Dreams of Reality

Written by Adrian Tymes

[Legal disclaimer:

This story is based on characters created by Hiroki Hayashi, Masaki
Kajishima, AIC, and Pioneer.  Permission is granted to freely distribute
this story, so long as:
a: no recompense of financial value is received or given by the person who
distributes the story, and
b: the distributed copy is identical to the story as originally authored.
In other words, don't sell it, and don't alter it.

Copyright (c) 1998, all rights reserved, et cetera.]

******

Kiyone cursed to herself as another meteorite pinged off the Yagami's hull.
She had chosen today to pick up a shipment from HQ, and that meant meeting
the cargo ship carrying it near Jupiter.  Jurai's quarantine of Earth's
solar system prevented any ship from venturing closer to the sun than the
system's asteroid belt, unless that ship had special dispensation from
Jurai.  Ayeka had signed a waiver for the Yagami to spite Ryoko, who in
turn had gotten Sasami to do likewise for Ryo-ohki.  Very few other
non-Juraian ships had ever obtained permission to approach Earth, and
unfortunately, the ship with the fruit of Kiyone's labors had not been one
of those ships.

Worse, a meteorite shower had come up just before she was supposed to take
off.  While it was easily avoided in space, she still had to get through it
when leaving Earth and when coming back.  The Yagami had held together so
far, but Kiyone knew she would have to give her ship a thorough maintenance
check before taking off again, and she was not looking forward to it.  But,
for her cargo, a couple of days poring over diagnostics and inspecting the
Yagami's hull was a relatively small price to pay.

Another ping shook the ship for a second, then there was a crash behind
her.  Kiyone turned around to look at her prize: a dozen small boxes, now
laying in a jumbled pile rather than the neat stack she had placed them in,
each blue with a white Galaxy Police logo stamped on all six sides.
Fortunately, the boxes did not appear to be damaged.  Kiyone hoped that
extended to their contents.

She did not see the small crack that one of the boxes had just acquired,
nor did she hear the slight hiss of air escaping from inside the box, where
it had been at a slightly higher pressure than the Yagami's internal
atmosphere.

As Kiyone turned to face forwards again, her gaze swept across a slumbering
Mihoshi.  Without even knowing what they were picking up, her partner had
wanted to come on this trip, but had fallen asleep just after takeoff and
not waken up since.  "Probably won't get up until we're back in the
apartment," Kiyone mused.

******

Tenchi whistled to himself as he strode up the path to his home.  Another
week of school was behind him, and he was looking forward to two days of
relaxation.  Or, at least, the closest he ever got to it with Ryoko, Ayeka,
and Washu around.  He allowed himself to hope that perhaps, just this once,
Ryoko would not throw herself at him, Ayeka would not destroy whatever
happened to be nearby in her efforts to remove Ryoko, and Washu would stay
in her lab working on some experiment instead of playing nurse.

As fate would have it, Washu chose that moment to walk up to Tenchi in full
medical garb, including a face mask, and brandishing a syringe filled with
some liquid.

"Aww, no, not now Washu...please?"

Washu ignored his comments and readied the syringe.

Tenchi dodged and ducked around the scientist, making for the house.  If
either Ryoko or Ayeka saw Washu like this, surely they would get her off
his back quickly.

Two translucent black panels at an angle to each other materialized in
front of Washu, who typed on the lower one with her free hand.

Tenchi found himself lifted off the ground as gravity in his vicinity shut
off, and metal tentacles shot out of thin air to entangle his arms and
legs.

Dismissing her computer, Washu again approached Tenchi.  "You can be so
impossible, Tenchi.  This is for your own good."

"WASHU!  Let me go!"

Washu stuck the syringe into Tenchi's neck, and injected the fluid.

Tenchi waited for his mind to turn fuzzy, the world to turn bright pink, or
whatever other effect Washu's drug was supposed to have.

Nothing happened.

Washu exchanged her needle for a flat, rectangular scanner.  "It looks like
the vaccine is taking."  She summoned her computer and typed on it again.
Tenchi fell to the ground, his restraints having returned to wherever they
had come from.

"Vaccine?"

"That's right, you haven't heard.  There's a case of nightmare flu going
around.  I don't think humans can get it, but your grandfather insisted
that I vaccinate him, you, and your father, just in case.  You three are
the only humans with enough constant exposure to Sasami to make infection
even a remote possibility.  I've got everyone except Kiyone, Mihoshi, and
Sasami, and this vaccine's part of the standard Galaxy Police medical
regimen, so Kiyone and Mihoshi are covered."

"And Sasami?"

Washu took off her mask and looked down.  "She was how we found out about
this.  I...don't think you should see her right now."

"Why not?"

"The reason it's called 'nightmare flu' is that whoever suffers from it
experiences 24 to 48 hours of hallucinations and violent psychosis.  They
have to be kept sedated, or they'll injure themselves and everyone around
them.  I've never seen a case as bad as Sasami's, until now."

"She'll be ok, won't she?"

"She will recover.  I left Ryoko guarding her, in case she wakes up..."

A scream of pure terror interrupted Washu.  Two seconds later, both of them
were running for the house.

******

A demoness?  And I don't have any weapons.  I'm in trouble!

Ok, Pretty Sammy, think.  You've gotten out of worse spots.  How did I get
here?  Maybe there's a clue to how to get out of this.

Let's see.  I woke up in a dungeon, tied to a bed.  Fortunately, the ropes
were loose, and my cell door was unlocked.  The panther guarding my cell
was even asleep.  She must have hit the sake hard: her breath really stunk!

It was a short trip to the dungeon's front door.  Good thing nobody saw me.
I even picked up a sword on the way out, in case I came across that short,
redheaded witch who captured me.  If I see her, her head is MINE!

But I didn't see her, so I went to find that wise cabbit who sometimes
advises me.  There was a lake nearby, so I ran for it.  I didn't know
whether the cabbit would be there, but at least I could wash the scent of
evil from my clothes.

Unfortunately, two living trees, one with blue leaves and another with red,
met me at the lake's shore.  As if they could stop Pretty Sammy!  My sword
smote them so often, they couldn't even try to attack back.  When I pushed
them into the lake, they sank like stones.

That's when I heard my advisor.  The battle must have gotten her attention.
But, she acted so odd.  She just stood there, then ran away towards the
dungeon, like she was afraid of me.  Naturally, I gave chase, but I had to
duck out of the way when the panther came looking for me.  I think I
managed to hide before she saw me.  When she went on to the lake, I headed
for the dungeon.

But the dungeon wasn't there anymore.  Maybe I came out of a hidden
entrance or something, but there was a small castle where the dungeon had
been.  I saw my advisor head inside, so I followed, only to be surprised by
the castle's weapons master.  He might have been getting old, but he was
still more experienced than me.  When he broke my sword, I threw the pieces
at him and ran upstairs.

That's when the castle started to swim before my eyes.  Maybe this is the
dungeon after all, just disguised by some vile magic.  I shouldn't have let
that distract me, since the demoness took me by surprise just then.

And here I am, weaponless but not helpless.

"Sister, please, come here."

*You're not my sister!*  Not only is she evil, she's crazy.  I'd better
head for the window - it may be my only way out of here.

"Of course I'm your sister, Sasami.  Don't you remember Ayeka?"

Ayeka?  That sounds familiar...NO!  She's playing mind games!  Fight it!
*Who are Sasami and Ayeka?  My name is Pretty Sammy.*

Ha!  The way she reacted, she must really think she is my sister.  Does she
think I won't see her tear?  Maybe I should play this out.  The more pain I
can give her, the better.

"You are my sister, Sasami."

*I AM PRETTY SAMMY!*  What can I throw at her?  *EEK!*  She's coming for
me!  Jump!

Then again, jumping out the window might not have been a good idea.  Maybe
that knight can help -

******

Tenchi bolted forwards when he saw Sasami fall from a second story window.
He was not able to catch her before she landed with a sickening crack, but
he did check her vital signs when he reached her.

Ayeka looked down from the window Sasami had exited.  "Is she ok?" she
asked, fearing the worst.

"She's still breathing.  Washu?"

Washu ran up, having run a bit slower than Tenchi.  She waved her scanner
over Sasami's unconscious form.  "She fractured her skull, but only
slightly.  She'll live if she doesn't move much before her bones mend.
Let's get her inside, but be careful - tilt her head too much, and the
fracture's likely to worsen."

Tenchi carefully picked up Sasami with Washu's assistance, being very
careful not to let Sasami's head roll.  "That would be bad, right?"

"She would probably die, although if she's very lucky, she could get away
with just paralysis, mental impairment, and a loss of hearing."

In consideration for his passenger, Tenchi resisted an urge to facefault.
"That would be lucky?"

"She'd still be alive, wouldn't she?  I'm sure the doctors on Jurai could
repair the damage...eventually."

He smiled to himself as he predicted where this line of conversation was
headed.  "But a genius like you can fix her in no time, right, little
Washu?"

Washu smiled back as they crossed through the house's front door.  "That's
why we're taking her to my lab.  I'd also like a closer look at her blood,
to see if I can come up with a cure for nightmare flu.  I know I can
eventually, but it'll be a challenge to cure her before her immune system
does."

Tenchi took in the scene as he entered.  A battle had obviously taken place
here, but at least the furniture wasn't too badly smashed up this time.
Katsuhito was examining a broken bokken, but looked up at the two as they
entered.  "How is our little warrior?"

"You mean Sasami?" Tenchi replied.  "She's not a fighter, grandpa."

"Not normally, but..."  He gestured to the damage.  "...she put up quite a
struggle just now."

"It'll be a struggle to keep her in one piece if you keep bouncing her
around like that," Washu chided Tenchi.

"Oops."  Tenchi steadied his grip on Sasami.  "Sorry."  He noticed Ayeka
frozen in shock halfway up the stairs, mutely watching the pair carry her
sister.  Partly for her benefit, Tenchi spoke slightly louder.  "But no
harm done, right?  You know everything, Washu, and I'm sure you'll have
Sasami back on her feet in no time."

"If I knew everything," Washu muttered, "I'd know how an abnormality like
Mihoshi could exist."

"You'd know what?"

"I'd know...err...where this nightmare flu came from.  No life native to
Earth can carry it, so it must have been imported.  The Yagami's the only
ship that's entered or left the Earth's atmosphere in the past week, and it
only made a single trip.  Mihoshi stopped by earlier today, and she said
that Kiyone was piloting during the entire trip.  Kiyone's far too
professional to bring a foreign virus here, so..."  Her voice trailed off
as she passed through the portal to her lab, closed the door behind Tenchi,
then delinked her laboratory from normal space-time.

******

Kiyone struggled to pull a large sack through the door to the apartment she
shared with Mihoshi, only to have it catch in the door's frame.  She was
tired from having hauled it all the way from the parking garage.  For a few
seconds, she wondered why she had not just flown the hovercar she had
borrowed from the Yagami right up to her door, but then she remembered that
it was disguised as an Earth car - and, to maintain that illusion, flight
in public was out of the question except in emergencies.  Her pocket
dimension was out, too - according to the orders which assigned her to
Earth's system, anything that was supposed to stay on Earth was to stay out
of the portable storage space that was standard issue for all field members
of the Galaxy Police.

After catching her breath for, she gave the sack one last pull, and was
sent tumbling as the sack popped free of the doorway.  She expertly
somersaulted backwards and landed on her feet, only to have the sack knock
her down and land on her stomach.  Quickly pushing it off of her, she
hauled herself into a sitting position leaning against the sack, and
allowed herself a small smile as she regained her composure.

A smile that concealed a chuckle...

...which turned into a snicker...

...causing her smile to grow...

...and before long, Kiyone was rolling on her back, pounding the floor, and
laughing with all her heart.  Self-satisfaction warmed her soul, and
nothing could stop her from enjoying herself...

...until the click of Mihoshi thumbing her blaster's safety off six
centimeters from Kiyone's face caused her to freeze.

Her mirth turned to ice in an instant.  "Mihoshi," she asked with all the
patience she could muster, "what are you doing?"

