Invasion

by Dreamr

An epic length continuation of the OAV manga storyline, after part 2.

26. A Slight Imposition

INVASION, Volume 3, Part 10: A Slight Imposition.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please don't change them.

FOREWORD: My sincere apologies for the incredible delay on getting out this final chapter of Volume 3.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 08 June 2007

BEGIN.

Until recently, Seto Kamiki had enjoyed simply cruising around the galaxy putting the fear of Jurai into the various space-pirate guilds. It was simple yet rewarding work for her. But things change, and even the devil-princess of Jurai had to adapt.

Reclining on a couch on the bridge of her ship, Mikagami, Seto was having a rather boring conversation with Funaho and Misaki via long-distance secure teleconference on how to drum up more public and political support for increased military production in response to the growing border incursions when an urgent chiming broke into the conversation on Seto's end giving her an excuse to step out of the conversation for a few moments.

"I'll take that." Seto announced into the open air.

The large holographic window suspended in the air before Seto for the conversation with Funaho and Misaki shrank into the background and was was replaced by another. A small red indicator in the lower right corner of the new window indicated that the channel was on a specially-coded channel that only a very few people even knew existed.

"Hello?"

A burst of static assaulted Seto's eardrums before she heard a man's voice through the interference.

"-ady Seto! Than- dness!"

Despite the poor quality of the audio, the man's voice was easily recognizable as her old friend, Yotsuga Kazuki.

"Yotsuga? Is that you? What's all that noise?"

"We -- attack! -- too many to stop! The GP -- best, but..."

For a moment, the audio cleared a bit, allowing Seto to hear what was really going on. It wasn't static, but the sounds of combat that were interfering with the sound.

Yotsuga Kazuki, former Galaxy Police Detective and recently-elected governor of the unaligned but strategically and economically important Freeport Space Colony, was the father of the current King of Jurai. His wife, Amame, was once a princess of the Masaki branch of the Jurai royal family until she left the royal family to marry the man she had fallen in love with eight hundred years ago. Now they lived on that free space colony. Seto often visited her friends to say hello and assure them that their son was doing well even if Azusa rarely called or paid them any visits.

Unfortunately for Freeport, this incident put Seto in a rather difficult position. Jurai had no jurisdiction in free or unaligned space. The Galaxy Police had an agreement with Freeport and as such kept a strong presence on the colony due to its importance. But the local garrison was more of a police force than a military one, and would not be able to withstand a full-scale assault for an extended period of time. Reinforcements would require time to arrive. Although, that didn't mean she could just ignore a legitimate distress call.

A sudden explosion blasted Seto's ears. Much to her dismay, the communication was audio only. She had no idea how dire the situation might be.

"Yotsuga! Are you all right?"

There was a brief delay, then the man answered.

"Yes, I- still here."

"Here they come!" An anonymous voice yelling in the background came through the connection.

The noise level grew considerably as the sounds of heavy assault weapons followed.

"They're bouncing off!" Someone yelled.

"Oh, God, we're gonna die!" Another person screamed.

"Impossible!" Yotuga shouted. "That person's dead! These must just be copies!"

"Yotsuga!" Seto shouted into the communications link. "What's going on there? I have no video!"

"Clones! There must be a hundred of them!"

"Clones? What do you mean?" Seto demanded as paniced screams began to filter throught he noises of combat.

"I can't -elieve --. -- Eternal Ultra Cla-s A -- Ka--" Yotsuga's reply was cut-off short by another much closer explosion.

"Yotsuga!"

There was no reply.

"Respond!"

There was a brief sound of something cracking and breaking, then the line went dead.

Seto looked around the bridge of her ship in shock. It took a lot to rattle her. But the apparent loss of Freeport Colony and two very good friends that she had thought were safely ensconced in a free area under the watchful eye of both Jurai and the Galaxy Police was a real shock.

With a start, Seto realized that at some point during the transmission, she had stood up. Sitting down with a thump, Lady Seto Kamiki noticed that one of her charges, Minaho, was very carefully looking away from everyone. Seto always brought Minaho with her when she visited Yotsuga and Amame. Besides being family, they were also good friends. Speaking of family...

Directing her attention inwards, Seto instructed her tree, Mikagami, to establish a direct mental connection with Azusa through Kirito. The avenue of tree-speak, as the royal fmaily liked to call it, was the only communications channel secure enough for this news. Jurai's dealings with Freeport Colony were totally unofficial and always through either Yotsuga or Amame. Certain parties both inside and outside of the colony would happily expose the relationship for a variety of reasons, most of them detrimental to Jurai's public reputation and policies.

"Azusa-chan."

The response from the king was fairly quick.

"What is so important that it cannot be relayed through normal communications?"

The other reason for requesting this kind of link was the incidental information that it revealed, such as the participants' physical location. Seto already knew that Azusa was currently touring some of the empire's military posts on the outer fringes of it's territory. But now, through the link, she knew he was relatively close to the endangered space station. Azusa always prefered a down-and-dirty inspection rather than an unrevealing public relations spectacle.

"Freeeport Colony is under heavy attack. They require immediate assistance."

This time the response was not so quick in coming. It was likely that Azusa was also checking on the locations of other tree-ships. The king's response was very easy to predict. The love that he held for his parents was very strong, even if he was somewhat neglectful of his filial duties. Luckily for Freeport, Azusa Masaki possessed the second most powerful ship in the galaxy, and he was the closest Jurai ship to the colony.

"I'm on my way." Azusa severed the connection so abruptly that Seto actually recoiled in surprise.

"How rude." For a moment she considered sending him a message berating him for his lack of manners. But there were more important things to deal with. There were others who needed to be informed. Link number two would be with Lady Funaho.

Azusa knew precisely where Freeport Colony was located. He had lived there with his parents from birth until the age of eight. It was his original home. But more importantly, his parents still lived there.

Only a a brief thought directed towards his tree was required for Kirito to literally snatch up Azusa from his tour of the military facility and transport him to the bridge of his ship. He gave no warnings or cautions as Kirito powered-up. Anyone who got in the way was was just out of luck.

Several smaller ships scrambled to get out of the way as Azusa broke several traffic laws and regulations by blasting away from the station at full-power without heed for any of the vessels who had right-of-way. The drivers of the smaller craft panicked and veered out of his way while directing profound curses at the massive battleship and it's captain. Picking up speed, Azusa commanded the ship to jump directly into the vicinity of Freeport without regard for the recommended safety distances for that mode of travel. The transition from normal-space to hyper-space and back again took only moments.

As soon as Kirito emerged from hyper-space, Azusa started barking out orders to the terminal operators that would normally have accompanied him into battle. When no one responded, Azusa recalled that he had left in such a hurry that he had left his retinue behind. Luckily for him, Kirito was not only powerful, but intelligent. The tree spontaneously overlayed tactical information on the spacial display panels that covered the inside of the core unit. There were a great deal of red boxes swarming around the battered station, and the few remaining blue boxes were flashing quickly, indicating that they were in danger of imminent destruction.

Looking at the number and type of enemy ships, Azusa saw that they were indeed the same forces that have been probing and intruding into Jurai space for the last couple of years. Although there were a great many of them, with the power of a first-generation royal tree at his disposal, Azusa felt confident that Kirito could win this battle without suffering any significant damage.

As he was using this brief moment to decide on a course of action, a 10-centimeter red sphere came floating through the air towards Azusa. This small sphere was Kirito's terminal unit; a small interface that most humanoids much prefered to interact with rather than an inanimate tree. It slowed as it approached what Kirito considered a polite distance.

"There is an emergency communication." The floating sphere spoke in a polite male voice.

"Audio." Azusa growled.

"Jurai ship!" A panicked male voice screamed at him. "Please help us! We're dying down here!"

"Calm yourself!" The king commanded. "With whom do I speak?"

"Ka-Katsumi Nagami." The terrified person managed.

"Mister Nagami, what is the situation on the station?"

"We've been boarded! There's clone-fighters everywhere! Please, sir! Help us!"

"What of the governor and the GP forces?"

"Dead! They're all dead! The clones killed them all! In the name of Tsunami, save us!"

Azusa's right eyebrow twitched to hear the report of his father's demise. He tried to remind himself that the source of the report, a frightened station resident, might not be the most reliable source.

Trying to put aside his personal concerns as best he could for the time being, Azusa considered the situation. The man's report indicated that the station itself was already over-run. But the emergency communication proved that there were still innocent people alive within. The situation required that he remove the enemy presence from the station's interior, while also preventing further intrusions. He would have to engage the enemy at close-quarters while his ship dealt with the enemy presence outside. Azusa wouldn't have it any other way. But there was still something that the warriors' code, and his honor, required him to do.

"Intership communications." Azusa commanded. "All frequencies."

