Masaki Family Secrets...
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Masaki Family Secrets...
Chapter 03... Time and Masakis...
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( The Masaki living room... )
The family was gathered in the living room to watch TV in the late evening...
Tenchi was on the couch, Ayeka on one side, Ryoko on the other, Mihosho sitting on the floor, her head in his lap, as usual...
At the moment, all three were asleep...
Washu sat in his usual chair, gently rocking the family's treasure, Tenchi's baby daughter, Mayuka in her arms...
The two Kiyones were some where in space, patrolling the solar system...
Sasami was in the kitchen, showing Nagi a new dish that she had seen a few days before, Ryo-Ohki on her shoulder...
Before leaving, Tenchi's father had mentioned that he would be working late at the office, having to finish up a project for a client and would, in all likely-hood, be late...
Washu had offered to come get him if he'd let them know he was finished...
He had smiled and said he have to see how things went first...
He'd hate to come all the way home only to have to go back due to some minor detail, as had usually happened in the past...
As he was about to leave, Washu whispered something in his ear that caused him to smile and his face to turn reddish for a moment...
Briefcase in one hand, he had squeezed Washu's hand with the other, before leaving..
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While the day had been quiet, the girls had gone about their chores and Tenchi had worked in the fields, with little Ryo-Ohki's help...
Washu had noted that Tenchi seem to have some thing on his mind, off and on...
As they sat in the living room, she noted that his gaze seem to wander, not watching the TV at all...
She had caught him looking her way, every once and awhile, when he thought she wasn't watching...
Using the special com unit they all had, she spoke to him mentally, tuning it so the others wouldn't hear...
You have a question?.. Tenchi?...
She smiled as his only reaction to her catching him was a raised eyebrow...
Does it show that much?...
He sighed softly and tried not to move, disturbing his sleeping wives, as she replied...
Only to those of us who have spent a great deal of time observing others reactions and such...
She saw his eyes close and heard him mentally sigh...
Yes... Time!... What exactly is it?...
She saw his eyes wander to the two females resting their heads on his shoulders, a touch of sadness then appeared on his face...
She had been expecting this and smiled...
Sisters!...
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( Some where in the universe... )
An attractive female was standing on a hill, over looking a small valley, as above the planet's star began to disappear behind the planet's largest moon...
This would cause a halo to form around the moon, like on other planets around the galaxy...
However this eclipse would be different...
Mostly due the thick layer of gases that now made up the "atmosphere" on that moon...
Having been created by the over mining of the moon by the planet's inhabitants over the centuries, the toxic gas now prevented any one from even landing on it...
But when an eclipse happen, the star's light, passing through the gas, created a rainbow of colors not seen any where else in the known galaxy...
Or so Tokimi had heard her niece, Ryoko, tell Tenchi and the others one evening at dinner...
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Below were a large number of people who had come from distant planets and paid lots of money, just to see this rare event...
She had though it silly, until now...
As the halo formed, a vast array of colors formed and reformed causing a breath taking display...
( She heard the people below gasp and sigh... )
She had to admit that for an unplanned event, caused by a number of random events over hundreds of years, it did tend to catch the eye...
She wondered what her older sister, Washu would do if she had come?...
A touch of a smile caught the corner of her lips...
She'd probably turn it into a long drawn out research project!...
Her eyes were drawn back to the light show above her...
As the eclipse was beginning to end, she sensed something...
Sisters!...
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( In the kitchen... )
Sasami was watching Nagi prepare the new dish when she sensed something...
She had felt this way many times before...
It seem that Tsunami had some thing important to take care of...
But this time a voice spoke to her...
Don't worry, little one... This should only take a moment...
Sasami wondered what was going on, but smiled...
When Tsunami returned, she would find out...
She turned her attention back to Nagi and smiled...
Her star student was doing much better, perhaps she would let her fix dinner for every body one night...
She then heard Nagi mumble something as she mixed in a touch too much of one of the ingredients into the mix...
Sasami smiled, it wouldn't effect the final mix...
But it seem THAT dinner wasn't going to be in the too near future...