"D-don't m-move.  Y-you're suffering from the happy plague, and-"

"MIHOSHI!  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A HAPPY PLAGUE!"  Trying to calm
herself, and only barely succeeding, Kiyone continued, "That was just a
manga; a story; a piece of fiction.  The happy plague only exists in some
writer's mind.  Honestly...a virus that causes people to suffer
uncontrollable bouts of laughter, then try to tickle everyone else to
death, which can only be cured by drinking hot chocolate...that's got to be
the most unlikely idea I've ever heard of."

"Oh."  Mihoshi thumbed her blaster's safety back on, then holstered her
weapon.  "Then I guess you don't want the hot chocolate I prepared?"

Kiyone stood up and smoothed out her clothes.  "Actually, I wouldn't mind a
cup.  It'll make a perfect celebration drink."

"Ok."  The blonde detective smiled and walked off to the kitchen, where she
poured two cups of a steaming brown liquid.  "What are we celebrating?"

"The end of our economic troubles.  You know how we had so much trouble
converting our paychecks into any usable Earth currency?"

"Yeah.  Oh, that reminds me, our landlady said she still wants the rent we
owe her."

"I know.  I ran into her coming up here."  Kiyone smiled.  "And I paid her
off on the spot.  That bag..."  She gestured to her sack.  "has enough cash
to keep us going for months."

Mihoshi picked up the mugs and walked back to Kiyone.  "How'd you manage
that?"

Kiyone accepted one of the cups from Mihoshi, and held it in a toast.  "To
trade."

Mihoshi mirrored the gesture.  "To...trade?"

Kiyone sipped her drink.  "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but this wasn't
strictly regulation.  I convinced a few of our friends back at HQ to do a
little shopping for us with the money from our paychecks, and ship us the
results."

"Oh, so that's the cargo we brought back."  Mihoshi looked at the boxes,
now laid out in a neat double row in one corner of the room.  "You said I
could open them later.  Is it later yet?"

"Sure, go ahead.  Start with the two on the right; I've already unlocked
them."

Mihoshi guzzled her chocolate, set her mug aside, and walked over to the
indicated boxes.  Opening them, she reflexively gulped as light poured out
onto her face...which was a good thing, for she had forgotten to swallow
her chocolate.  "You spent our money on THESE?"

"Uh-huh."

"But...they're worthless!  Sapphires, rubies, platinum bars..."

"...and a bunch of other natural junk which is dirt cheap on the galactic
market.  But, have you seen how much they go for here?  They're priceless!
Just half of one of those boxes got me that sack of cash, and then some.
And that's not all."  Kiyone drained the last of her drink, set aside her
cup, and joined her partner.  "Check this out."  She put her thumb on a
black square on one of the other boxes, which briefly lit up.  A seam
appeared in the box's top, which Kiyone worked her finger under to pry open
the box.

Mihoshi smelled it before she saw it.  "Soya bulbs?"

"FRESH soya blubs, with the leaves still green!"  Kiyone grinned.  "I knew
you were starting to feel a little homesick, so I got your favorites."  She
gestured to most of the unopened boxed.  "We're going to feast tonight, and
not a single dish will come from Earth.  Plus, even if we stuff ourselves,
I figure we'll have at least enough leftovers for breakfast.  You wouldn't
believe the hassle it took to get this here.  I had to get the food scanned
for every virus and bacteria that could be harmful to Earth-native life
forms.  Even then, the techs weren't sure it was totally disease free, but
it was clean enough to be allowed through the quarantine."

Mihoshi bear hugged her partner.  "Thank you!  Hey, I know, let's invite
the others.  I'm sure Sasami misses her home, too, and..."

Kiyone shrugged off Mihoshi's embrace, grabbed her arms, and locked eyes
with her, grinning insanely.  "Nuh-uh, Mihoshi.  This was our money, and
it's our treat.  I'm not sharing this with anyone but you.  It'll be a
while before we can pull something like this again, and I want to make the
moment last."

"But...but...can't we at least invite Tenchi over?"

"No."

Mihoshi's eyes widened and moistened.

"No...don't give me that look..."

"Pleeeeeease?"

Kiyone's resolve faltered.  "Oh, all right.  Fine.  You can invite Tenchi -
and only Tenchi - over to join us for dinner."

"Thanks.  This is so perfect!  After dinner, I can afford to take him on a
date, and-"

"Whoawhoawhoa!  Hold on, Mihoshi...you want to date Tenchi?"

"Sure."

"Are you insane?  Wait...don't answer that."  Kiyone briefly searched for
the right words, then queried, "Do you have a death wish?  What about Ayeka
and Ryoko?"

"Who?"

Kiyone blinked.  "The princess and the space pirate."

"The what and the what?"

Before Kiyone could respond, her imagination gave her a picture of what
could be...

******

Kiyone bowed gracefully to let the commissioner loop a medallion around her
neck.

"Detective Kiyone," he recited.  "For valance in the face of disaster, and
for catching two class B criminals, the Galaxy Police hereby awards you our
highest honor, the Mulberry Medal.  Furthermore, you are to be promoted and
transferred to Special Operations immediately, where you will work as a
solo agent."

With her new decoration in place, Kiyone straightened up and saluted.
"Thank you, sir!"

The commissioner sighed.  "Don't thank me.  The boys down in Psych thought
that working alone might help you get over the loss over your partner.  I
just wish this could have taken place under better circumstances."  He
impassively locked eyes with Kiyone.  "Mihoshi's funeral is scheduled for
this afternoon.  You will attend."

"Yes, sir!"

He smiled a bit.  "Jurai's still having fits about this, you know.  No one
was surprised by Ryoko's actions, but for the heir designate of the Juraian
throne to help Ryoko murder a police officer out of jealousy over an Earth
human..."  He shook his head.  "Good job bringing those two in."

******

Kiyone silently berated herself for wanting to use anyone like that, even
Mihoshi.  As if on cue, the vision faded from her mind's eye, only to be
replaced by another...

******

Mihoshi looked beautiful in her wedding dress, but Kiyone was surprised by
the grace of her partner's movements.  Apparently, Mihoshi could keep from
klutzing out when she really wanted to, and she did not want anything to
ruin this day.

Kiyone looked at her partner's face, and made out a hint of sadness mixed
with overwhelming joy.  "Hey, Mihoshi, are you ok?"

"Yeah..."  Her voice betrayed her lie.  "It's just, well, Jurai's extending
its quarantine of Earth to prevent all space traffic, which means no more
Galaxy Police representatives here.  I can't take Tenchi away from this
planet, so I either have to leave him behind, or resign and stay here."
She pulled out her badge and blaster, and handed them to her partner.  "The
rest is on the Yagami.  I wish I could go with you Kiyone, but I CAN'T
leave Tenchi.  Not now...not when we're about to get married."

Kiyone gave her a reassuring smile.  "I understand.  The extension won't
take effect for another twenty four hours, so I can stick around for your
wedding.  It'll be the last time we ever see each other.  I'd like to make
that a happy memory."

They hugged.  Some distance behind Mihoshi, Kiyone saw Ayeka fuming, as her
plot to ruin the marriage of the one who stole Tenchi from her failed.
Ryoko, already halfway drunk on sake, nudged Ayeka and handed her a bottle,
trying to make them both too wasted to care.

******

"Kiyone?  Are you ok?"

Mihoshi's words snapped Kiyone back to reality.  "Err...yeah, sure,
Mihoshi, I'm fine," Kiyone replied.  "My mind just wandered for a minute.
Tell you what, I'll invite Tenchi so they don't get suspicious."

Mihoshi watched her partner head for the phone, wondering who her partner
had been worried about.

******

Ryoko slowly maneuvered a very battered Azaka and Kamidake through the
front door, and noticed Ayeka and Tenchi talking.  "Hey, you two, Sasami's
on the loose."

"We know," they answered in unison.

Ayeka motioned for Ryoko to set the guardians down.  She noticed that their
wooden shells were lined with cracks, and were missing fist-sized chunks in
a number of places.  "What happened to you two?"

"Sasami attacked us," Kamidake replied, its glass eye fractured and dark.
"We are programmed not to fight her, or you."

"Oh, the raging spirit," Azaka added.

"So you let her knock you to the bottom of the lake?" Ryoko queried.

"Our motor functions have been disabled.  We were unable to leave the lake
once she pushed us in.  We are grateful to you, Miss Ryoko, for rescuing
us."

"The horror, the horror," Azaka quipped.

Ryoko pointed a thumb at Azaka.  "What's with him?"

"Azaka's processors have been damaged.  Self-repair functions have engaged,
but the repair circuitry itself has been damaged.  It will take
approximately one point six hours to complete repairs.  Is Sasami safe?"

"Yes," Ayeka answered, "no thanks to Ryoko."

"What'd I do?"  Ryoko floated over to the room that had held Sasami.  "She
got the jump on me.  Do you think I'd let her go on purpose?"

"I do not care to imagine all that you are capable of.  But I do know that
you fell asleep when you were supposed to be watching Sasami."

"What?  Tenchi, are you going to let her suggest that I..."

"I do not need to suggest anything, Miss Ryoko.  This time, I have proof."
Ayeka brandished an empty bottle of sake.  "This was nowhere near the couch
when I left Sasami in your care."

"Wha..."  She turned pleading eyes towards Tenchi.

Tenchi shook his head.  "It's not going to work this time, Ryoko.  You've
got to start taking responsibilities more seriously."

"What?  Come on, it's not like Sasami died or anything."

Washu walked in from her lab.  "Actually, it is.  Sorry, Ayeka."

A grave silence descended upon the room.

"Just kidding."  Washu chuckled.  "You should see the look on your face,
Ayeka!"

Ayeka's mouth opened and closed a few times before she could get her words
together.  "Miss Washu, that was not very polite."

Sensing an argument brewing, Tenchi was almost glad when the phone rang.
He ducked out to the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello, Masaki residence...Hi, Kiyone...Well, I don't...Really?...Hold on."
Tenchi stuck his head back into the main room.  "Kiyone wants to know if
you'd mind if I had dinner at her place tonight."

By now, the three women were squabbling among themselves so loudly that
none of them heard his words.

He returned to the phone.  "No, I don't think I'd be missed until I got
back...Ok, I'll see you at the shrine in an hour."  He hung up the phone,
and headed off to get some quiet.

******

About an hour later, Ryoko twirled her empty bottle and sat on the couch,
dejected.  "What is Ayeka's problem?  I mean, so Sasami got by me.  Things
like that happen."

"Miya," Ryo-ohki answered from the other side of the couch.

"Well, ok, so she is Sasami's sister.  She's got a right to be worried
about her.  But, she's acting like this is all my fault."

"Miya!"

"What do you mean, 'it is'?  I wasn't even here when Sasami got hurt."

"Miya, miya, miya."

"Hey, so I got a little drunk..."

"Miya!"

"Ok, a lot drunk..."

"Miya!"

"Ok, drunk enough to fall unconscious.  Happy?  I was worried about her."

"Miya?"

"Yes, me, worried about someone other than you, me, or Tenchi.  As I said,
things like this happen.  Seeing her like this was upsetting, so I tried to
get it out of my mind..."

"Miya."

Ryoko sighed.  "...and I let her get past me when I should have been making
sure she didn't wake up.  But it's not my fault."

"Miya!"

"Ryo-ohki..."

"Miya!"  Ryo-ohki turned her back on Ryoko, sat up, and crossed her arms.

"What?  Even you won't listen to me now?"

"Miya!"

"'Ayeka was right'?"  Ryoko snarled.  "THAT DOES IT!  I AM SICK AND TIRED
OF HER MESSING WITH MY LIFE!"  She flew through the door, not bothering to
open it first.

******

Tenchi was meditating when Ayeka approached him.  She coughed politely as
she reached the edge of the clearing in front of the shrine, so as not to
sneak up on him.

Tenchi stirred from his reverie and looked up.  "How is she?"

"Washu has applied a skeletal regenerator.  She says that Sasami's injury
should heal by sunrise.  Still no progress on a cure for the...disease, but
it will be gone within, at most, two days in any case."

"And how are you?"

"Sasami did not fight me.  I am unharmed."

"That's not what I meant."

