=====================================================================

                Growing Up is a Matter of Choice

              A Tenchi Muyo FanFiction by Inishail.

             Tenchi Muyo copyrighted by AIC/Pioneer.

 Characters used without permission, but with the greatest respect.
   Please don't sue: a simple letter of complaint is sufficient.

=====================================================================

It started, as did many things in the Masaki household, with a fight 
between Ryoko and Ayeka.

These fights almost had a rhythm of their own: Ayeka would pass a 
snide remark about Ryoko; Ryoko would make an immediate retort; 
insults would be freely traded until one of the other brought up the 
question of compatibility with Tenchi. At this point the combatants 
would decide that words were no longer enough and come to blows with 
force-field and energy sword.

As the two of them were fairly easily matched, they seldom hurt each 
other. The same could not be said for the furniture around them.

At this point, someone would attempt to calm things down. The results 
really depended on who tried: both the girls were in awe of 
Katsuhito, and neither wished to upset Sasami. Mihoshi's efforts, on 
the other hand, tended to do more harm than good. Tenchi and Washu 
usually stayed out of the way.

On this occasion, things were different.

"ENOUGH!".

Ayeka and Ryoko froze. That was Tenchi's voice. He did not sound at 
all pleased.

The two girls slowly backed away from each other, trying to look at 
Tenchi whilst at the same time guarding themselves from sneak 
attacks.

"What are you fighting about now?".

There was a short pause whilst the two girls prepared their defences, 
and then spoke at once:

"She..."

"She..."

There was another, longer, pause. The two girls stared at each other, 
rage starting to build again.

Tenchi turned to Ayeka.

"Miss Ayeka, what are you arguing about this time?"

"Well..." Ayeka started, and then fell into an embarrassed silence. 
There were many reasons for her to fight Ryoko, but she could not 
remember precisely how this fight had started.

Ryoko's delight at her discomfort was short-lived. Tenchi's reaction 
was to turn to her and repeat the question. Of course, with nearly 
anyone else she could try to lie her way out - but not with Tenchi.

She stood, head slightly bowed.

Tenchi gave both the girls a withering stare.

"You fight and fight, and yet neither of you know why. You are acting 
like children, and I am starting to get tired of it."

He turned and left the room. He did not look back.

They would have felt better if he had shouted. Instead, he had spoken 
quietly.

The girls turned to face each other, and then noticed Katsuhito 
standing in the doorway.

"It is about time the two of you remembered that you are guests here. 
Tenchi is right: Perhaps you should consider growing up a little."

He turned back into the hallway, leaving the two rivals alone. They 
stared at each other for a few moments, and then turned their backs 
on each other with an irritated "Humph".

After a few moments of aggressive mutual snubbing, they left to 
pursue their own ends. (Or, more accurately, went off to sulk.)

                                  * * *

There is a secluded clearing near the Masaki Shrine. In the clearing 
is a small lake, with stepping stones leading to an "island" in the 
middle. On this island, surrounded by ancient stones, barely leaving 
space for a person to stand, is a most unusual tree.

There are many legends surrounding the Holy Tree of the Masaki 
Shrine. They are mostly the usual sort of stories concerning the 
granting of wishes and - more importantly for an agricultural society 
- the granting of rain. The truth is somewhat more bizarre, and known 
only to the Masaki family.

Whatever the truth, the island is a perfect place to sit and 
meditate, or (for those with a less spiritual bent) sit and think.

A figure sat, curled snugly against the roots of the tree, watching 
the sun setting beneath the trees.

There were many memories here: 

It was here that she found her long-lost half-brother (and fiance); 
Here that she discovered that he had changed his name and renounced 
his powers; Here, she discovered that the commoner that she was 
(despite herself) becoming attracted to was the crown prince of 
Jurai.

It was here that her half-brother had betrothed her to Tenchi.

And now she had discovered that they both looked upon her as a child.

The worst of it was that the accusations were true. She was still the  
infatuated little girl who left Jurai in pursuit of Yousho. When 
she believed Yousho dead, she had just transferred that infatuation 
to Tenchi. The little princess of Jurai had just assumed that 
everything she wanted was hers.

In that, Ryoko (damn her) was right. She was a spoiled little 
princess.

A faint sound disturbed her train of thought. Speak of the devil...

She turned her head and looked at the figure sitting on the rock. 
Ryoko. Just who she didn't need.

Another memory associated with this place. Ryoko had hidden herself 
here after a fight with Mayuka. She had been so wild that Tenchi had 
slapped her to bring her back to her senses.

Ryoko had taken that as an outright rejection of her, and disappeared 
in tears. Ayeka had found her here. Oddly, she had tried to give 
Ryoko some comfort.

