Disclaimer: I own neither Tenchi Muyo nor Love Hina they belong to their respective creators. Any and all original characters herein however do belong to me, any wishing to use them should contact the uathor for permission.

Foreword: This story is the third story in the Dreams Continuum series following Midnight on the Last Perfect Day and Dream No More. If you have not read Midnight this might not make a lot of sense to folks. If you would like to read Midnight On the Last Perfect Day click on the author's name above, Midnight can also be found on That said please enjoy the chapter.

Conflictions of the Heart

It wouldn't stop. For two days now his mind wouldn't shut up about it. He'd been able to avoid it for years but now he was forced back into the past. Forced to relive memories he didn't want in the first place. A week ago he could have cheerfully told someone it had all happened to someone else. Now he was back there again. The constant turmoil, the endless bickering and fights, the happiest time in his life. To be there with all five of them again. To be alive again. If only he had it to do over again, to not let his family slip through his grasp. To have stood up to the swordsman and said his love was what she truly needed.

Tenchi stood in the outdoor, padded practice area dubbed the 'Arena' by the students of Tokyo University wooden boken in hand going through the intricate katas of his native Juraian sword style. Tenchi was completely unaware of the motions he was putting his body through or the wide eyed stares of his fellow Kendo club members. He was lost in the swirling past and his body merely reverted to doing what it knew best when he held a sword. Before today Tenchi had been careful to not let on that he was already an accomplished swordsman and seasoned fighter. The awestricken looks of those around him would have been that much more disbelieving if they knew the origins of the style had been born on a world thousands of light years away. However one pair of eyes held a look of confirmation more than awe, the club president had always suspected there was more to the lean, sad eyed young man. Motoko Ayoama saw something she had been searching for a very long time. A challenge.

Unaware of his present surroundings Tenchi continued to try and sort through his tangled thoughts and feelings. Eventually he started from the beginning, but thinking about how it all started meant he had to think about who it began with and that led him straight to the ending, so he settled for something in the middle. His mind drifted back several years to when his training was not nearly as progressed and his grandfather constantly chided on his bad form. On a rather fateful day in a clearing the recently stranded princess had observed the two in practice and found a connection on this faraway world to her home. Eventually the truth of the matter would be unveiled under far more dire circumstances, but on that day Tenchi had felt the first stirrings of his heart.

Ayeka, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Jurai. She was everything a princess should be, regal, graceful, witty. Yet on Earth she had a chance for the first time to be something more than her title. Tenchi came to know her as a friend and confidant. He saw her in her strength and weakness both. He came to understand the real Ayeka and not just the princess. And he loved her for it. She loved him too, he came to realize. Ayeka had stood beside him not matter the odds, willing to fight and even die for him. In the end though her duty had taken her away, back to the mysterious empire her family had ruled over for millennia untold. Tenchi tried to put it from his mind by thinking about another one of the girls but his mind gave him one final thought on the subject; you wouldn't have lost her if you had able to make up your mind.

Shaking away that unwanted revelation Tenchi went back to his katas with renewed vigor. The next memory to merely dance into his flustered thoughts entered with a swirl of sky blue pigtails and shining pink eyes. This was Sasami, Ayeka's younger sister and inheritor of the power of Tsunami Goddess of Jurai and creator of the Space Trees that allowed them to become an empire. Sasami was also the best cook this side of known space. The happy go lucky twelve year old was the little sister Tenchi had never had. Sasami had been the bright spot in Tenchi's life when everything around him was in chaos. There were no complications there, just a simple caring for one another Tenchi still cherished to this day. He wondered what she was like now, for of course when her sister had returned home Sasami had been called away as well. Sometimes late at night Tenchi would lay in his empty little apartment and wonder if there was anyone on Jurai to soothe the young princess of her frequent nightmares. Tenchi hoped so, but at the same time he hoped it wasn't who he thought it was.

The boken snapped as it hit the padded floor unable to withstand Tenchi's anger driven strength. With a snarl Tenchi pushed the idea of the weapons master out of his conscious thoughts. The stinging in his palm brought Tenchi a measure of reality and it was only then he realized he had shattered the practice weapon. Looking around the Arena he noted the many pairs of eyes on him and hoped he could leave without answering too many questions. He picked up the pieces of his boken and moved towards a table on the sidelines that held a water dispenser along with several stacks of towels and disposable cups. Tenchi was just beginning to wipe the sweat from his brow with a towel when the club president approached him.

"Sorry about the Boken," Tenchi said somewhat lamely filling a cup of water as the tall, raven haired woman stopped before him. Tenchi never knew how to act around Motoko Ayoama, the focused, driven young woman was unlike anyone he had ever met. Serious to a fault Tenchi sensed within her an iron will that would accept nothing but the best from herself and those she instructed. Tenchi strongly suspected she knew he had been holding back, and now he had shown her just how much. He doubted he could walk away without some sort of explanation.