Ayeka tried to feign confusion, but her resolve faltered under Tenchi's
worried look.  She collapsed into Tenchi's shoulder, fighting back tears.
"She's always been there for me.  Even when everyone else abandoned me, she
was my rock, my pillar of strength.  To s-see her like this..."  And then
there was no fighting, but instead just two streams of tears, Tenchi's hand
gently stroking her hair, and his voice making reassuring noises.

Eventually, Ayeka's sobbing ceased.  "I must not seem like much of a
princess now."  To Tenchi's relief, she was actually smiling a bit.  "To
admit that my younger sister is more mature than me, and has been for quite
a while..."

"It's ok, Ayeka."  Tenchi smiled, trying to coax more of Ayeka's smile out.
"At least you're not as bad as Ryoko is sometimes."

"You would dare compare me to that monster?"

Tenchi shrank back for a moment, until he noticed that Ayeka was now
grinning.

Ayeka leaned forwards to kiss him...

"A-AY-YE-EK-KA-AAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

...but broke off and turned around at the sound of Ryoko's voice.

Ryoko was floating above the edge of the clearing, angrier than Tenchi had
ever seen her.  Battle energy flared around her in a meter-thick battle
aura.  She was quaking in rage, and an occasional blurring told Ayeka that
Ryoko was having trouble keeping her two bodies combined into one.

"What do you want, demon?" Ayeka spat.

"What do I want?" Ryoko growled.  "You DARE ask that question?"

The sheer malice in Ryoko's voice startled Ayeka, but she soon recovered.
"Yes.  I, Princess Ayeka of Jurai, dare to ask what you, the lowly space
pirate Ryoko of questionable origin, want."

"And why should I tell you?  So you can take that away, too?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Everything I've ever loved, you've taken away from me.  When we first met,
you took my flowers away.  Later on, when I tried to make friends at
Jurai's royal court, you ordered them not to speak with me.  Every time I
tried to make an honest living for myself, you came along and either
destroyed my shop or had me chased off the planet.  All through the
centuries, I could never find true happiness for long before you messed it
up, either in person or through your flunkies.  Do you know why I first
chose to become a pirate?  It was to get away from you, and your laws, and
your manipulation of everything I held dear.  But you couldn't have that,
so you sent the Galaxy Police after me.  When I came here and found Tenchi,
I knew in my heart that it would not be long until you arrived to take him
away, and I was right.  And now, you've finally managed to turn Ryo-ohki...
the only friend I had in this universe I thought was immune to your
persuasion...against me.  Now, I have nothing left to call mine.  You.
Took.  Everything."

Tenchi sighed, stood up, and walked forwards to impose himself between
Ayeka and Ryoko.  "Ryoko, your fighting with Ayeka is going to have to
stop.  You can't blame her for everything."

"Can't I?  Do you really need a list of all the times we've met?  Do I need
to show you the warrants for my arrest she signed?  Do you want to know the
names and faces of the ones I tried to befriend, before Ayeka poisoned them
against me?"  Ryoko snarled.  "Or just plain poisoned?"  She stormed
forwards.  "I love you dearly, Tenchi, and you're right, this has to end.
Over her dead body."

Tenchi blinked.  "You wha-"

The former pirate roughly grabbed and kissed him before he could finish his
sentence.  Her aura engulfed Tenchi like fire consuming paper, growing
brighter and bigger as it flowed through him...

...until Tenchi's body shut down in self-defense.

Ryoko let him drop, carefully, and continued to advance on Ayeka, finally
splitting into two incarnations of rage, both standing in front of Ayeka so
as not to hit each other with any crossfire.

Unable to maintain eye contact with both Ryokos, Ayeka closed her eyes,
stood, and calmed herself.  "You may fire when ready."

This brought the Ryokos up short.  "Huh?" they asked in stereo.

"You said this will end over my dead body.  If that is what you truly want,
then please do it now.  I am as tired of crossing your path as you are of
mine.  Let us end this."

Both Ryokos blinked, then smiled, and discharged all of their energies in
one blast each.

Ayeka brought up her logs in the blink of an eye, forming a barrier that
deflected the blasts.  With expert precision, she angled the deflection so
that each Ryoko's shot hit the other full on, knocking them both out before
they could dodge.  Unfortunately, her shield was not perfectly solid, and
enough of the twin blasts got through to send her into unconsciousness,
too.

Kiyone came running at the sound of the explosion, but stopped and rolled
her eyes when she saw the cause.  "Fighting again," she sighed as she
picked up Tenchi.  "Won't those two..."  She noticed Ryoko's spare body
lying nearby.  "...or three ever grow up?"  The detective almost thought
she saw one of the Ryokos begin to stir, so she quickly carried Tenchi back
to her transport.

******

Tenchi had woken up while riding to Kiyone's and Mihoshi's apartment, and
found dinner already prepared when he arrived with Kiyone.  He had dug in
to the exotic foods with anticipation, and sampled a bit of all the
concoctions in front of him.  He was not quite sure which dish was
responsible, but something had made him a bit tired as the meal progressed.

"So anyway," Mihoshi continued, "Kiyone and I were chasing down these two
nasty, vicious Class 2A criminals, and then it turns out they're on our
side.  Can you believe they thought WE were the criminals?"

Or, perhaps, someone.

"Easily," Kiyone muttered.  "Remember the description?  Two female
humanoids, who cause lots of trouble and damage wherever they go."

"Yeah, I suppose.  The Chief wasn't happy with the amount of property
damage we'd been doing lately."

"We?  I wasn't the one who shot the hydrogen lift bags of that floating
city."

Tenchi groaned and held his head.

Both detectives immediately shut up and looked at Tenchi, worried.

"Sorry.  I get enough of that at home, and I'd really like to get a break
from it."

"Of course."  Kiyone nodded, then turned back to her food.

Mihoshi snuggled closer to Tenchi.  "Sorry.  I try to avoid upsetting
Kiyone, but..."

Tenchi started to cough, then thought better of it and pecked Mihoshi on
the lips.

Mihoshi's eyes bulged.

Kiyone chuckled politely.  "Not bad, Tenchi.  I've used that trick myself,
once or twice."

Tenchi looked from Kiyone to Mihoshi.

Kiyone laughed a bit harder.  "Not on her!  Honestly, Tenchi."

Mihoshi smiled and bear hugged Tenchi.

Tenchi tried to break free enough to breathe, with limited success.
"Shouldn't you finish your dinner, Mihoshi?  It's getting cold."

Kiyone was barely stifling her laughter.  "Tenchi, aside from the soup, was
any of the food hot?"

"Well...now that you mention it, no."

"That's one of the benefits of these foods.  They're supposed to be served
cold.  It's easier to chill things than heat things in space, and you can
never be sure that some emergency or other won't interrupt dinner.  Even an
emergency snuggle."  She winked.  "This way, the food's ready when you are.
Besides..."  Kiyone gestured to Mihoshi's empty plate.  "...she seems to
have eaten more than you gave her credit for."

Mihoshi looked at her plate.  "Gee, I don't remember having anything, and
I'm still hungry."

Kiyone shrugged.  "Well, have some more.  I don't plan on rationing this,
even if we aren't likely to see any more for a few months."

Tenchi examined the food as Mihoshi released him to add more of it to her
plate.  "Where'd you get this, anyway?  I don't recognize any of it."

"You wouldn't.  I had it imported from off-world."

Suspicion kindled in a corner of Tenchi's mind.  "You did check it for
diseases first, right?"

"Of course.  We had to.  Why?"

"Sasami's come down with nightmare flu, and Washu can't..."

Kiyone snatched a green leaf from one of the bowls on the table, and ran
over to a medical scanner.  She fed the leaf in with one hand, while the
fingers of her other flew over the scanner's controls.

"...figure out...Kiyone?"

Her eyes widened, then hardened.  She walked over to a wall, and started
bashing her head into it.  "Of all the BILLIONS" *bash* "of POSSIBLE"
*bash* "viruses, I would HAVE" *bash* "to overlook THAT." *bash*

"Kiyone?" Mihoshi queried.  "Why are you banging your head against the
wall?"

*bash* "Because it feels so GOOD" *bash* "when I STOP."

Tenchi pulled her away from the wall before she could continue.  "Look,
Kiyone, no one will blame you-"

Kiyone shrugged off his grip.  "*I* blame myself.  I'm the only one who has
to.  I checked to make sure I wouldn't do any harm to anyone on Earth, and
I totally forgot about the fact that there were aliens other than us two
living here."

"Kiyone..."

She faced Tenchi, momentarily trying to stare him down before depression
took over.  "I wanted tonight to be perfect.  Just one night of civilized
sanity on this planet, and now..."  She collapsed onto her cushion at the
table.  "If word gets out about this, my career's history."

"Don't worry, Kiyone," Tenchi reassured her.  "I won't tell.  You won't
tell.  And Mihoshi..."

Mihoshi looked up from her food.  "Oh, sorry, were you talking to me?"

Kiyone's frown partly faded.  "Thank you, Tenchi."

"Sure, no problem."

Mihoshi raised her fork to her mouth, only to find it empty.  "Huh?"  She
looked at her empty plate.  "Gee, I polished that off so fast I didn't even
taste it.  I think I'd better hold off on any more."

"Worried you'll gain weight?" Tenchi queried.

Both detectives looked at each other.  Three seconds later, they
surrendered to fits of giggling.

"Private joke?" he guessed.

Kiyone recovered first.  "I guess you could call it that.  We went to this
planet once where being heavy was a status symbol.  Only problem is,
Mihoshi can't get heavier.  Her body just won't absorb any mass.  You said
exactly what they did when they thought she was insulting them by not
eating."

Mihoshi was now just blushing.  "They made me eat...oh, it must have been
at least half a ton in a day."

"It wasn't that much, but it sure looked like it."  Kiyone smirked.  "And
you were still hungry afterwards."

"Umm, well..."  Mihoshi was staring intently at her lap.  Suddenly, she
looked up at Tenchi.  "Hey, Tenchi, you want to see the meteor shower?"

"I don't know...I mean, they'll be expecting me back home, and..."

She cuddled against him, leaning her head on his shoulder.  "I'm sure
they'll wait.  Besides, this is something you don't get to see every
night."

"Tell me about it," Kiyone said.  "Or better yet, try landing during one.
I'm just lucky the Yagami didn't get any major dents."

"That wasn't luck, Kiyone."  Mihoshi turned her full smile on her partner.
"You're a great pilot."

It was Kiyone's turn to blush.

"Remember that time you flew inside that planet-sized criminal?  You took a
wrong turn near the groin, and..."

"MIHOSHI!"  Kiyone was examining her plate.  "Look, why don't you two just
go on and have fun.  I'll clean up."

Mihoshi walked away with Tenchi while hugging him from behind, yet still
managing to direct their travel.

Unseen by any of the trio, a blue haired figure smiled to herself.
Stealing Mihoshi's food was only the first bit of mischief she would cause
tonight.  She still hurt a bit, but she refused to let that bother her.

******

Pain.

Pain and darkness.

Pain and light.

No, I've got to get back to my knight!  That monster queen and her lackey
have him...

...oh, wait, that was just a dream, wasn't it?  I'd better get up, then.

Where am I?  Who am I?

Sasami?  No, that's not right.  I'm...I'm Pretty Sammy.  But, where am I?

"She's waking up.  Azaka, hand me that hypospray."  The witch?  I must be
in her lair.  I've got to get out of here!  

Why can't I feel anything?  At least the pain is gone.  It must be the
witch's magic.  I'll have to fight it to get free.  And then, I'll...
I'll...oh, I'm so tired...

******

"Phew."  Washu wiped her brow with an empty metal cylinder as she watched
Sasami go limp.  "That was close."

"What was?" Ayeka asked.

"Ah, you're finally up.  I was wondering how long it would take."

Ayeka saw that she was on a bed in Washu's lab, between to two other beds.
On one lay Ryoko, while the other held Sasami...and there was no other word
for it but "held".  The bed had a Sasami-shaped molded depression for its
occupant, topped with very rigid metal bands that sported a number of
medical readouts, which combined to give Sasami little freedom of movement.
Ayeka could see a bandage wrapped around Sasami's head, along with some
unidentifiable device that almost looked like it was slowly welding her
skull beneath her skin, above and to the right of her open eyes.  Mutely
hovering nearby were Azaka and Kamidake, apparently fully repaired.

