Chapter 2

Aeka's Arrival

§

Last time:

Tenchi has gotten himself too deep into trouble when he accidentally awakens the "demons" inside the cavern's inner sanctum. At his high school, where he later dozed off and woke up, Tenchi regretfully missed out on his afternoon classes. When suddenly, the two "demons" revealed themselves to be...

"Ryoko."

"Naruto."

"That's our names."

...two of the galaxy's most wanted "space pirates" and they wreaked havoc while giving him a real crash course of Battling 101. Tenchi tried to use conventional means to attack them, but were proven futile. And when he managed to get the blade in his possession, he 'defeated' the two "space pirates" and they retreated... for now. And when Tenchi finally made his way back home and relaxed into his bedroom, he was in for a rude awakening when he found none other than Ryoko and Naruto making out under the covers of his bed.

The young Masaki prayed that it was only just a dream...

§

[Somewhere in the reaches of the Solar System]

[Juraian Battleship - Ryu-oh, Cockpit]

Funaho's encrypted message was sent to Ryu-oh's tree, alerting the two log-like guardians, Azaka and Kamidaké. Then the systems began to come back to life from the cold suspension as the first guardian read out the data (in audio mode), »All systems activated. Unlocking time freeze. All systems synchronized to bridge standard time.«

The door in the center opened its hatch and a beautiful violette-haired woman in regal Japanese-like garments felt life flowing back into her body after being in stasis and was awakened to see the blue planet in her direction.

"So what planet are we nearing?" the woman questioned.

»Colonized planet #0315 - Earth,« Kamidaké answered.

"So this is where my dear brother is," she hopefully surmised.

»Negative. All we detected right now are Ryoko and Naruto,« Azaka said.

The woman was in disbelief. "Not those two! What does this mean?"

»We have yet to discover Yosho-sama's ship while he was in pursuit of Ryoko's ship,« Kamidaké explained, »Logically, that would mean...«

"I see," the woman interrupted, "Those fugitives and Ryo-ohki are to be caught and be tried formally by our planet Jurai as soon as possible."

»Aeka-sama, unfortunately, all of Ryoko and Naruto's allegated crimes will be abolished by the [Statute of Limitations] at Galaxy Standard Time: 00432... or in the next 5 seconds,« Azaka explained with pulling up Naruto's and Ryoko's profiles, leaving their princess losing her cool from her case of bad luck. And after the 5 seconds have passed, Kamidaké read out, »As of this moment, the [Statute of Limitations] has been taken effect and Ryoko's and Naruto's "Galaxy's Most Wanted" files have been destroyed.«

"Destroyed‽" the woman now named Aeka interjected in frustration, "Why, answer me‽ What has happened?"

»The [Statute of Limitations] is based upon the decisions made by the Holy Council of Planet Jurai,« Azaka explained.

"That is not what I was asking," Aeka demanded, "I want to know why these two were not sought out for all eternity!"

Azaka still explained, »The [Statute of Limitations] is based upon the decisions...«

"Oh, never mind!" the princess grumbled, "The only clues left for me to find are those two criminals. We must capture them at any cost."

»But the Statute...« Kamidaké warned.

"That is an order! We'll have to think of a reason later!"

»Kyoi! (Yes, ma'am)!« the guardians obeyed.

"That's better. Now prepare for descent," the princess ordered.

Kamidaké read out, »Anti-air guard, storming Level 4.« And the battleship prepares to enter Earth's atmosphere.

Aeka prayed as she hoped for the better, "Please, be well, my dearest... My dear brother..."

-NNFNR-

[Meanwhile, back in the Masaki Residence, Tenchi's Room]

"Oh, it's anything but a dream, sweetheart," Naruto said with a wicked grin as he puts his black shirt back on, covering his visible 6-pack abs and manly chest and Ryoko covers up her ballasted chest, "How shameless of you to be barging in our little romantic moment." And the couple got out of bed.

Then Ryoko put out her hand and demanded, "Now, hand over your jewels, if you please."

Tenchi misheard Ryoko, thinking it's his "family jewels", as he protected his privates and nervously asked, "You don't mean these?"

Naruto slapped his godson with a harisen (paper fan) out of nowhere and exclaimed, "Aho! (You idiot!) We meant the jewels on your Ōken no Tenchi (Master Key of Tenchi)!"

"Otherwise, I can't keep Ryo-ohki under control!" Ryoko explained, "And don't tell me you didn't know what that is?"

Tenchi was clueless about his "fairly odd-parents" meaning as Naruto explained, "It's that blade that you're named after and it's a supplemental part for another of the [demons] in the legend, nimrod. And besides, they're rightfully Ryoko-darling's."

