Chapter 17: No Need for Preparations

After the meeting of Tsunami, goddess of Jurai, the new morning rose. Ayeka rolled over in her sleep and under her futon, reaching her arm to Sasami's futon. Feeling nothing, Ayeka woke and looked to the empty blanket. "Sasami?" she called. "Ryo-Ohki?" She looked to find herself alone in the guest room. Quickly, she guessed on where her little sister and the cabbit would be. She left her room and made it to the end of the hall before sliding the door open. There, Ash, Sasami, Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki were found asleep in Ash's futon. Adding to a sigh of relief, Ayeka giggled softly. "At least she's in good hands." She slid the door closed, allowing those to sleep as long as possible. Ash's and Sasami's lips were so close, they could be kissing each other if they weren't careful. Soon enough, Sasami began to stir. When she saw how close Ash's face was, she began to shake.

'Too close!' she panicked. 'Dangerous territory!' The shaking made Ash stir and gasp when seeing how close Sasami was to him.

"EEP!" they yelped. This woke Pikachu and Ryo-Ohki as Ash and Sasami jumped back. A tense stare-down began.

"Are you okay?" asked Ash.

"Y- Yeah!" gulped Sasami. A few tense moments past before there were snickers from the two before they laughed. It wasn't a big deal. After cleaning up, everyone left the resort and returned to the household. Ryo-Ohki sniffed around the carrot fields as Tenchi watched.

"I bet there are some carrots ripe for the taking," he assumed. Ryo-Ohki excitedly mewed. Inside, Ash and Washu were working on building a small robot while Ryoko and Mihoshi watched on.

"Washu has been all over Ash since first sight instead of Tenchi," Ryoko noticed.

"And that's a problem?" questioned Mihoshi.

"It's just… Whenever Washu has a new invention, she usually has Tenchi as a guinea pig for them. Right now, she's focused on Ash." To Mihoshi, it wasn't much of a big deal.

"But look at her: she's been trying to become a mother to Ash. It wouldn't make sense unless she saw Ash as a starting point when she finally found a loved one."

"You're one to talk. After all, you don't have any feelings for Tenchi." The claim made Mihoshi blush.

"That's… not quite true…"

"Wait, you do?" A blushing Mihoshi feigned to answer.

"It's… embarrassing…" Meanwhile, Ayeka and Sasami were doing laundry.

"Sasami, what were you doing in Ash's room last night?" asked Ayeka. Sasami felt embarrassed.

"I had a nightmare," she admitted. "I had fallen and couldn't move anything but my hand to Ash, but that's when Father appeared and took Ash away… or at least I thought it was." Ayeka blinked to Sasami's bad dream while Pikachu hung around to help.

"Father? And what do you mean you 'thought it was'?"

"Because he changed himself to someone with bright hair and small glasses as he crushed Ash to death." The dream made Ayeka gasp.

"What did he look like?"

"There was no color, but he had cat-like eyes behind his tiny glasses and he had white hair." The vague description gave Ayeka a blank.

"It doesn't ring a bell. Still, I can see that you wanted to make sure Ash was okay."

"I did… but then, I had a different dream after Ash showed me a photo of them after he told me about Misty's 'stew.' There was a stadium with a lot of people and Ash had Pikachu on the battlefield with another trainer and his Pokémon, I don't know what it was. I was sitting with Misty and Brock while holding her Togepi. Pikachu won the round and gave Ash the tournament victory. I raced after he won and loved him."

"Wow, and that's when you were sleeping with Ash."

"Yeah!" The dream made Pikachu squeal. The next day, many young men were at a plain where they set up stands for the festival coming up. Nobuyuki watched over the construction.

"Great!" he praised. "We should have this place ready by tomorrow evening!" Ash, Washu and Bayleef set up a large structure.

"It's going to be a hoot bringing my trans-dimensional Haunted House back," Washu snickered.

"Having been in some scary places, I want to challenge this in wondering what makes this so spooky," Ash grinned. Bayleef wasn't so positive.

"See, I don't have people dress as vampires, zombies, mummies or stuff like that," Washu explained. "I use territory hazards like traps. I got Tenchi a lot while he was with Sasami." Booths that were set up had food stands and games to play. Kiyone and Mihoshi wheeled over a large machine with a bowl inside.

"What's this?" asked Ash as he and Bayleef came over.

"It's a cotton candy machine," Mihoshi named it. Bayleef seemed confused.

"That's actually really cool," Ash awed. "Bayleef, cotton candy is a snack that looks like a cloud that you can eat. It can be rather sticky if you're not careful." Bayleef was greatly interested as Kiyone brought out some cotton candy on a stick.

"This doesn't have any food coloring, but this is the base of it," she revealed. Bayleef imagined green on the cotton candy that gave her an idea. Back at the household, Ayeka brushed Sasami's hair.

"A new kimono, a new look and someone new to go to the festival," Ayeka prepped.

"You think Ash will like it?" asked Sasami.

"I believe he will, and Ash will be wearing a kimono as well." The thought made Sasami giggle.

"Ash in a kimono…" She took a deep breath. "You know, I'm actually really happy that Ash still likes me, despite revealing that Tsunami is part of me now."

