones I have now are getting dull." She said, examining the assortment of carving knives.

Sasami then picked up a heavy, red, box. She once again neatly tore the paper and laid it neatly next to her. She opened the box and discovered six or seven cookbooks, all for different kinds of international dishes, Italian, Chinese American and Thai. She flipped through the pages with her eyes aglow at the vast archives of recipes. "Thank you Tenchi!" she said, not lifting her excited gaze from the book.

"There are two more you know." Tenchi chuckled as he saw Sasami start to descend the stairway back to the house, face buried in the book titled," 101 Desserts from America to Zaire". She turned to look at him and laughed.

"There's nothing more I really want, but thank you anyway Tenchi." Sasami said light heartedly and turned her attention back to the book in her hands.

"Well, at least open this one." Tenchi said handing Sasami the gift he pulled away earlier. Sasami put her books down on the steps as she took Tenchi's gift. It was by far the most beautifully wrapped gift of the four. It was a rectangular box, like the kind of box you put clothes in. it was wrapped in blue, shiny paper, with a glittered, orange ribbon, topped with a white, lace bow. In her excitement, she forgot about preserving the paper and just started tearing at it as if it were a present from her first ever Christmas. When she pulled out the gift she gasped. Her mouth hung open at the sheer sight of what she held. It was a white kimono accented with red and pink rose petals, and sky blue trim, on which her name was customarily stitched in yellow thread.

"So what do you think? I hope I didn't get any colors you don't like." Tenchi said quickly, unsure of Sasami's response.

"Oh no, I love it! These are my favorite colors, and I love the rose petals! How did you get my name on here?" Sasami said so quickly and with so much enthusiasm that it made Tenchi jump with pleasant surprise.

"Well I got a friend of mine in Tokyo to do it for me before I came back for spring break." Tenchi said rubbing the back of his head at the sheer joy being displayed by the young princess.

"You act as though you've never received a kimono before. Surely you had closets full of them back on Jurai?" Tenchi asked Sasami, who began jumping up and down.

"Yes I have owned many kimonos. I've actually started collecting them. I love them so much! And the first gift you gave me was a kimono, and it has all of my favorite colors on it too. Thank you Tenchi." Sasami said with a tear beginning to welt up in her eye. She ran up and hugged Tenchi so hard she was beginning to cut off circulation to his brain.

"You're. welc.ome.. Sasa.mi" Tenchi choked out with a strained voice. She let go of Tenchi abruptly and just looked at him with the most beautiful, kind, gentle smile he had ever seen. Sasami had never looked more innocent than she did then. Her soul seemed to be smiling at him through Sasami, truly coming out for the first time.

"You want to try it on?" Tenchi asked, rubbing his head and pointing to the shrine."

"Yeah! Sure I do! I'll be back in a minute." Sasami said running to the shrine and closing the door with a loud snap. As she took off articles of her clothing, folded them neatly and put them on a chair in the corner. When she was undressed she slipped on the kimono. It was slightly too big and she had to do some adjusting to the belt. She looked at herself in a mirror in the back of the room. She loved the way the white made her hair and eyes look especially vibrant. When she emerged from the shrine, she walked out with the grace of a queen of Jurai. As she walked, she seemed to be floating across the walkway, as though the ground was toxic. She glided to an applauding Tenchi and gave a deep courtesy. Only problem was that she was standing on her kimono. So when she started to lean forward, she lost her balance and teetered towards the stairs. Tenchi ran up and caught her just in time to save her from a very painful roll down the steps back to the house. While she found herself in Tenchi's arms, she felt a kind of warmth. And she began to feel lighthearted, as though she had ascended into a state of unconscious bliss. She quickly snapped out of it when her pink eyes met Tenchi's smile.

"Are you ok Sasami?" Tenchi asked, noticing a slight blush come across her face.

"I'm ok Tenchi." She said, feeling somewhat awkward. She could feel her cheeks and ears starting to get hot.

"Why does my face feel so warm?" Sasami worriedly asked herself, thinking she was coming down with something for she was unaccustomed to blushing, and the strange withdrawn feeling that came with it.

"Let's get back to the house. It's getting late." Tenchi said looking at the sky, which was beginning to turn a deep red.

"Wait a second; I have to get my other clothes." Sasami said, ducking back into the shrine. When she came out with her clothes, Tenchi took them for her and they walked down the stairs back to the house. They heard a dull roar behind them. Steadily it grew louder until Tenchi and Sasami turned to see what was making the tumultuous noise. Soon they saw Yagami zoom overhead. Kiyone was back from her assignment on Saturn tracking down a ring of intergalactic smugglers.