What was it that he had said? That he accepted Mayuka the same way 
that he accepted all the other girls. That they were all special to 
him.

Just not in the way they wanted.

"He is right, Ryoko. We really are acting like children.".

Ryoko said nothing. She just gazed across the clearing.

"All we do is fight over him. We have been disrupting his life from 
the day we met him. We. Both of us."

Both girls sat in silence, trying not to look at each other. The sun 
disappeared beneath the trees, and the cold night drew in.

Eventually the chill began to penetrate Ayeka's robes. She rose and 
started to walk across the stepping stones. Half way across she 
turned to address Ryoko again.

"We might just as well leave Earth for all the good we are doing 
here. Let's face it, Ryoko. At this rate, Mihoshi makes a far better 
match for Tenchi than either of us. At least she only destroys things 
by accident."

She walked into the gathering darkness, leaving Ryoko alone with her 
thoughts.

                                  * * *

Midnight.

The moon reflected off the still surface of the lake.

A lonely figure sat on the rocks, gazing at the reflection.

As a rule, Ryoko was not given to introspection. Planning, yes. 
Waxing the philosophic, no.

She was not expecting search parties from the house - Ayeka would 
have told the family where she was, and in any case they knew the 
futility of searching for someone who could fly and teleport. In a 
real emergency, they would just ask Ryo-ohki or Washu.

This meant that she could have a long, uninterrupted think.

It rather galled her to admit that Ayeka was right. They both thought 
that they loved Tenchi, but in practice all they ever did was fight 
over him. Usually destroying the surrounding furniture.

Not the best way to win a person's heart.

Of course, she knew of Ayeka's "betrothal" to Tenchi: Mihoshi (with 
tears in her eyes) had told her the whole story after their return 
from Soja. Ryoko suspected Mihoshi of being a closet Royalist.

She also knew that Katsuhito had encouraged Mihoshi to become 
Tenchi's "girlfriend" - just after she herself had gained tacit 
approval to pursue Tenchi.

Three potential fiancees. And a boy raised in a culture that only 
allowed one wife. Crown Prince of Jurai he may be, but Tenchi was not 
going to be happy with more than one wife.

And, more than anything else, Ryoko realised that she wanted Tenchi 
to be happy. She just did not know how to achieve this. Space Pirates 
were at their best with a clear goal, not a vague target.

She looked round the clearing, slowly becoming lost in her memories.

She remembered the pain she had felt when she thought that Kagato had 
killed him. She had sworn revenge, and with the help of Ayeka and 
Mihoshi made a credible attempt at destroying Kagato.

She remembered her joy when Tenchi miraculously reappeared and 
defeated Kagato.

She remembered Achika, Tenchi's mother. She and Ayeka had gone back 
in time to protect her from the creature called Kain. She remembered 
the promise that they had made to Achika.

The whole episode with Mayuka. The feeling of rejection when Tenchi 
defended Mayuka against her. Even in the throes of jealousy, she was 
only trying to do what she thought best for him.

And what did she have to offer above the others? By her own 
admission, her skills were flying, phasing through walls and blasting 
things. Ayeka was ladylike, and skilled in court etiquette; Even 
Mihoshi, for all her dizzy manner, was brave, loyal and caring. To 
add insult to injury she also held down a full-time job and could 
cook.

The train of thought stopped, and then reversed. She knew what her 
goal was.

Now all she needed was a Plan.

                                  * * *

Two o'clock in the morning.

A time usually known only to dedicated hackers, those terminally 
addicted to caffeine, and those with new-born children.

Deep in her subspace laboratory, nominally in the cupboard under the 
stairs, Washu sat staring at one for her many computer screens.

Thanks to the telepathic link she shared with her "daughter", she 
knew something was wrong. A brief conversation with Katsuhito had 
filled in the details.

Now (like a good mother, she thought), she waited in case her 
daughter needed her.

The door to the laboratory opened. The chimes hanging from the door 
rattled for a moment and then subsided.

"Mother?"

Inwardly, Washu smiled. It normally took blackmail or the most 
refined of tortures to make Ryoko say that word.

"Yes, Ryoko dear?"

"I need your advice on something."

Washu turned to face her daughter.

"I think you have already made your decision." she replied, "What 
advice could you possibly need?"

There was a pause, and then a chair came into being behind Ryoko.

"Sit down, and tell mother all about it."

Ryoko sat down, and began to explain.

                                  * * *

"...And that's the plan. The trouble is, I'm sure that I am missing 
something in the detail."

Ryoko sat back, and waited for her mother to comment. When no 
comments were forthcoming she looked up and was startled to see Washu 
with tears in her eyes. The tears were quickly blinked away, of 
course. The Greatest Genius in the Universe was not in the habit of 
being emotional.

