Author Notes:  I got kinda lost on the Sachiko idea, so I started 
this story. It seems to run better for me, and I hope you enjoy it. As 
you know, Tenchi, Ayeka, Ryoko, Ryo-Oh-Ki, Washu, Mihoshi, Sasami, 
Nobuyuki, Katsuhito/Yosho, Achika, and Tsunami are all copyright of 
Pioneer LDC and AIC, and the character Rhjamiz Keppa Mnementh is 
copyright to me.

	=^_^=

	
	"I have been watching this house for countless years at a time 
now. My only regret is that the inhabitants will never know who I am, as 
I am stuck in a spirit form, while my body wastes away, trapped in the 
trunk of one of these damnable trees. There is this boy however, who 
lives in this house, and I've grown attached to him. Unfortunately, he 
has the one thing I don't. A body.
	So I creep around, watching carefully over each and every person 
of the house, and maybe, just maybe, if I perform enough good deeds to 
fix the damage I'd wrought, maybe then they'd be able to see me. Until 
then, however, things were hopeless."
	"Wow," Mihoshi said, amazed at the story she'd just been told. 
"And she's still around today?"
	Tenchi sighed and shut the huge book. "It's just a myth."
	"D'you think we could look for her?" Mihoshi replied, eager for a  
positive answer.
	"Highly unlikely, but if you really wanted to, I suppose Grandpa 
would have more information to help you."
	"Yeah!" Sasami exclaimed. "Let's go ask him, Mihoshi!"
	"Yeah!" Mihoshi echoed, and the two rushed out the door, shouting 
"Grandpa!" repeatedly, until their voices faded into nothingness.
	"Y'don't suppose that the boy she was talking about was you, do 
ya, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked, relaxed over the arm of the couch.
	"Nah. This story's at least 50 years old."
	"Well good. I don't need any more trouble." Ryoko responded, 
snapping a glare at Ayeka, who was leaning on the opposite arm of the 
couch.
	"What are you looking at?!" Ayeka snapped.
	"I have yet to figure that out!" Ryoko snapped back.
	"Why you--"
	"Girls, please..."
	"You shut up!"
	"Why can't you two ever agree on anything?" Washu asked, stepping 
into the room. She took a seat on the large couch herself and sighed. 
Ryoko and Ayeka snarled at one another and ceased the endless bickering.
	"Anyway," Washu continued, "I heard that story. Y'know, it still 
might be possible to find that body and regenerate it, even after years 
of rotting away."
	"Hey, Tenchi!" Sasami shouted. She ran in, followed shortly by 
Mihoshi and Katsuhito, and stood in front of the group. "Grandpa says he 
knows where the body is and we have permission to get it out!"
	"Really, Grandpa?" Tenchi asked, turning his gaze.
	Katsuhito nodded.
	"Alright!" Washu shouted. "This'll be a perfect chance to try my 
new, untested regeneration machine!"
	"Is there anything you aren't prepared for?" Ryoko asked.
	"Nope!" 
	"I didn't think so."
	"Well, let's go!" Tenchi said, and everyone shouted in response, 
then took off out the door. Sasami and Mihoshi ran ahead, cheering and 
shouting, while Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, and Washu stayed behind, at a 
walking pace.
	"Y'know, what if this girl really did mean you, Tenchi?" Ryoko 
asked, a frightened look on her face. Tenchi sighed.
	"C'mon, Ryoko, I told you. That story's at least 50 years old."
	"Well then, who did she mean?"
	"How should Lord Tenchi know?" Ayeka interrupted. "It's an old 
story!"
	"Oh, and I suppose you know?" Ryoko snapped.
	"Of course I wouldn't know!"
	"Then why not let Tenchi answer?"
	Ryoko and Ayeka nodded, with a "hmph", and turned to Tenchi.
	"Well, I... uh..."
	Both girls narrowed their eyes, and Washu laughed.
	After a few minutes, they reached the designated tree, where 
Sasami, Mihoshi, and Katsuhito were already standing. Nobuyuki was 
coming up as well, at a running pace. After he arrived, they all looked 
over the tree.
	"Rhjamiz..." Katsuhito mumbled.
	"R-ja-what? Who?"
	"That's her real name, but to make it easier, we called her by her 
middle name, Keppa. She came down to us when Tenchi was just a few 
months old."
	"50 years old, huh?"
	"Shut up, Ryoko."
	"Anyway," Katsuhito continued, "she was a weredragon, but she 
wasn't as violent as the others of her race, so she was exiled to here. 
She met your mother, Tenchi, and came to live here with us."
	"I remember someone being there... yeah."	
 	"Unfortunately, after your mother died, Tenchi," Nobuyuki said, 
