Chapter 3

Hello! Ryo-ohki-chan

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[Masaki Residence, a week after the last incident]

Aeka is tossing and turning in her sleep from the dream she has.

It was more of a vivid memory of her time with Yosho, her older half-brother.

[Inside her dreams]

Aeka is picturing herself as a young girl, being back in her home planet of Jurai, on a slightly cloudy evening with a full-moon lighting the golden fields on a starry night. She was playing out in the fields, making some laurels for herself and Yosho. But suddenly, she spotted a particular royal-purple flower known as the "Ōken-no-Namida" (Royal Teardrop), thinking it's just a pretty flower and she plucked it. That's when Yosho called out to her and she ran as fast as her little body could and she caught up to her older brother and placed the handmade laurel on top of his head, after he crouched down to her level.

Yosho then asked, "Why are you out here alone?"

"Because you went away, leaving me behind, Onii-sama," Aeka cutely replied.

And Yosho cheerfully swept little Aeka off her feet and carried her in style as Aeka shyly asked, "One day, when I grow up, I will become a bride, won't I, Onii-sama?"

"When you grow up," Yosho kindly answered.

Then Aeka shows Yosho the Ōken-no-Namida flower that matches the color of his eyes, thinking it's just a pretty flower as she placed it on the laurel. Yosho concerningly puts Aeka down and says something that utterly changed her life forever, "This flower...isn't supposed to be used for happy occasions."

And then, Aeka felt an unexpected shockwave from behind her as she saw Ryoko firing her bolt shots, shooting down a few warships and terrorizing the planet as she laughed maniacally as if she was like a puppet, due to her red, glowing eyes. She sees Yosho pursuing Ryoko while Naruto is defending the citizens from the attacks as he fights against a mysterious man wearing spectacles.

"You! Devil!" Yosho shouted in anger as he charged at Ryoko with the Oken no Tenchi.

Aeka stood up in her adult self and yelled, "Onii-sama! Wait! Take me with you!" But he couldn't hear her as he and Naruto pursued Ryoko and her battle craft Ryo-ohki.

Then Aeka kept on running in the vast darkness until she found not Yosho, but Tenchi instead, who then stated to her, "Yosho? He died a long time ago. I return this keepsake to you."

And he gives the Ōken no Tenchi to Aeka as she sees the blade glow and then it ceremoniously "burns" in her grasp.

And then Aeka woke up with a terrible scream, with tears streaming out of her eyes, and broke into a sweat, while Sasami was still snoozing without a care in the world.

-NNFNR-

[Elsewhere, in Naruto's and Ryoko's room, basement area]

Both Naruto and Ryoko Hakubi woke up from hearing Aeka screaming from one of her nightmares. They know of Yosho's real secretive identity, but they solemnly swore that they wouldn't dare to confess it to everybody else until the moment is right. Nevertheless, Naruto kissed Ryoko good morning like she was an angel, and said, "It's time, Darling."

"Yes, Dear," she agreed with a smile as they quickly got dressed to search the lake at the break of dawn. They were briefly watched by Aeka who is still disgusted with them about the moment she woke up. The couple walked on top of the water before they sank through the water's atomic structure (without getting wet) and looked through the rubble and found what appeared to be a black egg. Ryoko and Naruto cuddled the egg and they kissed each other before returning to the living room couch, still dry and not a drop of excess water on their person.

-NNFNR-

Sasami is trying to get her older sister to come out of the room, but Aeka stubbornly refuses to leave, "I...I don't want to!"

"Onee-sama!" Sasami scolded, "You've been staying in this room for about a week now, and Naruto-oniichan and Ryoko-neesan are trying to warm up to you after they accepted your apology. Enough is enough! The residents are going to think that we, Juraians, don't have the courtesy to greet somebody!"

"No, they wouldn't!" Aeka shot back out of habit, before calming down, "But the man of the house is out now, is he?"

"The father has left the house, but Tenchi-oniichan is at home. Onee-sama, this is getting hard on Sasami, you know."

Aeka apologized to her sister as she is the one who needed to be worried about such things and to take care of her only baby sister. And she straightened out her formal clothing as she exited the bedroom with Sasami close behind.

-NNFNR-

Sasami excitedly went down the stairs ahead of Aeka. The sound of footsteps got the attention of Ryoko and Naruto.

