The characters used in this story are the property of AIC Pioneer. I, in no way, 
shape or form, own them. I do, however, own this fic.


Every Princess Needs a Knight
Chapter 2...The Universe Collapsed

	Deep in space dimensions collide, the improbable and the inevitable mix. A 
twist of space and time resides in a place of impossible reality. If some lost 
soul were to stumble across it, which no one ever does, they would rub their 
eyes and wonder what in the universe they ate for supper, then gladly travel on. 
The door to the goddess. A trail of her toys, the amusement of an immortal soul, 
scattered along the path. Planets and odd architecture, all brought into an 
impossible place. If one were to follow that path, which has known the passage 
of a few unfortunate souls, they would come to a place where the fabric of the 
universe had worn thin. The home of a goddess. 
	She had been staring at the image for a very long time, but a moment in 
her infinite life, ten years to be fairly exact. Not a very interesting image, 
but very, very, important to her and to her plans. The goddess, who was as 
impossible to existence as the place that surrounded her, was pensive. Her 
costume flew back in the non-existent wind, her cold rainbow eyes fastened on 
the object of her examination. The image was of a young man with spiked hair, 
standing, his arms folded, seeming to stare back up at the goddess defiantly. He 
was backed by an image of five ethereally white wings. The goddess stirred. 
Immediately a large face, his hair and beard purely white and a red gem in the 
middle of his forehead, appeared. 
	"My Lady Tokimi." He said respectfully. 
	The goddess did not deign to look down at him. "What is it about this 
boy?" She murmured. "D3, have you had any success in contacting my sister, 
Washu?"
	"No My Lady. She has some force blocking our efforts." D3 was not very 
pleased about having to report this.
	"I am not pleased, D3" The goddess pulled her eyes off of the image before 
her, and stared into space, her face immobile. "If I cannot speak with her I 
shall have to speak with Tsunami." She looked back down at the image. "This is 
her doing, I know it. D3, summon Ryoushi." One of the shadows that flanked the 
goddess's throne room gave a shudder, then shrunk back in on itself. At the same 
time a figure started to appear on the dais that held the image of the man with 
the lighthawk wings. It was dark, cloaked in hooded robes, all unrelieved black. 
Its face was obscured until D3 gave a sharp command and the figure looked up. It 
was a face filled with undisguised contempt and loathing, though all you could 
see was an eye, a fierce, unrelenting blue gaze. The other eye was concealed 
with a patch, out from under which ran a wicked looking scar.
	"My lady summoned me." The man spoke with thinly veiled sarcasm.
	"Yes, Ryoushi." The goddess replied, unruffled. "I wish for you to do a 
task for me. I want you to bring me my sister. Dr. Clay was so good as to find 
her location for me, the only reason we didn't kill him."
	"As my lady commands." Ryoushi replied with a mocking bow.
	"Do not hurt her, however."
	"And if anyone tries to stop me?"
	"Use your own judgment. Any other does not matter, the boy is not with 
her."
	"Yes, my lady." With that, the huntsman vanished. 
	"That man disturbs me." The goddess commented to D3. "He makes me think 
that I should sleep with a knife under my pillow. But he is the best."
	"You have a pillow, My Lady?" D3 asked.
	The goddess turned a cold eye upon her servant. "It was meant to be 
humorous." 
	D3 saw his opening. He had been waiting eons and now his time had come. 
"It was very funny Lady Tokimi. I have a good one. Would you like me to share it 
with you?"
	"Proceed."
	The demi-god proceeded to tell a long and complicated joke involving a 
textile merchant, two weasels, a very confused frog and a large wooden badger. 
By the time he made it halfway through the masterpiece the floor was shaking as 
the very stones laughed, the entire fabric of the surrounding space convulsed 
and thrashed around as this, the Joke, unfolded. D3 used sheer artistry in his 
telling, sending shockwave ripples of hilarity through the universe. Every 
sentence and every word, contributed to the laughter quotient of the Joke. When 
he finally reached the punch line, the whole of time stopped, anticipating. 