"Something wrong?"

"No. Just my little girl starting to grow up. Are you sure you want 
to do this?"

"Yes."

Washu sat back in her chair, considering the Plan.

"Hmm. Your plan is fine as it stands - too much planning makes things 
cumbersome, and you need room to manoeuvre if things go wrong. The 
only thing that I would suggest is that you take Mihoshi with you."

"Why do I need Mihoshi?" Ryoko asked, rather surprised at the 
thought.

Washu smiled.

"Think about it a little. But I can tell you this - on your own you 
stand a good chance of failing. Mihoshi will guarantee your success."

Ryoko stood up and walked to the door. At the door she paused.

"Thank you, Mother."

Washu watched Ryoko leave, and then turned to address the shadows.

"One down, one to go. My little girl definitely seems to be growing 
up..."

And from the shadows, Katsuhito smiled.

                                  * * *

Ayeka woke rather late the following morning. She had made her 
apologies to Tenchi the previous evening, and then spent much of the 
night trying to decide what to do. Sleep had been a long time coming, 
and she still had no clear idea of what she should do.

She lay back on her futon, and once again tried to take stock.

The problem really boiled down to one issue: Her rivalry with Ryoko.

It had become too easy to blame Ryoko for all her problems.

True, Ryoko had attacked the Palace on Jurai - but was under the 
domination of Kagato at the time, and hardly responsible for her 
actions. Having faced Kagato herself, Ayeka had some sympathy with 
Ryoko on that score.

True, Yousho had left Jurai in pursuit of Ryoko, but his decision not 
to return was not her fault.

True, Ryoko was...

Truthfully, she thought, I am suffering from a bad case of guilt.

She had followed Yousho's trail to Earth, and found Ryoko. She had 
captured her, and then without a second thought, tortured her to gain 
clues about her half-brothers whereabouts. The irony was that all her 
actions were completely illegal.

On her first week on earth, She had consistently snubbed Ryoko, and 
generally acted the part of the spoiled princess. She had even 
treated Tenchi badly, just because she associated him with her.

She had been right the previous night. The best thing she could do 
for Tenchi was leave.

The decision brought a certain amount of peace.

She would have to ask Mihoshi or Kiyonne for transport, or at least, 
a call home for a ship. Although Ryu-oh was growing quite nicely now, 
it would be a long time before the tree was ready to function as a 
spaceship. 

There was no way that she was going to ask Ryoko for a lift.

Of course, Sasami would have to look after Ryu-oh now. Her sister 
would want to stay here, of course. She and Sasami had defied their 
father in order to remain with Tenchi, which had led to that duel 
between Tenchi and...

...If she went home, then her father was going to make her marry 
Seriyou.

That rather depressing train of thought was broken when she heard 
voices outside the window. 

"Ryoko, why do you need me for this? Is Ryo-ohki sick or something?" 

That was Mihoshi. What was Ryoko up to now? She rarely spoke to 
Mihoshi.

"Come on, Mihoshi, it has to be you. Kiyonne did say that she would 
cover for you. Please?"

Ryoko saying "Please"? Ayeka considered pinching herself. She walked 
over to the window and saw Ryoko and Mihoshi standing on the end of 
the pier, close to the part of the lake where Mihoshi usually 
"parked" her shuttle. Mihoshi was in full uniform, and must have been 
about to go on patrol.

"All right, Ryoko. As long as it doesn't take more than a few weeks."

Although it was difficult to tell from the window, Mihoshi must have 
used her control cube at that point, because the pair of them 
vanished from the pier.

There was a single splash in the middle of the lake - obviously Ryoko 
had made her own arrangements for boarding the shuttle. Not 
surprising, since Mihoshi's aim was notoriously bad if she was 
thinking about what she was doing.

A few seconds later she heard the familiar sound of a shuttle taking 
off (via a small subspace corridor connected to the front gate).

Ayeka turned from the window, and started to get dressed for 
breakfast. Suddenly, she froze.

"...'a few weeks'? Damn the woman! She's stranded me here! Again!"

The fact that leaving was the last thing she wanted to do did not 
occur to Ayeka until much later.

                                  * * *

Lieutenant Suppai was a minor official in the Jurai Port Authority. 
He was also a minor member of the aristocracy (a Marquis, in fact). 
Like most of the Jurai Court, had a rather inflated opinion of 
Juraians in general, and himself in particular.

He was not the most pleasant of Juraians to begin with, and working 
at the spaceport for most of his adult life had done little to 
improve his nature. This went a long way towards explaining why he 
was only a Lieutenant, despite a reasonably high social rank.