(Naruto sent his doubles to help with the publishing and to get some seeds for a garden set aside for a special someone. They also go to Tenchi's school (whatever's left of it) to gather a new set of books to help with his education. He also bought some books for Sasami's education, since she's still of school age (body and mental wise), as well as some cookbooks to tempt the palate of cuisines after watching some cooking shows from his enhanced galaxial antenna.)

Aeka is still displeased at what she thinks is an unpleasant sight, but Sasami dragged her out downstairs to get her to see Tenchi.

"Well, look who's here," Ryoko remarked.

"When I meant to keep Aeka-chan as a prisoner, Darling, I meant for her to enjoy her stay on Earth while she can," Naruto explained, "And not being completely confined in the house all the time. We thought that you're likely to end up being drop-dead, leaving your sister all alone, princess."

"Where's Tenchi-oniichan at?" Sasami curiously asked.

"Tenchi's outside for the moment to help with the plumbing," Naruto answered. He knows that because he and Ryoko inexplicably moved the residence to a different location.

Sasami is a bit disappointed, but then, she is curious about the egg that the Hakubis (mostly with Ryoko) were holding. "Hey, what have you got here? What is it?" she asked.

"Wanna know?" Ryoko questioned and Sasami excitedly affirmed. Aeka, however, still scoffed at the Hakubis' actions.

Naruto said to Sasami, "This little one was created this morning. Cute, isn't it?"

"Onee-chan, did you lay it?" Sasami asked a naïve and silly question.

"Are you calling us echidnas, little girl?" Naruto gave out a silly answer, making her even more curious.

Aeka reacted badly from what she witnessed and warned, "Sasami, you mustn't touch it!"

Just then, Tenchi entered the living room, wiping the sweat off his brow and noticed Aeka who noticed Tenchi and blushingly said to him, "Ah, p-please allow me to express my gratitude for your hospitality to the Jurai Royal Family... Anyway, I sincerely thank you."

And she gave a formal bow towards the young Masaki.

"Huh...oh, I... Yeah, sure," Tenchi nervously accepted.

"Come on, sonny-boy," Naruto called, "Be a man and put some courage into accepting her thanks. Don't be such a wimpy wuss!"

"Hey hey, Ojoō-san, would you want to know about this egg?" Ryoko playfully asked, making Aeka very high-strung.

"I have no intention of listening to your insults!" Aeka spat out as she flat out refuses, but then she nearly forgot about Sasami as she sees her younger sister holding the black egg, "What are doing, Sasami‽ You'll get germs from holding that!"

The skynette princess is rubbing her hand on the egg as she carefully holds it and says, "But...Ryoko-neechan's baby is going to be born. And Sasami's so wanted to see this." She turned to the couple and asked, "So, you two are married for how long?"

"Let me guess, just recently?" Aeka sarcastically asked and the Hakubis just laughed and then stopped as Naruto plainly said, "No, try 4,984 Stardate years, counting the 700 year stay on Earth, and it so happens to be around next month."

Tenchi and Aeka facefaulted like a sudden mental fireworks display has gone off from the sudden discovery as they witnessed one of the oldest living couples on the planet, if not the entire galaxy. Sasami was enthralled and she curiously asked, "So, who's the father?"

"But the better question, little girl, is who's going to be the godfather?" Naruto pointed out as he and Ryoko whispered into Sasami's ear, not letting anybody else hear what they're saying.

"...you see?" Ryoko finished whispering.

"Eh? Tenchi-oniichan's the one‽" Sasami loudly exclaimed, shocking Aeka from the surprise as she turned to Tenchi, who looked like he was left holding the bag as he questioned, "Huh? Wha - -? Aeka-san, are you all right?", as he sees the violette princess beginning to lose her temper.

"This is definitely NONE of your business," Aeka exclaimed while clenching her fist in rage, "Why don't you just go to those monster godparents of yours and hold that egg or whatever that is?"

"Egg?" Tenchi naïvely questioned, "What are you talking about?"

Ryoko moved closer to Tenchi while holding the egg and said, "Can you believe it, Tenchi? It's a product of our love together - my husband and I. We're both happy for the child we're bearing."

"Ch-child‽" Tenchi exclaimed from the suddenness.

"You get to be the godfather, so hold on to it tightly, miboyo," Naruto singsonged as he gives his godson a slight pat on the back before giving him the egg.

"It won't be long now~" both Hakubis singsonged.

The suspense is building and Tenchi is still left in the dark about what kind of black egg he's holding as he feels something moving inside, ready to hatch. Is it like a bird? A fish? Or mayhaps a hideous monster?