"All channels are open." Kirito's terminal unit informed Azusa as he cleared his throat.

"Attention attacking forces! Behold Azusa Masaki Jurai, owner of the first generation ship Kirito, King of the Holy Empire of Jurai, and commander of all of its military might!"

Wild cheers immediately erupted from the emergency comm-link that he had intentionally left open.

"Surrender at once or be destroyed!"

There was no audio response from the opposing vessels. But they did suddenly begin wheeling through space on an apparent intercept course. It seemed he had his answer.

"So be it. Kirito! Engage at your discretion. Transport me to the source of the emergency transmission."

Reaching up to his neck, Azusa pinched the small red gem at his collar. The robes and mantle of the King of Jurai dissolved in a wave of white light and were instantaneously replaced by his personal suit of Jurai battle armor. Suitably garbed for taking revenge on those who were attacking his family and home, the angry man drew his sword.

It was the last day of exams before the end of the fall semester. In a gesture of support, Tenchi and Aeka, with Hiroshi slung on her back, had gone to meet Ryoko as she exited her exam on Quantum Mechanics. Once they were home, they intended to plan what to do for their first wedding anniversary.

As they entered the place they called home, an unusual combination of voices greeted them. Following the voices into the guest room, they found Headmaster Washu having tea with the King of Jurai. Needless to say, Aeka felt quite surprised to see her father lounging around the Galaxy Academy.

"Father!"

Azusa turned in his chair to verify that it was indeed his daughter who has entered.

"Ah. Aeka. Good." Azusa stood up before continuing so that he would appear more of an authority figure. His next commands would require it. "Pack your things. We're leaving."

For a moment, Aeka just stood there staring at her father in shock. Then she remembered she was Tenchi's wife, and that her father could no longer command her to leave him.

"I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid that won't be possible. I am Lord Tenchi's wife. If you require my presence on Jurai, you will have to ask him."

Azusa seemed so unconcerned at her reply, that Aeka began to wonder if he was planning something excessive.

"Very well. I anticipated you would be unwilling to leave. Therefore I have already arranged quarters for your husband and son in the palace. Tenchi, you will prepare your family for departure to Jurai, immediately."

"Uh..." Tenchi stuttered a bit as he tried to come up with a sufficiently polite way to refuse the requirement. "We were kind of planning on coming back for classes next semester."

"I have already had your names removed from the Academy's rosters."

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock.

Ryoko jumped in front of the king when she heard that all her hard work had suddenly been erased at the whim of someone she was not especially fond of. In fact, she was absolutely livid.

"Who the Hell do you think you are!? I busted my ass for the last two years, and you just come and make it all disappear!?"

Azusa stared down his nose at the angry young lady.

"As far as I'm concerned, you may stay behind. However, since Aeka will not return without Tenchi and Hiroshi, and Tenchi will most likely not go without you, I had no choice."

"You could'a just left us alone!"

"No, I could not!"

Seeing that Ryoko confrontational approach was not getting them anywhere, Aeka decided to simply ask what was going on.

"Father, I assume there is a good reason for all of this."

Washu, who had been sitting quietly in an over-stuffed chair sipping green tea, finally made her presence known.

"Maybe you should tell them what's going on?"

"Has something happened?" Looking around, it suddenly occured to Aeka that Misaki and Funaho were not around. "Are Mother or Lady Funaho not well?"

"They are fine. However..." Contemplating how best to break the news to his elder daughter, Azusa folded his arms over his chest.

Impatient as always, Ryoko decided a little prompting was in order.

"Come on , come on, I ain't got all day."

His eyes narrowing with barely restrained anger, Azusa's response was direct, to the point, and very rude.

"Silence, demon-beast!"

The King's voice was so fiery that Ryoko actually recoiled in shock.

"Gee-man! What's with you?"

"Shush!" Aeka hissed at both of them, hoping that Hiroshi had somehow managed to sleep though the raised voices. "Hiroshi is sleeping!"

"He thinks the Academy defenses aren't good enough." Washu mumbled from within her cup of tea. "Don't mind the fact that the defense net around here is two hundred years newer than Jurai's."

Washu's statement directed Aeka's attention to some very unpleasant places. She had been hearing some very strange rumors about the Jurai Empire lately.

"Father, I've been hearing strange rumors lately. Some people think Jurai is going to war."

A low grumble slowly rolling from deep within the King's throat was his only reply. For the first time in centuries, Azusa felt uncertain of himself. He much prefered a direct and truthful approach. Dealing with deep personal feelings, his own or others', tended to be difficult for him.

Washu watched the interpersonal play out of the corner of her eye. Though she prefered to keep out of family affairs, it seemed Azusa needed a little bit of encouragement before he would spit out what needed to be said.

"Maybe we should turn on the news?"

"No." The king quickly responded. "That won't be necessary." Taking a deep breath, Azusa did things as he always did. "Freeport Colony has been attacked."

"Freeport?" Aeka asked her eyes going wide with concern. "That's practically on our doorstep!"

Azusa nodded gravely. "The colony was severely damaged and... there were many casualties."

"Grandmother and Grandfather?" Aeka worriedly asked clutching at the collar of her summer kimono. But before her father could give the answer , the front door opened again. Sasami announced her return from school as she dropped her book-bag just inside the front door.

"I'm home."

Aeka called for her sister.

"Sasami, would you come into the sitting room, please?"

"Sure, Aeka. What's..." As soon as Sasami saw her father she smiled and ran to greet him.

"Daddy!" Sasami crossed the room in three long strides and threw her arms around her father's neck.

Azusa was very surprised when he saw how much his younger daughter had grown since the last time he had seen her. He was especially surprised when he noticed that she had taken her hair down. Once his younger daughter finally released him, he was able to hold her at arm's length so that he could get a better look at her.

"Sasami. You... have grown."

Sasami's smile grew even wider at hearing his acknowledgement of her increase in stature.

"Yes, I have."

"I am pleased that you are well. However, we cannot dwell on greetings. You must pack your things."

Sasami's smile disappeared.

"What?"

Aeka tried to gain her father's attention.

"Um, Father?"

Azusa, being somewhat single-minded in his intentions, failed to hear his elder daughter.

"We're all going back to Jurai, together."

Sasami instantly leapt away from him as if he had a contagious disease.

"No!"

"Sasami, this is for your own safety."

"I don't want to go back!"

Dismayed by his younger daughter's objection to his well-meant decision, Azusa did as he always did; he tried to pull rank.

"It is not a request! You are returning to Jurai, and there will be no arguments!"

"I don't care! Why do you always do this? Why do you always have to come and ruin things?!"

"Sasami! That is quite enough!"

"No, it's not! I can't go! I can't!"

"You most certainly can." Azusa turned his most imposing stare on his younger daughter. "Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming all the way."

Sasami's eyes widened for a split second before she bolted for the door. She was out of the house and down the walkway before anyone could even consider stopping her.

"Sasami!"

"Forget it." Ryoko said from beside him, where she had just teleported. "She's on the track team."

"Ridiculous! She is my daughter and I will have her safe."

Aeka groaned as Hiroshi finally awoke, no doubt due to all the racket they were making. The young child rubbed his eyes before taking a look around. He began to babble and burble enthusiastically when he saw familiar faces.

"Tenchi, would you, please?"

"Sure." As he was used to such requests, Tenchi understood Aeka wanted him to pull their son from his carry pack. The little boy reached out to his father with an excited smile. Recalling that his father-in-law had yet to actually meet Hiroshi, Tenchi decided that the bad news could wait for a few minutes.

"Aeka, don't we have an introduction to make?"

"Yes! That's right. Father, this is your grandson, Hiroshi."

Azusa looked down at the dark-haired baby in Tenchi's arms. He had seen the pictures they had sent to Jurai. A day did not go by that Misaki did not show the pictures to someone. She was so incredibly proud of her daughter and the new baby.

"Would you care to hold him, Father?"

Azusa stole a quick glance at Aeka, who smiled. He tentatively held out his arms, and received from Tenchi his new grandson. The small child stared at him as he cradled him. It had been a long time since the King had held a baby in his arms. It brought back memories of his own children, and the love he felt for them. His expression soon softened, and he smiled. Hiroshi smiled right back. With quick hands, the baby boy grabbed his beard and pulled hard.

"AHH! Take him, take him, take him!"

Tenchi immediately reached for Hiroshi while Aeka pried his chubby fingers from Azusa's hair.

"Hiroshi, stop that!" Aeka scolded her son. "I am so sorry, Father. We are trying to break him of that habit. But, he seems to have an affinity for long hair."

"Tell me about it." Ryoko casually picked at the gob of honey that was still stuck in her hair as Tenchi gestured to the various places one could sit in the large living space.

"Maybe we should all have a seat. I see someone made tea. That was thoughtful."

