Chapter 13: No Need for Fevers

The Masaki household waited in concern after Ash collapsed in the morning. Instead of helping Sasami with breakfast, Ash remained bedridden in the virtual room. Washu used her laptop summoned and monitored Ash's vitals. "It was a big risk looking for Sasami in that storm," she muttered. Sasami, Tenchi, Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki waited by the doorway for word on Ash's condition. It wasn't long ago that Ash brought Sasami, Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki back after what was a confession by the younger Juraian princess. Tenchi, Nobuyuki, Ryoko, Ayeka, Kiyone and Mihoshi stood further away and spaced apart. The door opened and Washu stepped out.

"How is he?" asked Sasami.

"He's running a pretty big fever of 40 degrees," Washu explained. "No doubt that he got sick after going out into the rain to return Sasami." Pikachu seemed a bit dumbfounded while Sasami mulled, feeling worse about the ordeal.

("Does that mean he's cold?") he asked.

"She must have said it in regard to measuring in Celsius," Tenchi briefed. "In other words, Ash's temperature is 104ºF."

("That's hot!") gulped Pikachu. Sasami couldn't stand the news. She felt horrid to Ash's outcome after she ran off.

"This is all my fault," she blamed herself. "If I didn't run off, Ash wouldn't be sick." Ryo-Ohki mewed somberly. If she wasn't startled by thunder, she wouldn't have tackled Sasami and her barreling into Ash.

"It's alright, Sasami," Ayeka promised. "We don't blame you at all." Ryoko lifted Ryo-Ohki by the scruff.

"Though, I can't say the same for Ryo-Ohki after what she did to ruin the moment," she blamed. Ryo-Ohki begged to be forgiven.

"Right now, all Ash needs is bed rest," Katsuhito advised. "Not to mention plenty of fluids and close monitorization."

"Agreed," Kiyone allowed. "It does make me want to come and see him." Mihoshi had an idea.

"Maybe I can have a few large potatoes peeled for some soup," she offered. Sasami awed the idea.

"Sure thing!" she approved. "I do need to see how Ash is doing." Nobuyuki brought over a glass of lemonade.

"Here, Sasami!" he offered. "Something to keep him cool." Sasami nodded, wanting to atone for her fault. She and Pikachu reached the virtual room made by Washu. The two eyed Ash, asleep with a damp towel on his forehead. There was even a bowl full of ice and water.

'Don't worry, Ash,' she minded. 'I want to take care of you.' She removed the towel and realized that the towel was mostly dry. 'I should grab a couple more towels to bring here. No need to use the same thing over and over.' After soaking the towel, she wrung it out before folding it back up and placing it back on Ash's forehead. Ash woke, his eyes barely open and with a groan.

"Sa… sa… mi?" he muttered. Sasami palmed and slightly rubbed Ash's cheek.

"It's okay, Ash…" she promised. "You just rest." Ash could barely nod before he fell back to sleep. "Besides, this is my apology to you." Tenchi entered to see Sasami and Pikachu watching over him.

"He worried so much about you last night," he claimed.

"I know," Sasami believed. "There are times I wanted to take care of him." Tenchi awed Sasami's confession.

"I think he feels the same way." The admittance made Sasami turn to Tenchi.

"Are you sure?"

"I believe so. There was something that clicked between you two and that you've been together for the whole thing." This made Sasami smile.

"If it was you or Ryoko, would he do the same?"

("Of course he would!") squeaked Pikachu. Tenchi and Sasami looked to Pikachu that answered. Tenchi smiled and petted the Mouse Pokémon.

"Of course, since you've been around him for so long…" he smiled. Sasami had a request in mind.

"Tenchi, could you tell whoever comes down next to bring a couple extra towels?" she asked.

"I can easily get them myself," he suggested.

"Oh, okay!" she allowed. Tenchi left as Sasami watched over Ash.

'I promise to stay by your side until you feel better,' she wished. Tenchi didn't return, but Ayeka brought the small towels to the room.

"So, this is Ash's room that Washu was able to recreate," she awed.

("It does look lifelike,") Pikachu admitted. Ayeka looked to Ash.

"I still remember that one time you looked like this back on Jurai," she brought up. "You were once ill with a head cold. Our mothers were concerned. Luckily, your fever broke by the next morning." Sasami smiled to the briefing as Ayeka petted Ash.

"It was so long ago," Sasami sighed. "I don't remember that happening."

"You don't need to. Right now, it's Ash that we need to make sure is okay. His friends will find a way here eventually." One look had Ayeka wishing to do something. "I can watch Ash while you get yourself something to eat. Lord Tenchi is cooking for you today." Sasami shook her head.