The egg heated up intensely as it started to crack, to reveal...a foot. A rabbit-like creature's leg to be specific. The sudden surprise made Tenchi drop the container that somehow amazed young Sasami as she watched the hatchling make meowing noises as it drew its first breath. The small baby creature looked like a it's crossing between a rabbit and a cat.

(It's more like having a lower body structure, legs, and a tail like a rabbit's and a head of a cat, and a unique pair of long ears that's more cat-like. But it was just born, so the ears will droop for a while. This specimen is what people called...a cabbit.)

It blindly uses its nose to check its surroundings as Ryoko picked up the newborn cabbit and petted it and gleefully said, "Come here, my sweet Ryo-ohki-chan."

"Ryo...ohki‽" Tenchi sputtered, "Your spaceship? Then that's the child of..."

The Hakubis laughed at the hilarity.

Aeka sternly questioned Ryo-ohki's origin and Naruto said, "You better believe it, princess."

"This is the original Ryo-ohki's child," Ryoko explained.

"So a spaceship can have a baby?" Sasami asked.

"Only Ryo-ohki can do such a feat, little girl," Naruto chuckled as he explained, "Our ship was a total wreck, so it reproduced itself. You must be out of your mind to think that it's Tenchi's offspring, but not as crazy for him to be the godfather. *Ha ha ha!*"

"Uh-huh, Sasami thought that was kind of strange, too," Sasami agreed.

But Aeka just couldn't take the joke and madly exclaimed, "You're mean, every last one of you! You're all just making fun of me!" And she angrily walked out of the living room, but Tenchi tried to reason with her and said, "Ano...Aeka-san, we weren't trying to hurt you. At least I'm not."

"I wouldn't do that," Naruto quietly warned as he and the witnesses saw Aeka give Tenchi a slap on his cheek to release her as she tearfully said, "You're just like all the other jokers. Why don't you go have a good time with your fossil godparents of yours?"

Ryoko chuckles from the scene because she and Naruto knew that it served him right. And Naruto thinks that the princess is taking things a little too seriously and he telepathically said to Ryoko, {Darling, maybe we went a little too far, you know.}

{Maybe so, Honey,} his wife communicated, {But she just bumped into Yosho-san. She'll eventually have to learn the truth about him, someday.}

-NNFNR-

Then Ryo-ohki (revealed to be a female) started to open her eyes and started climbing up the couch and she rolled over onto the seats. As she licked herself to wash like a cat, Ryo-ohki looked at Sasami and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship as she climbed on Sasami's shoulder and caressed her cheek. They looked so happy together.

-NNFNR-

The Hakubis stretched as they yawned from getting up early in the morning. "She sure has a knack for curing the monotony, that Princess," Ryoko said to Tenchi.

"You...What kind of mischief are you two up to now?" Tenchi felt annoyed as he questioned, "Don't you have any considerable conscience at all?"

The godparents went to their godson as Naruto said, "Of course we do, sonny. You just have to learn not to take life too seriously, because you'll never get out of it alive." And he gives his godson with quick nudges of his elbow and with clicks of his tongue.

"And you're just a sweet godson," Ryoko enamoredly said as she hugged Tenchi in a strangely "motherly" manner, "You're so sweet to be SO concerned about your godparents. So, Tenchi, where's the blade?"

"I gave it back to Aeka-san," he answered.

*Aooo-gah!*

"You idiot!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed Tenchi's cheeks with both of his hands, comedically squishing them, "That princess is holding other gems that hold my darling's power source!"

"What if she uses it?" Ryoko exclaimed worryingly, "Oh, I feel faint… Oh-hoh, oh-hoh..." And she backed away until she bumped into Katsuhito (that is, Yosho) as he shamelessly put his hands on Ryoko's breasts and said, "Well, well. Second time I bumped into a young woman. Must be my lucky day."

"Grand...pa‽ When did you…?" Tenchi stammeringly questioned.

Ryoko moved Katsuhito's hands off of her chest and yelled, "Dirty old man!" And she was about to deliver a punch to him, but Naruto blocked it with his open palm and caught the blow and said, "Ah-ah-ah. Darling, you mustn't do that to the old goat. He's "venerable", you know."

"Right..." Ryoko mockingly agreed as she rolled her eyes.

Naruto turned to Katsuhito and angrily said with a beastly growl, "Hands off my prey, Grandpa!"