"Good idea." Washu agreed as she got up rather than remaining seated. "But we're about out. I'll just take Hiroshi with me and make some more. Family talk and all that."

"Thanks, Washu-chan." Tenchi gratefully handed his son to Washu. But Hiroshi didn't seem to want any of that. He reached back towards Tenchi, stretching as far as he could in Washu's arms.

"Da-da-da!"

"Hey, now." Tenchi waved with a smile as Washu walked towards the door that led to the kitchen. "It's just for a few minutes."

Realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere by appealing to his father, Hiroshi, imitating something he had seen Washu doing once, started scolding her by waving a hand in her face.

"Ba-ba-ba-ba!"

"Hey! Who you calling an old lady?" Washu pointedly looked over at Ryoko, wondering if the girl had somehow manged to teach Hiroshi to say such a thing.

"What? What'd I do?" Ryoko tried to glare back at Washu. But with Hiroshi acting so silly, she found it difficult to keep an angry expression on her face. Rather than looking mad, she only ended up looking sheepish.

"Ryoko." Tenchi called for his wife's attention.

"What?"

"Let's sit and hear what the King has to say."

Not wanting to acquiesce too easily, even though she had no intention of ignoring Tenchi's suggestion, Ryoko pursed her lips for a moment before agreeing.

"Fine." With an overblown huff, she made a quick teleport over to the same over-stuffed chair that Washu had been sittingin and plopped down into it.

Azusa, rather than sitting, turned to the front of the room so that he could look out the large bay-style window with his hands clasped behind his back as Tenchi and Aeka both sat down. Once everyone was peacefully situated, Tenchi prompted him to explain.

"Father, I'm sure everyone is ready to hear what you have to say."

Azusa stood silently for another few seconds staring at the greenery while contemplating how to break the news to Aeka. Finally, he simply sighed and did as he always did.

"My mother and father are dead."

Aeka gasped in shock, despite the certain feeling of dread that she had been feeling for the last few minutes. Her eyes promptly began to well-up with tears, not just for herself, but for her father. Gods above, how could he take this so calmly?

"Father..."

"My father was recently elected as governor of Freeport Station. He and mother died defending the residents of that station."

Aeka took a deep breath to stave of the tears as Tenchi put a comforting arm around her shoulders. There was something she wanted to know.

"Were they successful?"

"With their lives, they bought enough time until I arrived."

Aeka nodded as she wiped at her nose. Her father's presence in the conflict instantly assured the remaining colonists' survival. It was a small consolation for one bereaved family, but an important one for the families of those spared.

"Then the pirates were destroyed?"

"Pirates, no. This was no act of piracy. This was an invasion."

Ryoko actually snorted at the concept of someone trying to invade Jurai space.

"Someone out there must be really stupid. Even I didn't mess around in Jurai space unless I absolutely had to."

Azusa turned back to the three and nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. However, these are the same robotic vessels we fought outside of Professor Washu's abandoned laboratory."

That got everyone's attention.

"What about my lab?" Washu asked as she made her return with Hiroshi on one arm and a steaming pot of tea held out well away from the young child in the other hand.

"Ah. There is something I believe will interest you, Professor." Glad to be off the subject of his painful personal loss, Azusa reached into his mantel and withdrew a palm-sized holographic data display. He pressed the display button with one finger while holding the device flat in his up-turned palm. The display's emitters began to glow, projecting an image of a chain of DNA in the air above it. The image slowly rotated for better viewing.

"Professor Washu,"

"Washu-chan." The red-head interrupted, insisting on the diminuitive form.

"Er, Washu-chan," Azusa grimaced at using the odd form of address on someone so much older than himself, " what can you tell me about this DNA pattern?"

"Here." Washu handed Hiroshi off to Ryoko, who happened to be closest, before taking a peek at what the king had to show. "Well, that would be... male... good-build... huh?" Leaning a bit closer just to make sure she wasn't misreading the pattern, Washu took another closer look. "Where'd you get this?"

"It was taken from a... very recently deceased living being."

Washu stood there with her arms crossed and eyes closed as she contemplated this developement.

"It's Kagato, isn't it?" Ryoko asked looking rather smug.

"Was." Azusa corrected.

"Well!" Ryoko grinned. "That takes care of that."

"No, it doesn't." Pressing the advance button on the small projector, Azusa displayed a short video clip of the interior of Freeport Station during the invasion attempt. Jaws dropped at the sight of many Kagatos running around with blank stares and drab-colored jumpsuits, rather than the fashionable robes and spectacles that they were expecting. Ryoko actually came to her feet with a wild look in her eyes and Hiroshi squirming uncomfortably in her arms.

"No way..."

Seeing a potentially perilous situation developing, Tenchi got up to relieve Ryoko of her young burden.

"Ryoko, that's my son you're sqeezing to death."

Ryoko looked at Tenchi and then down at the gasping little child. She quickly let-off the pressure, allowing Tenchi to take Hiroshi, who practically jumped out of her arms for the safety of his father's embrace. He peered over his shoulder at Ryoko with a rare frown.

"Sorry."

"Somebody..." Washu reached out and snatched the display unit from the King's hand, "has some explaining to do."

"Damn right!" Ryoko quickly agreed. "Who wants a couple thousand of that guy running around!"

"I agree completely." Aeka sniffled from her place on the couch. "That man was a truly despicable person. What fool would create copies of him?"

"They're probably clones." Washu pointed out. "Hey, you didn't happen to get DNA samples from more than one?"

"We did." Azusa confirmed. "They are all identical. Thus, we agree with your theory of these being clones. The remaining question is who had the opportunity to obtain Kagato's DNA?"

Although no one was pointing fingers, Washu felt obligated to at least admit that she had had plenty of opportunity.

"Well, Kagato was my assistant for some time. I had plenty of opportunity to get a sample of his DNA and often did so. But I wouldn't make copies of him, that's for sure."

"I see." Azusa looked down of Washu with a thoughtful expression. He had an ace up his sleeve for once. It was about time he played it. Literally reaching into his sleeve, the King removed an aged old photograph and held it down where Washu couldn't fail to see it.

"And what of this person?"

Washu took one look at the photo and began to dissemble.

"Nifty."

"Would you care to explain?"

"Not really." Washu looked away feigning a lack of interest.

"I see. Perhaps I can jog your memory. The woman's name is Naja Akara, one in a seemingly endless line of your former assistants. However, this woman was not just an assistant. She was your academy sponsor."

"Even I was a student at some point." Washu blithely remarked.

"Very well. I'll be blunt."

"Like that'll make a difference." Washu commenced to picking wax out of her right ear.

"Why do Kagato and this woman look alike?"

"I don't know. Maybe... because... they're related?"

"A-ha!"

"'A-ha!' what?"

"So there is a connection."

"They're related. So what?"

"So..." Azusa came to a stumbling halt as he realized that there really was no point to the relation.

"Any other questions you'd like to ask? My age and weight perhaps?"

"Uh, no." Even Azusa knew better than that.

"Good. Now how about we get down to some real business?"

Preserving as much of his dignity as possible, the King of Jurai folded his arms in a commanding fashion before giving his permission to move on.

"Very well."

"Excellent!" Washu nearly cheered. "First order of business, I think I'll hold on to this genetic data and analyze it for you, although I assume you were able to defeat all those clones, right?"

His eyes widening in an obviously aggressive manner, Azusa nodded in firm agreement as a low rumble emanated from his throat.

"Okay. Second, I wish you luck in getting Sasami to see the logic in bundling her up and bringing her back to Jurai."

Washu's sudden change of subject from the clones to Sasami caught Azusa slightly off guard.

"Is there a problem?"

"Well, there's this teentsie-eentsie little issue that came up. Not a problem, just an issue, really. You see..." Washu's very slight and small voice slowly drew Azusa in closer until he was within range of her ultimate weapon. "SHE'S IN LOVE!"

Azusa nearly fell back on his rear at the force of Washu's verbal proclamation.

"In love? With whom?" Realization of the truth suddenly dawned upon Azusa. "Ah, wait. It can't be..."

"Shuzan Amaki. I believe you know him."

Azusa's face began to turn a very dark crimson-red. "If he has so much as laid a finger on my daughter, I will cut-off his hands and send them to his family as a parting gift before I personally annihilate them!"

With a flourish of his great cape, the King turned to go retrieve his daughter from the clutches of imagined evil.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Aeka quietly grumbled before finally getting to her feet. "Father..."

Azusa turned to look at Aeka, revealing the thunder in his eyes and lighting in his bared teeth.

With a squeek of fright, Aeka promptly forgot about what she was going to say. The angry father stalked off and out the front door without another word. The small group looked after him with concern etched into their features.

"Aeka?" Tenchi asked.

"Yes?"

"You don't suppose he's going to do something... rash, do you?"