"How did I get back here?  The last thing I remember was going to see
Tenchi after checking in with you..."

"And that's all you're going to remember," Washu replied.  "Azaka and
Kamidake found you and Ryoko near the shrine.  From the looks of things,
you two had another one of your fights, but more powerful than usual.
Whatever you did, it knocked you out and temporarily disrupted your
short-term memories."

"So that's why I can't remember what it was about," Ryoko groaned.  "Last
thing I remember was talking to Ryo-ohki about Sasami."

"Don't tell me you're worried about her too."

"Of course not.  Although...for her sake, I wish she'd have been my sister
instead of Ayeka's."

Washu put on a knowing smile.  "Riiight.  You know - HEY!"  Washu typed in
the air in front of her.

Ayeka had gotten up, walked to her sister's bed, and was reaching for
Sasami's bandage.  One of the metal bands snapped up on a hinge, knocked
her hand away, and returned to its place over Sasami.

"Don't touch her.  She's fragile at the moment."  Washu dismissed her
computer, which had not been visible in the shadows of the lab.  Ryoko
wondered briefly if Washu had chosen her computer's appearance specifically
for that effect.

The princess rubbed her wrist where the band had hit her.  "Are you sure
she's asleep?"  Ayeka examined Sasami's face, and looked into her eyes.

"She's unconscious.  There's a difference."

"It almost looks like her mind is not here."

"Of course it isn't.  She's out of it."

"No.  I mean, as if she were projecting."

"Projecting?"  Washu raised an eyebrow.

"Telepathic projection.  According to legend, in times of crisis, some
members of the Juraian royal line have had the ability to project their
souls as if they were ghosts.  Centuries of peace has left modern Jurai
with few events sufficiently dangerous to stimulate this ability, so it
remains just a legend.  However, is it not possible that, if she had this
ability, whatever part of Sasami's body is responsible for this power could
interpret her stress as a crisis?"

Washu turned back to her computer.  "That's just superstition.  I've taken
a look at Jurai's history.  All of these so-called projections had
perfectly reasonable scientific explanations that had nothing to do with
telepathy."

"But is it not possible?"

Washu sighed the sigh of one who has given the same answer far too many
times.  "Almost anything is possible.  However, given a number of alternate
explanations for an event, all of which agree with the evidence, the
simplest one is the most likely to be correct.  While there are some
Juraian nobles with telepathic abilities, the biological machinery needed
for the specific type of projection the legends claim is simply not present
in Juraian royalty, and to pull it off without that - *and* have enough of
those who do it either unaware of what they are doing, or deliberately
lying about it to perpetuate the legend - is a lot more complicated than
people simply adapting the legend to explain what they do not understand."

Ryoko shook her head to clear her vision.  For a moment, Washu had looked
old.

"Trust me," Washu concluded.  "Sasami is unconscious.  Tell you what, if
you want to do something, go find Tenchi.  I haven't seen him in a while,
and he doesn't show up on scans of the area."

Ryoko sat bolt upright.  "Tenchi's gone?"

"That's what I said.  Oh, you might want to take it easy, Ryoko."

"Why?"  Ryoko stood up, then promptly collapsed to the floor.

"The fight appears to have left you a bit drained.  You're at half power
now.  The rest should come back to you in time, but for now, I'd recommend
against exerting yourself.  You might even want to stick to walking for the
moment."

Ryoko smirked.  "I'll take Ryo-ohki.  She can scan..."

"Ryo-ohki ran off about the time Tenchi left.  Maybe she's with him?"

Ryoko unfocused her eyes for a moment, then dropped to her knees,
shivering.

Ayeka was too surprised by this to take advantage of this event.  "Ryoko?"

"She's...gone."

"Who?"

"Ryo-ohki.  I tried to call her, but she's just...not there."

"I hope she's not dead," Washu muttered.

Ayeka began to express her hope that that was so, when the look of
desperation on Ryoko's face told her not to push her luck.  There would be
time enough to torture the pirate later.  "Did any starships come by while
we were out?"

"No."  Washu called up a short record of readings from the sensors she had
placed near the Masaki residence.  "We only had one visitor in the past
hour.  Kiyone went up to the shrine.  She must have been visiting
Katsuhito."

Ayeka looked at the display in front of Washu.  Most of the displays were
beyond her comprehension, but her eyes quickly found the video playback,
which showed Kiyone's transport parked at the base of the stairs to the
temple.  "That vehicle belongs to both Mihoshi and Kiyone.  How do you know
which one it was?"

"Because I've got alarms set to warn me if Mihoshi is anywhere nearby.
They didn't go off, therefore Mihoshi wasn't here, therefore Kiyone was."

Ryoko staggered towards the door.  "I'll call her.  Maybe she knows what
happened."

Once the pirate was gone, Ayeka turned a worried look to Washu.  "She's not
just at half power, is she?"

Washu nodded her head.  "She took a worse blow than you did, and her
regeneration's suffering.  Half power is what she'll wind up at.  Once we
find Tenchi, I'd like to run some tests to see what's causing this."  She
lifted an eyebrow.  "Or would you rather take this opportunity to finish
her off?  You just might be able to, you know."

"Miss Washu!  How dare you suggest such a thing!"

"It was just a question."  Washu did a quick mental check, and estimated
the chances of Ayeka giving a long, boring, and useless denial.

"I would never -"

Washu tapped a button.

Ayeka abruptly found herself in the forest outside the house.  Only the
local wildlife and the night sky heard her screams of outrage.

******

Mihoshi giggled to herself as she watched Tenchi do an imitation of a
goldfish.  She had had nearly the same reaction, the first time Kiyone had
teleported her onto the Yagami with no warning while it was cloaked.  He
should have known that their apartment would be within the Yagami's
teleporter's range, but he probably had not - and still did not - suspect
that the Yagami's standard parking spot was a few meters above the
detectives' apartment, relying on contragravity lifters, a cloaking device,
and a lack of air traffic - even from birds and kites - near the apartment
to keep it from being detected.

She waited for Tenchi's mouth to open again, then gave him a long kiss.

That served to break Tenchi's shock.  "Mmmt em es?" he mumbled into
Mihoshi's lips.

Mihoshi broke off, smiling.  "What was that?"

"I said, what is this?  Where are we?"

"Oh, that's right, I haven't shown you my quarters before.  We're on the
Yagami."

A very bare room greeted Tenchi's eyes.  The only visible decorations were
a door in two of the walls, a control panel next to each one, and slide-out
storage bins in the other two walls.

"It's not much, but Galaxy Police detectives are supposed to carry their
lives with them.  That way, if we have to abandon ship, we don't lose
much."  She concentrated, trying to remember the words of the one who had
proposed that rule.  "'Ships can be replaced.  Personal treasures can't.'"

Tenchi smiled.  "It helps that your pocket dimensions are more portable
than-WHOA!"  He stumbled as the floor gave way under his first step.  His
attempt to stabilize by moving his other foot forwards failed when the
floor buckled under that step, too.  Tenchi quickly crashed to the ground,
noting as he fell that the floor had remained intact, but warped where he
applied pressure.

"Oh, I should have warned you.  The floor in here is one big bed."  Mihoshi
jumped forwards and landed on her front next to Tenchi.  The floor sent
slight ripples away from her impact, just like a waterbed.  "You didn't
hurt yourself, did you?"

"I'm fine."  Tenchi punched the floor, and found that it was too soft to
injure him even if he'd wanted it to.  "Just a bump on my pride."

"Where's that?"  Mihoshi began feeling Tenchi's forehead for any unusual
lumps.

"Never mind."  Tenchi gently brushed her hand away.  "So, what'd you bring
me here for?"

"The meteor shower, silly."

Tenchi blinked.  "You're not thinking of taking us into it, are you?
Remember what Kiyone said."

Mihoshi started crawling towards one of the control panels.  "No.  I just
thought we'd watch them from here.  The Yagami's got better optical sensors
than Earth's best telescopes."

"So, where'd you want to view them?  The bridge?"

Mihoshi just smiled, and tapped a few commands on the panel.  The room's
lights went out, to show a starfield projected on the roof.  Tenchi soon
recognized that the starfield was the same night sky he had seen many
times, but clearer than he had ever seen it before, with the slight
pollution-induced haze he had always viewed it through edited out of the
picture.

He gasped as a ball of ice abruptly streaked into view, then appeared to
head straight towards him at many thousands of kilometers per hour.  Tenchi
brought up his arms in a futile attempt to block the icy bullet, only to
see it edge towards the edge of the roof...and disappear.  Blushing in the
dark as he remembered it was just a picture, he relaxed, and felt Mihoshi
snuggle up next to him.

She draped a blanket over both of them, having obtained it from one of the
bins.

He kept waiting for her to ask, "Isn't this romantic?", but she
disappointed him by remaining silent.  His anticipation grew until
eventually, she just said, "Yes," and he realized that he had asked it.  He
further realized that it did not matter, for they both knew that they both
thought it.

He lost all track of time.  Just as Tenchi's mind began to fade, he thought
he felt Mihoshi's hands caress his stomach.  He risked a glance at her, but
she was already fast asleep.  Looking at his chest, he thought he saw a
pair of hands slip into the shadows of the floor.  After a moment's
thought, he wrote it off as the product of an imagination ready for the
land of dreams, and obligingly nodded off.

Below him, a wraith-like figure smiled to herself.  It had taken hours to
comb the air to find the cloaked Yagami, and she had almost kicked herself
when she realized how short a distance Mihoshi and Tenchi had actually
traveled.  And now that she had, it was time to play.

******

Nobuyuki awoke the next morning to an unusually quiet house.  He tended to
be one of the last to rise, and had debated whether to just skip setting
his alarm clock in favor of letting Ayeka's and Ryoko's daily arguments
wake him.  But this morning, he appeared to be the first one up.

The first thing he noticed after leaving his bedroom was the lack of scents
and noise from the dining area, signaling that breakfast had not yet
started.  It took him a moment to remember that Sasami, their resident
expert chef, was not currently in a condition to cook.  He wondered how she
was doing, but he knew not to enter Washu's lab uninvited, even if it was
to check on Sasami.  Perhaps he could fix breakfast, then serve Washu and
use that as a chance to inquire.  The more he thought about it, the better
a plan that sounded, so he set off to the kitchen.

Katsuhito and Washu had told Nobuyuki everything that had happened when he
came home the previous night after a long day at work, and they agreed with
his suggestion that Tenchi might have wandered off looking for Ryo-ohki.
However, as Nobuyuki passed Tenchi's empty and obviously not slept in room,
he could not help but feel a touch of fear for his son's safety.  He
wondered where the boy had gotten off to this time, but relaxed when he
remembered the number of adventures Tenchi had had over the past few
months.  He would come home safe, like he always did.

Trudging into the common room, he saw Ryoko passed out on the couch.  He
knew she would be the last to admit it, but she had grown to care about
Sasami almost as much as Ayeka did.  That was probably because Tenchi
treated Sasami like his little sister, and Ryoko certainly tried to act as
if she were already married to Tenchi.  He would have to have a talk with
Ryoko about marrying Tenchi before she really did bear him any children,
but that was a talk best saved for another time.

In the dining room, he spied Ayeka, stretched out on a trio of pillows on
the floor.  His heart melted when he imagined the suffering Ayeka must have
gone through, not only seeing her sister come that close to death, but
having reason to believe that it had been partly her fault, since Sasami
had gone out the window while trying to get away from her.  The dried tears
on her cheeks told Nobuyuki why Ayeka had not made it back to her room to
sleep.

He stopped short when he entered the kitchen.  Flashes of energy sparkled
among quickly moving machinery that Nobuyuki could not begin to guess the
purpose of.  A force field surrounding the kitchen cut off any sounds or
smells, and served to contain the occasional stray lump that flew from this
maelstrom.  At the center of it all, like the eye of a hurricane, Washu was
calmly preparing food.

Just as he began to identify a few of the more edible things flying around,
Washu saw him.  "Ah, someone's finally up."  She tapped a few buttons on
her computer, causing a small hole to appear in the force field.  A small
black object settled into her open, gloved hand, which she then extended
through the hole.  "Eat this."