"Well, your wife really is a spry young lady, Naruto-san," the elderly man admitted and then he saw Ryo-ohki on top of Sasami's head and asked, "Now then, this must be Tenchi's godchild, is it?" And he rubbed the cabbit's chin.

"Not really, Jii-chan," Sasami said, "This is Ryo-ohki. She just hatched from an egg."

Katsuhito patted both the girl and cabbit's heads and said to Tenchi, "Now that you're an anointed godfather of a child..."

"Just what are you getting at, Jii-chan?" Tenchi adamantly argued, denying that the cabbit is even related to him.

"You have to take responsibility for taking care of the little one," Katsuhito explained, "You've got a long, bumpy road ahead of you before becoming a parent."

"That's not my child, nor it's my godchild!" Tenchi denied, "Oh! Just forget it, I'm going outside!" And he walks away.

"Tenchi, don't forget your practice this afternoon," the elder reminded.

"Onii-chan..." Sasami concerningly said.

"Don't worry about him, he takes after his late mother. He's the serious type."

"I'm going outside, too," Naruto said, "No need to be lazing around the house when there's a lot of work to do. Have fun with Ryo-chan."

Ryoko agreed as she joined her husband as they traveled through the house to the fields.

Then Ryo-ohki jumped off of Sasami and scampered to the glass screen door and bumped into it. She and Sasami looked outside to see Aeka watching over the lake. Ryo-ohki molecularly went through the glass with ease, but Sasami couldn't pull the feat as she bumped her head on it, "Ow-ouch!"

-NNFNR-

[Outside, at the Masaki Lake]

Aeka is watching the remains of her ship, Ryu-oh, trapped in the deep waters of the lake, as she is unable to leave back home in Jurai, not knowing where Yosho is either in hiding or presumably... She began to sob from hopelessness, not knowing that Ryo-ohki was next to her feet, as she felt sorry for the woman. And as the baby cabbit rubbed against Aeka's ankles, the princess became frightened as if Ryo-ohki is a mouse and she lifted her dress to avoid jumping onto the little critter. And then, she stopped to see the cabbit trying to get her attention.

"Meow!"

"Ryo-ohki!" Aeka nearly had herself acting so silly and then she tried to shoo the cabbit off, "Sh! Sh! Go away, you dirty little thing!"

"Meow?" Ryo-ohki mewed as she drew closer to Aeka, the princess backed off. A few paces later, Aeka then said, "All right then, you just stay right here and I'LL be the one to go away. Now don't you dare follow me."

And as Aeka climbed the stone steps, Ryo-ohki just followed not far behind her. As Aeka told the little cabbit not to follow her and Ryo-ohki hid herself in the greens.

Suddenly, Aeka noticed that next to Ryo-ohki was the Royal Teardrop flower and she plucked it. It reminds her of Yosho and her home planet of Jurai. "No, it couldn't be," she murmured to herself.

"It matches the color of your eyes."

"One day, when I grow up, I will become a bride, won't I, Onii-sama?"

Aeka never felt this depressed since the uneventful separation of her only elder half-brother. And she cried as some of her tears fell on her dress and then on Ryo-ohki, who was trying to comfort her. "Leave me alone," she stifled as she covered her face, "Please, just leave me alone."

Ryo-ohki sadly walked away for a moment, until she started to sniff around for a flower to help cheer poor Aeka up and she held a plucked red and white flower in her mouth and gave it to the violette princess. Aeka knew that hating little Ryo-ohki was actually lying to herself as she petted the cabbit.

-NNFNR-

[In Aeka and Sasami's room]

Ryoko had just finished her fighting session and the gardening with her double as peeped into their room to find the blade. She checked the unique drawers, wondering where Aeka hid it. And then she looked at the holographic picture of Yosho in his prime. She knows that he's still here, incognito, as an old man. But her search for her precious item has to be halted because she hears Sasami calling out for her older sister and she teleports through the wall.

-NNFNR-

[Back with Aeka Ryo-ohki]

"So, tell me, what should I do now?" Aeka asked the young and pampered cabbit, "With my spaceship out of commission I can neither fly nor communicate with my people. The only clue I have is the blade. I wonder..." She looked into the lake in the distance. "...could my brother really be... Oh, but you don't understand the words I said."

But then Ryo-ohki scampered off to point Aeka out to something as the princess followed the cabbit. As she called for Ryo-ohki, Aeka came across a training field and climbed up a tree to see where Tenchi was practicing his swings against a tethered piece of wood while trying not to trip on the wooden obstacles on the ground.