"No, of course not. My father is the picture of controlled rational thought."

A deep grumble (for a young female) emanted from Washu's throat.

"He did lose both his parents recently."

"Yes." Aeka morosely agreed.

"He seems really over-protective." Ryoko observed.

"Yes."

"Maybe we'd better follow him?" Tenchi suggested.

"Yes." Aeka agreed again. "Washu-chan?"

"What?" Washu while staring at the rotating image of a certain evil person's DNA.

"Would you watch after Hiroshi for a few minutes?"

Washu immediately turn-off the holographic device and smiled, happy to be diverted from some potentially distasteful research.

"Why, certainly! Since you did ask me so nicely."

As soon as the front door to the Amaki residence opened, Sasami blew right by the butler and launched herself up the grand staircase to Shuzan's rooms. Making a quick left at the top, she yanked open the first door and called for her boyfriend.

"Shuzan!"

Nothing. Running down the hall to the next door, she yanked that one open and called again.

"Shuzan!"

"Sasami."

Sasami looked right and saw Shuzan emerge from the adjoining door with a look of surprise. She dashed in and plowed the young lad over, landing completely on top of him.

"Hey!"

"My daddy hates me!" Sasami cried as she clutched at Shuzan.

"Wha?" Shuzan lay there for several seconds mystified about the cause of Sasami's tears. "What's going on?"

"My father came and says I have to leave!"

Now things were becoming clear.

"Wait a minute, Sasami. Why would he do that?"

"How should I know?! I hate him, I hate him, I HATE HIM!"

"Hey, come on, now. You don't hate your father."

"Yes, I do!" Sasami sobbed still lying on his chest.

"All right, enough of that. Here." Shuzan gently moved Sasami aside so that he could at least sit up. "Now, tell me what happened."

Sitting on the floor, Sasami explained the all too brief encounter with her father. Shuzan grumbled to himself once she was finished.

"This stinks."

"Yes, it does." Sasami agreed, wiping her eyes. "I don't want to leave."

"I don't want you to leave either. But there must be a good reason. You should have stayed to hear what it is."

"I don't care what it is!" Sasami threw herself against Shuzan again. "I want to stay here with you."

Shuzan sighed with regret as he put his arms around Sasami. It certainly sounded pretty bad.

"Come." Shuzan urged. "Let's sit someplace more comfortable."

Climbing back to his feet, Shuzan hauled Sasami up to her feet as well.

"I can't even come to your birthday party tonight." The girl lamented her situation.

"You shouldn't worry. It's just a stupid party."

"It's not stupid." Sasami disagreed. "I was even gonna bake you a cake."

"You don't have to do that, Sasami."

"But I want to. I want to do nice things for you."

"Don't worry about it. You got to make the last one."

"But that was different!"

"How so?"

Sasami frowned.

"It just is."

Shuzan smiled at the illogical statement. Sometimes, it just didn't pay to argue with a girl.

"All right."

"You don't believe me?"

"Well..."

"Fine. I'll prove it." With that pronouncement, Sasami grabbed Shuzan by the shirt and kissed him firmly on the mouth. The method by which she chose to display her growing attachment to this young man left no doubt in his mind about exactly what was different from one year ago. It was some time before they parted, and reluctantly at that. "Now do you get it?"

Shuzan reached up and scratched at the back of his head. "You know... I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to tell me."

"Oh, really?" Sasami's eyes narrowed as she looked carefully into Shuzan's eyes. She carefully rearranged his collar and then patted it into place.

"Liar. You just want to kiss me again."

"Oops. You got me." Shuzan chuckled.

"My, my, my." Sasami sighed. "What is it with boys anyway? You just can't wait to get a girl out of her clothes."

Shuzan reached up and gently stroked her face.

"It's because you're so beautiful."

Sasami blushed deeply at the compliment.

"How long do you think it'll be before we see each other again?"

Neither person spoke for a very long time. The life of a Jurai noble could span ten-thousand years. The thought of spending a significant portion of that away from each other was a very sobering thought for the young couple. Sasami slowly looked up at Shuzan, who looked down at her. Sasami blushed as she began thinking some very peculiar thoughts about what kind of memories she wished to leave Shuzan with during her absence.

"It could be a very long time." Shuzan answered as he took a step towards the bed with Sasami's hand in his. He couldn't help but notice how red in the face Sasami was becoming.

"It's all right. We can just sit and talk if you like."

Sasami shook her head. She wanted to do something for Shuzan and for herself. But she just felt so nervous. One very specific thing was running through her mind. And even though she and Shuzan had a serious relationship, she felt completely unprepared to take things any further.

Shuzan sat on the edge of his bed and gently pulled on Sasami's hand, urging her to join him.

"Come sit with me."

Sasami sat down next to Shuzan. He put an arm around her, and that was all. For a long time they sat in silence until Shuzan finally spoke again.

"This is kind of awkward, isn't it?"

"Yes." Sasami replied.

"So. Um... you said you ran away from home to get away from your father."

"Yes."

"How long do you think it'll be before he comes looking for you?"

"Not long." Sasami grimly answered.

"Well..." Letting go of Sasami so as not to arouse his baser interests any further, Shuzan fell back on the bed. "It's probably for the best."

"True." Sasami agreed as she laid down next to Shuzan, draping an arm across his chest. "How long do you think it would take?"

Shuzan looked over at Sasami in surprise as she began fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.

"How should I know?"

"You're a guy." Sasami reminded him as she worked the buttons open from top to bottom. "You're supposed to know things like that."

"But... how would I know unless..."

"Oh, never mind." Sasami said as she cuddled up next to Shuzan. Putting a leg over his hips, she nuzzled up under his chin, inhaling his scent.

Shuzan laid his head back while reaching down to the thigh that she had raised up over his hips. He grasped the black material of her full-length winter skirt and began slowly pulling it up one handful at a time. "Seriously. I don't have any idea how long it might take."

Sasami shivered a little bit as she felt Shuzan reaching under her skirt. Uncertain if she could find it within herself to finally give him what she knew he wanted, Sasami clutched Shuzan all the tighter.

"Do you want to find out?" She asked, knowing how it would sound.

"Are you serious?" Shuzan asked lifting his head in surprise.

Feeling Shuzan's hand climbing ever higher, Sasami reached down and took the hand in her own.

"Not at all."

"I knew it."

"My, my." Seto looked up at the front of the large stone building and thought that no Jurai noble in his or her right mind would ever live in such a depressing stone edifice. "What a depressing home. I hope it's better on the inside."

Stepping up to the front door, she took up the large brass knocker and thumped it solidly against the door several times. She didn't like to be kept waiting outside, but it was the height of rudeness to just saunter in without ever having been invited. Once Tenchi or Aeka invited her, then she would feel more proper walking in without warning.

However, after a few moments had passed with no answer, she began to fear that she had arrived when no one was home. This was strange because she already had observed Azusa's Kirito in orbit around the planet. Where else would they be? Just as she was about to knock again, the door clicked, and slowly pulled inward. To Seto's great surprise, a small boy-child was answering her call. The little boy looked up at Seto in her open-neck kimono and pony-tail and smiled a big toothy smile.

Seto promptly grew weak in the knees. She had seen Misaki's pictures and heard from Airi how cute the little Hiroshi was, but the reality was much more than what she had expected. Even with her personal dislike of children, (Misaki not withstanding, of course), she felt that this child was something special.

"How adorable!" Seto smiled as she walked in the door and looked around. To her immense relief, the inside was much more livable than the outside. Obviously Aeka had redecorated.

"Lady Seto." Washu addressed her from the door way into the living room, where she had been keeping careful watch on Hiroshi's activities. "To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

Ignoring Washu's less than subtle inquest, Seto knelt down and held out her arms for the smiling little boy to come give her a hug.

"Come give grammy a hug!"

Hiroshi promptly obeyed. He came right up to her and gave her the requested hug.

"Oh, you're so polite!" Seto actually pinched him by the cheeks. "And cute!" She started cooing at him, to which the boy started laughing.

"We're thinking he's going to be the next court jester he laughs so much." Washu sighed.

"Oh, woudn't that be wonderful?" Seto released the boys rosy cheeks and stood up. "We haven't had a court jester in three thousand years. I might even stay at the palace more if that happened."

"I'm not sure Aeka would approve of that." Washu smiled knowingly at Jurai's most infamous princess.

"Oh, you can't believe all the rumors."

The two imposing women stared at each other, grinning a bit while they sized each other up. Then Washu extended a hand.

"You know, we've never really sat down and talked."

Seto accepted the peace overture by taking Washu's hand and gently shaking. "Why, I believe you're right. It is about time, isn't it?"

