Little Lord Tenchi...

Author: Daferge

The characters in this story and the events of all the Tenchi Muyo shows are property of AIC and Pioneer. I have neither created them, nor do I own them.

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chapter -04 ... First night...

( Tenchi's room... )

It was bad enough having to 'fight off' his sister trying to get him ready for bed, it seem there were now a number of the female staff members to help him get ready...

As in helping him remove his clothes and fixing him a bath at the end of a long day...

It seem that like his rich uncle's family back in Boston, the Earl also had indoor plumbing...

He had spent many a night going out to the small shed out back of the building his family lived in...

Here there was a whole room you went to clean up...

There was the odd seat in the corner you sat on, across from the huge cast tub...

Unlike the copper one he was use to, this one was up on legs with heated water!...

And it was waiting for him, after he got undressed...

The floor of the 'Bath room' had a tile floor, made of the same stuff the plates at dinner had been made of...

Washu had said that the material was much easier to keep clean than the wooden floors back in Boston...

She had mentioned a fellow scientist who had done some research and come up with all these ideas about how to help people live longer, healthier lives...

Some french man named Pasteur?...

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Washu had smiled and shown him to his room, after the stop at the unusual room...

The seat and what it was for had his eyes wide, his sister and cousin had both snickered at him...

It seem that they had a better understanding of how the well-to-do lived...

Two of the staff were there, lighting candles, as it was beginning to get dark...

His bed clothes were already set out for him on his bed and only after his sister promise to help him did he agree to take the bath...

Also, with her there, he assure Washu that he didn't need the two staff members...

Smiling, Washu had sent the girls off to attend to other, while his sister gathered his bed clothes and led him back through the door to the tub...

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After every one was gone and they were alone, Tennyo pressed him against the tub and spoke her mind, as she had for as long as he'd been alive...

" Now... Mister, I can do it ALL my self!... "

He sighed, this was going to be a LONG one...

" This is an entirely different world you are now in... And you are going to have to make do... "...

She paused, making sure she had his attention...

" There was a lot of things you were able to get away with over there, that you won't over here... And allowing the staff to do their duty and work is one of them... If you have a problem, talk to me or Washu about it and we'll handle it... In a sense you were telling those two that you didn't trust them... They pride themselves in their work and it's important to them... "...

She saw he had his hand up, he had a question...

" You and Mayuka I'm use too... Even if I believe that I can get myself bathed and dressed... "

She stood there, not replying, but not stopping him ether...

" Some how I've been removed from the life I once knew and dropped into this newer, much stranger one... "

They looked each other in the eye...

He wasn't the only one leaving a lot behind...

" All so that I can step into grandfather's place if some thing happens to him... "

She knew he knew that wasn't an 'if', but a 'when'...

She sighed...

" OK... I'll step out so you can remove your clothes and put them on the back of the chair... "

She gestured to a wooden chair next to the wall, next to the sink...

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The sink was something new too...

All his life he had used a pitcher of water and a bowl to wash up with, this sink was different...

A 'tap' provided water to the sink, a larger, fixed bowel that had a hole in the bottom...

A rubber 'plug' on a chain closed the hole and held the water in for use...

When done, pull the chain, open the hole and the water would go down the hole and through metal pipe to the out side...

No more having to toss the water out the window...

Washu had said the tub worked the same way, only much bigger...

Water was pumped to the floor above and gravity would bring it down...

There was even a small boiler up there, to heat the water for the bath...

No more heating buckets of water on stoves or in fire places, then toting it to the tub...

Tenchi shook his head, there was so much to learn...

And he began to undo his shirt buttons...

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( Jurai Manor... )

It had been a long day as Washu walked the dark halls with a small candle one last time...

It was lighter than an oil lamp and easier to handle...

With any luck, the 'generator' she'd designed would be finished next month and with help from a few old friends, parts of the manor would have that new electric lighting for the new year...

But only the main rooms down stairs...

The bed room and upper rooms would have to wait til they could afford more of that expensive copper wiring and those glass bulbs...

London had only recently build it's own power plant a few years ago and they were still 'wiring' the city...

Electricity was first installed in the Ball Room of Buckingham Palace in 1883...

And it had taken a number of years to extend it throughout the rest of the Palace...

A good friend in Germany was building the generator for her, in exchange for her plans...

There was a good chance he'd even build her a second one if thing worked out...

Thou known for their armaments, the Krupp family did other stuff too...

Perhaps this would let her friend get away from all that weapons making...

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Usually she would have had some quiet time in her lab, which was almost like sleep...

But today she had been on the move from the very moment she got up...

And today she had even gotten up an hour earlier to get a head start on the day...

The new heir, a young boy from America would be arriving with his family...

They had stayed over night in London and would be coming by early train, then carriage to the estate...

They'd had over a week to get ready, ever since the Earl's lawyer had wired them that the new heir had accepting the title and was indeed coming...