"Tenchi, watch your feet," Katsuhito warned, and sure enough, Tenchi missed that footing and slipped, right into his back, without getting poked by the stumbling sticks, as Naruto dimensionally uses his hands to drag him out of the small field without injuring the apprentice too much as he tosses Tenchi onto the flat plain.

"Try harder, nitwit," Naruto commented, "If you give the enemy an inch, he or she will surely kill you."

Then both grandfather and grandson positioned themselves with the "basic patterns" while Naruto acted as the witness.

While Aeka notices the beginning of the routine, Katsuhito says, "Ready!"

"Hai!" Tenchi replied as both warriors charged at each other with their bokken blades.

The scene where Aeka was watching reminds her of Yosho and his fighting styles and routines of the Royal Juraian Family. And when she was about one step closer to the whereabouts, the branch she was supposed to be hanging onto suddenly gave way and broke off as she screamed on the way down with a thud. And when Tenchi heard the disturbance, Katsuhito conked his grandson with a weird pose and then he asked, "What's the matter, Tenchi? You're a sitting duck!"

"Old man, I'm sure that this isn't part of your routine, now is it?" Naruto asked.

"Nope," Katsuhito plainly answered.

And Tenchi looked to see Aeka...in an awkward position as part of her dress was revealing her legs and he smacked himself in the face in embarrassment.

"Yeee-ouuuch! Why must I suffer from this kind of disgrace?" Aeka rhetorically asked and hastily covered her privates when she saw Tenchi witnessing the incident.

When Tenchi moved down the embankment, he saw Aeka injured from the fall, leaving her with a gash on her leg and a twist on her ankle. He realizes that she can bleed just like any human would have.

And before Aeka asked Tenchi's grandfather about his sword training, Naruto quickly summoned some bandages and some astringent to wipe the wounds off of Aeka. He warned that the injury was going to sting for a moment as he poured the disinfectant onto the cut and then wrapped the bandages and some splints to support the bad sprain and to cover the wound.

Katsuhito warned Tenchi that Aeka is not to be using her foot for a while until it heals for at least a week and that she has to get to the house promptly.

Naruto then says that he needs to check on Ryoko to see if she didn't get herself into trouble and tells him that there's a shed nearby because the rains are coming in fast. He also said to keep a look out for Ryo-ohki, because she can't resist a particular food item.

Tenchi didn't understand what the Beast-man godfather meant as the men of wisdom made their way back to the respective houses, leaving Tenchi alone with Aeka.

-NNFNR-

And soon enough, it hit! A sudden downpour is drenching the Okayama countryside.

[In the Masaki residence]

Ryoko and Naruto are lying next to each other on the couch, feeling rather tired from watching the showers outside.

"Ryoko-neechan. Naruto-oniichan. Please stop the rain," Sasami requested, "My sister and the others are still outside."

Naruto turned to Sasami and plainly explained with some melancholy, "Little Miss, you're asking the wrong person for this kind of question."

"Heeeh... You got to realize that this planet doesn't have its own weather control system, so I'm afraid we can't help you on that," Ryoko added.

"And Aeka-chan still has the blade with her," he included, "Maybe Tenchi will win her over to give it up somehow. It'll be a win-win situation for Tenchi and for us."

"Oh, Darling, you are such a genius!" the wife gleefully praised her husband with a kiss. Of course, they had to stop for a moment, because Sasami was watching them and he asked, "Do...me a little favor, will you, Sasami-chan? Go and...hop it to the kitchen and help get dinner ready? My Honey and I are going to have a moment to ourselves for a... private session in the showers."

He summoned forth two doubles - one to help her with the cooking and the other to practice playing with a European-style mandolin to appropriate the setting. And both the Hakubis went to the bath-room to take a much needed shower to reinvigorate themselves and another "lesson in love" together.

(Confidentially, the Naruto double is playing "Mandolin Rain" and other tunes fashioned for the instrument.)

-NNFNR-

[At the shed]

Tenchi took Naruto's advice and carried Aeka inside to get out of the rain, just in the nick of time. He set her down on the bench and removed his shirt and his towel around his shoulders. Aeka blushed at Tenchi's bare chest. So the young Masaki found a box full of kindling timber and set it at the open area at the center and used a lighter to ignite the low-smoking wood as a makeshift fireplace to keep Aeka warm while Tenchi waits outside as the former undresses herself - from the obi (sash), the kimono slip, the irotomesode, and then the hiyoku, until she is down to her nagajuban.