Azusa pounded his fist on the front door to the Amaki brothers' residence. Almost immediately, a servant answered the door. The butler bowed deeply at the sight of the King of Jurai as he rather rudely, though the butler would never say so to his face, invited himself in and began looking around the main foyer with a suspicious eye.

"Is the Princess Sasami in this residence?"

The butler stayed bent over at the waist. "Yes, your Highness."

Azusa inhaled and then bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"SASAMI!"

There was no answer. With a growl of growing suspicion, Azusa headed straight for the second floor where most civilized people kept a bedroom. The butler followed after him, bowing and scraping as best he could. But the look of fury on the king's face kept the other servants from approaching.

As he climbed up to the second floor, he yelled again.

"Sasami!"

Again, there was no answer. Azusa turned his fury on the butler.

"Where is my daughter!?"

Again, the butler bowed deeply. "I expect she is in the young master's rooms."

"Young master?"

"Master Shuzan, your Highness."

Azusa stared at the butler for several seconds as he digested this. He tried not to be angry with the servant. The man had nothing to do with it. But his highly suspicious and overly-protective nature demanded that he act to preserve his daughter's honor and virtue.

"If that Amaki boy has so much as laid a single finger on my daughter..."

"M-M'lord..."

"I'll kill 'em!"

The butler fell over backwards in fright, cowering before the burning fury in the King's eyes.

Azusa turned and stomped up the last two stairs and then yelled for a third time.

"SA-SA-MI!" With the utterance of the last syllable of the young princess's name, the walls shook and blue energy crackled and snapped across the floor and ceiling. The overhead chandelier blew out all seventy two light bulbs in a massive showers of sparks, and a nearby intercom panel started to billow smoke. Again, there was no response. Choosing from left or right, Azusa went left.

"SHUZAN! Show your cowardly face!" He bellowed striding purposefully down the hallway. At the first door, he at least attempted to use the door-knob. The door opened easily. Peering into what appeared to be a small library, he saw that it was unoccupied.

With a grunt of annoyance, Azusa went to the next door. This one also opened easily to reveal a study or sitting room with several desks and chairs. Again, he saw no one. However, on the adjoining right wall there was a closed interior door. Looking further down the hallway, he deduced that this door must lead to the next room. If he used the other, anyone inside could escape through this door.

Striding quickly across the carpet, Azusa tried the interior door and found it to be locked. With a satisfied grin, he swung a meaty fist into the door and blasted it into a million fragments of dark wooden decor. At first glance, he saw no one in the bedroom that was revealed. But after a second, two youthful faces peered up from behind the bed where they had taken shelter from the exploding door.

"There you are!"

Sasami stood up, fully-clothed much to Azusa's relief, an annoyed look on her face.

"That was really rude, Daddy."

"Rude?" Azusa's went wide for a second. There were far more important things on his mind than manners.

"This... you should not be in here."

"Why not?" Sasami boldly questioned her father.

"It's the bedroom!"

"And?"

"A young lady should not be alone with a man in his bedroom!"

"Why not?"

Azusa nearly blew a fuse.

"I will not argue! Come here!"

Sasami folded her arms across her chest and looked away.

"No."

"Uh, Sasami..." Shuzan tried to convince Sasami that in this case, surrender might be the better decision. Standing up so as to present a better appearance of propriety, he could see that Sasami's father was turning very red in the face. "Maybe you should do what he says."

"Sasami," Azusa glowered over the teen-agers. "You WILL come with me!"

"I will not! And if you force me," Sasami said as she looked her father in the eye, "I will hate you forever!"

Clenching his fists in frustration, Azusa carefully considered if his daughter's safety was worth earning her eternal damnation.

"So be it."

Sasami's eyes went wide as her father grasped the edge of Shuzan's bed, which stood between them, and tossed it aside like so much cardboard. The threat of her eternal hatred had always worked before. But he seemed so angry and determined. Finally, it dawned on Sasami that, just as Shuzan had suggested, there must be some all-important reason for this. Too late, she decided that reason might be more effective than straight disobedience.

"Wait."

But apparently the King had had enough of listening. He snatched Sasami's left wrist.

"Daddy, wait!"

Shuzan looked on, frozen solid with uncertainty. He did not at all want Sasami to leave. But this was not just Sasami's father, but the King of Jurai. If he interfered, there was no telling what might happen.

Watching as Azusa dragged Sasami away, Shuzan was seized by a sudden urge to do something. Snapping out of his self-induced paralysis, Shuzan lurched forward. He yanked open the door to his bedroom and ran out into the hallway hoping to intercept the king before he could get away. Somehow he managed to head-off Azusa before he made it out of his study with daughter in tow.

"Excuse me! Just a moment."

"What?!"

Shuzan bowed deeply to show the proper respect to the King.

"Sasami has been invited to my birthday party here this evening and I have yet to hear her reply."

"No." Azusa answered curtly and withot regard to his daughter's feelings. "Now stand aside."

"Daddy, you can't do that!" Sasami twisted her wrist in an effort to escape her father's iron grip. "It's my choice!"

"We don't have time for these... frivolties! We are leaving! Now, young Lord Shuzan. Will you stand aside, or must I force my way out?"

Again, Shuzan bowed, deeper this time.

"With respect, I must protest. Sasami is my honored guest. She has the protection and courtesy of House Amaki while she is in our home. Removing her against her will..." Shuzan hesitated to finish his statement. Going any further would put him and his family into open conflict with House Masaki.

"And...?" Azusa prompted the boy.

"And..." Shuzan tried to make himself say what he wanted to say. But saying THAT to the King's face was something very serious.

"I thought so." Azusa brushed past Shuzan dragging along Sasami, who looked back clearly disappointed that he hadn't told her father off.

"But..."

Azusa did not wait. In fact, he didn't even acknowledge anyone had said anything. He had his daughter, if reluctantly, and now he was going to leave, thus insuring her safety from the approaching armies.

Out by the front door, which the butler had neglected to close due to total and debilitating terror induced by the Jurai King's display of power, Tenchi, Ryoko, and Aeka finally arrived to see what was going to happen. They peered into the house to watch the spectacle.

Shuzan followed the King of Jurai down the main staircase towards the front door. Sasami looked sorrowfully back over her shoulder and waved goodbye. They got two more steps lower before Shuzan suddenly realized that this was totally unjust and that he simply wasn't going to stand for it. He couldn't just watch Sasami being dragged off against her will, even if it was her father doing it.

"Stop!" Shuzan ran down the stairs three at a time, bypassing the king and coming to a screeching halt at the bottom of the staircase.

"Get out of the way, boy!"

"I will not! This is my family's house! You have no right to drag our guests out! You have no right to destroy our property! You have no right to insult Amaki Family's honor like this!"

Ryoko smiled at the boy's display of anger. "Ooh! He's got balls!"

"Shush!" Aeka gave Ryoko a nasty glare before returning her attention to the front.

Azusa came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase just in front of the irate young man.

"So, this is about honor, is it?"

"Yes. And, it's also about how wrong it is to make your daughter cry."

Azusa stared intently at the young man. He tried to read him. But something about this young prince gave him pause. Were it his uncle Shusan or brother Seiryu, Azusa could have blown right past them without a problem. But the boy had strength of character enough to tell the Jurai King to his face that he was being insulted. Frankly, Azusa rather liked his straight-forwardness. Releasing his daughter, Azusa sent her out the door.

"Sasami, go stand with your sister."

"But..."

"Go!" Azusa barked, unwilling to listen to any more objections.

Sasami went a few steps and then stopped. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. Were her father and Shuzan really going to fight? It all felt so surreal. Things like this shouldn't happen. Family shouldn't fight against one another. House Masaki and House Amaki had always been at odds ever since the beginning. How Sasami knew that, she didn't know. But she knew that what was about to happen was just plain wrong. Turning back, she tried once more to implore them to stop.

"Please, don't fight."

Neither person seemed to hear Sasami. They stood still, sizing each other up until the king finally flung back his mantle and drew the master key from its sheath on his belt.

"Very well, boy. But I won't go easy on you."

Shuzan nearly wet himself. Fearing that he had just made the mistake of a lifetime, he fumbled with the energy sword he now wore at his own belt and dropped it.

"Damn!"

Everyone groaned as he bent down to retrieve it.

"This is ridiculous." Tenchi started to go in to put an end to what looked like a humiliating defeat for Shuzan. But Ryoko's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Wait." Ryoko insited with a serious look on her face.

Tenchi looked with surprise at Ryoko. He had not been expecting something like that from her.

"Keep your eyes on Sasami." She suggested. "That's where the real show will be."

Ryoko could feel some serious power brewing in the reception hall. The energy that she felt was centered around Sasami. It made sense now that she was thinking on it. Sasami was a Jurai princess, and like her sister, she should possess similar powers to Aeka. What's more, she was also playing hostess to a goddess.

