Disclaimer – Original cast and universe Not mine. Other stuff Mine.

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Mayhem, Chaos, and General Messes

Epilogue

An Ending of Sorts

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"Ryoko!" Ayeka barked, "Would you please stop watching those infernal broadcasts!"

"But it's just so damned CUTE Princess." The cyan haired girl shot back, deliberately pausing the scene right at the part she knew would bother the other girl the most. "C'mon, you KNOW you want this shot framed for your own personal use."

"I most certainly do not!" Ayeka protested, blushing hotly. "It was embarrassing enough when it happened. I do not need those pictures being shoved in my face to remind me of what happened. Oh Tsunami, just thinking about the rumor that incident is going to cause is enough to give me a migraine." The lavender-haired girl moaned, rubbing her temples

"Oh come on Ayeka, its not that bad." Ryoko laughed; a feral grin on her face.

"Not that bad!" Ayeka replied incredulously. "He licked me across the lips with three dozen major news networks filming live!"

"Hey, at least he didn't try and hump your leg or anything." Ryoko cackled evilly, making the other girl blanch.

"Ryoko... how is it that no matter how sick and depraved I think you are, you always manage to prove to me that you are in fact even worse than I thought?" Ayeka replied after a few seconds, fixing the other girl with a icy glare.

"You just don't have any imagination Princess," Ryoko laughed, enjoying the horrified look on the other girls face just a little too much, "and the stick up your ass certainly ain't helping any."

"Tell me Ryoko," Ayeka started, her eyes flashing with either anger or amusement, "when will you be sufficiently recovered to put up a decent fight? It wouldn't feel right to kill a cripple after all."

"I'll take you on right now Princess," Ryoko snarled back, her chin-length cyan hair practically bristling as she got to her feet and assumed a fighting stance. "I don't need any powers to beat yah to a bloody pulp."

"Both of you stop this right now!" Tenchi commanded as he walked into the room. "You aren't well enough to start your usual fights yet Ryoko, so stop egging Ayeka on."

"But Tenchi!" Ryoko whined...

"No buts!" Tenchi interrupted before the ex-pirate could continue. "And Ayeka, please don't encourage her, its hard enough to get her to rest as it is."

"Very well Tenchi-sama." Ayeka sighed, though she couldn't stop herself from smirking a little in triumph. "I suppose one of us will have to be the adult here, though I would appreciate it greatly if you could stop her from playing those damnable broadcasts around me."

"I'll see what I can do." Tenchi replied, rolling his eyes a bit.

"Very well then," Ayeka replied, bowing politely, "I suppose I shall get back to finding Keith-san then." With that and another warm smile in Tenchi's direction she left the room, only pausing briefly at the door to stick her tongue out at Ryoko's sulking figure.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be." Tenchi muttered to himself as Ayeka disappeared a turn in the corridor. The glare that met him when he looked back in to the room was... fierce... to put it mildly.

"And here I thought guys were supposed to stand up for their girlfriends." Ryoko growled. "Of course you haven't even told anyone that we're together yet so I guess I should expect too much from you." She added coldly.

"Sorry Ryoko-chan." Tenchi sighed apologetically. "But you DID start this one... and I thought we agreed to give it a little time before we told everyone."

"Two weeks ago!" Ryoko snapped back. "And only because we were going to let her and Keith get a bit closer first."

"Which hasn't happened," Tenchi pointed out. "They've been too busy to spend time with each other... despite all of you girl's best efforts."

"Yeah yeah," Ryoko sighed, most of the fire going out of her eyes, "Ayeka's been doing damage control over that," she started pointing vaguely in the direction of the TV... which was still displaying Ayeka's shocked face as Keith licked her across the lips while in his wolf-form... "and Keith's been too damned busy with the media and Erin."

"And it hasn't helped that they've both been trying very hard to convince Ayeka's father that they're both just friends." Tenchi added with a shrug. "So let's just give it a little bit longer."

"Fine..." Ryoko pouted, "but just a little longer."

"Thank you Ryoko-chan." Tenchi smiled, walking over to give the girl a hug now that he figured it was safe.

