Chapter 2-Rain

A day had passed since Ryoko's burial ceremony. Mihoshi, sitting upright on the couch staring into the wall instead of lying on her side and asleep, was still feeling the grief. Her eyes wandered around the room, stopping at an empty shelf inside a small alcove near where the family ate. She'd cleared it off recently, moving the objects to other parts of the house. It seemed like it was in the center of the house, and easily accessed by anyone. However, this was before Ryoko had passed away in her mother's arms, and nobody knew what to do with the unused horizontal space. But at this very moment, Mihoshi was struck with a rare thought.

"A memorial." She whispered to herself. Raising a finger to her mouth, she chewed on it while she thought. A picture of Ryoko would be great, along with a couple of her favorite things. Like more pictures, of her and her family. Maybe a place to burn incense, or a vase to put her favorite flowers. The other family members would have more ideas, but how would she ask them? Would this help them with their pain, or just make it worse?

The blonde was jerked out of her thoughts slightly when she heard a sigh as another person entered the living room. Her aquamarine blue eyes shifted to look over at the sad body of a princess, mutely going to do the laundry. Again. For the fifteenth time since Ryoko's death. I guess it's her way of taking her mind off of things. Thought Mihoshi, raising an eyebrow during her few minutes of extreme (for her) pure intelligence. Well, she seems like a person who'd help with this sort of thing. I guess maybe I could run my idea by her, see how well she takes it. It would be nice to easily see Ryoko around again, even just in pictures.

"Hey, Ayeka," Mihoshi started, seeing Ayeka's dark red eyes flit over to her as her voice broke into the silence the house had worn a lot recently. "I was thinking, you know, for over there-" She gestured to the alcove and its empty shelf. "We could put a, you know, memorial for Ryoko." The police officer sat very still, waiting for a reaction from the First Princess of the Jurai Royal Family.

Very slowly, and full of small little twitches, Ayeka's mouth moved into a small smile. "Yes, Mihoshi. That's a great idea. Tsunami knows I've done enough laundry already." Mihoshi sighed. Ayeka's voice was genuine, and not sarcastic at all.

"So, like pictures..."

"And incense..."

"And a place to offer food!" Both women's heads turned to the newcomer. The smaller princess was standing of the doorway of the kitchen, staring at them with eyes that depicted recent tears and hands clenched tightly around a ladle. She too had been incessantly doing a household activity like her sister, but in her case, it was cooking and not laundry.

Ayeka smiled softly. "That is a wonderful idea Sasami. Because even though Ryoko has left us physically, mentally, she will always be a part of our family and watch over us." She looked to Mihoshi, and then back to her sister. "We need to remember that. Mihoshi's idea will probably help."

"Let's see," Mihoshi began. "What pictures do we have?"

"Well, there's the one of her and all of us when the cherry blossoms were in bloom. Those were her favorite flowers." Ayeka noted. She glanced out the windows. "Isn't there a copy of that picture in the shrine office, along with others? I'm sure my half-brother would be willing to give us some for the memorial, along with any spare frames."

"May I go with Ryo-ohki, sister? You and Mihoshi can start to set it up here!" Sasami asked eagerly.

"Why not? We'll go through her things and photo albums here." Ayeka agreed, smiling to her sister. This idea really caused her, along with Sasami and Mihoshi, to feel better.

Sasami then raced out the door, wanting to help build the memorial. She raced up the long flight of stone steps to the shrine embedded into the mountainside, sometimes taking two at a time. Her breath was heavy as she stopped at the top of the stairway, pausing to look down at the house. Sasami's mind turned back to Ryoko, and how she could've just flown up those stairs in a minute or less, and the small goddess-infused princess tried her hardest not to cry for her lost friend.

"Miya..." Comforted Ryo-ohki. Sasami looked up.

"You're strong, Ryo-ohki. Stronger than me." She muttered, leaving the cabbit to figure out her words' meaning. With that, she spun on her heel, and walked over to the shrine office where Katsuhito was at that moment. After knocking, the old man came to the door, and nodded as he saw his younger half-sister.

"Ah, Sasami. How might I be of service to you today?" His hoarse voice spoke.

Sasami tried her best to smile. "Please, grandfather, do you have any pictures of Ryoko or frames to put them in? Ayeka, Mihoshi, and me are making a memor...thing to remember her by, and we were wondering if you had something to put in it." Her voice asked, threatening to break at various spots even though her tone was that of extreme enthusiasm.

The priest smiled, and walked over to his desk. "Come in, and I think I have some pictures for you." Sasami walked in, slipping out of her shoes to walk over to him.

"Ah!" He smiled as he pulled out a framed picture of the family surrounded by cherry blossoms. "How is this one? I also have one just of Ryoko, here you are." He handed the two framed pictures to Sasami, who looked at them sadly. "Little one, you must remember that Ryoko was never one to be sad. How would she like it if everybody were sad over her? I think Ryo-ohki realizes that." Sasami looked up at Katsuhito's ancient face as he stroked the spaceship's fur, smiled, and nodded.

"Yeah. She wouldn't want us to be sad for her."

"She'd want you to move on, not forgetting, but not living in the past. That was her final lesson for her to teach to all of us, and we must remember." Sasami nodded at his final words as she and the cabbit left.

Next to the shrine, Sasami looked up to see that the sky had clouded over. "Maybe it'll rain today. I'd better get down to the house soon." She started to walk quickly down the stone steps, careful not to trip and fall.