"I want to watch Ash! I want to take care of him like he did with me!"

"But, Sasami…" Shaking her head, Sasami refused to allow anyone to take over watching Ash. Ayeka gave up. "Very well… I can have someone bring you something to eat." She left while Pikachu wondered about the occasion.

("Why stay with Ash?") he questioned. ("I can watch him. He's my friend.")

"Because I got him sick," Sasami simplified. "It's my fault that he's like this." Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki entered the room to observe Ash's condition.

"Hey, how's the kid?" she asked. Ryo-Ohki jumped onto the bed to see Ash.

"Still the same," Sasami muttered. "I'm doing all I can to make him comfortable." Ryoko saw Ash and an idea popped up.

"Let me see if I can use this blanket to lift his legs." She picked the blanket from Pikachu's bed before folding it up. She gave the folded blanket to Sasami before she lifted Ash's legs slightly. "Okay, now slide the blanket under his legs." Sasami slid the blanket under Ash's lifted legs before Ryoko lowered the legs. "There we go… It should help with the blood flow." Sasami awed the idea.

"I see what you did."

("But why my blanket?") whined Pikachu. Ryoko petted Pikachu.

"Come on, it's best that you don't get it yourself," she advised. "Besides, Tenchi's got some food for you."

("Okay,") Pikachu accepted before joining Ryoko, leaving Sasami and Ryo-Ohki to tend to Ash. Ryo-Ohki saw the sick trainer and somberly mewed.

"I know, Ryo-Ohki," Sasami understood. "We also shouldn't keep that blanket under Ash for too long." As she applied a new towel to Ash's forehead, Katsuhito and Nobuyuki entered.

"Well, I could've thought of a more spacious room than this," Nobuyuki muttered. Sasami and Ryo-Ohki turned to the older men.

"Grandpa?" she irked to Katsuhito. "What are you doing here?"

"What, no acknowledging me?" complained Nobuyuki. "And we're just as worried about Ash and yourself." He offered some rice balls to Sasami.

"We understand your dedication to keeping Ash comfortable," Katsuhito sighed. "He's that special to you from what I've seen."

"It's more than that," Sasami admitted. "Ash did nothing wrong that he's got this fever."

"Aside from not getting an umbrella," Nobuyuki nagged. Katsuhito cleared his throat, making Nobuyuki jump. "You don't agree, Dad?"

"It's not that I don't agree," Katsuhito reminded. "I still remember one time that Achika did the same thing to look for you during a violent storm." Sasami awed the similarity.

"Tenchi's mom?" she guessed. Ryo-Ohki mewed to show interest.

"Achika found Nobuyuki one day when he struggled with school studies," Katsuhito recalled. "He had done different equations to a few problems, but they resulted in wrong answers."

"Dad, do you have to bring up that embarrassing story?" whimpered Nobuyuki. Katsuhito crossed his arms.

"Are you saying that I'm wrong?"

"No, I'm saying that you've embellished that story enough to Tenchi… and that was after she died!"

"Embellished… Like the time you aggravated an injury to get Ryoko and Ayeka to stop fighting?" The point made Nobuyuki silent. "In any case, we can relieve you for an hour if you want to get some fresh air-"

"I can't!" snapped Sasami. "He's my responsibility after all that happened!"

"It's only for an hour," Nobuyuki eased. "None of us are trying to do anything to make Ash sicker or anything in that matter." Sasami shook her head in denial.

"I know what I need to do," she urged. "Besides, I made him sick, and I can remove it."

"But-" started Katsuhito.

"Dad, it's Achika all over," Nobuyuki eased. "Let her be in Ash's heart." Katsuhito sighed at the refusal.

"Very well…" he gave up. Ash groaned to the noise in the room.

"Loud…" he moaned. Sasami petted Ash's head.

"Yeah, it's a bit noisy," she eased. "Just relax." She brought over the lemonade with a straw. "Here, this can help out." Ash drank the lemonade with the straw in his mouth. He let out a sigh.

"Thanks…" he whispered before falling back to sleep.

"Just think about getting better," Sasami hoped. A while later, Washu entered to see Ash.