	"...And every time he sat down it croaked." The universe collapsed in 
helpless laughter, the planets wobbled in their orbits, the stars flickered in 
stattaco bursts, wars stopped as their participants were overcome with laughter. 
The force of the Joke spread in ripples of laughter throughout the universe, 
touching all corners.
	After the first effect of the Joke passed, D3 looked up at the Lady 
Tokimi. She had not moved, had not said one word. "My Lady?"
Lady Tokimi was silent for a moment...a very long moment. Empires rose and fell 
while she contemplated the Joke. Of course, those empires where on a planet 
called Arrogantis, where a new empire rose and fell about every ten minutes. 
Finally the goddess turned her very unamused eyes on her suddenly cringing 
servant. 
	"You're lucky I don't kill you." 
	"Yes, Lady Tokimi."
	D3 phased quietly out, while Tokimi turned her attention back to the image 
she had contemplated for so long.

	About a week later, the shockwave of the Joke rippled through the Sol 
system. 
Sasami was in the kitchen with Ryo-Ohki, per usual. Yosho was meditating on the 
porch, while surreptitiously watching Kamidake practice a new sword technique. 
Noboyuki was at work, while Washu was holed up in her lab. Suddenly, it hit. 
Sasami collapsed on the floor holding her sides, as did Ryo-Ohki, who, in the 
shock, reverted to her cabbit form, laughing uproariously. Yosho fell off of the 
porch, and Kamidake dropped his sword as he fell on the ground laughing. 
Noboyuki's entire office shook with the combined laughter of everyone in the 
city. Washu was in her aquarium when all her aquatic creatures started going 
mad, and she only had time to take two steps before she, too felt the effect of 
the Joke. After the ripple passed, they all rushed to the living room. Once 
there they all stopped and looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to 
whatever they were doing before the Joke hit.

	For the past week, Kamidake had followed his charge around, and he now 
knew her usual schedule and habits by heart. This being so, he could now back 
off and give the harried little princess some space. However, he found that he 
still did it, albeit in moderation. This was because, in following Sasami 
around, he had become more and more enamored of the kind young woman he saw.
	Sasami had noted that her new guardian had toned down his vigil and was 
extremely grateful. There had been a few instances when she had been on the 
verge of screaming at him, which was totally unlike her. This usually happened 
when Kamidake, though nimble, was unable to get out of the way in time when she 
made sudden moves and she had walloped him unintentionally. These instances she 
was usually angry both with herself and with her knight, who looked sheepish and 
apologized profusely every time. She was angry with herself because, despite all 
her intentions of disliking him, she grew to like him more and more each day. 
	There had been tests of her patience though, especially after one 
instance, which she still shuddered over when she thought about it. It had been 
a few days after the knight's arrival at the Masaki household, when the two of 
them were still feeling each other out. Sasami had joined her brother Yosho for 
a round of sake. He had become used to having Ayeka and Ryoko as drinking 
partners and was now quite lonely without them. 
	The prince's first thought had been of Washu, but she was holed up in her 
lab, as usual. Noboyuki was pulling an all-nighter at work, saying something 
about a collapsing hrung. This really didn't explain much as no one, except 
possibly Washu, and as mentioned, she was in her lab, knew what a hrung was or 
why it was collapsing. He had asked Kamidake to join him but the knight had 
declined, claiming he needed to have his wits about him in order to be an 
effective guardian. So Sasami had volunteered. 
	She had had a few drinks; she didn't really care for alcohol, in order to 
placate her brother. Then excused herself and went up to her room, a bit 
unsteadily, the sound of ancient Jurian drinking songs echoing in the darkened 
air of the hallway. In truth, Sasami had noticed a disapproving look on 
Kamidake's face as she had sipped her sake and she had drunken a bit more than 
she had planned in response to a somewhat childish urge to make him angry. She 
stumbled a bit as she went up the stairs and opened the door to her lonely room, 
hanging upon it for a while in an effort to quell the unusual rocking movement 
of the floorboards. She then went in and undressed slowly, binding her hair and 
slipping on her nightdress when she was done. She lay down on her bed and pulled 
the covers up close around her neck in an effort to keep out the chill of the 
autumn air coming in her open window. The princess fell asleep.
