Title: When Destiny Calls

Rating: What do you think? PG-13 of course! (Ryoko getting pissed as hell
and language)

Author: AMI MIZUNO1

Pairing: Tenchi/Ayeka

A/N: Just a short little fanficcy that I decided to do in honor of Valentines Day.

Summary: Just a little love story. This is my first ever Tenchi Muyo fanfic. Also, this will be a one-part story. If I get enough reviews, I might do a sequel.

Tenchi was just walking down the steps of the Masaki shrine back home. He was there because his grandfather wanted him to become a better well-trained Juraian prince and master of the shrine. That was when he heard it. Laughter. He wondered where it was coming from and so he ran back down the steps. Halfway through though he tripped and fell on his face.

"Ouch. Why'd Grandfather have to make the temple up so high? Ow, that really hurts." When he arrived back at the house, he found Sasami cooking and Ayeka and Ryoko arguing as usual.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko shouted, "I missed you so much! Where's the sword, darling?" Ryoko asked inquisitively.

"I gave it back to Ayeka remember?" he said.

"Lord Tenchi, welcome home." Ayeka said as she bowed slightly. She came on less desperate than Ryoko, and he was almost surprised.

"Good evening Lady Ayeka." He glanced around.

"Where's Washu at?" he asked. Ayeka was the first one to answer him.

"She's in her room as always." Ayeka said. He just stood there dumbfounded for a minute before announcing that he should not have asked that question since it was so stupid.

"SISTER!" Sasami shouted from the kitchen.

"Can you get the rice going for me? And has anyone seen Ryo-oh-ki? She's gone missing." The little girl said.

"Sure. I do not recall seeing Ryo-oh-ki today either. Sorry Sasami." The purple-haired woman said. A few more minutes passed by and then you could hear soft crying.

"I had best check up on her." Ayeka told Tenchi and Ryoko.

As she approached the kitchen, she could also hear a knife chopping food up. 'I guess she got over whatever it was that was bothering her' she thought as she walked back to the family room. She was looking around because it seemed somewhat quite in the room and she had a feeling that something bad had happened. Sure enough, Tenchi and Ryoko were nowhere to be found. She than heard Washu's evil laugh coming from the storage room.

"Bwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are mine at last!" Ayeka just rolled her eyes as she opened the door. Washu's latest experiment jumped out of her outstretched hands and went out of the door. (Inner Ayeka: *picks up heavy mallet*) Ayeka transformed into her fighting stance and blasted her weapon at Washu.

"Gaahhh! What in kami-sama's name did you do that for? Geez, Ayeka." Washu said as she clenched her bruised hand.

"That's for not keeping better control over your bloody experiments, and this is for not updating your stories or "data" for about almost a year!" Ayeka shouted at the infamous mad-scientist.

"Well then, excuse me! I have been very extremely busy working on the story by hand instead of typing the bloody thingy up!" she hollered back at me.

"Hurry up and get it posted than so that I will leave you alone, understand?" Ayeka screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Fine. Just quit bugging the crap out of me." The pink-haired mad-scientist snapped.

Meanwhile Tenchi is in hiding with Ryoko Ryoko had seized the opportunity given to her to snatch Tenchi and teleport them out of the house. She knew that Ayeka would suspect her, and she knew just how to handle it, or so she thought.

"Tenchi dearest," Ryoko began, "why the heck did you give her the sword? You know that it contains my energy source, right?" the woman said as sweetly as she could. (A/N: snorts. We all know how "sweet" Ryoko can be.)

Tenchi just stayed where he was as sweet and innocent looking when his mother, Lady Achika, passed away. That same curious glint crept into his eyes and he began to have flashbacks of his childhood. (Don't worry I'm not going to get into them.)

"I gave Lady Ayeka back the Sword of the Lighthawk Wings because it is rightfully her brothers'. She was only letting me guard it until her brother Yosho was found. Remember Ryoko?" Tenchi asked inquisitively. Ryoko stared at him blankly and gradually her memory kicked into gear.

She slammed her fist into her hand as she remembered. "Oh that's right. She wanted you to keep guard over it until the old geezer was found. Damn! I could have sworn that I killed him seven hundred years ago though. I wonder what gives." Ryoko said angrily.