"Where did you learn your sword style," Motoko asked, never one to dance around an issue her dangerous glare bore into Tenchi's clouded thoughts and forced out an answer.

"My grandfather taught me," Tenchi said seeing no reason to outright lie, "He's a shrine keeper in Okoyama. The shrine is dedicated to a great Samurai and so all the shrine keepers have been trained as he was. My grandfather one day hopes I'll take over the shrine and so he taught me also."

"Why didn't you tell me when you joined the club," Motoko asked not completely satisfied and angry with her pupil's deception.

"The style has been passed on through the shrine keepers for a generations," Tenchi said trying to think quickly, "I'm not supposed to use it outside the temple grounds. I didn't mean to use it here today but I've had a really bad week and the katas always help me to put my thoughts together."

"I guess that is understandable," Motoko said still frowning, Tenchi took this as his chance to leave. Just as he was turning away Tenchi caught the dangerous glint in her eyes and knew she wasn't done with him. "However it does not excuse the fact that you lied to me and have brought dishonor to your shrine by using it's teaching against the precepts of it's founders. As such you are no longer a student of this club."

"What," Tenchi breathed in disbelief. Not that he had ever really wanted to join the club in the first place, his friend Keitaro had pushed him into it, but to be dismissed so quickly was shocking to Tenchi.

"Do you refute my judgment Masaki Tenchi," Motoko asked with deceptive calm.

"No offense Ms. President but this is only a club," Tenchi countered, "It's not like joining a formal school of swordsmanship."

"This club," Motoko hissed drawing out the word leaning in to glare at Tenchi Eye to eye, "Was founded to emulate a true Kendo School. While we follow the guidelines of any campus activity club we still honor the code of conduct set down by our masters. For all intents and purposes I am head master here, to challenge my judgment is to infringe upon my honor. To infringe upon my honor is to challenge me. Are you challenging me Masaki Tenchi?"

And for once in his life Tenchi lost his temper.

"Your damn right I am," he snapped back. The frustration of everything that had happened recently slammed down onto to Tenchi igniting his anger. The appearance of the old man had sent Tenchi on a downward spiral of memories he didn't want to remember. This past Sunday the former teacher of Matthew Aaron Carson had come looking for his lost student and Tenchi had been forced to recount the tale of the coming of the Guardian and the loss of everything he had come to love. It didn't help the old man is his own way was completely unnerving. There was a history between Ryu Tsutargi and Tenchi's grandfather that went back more than fifty years to when the practioners of Ryu's unique style had been systematically killed or banished. The old man was the last living master of the art, an art that had enabled his student to combat Tenchi on even terms despite Tenchi's Juraian powers.

Two years ago a tall American had come to the Misaki shrine looking for answers as to why he possessed abilities beyond normal comprehension. During his time there Matthew Aaron Carson turned Tenchi's life upside down by falling in love with Ryoko and daring to express that love. Events transpired to bring to life that Matt was a member of exiled Guardians to the Jurai Royal Family who had been cast out for challenging those they had been charged to protect. The climax of all this had ended on Jurai with Matt accepting a position within the royal family reclaiming his ancestors honor. He had also claimed Ryoko for his own. Unable to come to grips with his true feelings and make the decision he had avoided for so long Tenchi returned to Earth alone save Mihoshi and Washu.

The mere presence of Matt's teacher filled Tenchi with jealous loathing and set to boil the anger that had been brewing within for two years. Never before had the consequences of his indecisiveness been so real, or disastrous. Now brought to light, Tenchi was forced to examine his feeling honestly, and he knew what he had had let go of. So here he was plodding along from day to day aimlessly waiting for his life to start again. Instead of five loving alien women this time Tenchi got a dangerous old man who had threatened to kill them all. And just to top things off his Kendo club president had challenged him to a fight.

Tenchi couldn't change the past. He had lost Ayeka to duty, He had lost Sasami to a changing world. He had lost Ryoko to another man. Tenchi couldn't get rid of Ryu Tsutargi, his grandfather had forbidden it. Tenchi was going to be damned though if he couldn't defend himself against an iron fisted club president.

Grabbing a new Boken from the pile of practice gear set off to the side of the matted area Tenchi stormed into the center of the Arena and dropped a hooded glare over the tall, proud woman standing opposite him. She wanted to see what Tenchi was really made of so be it he thought to himself, I stood up to Kagato, Matt, and Serendus I can stand up to her. Muscles taunt, jaw clenched in angry determination Tenchi took up his stance. Feet apart, shoulder turned to make the target smaller, Tenchi held the wooden blade in both hands at hip level. With calm determined anger he awaited his opponent.