Nobuyuki reached out to take the object, which turned out to be a piece of
sushi.

Washu jerked her hand away from his.  "Don't touch it, just eat it.  Oh,
and keep your lips away from it."

Nobuyuki blinked, then picked up the sushi with his teeth.  He raised his
head and opened his mouth to let gravity feed the sushi inside, chewed the
food a couple times, and quickly swallowed.  Although he wondered whether
Washu had any scientific interest in his eating this way, or just got a
thrill out of making him eat out of her hand like some pet, Nobuyuki knew
better than to voice this particular question.

Washu watched her computer's display for a few seconds, then announced,
"Good, it's not toxic."

Nobuyuki almost spit out the sushi, only to remember at the last moment
that it was no longer in his mouth.  "TOXIC?"

"Hey, don't worry.  If it had poisoned you, I could whip up an antidote
before you died or suffered permanent damage.  I just needed someone to
test it on other than myself, and I didn't want to risk Sasami.  Juraian
physiology's not that different from human."

"I see.  Still trying to cure her?"

"Mmm-hmm.  Her flu's a real challenge.  I think I've got a cure for most
cases of nightmare flu, but her immune system's gone hyperactive trying to
fight this disease.  Anything I inject into her is destroyed before it can
do any good, so I thought I'd try administering it through her stomach.  At
least her skull's good as new, now.  I've had to switch to electromagnetic
manipulation of her brain to keep her under, and even then I'm only barely
succeeding."

Nobuyuki's eyes glazed over as he assimilated this information.

"I hope you don't mind my raiding your refrigerator, but I don't keep a lot
of food in my lab.  I try to keep vermin out, but there's always a chance
that some will get in, and if that happens, I don't want to make things
comfortable for them," Washu concluded.

He smiled.  "Mihoshi would come out as soon as she got hungry, right?"

Washu winked.  "Like I said, I don't want to make things comfortable for
them."

Nobuyuki gestured to the open refrigerator.  "For Sasami, help yourself."

"Thanks."  A few more pieces of food left the refrigerator, then the force
field detached from the kitchen's walls, becoming a bubble that hovered
past Nobuyuki.  "By the way, I didn't know you were running your own
biological experiments."

"I'm not."

"Really?  What about the meatloaf?"

Nobuyuki opened the refrigerator, and immediately regretted it.  He
struggled to keep his face from turning the same shade of green as the
fungi on the spoiled meat.  Sucking in his breath, he grabbed the leftover
meatloaf and sprinted for the front door.

******

Tenchi blinked sleep out of his eyes.  The stars above him swam through the
artificial sky, as if the projector was on fast forwards.  Mihoshi lay
sprawled unconscious on top of him, as if even in her sleep she never
wanted to let him go.  And a light was blinking on both of the control
panels, as if there was some low-level ship-wide alert.

As if on cue, Kiyone's voice blared out of the speakers.  "Kiyone to
Yagami: MIHOSHI, WAKE UP!"

Tenchi struggled out of Mihoshi's embrace, not waking the detective - but
not for want of trying.  He gave up on rousing her when he finally
extricated himself, and carefully walked across the soft floor to the
nearest control panel.  Although he had never seen it before, it was not
hard to figure out, and he soon found and touched a button marked
"Communication - Reply".  Thankful that Kiyone had set the ship's controls
to display words in both her native tongue and in Japanese, he replied,
"Tenchi here.  What's up, Kiyone?"

A video window popped up on the panel when Tenchi acknowledged the signal,
showing a very surprised Kiyone.  "Tenchi?"  She put her hand behind her
head.  "You're...still on the Yagami?"

"Yeah.  I guess I fell asleep."

"Do you know where you are?"

"On the Yagami."  Tenchi frowned.  "Something's up, Kiyone, and you know
what it is.  Care to fill me in?"

Kiyone put on a facade of calm.  "Oh, something is certainly up."  Which
quickly shattered.  "The Yagami is in lunar orbit!"

A bright light from above cut off Tenchi's reply before he could give it.
Looking up, he saw the Earth enter the projector's display field.  He had
only seen pictures that astronauts had brought back, but even they had awed
him with his native planet's majesty.  His brain froze as he looked down
for real upon the ball of rock, water, and more that he called home, and
for a moment, he became lost in its beauty.

"Tenchi?  TENCHI!"

"Huh?  Oh.  Sorry, I...just..."

Kiyone chuckled, instantly recognizing Tenchi's reaction.  "Not used to
space travel, are you?  Some people see that, and they say they never want
to 'spoil the ground by touching it' ever again.  But if you do it enough,
you get used to it...I'm told.  I still think it's one of the better
sights.  Anyway, how did the Yagami get up there?  Mihoshi knows she's not
supposed to take any Earth people off-planet without permission."

Tenchi looked at Mihoshi, who was still asleep.  "I don't know.  I didn't
do anything, and we've both been in her quarters since we got here."

"You slept together?"  Kiyone leaned close to her video unit, apparently
examining in great detail the picture that the Yagami's interior camera was
transmitting.

Sweat drops appeared on Tenchi's forehead when he deduced what Kiyone was
searching for.  "It's not what you think, Kiyone.  We just snuggled,
honest!"

Kiyone sat back in her chair.  Tenchi thought he saw a look of
disappointment darken her face.  "I believe you.  If neither of you left
her quarters, the Yagami must have taken off by accident.  Looks like the
control systems were more heavily damaged than I thought.  We've got two
options - one, I can talk you through landing the Yagami, or two, we wait
for Mihoshi to wake up, and let her land."

Both of them paused to reflect on what Kiyone had just said.  "One," they
said in unison.

******

Washu had returned to her lab by the time Nobuyuki returned from disposing
of the meatloaf.  Both Ryoko and Ayeka were sitting up where they had been
sleeping, although neither seemed inclined to move further at the moment.

Nobuyuki decided to try to cheer up his guests.  "Morning, girls," he said.

Neither one replied.

A growl from his stomach reminded Nobuyuki of his lack of breakfast.  "Can
I get you two anything?" he asked as he headed for the kitchen.

"I want Sasami..." Ayeka said in a monotone.

"...Ryo-ohki..." Ryoko added.

Both women sighed.  "...and Tenchi," they finished in unison.

"I meant to eat," Nobuyuki replied.

Ryoko smiled.  "Well, maybe not Ryo-ohki, then..."

Ayeka instinctively stood up and faced Ryoko.  "RYOKO!"  After steadying
her voice, she continued, "Miss Ryoko, please keep your dirty mouth away
from what does not belong to you."

"Ok, ok, not Sasami either, if you want her all to yourself."  Ryoko's
smile grew.

Ayeka's eyebrow twitched as the implications of Ryoko's statement set in.

Ryoko burst into laughter at the sight of Ayeka's face.  "Nobuyuki, get
your camera!"

Ignoring the two ladies for the moment, Nobuyuki opened the refrigerator.
"I guess I'll have to decide what's for breakfast.  Let's see...maybe I
should make pigs in a blanket."

It was Ayeka's turn to laugh as she eyed Ryoko.  "I don't know.  Are you
sure you've got a large enough blanket?"

"With steamed bitterroot."

Ryoko winked.  "Ah, not much preparation required there."  She drifted up
to and poked Ayeka.  "Although your ingredients might be a little spoiled."

Nobuyuki counted Ayeka's miniature logs as they appeared before him.
"Perhaps you'd prefer something fried?"

******

Tenchi walked up to the Yagami's bridge, trying to keep from imagining
himself as a hero in some space opera.  "I'm just an astronaut," he said to
himself.  "I'm in space, but I've got a job to do.  It will be tedious,
boring, and hopefully quick, but there's no danger as long as I do it."

"That's the right attitude," Kiyone supplied from the Yagami's speakers.
"You can live, or you can be a hero, but right now, you can't be both.  And
I hate to disappoint you, but to do this right, it will take a few hours."

Tenchi blinked, slightly taken back by the revelation that he had been
talking loud enough for Kiyone to hear through the Yagami's communications
system.  "Hours?  Come on.  Surely the Yagami isn't that slow."

"Normally, it isn't.  However, it's been damaged, it's about to have an
inexperienced pilot at the controls, and it will be landing through a cloud
of meteorites.  You can get around the last of those by traveling at the
speed of the cloud, inserting the Yagami between the rocks so they won't be
moving relative to you.  As for the other two...well, let's just say we'd
better take it slow.  Literally."

"There goes my weekend."

"It's not that bad.  You should be back on the ground just in time to see
the sun set."

Tenchi opened the door to the bridge, and sat down in Kiyone's usual seat.
"Are you sure we shouldn't wait for Mihoshi to wake up?"

Kiyone's image automatically transferred to the controls in front of
Tenchi.  "It's possible she won't get up until you've landed."

"She's already had a full night's sleep."

"This is Mihoshi we're talking about.  I've already computed a flight path
for you; it's on subchannel 2.  Load it into the nav computer using the
controls just below the auto pilot button."

"Just below...got it."  Tenchi tapped the indicated controls.  "So, tell
me, why is she your partner if you've got such a low opinion of her?"

"Who said it was my choice?  Nav computer's confirmed the course settings,
so turn on the auto pilot.  Oh, and strap yourself in first - I think the
acceleration compensator's off-line again."

Tenchi buckled his seat harness.  "Shouldn't I strap in Mihoshi too, in
that case?"

Kiyone grinned.  "When she's out, she's out.  Trust me, she wouldn't feel
it if a neutron star formed inside the Yagami.  Ok, hit it."

He pushed the auto pilot button, and braced himself in his seat.

Nothing happened for a moment.

Mihoshi rolled in the door.  She came up on one knee, blaster in hand and
pointed at Tenchi's seat.  "Freeze, pira-...oh, hi Tenchi."  She put her
weapon away.  "Why are you trying to fly the Yagami?"

"Because I asked him to!" Kiyone uncalmly responded.

"Oh.  Then I guess I shouldn't have ripped this out?"  Mihoshi held up a
box labeled, "Auto Pilot Controller".

Tenchi could almost hear Kiyone's eyes rolling.

"And why did you take that part out?"

"The ship was getting ready to move, so I thought we were being hijacked,
and I wanted to stop whoever was going to kidnap us before they could get
the Yagami moving."  She looked out the window.  "Why are we orbiting
Earth's moon?"

"Mihoshi, put that controller back."

"Well, umm, I kinda...broke a few of the wires when I removed it.  I can't
just plug it back in."

"You broke the wires?"

Mihoshi raised her arms in defense.  "I thought it was an emergency!"

Kiyone sighed.  "Never mind.  You'll have to land manually.  Here's the
course..."

Unseen by any of the three, a blue-haired figure hovered just behind the
bridge's wall, ready to make like a guardian angel when Mihoshi messed up
again.

******

Nobuyuki slowly climbed his way back to consciousness.  A tall, blue-haired
angel stood nearby, apparently waiting for him.  His vision cleared enough
to make out that he was in the kitchen, so his mind leapt to a conclusion.
"Sasami?  Have I been out long enough for you to grow up?"

Ryoko smirked.  "Not that long, but I'll bet it feels like it."  She helped
him stand up.  "Now you know what it's like to cross Ayeka.  I'd recommend
not trying it again soon.  I'd hate for Tenchi to lose his old man before
he has to."

He wondered if this was how Tenchi felt, on the mornings when Ryoko had
chosen to stay up all night guarding him.  "How did I cross her?"

She chuckled.  "Oh, you play the innocent all too well, Nobuyuki.  'Pigs in
a blanket'?  'Steamed bitterroot'?  'Something fried'?  Come on, all three
of us saw those jabs.  I've had much worse, but I doubt anyone's gotten
under Ayeka's skin that well lately...except for me, of course."

Nobuyuki blinked, then opened the refrigerator.  "No, no, I was serious."
He pulled out some hot dogs in dough wrappers, and a root which Ryoko could
not immediately identify.  "See?  I'd just need to cook the pigs in a
blanket, and steam the bitterroot.  I thought Ayeka was offering to help
cook with her powers, but they'd only be good for frying things."

Ryoko facefaulted before Nobuyuki finished explaining.