"Huh?" Tenchi looked from one girl to the other, wondering what they were talking about. "But..."

"You shouldn't fight!" Sasami yelled as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Seeing his daughter with tears in her eyes over this affair, Azusa thought that perhaps he could let this go. He had been prepared to do so from the beginning. But Shuzan didn't seem to be interested in a peacable solution. With a sigh, he decided he could afford to show some extra patience with this young man for his daughter's benefit.

"Shuzan. In recognition of the disparity in our abilities, I am prepared to forget your words, so long as you allow me to take my daughter home with no further interference."

Shuzan stood still, contemplating the King's offer. He felt tempted to accept. An honor duel was a serious thing. People died in these fights. Shuzan held no doubts as to the outcome. He could only hope that Azusa would show him mercy at the end. Looking over at Sasami, Shuzan felt angry to see her cry. The sight of her tears merely stiffened his resolve.

"A warrior's word, once given, may not be taken back. And frankly," Shuzan looked the King in the eye, "I'm insulted you would even ask."

Azusa's eyes went wide in shock. Here he was trying to be the benevolent father figure, and this child threw his kindness right back at him! It was time to teach this boy a lesson in manners.

"I try to show you mercy, and you refuse?!" Azusa promptly dropped into the formal beginning posture for a duel of honor. "En Guarde!"

Shuzan barely had time to assume the start position before Sasami's father leapt at him with a fierce battle cry.

Seeing her father and boy friend engage in a life or death struggle caused Sasami to lose the capacity for rational thought. She simply inhaled and screamed as loudly as she could.

"NO-O-O-O-O!"

Everything suddenly slowed to a crawl. Motion, gravity, matter, and energy all came as close to a total stop as they could get and still exist within the confines of the laws of physics. A column of light began to coalesce just behind Sasami. The temperature in the room quickly dropped, and the lights grew dim, as if the column was drawing energy from the surrounding environment. Slowly, as if it was taking extra effort, the image of Tsunami formed from the column of light. Time resumed its normal pace.

Expecting a clash of energy blades, both Shuzan and Azusa pushed forward. When both of their swords suddenly blinked out, they slammed into each other and fell flat on their rears.

"Jurai Royal Family must not fight one another." The towering apparition softly admonished them.

Everyone looked at the being in awe, especially Shuzan, who had never before witnessed Tsunami's presence.

"Azusa-chan, Shuzan-chan, though you share a common ancestor and the grace bestowed upon you through the space-trees, still you fight. Don't you think it's time to put aside family squabbling and concentrate on more important matters?"

Azusa was quick to point out the cause of the conflict.

"He claims that I have shamed his honor."

"But, you were being rude."

For a fleeting moment, Tsunami's smile seemed to waver. It quickly came back. But it seemed as if she were exerting a conscious effort to keep the smile in place.

"I insist."

Azusa felt momentarily taken aback. But if it was Tsunami insisting, then he had no choice.

"Understood." The king quickly replied, even showing her the courtesy of a bow.

Shuzan took a side-long look at his nemesis. When the king looked down at him, he quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to cause any more friction between them.

"However," Tsunami continued, her smile quickly fading, "events here are moving faster than expected."

Tenchi paid careful attention to the goddess' words. She seemed to him somewhat weary.

"Lady Tsunami..." Tenchi stepped into the house from where he and the others were watching. She looked over at him, her smile returning. She seemed so pleased that he was showing concern for her.

"Tenchi, you needn't worry for me. As Sasami and I grow closer, it becomes more difficult for me to separate my mind from hers. Before long, she and I will become one, and I will no longer be able to appear to you this way. Then --"

Sasami guddenly groaned. At the same time, Tsunami seemed to wilt with fatigue.

"I must go." Tsunami stated as she began to fade away. Her smile returned quickly despite her apparent tiredness. "Congratulations on the new baby. I'm very happy for you."

Like a drop in a pond, the very air rippled and Tsunami disappeared. Sasami fell forward as if she had been released from some force that had been holding her upright. She would have fallen flat on her face if not for Shuzan, who jumped forward and caught her, keeping her from harm.

"Sasami!" Azusa also came forward, but not as fast as the younger Amaki nephew, who beat him to her. Sasami was already showing signs of wakefulness. She nodded slowly and put her arms over Shuzan's shoulders. By the way they were holding each other, they seemed to be very fond of each other.

"Father?"

Azusa turned to look at Aeka.

"Must we leave immediately? We really do need some time to pack things, and I'm certain House Amaki would be honored to have the King of Jurai attend Lord Shuzan's birthday celebration. Sixteen, I believe?"

"Yes." Shuzan answered, holding Sasami tightly.

Azusa sighed deeply. His indignation over the confrontation with Shuzan had disappeared and the danger he feared was not so immediate that they had to leave this very hour. However, he had no intention of leaving without his daughters.

"Twenty four hours, then we leave."

Everyone heaved a huge sigh of relief.

As Tenchi made his way through the immense Amaki residence on his return from the restroom to the rear grounds where the party was being held, he had to traverse a large balcony and wrap-around staircase. As he exited the rear doors, he saw the King of Jurai looking down from the outside balcony. Curious, he calmly walked up and joined him. Looking down, Tenchi saw that he was watching the party-goers enjoying themselves.

"This is much better." Tenchi mentioned off-hand, carefully trying to strike up a conversation with his father-in-law.

Azusa hummed to himself in agreement.

Since his statement seemed to have had little effect one way or the other, Tenchi decided to try something more relevant to the current situation. Seeing that Washu was not down enjoying the festivities, he thought he could safely say something about her without the short red-head exacting some terrible vengeance from the depths of her lab.

"Washu-chan is always saying how great and powerful the Galaxy Academy is."

Azusa nearly snorted with derisive humor at Tenchi's comment.

"This academy once belonged to the Jurai Royal Family."

"Is that so?" Tenchi asked, surprised.

"Thanks to Professor Washu, that is no longer the case."

"I had no idea." Tenchi offered, looking down at the party again.

Azusa glanced at Tenchi out of the corner of his eye.

"There is much you have to learn about Jurai. Yosho has been remiss in that area of your studies."

Tenchi felt a sudden chill go up his spine at the mention of studies.

"I... suppose." He admitted. "But --"

"On Jurai," Azusa interrupted, "you will learn these things. You will not be allowed to sit and become one of those dandies that the lower houses are so filled with these days. Like it or not, a state of war does exist, and you are a lineal decendant of the Jurai Royal Family. Should something happen to me, you will most likely be chosen to become the next King of Jurai. I will not have a fop of an aristocrat become the protector of our nation."

Listening to the Jurai King's rather lengthy speech, Tenchi realized that he took his duties as King just as seriously as his duties as a father.

"I understand."

"I hope so." Azusa said intentionally trying to give Tenchi the impression that he still disapproved of him. Lifting a hand to his chin in a thoughful expression, he began rattling off a potential course of studies for a young Jurai prince. "There will be History, Political Science, Religion, Sword-play --"

"Sword-play?" Tenchi softly repeated, wondering just how much one could learn about a sword.

"Oh?" Azusa finally directed the full force of his gaze on Tenchi. "Has Yosho also been remiss in that area?"

"No, not at all." Tenchi firmly replied, hoping to immediately dispel that rumor.

"Hmm... perhaps I should see to your evaluation in that subject personally."

"Uh, that really isn't necessary." Tenchi said, visibly cringing at the idea.

Seeing Tenchi's reaction, Azusa burst out in deep-throated laughter, drawing the attention of those who were gathered around the reflecting reflecting pool below them.

"What? Can't you take a joke? Ha-ha-ha!"

Everyone stared at the King as he laughed deeply. But just as quickly as the moment of hilarity arrived, it departed, and Azusa's usual deep brooding expression reasserted itself.

"Tenchi, our enemies are no longer content to sit on the doorstep. When I return to Jurai, I intend to marshall the military might of the four great houses and unite them to crush our enemies. The time of talk is over. Now we fight."

As witness to the king's pronouncement, Tenchi felt awed by his strength of presence. He seemed to radiate power on a huge scale. Feeling the power and presence right next to him, Tenchi almost felt sorry for the enemies of Jurai. King Azusa seemed unlikely to show mercy or weakness to those he would fight.

"What's gotten into him?"

Tenchi nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a certain red-head's voice right by his elbow.

"Geez, Washu!" Tenchi clutched his chest, wondering if it were possible for a person's heart to explode from fright. "Why do you have to scare me like that? Your almost as bad as Ryoko!"

"Oh?" Washu looked up at him with her typical cheeky grin. "At least I don't pinch your rear."

