Epilogue
One Week Later
The wedding, Katsuhito had decided, was to be a mix of Japanese and Juraian custom. No one was disappointed; the setting could not have been more beautiful. Great paper streamers, designed by Sasami and Mihoshi, hung from the ceiling of the shrine. Ayeka and Sasami looked spectacular, their flowing gowns covering their feet. Kiyone and Mihoshi wore their dress uniforms, and stood stolidly to Tenchi's left. Washu and Ryoko stood to his right; the latter, despite Tenchi's objections, wore a low-cut red evening gown with a side-split that ran nearly halfway up her thigh.
Also present were friends the couple had not seen since their college days. Sakuya's bride's maids, Keiko and Ayami, were both incredibly beautiful, in white gowns that made it look as if they were the ones getting married.
He had been shocked when he saw Umonosuke and Amagasaki for the first time in over two years. The former, being older, had been chosen as best man, the latter the ring bearer.
Juraian weddings, Tenchi discovered, were a celebration of love and sexuality, in a very subtle way. The bride, since she would be technically a princess now, wore a small gold tiara, wreathed with tiny white flowers. Her outfit was not the standard gown and veil of American weddings, but a long, royal-blue gown-like garment with full sleeves and a high neckline. Only her head, hands, and toes were visible. Ryoko, strictly against the rules, had privately informed him that according to Juraian custom, she wore nothing under it. The thought was beginning to distract him.
Tenchi himself had taken out his pony-tail, revealing black hair that fell to the middle of his back.
With everyone present, and now silent, Katsuhito began an incantation, both in Japanese and Juraian, a language which captivated Tenchi with its eerie alien beauty.
The couple had chosen to speak their own vows.
"Sakuya," Tenchi said, gazing in awe at her upturned face, as he slipped the ring onto her finger, "when you were taken away from me two years ago, I felt like my very soul had been ripped from my body. I went through my life blindly, without purpose, just wanting the sun to rise on a new day, so that I would have a new chance to forget the pain.
"But I couldn't forget, Sakuya. Not you. Not the memories we shared, every kiss, every touch..."
She smiled fondly as he spoke the very words she had given him that sad day, in Yugi's lovely false paradise. He was finished now, and it was her turn.
"Tenchi," she said, "before I met you, I was completely lost. I was drifting around an alien world, full of people who claimed to know me, even though I had no idea who they truly were.
"I was originally sent here against my will, to seduce you. But the one who sent me thought that love was a controllable thing, that a human heart could be bound to a single will. That was her greatest mistake. You became my rock, my only life-raft.
"I'm not lost now, and I don't need you as much as I did then. But I want you even more, Tenchi Masaki. I have no desire to live in a world without you; I see no point in it. And you can rest in the knowledge that the horrible separation we went through that day will never happen again, unless death itself claims one of us."
She finished, and Katsuhito began the final incantation, asking them if they would accept one another as husband and wife. Of course, both agreed, and the priest closed the ceremony.
"Now then," he said, "having heard the pledge of eternal love and commitment between you, and in the presence of these witnesses and of the Supreme Creator of the Universe, it is my great honor to acknowledge your union, and to pronounce you one in body and in spirit."
He kissed both bride and groom on the tops of their heads, then stepped back, gesturing from Tenchi to Sakuya.
Tenchi gently wrapped his arms around his wife, and pressed his mouth firmly against hers. Even Ayeka joined the applause which erupted like thunder from the assembled family and guests.
Within a few minutes, they were all gone, having left the newlyweds to be alone.
"Tenchi," she said, blushing deeply,"if...you don't..."
"Shhhh," Tench said, silencing her with a finger on her lips. "Of course I do. Come on."
He led her down to the lake, and they stood together on the sandy shore. Tenchi was down to his boxers, having left his tux folded neatly on the dock. He felt an indescribable emotion as he watched her eyes roam his body.
He stepped in close to her and, reaching behind her, slowly drew down the zipper of her gown. She held her arms against her sides, and it slipped silently to the sand.
Ryoko had not been kidding. Even though he had seen it before, Tenchi could not help but stare in wordless awe at her body. With trembling hands, she pulled down his shorts until they joined her own clothing. Hand in hand, they walked out into the lake until they were treading water. There, she flung her arms and legs around him, and they consummated their marriage over the course of nearly an hour.