(Aeka is more of a traditionalist kind of woman that wears multiple layers of thin clothing, the way middle-to-high class young women formally wear in the olden days of Japan.)

As she was wiping some of the rainwater off of herself, she heard something crawling around the shed - a small creature with a pair of yellow eyes hopping and jumping around until it landed on Aeka's chest, making her give off a terrible shriek that got Tenchi's attention. When they calmed down, they realized that it was Ryo-ohki that lunged at Aeka, nearly giving her a sheer heart attack. The little cabbit is feeling very lonely as she mewed. But by the time the two people got themselves a little too close, Aeka and Tenchi felt surprisingly closer than ever. To break the ice of uncertainty, Aeka invited Tenchi to come near the fire, where it's warm.

While Ryo-ohki was roaming around, Aeka confessed, "I guess I must have misunderstood certain things about you. Since you were with Ryoko and Naruto, I thought that you were one of their crew members."

"Well, we weren't," Tenchi replied, "But I think it all started when I opened the gate."

"The gate?" Aeka asked.

"Nearby, there's a cave where my godparents were locked in it."

"My dear brother must've done it."

"Yosho...that's what the records said. Can I ask you something? What are you going to do now?"

"I know I cannot return back to my home planet now. I must continue the search for my dear brother... Only, it's hard for me, since I have no known relatives on this alien planet."

"Aeka-san, Please stay with us as long as you like!" Tenchi pleaded, "I'm the one responsible for all of this. And besides, we're "related", too...I guess."

"Yosho is my half-brother," Aeka explained, "You may think that it's rather odd to marry your closest relative, but even though my parents arranged the engagement, and he's already married to my grandmother's secretary, but I was still happy about it."

-Explanation-

To elucidate, Aeka and Yosho have the same father, but have different mothers. Because of the laws of royalty, they were to be betrothed to each other by their parents' arrangement to keep the bloodline..."pure". Aeka doesn't know the whole truth that belies in the marriage and love with those that she cherished. To compensate for the problem, young Aeka consensually let herself be genetically modified to be closest to the person that she wished to be; in this case, to be more like her stepmother, Funaho.

-End Explanation-

"But just...just to think that I won't be able to share this feeling with him. I don't... I don't know what to do anymore..." And Aeka sobbed, knowing that her quest is beginning to become seemingly hopeless.

Then, Tenchi surmises, "His ship... It must have been destroyed, much like yours was... That must be it. And he was forced to..." (Aeka looked at Tenchi with tear-stained eyes.) "Well, so...you should... Cheer up! You should cheer up!" And that made the poor princess feel a whole lot better.

Ryo-ohki came by near Tenchi trying to get his attention. She seemed to be fascinated by a basket of carrots. So he picked one up and tossed one to the floor and the cabbit gave off the soulful eyes as she appreciated the vegetable that she liked as she started eating it like a rabbit.

"I can't believe you grow up to be a spaceship, right?" Tenchi asked the little cabbit and she replied with a simple, "Meow."

-NNFNR-

The rain had finally let up as the campfire was put out as Tenchi helped carry Aeka back to the house. As he walked the pathway, Ryo-ohki carried a bunch of carrots on her back. Tenchi was thinking about visiting his godparents' former tomb in the cave, but Aeka pointed to the "Sacred Tree of the Masaki Shrine" first. It was said that if a person makes a wish on a full moon, it will come true, or if one prays for rain, it can happen. So Tenchi takes Aeka to the tree.

-NNFNR-

[At the "Sacred Tree"]

Tenchi set Aeka down on one of the roots of the Sacred Tree as she investigated it. "No doubt about it. This is Funaho, named after Dear Brother's mother," she explained, "Like my Ryu-oh, this is the heart and soul of the ship.

"So this tree can turn into a spaceship?" Tenchi questioned.

"No," Aeka answered, "This tree had taken root. It won't become a spaceship now." And she uses the Ōken blade and tapped Funaho's trunk and the energy from the blade connects itself to the tree as it begins to glow and plays back the memory projected in front of Tenchi and Aeka.

The memory shows Yosho with Naruto as the Juraian pilots Funaho while pursuing an out-of-control Ryoko and Ryo-ohki as they come across Earth.

Then the memory shows Yosho and Naruto (in his Zoanthrope Fox Form) fighting against Ryoko. The damaged warship fired piercing bolt shots past Ryo-ohki's shielding, causing it to be scuttled as it and some of the missed shots created craters on the land, inadvertently forming the lakes and rivers flowing throughout present day Okayama, Japan.