Nobuyuki put back the root, put the hot dogs in an oven, and turned the
oven on.  Remembering his mental note earlier, he continued, "Speaking of
the obvious, when were you planning on asking Tenchi to marry you?"

Ryoko blinked, surprised by Nobuyuki's sudden query.  "Well...to tell you
the truth, I was waiting for him to ask me.  If I asked him, Ayeka might
think I forced him into it.  I want her to see that he loves me."

"And what if he asks Ayeka?"

Ryoko closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to prevent the question from
irritating her.  It was one that she'd asked herself many times before, and
she knew her answer by heart.  "If that bitch takes Tenchi away from me, I
will make my stand.  No longer will I let her take pieces of my life away.
I will keep loving Tenchi, as his mistress if I can not be his wife.  Even
Ayeka can not drive us apart, and sooner or later she WILL realize that."

"I didn't ask what if she marries him.  I said, 'what if he asks Ayeka'?
As in, he loves her, and rejects you?"

Ryoko blinked, then shuddered.  "That...that can't happen..." she answered
in a weak voice.

"Does Ayeka think the same about his love for her?"

This, too, was a question Ryoko had asked herself before.  Unlike the
other, she had no answer to this.

******

"Katsuhito?  Katsuhito!"

Katsuhito sighed.  "In here," he replied.

Ayeka literally stormed into the temple, her anger causing her powers to
manifest in an aura of lightning and miniature logs.

"Please, calm down and ask what you came to ask."

The serenity of the temple washed over Ayeka like a tidal wave.  She
blushed in embarrassment when she realized that she had interrupted
Tenchi's grandfather in the midst of a ceremony.  Certainly the other
participants, whom Ayeka did not recognize but realized must be
acquaintances of Katsuhito, wore their annoyance at her interruption on
their faces, mixed with fear at her display of power.

"I'm sorry.  I did not mean to intrude.  I shall leave, and come back
later."

Katsuhito stood up and walked towards Ayeka.  "It is difficult to meditate
when there is such anger present."  Turning to his companions, he added,
"I hope you will not mind if I take care of this one's troubles?  She is
a...resident of the area."

The other attendees mutely nodded, assuming that she was one of the spirits
that had been rumored to haunt the temple and its surroundings of late.
Few of them believed that there were actual spirits, but enough reports of
women with unusual powers fighting in the woods had leaked out that they
all knew someone unusual was under Katsuhito's care.  Any inquiries had
been met with a polite but firm request that the inquirer cease
investigation, and allow Katsuhito to handle the situation.

Katsuhito guided Ayeka out the door into the clearing outside, leaving a
visiting priest who had been assisting him to continue the ceremony.
"Now," he spoke in a low voice so as not to interrupt the rest of the
ceremony, "what is it that brings you up here?"

Ayeka studied her feet.  "It...it is nothing.  A trivial matter.  Certainly
not worth taking you away from your duties.  I shall ask later."  She tried
to leave.

Katsuhito's grip on her arm was like iron.  "'Nothing' does not upset you
enough that you forget my request to hide your powers when there are other
humans around.  Something has upset you, and it is my duty as custodian of
this shrine to help people find peace.  That includes you, Ayeka."

After a few seconds, Ayeka took in a deep breath to calm herself.
"Nobuyuki called me a steamed bitterroot, and I was wondering if you could
have a talk with him about his manners."

"A steamed bitterroot?  That does not sound like my son-in-law.  Tell me,
in what context was this remark made?"

"He was pretending to decide what to make for breakfast, using that as an
excuse to insult both myself and Ryoko.  He had already called her a pig."

"In a blanket?"

Ayeka blinked.  "How did you know?"

"Pigs in a blanket and steamed bitterroot is one of Nobuyuki's standard
meal choices when he has to cook.  They do not take much effort to prepare.
It's always struck me as an odd combination, but he seems to like it."

"Then...oh, my."  She stifled an urge to curse.  "I assaulted him for no
reason."

Katsuhito frowned.  "Is he injured?"

"No.  I only knocked him out.  Can you forgive me?"

"I will leave it up to him to forgive you.  However, I must insist that you
promise to keep the fights between you and Ryoko from hurting anyone else.
Tenchi may be able to get out of the way when he sees a fight coming, but
what if, one day, he doesn't?  Or, what if your sister gets in the way?  I
doubt that she has yet acquired your tolerance for injury."

Ayeka winced as she remembered the time Sasami had sneaked up on her when
she was first learning to control her powers.  Startled, Ayeka had turned
her energies against the intruder, only stopping when Sasami's shriek of
pain informed Ayeka of her target's identity.  Sasami had come so close to
death that day...and if Ryoko ever lost control like that, Ayeka had no
doubt Sasami would be swept away like the wind if she crossed Ryoko's path.

Katsuhito noticed a tear forming on Ayeka's closed eyelid, and wiped it
away.  "If this is too much to ask..."

"No," she abruptly replied.  "That's not it.  I...I will try my best,
grandfather.  But I can not promise to control Ryoko's actions."

Katsuhito smiled.  "Then do what you can.  Please, Ayeka.  I know Tenchi
does not want you two to fight each other so often."

Ayeka smiled back.  "I'm sure he does not.  I would also prefer it if Ryoko
left both of us alone.  If I might ask your guidance in this matter, I do
not understand why Ryoko keeps trying to get what she will never have.
Tenchi and I are destined to be together.  Love is not something that
that...*pirate* can just steal, but she refuses to realize that."

"Who says she's trying to steal him from you?  She could legitimately say
that since she was here first, you are trying to steal him from her."

"Katsuhito!" Ayeka gasped.  "How can you defend that...that.."

"Woman who loves my grandson just as much as you do, but in her own way?"

Instinctively, Ayeka reached into her heart for the answer that she had
prepared when she had pondered Ryoko's actions.  "Love is...must be given
and received to be true.  Ryoko has no idea of what true love is, nor that
Tenchi does not want her type of love..."  Even to Ayeka, her explanation
sounded weak, hollow, and false.

"Does she?  And does he?"

Ayeka remained silent for many hours contemplating these two questions.

******

"You know, Tenchi, I'm almost glad the Yagami accidentally took off."

Tenchi sighed, trying not to let his annoyance show.  Mihoshi had asked him
to vacate the pilot's seat, to which Kiyone had objected that the
co-pilot's seat was empty.  Moving too fast for Tenchi to respond, and thus
making it obvious that she was using his position as an excuse, Mihoshi had
plopped herself into Tenchi's lap and entered the Yagami's course
corrections from there.  Fortunately for him, she weighed so little that
his legs barely felt her presence.  Fortunately for her, there had been
very little actual work to do - just a few button pushes, then wait for the
Yagami to drift into position - so she'd spent the wait cuddling with
Tenchi.  While she was nice, there was only so much snuggling Tenchi could
take before the act lost its charm, but he had not been able to bring
himself to mention this to Mihoshi.

"Tenchi, could I ask you something...personal?"

Relieved at the prospect of a change of pace from one and a half hours of
nearly silent cuddling, Tenchi replied, "Sure.  Go ahead."

"Do you like me?"

"Of course I do.  Why do you ask?"

"No, I mean, like you like Ryoko and Ayeka?"

"I...uhh..."

"I see."  Mihoshi's smile faded.  "C-could you ever like me like that?"

Tenchi rubbed away a tear that was rolling down Mihoshi's cheek.  "Who says
I don't?"

Her smiled returned, twice as bright.  "Really?"  She squirmed into a
tighter embrace of Tenchi.  "But...I don't have anything to give you."

"Give?"

"Well, Ayeka's going to be Empress of Jurai one day, and Ryoko could steal
whole planets for you if you wanted.  Washu could just create planets for
Ryoko to steal, and she would if you asked her to.  Even Sasami has access
to Jurai's wealth.  But I...I'm just a lowly Galaxy Police detective first
class.  Compared to them, I've got nothing."

"Mihoshi..."  Tenchi patted her back.  "I don't care about that.  I
wouldn't care if you were the poorest person in the galaxy.  It's what's
inside that counts.  I like honesty, loyalty, bravery, kindness...and those
are your best points."

"Well..."  Mihoshi blushed.  "That, and luck."

"That too."  He smiled.  "Your luck doesn't affect just you, you know.  It
let me find someone just like you."

"Really?  Who?  No, wait, let me guess.   Umm...Kiyone?"

He decided to play along, even though he knew where this was headed.  "No."

"Sasami?"

"No."

"Ryoko?  No, she's not honest.  Ayeka?  No, she's not very kind.  Washu?
No, she's only really loyal to herself.  Hmm..."

******

"Hello, Masaki residence."

Kiyone wiped a sweat drop from her face.  She had been worried that she'd
have to tell Ayeka or Ryoko, but Washu could handle the news well.  "Hello,
Washu.  Tell me, are Ayeka or Ryoko nearby?"

"Yes.  Which one do you want to talk to?"

"Actually, I was hoping we could talk without them hearing."

There was a brief buzzing noise on the other end of the phone.  "Ok, they
won't hear a word I say until I lower my silence field.  What do you want?"

"Just out of curiosity, how worked up are they about Tenchi's
disappearance?"

Washu uttered a knowing chuckle.  "Ah, so you did kidnap him.  I was
wondering."

"I wouldn't call it kidnapping.  He'd already agreed to let me pick him up.
He was unconscious when I got there...looks like he got between Ryoko and
Ayeka when they fought."

"Yes, their fight was worse than usual.  Ryoko's only back to half power."

"You mean, each one?  They can't merge?"

"Each one?  There was only one Ryoko there when Azaka and Kamidake
arrived."

"There were two when I picked up Tenchi."

"Well, I think I know where the other half of Ryoko's power went, then.
Now the question is, why hasn't Ryoko's other self come back, and why did
she take Ryo-ohki?"

"Ryo-ohki's gone?"

"I'd guess that Ryoko's second body is, for some reason, intentionally
jamming the mental link between Ryo-ohki and the Ryoko that's here, as well
as the link between her two bodies.  Whatever she's doing, she doesn't want
herself to know about it.  Maybe she took Tenchi?  He didn't come back
since you took him."

"He didn't come back because the Yagami accidentally launched with him on
it.  He's all right, and Mihoshi's up there with him.  They should be back
by sunset."

"Mihoshi's alone with him on a spaceship, and you say he's all right?
Maybe, later, we should work on your definition of 'all right'."

"Spend a few years on the Galaxy Police, and you'd get a better
appreciation of peoples' ability to take care of themselves!"  She paused.
"Sorry.  But this IS my partner we're talking about."

"No problem."

"As long as I'm apologizing, could you convey my apologies to Sasami for
the nightmare flu?  It looks like it hitched a ride on some food I imported
the other day, then hung around Mihoshi long enough to infect Sasami when
Mihoshi visited."

"Sasami won't remember it, but you'll have to apologize to Ayeka in person.
She's the one who was really hurt by this."

"Will do."  Another pause.  "You know, the Yagami's internal sensors have
been erratic lately, but I thought it detected four life forms aboard when
I checked this morning.  I didn't mention this to Mihoshi or Tenchi, since
I thought it was just a malfunction, but you don't suppose that it might
have picked up..."

******

"...my fourth grade gym teacher?  No, you've never met her."

Tenchi smirked to himself.  He had foreseen Mihoshi's long list of guesses
as to who he was referring to, even if he hadn't seen some of the more
imaginative of her guesses.  He was still surprised that her mind would
even suggest that he had been talking about Kain, who was neither honest,
loyal, brave, nor kind.  But, as expected, not once in half an hour had
Mihoshi guessed that he meant that he was lucky to have met her.

"Umm...ok, last guess.  Ryo-ohki?"

"Miya?"

Tenchi and Mihoshi froze.

"Was that..."

"Hey, Mihoshi," Tenchi interrupted.  "Where do you keep the food on this
ship?  I'm in the mood for a..."  He turned his head to project his voice
through the open door to the bridge.  "CARROT!"

"Miya!  Miyamiyamiya!"  Ryo-ohki bounded on to the bridge.

Mihoshi slinked off of Tenchi's lap and scooped up Ryo-ohki.  "Hello, what
are you doing here?"

"Ryoko," Tenchi shouted, "come out.  We know you're up here."

Ryoko walked out from a bulkhead and glared at Ryo-ohki.  "Traitor!"