Tenchi sweatdropped. "It's no wonder why the Galaxy Police Headquarters and Royal Family was after you all these years." He murmured but Ryoko was able to catch every single word that he said and decided to kill the next thing that crossed her path.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" The evil, no-good, lousy, crummy, slutty space pirate screamed. (Nice vocabulary huh?) Tenchi looked at her and just rolled his eyes. Whatever Ryoko. I really have to get going." Tenchi said as he transformed into Royal mode and abandoned her.

"You will pay for this Tenchi Masaki!" she shouted, "I know where you live! I will get my revenge on you and your stupid Grandfather!" Tenchi was within earshot of everything that she said and just sighed. 'Why me?' he thought. He than thought of Ayeka and how she was nothing like Ryoko at all. She did not even seem as desperate to get married and start a family as Ryoko. 'I cannot wait to get back home. I hope that Ayeka will not be very mad at me for just leaving like that. I know that she is just a houseguest here, but still...I do feel guilty about leaving her all alone.' He thought.

Ayeka kept going back to the kitchen to check up on Sasami once in a while to make sure that she did not decide to cut herself as she was cutting up the food. Ayeka looked at the sky and began to worry. It was already pitch black out, and Lord Tenchi was nowhere to be seen within the house. Lord Katsuhito had managed to sneak up behind her and told her to stop worrying and come to the table. This startled her because she had not sensed his presence. When her brother spoke, she stepped back and raised her hand to slap someone, but immediately lowered it before she struck her only and older brother. Katsuhito just stood there ready to defend himself from his younger sister if need to. She looked up at him and then immediately turned her eyes to the ground.

"Gomen Brother Yosho. I did not mean to do that. It is just, well, you just startled me was all, and..." she said. She saw that he was amusing himself and got frustrated.

"BROTHER!" she hollered. "Will you please tell me what is so funny?" he pointed to a spot behind her and told her to look at the object. She than saw the bush move and began to fret. When the creature emerged from the bush, she was so surprised that hadn't her brother been around and if she were not of Juraian blood, she would have sworn.

"Lord Tenchi. Thank goodness you are all right." Ayeka said, "That is strange. I thought that Ryoko would have been with you," she said. 'Oh man. I was hoping that she would not have mentioned Ryoko's name.' He put his hand behind his head and just scratched his head.

"Umm...I sort of deserted her by herself. She made me go with her. I tried to back out of it I swear. She would have taken the remaining gems on the sword though. I did not want that to happen. Please try and understand Lady Ayeka, you too Grandfather." The young man said as he put his hands together and bowed deeply. Inwardly, though, he was kicking himself. 'Darn it. If it were not for that, that monster, I would be able to have a normal life.'

Both Ayeka and Katsuhito were surprised by this, and nodded in agreement. Then they each bowed to him even though he was not paying much attention. When they were through, the search party that Ayeka's younger sister had sent out had finally located three of the missing members. The search party that was sent out consisted of Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Nobuyuki. Mihoshi, being a blonde as usual asked the most stupid question at a really bad time.

"So where is Ryoko at?" the perky blonde asked. Everyone sweatdropped and Ayeka turned to Kiyone.

"Kiyone," Ayeka began, "would you miss your baka partner over here if I had my guardians attack her with their laser beams?" she asked. Everyone looked at Ayeka because it is not everyday that you get to hear a member of royalty use words such as baka (stupid/stupid person).

She looked around and saw a bunch of blank faces. "What?" she said, "Members of the Jurai Royal Family can to use words like baka you know." Everyone gaped at her demeanor towards the topic at hand. Mihoshi, forgotten by the Princess' speech, flailed her arms about trying to get their attention.

"Umm...hello! What about my question? Anyone? Kiyone? Ayeka? Lord Katsuhito? Tenchi? Why are you all ignoring me?" she wailed.

The fabled question as to Ryoko's whereabouts were left unanswered as the rest of them slowly walked past her and back into the house. Katsuhito was the last one to leave, and he placed a hand on Mihoshi's shoulder.

"Do not worry so much about Ryoko. She will be fine. Now then, let's get inside before someone here gets sick. Okay?" his words seemed to calm her down, because when they arrived, she was back to being her old self again.