"That would mean, if I give the jewels to you," Tenchi pieces the puzzle as he tries to protect his blade, "Then you would use them to awaken that giant demon?"

"No if's, and's, or but's about it, boy," Ryoko answered, "Give them to me nice and easy."

"No way!" the young Masaki adamantly disagreed, "You two made this mess yourselves. You think that I want to deal with another monster while you two cause destruction everywhere you go? That's the last thing I wanted to see!"

Naruto has had enough of the bullcrap for an argument and he grabbed Tenchi by the collar of his shirt and stated, "Are you sure about that? Because the one approaching us right now is just as bad as us, if not worse."

"Wha-what do you mean?" the boy questioned, but his godfather shoved him onto his own bed. Ryoko sat on Tenchi's body, pinning him down as he struggled as he lost the grip of his blade. But just as Ryoko had the Ōken no Tenchi in her possession, the blade glowed violently and repelled her with powerful, electrical energy as she dropped it.

"I should have known that stupid blade wouldn't accept you, Ryoko-chan," Naruto grumbled as he helped his wife up.

"Dammit!" the woman cursed in her disappointment.

"Ha, so neither of you can't touch this thing, can you?" Tenchi proudly said as he still has the advantage.

-NNFNR-

[Meanwhile]

Downstairs, Nobuyuki Masaki, Tenchi's widower father, complained to his son, "Hey, keep it down! That Tenchi, what is that boy up to?"

And when he climbed the stairs, quiet as a mouse, and peeked into his son's room, what he saw inside just took him for a shock as he quietly exclaimed to himself, "Oh my gawd! I was worried about him being so shy around women. But then, who's his new friend that was with her that he sneaked into the room? If I were his mother, I'd find an excuse to barge in. But as his father, I'll have to respect his privacy."

-NNFNR-

Then Ryoko had an idea and she started to plead, "I beg of you. Please give them back."

"Better do as she says, Tenchi," Naruto gave his advice, "She means it."

"Okay, I understand," Tenchi reluctantly agreed, "But could you tell me what's approaching us?"

"It's a devil," Ryoko explained with a semi-ruse, "She's like a devil - so dangerous and mean."

"You should know, she's even related to a much meaner devil, but that's beside the point," Naruto added.

"And she'll fire at you without even giving you a smidgen of a chance for explanations," Ryoko said as she made small, playful circles around her godson's chest.

-NNFNR-

"Hak-kshuu!" Aeka sneezed from the mysterious rumor as she was near the Earth's atmosphere. She then ordered, "Begin the capture process as soon as we arrive and to refrain from unnecessary firing."

»Kyoi!« the Guardians obeyed.

Then Kamidaké read out, »We will soon arrive at our destination.«

The map zoomed into the Empire of Japan, further out into Okayama, and even further into the Masaki residence.

-NNFNR-

"Well, can't we just, at least, talk to this person… and try to settle matters peacefully?" Tenchi tried to reason, but the godparents just shook their heads, telling him that conventional methods like that aren't going to work. "Is she really that bad?"

"Yes, listen to me," Ryoko begged, "We need to awaken Ryo-ohki, now."

"You mean we're going to fight?" Tenchi assumed.

"No, milksop, we're getting out of here," Naruto said, "At least, get far enough away from the bystanders."

-NNFNR-

Outside of the two-story house, Nobuyuki was using a ladder to bring out his bulky camcorder to document his son's development in sex— er, "social life" through the barely closed shade.

"Oh, my darling wife in heaven! *sniff!* Are you watching this? Your son is becoming a man!" he quietly prayed and sobbed to his deceased wife.

But then, Naruto popped out through the wall and looked at the father in the eye and said, "Hey, stupid, are you trying to peep in on my wife with that primative recorder? Thinking that she is having sex with your son, huh?"

Nobuyuki blinked for a moment and was about to scream as he was about to fall when Naruto grabbed him and said, "Unfortunately, we have bigger problems. Look above us." And he pointed his thumb upwards.

And sure enough, Nobuyuki saw the giant starship with beams of light shining above him, thinking that the heavens are poised to deliver its divine punishment. "What...what the cuss?" the frightened man of the house exclaimed with his teeth chattering.

»"Ryoko-san, Naruto-san, come on out!"« Aeka's voice called through the bullhorn.

Then Ryoko popped out through the wall, knocking Nobuyuki off the ladder and he landed onto the not-so-soft grass.

"Oh, shoot, I knew it. She's here already," Ryoko disdainfully exclaimed.