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They were still hours away from being back home... there wasn't a chance in hell that he could actually pick out Sol from all the other stars yet... but it didn't mean he couldn't try. Hence the reason why he had spent the last hour or so sprawled out face-down on the floor of the observation lounge looking at the passing stars.

"It's just a planet yah know." Erin pointed out with a sigh that sounded almost comically adult coming out of her ten-year old form. "You've been on hundreds."

"Only a couple dozen actually, never saw a point in running blindly around the galaxy looking for Earth when I could do most of the research from pretty much anyplace with a computer. Besides, you can't tell me you're not the least bit interested in meeting the rest of your family Erin-chan." Keith replied with a slight grin, looking over his shoulder to where his daughter was sprawled across one of observation deck's plush couches, one of Mihoshi's manga in her hand.

"...I guess..." she mumbled back, her long ears drooping a bit.

"So what's bugging you then?" Keith asked quietly, one hand absentmindedly brushing through his shaggy mop of brown hair as he turned to face her entirely.

"It's just..." the dark haired girl started hesitantly, "I'm just nervous I guess. I mean... they've never even seen an alien before... and I can't really pass for human without the holo-emitter Washu gave me... and my accent still sounds really weird when I speak English... and..."

"They're going to love you." Keith interrupted, smiling as he stood up and sat down on the couch beside his newfound daughter. "You're family, nothing else is going to matter to them... besides, after they find out that I'm a werewolf and a former member of the galaxy's most wanted, the fact that you're only half human shouldn't be all that big a deal." He added jokingly, tweaking Erin's nose lightly.

"If you say so..." Erin sighed, sounding less than convinced, but looking noticeably less nervous.

"There you two are." Ayeka exclaimed with a soft smile as she entered the lounge.

"What' up Ayeka-chan?" Keith asked, ruffling Erin's hair as he stood to greet the young princess.

"Washu wanted to tell me that she was able to confirm your parents address," the young princess informed him, her smile widening a bit when the shaggy boy's own smile turned into a full-blown excited grin. "They apparently have not moved from the house they were in when you were taken."

"Figured they wouldn't," Keith responded, "they love that old place too much. It's nice to know that I was right though."

"She also wanted me to ask you if you would like to come with us to Tenchi's home, or simply have us take you straight to your parent's home."

"Actually... I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

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It had originally been built as a farmhouse in the mid 1800's, though the left wing of the house had been added on much later, around 1920 or so. It was vaguely colonial in style, but the builders had been much more concerned with practicality than looks. That said, it had stood the test of time well, and if not for its style it could have passed for brand new. The yard was large by the standards of the area, but still was under an acre, more modern houses having long encroached on it as the local area turned from farm country to suburbs.

The front yard was home to three very large and very old trees, and more could bee seen in the back yard, and around each tree was a sizable and well cared for flower garden. In addition, the houses wide porch was bordered by flowering bushes and shrubberies... not that any of them were blooming this late in the year.

As she walked up the old wooden steps Ayeka could hear music drifting from one of the second story windows... a piano piece of some kind, but nothing she recognized unsurprisingly. Taking a deep breath to steady herself as she reached the heavy oak door, she knocked, and was surprised to realize that the music she had been hearing wasn't a recording as it cut off with a brief series of missed notes.

Not terribly long after that the door opened to reveal a woman who looked would have looked to be forty at most if not for the deep worry lines at the corners of her eyes and the streaks of gray in her flaming red hair. The woman just barely avoided being rail-thing, and looked somewhat frail, but one look at her bright green eyes was more than enough to convince Ayeka that she was a much stronger person than her appearance implied.

"Can I help you miss?" the elder woman asked, her voice soft and with a slight lilt to it.

"Hello Mrs. O'Connor." Ayeka began formally, bowing slightly despite Keith's instructions not to, "My name is Ayeka, and I'm a friend of your son."

"Michael's friend?" the red head woman asked, her brow furrowing slightly as she tried to remember if her youngest child had ever mentioned the name Ayeka.

"No, Keith's." Ayeka corrected, "He wanted me to give you a message..."

End

(To be continued in the, as of yet, unnamed sequel.)