He had a particular dislike for foreigners.

Currently, he had a specific dislike for one particular foreigner, 
who had landed without warning or clearance, expecting to have an 
audience with Lady Misaki. As if the First Queen of Jurai would give 
uninvited ...Foreigners... an audience.

And the problem had been dumped into his office.

Really! The only reason that this Miss Kuramitsu had not been thrown 
(or rather, escorted) out of the Jurai system was that she appeared 
to be a Galactic Police Detective. First Class, if he read the 
insignia correctly. The woman appeared to be a complete scatterbrain. 
It was rapidly becoming clear that she was some sort of impostor.

The silent figure standing behind her was also very suspicious. This 
one was dressed in a plain robe with a large, concealing hood.

"But I keep telling you, My colleague here has a very urgent message 
for Lady Misaki. It's very important that we see her immediately."

The woman had a very piercing voice. And she was starting to repeat 
herself. Again.

"And I am telling you, Miss Kuramitsu, that members of the Royal 
Family do not 'Just' grant audiences to any commoners that happen to 
drop by, Galactic Police or not! There is a three month waiting list 
for audiences within the Court itself, and..."

He paused for breath. He was finding this rather hard going. He hoped 
that somebody from Security arrived soon.

Unfortunately for him, they did.

"Is there a problem here, Lieutenant Suppai?"

If there was one thing guaranteed to annoy Suppai more than dealing 
with foreigners, it was being addressed by his military rank, rather 
than his civil title. He turned, intending to give the newcomer a 
well deserved piece of his mind.

He froze. He recognised the speaker immediately: The Second Queen of 
Jurai, Lady Funaho. The Director General of Information herself. He
could see his career passing in front of his eyes. In reverse.

Lady Funaho turned to address the woman.

"Miss Kuramitsu, welcome to Jurai. I hope you have not been greatly 
inconvenienced. If you and your colleague would like to follow me..."

As they left, Suppai at last managed to find his voice.

"B-b-but Lady Funaho, ..."

She turned, and fixed him with an icy stare.

"As for you, Suppai, I suggest that you start studying the basics of 
etiquette. You can start with the correct form of address for the 
grand-daughter of the Admiral of the Galaxy Police. Unless, of 
course, you wish to try your hand in the non-commissioned ranks."

Funaho led the two visitors from the Lieutenant's office, ignoring 
the strangled noises coming from behind the desk. As soon as they 
were out of earshot, Funaho turned to address the cowled figure.

"And you too, Ryoko, welcome to Jurai. I must apologise for the delay 
in welcoming you, but Misaki and I had to make a few preparations."

"You were expecting us? I'm impressed. I didn't realise that Jurai 
Intelligence was that good. Or did Kiyonne file a report with the 
Galactic Police already?"

Funaho smiled.

"She may have done, but my contacts there have not passed the 
information on yet. As a matter of fact, Washu called ahead. She 
thought it best if we had a little time to prepare."

Ryoko muttered something about interfering Mothers. Mihoshi just 
giggled.

They passed through several floors of offices, and eventually arrived 
outside an office on the top floor of the Port Authority building. 

Funaho turned to face Ryoko again.

"We have a great deal to do, and very little time to do it in. The 
next few weeks are going to be very intense. Are you sure that this 
is what you want?"

For a moment, Ryoko hesitated.

"Yes", she replied, "This is definitely what I want."

"Good." said Funaho, as she threw a surprised Ryoko towards the door.

The door opened, Ryoko fell through, and the door closed again. The 
last thing that was seen as the door closed was Misaki swinging an 
energy blade towards Ryoko's head.

"Well, That is that!" said Funaho, in a satisfied voice. She turned 
to address a very shocked Mihoshi. "Perhaps you would like a spot of 
lunch?"

                                  * * *

Back on Earth, Ayeka was not having a very good time. The day had 
started badly, what with her being short on sleep and stranded on 
Earth (again!).

She had stormed out of the girls bedroom, collided with Tenchi, and
yelled at him when he asked what was wrong.

Sasami had witnessed this, and apparently told the rest of the 
household, since conversation, at the breakfast table was limited to 
the "pass the salt" level. The family seemed to be avoiding speaking 
to her. Even Ryo-ohki limited her comments to a very quiet "Mrrr?".

After a strained breakfast, she had walked up to the shrine. 
Normally, she would spread water over the shrine grounds whilst 
Tenchi swept.  Katsuhito had explained to her that it was a ritual of 
purification, and whilst she did not quite understand it (Jurai 
customs being slightly different), she was prepared to take part, 
just to be with Tenchi during the day.