"You're still here?" she asked Sasami. "I know you want to right that wrong, but that may be…"

"That's why I want to help Ash," Sasami pleaded. "After all he did to help me…" Washu petted Ash's head above

"Let me check his temperature if that's okay." She removed the damp towel and used a clean cloth to dry his head. Then, she put a suction cup on Ash's head. With her laptop appearing, Washu tapped a few keys. The temperature popped up on the laptop: 39ºC or 102ºF. "Okay, the fever's starting to breakdown. It looks like it'll take all night before his body temperature stabilizes." Sasami sighs in relief, knowing that Ash will be back to normal.

"That's good to hear. No doubt that he'll do the same for me."

"He's a special kid… I bet he'd do the same with his friends."

"Like with Brock that he told me about?" The reminder made Sasami shake her head. "I still get a nervous feeling of Misty using 47 ingredients for a stew." Washu snorted to Sasami's recalling.

"That's hilarious!" she laughed. A moment later, she calmed down. "That sounds like a first-timer! I mean, you faltered on some dishes, right?"

"Yeah, early on… Nobody's perfect." They laughed before Washu left. Sasami lowered Ash's legs and straightened out Pikachu's blanket as Kiyone and Mihoshi emerged with a bowl of soup.

"How is he?" asked Kiyone.

"Washu checked and his fever is going down," Sasami relayed.

"That sounds promising," Mihoshi sighed. "We still want him to come with us on patrol." Kiyone nodded to Mihoshi's wish.

"After all, we did want to show him what we do," she added.

"Maybe," Sasami smiled. "As long as he takes me to the festival without any disruptions."

"There's still time," Kiyone grinned. "I'm impressed that you'd want to stay by his side for the day." Sasami nodded to the fact.

"It's not that we don't know your reason for it," Mihoshi remembered. "We all wanted to pitch in. After all, we're family as well." Sasami smiled to Mihoshi's understanding.

"That's true," she admitted. "I just feel as if someone was taking care of him over me, I wouldn't atone for what I did that put him in this condition." The Galaxy Police officers understood Sasami's intent.

"We also brought soup to help Ash recover," Kiyone offered. Sasami looked to the soup.

"Tenchi made something good," she surveyed. Mihoshi looked to Ash, wondering about his fever.

"Washu said that his fever's residing a little," she pointed out. "But if it flares up or doesn't go down, we may need to take him to the hospital." Sasami gulped to the thought.

"But wouldn't that happen if a couple of days pass with no change?" she muttered.

"That would be the case," Kiyone believed. "I hate to see him go to the hospital over a fever. It would indicate that he's got a more lingering issue with his body like Organ Failure." Sasami feared that Ash might not recover.

"I hope to Tsunami that it doesn't become that," she wished. After dropping off the soup with cold water and some towels, Kiyone, Mihoshi and Ryo-Ohki left. It was just Ash and Sasami as he woke up.

"What… time… is it?" he groaned. Sasami turned to Ash.

"Don't worry about what time it is, Ash," she assured. "Think you can sit up?" Ash could barely move before seeing the soup. "You probably need something to eat. I know you hadn't been active, let alone eaten anything." Sasami helped Ash get his back onto the back of the bed to sit up. "I heard that your fever is starting to go down a little. Some more rest can help." She stirred the soup with a spoon before handing it to Ash. "Here, Tenchi made this for you." Ash scooped some of the soup.

"At least… it's not… Misty…" He slowly risen his arm before slurping the soup from the spoon. One spoonful made Ash wince, but he got the soup to enter his system. "It's good… I didn't know… Tenchi… can cook."

"He learned to cook long before I came from Jurai to bring Ayeka back home… or at least that was the plan."

"I can… tell." As he had his soup, he noticed someone missing. "Pikachu?"

"Ayeka's watching over him."

"I see… and… I'm sorry…"

"You don't need to be sorry. It's my fault that you got sick. It's why I stayed with you the whole time." A gasp from Ash made Sasami blush.

"I'm… even… more sorry…"

"Don't worry about it. All you need is rest."

"I'll do that…" He lied down and started to fall back to sleep after finishing his soup. Sasami tucked him in.

'You did nothing wrong… I couldn't have asked for a more caring boy to meet. I know something that can help you sleep, something Mom sung to me… before Tsunami became part of me.' She began to sing a lullaby. Her singing made Ash breathe softly, almost as if the fever didn't affect him. He barely opened his eyes again, seeing Sasami sing. A faint glow from her markings on her forehead shimmered.

'Sasami? Your forehead is…' He fell back to sleep. Sasami finished her lullaby and looked at Ash with a cute smile on his face.

'He liked it. I feel better knowing that he feels better.' She stayed in the room with Ash after having her futon brought by Ayeka. Ash may be feeling a little better thanks to Sasami.

TO BE CONTINUED...