It was not the slow, languorous experience of their first night together, but a heart-pounding release of two weeks of pent-up desire, and it left them both breathless and exhausted.
They slept together beneath the great tree, on the island in the middle of the lake, bodies entwined, blissfully stupid grins on their faces, as they dreamed of the future.
-
Five months later
She entered the living room, puffing rapidly, her jogging clothes drenched in sweat, and plopped down on the couch next to Tenchi, hands on her bulging abdomen.
"Better go easy on yourself," Tenchi admonished, turning his attention away from the television. "You need the excercise, but I don't want either of you hurt." He gently poked her navel, indicating the other person in question.
"It was only about two kilometers, there and back," she said, "but my back is killing me! How can just a few extra kilos weigh so much?"
"I don't know," Tenchi said with a strange look. "You know, I never thought about that. You'd have to ask Washu."
She smiled as she thought of her unofficial obstetrician and adopted mother. The latter decision had been made as she was starting to show. The two had been close friends ever since her arrival at the house, and Washu, having taken de facto responsibility for her physical health and general wellbeing, had thought it wise to go ahead and formalize their relationship. With Ryoko as her older sister, and Kiyone as her best friend, she had blended in perfectly. Gone was the shy, fraglile-hearted teenager who had marched slowly into the living room that day, a zillion years ago. In her place was a grown woman who fought, laughed, and shared her emotions and life with people who were now as much her family as they were her husband's.
Tenchi had at first been desperately afraid that there would be a problem with them. But with a pleading look in his eyes, he had fulfilled his obligation, asking her what the fate of their strange little family would be.
As he had expected, the others would have to move out. As much as Sakuya loved, respected, and trusted them, having six other women living in the same house with her husband simply would not do. But the solution she had come up with next surprised him.
"Are you crazy?" he had demanded. "We don't have the money for that!"
"No, but Ayeka does, and your father has plenty, too." she had reminded him. "And we have good credit, so we can take out a loan to pay for the materials. It wouldn't be fair to put everything on them."
Three months, half a dozen contractors, and almost a million yen later, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Washu were living in a comfortable dorm-like house right next door to the Masakis. And Sakuya had made certain the girls knew that they were welcome to come over any time. After all, they were family. She liked to think of them as in-laws.
Presently, she pecked him on the mouth, and stood. "I'm going to go take a nap. Wake me when dinner is ready. Don't worry, I won't eat everything!"
-
Three months later
Tenchi was at school. He was concentrating like mad on the test in front of him; Nagumo had made it no secret that the grading would be particularly merciless on this one, as it was the semester exam.
He nearly had a heart attack when the PA speaker blared Nagumo's name.
"Yes?" Nagumo grunted.
"Is Tenchi Masaki in class?"
"Yes, he is."
"Could you tell him to come to the front office please? And to bring his things."
Nagumo told Tenchi that he was expected to complete the test at home. When the puzzled young man arrived in the office, he was shocked to find Kiyone and a wide-eyed Ayeka waiting for him.
"Girls, what's--"
"Tenchi," Kiyone said sharply. "Come home, now!"
Ayeka had broken every speed limit in the prefecture getting them home, and Tenchi jogged through the front door just in time to here someone scream the word "Push!"
He nearly killed himself in the race to Washu's lab.
"PUSH! Come on, PUSH! Just a few more!" Washu shouted.
"I CANT! I going to split in half!" Sakuya screeched with equal vigor. She was on her back on the exam table, feet in the makeshift stirrups, legs splayed.
"Yes, you can!" Washu encouraged. "Here comes another one, you're almost done!"
Sakuya gave an ear-splitting scream as another contraction gripped her. Tenchi gave her his hand, and she squeezed it until he was sure she would break his fingers. She huffed and puffed, cheeks billowing out as she tried the Lamaz technique. It was not helping.
Her final scream of pain was accompanied by the howl of an irate infant, and whoops of joy from the assembled family as the shreaking, blood-covered child slid out of Sakuya and into Washu's waiting arms. "It's a boy!" she shouted over the din.