	A few hours later, when the moon was shining chill and bright through her 
window, she awoke. She lay staring blankly at the ceiling for a few moments, 
wondering what had woken her up. Then she knew, she had to go to the bathroom, 
urgently. Sasami tossed her covers off and jumped carefully out of bed, then 
quickly padded to the door. 
	She pushed it open and rushed out, then tripped over something large and 
dark lying along the floor outside of her door. Sasami nearly fell right onto 
her face when two strong hands reached out and caught her, and she found herself 
staring at the floorboards, which were now about two inches away from her nose.
	"Your highness! Are you all right?" She was pulled to her feet and saw 
before her Kamidake's worried face peering out of the shadows. 
	The princess gritted her teeth. "You...stay...right...here! Do not move." 
	She started walking backwards down the hall, a warning finger pointed at 
the knight. She kept walking, more quickly now, until she reached the door of 
the women's bathroom, where she turned quickly and vanished inside. A few 
moments later the vastly relieved princess emerged, having gotten one thing over 
with she was prepared to deal with the other. She found Kamidake standing 
exactly where she had left him. She strode up to the man and stood in front of 
him, her hands placed on her hips, murder in her heart. "What exactly did you 
think you were doing?" She demanded.
	"Er...um...er...well I..." The knight stammered.
	"Are you saying that you do this every night?" The princess asked 
incredulously.
	"Well. I ...it's for your." 
	"Don't give me that 'for my own safety' stuff. You have your own room sir, 
use it." She pointed imperiously down the hall at Tenchi's room, and the knight 
sheepishly retreated with a murmured, 'yes, ma'am'. She watched him until he had 
disappeared through the door, then finally turned and went back to bed.
	"What a queen she would have made!" Kamidake chuckled into the darkness of 
Tenchi's room. 
	The two intervening weeks had progressed rather smoothly, Sasami was 
ashamed of her outburst and was careful to be nice to her protector. Kamidake 
spent the time watching Sasami and dodging Washu, who seemed to be everywhere, 
insisting that she needed a "sample" and the tone of voice and look on her face 
when she said it was enough to make the knight very, very cautious. Yosho 
usually watched them all with an amused look on his face. 
	At dinner the night that the Joke had hit the Earth, Washu was eager to 
tell of her findings about the event. "It originated at one point, I am certain. 
Apparently the force was so titanic that it did not dissipate with the passage 
of time and distance. With that power, one could rule the universe." Everyone 
else just looked at her cautiously around his or her chopsticks. "If I knew when 
it hit Jurai, I could find the precise location using..." She continued along on 
that vein for a while. 
	"I will be sure to ask mother about it the next time I speak to her." 
Yosho assured her. 
	After dinner had been cleared away and the dished were washed and dried, 
Sasami decided that now would be a good time to visit the onsen and take a long 
relaxing bath. She left Ryo-Ohki snoozing on the couch and Washu badgering Yosho 
about contacting Funaho and went out to the lake, where the onsen hovered 
silently above the moon-drenched waters. She walked up to the teleport pad and 
was instantly transported to the haven. I was like a jungle paradise, with cold 
and warm rushing waterfalls and tranquil pools, greenery bloomed all around and 
the floorboards were as smooth as silk under her bare feet. For a few moments 
Sasami thought about the creator of the onsen, her own sister-in-law Ryoko. The 
instant Sasami had stepped inside the floating bath for the first time she had 
known that Ryoko was more than a pirate; she had the soul of one who had known 
no beauty in her life and craved it above almost anything else. She had loved 
her as a sister ever since that moment. 
	Sasami breathed in the warm, moist air surrounding her and undressed. 
Wrapping a towel around herself, she moved over to one of the pools and sat down 
next to it, trailing her finger in the water, watching the ripples move through 
her reflection. She paused and lifted her hand, allowing the water to still. No, 
it was Tsunami's reflection now, the face of the goddess staring back at her. 