"He's hard to break, that's for sure. It's kind of a surprise that his heart never waivers, even though he's still thinking about his friends and what they're doing in order to bring him and Pikachu over."

"Yeah, though I bet he'd want to bring me along and get a Pokémon to play with Ryo-Ohki."

"Perhaps…" The sisters giggled. At night, Ash and Pikachu came home with Ryo-Ohki in Ash's arms.

"Ah, we're finally back," Ash sighed. "We did a lot of work to set up for the festival."

("No kidding…") agreed Pikachu.

"And you were a big help, Ryo-Ohki," Ash added. "Your child form got us what we needed done." Ryo-Ohki mewed happily. Suddenly, there was some footsteps.

"Here I am," Sasami announced. Ash and the creatures heard Sasami.

"Oh, do you need help with-" started Ash before they saw Sasami and gasp. She wore a faded pink kimono with teal flower prints among the side. Her hair was no longer tied, let alone in a ponytail. Ryo-Ohki mewed excitedly to Sasami's look.

"Well, Ash?" she wondered. "What do you think?" She did a twirl while giggling. Ash's mind raced to Sasami's new look.

'Holy Pokémon… she's gorgeous!' he thought. 'I'll admit, Misty did look nice in how she looked when we had fun at the festival of Maiden's Peak, but that's nothing compared to what I'm seeing right here and right now!' Sasami and the creatures blinked in concern for Ash's silent treatment while his face blushed wildly.

"Ash? Don't you like it?"

"No I do! You look…" He struggled to answer. "You look… absolutely beautiful." Sasami gleefully smiled at the review.

"You mean it!?"

"Of course I do! You're a knockout!"

("So pretty!") agreed Pikachu. Ryo-Ohki mewed happily as well.

"Thanks!" smiled Sasami. "Ayeka and the rest of the girls worked really hard making me look like this."

"I can tell!" awed Ash. "It certainly paid off with how your hair and kimono look."

"Ayeka even did my nails, too." She showed her fingernails, painted a rosy pink like her eyes and polished.

"Wow, they look great!"

"And my toes too. See?" Looking, Ash and the creatures saw the toenails painted and polished in a similar fashion. She wiggled her toes to further tease him.

"Yeah, they look good too… and I say pink is definitely the right color. They bring out your eyes." The compliment made Sasami giggle while blushing. Tenchi came to Ash.

"I got a kimono for you as well," Tenchi offered. Ash and Pikachu blinked, wondering why.

"For me?" he questioned. Tenchi brought out a navy blue kimono with turquoise lightning bolts printed on them. "Oh, that looks pretty cool!"

"Right?" giggled Tenchi. "Come on, let's get you fitted." The boys retreated to Tenchi's room. As Ash was being fitted, Ash opened up.

"So, how was Sasami when you took her before?" asked Ash.

"Sasami enjoyed herself while I had to deal with all sorts of craziness from the other girls," Tenchi started.

"Like the haunted house Washu did?"

"Even more. The cotton candy machine was not being handled properly, Ryoko and Ayeka made fools of the gaming booths… there were even times I thought I was gonna die."

"Sounds like Sasami was having fun at your expense." A snorted laugh came from Tenchi.

"She definitely had a great time. Who knows, she might have a better time with you."

"I can only imagine." Tenchi backed off and viewed the kimono.

"Okay, let's show Sasami."

"Okay!" They left and came to Sasami and the creatures where the young princess awed the look in the new kimono as Washu started to emerge from her lab.

"Ash, that look suits you!" awed Sasami. Washu smiled at the sight.

"Hey, not too shabby!" she awed.

"I know, right?" agreed Sasami. "Though, I can also see it with Pikachu."

("Too much electricity for me,") chuckled Pikachu in denial. Everyone laughed to the shy rebuttal.

"Anyway, tomorrow evening is the start of the festival," Tenchi voiced. "Let's get some sleep and I'll cook tomorrow." The next evening, everyone filed out for the household while Katsuhito stayed. Ash and Sasami were in their kimonos before Ryo-Ohki emerged in her Child Form. She wore a green kimono with carrots printed on them. Sasami wore a turquoise sash around her waist while Ash wore a yellow sash and Ryo-Ohki an orange. Pikachu didn't wear a kimono while Ryo-Ohki held him.

"I guess Ryo-Ohki wanted a date with Pikachu," Sasami teased. Ash giggled, not sure about the guess.

"Can you blame her?" shrugged Ash. Washu came back and reached Ash.

"I nearly forgot," she realized before grabbing a large pouch. "This should be enough Yen to get through the festival."

"Thanks!" accepted Ash as he took the pouch.

"I want you kids to look out for each other," Washu advised. "I know this is your first date, but I don't want anything to happen."

"Don't worry, Miss Washu," Sasami promised. Washu accepted before giving Ash a hug.

"I bet your mom would be proud of what you're doing," she cooed to the embarrassed and blushing trainer. "Starting to become a man… I know I would be." Ash smiled.

"Thanks…" he hushed. With that, Washu released her hug as Ash and Sasami headed off, going on their first date to the festival.

TO BE CONTINUED…

(I wish all my Americans a happy 4th of July/Independence Day.)