"Yeah," Naruto calmly said, "That Aeka-chan (Little Aeka) was always a prideful girl."

"Ryoko-san! Naruto-san! You must come out! I know you two are in there! You cannot escape from me now!" Aeka demanded, but then she whispered to Azaka and asked, "Is that thing on?"

»Kyoi!« the red guardian replied as they looked at the pop-up visuals.

"Well, what are they doing? Oh, never mind. I want you to fire a shot at a nearby vacant area," the princess ordered.

»I thought you said that we were to refrain from firing,« Kamidaké objected to the contradiction.

Aeka felt sheepish at her own words and blushingly demanded, "That's an order!"

And one of Ryu-oh's cannons aimed at a vacant lot outside the city and fired a bolt at it as the area was contained in a minimized blast, but sending up huge shockwaves throughout the city, breaking the windows of the houses, including Tenchi's house as Naruto blocked the flying glass shards with his force field. Tenchi was knocked forward from the aftermath, causing him to hug his godmother by accident.

"Oh, I didn't know you cared, Tenchi," Ryoko smiled with a motherly grin, "Now you see what happens?"

Tenchi nodded and asked, "So now what'll we do?"

The godparents made sinister grins at each other and then Ryoko and Tenchi got themselves up on their feet and put themselves into position as the godmother said, "Now point the blade hilt towards me and pray to have at least one of the jewels be returned to me."

And Tenchi did, with Ryoko receiving the blessing as one of the 3 jewels was magically transferred on Ryoko's left wrist. When the deed was done, Ryoko complained to her godson that she only obtained one jewel.

"That's right," Tenchi deadpanned.

"Proud punk!" Naruto grumbled.

But it's no big deal, since it's the requirement she needed as she mentally called out Ryo-ohki to rise from the waters of the Masaki Lake (near Katsuhito's residence) and come to her and Naruto.

The spaceship began to restart and reboot its crystals as it yowls like a cat and surfaces from the water, flying out towards its masters' destination.

The guardians sensed Ryo-ohki approaching the residence from their scanners.

»Ryo-ohki has been detected,« Kamidaké read out.

"There you are, you heinous criminal battleship!" Aeka exclaimed as she still had the grudge against it and the 'Space Age Bonnie and Clyde', "Attack that ship! Fire at will!"

Ryu-oh began firing its projectiles at Ryo-ohki, but the black battleship held up against its shielding, protecting itself and the residents below.

That's when Ryo-ohki used its transporting apparatus to take its masters and Tenchi into the cockpit and contained the house and residence into a pocket subspace.

Then Ryoko commanded, "Let's make our getaway, Ryo-ohki!"

The battleship yowled as it moved away from the city, with Ryu-oh not far behind it and still firing its bolts. "What a rush! It feels good to be travelling again," she energetically said as she stretched her limbs.

"You said it, dear," Naruto agreed with a peck on his wife's cheek.

Tenchi is in a great distressful panic as he notices that something's missing, "Ohmygawd, my house!" he fretted.

"Don't worry, we don't want your old man to get caught in our battle," Naruto explained, "So we "shrink-wrapped" your entire house and land into a pocket dimension, if that's okay with you."

And he shows the projection of the pocket 2-D subspace of Tenchi's house, with his (flat) dad still passed out from the semi-soft landing.

"Oyaji (Old man)..." Tenchi shuddered.

Suddenly, one of Ryu-oh's shots bypassed a spot in Ryo-ohki's shield, causing minor damage to the hull. "Blast that woman!" Ryoko growled from being shaken from the impact, "Fire back!"

And Ryo-ohki fired a charging Positron laser at Ryu-oh, causing some damage to its right wing. Aeka felt the impact as she commanded, "Launch a counterattack and seal them up!"

And the guardians set up a sealing art that binds Ryoko and Ryo-ohki's bonds, causing them to feel tremendous pain from the power. Tenchi wanted to help her, but Naruto said, "Don't do it! Stay back!", as he stopped his godson from going any further to get himself shocked. Then Aeka sent Azaka and Kamidaké to contain Ryoko and Tenchi, but they didn't have enough room to contain Naruto. But the male space pirate put up his hands and calmly said, "I give up. I'll go quietly."

And he followed the guardians to the prison inside Ryu-oh.

(What they didn't know is that Naruto did so, to at least have a little talk with the girl he used to guard when she was a child and also that he wanted to visit another person inside the battleship that he hasn't seen in years since Kagato's ambush.)