She grabbed a broom and started sweeping. Performing a ritual of 
purification in her current mood would be an insult to the local 
spirits. Or whoever the ritual was aimed at.

The truth be told, sweeping was menial labour, normally left to the 
Servants. But the Masaki family had no servants, and she had found 
herself doing more and more tasks that a Princess of Jurai would 
_never_ be seen doing: Washing nappies, feeding babies, cooking 
(admittedly badly)...

Small wonder that her Father and Seriyou had been so shocked at her 
desire to stay. Seriyou had even denounced their treatment as forced 
labour.

Her sweeping began to build up a rhythm. The rhythm slowly began to 
calm her temper. For a moment, she wondered whether that was a reason 
for the task being included as part of Tenchi's "Training". Then the 
thought was lost as she slowly let her mind wander.

Eventually, and inevitably, she came back to one question. Exactly 
what was Ryoko up to now?

The one thing that she could be reasonably sure of was that whatever 
Ryoko was doing, it was not aimed at her. In that respect, Ryoko was 
fairly honest: If she wanted a fight, then it was upfront and 
personal.

And why did she need Mihoshi with her? Ryo-ohki had to be faster than 
a Galaxy Police shuttle. And Ryo-ohki had been fine at breakfast.

Then it hit her: 'Come on, Mihoshi, it has to be you.'. Ryoko must 
have taken the comment about Mihoshi being a better match _very_ 
seriously.

Ayeka dropped the broom and ran for the house.

                                  * * *

Washu and Kiyonne were sitting at the table enjoying a light snack 
(courtesy of Sasami) when a breathless Ayeka burst in.

"Kiyonne! (gasp) Mihoshi is (gasp) off with Ryoko. (gasp) Ryoko must 
be trying to..."

Ayeka stopped, noticing a marked lack of concern from both quarters.

"What makes you think that, Ayeka?" queried Washu.

This, of course, involved a recount of the previous nights 
discussion...

"...and so I said that based on the way we were behaving, Mihoshi was 
a better match for Tenchi than either of us. I didn't expect Ryoko to 
take it to heart quite that way and..."

"Yes," interrupted Kiyonne, "but think a minute. Ryoko has gone off 
with Mihoshi in her shuttle. If she harms Mihoshi, how is she going 
to get back? Yukinojou would never allow it."

"Besides, Ryoko has never taken Mihoshi seriously." added Washu, "It 
took a little fast-talking on my part to persuade Ryoko to take her 
with her."

"But what is she up to? Surely you know. And why does she need 
Mihoshi?"

"Yes,", Washu replied proudly. "My little girl is growing up. Now, if 
you will excuse me, I have some experiments running."

Washu rose from the table, and walked up to the cupboard under the 
stairs. She opened the door and paused.

"Ayeka, Don't worry about Mihoshi. To hurt any of you is to hurt 
Tenchi. Don't you think Ryoko knows this?"

The door closed.

"I have some paperwork to catch up on," Kiyonne said, "and Sasami 
wanted someone to watch television with. Perhaps you would oblige?"

Ayeka sighed, and surrendered herself to television-watching duties.

Sasami was watching a foreign animation series. It appeared to star a 
family of toys resembling pink knitted pigs who communicated with 
whistles that sounded almost, but not quite, like human speech.

It was, thought Ayeka, all very confusing and completely 
incomprehensible, which rather matched her mood at the moment.

                                  * * *

Three weeks passed. On Earth, they were fairly uneventful. On Jurai, 
they were a little more hectic.

                                  * * *

Mihoshi stood outside the Jurai Port Authority building. It had been 
a very exciting three weeks: Funaho had taken her on a "diplomatic" 
tour of Jurai, designed to "raise the profile of the Galactic Police 
with the people of Jurai.

Actually, Mihoshi suspected, it was designed to keep her busy whilst 
Ryoko and Misaki were involved with ... well, what ever they were 
doing.

In practice, this had involved visiting schools and an awful lot of 
sightseeing.

Still, it was a lot more interesting than patrolling the Solar System 
- the "safe" assignment that her grandfather had wished on her.

She had even been granted an audience with the King of Jurai at one 
of the state banquets. That had been a lot of fun, although she had 
been a little worried when she was first introduced to the King - he 
had choked on his drink when Funaho mentioned her name.

Really, she would have thought that a King would know not to drink 
with a mouth full of food.

And now it was nearly time to go home.

She had been watching the local news over breakfast (something about 
a dangerous criminal being seen at the spaceport) when Misaki had 
come in. She had given Mihoshi a small package and a letter, with 
instructions to take them straight to Ryoko. They were then to go 
home as fast as possible.