She handed Tenchi the traditional scissors, not trusting anyone with her expensive medical lasers, and he cut the cord. Washu cleaned the child over a sink, swathed him in a towel, and placed the newborn in his mother's arms.
Sakuya smiled, sighing with relief as she cradled her son against her chest. "That hurt," she whispered to him. It was half chuckle, half wince. "You're grounded."
Tenchi smiled as he stroked her hair. "I don't think he cares, sweetheart."
-
Sixteen years later
Again and again, Tenchi dodged the wildly flying bokken, just as his grandfather had done while training him. He grunted as his opponent scored a lucky hit on his gut. He parried a long series of swipes, and finally was able to disarm the boy, watching the bokken skitter across the ground. He held the point against the young man's throat.
Ryu Kumashiro held up a hand in submission, and Tenchi eased off. "You did good that time, son. You almost had me." Ryu, of course, was biologically not Tenchi's son. But the adpotion papers made biology irrelevant, and Tenchi loved the boy just the same.
"Don't worry," Ryu said, "I'll get you next time, old man."
"I look forward to it," Tenchi bragged. "But your technique is still a little off. You're too aggressive. Pay more attention to defense, and don't attack until you're sure it safe."
Tenchi reached out his hand, and Ryu shook it firmly.
He was a handsome lad, drawing almost as much female attention as Tenchi had in his own youth. As Tenchi had been told, Ryu looked like his mother. The predominant female genes in him gave him the classic bi-shonen look. His straight coal-black hair--one of Sakuya's features--hung to his shoulders, and a cowl-lick hung stubbornly over one of his blue eyes. He was lean and muscular, and a tough opponent in a fight. The few times Tenchi had seen him get angry, the destruction he was capable of had been frightening.
"Come on, Ryu, let's go get some lunch," Tenchi said waving him over.
As they walked, Tenchi gave him a sly grin. "Anything on your mind?" He knew Ryu was thinking about the female classmate that Tenchi had seen him talking to while picking him up from school.
"Mariko," Ryu answered with a rueful smile. "Her name's Mariko. And God yes, she looks good."
"Just go easy on her," Tenchi advised. "That's how your mom got me."
"Oh, man, come on!" Ryu scoffed.
"No, I'm not bragging," Tenchi said earnestly. "I'm serious, she was after me! She was a little agressive at first, but she grew on me."
"Obviously," Ryu chuckled.
"Hey, easy on the dirty jokes," Tenchi said, lowering his voice irately.
-
When they got back to the house, Sakuya had already prepared lunch. "So, how did it go?" Sakuya asked, winking at Ryu.
"Oh, same old thing," Ryu waved dismissively. "I whipped his butt again." He winked back at her.
"Oooohhhh, Mister Undefeated," Miyako said sarcastically, her smile showing that she was joking.
Tenchi's daughter, his real daughter, was thirteen, and developing the characteristic rebellious streak that went along with her age. Middle school had made her every inch the snooty, prim-and-proper courtesan that Ayeka had been. But when it came down to it, she had a sweetness that ensured she would be there for you when it really counted.
-
Tenchi was sitting up in his bed, reading a novel. Sakuya sat on the opposite edge of the bed in her nightgown, picking the tangles out of her hair with a big comb. "So, he beat you again, huh?"
"Naagghh," Tenchi said. "Not quite. But he came close a few times; he's getting better. He's a good kid, that boy of yours."
"He's your boy, too, you know," she corrected, sliding under the covers next to him
"I know," Tenchi sighed. "But its...somehow it's just not the same as it is with Miyako."
"Miyako came from you, Tenchi." she said quietly. She reached up and brushed a lock of hair from his face. "She's part of your own flesh and blood, and Ryu isn't. But he's still your son, as much as mine. The boy practically worships you. Is that what makes you nervous? Being such a roll model?"
"I guess," Tenchi said, then shook his head. After sixteen years of marriage, he was still as indecisive as ever.
Sakuya reached across him toward the bedside lamp, then stopped. "Oh yeah, speaking of kids..." she dug around in the nightstand drawer, and tossed him an object that looked vaguely like a digital thermometer. But in place of a digital display, it had a piece of white fabric. On the fabric was a wide pink stripe.
Tenchi Masaki seized his wife and drew her toward him in a crushing hug.
THE END.