Taking her place several meters away Motoko bowed to her opponent, sword at her side as tradition dictated. Looking at her seething opponent already in stance Motoko took her sword in both hands and raised it above her head and twisted her tall, powerful frame into stance. She liked Tenchi, she truly did, but he had crossed the line this day and must face the punishment for his actions. No man could stand before her blade, and if she unleashed her full power none save Keitaro Urashima would likely survive. Trained this man across from might be but in Motoko's mind he lacked a warriors spirit. She was about to find out how wrong she was.

With a sweep of her ki Motoko brought her boken down with such tremendous force it split the air and sent it in a gust of power towards Tenchi. Expecting the fight to be over that quickly Motoko was shocked when she saw Tenchi twist in his stance and bring his handle up to eye level blade pointing downwards. Eyes wide in amazement Motoko watched as the man she had underestimated cut through her attack. She blinked once and almost lost the fight there as Tenchi rose to the balls of his feet and charged in blade low to the ground. In her shock Motoko managed to block the other's sword as it arced upwards making a dull thunk as the wood connected.

The sound pulled Motoko back into the fight but still she found her self on the defensive as Tenchi's rage played out. The blade chopped viciously downward almost forcing Motoko to her knees under the wieght of the blow. Quickly shifting her foot to the side she parried another attack the knifed in at her midsection. She quickly reversed her stance as Tenchi deftly snapped his boken around to cut in at her exposed flank. Again and again Motoko stopped the other wooden blade with her own. Yet she was struggling to keep up with her opponent's relentless attacks. Only once had she been forced to use all of her considerable skills to merely stay in the fight, and that had been against her own sister. Just who was this small statured boy?

And then the fight was over. Distracted by her thoughts Motoko allowed her self to be set up. Blades locked together after yet another of Tenchi's too hard strikes he put his palm to the back side of his blade near the tip and shoved Motoko back. She stumbled back just a step but in that moment of unbalance her grip on her weapon loosened. Tenchi capitalized on her mistake and hit her sword just above her hands wrenching the blade from her grasp. He followed through with the move and rammed his shoulder into hers while locking his foot behind her ankle.

Suddenly Motoko found herself sitting on the padded arena floor looking up along Tenchi's boken into his angry eyes with her own weapon resting a couple meters away. She had to blink several times before her mind registered what had just happened. She had lost. Motoko Aoyama had lost to a man that wasn't Keitaro Urashima. Defeated, not because of illness, embarrassment, or fear but because she had underestimated her opponent. Shamed she turned her eyes from his and studied the matted floor.

For his part Tenchi held his blade before Motoko's wide eyes for several moments his chest heaving with spent anger before dropping the boken to the ground with a clatter. Grabbing his equipment bag he stalked off through the hushed crowd of onlookers. He never bothered to look back at his fallen opponent . If he had he might have glimpsed the single crystalline tear that slid down Motoko's cheek.

Later that night Tenchi lay on his couch a pillow over his face to muffling his angry ramblings. On the coffee table set before the couch several textbooks sat open surrounded by a host of scribbled notes and unfinished assignments. At the corner of the table stood a cup of instant ramen; cold, forgotten, and congealing. He wore a baggy pair of pants and a hole filled old T-shirt scavenged from the pile of clothes on his floor. He had long ago given up any hope of getting anything done.

After returning home from the debacle at the Kendo Club Tenchi had taken a long hot shower and tried to rationalize his actions that afternoon. It had been extremely wrong of him to have taken out his frustrations on Motoko. Worse yet he had humiliated her in front of the entire club. He owed her an apology but was as yet unsure how to word it. He considered calling Keitaro and asking him to help with the phrasing of it, but in the end Tenchi felt she deserved an honest apology. Course he would leave out the part about alien women and traveling across the galaxy.

Lost in his thoughts and the world shut out as best he could with a pillow Tenchi almost didn't hear the light knock at his door. With a muffled curse he flung the pillow across the small room where it landed dejectedly against the television. Groaning Tenchi pulled himself to his feet and slogged towards the door. A glance at his mammoth clock showed Tokyo time at half past nine, for once he ignored Jurain Daily time and the subjacent trail of thoughts that lead to. Griping the handle to the door Tenchi wondered who it could be, half expecting a sopping wet Mihoshi or a despondent Keitaro after yet another fight with his girlfriend Naru. Shock pure and simple took him as he opened the door. His mind reeled and he found himself unable to find a coherent word. Mouth agape he could only stare at her.

"Hello," said his guest, "May I come in."

Author's notes

Wow been a long time since I've visited poor forgotten fic. Not sure what to say here for once so I'll keep it short. The goal of this story is to get Tenchi ready emotionally for the finale to the Dreams Continuum. He needs to come to grips with what occurred in Midnight on the Last Perfect Day and grow into himself as a person. Doing this story as a crossover with Love Hina gives me a nice slew of characters for Tenchi to interact with and me as the author to torture a few of my other favorite anime characters. Thoughts, opinions, rants and raves wanted so please leave a review.

Smack54