Well, that figured. Ryoko was probably missing Tenchi, and couldn't 
wait to go home.

One brief Misaki-style farewell and she was on her way.

As she entered the building, she failed to notice the Jurian troops 
starting to evacuate the area and surround the building. Fair's fair 
- they didn't notice her, either.

                                  * * *

Ryoko looked up as Mihoshi entered the room.

"Mihoshi? What happened to Misaki?", she said, in a very weary voice.

She looked as if someone had been using her as a target for sword 
practice.

"Not here.", Mihoshi replied, passing over the package and letter, 
"She sent you this."

There was a pause. Ryoko took the letter and began to open it.

"What happened to you?" asked Mihoshi, more than a little concerned. 
"Did you run into the dangerous criminal that has been hiding here? 
It's been all over the news..."

Ryoko managed a weak smile. "Misaki has been teaching me sword-play.
I think it might have been safer asking Katsuhito."

She started to read the letter.

      "My dear Ryoko,

      Circumstances have caught up with us, and I am not able
      to discuss your final options with you. Asuza has
      discovered your presence here, and is no doubt taking
      steps to deal with you.

      I am pleased to accept your offer, and as such send you
      the enclosed items. I have left your options open, as
      the final choice depends not only on yourself, but on
      Tenchi and Ayeka also.

      May I add that you have been an excellent student, and a
      pleasant change from the fops that Asuza keeps asking
      me to train. Like your mother, I am proud of you.

      Yours,

      Misaki, First Queen of Jurai

      PS. Third Finger, Left Hand. Funaho thinks that You might
      appreciate the irony. Turn clockwise to activate."
      
Ryoko opened the package, which contained a scroll with the Royal 
Seal, and a small silver ring, with a pattern of leaves. She read the 
scroll, smiled, and then slipped the ring on the third finger of her 
left hand. She did indeed appreciate the irony.

She rose, rather unsteadily. She could hear something in the 
corridor. The sound of soldiers trying not to make a noise.

"Okay, Mihoshi. Time to go..."

She placed her hand on Mihoshi's shoulder, and they both vanished.

The next second, the door was blown in and a squad of Jurian troops 
burst into the room, led (to their annoyance) by one Lieutenant 
Suppai.

"Criminal! Do not move! Resistance is..."

Suppai's "heroic crimefighter" pose was slightly ruined as it became 
clear that there was a lack of criminals in the room. Not that this 
bothered the squad, who were starting to find this very amusing.

Besides, it was rumoured that the "criminal" in question was the 
Space Pirate Ryoko, and they felt that an empty room was preferable 
to one containing Ryoko.

"D**n! Where did they go?", Suppai exclaimed. Then realisation 
dawned: "Close the Port!!" he shouted, as he ran from the room.

                                  * * *

Two short hours later, in the grand Throne Room, Lieutenant Suppai 
proudly made his report to the King and First Queen of Jurai. This 
had to be the proudest moment of his life.

"The suspect apparently teleported to the Galactic Police Shuttle 
listed as belonging to one Detective First Class Mihoshi. The shuttle 
then launched, and was pursued by fighters of the Third Jurai Local 
Fleet."

"The fleet overtook the shuttle just outside the atmosphere and 
opened fire, attempting to disable it for boarding. They claim that 
they found it impossible to hit despite saturation fire, which I 
personally find a little hard to believe."

"After a brief engagement, the Galaxy Police Shuttle engaged its 
hyperdrive engines whilst manoeuvring sharply to avoid fire."

"As your Majesties are no doubt aware, a ship must be clear of the 
local gravity fields and travelling at constant speed with respect to 
local space when hyperdrive is engaged, or else the drive will 
overload, destroying the ship."

"In the resulting explosion, two of the fighters were slightly 
damaged. There were no other casualties."

He passed the scroll containing the written report to the King, 
bowed, and left the throne room.

Asuza passed the scroll to his wife. 

"Pass this on to the Director General of Information. I'm sure that 
she will be interested in the contents of this report.

"In any case, I think that this is suitable revenge for that woman 
sabotaging Seriyou's duel with Tenchi."

He rose from his throne and walked towards the door of his private 
office.

"If you excuse me, I will go and compose a note of condolence to the 
Grand Admiral."

Misaki, with her face set, walked to Funaho's private office. 
Wordlessly, she handed Funaho the scroll.

Funaho read the scroll, her lower lip began to quiver as she read.

"And our fool of a husband is at this minute drafting a letter of 
condolence..." said Misaki, with a slight tremor in her voice.

Their eyes met.

It is fortunate that the office of the Director General of 
Information is heavily soundproofed. The sound of the two Queens of 
Jurai doubled up in hysterical laughter would have required some 
explaining.