"Miya!"

"Yes, and the fact that it is only Mihoshi and Tenchi is why I'll forgive
you.  This time."

Tenchi swiveled his chair to face Ryoko.  "You're the one who launched the
Yagami last night."  It was a statement, not a question.

"You know me too well."

"And you did it so you could get time alone with me, away from Ayeka."

"Then again..."  She pouted.  "Tenchi, did I even let you know I was here
before you called me?"

Before he could answer, the Yagami shook violently as a meteorite pinged
off it.

Mihoshi scrambled into the co-pilot's seat and started frantically pushing
buttons.  "We've entered the cloud!  Hold on!"

Ryoko snatched her cabbit from Mihoshi's lap.  "Come on, Ryo-ohki, let's
clear a path for them."  She threw her cabbit through the roof, then
floated through the Yagami's hull to join Ryo-ohki.

Tenchi fumbled with the communications controls, trying to contact Kiyone.

******

"Ok, Washu, I'll let them know they have company.  Bye!"

Kiyone hung up the phone just as her communicator started beeping.
"Perfect timing," she mused as she turned it on.

"Kiyone here."

"We've entered the meteorite cloud," Tenchi's voice replied.  The only
video signal was the diagnostic telemetry from the Yagami that Kiyone had
set it to send.  She noticed that the communications system had suffered
further damage, and reasoned that that was why there was no video feed.

"This early?  Hmm...is Mihoshi handling this with her usual skill and calm
demeanor?"

Mihoshi's strangled cry of panic echoed behind Tenchi's reply.  "As
always."

"Good.  By the way, you've got visitors up there."

"Ryoko and Ryo-ohki?  We just found out.  They're blasting the rocks that
get too close to -"  His reply abruptly turned to static.

"Tenchi?  TENCHI!  Kiyone to Yagami, please respond!"  To her horror, the
diagnostics started showing major damage all across the Yagami's hull, just
before the telemetry went dead.  Kiyone quickly picked up the phone and
dialed.

"Hello, Masaki residence."

"Washu?  We've got trouble."

******

Grr...ah!  There we go!  That witch couldn't hold me forever.

Uh-oh, an alarm!  I've got to get out of here.

Let's see...this, and this, and this should prove handy.  The witch would
never expect me to use her own weapons against her.

HER!  The one who trapped me.  I'll deal with her properly later - her
castle is not the best place to fight.  Right now, I just have to get past
her.  Sneak up, tap her on the shoulder...ha!  Look at her face.  She
didn't expect me to be up.  She must not have heard the alarm.

One punch took her down?  Maybe she's faking it.  Wait...that voice on the
phone sounds familiar.  Of course!  The witch was talking to the monster
queen from my dream.  She must be the one who set this witch up.  *I know
where you live, Kiyone.  I'm coming for you.*

Why does everyone keep calling me Sasami?

The demoness and the jaguar?  Hide!  They must be the witch's servants, the
way they're fussing over her.  Good thing they didn't see me.  I'm out of
here.

******

"No, please don't go.  You're my hero, my idol."

Mihoshi's cries woke Tenchi up.  Looking around, he saw that Mihoshi was
hunched over, asleep, still strapped to her seat in the Yagami's cockpit.
He saw nothing out the window, and only a few of the internal controls and
lights were working.  The artificial gravity seemed to be at an angle to
the floor, so Tenchi carefully walked up to the bridge's door and opened
it.

He was not prepared to see a sun-lit forest on the other side.

Just as carefully walking back down, he gently shook Mihoshi.

"Huh?"  Mihoshi blinked, then sat up.  "Oh, hi, Tenchi.  I was talking in
my sleep again, wasn't I?"

"Mihoshi..."

"I'm sorry, but it was such a nightmare!  Kiyone was using some silly
little excuse to break up our partnership.  She said she never wanted to
see me again."

"Mihoshi..."

"I know, weird, isn't it?  Kiyone would never do something like that."

"MIHOSHI!"

"Yes?"

Tenchi pointed out the door.  "Why is there a forest on the Yagami?"

"Huh?"  Mihoshi looked where Tenchi pointed.  "Silly, that's not the
Yagami.  We've landed."

"What?  Then where's the rest of the ship?"

"In orbit.  The cockpit's also an escape pod.  When we took a lot of
damage, it automatically ejected.  I think you blacked out from the
sudden acceleration.  I managed to stay awake until we landed."  She tapped
the window.  "I tried to steer us as close to your home as possible, and
I'm sure we landed somewhere in Japan.  I think we're somewhere on one of
the mountains."

"Oh, man, our landing was probably visible from Tokyo.  There's going to be
a search party here any minute."

"Really?  Great!  We can just wait for them, and..."

"No, no, you don't understand.  We've got to get out of here!"  Tenchi
undid Mihoshi's seat's straps, and began dragging her towards the door.

"But...it's a long walk back home."

"All we have to do is go downhill.  I'm sure we'll come to a village sooner
or later, and then we can use a phone to call for a ride."

"Oh, all right."  She let Tenchi pull her out of the escape pod.  "Just let
me close it up."

"Close what up?"

Mihoshi blinked.  The Yagami's cockpit had buried itself neatly in the
dirt, and apparently had fallen from directly above.  Only a few trees had
been taken out by the landing; the long, arrow-like hole in the forest that
Tenchi had feared the pod would have carved was simply not there.  Further,
the cockpit was invisible from the outside, except for the open doorway,
which looked like a window on another dimension suspended in mid-air.

"Oh, right."  Mihoshi closed the door, leaving them standing on nothing
above a ten meter wide hole in the ground.  "I guess we must've left the
cloaking device on.  That means no one saw us land, so there won't be a
search party."  She smiled.  "Looks like we're walking.  Come on, Tenchi!
There should be a village or something downhill."  She grabbed his arm and
walked off.

******

Ryo-ohki gently eased the battered Yagami into the lake outside the Masaki
house.  She knew that water would be much better than land to hold a ship
that might not be able to support its own weight any longer.

Ryoko monitored the landing from the shore, while standing behind Washu so
she could watch the scientist wave a palm-sized tissue regenerator over a
black eye, which was slowly fading back to normal skin under the
regenerator's influence.  "How did you get that?"

"Sasami escaped, and gave me this as she left.  Ayeka and your other self
are out looking for her."

"No, I mean, how did Sasami get close enough to hit you?"

"Hey, nobody's perfect.  I had a silence field up, so I couldn't detect her
sneaking up on me, ok?"

Ryoko held up her hands.  "Ok, ok, I was just asking."

"By the way, why are you jamming communications with yourself?  Your mental
link with Ryo-ohki is almost the only way I can track her."

"Exactly.  I didn't want Ayeka to pressure you into finding out where
Ryo-ohki had gone.  As long as I was here, Ayeka couldn't accuse me of
kidnapping Tenchi."

"Especially since that honor falls to Kiyone."

"Only as far as her apartment.  I took him much farther."  Ryoko sighed.
"Are you sure you can't think of a way to track a cloaked escape pod?
Tenchi and Mihoshi could be anywhere on, or still above, this planet."

"I'm sure I CAN, Ryoko, but first I've got to track down Sasami.  She stole
some very dangerous equipment, and in her state, she could wipe out this
island in an instant.  I tracked the pod's atmospheric disturbances close
enough to see that he landed somewhere within fifty kilometers of here."

"So?"

"So, if she does destroy this island, Tenchi will have a very sudden, and
very fatal, fall down to what will soon be the new ocean floor.  Not to
mention everyone else here who can't fly."

Ryoko blinked.  "You mean..."

"I built the portable terraformer to move large masses of land.  I created
mountain chains spelling my name to test it, and that only took a few
minutes.  And that's the least worrisome of what she stole, but only
because there's a low probability that she can figure out the controls.
The police are aware that there is a girl with stolen lab equipment running
around, and from their reports, she seems to be headed somewhere in the
city.  Mihoshi and Kiyone are the only ones she knows there..."

Ryoko teleported in an instant.

******

As nightfall approached, Tenchi and Mihoshi walked through the outskirts of
a city.  Mihoshi had picked up her pace as soon as she recognized the
place, for they were within a couple hours' walk of her apartment.  Just as
she sped up, though, Tenchi collapsed, out of breath.  His speech was
broken up by his need to breathe.  "Mihoshi...how can you...keep going?"

Mihoshi smiled, not in the least fatigued.  "You're just out of shape.  I
thought all that training you do with your grandfather would have given you
more endurance."

"Grandpa...would have run...out of energy...an hour ago."

She picked Tenchi up.  "Hey, no problem.  I know this great little bar we
can go to while you catch your breath."

"Can't we just...call Kiyone?"

"Maybe later."  Mihoshi began walking again.  "This place has a special for
couples that I've wanted to try, but it's too embarrassing to ask when I'm
with Kiyone."  She lifted Tenchi's cheek to hers.  "You'll go with me,
right?"

Lacking the strength to resist, Tenchi nodded.

******

Duck.  Dodge.  Return fire.  These police sure are grumpy.  Just because I
blew up one of their cars that was chasing me, after I hijacked a bus to
get over here.  Duck.  Tumble.  There...I've lost them.  I wonder how long
they'll keep running before they realize I'm not there?

But, no matter.  There's Kiyone's apartment.  I'm sure she's home.  And
when I get to her, she'll pay for what she did.

...what did she do?

What DID she do?  I can't remember.

Arrgh!  This is so frustrating.  My name is Sasa...is Sasa...is PRETTY
SAMMY!

I feel so weak.

There she is.  Her back is to me.  I just need one shot...

"Kiyone, behind you!"  Where did that panther come from?

******

Kiyone had tracked the Yagami's cockpit's fall, and fortunately, it had
landed only a few kilometers outside the city, in the same forest that
housed the Masakis' shrine and house, although quite some distance away
from either of the two structures.  She drove out to the crash site, but by
the time she arrived, Mihoshi and Tenchi were long gone.  Figuring that
they might have set off either for Tenchi's or Mihoshi's residence on foot,
Kiyone decided to return home to wait for their arrival.  She had just
reached the front door of her apartment when Ryoko yelled a warning.  She
turned around just in time to see Ryoko tackle Sasami, knocking a gun out
of Sasami's hand.  The detective's instincts took over immediately, gauging
the struggle to see how she could intervene without hurting either one.

Suddenly, Sasami slipped from Ryoko's grasp and pounced at Kiyone.  Kiyone
readied herself in a combat stance, only to freeze when she saw the look of
confusion on Sasami's face.  That freeze was all the opening Sasami needed
to tackle Kiyone.  With fingers curled into rough approximations of claws,
she mercilessly...

...tickled her?

Kiyone was too surprised to fight off the reflexive laughter until Ryoko
pulled Sasami off her.

"Hi, Kiyone.  Hi, Ryoko."  Sasami blinked.  "What am I doing here?"

Kiyone stood up.  "I don't know.  Ryoko?"

Ryoko locked eyes with the princess.  "What is your name?"

"Sasami."

Ryoko smiled and turned to Kiyone.  "Washu said she wouldn't remember a
thing, once the nightmare flu was over.  Looks like it just ended."

Sasami's face fell.  "Was I possessed or something?"

"Or something."  Ryoko handed Sasami to Kiyone.

"WHAT THE...?"

Ryoko turned around, and saw herself standing next to Ayeka.

Kiyone slowly backed into her apartment, taking Sasami with her.

"What are you doing here?" the newly arrived Ryoko demanded.

"What does it look like?" the other Ryoko replied.

Ayeka frowned.  "It looks like you split off from yourself, and did not let
yourself know where you were going."

"That's right," the Ryoko next to her agreed.  "I just want to know one
thing.  Why?"

Ayeka burst into laughter.  "Only you would betray yourself in this manner.
But then, only you CAN betray yourself in this manner."

"Shut up," both Ryokos echoed.

Ayeka's laughter was cut off by Kiyone's anguished scream from inside the
apartment.  Remembering that Sasami had gone with Kiyone, Ayeka ran past
both Ryokos to get inside.  The Ryoko that had been with Kiyone turned
around to look, while the other Ryoko dove into her and merged.