"I should have known she would be here. There's no way Kiyone was going to miss your birthday, not even to bust up an elite smuggling ring." Tenchi said, watching the ship land next to the house.

"Let's hurry so we can say hi to her before she gets to the house. It'll probably be harder to do with everyone else trying to welcome her back at the same time. "Sasami said pulling Tenchi down the stairs at an alarming speed. On several occasions Tenchi almost went careening down the stairs due to lost footing. As they got to the house, they saw Kiyone getting ready to knock on the door.

"Hey Kiyone!" Sasami yelled from 20 feet away. Kiyone turned around, startled at first, but when she saw Sasami's long, blue, ponytails streaming behind the person who had addressed her, she smiled warmly. Sasami arrived in front of her. She panted from being out of breath, jogging over to Kiyone giving her a great big hug. Kiyone returned the affection with her own embrace and rubbing Sasami's hair.

"That's the fastest I've ever seen anyone get down those stairs since Mihoshi thought she saw a giant man-eating bug in the woods." Kiyone said, chuckling to herself. Tenchi staggered over, falling face first into the ground.

"Is he ok?" Kiyone said, trying desperately to hold back a laugh.

"He's just out of shape," Sasami said, playfully waving her finger, and then reaching down to pull his cheek. He responded with a dull *ungh*

"That's a beautiful kimono Sasami." Kiyone gasped while taking the sleeve of Sasami's new kimono.

"Thank you! Tenchi gave it to me." She said, doing a small spin to showcase the kimono's full effect.

"I have no idea how he did it. He got my favorite kind of gift, and all my favorite colors. I wonder if he did any asking around.the girl who Tenchi falls in love with would be very lucky indeed." Sasami said rubbing Tenchi's hair, as he drudgingly got up, and spit out a mouthful of grass. She giggled as he brushed the dirt off his clothes.

"Come with me to the ship. My gift for you is inside." Kiyone said, ushering the quite literally bouncing Sasami, no longer fazed by her previous sprint. She gleefully pulled Tenchi along as he drug his feet to the ship, clutching his head in an apparent ear-splitting headache. She punched in a few buttons on a small keypad on the side of the ship's main airlock.

"4...42...2...9T...K...no that's not right. why do these stupid buttons have to be so ridiculously small?" Kiyone mumbled to herself, as she had to restart several times due to her accidentally pushing multiple keys at the same time. After about six or seven failed attempts The door finally opened with an obedient (Whoosh) they stepped into the ship to see piles upon piles of crates labeled "Useless Souvenirs" strewn from one end of the ship to the other. After a bit of stepping around and a few minor scrapes from the corners of the boxes, Kiyone arrived at the door leading to the cockpit.

"Wait here, I have to get your gift from the cockpit. Oh and sorry about the mess, every time we get an assignment on a different planet, Mihoshi insists on getting something to remind her of it to take back home. It wouldn't make a difference if she got 1 or 2 things, but she has a tendency to go a bit overboard. I keep on telling her she's filling up the ship beyond capacity with this junk, but she won't let me get rid of it." Kiyone said disappearing behind a stack of crates labeled Jupiter Serial Vandal Assg.

"It must hold some emotional value to her." Sasami replied, looking at a picture of Kiyone and Mihoshi.

"I guess so." Kiyone sighed, bemused at some of the crated artifacts. She looked at Sasami through a crack in the boxes, and saw the absolutely wondrous _expression on her face at the junk that surrounded her. She finally found the item she was looking for. She concealed it by putting it behind her back, and walked over to Sasami.

"Alright Sasami, close your eyes and hold out your hand," Kiyone said to the beaming princess. She closed her eyes at least most of the way, and held out her hand expectantly. She felt something cool like metal, and light like a hand full of coins.

"Okay you can open your eyes now." Kiyone said smiling down at her. She slowly opened her eyes, building the suspense of finding out what Kiyone had given her. When she had finally fully opened her eyes she was delighted to find a gold locket shaped like a heart, crested with carbonate compound crystals. The locket was strung on a silver chain, which was twisted to look like a braid. When Sasami opened the locket a beautiful song started to resonate from within it. Her eyes were so wide open with excitement it looked as though she had no eyelids anymore.

"I can see you like it." Kiyone laughed, looking at the expression on Sasami's face.

"I got it as a gift from Saturn. The planetary council insisted upon giving it to me as a token of appreciation. They said it once belonged to the mother of their emperor, or ghafba. They even let me engrave your name on it in saturnic runes." Kiyone said, flipping the locket over revealing the beautiful inscription. A tear escaped Sasami's eye as she looked at it. Kiyone knelt down and gently wiped the tear from her cheek.