And finally, the battle-worn Naruto shouted to Yosho, who is suffering from a minor head wound, "Hurry! Go for the throat! Don't worry about me, just do it!", as he binds himself with the wild Ryoko, preventing her from causing any more harm to Yosho and the other witnesses. And the Juraian aimed his blade at both the Hakubi's necks and stabbed them through. The Ōken blade extracted the gem from Ryoko's throat and absorbed it into the pommel as Naruto and Ryoko's lives "left" their bodies. They were later buried into a tomb inside a cave where they were laid to rest.

The playback was finished as Aeka knows that Yosho is still alive somewhere on this planet. And then she apologizes to Tenchi, "Forgive me. I've been very cruel to you." And she returns the blade to him and explains, "I learned that you are indeed related by the Royal Blood of the Juraian Family. I am asking you to help protect us until my dear brother is found."

Tenchi barely knows how to handle the Ōken properly, as he was given the responsibility by the violette princess. But then, Sasami and Ryo-ohki came by, as they were walking the stepping stones. The skynette girl asked Aeka where she had been, as she had been worried about them after being stuck in the rain.

"I'm sorry, Sasami," Aeka apologized, "Did you come all this way by yourself?"

"Mm-mm," the younger sister said, "Naruto-oniichan and Ryoko-oneechan are with me and then Ryo-ohki-chan meet us halfway."

And the cabbit climbed on Sasami's shoulder with a confident "Meow".

"Well, well," Naruto remarked, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that those two have finally gotten along with each other. Isn't it, Darling?"

"It certainly is a friendly atmosphere, Honey," Ryoko agreed as Tenchi and the girls saw the Hakubis walking on the water and then teleported next to the young Masaki.

Naruto put his elbow lightly on Tenchi's shoulder and said, "I guess you took my advice and used the shed for shelter, didn't you?"

"We couldn't make it back to the house, so, yeah," Tenchi admittingly agreed.

"And you got the blade back from Aeka-san, after convincing her?" Ryoko noticed as she gave her godson a pat on the shoulder, "Well done."

"Actually, I returned the blade to Tenchi," the princess elucidated.

After a pause, Ryoko chuckled as questioned, "Was there something that we missed out on?"

"Tenchi and I are related by blood," Aeka said, "It's really none of your business."

"None of our business‽" Naruto exclaimed with Ryoko fuming with electrical sparks, "We came all this way to help you and this is the thanks that we get?"

Then the Hakubi couple sarcastically said together, "Well, excuuu~se me!" And they teleported to a different location.

Sasami felt rather sorry for them, while both Tenchi and Aeka exclaimed, "To help us‽"

Then Tenchi called out, "Hey, Ryoko! Naruto! It's all a big misunderstanding. We didn't mean any harm!"

But Aeka said, "Forget them for now, let's go."

"But you never know what they're going to do when they get upset," Tenchi stated.

"Oh? And here I thought you were going to protect us," Aeka sarcastically retorted, and she requested Tenchi to carry her back to the house.

Sasami and Ryo-ohki gave out a sighing remark as they enjoyed the sunny skies of Planet Earth.

§

To be continued...=»

Omaké

Aeka's Alternate Nightmare

* "What if…" Citrus Warning *

While having a strange dream, Aeka was naked as she was in a comfortable, wooden bed. But what she thought was Yosho was actually Naruto who said, "Don't you remember? Yosho-san promised to help you bear a child to carry on your family legacy after he suffered a fatal wound."

Aeka wanted to refuse, but then her body was moving on its own as she kissed her new lover in her hypnotized state. She was touched, kissed, and ministrated in her most sensitive, erotic areas.

{"No… No…! No! Please, no~!"} Aeka's thoughts were telling her mind at the point of tearing up, but her body wouldn't let her do so as her breasts were caressed and kneaded at the point where her nipples were erected and Naruto playfully licked and sucked them. The sadness was replaced with coos, moans, and orgasms as the man's hands started touching downwards to her hips and buttocks as he groped them like they're soft pillows.

Then Aeka noticed that she is lying on her back as her crotch is being ministrated and her entire womanhood is exposed section by section until inner labia is exposed, showing her vagina. Naruto fingered and rubbed until the princess felt like she wanted to release something wet and let out an orgasm as she sprayed her juices from her body.