                                  * * *

Ayeka sat on the end of the pier, gazing morosely into the depths of 
the lake.

The past three weeks had been dull in the extreme. True, she had had 
Tenchi pretty much to herself, and a life with Tenchi and without 
Ryoko was one of the things that she had dreamed of. Still, something 
was missing. 

She sensed a presence beside her. She looked round, and saw that 
Tenchi had sat down next to her.

"What's up, Ayeka?, You've been very quiet for the past few weeks. 
Missing Ryoko?"

Despite herself, she smiled. Although she knew Tenchi cared, he was 
not always this perceptive. Mind you, with Ryoko missing, she had 
spent a great deal more time with Tenchi. Time that was not spent 
fighting with Ryoko for his attention.

To her surprise, she had not "thrown" herself at Tenchi. In the 
beginning, she held back, feeling guilty about shouting at Tenchi 
_that_ morning, and (she admitted) still smarting from being accused 
of childish behaviour.

After that, it seemed ...well... unfair. Ryoko and Mihoshi were off 
somewhere, and although this gave Ayeka a clear run, it seemed 
dishonourable to use it.

Finally, it seemed that Tenchi was becoming closer to her. Of all 
them, she realised, Mihoshi had understood the problem best: Don't
force the relationship; let him come to you in his own time.

"Yes, it's Ryoko.", she admitted. "I always dreamed of her leaving, 
but now that she's gone..."

She paused, trying to gather her thoughts.

"At court, everyone expected me to be the perfect princess - an 
ornament. Perfect manners, perfect appearance. With You and Ryoko, I 
didn't have to act. And sometimes, I think we were starting to make 
friends. It's just that we always fought over you. I guess it just 
became habit."

And then the confession.

"And now she's gone. And I can't help feeling that it's my faul..."

The rest of the sentence was lost as Ayeka dissolved into tears.

A few moments later, she realised that she was crying on Tenchi's 
shoulder. He was holding her as if it was the most natural thing to 
do. Her sobs subsided, and she looked up into his face.

His face lowered towards her. Ayeka's heart began to race. For once, 
life seemed to be unfolding like those dratted girl's Manga that 
Sasami was always reading...

                                  * * *

From the bedroom window, Sasami watched this romantic drama unfold, 
and sighed. If only she were a little older...

"Sasami, do you know where the dustpan ... Oh, how sweet!"

Kiyonne walked over to the window and joined Sasami. This was a lot 
more interesting than cleaning the house.

"Mrrr?"

Ryo-ohki was also looking out of the window, whilst maintaining a 
precarious balance on the windowsill. She, however, was looking 
almost straight up.

                                  * * *

When a craft emerges from hyperspace, there is a characteristic burst 
of radiation. Some of the radiation is in the visible spectrum, which 
means that a person looking in the right direction at the right time 
will see a bright flash of light, which is visible for a considerable 
distance.

The rest of the pulse can only be picked up using specialised 
scanning equipment. Like, for example, that which is "installed" in a 
cabbit.

                                  * * *

"What are you looking at, Ryo-ohki?" asked Sasami, scanning the 
heavens and seeing nothing but blue sky (and the odd cloud).

Kiyonne looked at Ryo-ohki, looked at Ayeka and Tenchi, and made a 
few quick calculations.

"I think Mihoshi is back."

"Really?"

The observers from the window saw it all:

The start of a tentative kiss.

The brief flicker of motion as an out-of-control Galaxy Police 
Shuttle made a three-point landing in the lake.

The massive wave that washed over the pier.

"In training," commented Kiyonne, "we always used to call Mihoshi 
'Nature's Contraceptive'."

"Why was that, Kiyonne?"

Kiyonne blushed. "I'll tell you when you're a bit older..."

                                  * * *

Jurian forcefields, be they the "regular" sort, or the fabled "Light 
Hawk Wings", are very useful for anchoring a person to a given spot. 
They are, however, useless when it comes to keeping out such 
incidentals as vast bodies of water.

Thus, although Ayeka and Tenchi were essentially unmoved, they were 
just a little damp.

An unexpected cold bath is reckoned as one of the better passion 
killers. Other less well known passion killers are:

"Hey-hey-hey! Are we getting wet here or what?"

and:

"Oh wow. I'm sorry, but my shuttle has broken down again. Is Washu 
around anywhere?" 

Tenchi favoured Ryoko and Mihoshi with his best "why me?" look. Ayeka 
was a little less composed.

"Every time! Every time I get close to Tenchi, _You_ interfere!"

She paused.

"Where on Jurai have you been anyway. I've been worried sick!"