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( The living room... )
Washu smiled at Tenchi as she snapped her fingers...
At first Tenchi didn't notice any thing, until he realized he could no longer feel ether of his wive's heads on his shoulders...
Looking down, he could now almost see through them, as if they were ghost...
It's alright Tenchi... You'll get use to it...
He could see Tsunami standing before him, smiling...
Washu had gotten up and was putting the sleeping Mayuka into her crib, which was next to his chair...
To his surprise, he saw Tokimi standing on the other side of the crib, watching as Washu carefully tucked little Mayuka in...
As he moved, he discovered that he had passed right through both of his wives in standing...
He had even passed through the sleeping Mihoshi, without disturbing her...
He stared down at himself...
Behind him he heard a slight chuckle - Washu...
He turned to find her smiling at him...
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Welcome to our world Tenchi!...
His jaw must have fallen, for she reached over and put her finger under his chin and lifted it...
What?... How?... Where?...
Washu stepped closer and smiled at him...
You're in what would be called 'a higher plane', a place that is outside space and time...
His eyes widened...
Only VERY special people are able to come here...
She touched his cheek and she smiled...
She was so proud of her little guinea pig...
It was then that he noticed that not only was she smiling at him, but Tsunami and even Tokimi were smiling, faintly...
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Looking around him, he could see Ayeka and Ryoko sitting on the couch, their heads now resting on thin air...
Even Mihoshi's head was floating above the couch...
Don't worry, time has 'stopped'...
As Tenchi looked at her, she continued...
Haven't you ever wondered how Ryoko was able to move from place to place, teleporting?...
He'd gotten so use to it that he really hadn't wondered, at-least lately...
It's because she's able to enter this plane to a slight degree and move to where she wants to go, then she returns to the normal plane of existence...
As he was about to ask some thing, Washu put her finger on his lips...
No, she doesn't realize HOW she's doing it, it's all deep in her subconscious, like breathing...
A look of anger crossed her face...
It was one of the things that Kagato spent thousands of years searching for, the ability to enter into this higher plane...
A look of pain crossed her face...
Not that he didn't try various ways of 'extracting' the knowledge from Ryoko...
She looked at her frozen, sleeping daughter, sitting on the couch...
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It was now his turn to touch her cheek...
He's gone and best forgotten...
She smiled at him and brushed some thing from the corner of her eye...
Yes, yes... Where were we... Ah, yes... TIME...
She stroked his cheek...
As in how much time you can expect to have with your wives and new family members?...
She saw worry in his eyes...
That even I can not say...
She saw surprise and smiled...
You'd have to ask some one else and we both know how hard it is to get answers from her...
She looked at Tsunami as she said this...
But, barring accidents and other fatal events, like any living being, you'll be with us for a very long time...
She still saw questions in his eyes...
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Time and lifespans can vary with your point of view...
She had his attention...
To the Musca domestica, better known as a house fly, humans would be considered gods..
She saw his eyebrow go up...
That would be because a human counts his live in months and years, the tiny house fly counts his in days and weeks, a month at best...
She could almost see the wheels turning as he digested this...
Now the common sea turtle, has been known to have lived as long as 400 years, if left alone, the average life is about 80, these days, with luck...
She gave Tenchi a wicked smile...
But you don't have any one chasing you, trying to catch you and eat YOU!...
She caught him looking back at the couch and the people on it, a smile appearing...
Sighing Washu continued...
OK, no one trying to EAT you...
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She saw a slight nod of his head...
As for you... Your original live span could have been as long as 80 to a 100 years, barring any accident and such...
Washu saw sadness as Tenchi's eyes narrowed, his wives had already lived more than 10 times that...
HOWEVER... That was before you began to leave this world and also learned how to use the Lighthawk Wings...
She smiled as the sadness faded, but the question look was still there...
This planet was originally settled by members of the Masaki and Juraian races, both races having very long lives...
Before he could respond, she continued...