-NNFNR-

[Later, Outside of Earth's Atmosphere - Juraian Battleship Ryu-oh, Dining Room]

Aeka was sipping her favorite nectar in her glass cup and she began interrogating Ryoko, first. "It has been some time since we last met, hasn't it, Ryoko-san," she said to her upside-down prisoner, pretending to have fainted, "I've been looking for you and your criminal husband for some time." She had the Ōken in her hands as she got up from her chair and started questioning her prisoner, "Tell me, why does this Earthian have the blade in his possession and why are you and Naruto close to him? Answer me!"

Ryoko stopped feigning and said, "You really need to brush up on your interrogating, Himé-chan, because that's not going to work."

Then a slightly irritated Aeka gave a signal to the guardians and pulsed their prisoner with an electrical field. However, all it did was, "AHH~ HAHAHAHA! Stop! Stop! You're tickling me, HAHAHA! Oh, I'm cumming! I'm cumming!"

Aeka frustratedly told her guardians to stop the surging, and they did. She realized that it must have had the opposite effect on Ryoko, making her behave like a... a… what was the word?

»A masochist?« Kamidaké filled in.

"So that's what it was," Aeka understood the situation.

"Actually, I'm more of a sado-masochist," Ryoko commented.

Aeka realizes that she went off track for a moment and continued her questioning, "Let's try that again. Why did that young man have the blade with him and not get rejected?"

"Bonehead!" the prisoner mocked, "Don't you even feel it in his bloodline?"

"You're not answering my question!" the princess demandingly pressed.

"Because the blade is rightfully his," Ryoko plainly stated.

Aeka was taken aback for a moment and objected, "Do not screw with me! You know that this blade belonged to Yosho-oniisama, now where is he‽"

"Your dear brother‽ Don't you mean your half-brother? And you come all this way to find him?" Ryoko pointed out the little detail, followed by a bluff, "Seriously, this royalty business must be dropping lower than I thought it did on Planet Jurai. And even if you did find him, do you really think that he'll still be alive after 700 Earth years?"

Aeka nearly lost her temper as she snarled, "Silence! How dare you!"

"Well, well, well," the prisoner smuggingly murmured.

"My dear brother's disappearance all happened because of you," the violette princess clenches the blade in rage.

"Hey, it wasn't all my fault," Ryoko rebutted, but then Aeka was to prod her with the Ōken, shocking and damaging her from its different frequency, making her scream in agony and relive the horror, as Ryoko loudly pleaded, "Wait! Stop! Don't do that! I'll talk!"

Aeka relented and demanded an answer.

"If you want to know about Yosho, go ask Tenchi," Ryoko confessed from nearly being sizzled like a sausage, "He knows about him more than we do."

"But why does the blade know about the whereabouts of him?" the princess curiously asked.

"Oh, that's right, the blade is called the 'Ōken no Tenchi'," the prisoner explained, "No, what you're looking for is the Earthian boy. His name is Tenchi and he's my godson."

Aeka was surprised that the boy's name is rather coincidental and that he is strangely associated with Ryoko and Naruto. But just as she was about to send the prisoner to her jail cell and bring in Naruto for his interrogation, two small security orbs came by and said in a female voice, »Himé-sama, it's time for bed.«

"Go away, I'm busy," she declined.

»I cannot allow that. The Queens have given me strict orders,« the orb commanded.

"Oh, very well," Aeka gave in as she commanded the guardians, "And take her off to jail."

"Pleasant dreams, Ojoō-chan," Ryoko said before Azaka and Kamidaké do their duties and Aeka is huffing out as she is guided to her bedroom.

-NNFNR-

[In another jail cell]

While Tenchi was still knocked out, Naruto is busy doing his handstands to help with his concentration. He hasn't been inside a Juraian battleship since his destined battle against a possessed Ryoko being controlled by Kagato. 700 Earth years and he wondered what went wrong with his life. He knows karma can sometimes be a... (aw, you know). But then he noticed Tenchi finally woke up to see that he's surrounded by the forestry. The teen called out for Ryoko and tried to get around the vine-like branches, but Naruto singsonged, "Careful."

And the detection system squeezes the idiot as he tries to pull himself back.

"These Juraian ships have very powerful senses and even I can't molecularly move around them, under them, or even over them," the godfather explained.

Tenchi didn't heed Naruto's advice and tried again, with no success. And then he yelled, "Let me out! I didn't have anything to do with them, just let me go!"

But just then, a young, pink-eyed, skynette girl with particularly long eyelashes was watching over the prisoners. And just as Tenchi was about to use his pencil sharpening knife, she asked, "What are you doing, big brother?"

He was about to say something stupid until he noticed the girl with the prettiest smile curiously watched him.