"Well, we started off at the Port Authority with a rather unhelpful 
Lieutenant whose name currently escapes me, and then we went off on a 
tour, well I did with Lady Funaho as Ryoko stayed to do something 
with Misaki and then, oh yes, Lieutenant Suppai and..."

Mihoshi would have run on in this vein for several minutes - her 
reports to the Galaxy Police were notorious for being highly 
detailed, badly structured and above all, very long - but Ayeka 
managed to interrupt:

"Ryoko! What were you doing on Jurai? And what did Mother have to do 
with it?"

"Well," Ryoko smiled, "I was getting a ring..."

Ayeka gave Ryoko a blank look. Ryoko raised her left hand and 
displayed the ring. Ayeka's look changed from blank to disbelief.

"But that's identical to the ring Tsunami gave me!" exclaimed Tenchi, 
now more than a little confused.

Ryoko's reply was to give the ring a sharp twist. Her body was 
enveloped in a bright light. As it faded, Ryoko stood revealed in 
Jurian Battle Armour!

Now it was Tenchi's turn to look on in disbelief. Ayeka, on the other 
hand, narrowed her eyes, having recognised the style of armour.

"Tenchi?" she asked Ryoko, with a slight edge to her voice.

"Initially," Ryoko replied, handing Ayeka the scroll, "although I 
might take you on later, depending on how things go.".

Ayeka scanned the scroll, trying to avoid getting it damp. Then she 
smiled.

"Go inside." said Ryoko. "I'll give you the full story after you dry 
off."

Tenchi and Ayeka rose and walked back to the house, hand in hand, 
leaving a trail of water as they went. As they entered the house, 
Ayeka could be heard asking Tenchi if she could borrow a "little 
something" from his room.

Mihoshi turned to Ryoko.

"What would you've done if she had gone back to Jurai?"

"I guess that's why Washu recommended taking you along. To get me in 
and out safely, and to make sure Her Highness stayed put."

"Any regrets?"

"Some. But I can live with them. You?"

"No. As long as Tenchi is happy, I'm happy. Sake?"

"You're on."

                                  * * *

After drying off and changing clothes, Ayeka had an argument with 
Tenchi over the "little something" that she wanted to borrow. It was 
a very brief argument, which ended with a single question:

"Tenchi. It really comes down to this: Do you trust Ryoko, and do you 
trust me?"

As a result, Ayeka came down the stairs with the Master Key tucked in 
her sash.

                                  * * *

"...And after all that," Ryoko said, "I decided that I was probably 
better suited as Tenchi's bodyguard. After all, Ayeka and I both 
promised your mother that we would look after you, and fighting is 
really what I am best at."

"Of course, that meant a trip to Jurai, since Lady Misaki is the head 
of the Royal Bodyguard. I needed Mihoshi to get in - as I doubt that 
the Space Pirate Ryoko would be welcomed with open arms - and as it 
turned out, she was quite helpful in getting out again afterwards."

She looked round the room. "I guess I still love you, Tenchi, but I 
have to admit that I am really not the right person for you."

The room fell silent. Eventually, Ayeka stood up, and spoke in a 
formal tone:

"Ryoko. Thank you for your concern over Tenchi. I must apologise to 
you for doubting your love for him, as your actions show it better 
than anything."

Ayeka drew and extended the Master Key, mumbling a prayer under her 
breath. The two jewels on the key glowed, and then vanished. At 
Ryoko's throat and right wrist.

"W-W-What?" stammered Ryoko, extremely surprised.

"If you think that I am going to allow _Tenchi's_ bodyguard to walk 
around with anything less than full power, you are quite mistaken!" 
replied Ayeka, with a satisfied smirk.

                                  * * *

Deep Washu's subspace laboratory, two figures watched on a remote 
monitor.

"And that makes two." said Katsuhito.

"Ah! to be young again." added Washu, with a little irony.

And they raised their glasses of Sake in toast.

=====================================================================
                             The End.
=====================================================================

This FanFiction was written as an answer to Gensao's challenge: to 
write a story where Ayeka wins Tenchi for herself.

The story continuity is mainly OAV (the TV Series is not available in
the UK), although I have made references to the Manga, OAV and the
two films (which are).

Although the story is an "Ayeka gets Tenchi" story, I found that 
much of the plot revolved around Ryoko. The problem is not how to
get Tenchi and Ayeka together, but to give a reasonable explanation
for Ryoko not destroying the joint immediately afterwards.

As always, C&C is welcomed. As my old English Teacher used to say:
"You can say it is rubbish, provided you say WHY it is rubbish".

Inishail.

EMail:    chris@inishail.freeserve.co.uk
Web Site: http://www.inishail.freeserve.co.uk/
=====================================================================