The problems began the day before, when the Earl had informed her that he had to move back into London for a while and was going to need to take much of the staff...

Any where the Earl was for more than a few day, he would need them to take care of where he was staying...

It was short notice, but it wasn't the first time...

Since taking over as head of the staff, she had lost count of how many emergencies had come up...

The last had been earlier in the year when she answered the door and found the Queen and her whole entourage standing there...

NOW, that was as close to having a heart attack as she ever wanted to come...

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Near the main stairs she stopped and faced a dark area next to the stairs...

" Can I help you?... You seem to be waiting for some one?... "

She heard a soft chuckle as a dark figure stepped closer...

" Still have good eyes... Little Washu... "

Washu's eyes widened, only the Earl's children had ever called her that, but they were all dead...

Her mouth fell open...

Except for...

Lady Minaho Masaki Jurai, the Earl's oldest and only surviving daughter stepped into the light of the small candle, smiling...

She reached over and lifted Washu's jaw, closing her mouth...

" I see you haven't forgotten me... "

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( Later... )

With her small oil lantern, Washu was using one of the secret tunnels she seldom used, as they went back to the Earl's children's rooms...

And none of these rooms had been used since the eldest son died...

Until now...

The Earl's oldest daughter had returned and quietly moved back into her room...

Washu hadn't seen or heard from her since she went to America years before with her Ladyship for her sister's funeral...

She hadn't returned and her Ladyship said nothing...

Only recently did she discover why...

At her mother's suggestion and with her brother-in-law's permission, she'd taken a position as nanny to her sister's son and daughter...

Only the two knew who she was and where she was...

Now she had come home again...

Perhaps the family would begin to heal...

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Passing the door to an old secret room, she noted that it was slightly ajar, indicating recent entry...

Entering she looked around the tiny room, it had been a secret get-a-way place, where members of the family could be alone when need be...

An old bookshelf, empty and a small table with chair were all that was in there...

A small lantern and a stack of papers on the table caught her eye...

They hadn't been there the last time she was here, a month or so ago...

Noting that the there was writing on the papers, she also noticed the ink bottle and pen over to the side...

Some one had been using the room recently and standing close, her eyes went to the words on the papers...

As she read, her eyes widened and a smile formed on her lips...

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Once she started she couldn't stop, this was dangerous stuff...

She knew of at least two female who should never know of this, much less read it...

The handwriting gave the writer away, as did the cologne in the air...

" It seems some one was spying on the males of the family, when they were telling wild stories about their recent adventures... "...

She turn to face a figure in the corner...

Their head was down as they stepped into the light... Sasami Masaki Jurai had a smile on her face as she looked up as Washu...

" What do you think?... "...

Washu tilted her head slightly as she continued to smile...

" I believe I should inform Lady Seto that some one knows about these secret passages!... "

Sasami smiled and giggled...

" Who do you think showed them to me?... "

Washu closed her eyes and sighed, why was she not surprised?...

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Sasami continued...

" It's only a rough draft... You did suggest I do some writing... "

Washu sighed again, eyes still closed...

" You like to cook... I was thinking a cook book!... "

Sasami smiled...

" But this seem like more fun... I'll need some one to check my spelling and grammar before I try to publish it... "

Washu's eye's snapped open, some one had made up their mind, never a good sign...

" Publish it?... "

Sasami's smile got even bigger...

" Not under my own name, of course... Perhaps a pen name like that famous American author, Mr. Clemens uses, Mark Twain I believe it is... "

Washu sighed before replying...

" Not the only name change I suggest... And some real editing of your descriptions if you want some real publisher to even consider it... "

Sasami giggled again...

" Of course, silly... I just used Ayeka and Ryokos name in this 1st version to rough out the basic story and get a feel for it... "

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Washu sighed as she looked at the first line on the first page and read it out loud...

" Lady Ayeka Masaki Jurai wondered if this was a fantasy or a nightmare... She knew it couldn't be reality... She couldn't really be here, deep within the heart of darkest Afrika, on a dark night, standing before a raging bonfire, in the arms of the most amazing, strong and handsome male... "

It was the sentences that followed that Washu was sure certain other females in the manor should never, ever see...

" It may take a while to write, years in fact... But, how does Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan of the Apes sound?... "

Washu smiled and sighed once more, looking at the title at the top of that 1st page...

" Much better than 'Tenchi of the Apes'... "

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( Another Room... )

Suddenly Tenchi's eyes were open and he sat up in his new very large bed...

He looked around the darkened room, but there was nothing there...

So why did he feel as if some one had just tossed ice water on him?...

Sighing, he lay back down, under the layers of thick warm blankets...

It must be that he was still getting use to sleeping in a strange place...

Like aboard ship and at the room in London last night...

It would just take a little time...

He sighed and closed his eyes...

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To be continued...

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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...

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