Sasami brought out the food and made everyone sit down at the table. Dinner passed uneventfully and there was no word from Ryoko whatsoever. Ayeka considered it a gift from the gods, but Mihoshi thought that Ryoko would be cold and lonely. Since Mihoshi was the only one who felt that way, she was put on patrol to keep a watch out for any sign of Ryoko. Tenchi was worried, but not about Ryoko.

No, he was more worried about a certain Juraian Princess. Surely Ayeka would miss Jurai if she stayed here any longer, but he could not live another day without her. He had devised a plan, with little help from Washu and Katsuhito. He would accompany the princesses and his grandfather to the Juraian Palace where he would than meet the King of Jurai. He would pull out a small, velvet box and open it up. Tenchi had the whole thing memorized, and the best part was that he was going to propose to Ayeka on Valentine's Day.

'Hopefully' he thought 'the Juraian King will not interfere with my plans to marry Ayeka. I just cannot live without knowing that she is safe and sound.' Tenchi mused to himself. He had a goofy grin on his face. Only one more day until they left for Jurai and Ayeka had absolutely no idea about it. She just thought that they were going to another hot spring resort, or at least that is what she is supposed to be thinking. What would she say when he asked THE question? He had no idea, and was left only to guess at what her reaction might be. Katsuhito told him not to worry and that everything had been all ready taken care of. So then why was he so worried about the upcoming proposal? 'What if she is only doing this for convince so that she would not be forced to marry one of her father's pre-selected suitors?' he thought.

Tenchi had also asked that question to Lord Katsuhito, who replied that all throughout the time that he has known Ayeka, even before the battle with Ryoko, she has never done anything that she would not keep a promise to. He also said that this marriage she would do because she wanted to marry him for love, not to get away from the suitors.

'Well,' Tenchi thought 'this is the day that we leave for Jurai. Ryoko is not going to come with thank god.' The shrine-master-in-training thought.

Katsuhito had made arrangements for the four of them. The Juraian King just nodded his head as his son told him of their arrival. The King was just worried that this impact would mean that Katsuhito would want to claim his rightful place as the next Juraian king, even though he refused the title when he left to fight Ryoko in outer space.

Katsuhito asked Ayeka if she wanted to join them to a trip back home. Of course Ayeka tried to get out of it by saying that Father would try to make her wed one of her many suitors. Katsuhito, on the other hand, said that it would be a good experience and that she would be able to see her mother and Lady Funaho. She obliged and agreed to go back to Jurai for a visit.

'Why did I even agree to this?' Ayeka thought as she and the others that were going back boarded Ryo-oh-ki. Once everyone was aboard, Katsuhito told Sasami to take command of the ship. She happily obliged and they took off.

Later in their journey, they encountered another space ship that declared war on them when they refused to identify themselves. The moment that happened, Ayeka pressed the communication button and her face popped up on the opponent's screen. The man instantly ceased his attack on them and bowed when she told him her title, position, and destination.

"Princess Ayeka, please forgive my action. I never should have declared war on you. However, the reason I declared war was because the ship is Ryo-oh- ki, am I not correct?" the man said.

"No, you are right. This is the reincarnation of Ryo-oh-ki. My ship, Ryo- oh, was destroyed completely and this was the only way that we could get back to Jurai." Ayeka said.

"Oh I see. Can I accompany you back to the palace?"

"Let me find out first." She said as she turned to her brother who than took over. "Sure of course you can accompany us back to the Juraian Palace." Katsuhito replied.

"Who are you?" the Galaxy Police Officer asked Katsuhito.

"I am the former Crown Prince of Jurai, Yosho." He said.

"Your Excellency. Forgive me. I had no idea that you were also aboard this ship."

"You are forgiven. Now, we must get to the Palace immediately." Katsuhito said.

After some more traveling in outer space they came to the Juraian Palace and Yosho asked that they be taken to the throne room. The guards had questioned him because he was an old man and not as young as he was when he left. He replied and his response shocked the royal guards.