When Ryoko finally entered the apartment, she saw Ayeka holding Sasami, and
Kiyone looking around a very empty apartment.  "What happened?"

Kiyone collapsed to her knees.  "They'll never let me live this one down,"
she mumbled through gritted teeth.

Ryoko lifted Kiyone back onto her feet.  "I said, what happened?"

"Someone broke in while I was gone, and stole everything I had here!"

"I thought Galaxy Police took their lives with them.  All you had here was
furniture."

"And a pile of cash that was going to solve all my problems on this
planet."  Kiyone fought back a tear.  "I'm broke again!"

Ayeka smiled.  "And who do we know who steals money?"

"I am not responsible for this," Ryoko shot back as the phone rang.

Ayeka sat down next to Sasami as Kiyone answered the phone.  "Are you ok,
little sister?"

"I'm fine."  She frowned.  "Ryoko said I was possessed.  I hope I did not
hurt anyone."

"You're WHERE?!?" Kiyone screamed before Ayeka could answer.  "Hold on,
I'll be right over."

Ryoko leaned against the front door's frame, blocking Kiyone's way out of
the apartment.  "Let me guess, Tenchi?"

Kiyone nodded.  "Mihoshi got into a bar fight.  When the police arrested
her, they couldn't pry her off of him, so they're both in jail.  I can't
let them press charges.  Neither of us has much of an identity on this
planet.  If the police check, they'll find out, and they might hold her for
a long time."

Ryoko smiled.  "Why do you keep her around?  It's obvious she's a detriment
to your health."

"She's my partner.  Galaxy Police NEVER betray their partners!"

She gestured at Ayeka.  "Why don't you let us take care of her?"

Ayeka blinked.  "Us?"

"Us, Princess," Ryoko replied without looking.  "You use your influence
with Jurai, and through them the Galaxy Police, to make sure she isn't
missed, and I make sure she's never seen again.  Kiyone gets her career
back, and owes each of us a favor."

"Hmm..."  Ayeka's face donned a cruel smile.  "Your idea has merit, for
once."

Visions danced through Kiyone's mind.  The moment she had dreamed of for
years tempted her, along with knowledge of what would happen afterwards...

"NO!"  She grabbed Ryoko's throat with both hands, and pulled the pirate's
face to within a centimeter of her own.  "You will not harm my partner.
You will not arrange for accidents to happen to her.  And you will not
prevent her from seeing Tenchi.  If you do, or if you even try, I will
personally feed you into our subspace prison matrix.  Slowly.  You don't
know how painful that transition is, and trust me, you DON'T want to find
out."  Keeping eye contact with Ryoko, she added, "That goes for you, too,
Ayeka."

Ryoko shrugged.  "Just trying to help."

"I neither need nor want that kind of help," Kiyone spat.

"Ok."  Ryoko phased through Kiyone's hands and moved out of her way.  "Just
tell me why you're protecting her.  I mean, she single-handedly ruined your
career again and again, and don't try to tell me that you don't long for
the day that you will never see her again.  I've seen your dreams.  You
could be the Galaxy Police's best agent, if Mihoshi wasn't always in your
way.  You want her out of your life, which is what we offered.  What's so
important about her?"

"She's my partner."

"And Galaxy Police never betray their partners.  So?"

Kiyone walked out the door.

"Oh, come on, Kiyone.  That's a line to motivate cadets, and you're no
cadet.  You don't seriously live by those rules...do you?"

"We ALL live by them, or we wouldn't be Galaxy Police.  Even Mihoshi.  You
don't understand."

Ryoko ran a hand through her hair as she watched Kiyone leave.  "Apparently
not."

Ayeka looked out the window.  "How are we going to get Sasami back?  The
police are still looking for her."

"I'll fly her back, then come back for you, if you'll let me."  Ryoko
smiled.  "And then there's something I'd like to discuss..."

******

She'd practiced this look before.  The one that screamed, "Don't Mess With
Me".  It had intimidated countless minor thugs, and had saved her life more
than once.

Kiyone was clueless as to why the lone police officer guarding the local
police station's block of jail cells was now laughing.

She grabbed his shirt.  "Look, pal, I said..."

"I know, I know, but it just makes too much sense.  An Interpol agent."
His laugh trailed off, replaced with a mere smile.  "You're here about the
girl with the weird guns, right?"

"What girl?"

"About twelve hours ago, this girl with blue hair, two ponytails, and a
bunch of weapons nobody's ever seen hijacked a bus near the Masaki shrine,
rode it into town, blew up a police car, and lead half our force on a chase
around town.  She said her name was 'Pretty Sammy'.  Almost everybody on
duty's looking for her."

Kiyone smirked.  "You can call them off.  I already took care of her.
Sorry for not telling you, but I wanted to track down my partners first."

"You already..."  He gulped.  "By yourself?"

"Well, I had a little help."

"And these..."  The officer gestured to Tenchi and Mihoshi, who were
sleeping on a cot under a blanket in the otherwise empty cell block.
"...are your partners?"

Kiyone shrugged.  "Good help is hard to find.  Now, listen.  I need to have
them released, and I need all records of their arrest erased.  Can you do
that for me, please?"

He saluted.  "Yes, ma'am!  Right away!"

She let him go.  "Good.  Oh, and one other thing: has anyone else come to
see them?"

"Well..."

"Well?"

"Just before you arrived, I thought I saw someone, but the details are so
weird, it must have been a dream.  I mean, this visitor looked like she
moved right through the walls."

"Spiky blue hair, about my height, sometimes flies, eyes slitted like a
cat's?"

"I didn't see the eyes, but the rest is right.  You know her?"

"Yes."  She looked at the two.  "What'd she do?"

"She just floated in through the far wall and went up to their cell.  Their
blanket had fallen off, so she picked it up and tucked them back in.  Is
she his mother?"

Kiyone smiled.  "No.  Not quite.  But, yeah, that sounds like the one I'm
thinking of."

"You know, I've heard of something like this over at the Masaki shrine.
Does she live there?"

Without missing a beat, she responded, "If you want to keep breathing,
don't ask that."

Wordlessly, the officer opened the door to Mihoshi's and Tenchi's cell.

Kiyone stepped up to it and crossed her arms.  "TENCHI!  MIHOSHI!  FRONT
AND CENTER!"

The two seemed to levitate in surprise for a second, before crashing off
the cot and standing up.

"ATTEN-TION!"

Tenchi immediately stood rod-straight, while Mihoshi leaned against the
wall and rubbed her head.  "Oww..."

Kiyone sneered.  "Tenchi, escort Mihoshi outside ASAP.  That's an order,
cadet!"

Quickly catching on, Tenchi grabbed Mihoshi and ran for the door.

Kiyone shook her head.  "Good.  Now, the records?"

"Already erased," the officer replied.

"Thank you."  She strode towards the door Tenchi and Mihoshi had exited
through, while putting on a pair of sunglasses.  "We were never here, and
neither was their other visitor.  Clear?"

"Perfectly."

******

Mihoshi was still holding her head in the back seat of Kiyone's car, with
Tenchi next to her, as Kiyone drove away from the station.  "You didn't
have to yell so loud, you know."

"All part of the role, Mihoshi.  Now you see why we don't work with the
local cops."  She tossed an ID card to Tenchi.  "I just showed him that,
and he didn't dare disobey me."

Tenchi read the card.  "Interpol?"  He blinked.

"I had that made up shortly after I got here.  They're as close to a world
wide police organization as you've got, and if any criminals do come to
Earth, it'll be easiest for us to impersonate law enforcement officials.
It's standard procedure on planets which do not recognize the Galaxy
Police."

"I wouldn't blame that guard for following orders from a superior officer."

"One, he was mindlessly following orders, without understanding them.  Two,
the ID I presented could be faked using Earth technology, and he didn't
bother to verify it.  Not that it would have done him any good, but he had
no way of knowing that.  Three, anyone as obnoxious as I acted doesn't
deserve obedience."

"But...isn't that how you train?  Strip away pride, so you can accept new
ways?"

"We've got better ways - ones that don't make you feel worthless, while
drilling the skills you need into you faster.  You can't learn everything
you need in advance, and you can't count on anyone to tell you the right
thing to do, ever."

"Like, what to do if a space pirate kidnaps your passenger?" Mihoshi added.

"Yeah, like -"  Kiyone slammed on the brakes and looked behind her, to see
Tenchi missing.

"Up there."  Mihoshi pointed.

Kiyone looked out a window, and saw Ryoko carrying Tenchi away.

Mihoshi sighed.  "I guess that's it for the date.  He must really not like
me, if he called for Ryoko to get him away from me."

Kiyone locked eyes with Mihoshi.  "Don't believe that.  Don't EVER believe
that.  As long as you're both alive, you have a chance to win his heart."

"Really?"  She brightened for a second, but only for a second.  "But, what
about Ayeka and Ryoko?"

"Who and who?"

"The princess and the space pirate."

"The what and the what?"  Kiyone winked.

******

Ryoko was flying at full speed back to their home, but had more than enough
concentration to spare to converse with Tenchi.  "So, how'd your date with
Mihoshi go?"

"Ryoko!"  Tenchi frowned.  "If I say it went well, how do I know you won't
start fighting with her like you fight with Ayeka?  If I say it didn't, how
do I know you won't start 'protecting' me from her?"

"Tenchi..."  She pouted.  "Would I do something like that?"

Tenchi remained silent.

"Look, I knew she liked you, and I wanted to give you a chance to see if
you liked her.  Honestly.  You said I have to take responsibilities
seriously, and I have a responsibility to see to it that my love is happy."

"Is that why you launched the Yagami, then?  Just to stretch out our date?"

"You got it.  I didn't mean for the Yagami to get busted up like that."

"Good.  Because you're going to help Mihoshi and Kiyone fix it."

"But, Tehnchiii..."

"No buts.  It's partly your fault that it's damaged."

"Oh, all right.  If it will make you happy."

"What would make me happy is you putting him down!"

Neither Tenchi nor Ryoko were consciously aware that they had already
reached the house, but Ayeka's request from behind them brought this fact
to their attention.

Ayeka tapped her foot.  "You never did tell me, Ryoko."

"Tell you what?"

"Why?"

Ryoko smirked.  "To demonstrate something you'll never have, Ayeka.  Love."

******

It's already late at night, but I know he's coming.  The cabbit's leading
me to him.

Great, those two are fighting again.  Looks like it's up to me to rescue
him.

*Hi, Tenchi.*

"Hi, Sasami."  He must have noticed the new set of clothes Washu gave me.
His father said it looks extra frilly, whatever that means, but it's
modeled after a Juraian warrior's, complete with whip.  "You look pretty,
Sammy."

I was planning to say it myself, but this works even better.

"What'd he say?"  "Pretty Sammy?"

Now, what did Washu say?  Oh, yeah, smile at them.  *You aren't fighting
over Tenchi again, are you?  That would...*  Crack the whip.  *...UPSET
me.*

"No, not at all."  "O-of course not, sister."

*Good.*  Lead him away...they aren't following?

"Thanks, Sasami.  I don't suppose you'd be willing to do this more often?"

That look on my sister's face...  *Nuh-uh.  Just this once, to see if it
worked.  I don't like scaring people, especially Ayeka.  Thanks for playing
along.  Your timing with that line was perfect.*

"What line?"

*Pretty Sammy.*

He wasn't playing along?  Mihoshi must have rubbed off on him.

I wonder how long my sister and Ryoko will take to realize that I tricked
them?

******

Ayeka smirked in unison with Ryoko as they watched Sasami lead Tenchi away.
"Much as I hate to admit it, I think you have finally come up with a good
plan, letting her 'scare' us into leaving her alone with Tenchi.  You even
managed to talk Washu into tricking Sasami into her part."

"Gee, thanks," Ryoko dryly replied.  "You know Sasami better than I do.
Tenchi's had his cute fix for the week with Mihoshi.  How long do you think
he can put up with your sister?"

"Let's wait and see.  I'll bet you five hundred yen that he's avoiding her
by the end of tomorrow, if we leave him alone."

"We just leave him with Sasami all day, don't fight over him, don't talk to
him, or anything?"

"Yes."

"Deal."

******

The next day proved to be the most peaceful twenty four hours Tenchi had
had in a long time.