"Thank goodness for small favors." Tenchi muttered under his breath, scowling at Washu. He was wondering what he could possibly do to dissuade her from continuing this aggravating habit of scaring him almost to death when he noticed a tall woman with pale green hair and red eyes coming up behind Washu. Recognizing the imposing figure of Seto Kamiki, he decided to say nothing and see if Washu got what was coming to her for once. But somehow the king intuited her presence.

"Are you still following me around, Lady Seto?"

"Oh, no, Azusa-chan. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by to see the baby."

"Of course."

"Oh! And as long as you're here, I have good news. Professor Washu has graciously volunteered to assist us in the upcoming conflict."

The king turned in surprise at the news. Even he felt some sense of hope at the prospect of having that kind of assistance.

"Is this true?"

"She makes it sound like I'm going to build weapons for you or something equally useless. But some people are poking around in my affairs and using that information against Jurai. So, that makes it my business, too. I'll share information with you, so long as you do the same."

Azusa looked up at the firm countenance of Lady Seto. He had been hoping for more from the diminuitive scientist. But, if this is what Seto was presenting him with, he knew it was the best they could get under the present circumstances.

"Very well."

"Well!" Washu sauntered up to the edge of the balcony. "You could show a little more gratitude than -- hey, are they having a party?" She asked forgetting all about Azusa's lack of proper manners when she saw the festivities below.

"It's Shuzan's birthday party." Tenchi reminded her.

"Oh, is that today?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Hmm, no wonder Sasami was so upset. I'd better go make sure everything's all right." Washu vanished right from between the royals, reappearing down below to participate with the rest of the family. Her target turned out to be the sake, rather than Sasami.

"Tenchi."

Tenchi looked once more to King Azusa.

"Yes?"

"I said the time for war comes. But tonight, is the time for celebration. Join your family. We leave first thing tomorrow." With that, Azusa disappeared in a column of light, returned to his ship once more.

"Well, then." Seto came up to Tenchi, barely giving him a moment to think. "Would the young prince care to escort a lady to the party?"

"Huh? Oh." Tenchi held out his elbow, offering it to Seto, who quickly accepted the gesture. They walked down to the stairs without word until they came within sight of Aeka, who promptly sprayed sake from her mouth when she saw Seto on Tenchi's arm.

"Grandmother!"

"What?" Seto innocently asked.

"But - but - but - but - you -" Aeka sputtered unable to speak her mind at the sight of Seto on her husband's arm. "You..."

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about it." Seto laughed. "He's just being polite."

Tenchi looked around knowing he was not in the know about some private joke and hating it.

"Is there something I should know?"

Quickly getting to her feet, Aeka came over to Tenchi and Seto and bowed to her grandmother respectfully.

"Thank you very much for seeing my husband here, Grandmother." Aeka snatched Tenchi by the arm, bodily pulling him away as if he were in danger. Seto pouted as if she were put out by Aeka's lack of deference.

"Aeka," Tenchi asked, "please tell me what is going on."

"Perhaps later." Aeka said, keeping a suspicious eye on her grandmother while leading him away.

Shusan Amaki sat in his favorite chair in his personal and private study in his family's estate on Jurai. The chair was an old friend from long ago and served him well. It only occasionally complained with a creak or squeek that was easily remedied with simple lubricants. The posh leather, made from real animal hides tacked to a wooden frame, was still whole and did credit to the manufacturer's name, which he had forgotten long ago.

His study was a vaulted room with massive timbers that supported an open half-dome that granted him an unobstructed view of Jurai's sky, which at the moment was dark with night and twinkling stars of all levels of brightness. From here he could look out upon the sea of stars that he had come from. For he was not originally of Jurai. Shusan had been adopted into the Amaki clan of the Jurai royal family, just as Seto had been adopted into the Kamiki family. It was not unusual for Jurai royal family to adopt. They did it frequently, though usually only for political reasons. With unusually long life-spans, royals tended to outlive their descendants on a regular basis.

Shusan's thoughts and ruminations were interrupted by the soft ringing tone of his comm-bracelet. The device was for unofficial use from important persons in his spy net. Shusan lifted his wrist up so that he could see the small holographic image that it would produce.

"Yes?" He scowled with disappointment at the image of his elder nephew. "Seiryu. To what do I owe the honor of this call?"

"Greetings, Uncle. You look well."

"This had better not be another one of your social calls."

Seeing that Shusan was in no mood for small talk, Seiryu went right to the point. "Uh, well, Uncle. I recall that you said that I should call if anything out of the ordinary happened here at the academy."

"And has something happened? Perhaps, something truly remarkable?" Shusan continued to glare at the image.

"I don't know if it's remarkable. But the Masaki family just left for Jurai."

"What?!" Shusan could actually see all of his carefully laid plans flying right out the window, thanks once again to the damnable union of Masaki and Kamiki.

"Yes, I was surprised as well. The King himself arrived and took them away. I hope... my report is satisfactory?" Seiryu practically cringed at asking the quality of his report.

Settling back into his chair as the surprised faded, Shusan began to stew. "Yes, Seiryu. You have done well. You were quite right to report this to me. Stay at the academy for the time being. I'll have more instructions for you soon."

"Yes, Uncle." Seiryu bowed his head in obesience and the image faded away.

Shusan steepled his fingers in front of his chin as he considered carefully the meaning of this developement. Azusa had promised to Shusan that his younger nephew would have exclusive rights to court Sasami in exchange for formal recognition of Tenchi as a prince of Jurai. Now the promise seemed to be broken. This put Shusan in a position of power over Azusa. The scandalously early birth of Aeka's first child had revealed the reason for the unusually generous offer from the Masaki family. If he were to make a big stink about this it would thoroughly embarrass the Masaki family, as well as damaging the king's personal credibility and honor. In war time, that could be devastatingly bad for the morale of the fighting men. It was so important in fact, that Shusan could probably push for a much more beneficial arrangement, such as a full engagement. He doubted the parties involved, Shuzan and Sasami, would object. His spies frequently reported on how they were always off alone someplace. But with Aeka already married to Yosho's grandson, the arrangement was less than ideal. It was better than nothing, but still less than satisfactory. And now this developement...

As he was mulling over the possibilities, his normal desk comm beeped. Would he never have a moment of peace with which to plot his ascendance to power?

"What is it, Anna?" He growled at his personal assistant, a rather attractive young woman he kept around more for her inter-personal skills rather than her clerical ones.

"Mister Standard is here for your afternoon appointment, sir."

"Standard?" Shuzan had to think for a moment to recall what the nature of the appointment was about. "Oh, yes. The businessman. What did he want again?"

"He's trying to sell us defense software, sir."

Despite his higher goals, the needs of an empire still had to be attended to, even for the head of a great house. But hearing his assistant's reminder, Shuzan suddenly recalled some interesting aspects of Standard's software, such as the capability to remotely control one computer system from another.

"Yes, send him in." Shuzan instructed Anna as he thought of how such a system could be put to use in a fleet of Jurai ships.

His own ship was only of the third generation. Though it was self-aware and very powerful, it could not command the allegiance of the several ships belonging to House Masaki or Kamiki, most of which were at least third generation if not higher. In fact, the exact opposite was possible. However, if this software were introduced into the super-computers of those ships, it could be possible to control them instead of being controlled.

The door to his study irised open, allowing Biff Standard to swager into his office.

"Lord Amaki." The tall businessman smiled.

"Mister Standard." Shusan stood up, all smiles and effluence. "Please, come in. I believe we have mush to discuss."

Far away from Freeport Space Colony, in a galaxy within a galaxy, there was an area of space strewn with broken carcasses of ships and strange apparitions from other dimensions. These unusual sights were the result of the dimensional fusion required to unite physical dimensions with other planes of existance. It sometimes gave those beings with only a physical body a good scare when one of these apparitions floated through a wall without so much as acknowledging that they, or the wall, even existed. But after some time spent adjusting to the frequent phantoms, one could work well enough in this area.

It is in this area of space that the leaders of the invading force kept their most valuable and important facilities. Even Choushin had to have minions to do the dirty work and keep track of the miriad of details that occured too quickly (at least for one who's attention spanned eons and multiple dimensions) to keep track of. Those minions resided here unless otherwise directed. One such minion was Naja Akara.

Naja was very happy to have such a vast laboratory within which she could continue her work. In fact, she was happy to have a life. Five thousand years ago, while on an archeological dig on planet K1190, space-pirates had attacked her expedition. She had lain, bloody and broken, buried underneath a pile of smoking rubble waiting for her friend and scientific partner, Washu Hakubi, to come and rescue her. But she never came. For days, she waited, drifting in and out of consciousness, until she died. Or, at least she thought she had died. Everything after the attack itself was something of a blur up to the point when she awoke in an open hall with many large columns lying on her back and looking up into darkness. A tremendous, gigantic, titanic, godly voice heralded the beginning of her new life. Oddly enough, it had been the voice of a woman.