Aeka's mind is starting to befuddle her. She wanted Yosho to be her one and only, but Naruto is something else, even though (in her own mind) the dangerous man is practically raping her. She wanted to move, but somehow her body was nearly becoming doll-like. But one thing is bothering the Princess. Where in the world is Ryoko hiding, even though he's still married?

That was when she noticed another Naruto carrying an equally aroused Ryoko, in her partially transformed state (the cat's tail), being held by the legs, parallel to his body.

Naruto said to Aeka, "Ryoko-darling wanted to have children, too. And there are some people that wanted in on this too."

And more of Naruto doubles held another Ryoko with a different hairstyle holding onto her lover like a monkey as her cat-tail is showing a heart-shape, an unfamiliar brown and furry woman with a bunny's tail that is mewing from her womanhood and her breasts being touched, then a tealette-haired woman that looked nothing like Sasami has a face that looked like she's lost her sanity, with her eyes looking upwards and her is mumbling nonsensical words that sounded like she's enjoying herself.

But what shocked Aeka is that she sees a naked, skynette-haired girl that looked more grown up than her younger sister, Sasami. The woman was laid on the floor in a missionary position as another of Naruto's doubles is readying himself as the skynette gave her consent and the beast-man puts his manhood in her sacred spot. The other doubles soon followed as they rammed their lovers' womanhoods and all the women made a cacophony of many ecstatic voices, moans, and squeaks.

And Aeka was the last to join as she felt her hymen tore through coitus, with the proof of her virginity being lost as it spilled onto Naruto's manhood. And the lovers kept on pushing, bouncing, and kissing until they started to cum, and the women screamed at the climax as the sperm was being pumped into their wombs.

They kept going for another round or two until they cried "oji" (uncle), saying that they gave up as the Narutos pulled out, and the contents of spermatozoa and vaginal juices were spilling out to the floor.

Aeka couldn't believe that she was being impregnated by her archrival and nemesis, even though it felt so good. But then, something strange is happening to her body as her womb is starting to swell and expand, as she is starting to have the urge to push the baby out. She started seeing the other women birthing out the new life and it turned out to be big, black eggs the size of ostriches' eggs. And Aeka soon followed suit as she painfully pushed out the black egg of her body.

But just as things couldn't get any weirder, the eggs started to heat up and hatch.

The furry woman's giant egg hatched triplet girls that looked like herself, the tealette-haired woman's egg hatched out a boy that looked like his mother, then Sasami's egg hatched out a baby girl that looked like as cute as her mother when she was younger, the 2 Ryokos held the eggs in their arms as they hatched at the same time, and the first has a girl that looked almost identical to her mother and the other is a baby boy that looked like his daddy. The babies were carried, and were suckling their mothers' breasts, with the furry woman's triplet given to Sasami to help nurse her youngling.

Then, Aeka's egg soon followed as it was passed to its mother. The egg cracked and 2 lifeforms were hatched, revealed to be fraternal twin girls that looked like herself (after the modifications) and Ryoko as they started crawling and found their mother's darkened nipples and started suckling them.

Aeka couldn't help but cry out as she ended up being a mother and stepmother to 9 children (counting her 2). However, the cries of the babies didn't sound like usual humanoid babies, they sounded like... cats...‽

"Meow!"

And then…

She woke up.

Aeka checked her body for anything out of the ordinary and found Sasami sleeping on a separate futon.

Little did the princess know, she was going to get a rude awakening when Ryo-ohki entered the Masaki family household.

A/N: Well, another day, another writer's block.

But I digress, you noticed that I somewhat changed the scenarios a bit, but I'm trying to stay close to canon. It proves that I'm just a regular writer wanting to make an adaptational point of quality. Also, about Aeka's attire, I could be wrong, but researching what articles of clothing that she wore can be complicated in explaining which pieces of clothing goes where, besides the kimono and the obi sash. How she and possibly even other women formally wear many layers of lightweight clothing is not for me to explain. Just look it up.

Also, if you think there wouldn't be any conflict between Aeka and Ryoko, you better think again. They'll fight like a mother-in-law feuding against her daughter-in-law from time to time, And keep in mind, I'm using the Ryo-ohki timeline and not its branch-off continuities, so characters like Nagi, Ken-ohki, Kiyone (Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo), and even the characters from the Pretty Sammy and Magical Girl series are likely out of the question. Although it's a good suggestion, I'm not planning on using them just yet. Not without the additional material, that is.

The heat of the moment will be on!

- blukmage19