Yukio panted heavily as he raced toward Ryoko's spaceship. The thing was a hunk of junk and probably wouldn't get them to Earth, but right now it was their best hope for survival.

If he could only find Ame and Sakito, then they could go. Lady Achika and Little Hana were on the ship and he prayed to Tsunami they would remain there.

Yukio had found himself praying to Tsunami a lot recently, which was odd as he found his faith in her failing. The patron goddess of Jurai had been noticeably absent of late.

As he rounded a corner, Yukio heard the Orikan vernacular and cursed. The bastards were everywhere and he would never get to the ship at this rate.

"Prince Yu-!"

"Shh!" Yukio rolled his eyes as he clamped his hand over Ame's mouth in an effort not to bring the Orikan Imperial Force down on their heads. Leaning close to his newly and hurriedly trained guard he whispered instructions. "Listen, we have to get to the ship. Lady Achika and Little Hana are there, right? Do you have any idea where Sakito is?" Ame shook his head and Yukio bit his lip. His main objective was to get Lady Achika out of harm's way, but leaving Sakito to whatever fate the Orikan's gave him was morally wrong. And Yukio was nothing if not moral. He would not get on the ship unless he had done everything in his currently limited power to find the redhead.

"I think Sakito distracted a few of them so Lady Achika and Hana could escape." Ame gulped and pushed a few loose strands of dark green hair out of his eyes. "I...maybe he flew down a street or something...I think. I think I saw him do that."

"Ok, ok." Yukio took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "I want you to go to the ship. If you see Sakito, drag him with you."

"B-but..." Ame bit his tongue as three Orikan soldiers ran past their hiding place. "But what about...?"

"I'm gonna try a North route. There's a couple of streets that'll take me back to the hotel's back lot and I'll meet up with you guys there." Yukio took a deep breath. "I know you want to come with me, but I really need you to protect Lady Achika and Hana. They're women and they need a man to protect them." He gave a false smile when he said that. It was a trick his mother had often used to get the Jurain nobility to go along with her; pretend to be a weak women to unite the men. Condescending, but useful.

Ame took the bait. "Ye-yes, Prince Yukio." He nodded and took off running. Yukio heaved a sigh of relief before running in the opposite direction. He found himself well protected from Orikans, as most of the neighborhood had become aware of their presence and was trying to get as far away from the place as possible. Yukio squirmed his way between the crowd and ducked his head every time he saw the stark uniforms of the Orikan army. He was dressed much in the same way everyone else was and blended in well with the pandemonium.

When that pandemonium included a wild blast decimating a building and scattering debris every where he was just as surprised and terrified as the people around him. When he looked up in the direction of the blast his eyes widened and he drew in his breath.

Sakito was hovering in midair and if the look on his face was any indication, Ryoko's son was indeed following in her bloody footsteps.

Elsewhere....

Lady Achika Masaki held the little girl tightly, as though trying to shield her from the hell that was outside. When the small battle had broken out, the guards had left the hotel remains and the ship unguarded, making it easy for the two girls to sneak in and hide. Achika pressed her charge's face into her shoulder and whispered snippets of meaningless reassurance, wincing every time she remembered her grandfather stepping in front of her. The closet was small and Achika was close to tears when she heard the bang of a door being opened. Mentally reciting a prayer to Buddha, she closed her eyes and waited.

When Ame opened the closet door she did not hold back, but burst out crying.

"Lady...!"

"I was so scared!" She slapped him. "Merciful Buddha, I thought you were...I thought you were one of them!" She sank to the floor, whimpering. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry." He looked away and for a moment was sure he was about to cry himself. "Prince Yukio told me to come back and protect you." He gave the staff a glance, painfully aware that his skill with it wasn't much. "He told me to wait, he's trying to find Sakito." He walked over to the closet and picked up Hana from where she was still hidden among Ryoko's dresses. "You okay?" She nodded and clung to him, sucking her thumb and burying her face in his shirt.