"Blast and Damnation!"

The sudden curse surprised Naja so badly that she jumped out of her seat, her long silver hair flailed about and caught on her spectacles as she spun around to see what was wrong with her assistant. He rarely swore except when one of his experiments when badly wrong.

"What's wrong, Kagato-kun?"

The man, Naja's genetic clone, was sitting in a chair with a large image projecting helmet on his head growling with disgust at what he had just seen.

"The King of Jurai has arrived at Freeport and is engaging the clones."

Relaxing a bit, Naja walked down the single step into the depressed area where Kagato was monitoring the progress of the assault on Freeport Space Colony through the eyes and ears of the assault troops. Because the troops and Kagato had all been created using the same scientific process and DNA model, Kagato could keep mental tabs on the clone warriors through a low-grade telepathic link as they shared.

"Excellent. Let's see how they fare against Jurai royal family."

"But..."

By the dissatisfied look on Kagato's face, Naja could see that he disliked putting the warrior models up against such a powerful opponent so soon. They had worked hard just to get to this point. It was likely that the hard work that they had put in to getting to this point would be wiped away within minutes. Luckily, this model was fairly easy to produce and required minimal resources. The upcoming female model, based on Washu's design, was much more difficult to produce. Washu's design also included hard-wired mental programming that was proving quite difficut to bypass. For the moment, Naja decided that she should concentrate on the events at hand.

"Put the visuals on the viewer, please."

Situated directly to the front of the seat that Kagato was sitting in, the lab holo-viewer came on-line displaying a first-person view courtesy of one of the clone-warriors. Naja got a nice view of Azusa Masaki just before he lopped off the sword-wielding arm of the clone and then blasted it to cinders with a savage growl of enthusiasm. The view switched to another clone, which quickly succumbed to a similar fate. Several more went this way before Naja concluded that the clones would likely be destroyed to a man.

"They don't have the experience to defeat the Jurai King."

"This is why I objected to this experiment in the first place!" Kagato hissed in frustration. "Attacking the home of the Jurai King's mother and father was certain to draw him out."

"That wasn't the objective. It's a field test. We need to gather first-hand data on this model's capabilities in a real battle. They will encounter Jurai royal family at some point. At least this way we can control the test environment during the encounter."

"We already have the data from Princess Aeka. Why waste our resources?"

"Because if we don't need the new model, then we shouldn't produce it." Naja countered. "It takes longer and requires several times more Masu than these. Need I remind you that Masu do not grow on trees?" Naja was painfully aware of how limited the supply of masu was in this area of space. She had already calculated how many of each type of clone they could produce. The numbers were not encouraging.

"I am aware of that."

"Based on these observations, I feel certain we will need to implement Washu's design."

"I don't like it." Kagato growled reluctantly.

"It's my fault." Naja sighed with regret as she put a hand on her assistant's shoulder to comfort him. "My design was inferior to Washu's. I made improvements this time, but... she was always so far ahead of me."

Therein lay the dilemma. The powers-that-be, namely Tokimi, wanted the Ryoko-model for a specialized infiltrator that could stand-up to Jurai royal family. Only Washu's design was capable of that. The Kagato-model, as Naja like to think of it, could fight against royals using an energy blade such as what was generated by the master key in Azusa's possession. They were seeing that first hand. Each of the warriors on the screen had the ability to regenerate quickly enough to negate most kinds of damage incurred during combat. But the underlying mental control used to force the Masu into a coherent, though thoughtless, being made them rather unintelligent until they gained experience. These creations had no sense of free-will, and could only react as their mental programming and training had taught them. That training included a basic understanding of the necessary individual and group tactics to function effectively in combat. With their purpose being to function as occupation forces capable of teleporting into an installation and capturing it intact, there was no need for extensive and time-consuming mental programming. Thus, against an experienced and sufficiently powerful foe such as the King of Jurai, they had no real chance of victory.

Washu's design, on the other hand, came out of the growth tanks with more speed, more power, more agility, better toughness, improved learning ability, and a level of physical attractiveness that most male soldiers hesitated to fight against. They held an obvious combat advantage over her own design. The only drawback was the increase in time and resources required to actually produce them.

"You're thinking of her, aren't you?"

Naja looked down at Kagato and saw that she was unintentionally squeezing his neck. Letting go, she stared at her hand.

"I... apologize."

"No need for apologies."

Naja blushed at the assurance. Unlike the initial defective version, this Kagato was a complete male being, nor did he suffer from a lack of proper emotional balance.

Besides better behavior, this new Kagato also benefited from the knowledge recovered from Washu's old lab in Jurai space. Changing the sex and physical characteristics was a snap for anyone skilled in genetic manipulation. But that would merely create a being with the desired physical appearance. Only through the gift of Naja's goddess-empowered DNA was this design possible. Now not even Ryoko could stand up to him, at least not without learning how to properly harness the power in Washu's gems. Other than that, the only power in the universe to rival him was Tenchi, or should the situation require it, herself.

"I'm sorry, Kagato. But we had to know."

Kagato stared intently at the holographic monitors, mentally evaluating the King's display of prowess.

"I could finish him in two moves."

"I don't doubt it." Naja agreed, recalling the original Kagato. "Even your prdecesor had little difficulty with this one. It's the young one that I worry about."

The display they were watching suddenly shifted to some file footage of the young prince in question, Tenchi Masaki, revealing to Naja where Kagato's line of thinking was moving towards. If she allowed him to make an assessment of Tenchi's combat abilities, he might be inclined to fight him just out of curiosity.

"You know our instructions regarding that one. Lady Tokimi was absolutely clear. We should not fight directly against him."

Several bars charts and energy-level counters appeared on the display, overlaying the visible image of Tenchi with Light-Hawk Wings arrayed before him.

"Our sources indicate," Kagato stated for the record, "that this Tenchi is currently being trained by the Jurai King, himself."

"Which means?" Naja carefully inquired.

"It means that at some point we will likely have to deal with him one way or another. Therefore, we should begin gathering combat data on him from reliable sources. As you say, the first of the Ryoko-model clones have already begun their mental programming. Once that stage is complete a field-test will be in order. I propose that through the course of the testing phase, we send out one clone at a time to various locations with instructions to allow survivors to report its presence, thereby sowing distrust for the real Ryoko amung the populace. This should create confusion and distrust amung the rank and file soldiers, as well as the Royal family."

Naja thoughtfully tapped her fingers on the back of Kagato's chair as she considered his proposal. The plan had merit. Ryoko's infiltration abilities were well documented, and the fact that she was now a Jurai princess through marriage would be doubly embarrassing for the royal family, even if they knew that Ryoko was not a traitor. The ruse would be even more effective if they could lure Ryoko away from the others. A smile graced Naja's slim features as a certain near twin came to mind.

"Do you recall the information on Washu's former assistant, Yakage?"

"He was the one who made off with Ryoko's DNA and..." Kagato also smiled as the association clicked in his mind. "Ah. You would have the clones attack the space pirate Minagi. That should be sufficient to draw Ryoko away from Jurai. But what of the others? She does have a husband, after all."

"If we strike in the right place at the right time, they shouldn't be able to respond quickly enough. Besides, I believe we owe the young lady for her earlier interference."

"Indeed." Kagato smiled broadly in anticipation. "Yes. Indeed we do." His smile quickly grew to include a deep menacing chuckle that sent a shiver up Naja's spine. Sometimes she still worried that he was succumbing to the same superiority-complex that had plagued the original Kagato. She gently patted her assistant on the shoulder, hoping that allowing him his plan would placate him.

END.

AFTERWORD: Ah, the smell of treachery. Originally, I planned on having Hiroshi and Washu at the Amaki house during the confrontation between Azusa and Shuzan. It was only with some reluctance that I changed my mind and kept Washu at the Masaki house so that Seto could present her wishes to Washu. Also, I thought it would be prudent of Aeka to leave Hiroshi with Washu, who she knows is excellent with children. I'm heart-broken to leave out such a cute scene with Tsunami waving to Hiroshi.

I considered leaving Naja out of the final scene and only having some shadowy references to a female overseer. But after some thought I decided to keep her there. Taking her out would have required a complete rewrite of the scene. I was already behind the curve on getting this chapter out, so it seemed the right thing to do for that reason. There was nothing wrong with the scene, in my opinion. So I kept it.

I considered very carefully how much of Shusan Amaki's background to include in this chapter. Initially, I wanted to write a couple of paragraphs describing how he came to be in the Jurai royal family. But there wasn't a lot of detail regarding that. So I made a bunch of stuff up, only to finally find a family tree on the 3rd OAV #3 DVD that placed him as Mitsuki's nephew, and brother to three females of House Amaki. After a great deal (months) of delay and thought, I decided to simply allude to his pirate origins. Really, just how important is it, anyway?