"Please go on in. We will inform the King right away." One of the guards said. Once they were inside the throne room, Katsuhito gave Tenchi the signal. Tenchi than got on one knee before the Princess Ayeka and pulled out the box containing the ring. The King was nowhere to be seen, which was good in a way. The queen and Lady Funaho however, were in the room. They both had a feeling that this day would come. When the King was sent the message, he was in the middle of a very important meeting, so he sent the queen and Ayeka and Sasami's mother to take care of the matter. The two women stood beside the throne and watched the scene before them. Tenchi got onto one knee and opened the box. He faced Ayeka and asked the question that we all want to hear someday.

"Ayeka, will you marry me?" Tenchi said.

She looked as if she thought this were the end of the universe. Her eyes were brimming with tears and she ran into his arms.

"Yes, yes of course I will marry you Lord Tenchi!" she exclaimed. Just then, the King walked in and anger took him over.

"Just what do you think that you are doing?!" a very pissed off king asked his eldest daughter.

"What do you think I am doing, Father?" she said. This really outraged the King of Jurai.

"What I know is that you are not going to marry him." He said accusingly pointing at Tenchi. Katsuhito, who up until now has been quiet, finally spoke up.

"What those two do is really none of your business anymore. Why don't you just tell the suitors that you have selected for Ayeka that you have another daughter? Sasami might be young, but she is an excellent cook." Katsuhito said. The king looked him up and down.

"Just whom do you think you are to tell me what to do?" he snarled.

"I am someone that you should know very well." Katsuhito remarked.

"I am positive that I would have remembered you if I ever met you before." The king remarked. This old man was getting on his bad side, and someone or something was going to perish for all eternity.

"Brother, Father please. Stop this nonsense now!" yelled Ayeka. The king looked at Ayeka and then at Katsuhito.

"Unless I am mistaken, Ayeka, you only called Yosho "Brother". Am I missing something here?" he asked.

"What Ayeka says is true. I am her missing brother. I landed on Earth and eventually that planet became my home. Tenchi here is my grandson. Do you all remember Achika? She was also of the House of Jurai and also Tenchi's mother." He explained to the confused king, queen, and Lady Funaho.

"Now I am beginning to remember. You are the one that left to defeat Ryoko, but afterwards you came to me to ask permission to stay on that distant planet Earth." Lord Katsuhito just stood there with his arms folded. He was chuckling slightly at the King's behavior. Usually the King was more cold- hearted and did not usually remember faces of the past unless he had a reason to despise, hate, or loathe that particular person.

"Yes. That is I. I already told Ayeka why I decided to stay on Earth so do not waste your breath. You will let the two of them marry will you not?" Katsuhito inquired. He could not bear to see his dear sister upset like this so he made the arrangements for Tenchi and Ayeka to wed.

"Fine. I will let them marry." The Juraian King said.

The next day would be Valentine's Day and the day of their wedding. The palace was decorated in the couple's favorite colors. The bouquet of flowers that Ayeka would be carrying were already pre-picked, as was the color of her wedding gown.

The color was a light purplish-lavender color that complemented her hair and eyes. She looked absolutely stunning and breath taking in the gown.

The queen and Lady Funaho were in fact, very excited about the whole marriage ceremony because they both knew that Tenchi and Ayeka were perfect for each other. They had taken the liberty of finding a couple of women to play Ayeka's bridesmaids and Sasami was the junior bridesmaid. The two older women had a hard time finding a child to be the flower girl and the ring bearer, but one of their friends offered their services to the women and their children were the flower girl and ring bearer.

"Everything is all set where I am. What about you Funaho?" Masaki said.

"Everything is ready on my side too. Let's go see if Ayeka needs any help." Funaho replied. The two went to the changing room that Ayeka was in and knocked. They got a "come in" and went in to help. When they saw her, they gasped. It was not that she did not look good in the dress, it was how lovely she looked.

"Oh my goodness. Look at you Ayeka!" exclaimed her mother. The other nodded her head.

"You look very lovely in that gown that Katsuhito picked out for you to wear dear." Lady Funaho stated.

"Brother Yosho picked this out? It does not seem like he would do something like this. Then again, he has been goofing off more." She just shrugged.

"Yes. Yosho picked out all of the gowns for everyone. Sasami! Come out here. Let us see what you look like." Mother said. There came a muffled voice and the next minute Sasami appeared wearing a sky blue strapless dress. It was the same style as her older sister's, but less showy.