Ame held her close for a moment, the only sound being Achika's sobs, before he suggested they raid the ship's supply store for something to eat.

Outside....

Yukio shouted out Sakito's name but the screams of the crowd drowned out his voice. Mentally cursing he ran up the hill of rubble that had been the building.

"Sakito! What the hell are you doing?"

The redhead gave a twisted little grin. "Don't the Jurain's understand vengeance? Orikan's killed my parents, I kill Orikans. Simple."

"Don't..." Yukio struggled to keep his balance. "Don't be stupid! We're getting away, the girls and Ame are back at the ship, you're upset, this isn't smart."

Sakito didn't answer, instead he lowered himself down until he was eye level with Yukio. "I'm gonna draw them away from the ship, that might give you guys a chance to get out. I suggest you take it." He was gone before Yukio had a chance to respond.

At the ship....

Ame heaved a sigh of relief when Prince Yukio barged through the door, giving orders that they leave immediately. His relief was fleeting when he realized Sakito was not with the prince, who refused to answer any questions.

"Lay a course for the Mulonin System and send a message to the leader of Moroko informing him of our arrival. I want us out of Jurain space in twenty minutes. Understand?"

"Yes Sir." Ame nodded and put Hana down before heading toward the control room.

Finding herself alone, Hana went over to the window and whimpered as she saw the buildings crumbling. It reminded her of when her neighborhood had been attacked. The little girl's blue-green eyes widened suddenly and she dashed out of the ship and into the street. She closed the door quietly, correctly guessing that if anyone knew she was going out, they would stop her.

"Mama! Mama!" She ran after the woman. It had to be Mama! Mama had dark blond hair too, just like Hana's own! "Mama!" She reached out and grabbed the woman's vest. "Mama!"

"Get off of me you little brat!" The woman turned around and slapped her away. "Get lost!"

Hana slumped to the ground. Her face was stinging where the woman had slapped her and she felt like crying. It hadn't been Mama.

Mama was dead.

Hana crawled out of the street and under a small cave mad by fallen debris from a building. Drawing her knees up to her chin she closed her eyes.

Twenty minutes later Yukio slammed his fist into a wall, causing Achika to gasp as she heard his knuckles crack. They couldn't figure out how Hana had left the ship without their knowing it, but Ame still silently blamed himself.

Several days later, when most of the citizens of Jurai's main city had been evacuated and thousands of Orikan troops lay rotting in the dust, Sakito slumped against a pile of rubble and caught his breath. A flying piece of debris had struck against his forehead and a trickle of blood ran down his face. He didn't bother wiping it away, but took a deep breath and shakily stood up.

He immediately fell back down and started cursing. Leaning his head back against the rubble he wiped his eyes and started sobbing. He was interrupted when he felt a light touch on his knee. He opened an eye, expecting to see some highly trained Orikan soldier pointing a weapon at him. He saw Hana.

"You...you're the kid....Mom found you." She nodded. Her face was dirty and tear stained and the dress she wore was no longer pink, but dusty and ripped. She was almost as sorry looking as he was.

If there had been anybody left in the capital city of Jurai, they might have seen a scrawny, red haired, ragged, teenage boy carrying an equally ragged little girl out of the city limits. Some light years away another teenage boy landed on a neutral planet and began pleading for assistance while on Earth two old men set about raising the offspring of the patron goddess of Jurai.

Author's notes- Woot! I can't decide if this is a prologue or an epilogue. Whatever.

First off, I'd like to thank all the reviewers. You are all inspiring, wonderful people who I will remember once I take over Jupiter. Thank you for the support and for kindly overlooking my mistakes and typos. It's been a long time since I watched the Tenchi series, and my memory is not the best.

There is a sequel planned. It will focus mainly on the 'second generation' but there will be flashbacks as well as an explanation of what happened to Washu.

The chapter title is from Ace of Base's song 'Edge of Heaven'.

Thank you all, and good night.