With a mournful sigh she shattered the reflection and stepped down into the 
pool. 
	Kamidake had followed the princess outside and was standing looking at the 
onsen. Until now he had always used the small shower inside the Masaki house, 
and he had never seen the inside of the onsen. He did not like it. When Sasami 
was in the onsen he could not see or hear her, it made him nervous. He had a bad 
feeling this night and because of that, he decided to go up there as well and 
stay in the men's side of the structure. He walked slowly up to the pier and 
stood in the spot where Sasami had, he gulped as a feeling of vertigo overtook 
him and the next thing he knew, he was standing in the entry of the bathhouse. 
He looked around at the marvelous interior and regretted that he had not gone 
there before. After carefully examining the writing on the doors, he opened the 
one that led to the men's part of the bath and stepped in. Kamidake undressed 
quickly and wrapped a towel around his hips, then walked into a steaming pool. 
He closed his eyes as the warmth of the water enveloped him and settled down 
next to the edge, his arms propped along the deck. 
	He was just relaxing when he heard a cry. 'Sasami!' he thought, as he 
quickly leapt out of the water and ran to the other side of the bath. At first 
he only saw Sasami, clutching her towel around herself and staring fearfully out 
at the shadows beneath the trees. Kamidake followed her gaze and saw...nothing, 
nothing but shadow. "Your highness." He called. 
	She turned her eyes briefly upon him, terrified and wide, and then lifted 
a delicate arm to point into the shadows. "There...there's someone over there, 
Kamidake." 
	Kamidake peered into the deep shadows, and thought he saw a snatch of 
movement. He twisted the ring on his finger and was immediately in his Jurai 
uniform, his key appeared in his hand. Not taking his eyes off of the shadows, 
he told Sasami, "Run, your highness. Run quickly to the house, your brother is 
there."  Her startled pink eyes wide, she turned and waded out of the pool and, 
still clutching her towel, ran to the port and disappeared. When she had gone, 
Kamidake shouted, "Show yourself, coward!"
	A figure dislodged itself from the shadows. And Kamidake could immediately 
see why he had escaped his notice at first, the figure was draped all in 
unrelieved black, from his head to the tips of his boots, the only part that was 
not black was one, startling blue eye that peered out of the face of the shadow. 
"Leave now, and you will not be harmed, I am only after the girl." The deep 
voice issued from somewhere amidst the cloak.
	"Not a chance." Kamidake sneered, his golden eyes narrowed. "I am Sir 
Kamidake, knight of Jurai." He thought he saw the figure flinch. "And what is 
your name?"
	"I am...Ryoushi." The figure said. "And I will allow you to delay me no 
longer."  
	With that the man turned and with a single word, the glass burst outward 
and he vanished. Kamidake cursed and leaped after him.
	Sasami ran the moment her feet hit the dock, she ran wildly towards the 
comforting lights of the house. Her feet slapped loudly on the board beneath her 
as she panted loudly with each step. She was almost there. Suddenly a shadow 
appeared before her. The princess slid to a stop and screamed, hoping someone 
would hear her. 
	The shadow seemed to smile behind his veils. "No one will hear you," he 
said almost kindly, his eyes flicking back to the house. "My mistress, Lady 
Tokimi, wishes to speak to you, Lady Tsunami."
	Sasami gasped, Lady Tokimi, she had heard that name before, she knew who 
that was. She also knew she definitely did not want to see her. "No!" she cried, 
turned and sped off into the night.
	"How quickly she runs." The shadow murmured in appreciation, then started 
after her.
	Kamidake arrived a moment later and burst into the house, no one was 
there. 
	"Princess Sasami! Yosho? Washu? Anyone." No one answered. Almost 
panicking, Kamidake ran back outside and scanned the ground. "That way." He 
muttered to himself. And raced off in the direction that Sasami and Ryoushi had 
taken. 
	Sasami ran until her legs were shaking and she could not run another foot. 