"My name is Sasami," she introduced herself to Tenchi.

"Sasami? You've been kidnapped also?" Tenchi awkwardly questioned, but then he was hit with a mysteriously appearing wash basin, giving him a gong effect.

"No, Tenchi, she's with her older sister on this ship," Naruto explained, "You know, that "devil" who put us in here, ya know."

He turned to Sasami and said, "You have to forgive him. My godson knows very little about his heritage. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've grown bigger since our last meeting, Sasami-ojoōchan."

-Explanation-

(Prior to the battle that moved onward towards Earth, Naruto was caught in the battle with Kagato, when he used his shadow doubles to rescue as many civilians as possible. One of which was Sasami, (about age 3 at the time), when she was wandering throughout the sacred tree grove with high floor sections, then an explosion happened from outside of the palace made her lose her footing and started to fall at a great height, thus killing her almost instantly upon hitting the hard ground. She was somehow revived by the megami (goddess) Tsunami-no-Ki as she was helped by Naruto to guide and return her new avatar self to her nanny, Mami (also known as Ma-ma).)

-End Explanation-

"Naruto-oniichan (Brother Naruto)!" Sasami said as she wanted to hug him, but the Beast-man did a hand motion saying, "Stop," and pointed upwards to explain that he normally can't do it. So she uses her device to release the prisoners from the branches before resuming her family expression towards her friend. Naruto can't help but feel he's being a brother figure to her, even if it was only for a short while. Then Naruto explained to Tenchi that Sasami and her sister are from the Planet Jurai, many lightyears away. And the "logs'' are really the Guardians, or rather the servants, of their company. Sasami sat upon Naruto's knee, facing Tenchi, feeling like she had her first childhood crush on the two, as the latter introduced himself.

"Can you play with me?" she asked.

Tenchi was fascinated that Sasami looks as much as a human like he is, but then he noticed his family's blade is missing from his possession, making her giggle at the hilarity. So she curiously asked him what was the matter.

"I knew I had my blade somewhere, but it's gone!" Tenchi frantically explained.

"No doubt about it, Aeka-chan must've had it in her possession," Naruto guessed.

"Maybe, Sasami* has an idea, so you two might do me a favor," the girl suggested as they came up with a plan.

(* - A/N: In this story, Sasami would resemble the Magical Girls Club version (the part with the long eyelashes) with some of the retro looks and that includes her form of grammar, sometimes replacing the first-person words "I, me, myself" with her name.)

-NNFNR-

[Same location, Aeka's Chambers]

Aeka is dressed in her night clothes and brushing her long hair as she plays a recording of Yosho saying to his sister, »"My dear sister, Aeka, my friend and I are departing tomorrow morning to do battle with a criminal that is not acting on her own free will. But do not worry, we will defeat the real criminal and return victorious. And when I come back..."«

"And when you come back, I was to be your bride, Onii-sama, but you never returned," Aeka reminded herself as she began to tear up from her forlornness as she picked up the blade. Then she went to bed and turned out the lights.

[Outside]

Nearby, at the tall grass, Sasami told Naruto and Tenchi to grab the crown that looked like a tiara in her sister's room ahead of them just to get herself out of boredom. Naruto surmises that the blade is likely over there, too.

"But doesn't it belong to your sister?" Tenchi questioned.

"Just get it," Sasami slightly frowned as she commanded.

"Don't worry, Sasami-chan," Naruto determinedly said, "Your sister wouldn't know what'll hit her. It's time she needs to understand what "assassins" can do to those that have left themselves unprotected; or simpler terms, we shall give her what for!"

And they silently run towards the chambers through the tall grass and pathways to their objectives while Sasami giggled and is acting rather flirty from her little childish game.

-NNFNR-

[Inside Aeka's Chambers]

Tenchi and Naruto quietly and politely excuse themselves as they enter the room, quiet as a mouse. When they passed through the silken curtains, they found Aeka had cried herself to sleep. Tenchi notices that the head ornament looked like it was attached to her hair and he couldn't take it off of her without disturbing her slumber and she's holding the blade, too. That's when Naruto said to Tenchi that he'll nab the tiara while the latter takes the blade.

And when Naruto got closer, he whispered, "Why don't I... loosen that tiara so you'll sleep better," as he uses his ability to carefully remove the ornament. " Rock-a-bye Aeka, on the treetop…," he sang a soft tune as he hummed and decided to pull a nasty prank by using a special marker that rubs off after a few minute delay, saying "Baka" (Stupid) in Kanji (written backwards) on her forehead, along with some doodles and a drawing of a mustache to top it off, while trying not to laugh.