However, over time and with the high concentrations of radiation on this world, especially from the three rings of radiation that orbit this world, known as the Van Allen belts, their life span dropped from thousands of years to hundreds of years and finally to a hundred or less...
She saw him look at the crib with little Mayuka in it...
Don't worry, the effect takes decades, if not centuries to effect those not born on this world...
She saw relief in his eyes...
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The main factor in their long lives was because of a gland in the body which helped rejuvenate it by helped repair damage faster than the immune system by it's self, the Appendix...
Tenchi looked down at his body and Washu had to smile...
Besides the inter-stellar traveling and the Wings, you have other things on your side...
He was paying attention...
When Ryo-Ohki and Funaho crashed here centuries ago, the impact created a crater lined with elements from both ships...
She saw his eyebrow go up and she smiled...
This crater filled in and became the local terrain, but it also acts as a shield against the surrounding radiation in the soil, thus allowing your grandfather's tree to survive and help him to survive...
She saw his eye widen a bit...
So, although still effected by the radiation in the air and sky, Funaho has been able to keep him alive and well, using energy from Ryoko's stones...
Tenchi smiled, when Ryoko had heard that Funaho was using her gem's energy, she'd been upset, until Washu pointed out, no energy, then no tree, with no tree, there would be no grandfather and thus NO Tenchi...
She still wasn't happy, but she didn't say any thing more, clinging to Tenchi's arm...
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Over time, you grandfather was able to work up a slight immunity to the radiation, which allowed him to spend longer periods away from the protection of the valley...
This was something Tenchi hadn't known...
Between excursions out into this growing world, he'd have to spend long periods of time recovering within Funaho ...
Some thing else his grandfather had not mentioned...
After several hundred years, he's built up an immunity which allows him to travel for as long as he likes without having to take treatments...
Tenchi smiled...
As for your gland, the wings have awaken it and as time goes by, you will be more like a Juraian than an Earthier...
She smiled...
At-least body wise, the rest of you will remain the young boy we've all come to admire and love...
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She saw relief in his eyes and she got a wicked smile...
There are a few other things you should know...
His eyes narrowed and he sighed, he'd seen her smile...
Now that you're able to come to this higher plane, there maybe some changes...
His head tilted slightly, as if asking WHAT?...
There's a good chance that you may eventually be able to teleport like Ryoko, even pass through solid object at will, as that too is done by connecting with this plane, a sort of getting slightly out of phase with the normal realm, enough to pass through things...
Some thing else Ryoko can do but doesn't understand...
Tenchi smiled and nodded his head...
Washu didn't mention that there was now a good chance HE would out live ALL his wives...
THAT was something he didn't need to know...
At-least, not yet...
She saw Tsunami smile at her and nod her head...
And snapped her finger...
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( The living room... )
Tenchi blinked his eyes and found himself sitting back on the couch, surrounded by his wives...
It took only an instant to check to see that he could feel them...
He could...
He was back in the real world...
His eyes focused and he could make out Washu, lifting Mayuka out of her crib...
She smiled at him as they made eye contact...
Yes, it did happen...
His eye brow went up...
Ayeka sighed and then Ryoko...
As he ran his hand through Mihoshi's hair, she giggled and he sighed...
Then he closed his eyes and smiled...
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After picking up lttle Mayuka, Washu smiled...
As she held Mayuka up, she noticed that some one was now awake...
Yes little one, he's OK... He just learned a few new facts-of-life...
Small redish eyes looked back into hers and she chuckled...
Don't worry, little one, you're still Poppa's number one girl...
She saw a tiny smile appear...
Then Mayuka closed her eyes and cuddled up in Washu's arms...
Soon Washu felt Mayuka's breathing calm and slow, as she joined the rest of her family in dreamland, a smile on her little face...
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Softly, Washu began to hum an old tune that she'd heard Tenchi hum when ever he held Mayuka...
A tune that his mother had hummed to him when he was a child...
The same tune that her mother had hummed to her...
A tune that had been hummed by Juraian and Airaian parents to their children for countless thousands of years...
One of them being a small baby boy who became the Emperor of a great Empire, Tenchi Masaki...
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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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