Plop. The blue-haired princess stopped, and looked down. A small drop of water had landed on the step directly below her. Plop, plop, plop. More drops fell, one hitting her hand.

Soon a downpour had started, Sasami caught in the middle of the stairs. She shivered, and then started to run down the steps, praying she wouldn't fall.

"Mew..."

"Huh?" The princess stopped running, Ryo-ohki and the pictures in her arms. Her blue-haired head turned to her left, where she saw something rustle in the small, woodland flora. "I-is somebody there?"

"Meow?" A questioning cry broke into the air, covered up immediately by the sound of falling raindrops. Sasami walked closer to the source of the sound, and cried out as she saw the pitiful creature below her.

A small grey kitten shivered under a leaf, its fur soaked and matted. Its eyes were closed, and its limbs and tail were tucked under it, save its front left leg, whose paw was a soft orange. Other than the discolored paw, the entire body was a cloudy silver-grey color. It cried out again, its head turning to the direction of the princess, before sneezing.

"Oh no! It could be sick!" Quickly adding the baby cat to her armful of things and beings, Sasami started to sprint down the steps once more, even more determined to make it to the house quickly.

As she reached the end of them, she checked the shivering kitten, who had snuggled into Sasami's right arm. Ryo-ohki had jumped out of Sasami's grasp, and made a mad dash for and through the door, reaching the other side on the second try (as usual, she had bumped her head on the door trying to phase through).

"M-me-ew..." Sasami looked at the kitten, who she had sworn just chuckled at the other catlike being. But all the princess saw was the cold, wet bundle of shivering fur in her arms.

The princess shook her head, took up her run again, and the as she reached the door, it was opened by her sister. The soaked Sasami walked in, and placed the pictures on the floor, forgetting about them temporarily.

"Sasami, what-oh my, what is that you have there?" The elder princess inquired. "A kitten? It looks cold. Bring it into the bathroom, we can warm it up there." Sasami followed obediently, her sister taking charge.

Once inside, Ayeka pulled out a clean, dry towel, and took the kitten from Sasami, wrapping it gently in the towel. She then walked out of the bathroom to make sure the heat was on in the house, and ordered Sasami to bring the bundle into the living room. The younger princess, holding the kitten-in-a-towel close to her, while Ayeka went into the kitchen.

Inside the room that normally housed the other princess, Ayeka smiled to herself. Before Sasami was born, she was alone quite often, as the Yosho of that age would be busy with sword lessons and political lectures, leaving Ayeka all alone in the castle. She remembered when she would find small animals around the palace grounds, generally no bigger than the cat that was just brought in, and would play with or care for them. The palace staff thought it was adorable, and taught her everything she needed to know about caring for small, generally woodland or grassland mammals, some similar to the kitten that had so suddenly been brought into the extended Masaki family care. However, when Ayeka grew older, she began her intensive royal studies, and had no time for fostering sick animals, and her adorable little hobby ended.

"Let's see...I remember reading an article in the newspaper about caring for kittens, and they cannot drink cow's milk. However, eggs are okay, and maybe..." Ayeka muttered to herself as she gathered kitten-friendly foods. Mixing up a formula as she took out a long forgotten baby bottle from Taro's visit, she glanced back to the family room. Sasami was drying out the kitten's wet fur, and talking to it softly. Ayeka grinned a little as she brought out the baby bottle, along with a bowl of water and some food that would be compatible with the cat's digestive system.

"...And then Mihoshi crashed down her ship into the water! The wave was so big, and Tenchi was able to still stand after it went down over him and Seiryo. But Seiryo was just floating around in the water with this goofy...oh, hi Ayeka!" Sasami smiled, turning her head to her sister. "I was just telling her about when Tenchi and Seiryo fought, and how funny it was!"

Ayeka giggled softly, and then looked at her sister with a hint of confusion. "Sasami, did you say...her?"

"Yeah! I asked Ryo-ohki if she was a girl, and she nodded." Ryo-ohki mewed in agreement.

"How cute." Ayeka patted Ryo-ohki, and then focused her attention on the tray she had set down on the table. "Now, I have this," Her hand gestured to the bottle. "For the kitten to drink. I made sure it wouldn't hurt her." Ayeka picked it up, and held it to the kitten's mouth. After sniffing it a few times, the kitten started to sip at the milk inside.

"Wow! What'cha got there?" Ayeka and Sasami turned their heads to see Mihoshi, who had just come in with a framed picture of Ryoko, her intent to put it in the growing (and forgotten, partly) memorial. Absentmindedly placing it in the alcove, she walked over to where the others were to look at what the princesses were fussing over. "Aw...that's so cute! What is it, a kitten?"

"Uh-huh!" Sasami smiled, patting the kitten, who was still gulping down the milk, on her drying fur. "Ayeka, what are we going to name her? Because we can't have a kitty without a name!"

"Did you find her in the rain? Because Ame, 'rain', is pretty." Mihoshi mused, peering out the window to the downpour.

Ayeka nodded. "Ame it is then." Ame paused in her sucking of the bottle to meow.

Author's note: Um, sorry for the fact that I haven't updated in awhile. There isn't really much of an excuse for this one, since I think I have the first three chapters written already. I just need to proofread and upload them. So yeah. I hope you enjoyed this! I'll try to get Chapter 3 up earlier! Really!

Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! does not belong to me. It belongs to Masaki Kajishima.