Meanwhile, Tenchi is busy trying to get the Ōken off from her fingers. The sleeping Aeka is still on her double-bed, moaning and humming in her sleep, as she wants her brother to come home. But when Tenchi got himself a little too close by nearly laughing his head off from seeing Naruto's graffiti, Aeka... woke up! She was about to scream while the teen covered her mouth as he tried to explain himself and Naruto facepalmed in exasperation. But the wary princess kicked Tenchi off the bed as he got what he wanted.

She called for her guardians and ordered, "I want you to put those scoundrels to dea—", but was stopped in midsentence as the men made their escape into the dark of the night.

"Oh, my. How quickly they run..."

-NNFNR-

Azaka and Kamidaké pursued the men as they began to open fire with energy beams at them. Naruto grabbed the playful Sasami in his arms, princess style, as she guided them to a port to a different location.

[Ryoko's Prison]

Ryoko lets out a big yawn in her jail cell from finishing her fighting routine when Tenchi, Naruto, and Sasami appear from the hatch. Tenchi missed the landing, but Naruto and Sasami timed their moment and they lightly touched down. Then the Masaki teen wondered where he ended up when Ryoko called out, "Yoo-hoo! Yoohoo-yoohoo! What great timing, you two."

Tenchi ran to his godmother and complained, "You got me into this mess, so just hurry up and get me back home!"

"I would love to, but without the rest of my jewels, there's nothing much that I can do," Ryoko teasingly explained through the vines.

Just when Tenchi was about to make a rebuttal of the situation, the Ōken began to glow and the vines moved themselves aside as Ryoko and Naruto ran to each other and embraced each other and gave a big kiss on their lips. They knew that they weren't far apart for long.

But then, Sasami got the couple's attention and introduced herself to Ryoko. But then she asked a silly question to Tenchi, "Say, big brother, who is this old lady? Is she a friend of yours?"

{Uh-oh, she shouldn't have said that…,} Naruto murmured as he saw his wife being annoyed by the innocent little girl's question.

"Old lady, huh?" the woman grumbled before calmly turning to Sasami, "Actually, I'm his godmother. And just because my husband and I have lived a long time, doesn't mean that you should call us "old" so casually. You understand, little girl?" And she gave the little skynette a bit of a one-handed noogie to give her a bit of a hard time.

"Ow, Onee-san, that really hurts," Sasami said as she was given her "medicine" and Naruto gave the little princess the tiara.

Tenchi wondered how did he managed to open the wooden cage, when Sasami explained, "Oh, that blade belongs to Yosho-oniichan."

"Yosho-oniichan‽" Tenchi questioned.

"Uh-huh, but how come that you were able to use it?" Sasami wondered about Tenchi's prized possession.

That's when Ryoko is feeling bold as she embraces her godson and she is trying to get the rest of her stolen jewels. But while Naruto and Sasami were about to see the jewels almost being returned, Aeka and her guardians made their appearance, spoiling the show.

"Tch! And here comes the..." Ryoko grumbled when she and Sasami started to chuckle from Aeka's new looks.

"Sasami!" Aeka realized who started the mess, "I see that this is your doing. You're wearing my tiara and - - What's so funny?"

"Sorry, Sasami's just bored, but - - Teeheeheehee... Your face... You look so silly, Onee-sama!" the skynette couldn't contain her laughter, as did Ryoko. Naruto pretends not to notice as he whistles at the prank that he did to Aeka, while Tenchi is frightened at what the Princess of Jurai will do to them.

Aeka was clueless about what (in blazes) is going on, so she requests Azaka to bring her a hand mirror. And the guardian materializes the mirror as she looks through it and finds that she's been skunked by a trickster with doodles drawn all over her face, including the "Baka" on her forehead. She shrieked from the madness plaguing her face and she wiped it off with a special cloth to clean the marker off of herself.

After she cleaned up, she looked at the instigator and said, "You still get on my nerves, Naruto-san! You and Ryoko-san are worse than the court jesters."

"It was my pleasure, Princess," he said with a courteous bow, "It's the job for the court jesters to keep you royalty from being so uptight and to keep you on your toes."

Aeka scowled at Naruto before turning to the young Masaki and asked, "You, I believe that you must be Tenchi. There is something I like to ask of you."

"Wha-what can I do for you?" he replied with a nervous smile.

"How are you related to Ryoko-san and Naruto-san?"

"I don't quite know, but they said that they are my godparents, but I just recently learned about this..."

"And where is the previous owner of the blade you hold?"

"Well, I believe he must've died a very long time ago."