The couple said their vows and kissed deeply. The King of Jurai looked at his son-in-law and realized that he might have been wrong in trying to separate the couple all of those years ago. He wanted to know why his daughter had given up marrying any of the nobles that he brought home for her to wed. He had made it so that she would have suitors left and right, but it seemed as if she knew what it was she wanted in a man and this Tenchi guy was whom she has been searching for all of these years. As much as he did not like to admit it, he knew that letting those two marry was the best decision he has ever made.

The wedding was magnificent and everyone, including the King, tried their best to make it a night that they would all remember. Tenchi and Ayeka decided to go back to Okayama and remain there instead of moving back to Jurai. Okayama, what would Ryoko think when she learned that Ayeka and Tenchi were married and bound to each other for all eternity? Surely she would go ballistic. What about Nobuyuki, should he not have been taken to Jurai as well?

He was after all, Ayeka's father-in-law. Then came the question of where should they go for their honeymoon, but neither really paid much attention to the rest of the evening. The married couple got lost in each other after their kiss. They stayed on Jurai for a few more days before deciding to go back to Okayama.

When they arrived back in Okayama, they were holding each other in a tight embrace and brushing their lips on each other. A very ticked off Ryoko came up and tried to break them up, but Ayeka and Tenchi showed off their wedding rings and told Ryoko to get out of here, she did not belong anymore. Nobuyuki was excited that he finally had a daughter-in-law and went to pray to his beloved wife Achika. Lord Katsuhito had instructed Washu, Kiyone, and Mihoshi not to say anything to Ryoko about the couple's engagement, and they kept their word.

"All right you three. Here is your two hundred yen a piece." The shrine master said. Ryoko saw him give the three of them money and thought he was going to give her some as well.

"Hey! What about me? Don't I get some money too?" she complained.

"No. I am sorry Ryoko. These three kept a very important promise to me. That is why they got two hundred yen. If I remember correctly, you were not a part of that deal. Maybe you should try to remember things a bit more clearly next time, okay?" Katsuhito said.

"What the hell do you mean by that old man?! No one ever pulls anything over me! Never!" the mad woman screamed.

"Calm down Ryoko" Kiyone began, "we told him we would not tell you anything about the plans he devised." She finished. Mihoshi kept staring at the money that was given to her until...

"Yay! The newest manga volume that I wanted so badly costs two hundred yen! I am so happy!" the blonde police detective exclaimed. Everyone just looked at how bizarre she was acting. "How much sake has Mihoshi had?" one of the members of the Masaki family asked.

"To my knowledge she had five cups last night and another three cups this morning." Nobuyuki commented.

"She could have had more though. I left the sake on the table."

Everyone just stood around. Everyone that was besides the two lovebirds off to one side. No one had even noticed that Tenchi and Ayeka were goofing off. They just thought that those two were trying to spite Ryoko in to thinking that they were serious about each other. No one save for Katsuhito, Sasami, the GP officers, and lone mad scientist knew the reason behind their actions. No one was going to tell Ryoko that they knew those two had eloped unless Ayeka and/or Tenchi told them that they could tell her.

All in all, the two of them lived for a very long time thanks to the power of Jurai. Ryoko rotted away to nothing and became captive of Kagato again. Mihoshi and Kiyone eventually went their separate ways, though Mihoshi did not want to separate and leave her long-time partner. Nobuyuki died from a heart attack and Yosho died five years after their marriage. Washu is still living with them on a hired basis. If they need something repaired or if something happened to the space-time continuum, she was there to fix it. Several years later, Ayeka and Sasami's father came back to tell Sasami that it was her turn to get married, and like her sister, she refused. She was happy with her boyfriend in Tokyo and would not have left for planet Jurai even if her title were at stake.

Owari!

A/N: Phew. I finally got through typing this story. It is about two in the morning here. When I was typing up the last part of this story, I could have sworn that my hands would fall off. I hope that you all liked this story and will continue to read my other ones. Thanks so much for the reviews and I am working on another Tenchi one and I have an idea for a good Utena fanfiction story. I would tell you about it here, but what would be the purpose in that? See you all later. Ja ne. ~Ami Mizuno