She collapsed to the ground, in the middle of a field, the dewy grass bathed in 
the light of the moon, trying to catch her breath. A moment later she heard a 
voice.
	"You led me on a merry chase, Lady Tsunami." She looked up, her face pale 
and scared in the moonlight, her hair wild and tangled, still clad only in her 
pink towel. 
	"I'm Sasami." She gasped, looking wildly around for help.
	The man chuckled "I know who you are." He offered her a hand to help her 
stand and she recoiled. 
	"Why don't you leave me alone!" she cried.
	"I can't do that, Lady Tsunami," He seemed to grimace behind his veils. "I 
have my orders." His hand was still outstretched, and the princess tried to 
scramble away. "I would rather not have to force you," The man of shadow said 
gravely. 
	Kamidake ran through the forest, his eyes locked upon the trail beneath 
him. He stopped suddenly. Voices. He began to run again. Sasami's back was 
turned to him as he ran into the moonlight, but he could see her turquoise hair 
lying along the ground behind her. " Princess Sasami!" He bellowed.
	Ryoushi turned to look at him, then turned his single blue eye back down 
at the princess. "I have orders not to hurt you, but that does not stand for 
anyone else."
	"No, don't hurt him." Sasami said desperately. "Kamidake, stay back!" 
	But the knight didn't hear her; he was too intent on the man threatening 
his princess. He barreled past her and slammed into Ryoushi. The two men 
grappled on the ground, each trying to gain the upper hand, Kamidake fought with 
fury, but the other man stayed calm. They both struggled up and tried to bring 
their weapons into play. Kamidake swung his key at the man, which was deflected, 
but barely. It caught at the material of the man's veil and it was ripped off. 
Kamidake stopped, for an instant, for a heartbeat, "Grandfather." He whispered. 
Sasami did not hear this whisper, neither did the man who was once Azaka and he 
took advantage of Kamidake's momentary hesitation. His silver blade came 
whistling in and caught the knight across the side, biting deep. 
	All was silent. Kamidake stopped and placed a shaking hand on the wound. 
He spun about slowly to face Sasami. "Your highness, I have failed you." Sasami 
stared up at her knight, his uniform drenched in blood, his golden eyes glowing 
as he looked at her, his hair flowing down his back, the red glistening in the 
moonlight. Then he stiffened, and then he fell, a crumpled heap beneath the 
moonlight.
	Sasami stared at him for a long moment, her eyes burning with tears. 
"NOOO!" She wailed, as a feeling of despair welled up from the bottom of her 
soul. "No!" She scrambled forward and clutched him to her. She rocked him for a 
while, weeping uncontrollably. 
	"I am sorry, Lady Tsunami. It was necessary." Ryoushi said from the 
shadows behind her.
	Sasami grew still, and she clutched Kamidake to her for another long 
moment then gently laid him on the ground. She smoothed his hair and then picked 
up his key and laid it against his chest. Her eyes shadowed, she stood, her face 
streaked with the tracks of her tears. She could feel rage, boiling up, and 
power, immense incredible power. She turned to face Ryoushi, her eyes still 
fixed on the ground. She felt as though the universe were collapsing around her. 
She looked up at the man before her, who was staring at the form of Kamidake 
with self-loathing. He turned to her, to see her rose-colored eyes blazing with 
a power she had never felt before. A glow started to form around her, like a 
soft blue haze, and her towel disappeared, replaced with flowing ceremonial 
robes of Jurai. There was an infinite wisdom in her depthless eyes.
	"You cannot go unpunished," Sasami said sadly, her voice strong and 
melodious. "I wish that it had not come to this, but I see that there is not a 
choice." She raised her delicate arm and pointed at the man. The soft blue light 
that surrounded her began to coalesce at the tip of her finger, forming a ball 
of light. She opened her hand and the light flew to Ryoushi, touching his chest 
gently. He stood there with what looked like a grateful smile on his face, and 
then almost in an identical way as his grandson, he fell.   
	Sasami wept for the second time that night. 