"You're lying! It cannot be!" Aeka denied the claim.

"That's what he left from his records he passed onto us," Tenchi explained.

"Who was the person? What was his name?"

"I'm pretty sure that man's name was Yosho."

(Earlier, Naruto whispered to Ryoko's ear, "Play along and we'll take them by surprise. This is going to be a lulu!" She happily agreed to her husband's suggestion.)

"Oh, that's right, Yosho likely had passed away, didn't he?" Ryoko "guessed".

"We don't know if it's from the terrible wounds from the battle on Earth or if it's from old age," Naruto "agreed", "Too bad, so sad."

"It's not true! You're trying to trick me!" the violette princess disallowed the claims of her half-brother thought to have perished. And she sent out Azaka and Kamidaké to capture the prisoners again, but Sasami got in front of the trio and tried to keep Azaka away from her friends. That's when the Ōken that Tenchi holds began to glow and the jail cell's vines entangled the guardians, preventing them from moving.

Aeka notices that the Ōken is synchronized with the Earthian and that it accepted its new master; she begins to lose hope as she'll never find her long-lost brother again.

In the midst of Aeka's misery, Ryoko and Naruto suggested to their godson to call Ryo-ohki to get themselves out of there.

"Yeah, if I can put my house back too!" Tenchi demanded.

"I can't believe it," Aeka disillusioned herself, "I refuse to believe it! It's impossible!"

"Suit yourself," Naruto shrugged as he remarked and Ryoko followed up, "But you might wanna move away from the spot where you're standing on."

And sure enough, Ryo-ohki pierced through Ryu-oh's main hull, knocking aside Aeka and her tangled guardians without letting the vacuum of space, almost dragging them into dark vastness.

"I'll never be able to forgive those two," Aeka growled in frustration.

Ryoko dragged Tenchi inside Ryo-ohki's cockpit and Naruto uses his Shadow doubles to send the hidden zoo full of unique creatures to a designated transporting subspace to Jurai before disapparating themselves, and the original took Sasami for a ride with Tenchi, leaving Aeka and her guardians alone in the deadly trap.

[Inside Ryo-ohki]

Naruto and Ryoko are planning to plummet themselves down through the Earth's atmosphere. Tenchi is concerned about hurting Aeka and about the "kidnapping" of Sasami.

Ryoko grabbed the teen by the collar of his shirt and warned, "If you like her so much, then why don't you go join her?"

"Aeka's just a girl and Sasami will be all alone!" Tenchi stated.

"Well, you do have a point, sonny," Naruto somewhat agreed, "We'll just have to adjust and angle our flight path so that we don't want to get too hot upon re-entry, so hang on to your bridgework. Ready, my honey?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, Naruto, my love!" his wife affirmed as they gave each other a smooch on the lips and embraced themselves as they watched the view.

Tenchi and Sasami gulped for the thrill that the godparents are preparing to dish out as Ryo-ohki flipped over and used Ryu-oh as a shield for the re-entry.

The data readings warned Aeka as Kamidaké read, »Ryo-ohki's mass is growing abnormally.«

"Why aren't they under our control?" Aeka demanded an answer.

»They must have used the Ōken!« Azaka read out before part of the war unit exploded from the strain of the speed. The wanted criminals are intentionally damaging her ship's exterior and holding Sasami hostage.

"What are you doing? Attack them!" Aeka ordered.

»The situation is critical!« Azaka worriedly read.

»Descent velocity increasing,« Kamidaké stated, »Even if we fall to Earth, Ryu-oh cannot and will not escape without serious damage and we would get pulled into the vacuum of space.«

"How unreasonable those two are, taking Sasami with them," Aeka tries to keep her poise together, until Ryoko and Naruto open up a communications window, laughing at their enemy.

"Stop, Ryoko-san, Naruto-san! Desist this immediately!" Aeka pleaded as more pieces of the ship fell apart. "Even you won't be able to escape this unharmed. Say something!"

Ryoko and Naruto kept laughing and taunting their helpless enemy.

"Stop this immediately! I know you can hear me! Bring back Sasami right now!"

Ryoko made a funny face and Naruto gave Aeka the "red-eye" gesture and the "raspberries", telling her not to take a chance in whatever form of Hell they're in.

»20 seconds to Earth's surface!« Azaka read out as both ships descended over Okayama and a nearby bridge. Naruto slowed down the velocity to make themselves land at the ocean, but not stopping enough to give Aeka any leeway. Tenchi nearly screamed as he saw the Great Seto Bridge nearby.