"What do you say to taking a picture for that locket of yours?" Kiyone whispered to Sasami she gave a gleeful nod that made her ponytails bounce. Kiyone collected a quick-Developing camera, Sasami, and Tenchi, and went outside. Tenchi stood on the dock, and Sasami stood right in front of him. Kiyone stood about ten feet back and held the camera level to the horizon. Tenchi knelt down on his knees to try and be about Sasami's height. He put his arm around Sasami's shoulder drawing her a bit closer so she'd fit into the picture. She began to feel that same pleasant feeling of strange warmth overcome her as she did when Tenchi caught her on the stairs. Sasami moved closer to Tenchi, her head against his chest, in an almost bracing way.

Her awareness seemed to fade away. She saw Kiyone's mouth move, but didn't hear much of anything. The twittering birds seemed to fall silent. Then she looked up at Tenchi and saw his gentle smile. She felt so wonderful, comfortable and safe in Tenchi's arms. He eventually looked back at the camera, but Sasami's eyes stayed fixated upon Tenchi for a few seconds. Then she turned to face the camera and saw a brilliant flash. Upon seeing the flash from the camera, Sasami was released from the entrancement that had befallen her. Suddenly remembering what exactly was going on; she quickly stood upright, breaking from Tenchi's grip. She briskly walked over to Kiyone, who was fanning the picture to help it develop faster.

Tenchi, Sasami, and Kiyone got back to the house and were showered with birthday greetings and confetti. Whistles blew, noisemakers crackled, and poppers popped. A group of people consisting of Ayeka, Ryoko, Katsuhito, Noboyuki, and Kiyone hoisted Sasami up into the air, and proceeded to carry her to the dining room. Tenchi fell back and followed, feeling that his presence in the situation could only make for interesting situations involving Ryoko. She and Ayeka decided to change their regular attire for the occasion. Ayeka had gotten a ceremonial kimono shipped from Misaki who had made it herself. It was a bit too long and a bit too wide. She kept on insisting that Ayeka was turning into a stick and needed to eat more, and had assumed that she would have taken note.

"If you don't nourish yourself, your figure will never fully develop." She remembered her saying at one point. It was silver with golden trims. Beautiful crown jewels hung from the front of it, and rubies and diamonds were embroidered along the hymns.

"Leave it to Misaki to overdo things." Tenchi chucked to himself. This alone wouldn't bother him, but Ryoko on the other hand had decided to wear her space pirate uniform which slightly "glorified" her features, which made Tenchi doubt his father's ability to suppress his inner hentai. But alas, Noboyuki had tried to, and failed, resisting "touching" Ryoko. By the time his hand was 2 feet away from the side of her thigh; Ryoko had turned around and was charging a particle beam in his face, while still carrying Sasami in one hand.

"If you want to live to see another Doujinshi manga you'll think twice before trying that again you dirty old man." Ryoko said calmly, yet frighteningly stern. Her eyes seemed to glow manically at the little man backing away from her. Tenchi hung his head in shame in his father's perverted belligerence, once again sorry to be right about his father's behavior. They all put Sasami in the chair at the head of the dining room table. Before her sat a great feast; Honey-baked ham, turkey, lobsters, corn, and many other deliciously prepared foods. She sat down and marveled at the amount of food before her eyes, and the wine glass set next to her half full. To her surprise, it smelled like sparkling cider. Everyone sat down except for Ryoko, who remained standing holding her glass in the air.

"Here's a birthday toast to Sasami Jurrai; the little girl who has warmed our hearts with her kindness, her smile, and her cooking. To the sweetest person any of us have been blessed to meet. Happy 11th birthday Sasami." Ryoko said, holding her glass even higher in the air. Everyone stood with their glasses held like Ryoko's and said,

"Happy 11th birthday." Then they all sat down and ate.

"That was beautiful Ryoko." Ayeka said, looking pleasantly surprised with the space pirate who, until 2 minutes ago, she thought to have less depth than a puddle of water, and about as much charisma as an ape.

"That's a lot coming from someone like you. Thanks Ayeka." Ryoko said, giving Ayeka a short glance before diving into a plate of corn-on-the-cob.

This concludes the first portion of my story, Sasami's Heartache. The second piece is being written, but there is much more to go. This story was brought to you by Jamie Fujikata, Master of words. Stay tuned for our next episode, when Tenchi lets Sasami try swordsman training, Washu stumbles onto the picture in Sasami's locket rousing minute suspicions of the relationship between Sasami and Tenchi, and things will explode. Believe me, things will explode. ^_^;;

The characters in this story do not belong to me. I do not, and will not use creations of AIC/ Pioneer for reasons of profit.