	"Your highness." Came a voice behind her, a familiar voice. Kamidake was 
struggling up, his hand clutched to his side, trying to reach her. 
	Sasami rushed to him. She could see that his wound was causing him much 
pain, and she could heal him, but there was something that would hurt even more 
if it were left undone. She supported him and they made their way over to where 
Azaka lay. 
	"He will not remain much longer." She said sadly.
	She let Kamidake back down gently, and knelt beside him, then held her 
hands over Azaka's chest. "Azaka, my child, it is time to say farewell." The 
hazy mist that had remained on Azaka's chest began to spread and became the form 
of a man, strong and vital, in a Jurian uniform. 
	"Grandfather." Kamidake cried, and tried to reach out to him. 
	"No, Kamidake," the spirit of Azaka said. "I was not your grandfather."
	"What do you mean?" The knight asked, as tears ran down his face.
	"Do you remember, that war on Kabairo?" Kamidake nodded. "Well, when I was 
separated from your father, I found myself overmatched and was cut down quickly. 
I lay there, dying, on the battlefield, when a woman approached. She healed me 
and took me away, only after making sure I left my key on the field." The shade 
of Azaka shuddered. 
	"She possessed me completely. I was forced to do her bidding. I did so 
many horrible things for her. Her name was Tokimi." His mouth twisted in hatred. 
"I could not fight her, except for short periods." He looked down at Kamidake, 
his eye shining. "When I saw you, with the Lady Tsunami, I knew this was my 
chance. I could see that she loved you and you her." Kamidake looked at Sasami 
and she blushed. "So when I fought you I checked my blow, to make sure that it 
was not a mortal injury, but would appear to be. I knew that then, Lady Tsunami 
would set me free."
	Kamidake looked from the shade of his grandfather to Sasami. "But...but, I 
mean, couldn't she have just broken the possession?" 
	Sasami spoke, her eyes downcast, her voice throbbing with unshed tears. 
"No, Tokimi is stronger than I. I knew that all I could do was set his soul 
free." 
	Azaka sighed. "I only wish that I could join the light."
	"Of course you will." Sasami snapped. 
	Azaka jumped, then smiled, "you forgive me, My Lady?"
	"There is absolutely nothing to forgive." She said firmly. "Besides, I 
should be thanking you, my fear was holding me back from my true self, you 
helped me to become whole." She leaned over and pressed her forehead to Azaka's. 
	"I must go now, my time is short." Azaka looked over at his grandson, his 
eye sparkling. "I am proud of you, Kamidake." He reached out and placed his 
insubstantial hand on his head. "Try not to remember me too harshly, and don't 
blame My Lady Tsunami." 
	"Never, grandfather." Kamidake gasped.
	The blue light that made up Azaka's form began to dissipate as his shade 
settled back into his body. When he was completely joined, the light 
disappeared, and he lay in repose, a small smile on his face. 
	Sasami touched her hands to the body's chest and spoke. "Your journey will 
be long, and your resting place far, but there you will have eternal joy." 
Beneath her hands, the body dissolved and became a form etched in twinkling 
lights. "Go, now." The goddess said softly, and she removed her hands. Azaka 
streaked off into the sky, heading towards the light. Sasami watched him go, 
with tears in her eyes.
	"Your Highness." Came a soft voice beside her. Her jaw clenched as she 
thought of when he might have been dead. She moved over to him and held him, 
healing him, as he wrapped his arms around her. She stared at him, his pale 
skin, his heart shaped face, his large gentle golden eyes, his mouth twisting as 
he tried to hold back his grief.
	"Kamidake." She said softly. "Call me Sasami." 


Author's notes:

Well, this is my third fan fic and I hope that they are getting better. This fic 
was set in the OVA, but I felt that Kamidake from the TV series had a great deal 
of potential. So I brought him in, changed some things around, but maintained a 
connection to the guardians. So anyway, until I write again. Kyokki
Questions, comments and complaints can be sent to kyokki21@yahoo.com I will 
answer back promptly, I promise.