"Explode the exterior war unit!" Aeka order and the outer part of Ryu-oh was jettisoned and the blast sent Ryo-ohki flying out of control as it skipped across the water, giving the passengers of both ships caught in a ride like going through a spin dryer, and they kept going and going until they crashed through the bridge and into the Masaki Lake through the last giant skip on the water.

-NNFNR-

[In the early morning hours, at the newly relocated Masaki Residence]

They barely have much sleep after everything happened in the middle of the night. Ryo-ohki is too badly damaged, so Naruto and Ryoko moved the house outside of the lake from its pocket dimension. They carried the tired-out Sasami to a nearby futon and took Aeka and her guardians as P.O.W.s (Prisoners of War), but had to leave Azaka and Kamidaké outside because they couldn't fit inside the house, and dragged the obstinately stubborn violette princess by the hair to an unused upstairs room and Naruto said, "I'll give you a moment for you to think it over your mistakes of terrorizing my godson's town and your unwarranted and unlawful capture and imprisonment on our persons. Maybe then, we'll let you save whatever's left of your ship. But in the morning, no more Mister Nice Guy. You get me?"

And the pirate couple left the room, leaving Aeka sitting in the futon, mulling and brooding over whatever she did that went totally wrong. What did she do to deserve such treatment by her enemies?

A few hours later, as the dawn broke through the night, the Masaki family, the Hakubis, and one young princess were having breakfast as the news reporter announces the details of the events that happened at 04:00 (Japan Time) and how the Great Seto Bridge was destroyed by what appears to be a meteor. Thankfully, there were no casualties. However, there's going to be some major traffic delays for a while.

Nobuyuki was eating his share and dullingly said, "Wow, take a look at that. It's a major story." He looked at his son and asked what made him rather depressed from all of the hullabaloo earlier. "Oh, cheer up, miboy! We got back home safely, didn't we? You should be thankful to your godparents for helping us. Right now, our house is not far from your grandfather's residence. But I think it's rather convenient, don't you think?"

"Have some of the natto, it's good for you," Ryoko said with a motherly tone, "You're lucky, Tenchi, because you didn't have a scratch. You really oughta be thanking us after taking care of you and protecting you at our personal risk."

However, Sasami stated, "But most of the impact was absorbed by our ship. So that's why you're alright."

"And that's why our landing point was off," Naruto said, "We were supposed to land on the nearest body of water without harming everybody from the arrival." He was typing up on his digitized PC* that a certain mother built into him on one hand and ate his share of breakfast at the table. He was working on a historical novel from what he witnessed to make some money under the pseudonym "Kurama", "Not to mention, we almost landed ourselves back in that cave, no thanks to your sister's hasty decision."

Nobuyuki wondered where the other girl went and Naruto and Ryoko pointed out where Aeka was at, trying to get what's left of Ryu-oh's ship out of the lake. She demandingly asked Sasami to help her, but the young skynette said, "But it's too big for us to handle. We'll never get it out."

"You buttered your bread when you started chasing us, Aeka-chan," Naruto said as he saved the data from his novel, "Now, you have to sleep in it."

And the final draft of the novel is digitally printed out in book format before double checking by the beta readers (that is, the Masaki family, and they were impressed by the detailed accuracy before the novel was to be published).

Aeka nearly blew her top and teared up as she ran back to the lake. "I just can't get stranded on a remote planet like this!" she cried to herself, "Oh, my ship, my Ryu-oh!"

But then, she tripped over and the wooden rubble that she carried was sent flying towards the floating remains of the ship, causing it to sink into the deep waters of the lake.

Aeka sobs as she finds herself utterly marooned on Planet Earth as soon as the crow cries from the forest.

"Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo..."

§

To be continued...=»

(* - It's a computer system the same way Washu uses that never gets viruses, trojans, worms, unwanted pop-ups or spyware that can corrupt a system, use separate disk systems or USB parts (which the latter part wasn't revolutionized yet) and constantly replace like the computers in those days. He focuses on things like analyzing the planets' ecosystem, type up projects just for kicks, recipes on different kinds of cuisine, lists of what they needed for what is necessary, etc. Not to mention, he can make certain things into reality, like the book he created, from what he learned from Professor Washu's videos, and he succeeded.)

A/N: Well, it took a while after finishing with my other stories. It was one distraction after distraction, checking for any errors in the stories.

Also to point out why I choose to make Ryoko and Naruto as godparents. One is to make Tenchi harem list a little lighter and eventually plan to integrate them into the Masaki/Jurai families to expand the gene pool, in a sense.

And you know about the strange relationships in the show, so we'll leave it at that.

The leaves may be falling, but the heat of the moment will be on!

- blukmage19