sighing, "Keppa couldn't live with herself, and she fell sick, and we 
lost her. Your grandfather and I prayed for their return, but we could 
only manage to find a way to get Keppa back. She had to perform 25 good 
deeds, with the disability of only having a spirit form."
	"She just recently finished the 25 good deeds when she triggered 
Tenchi's stumbling into Ryoko's cave," Katsuhito said, glancing at 
Tenchi and smiling.
	"She made me do that?!"
	"What? You saying it's a bad thing?!" Ryoko shouted, frowning.
	"She did it because she loved Tenchi and because she wanted you to 
be free, Ryoko. And she saw over these years that you loved Tenchi, and 
remained here so you could have him."
	Ayeka screamed at the top of her lungs. "OH COME ON! YOU CAN'T 
POSSIBLY BELIEVE THAT I WOULD BELIEVE YOU!"
	"Oh, mind your own business, you stuck-up little--" Ryoko started, 
but was cut off by Washu's upraised index finger.
	Sasami pleaded for her sister to calm down so she could hear the 
rest of the story, but Ayeka stomped off, leaving the crowd. Sasami 
chased after her, deciding her sister's needs were more important.
	"Now, we're going to free her after all these years, huh?"
	"Yes, I guess it was time she came back to the world." Katsuhito 
responded. "Tenchi! Use your sword to cut open the bark, it's a very 
special tree and only that sword can cut through it."
	"B-but, I don't ha-" Tenchi began, and was stopped by his 
grandfather, who handed him his sword. Tenchi nodded, and concentrated 
his energy onto the sword, igniting the blade, and placed it on the side 
of the tree, where she cut down diagonally until he hit something 
impenetrable, and stopped, pulling back. Now revealed was a giant 
container, holding a young girl inside.
	"She looks young, not like the story said at all."
	"The story is exaggerated," Katsuhito answered, and placed his 
hand on the container, a white flash occurring soon after, and the tree 
dissipated into nothingness, leaving the container hovering in mid-air. 
They now got a closer look of the girl, who was clad in a black tanktop 
and khakis, her long, spiky black hair pressed up against the glass, her 
legs curled up against her chest.
	"Keppa..." Nobuyuki whispered, on the verge of tears. "I loved her 
like she was my daughter."
	Katsuhito took a stern face and shouted, "Keppa! We've freed your 
body, you know what to do!"
	All fell silent afterwards, and everybody stared at the container. 
After a few moments, everyone began to get irritated.
	"So, what's supposed to happen?" Ryoko asked, folding her arms 
across her chest. Just then, the container began to shake violently, and 
eventually, the glass shattered, and the girl now sat upon the pedestal 
that was inside, and looked up, her eyes zipping open, the crimson red 
eyes hidden for so many years flaring, her thin pupils adjusting to the 
light.
	She stood up, and looked down, turning her gaze to Nobuyuki with 
an emotionless face. The two stared at one another for a while, and 
then, Keppa began to smirk, and hopped down, embracing Nobuyuki in a 
hug.
	"Argh, I've missed you so much, Nobuyuki!" she exclaimed, pulling 
back from the hug.
	"Haha! Keppa, you're back!" he cried, tears running down his face.
	Katsuhito cleared his throat, and Keppa turned her head, looking 
at the old man, who had his hands on Tenchi's shoulders from behind.
	"Katsuhito, is this--?"
	He nodded.
	"Tenchi Masaki... God, you've grown so much..."
	Tenchi grinned sheepishly and placed a hand behind his head, 
blushing.
	"Awww, I made Tenchi blush! Oh, you used to do that all the time 
when you were little!"
	"Ah, stop it!" Tenchi cried, chuckling.
	This time, Ryoko cleared her throat, and Keppa turned once more, 
coming face-to-face with the space pirate/demoness.
	"Ah, Ryoko."
	"Keppa." Ryoko answered, nodding.
	"And who're these two?" Keppa asked, turning to Mihoshi and Washu.
	"My name is Washu," Washu answered, throwing her head back and 
cackling while her two dolls came out and shouted, "The Greatest 
Scientific Genius in the Universe! Hurray, Washu!"
	"And I'm Mihoshi." Mihoshi answered, and giggled.
	"Well, it's nice to meet you all," Keppa said, bowing.
	"Say, let's go inside, it's kind of getting late," Katsuhito said. 
"I'll be up at the shrine if anyone needs me."
	"Okay, Grandpa. Goodnight."
	Everyone said their goodnights and separated, the group headed for 
the house, Katsuhito for the shrine.
	

**********

	
	Chapter 2 preview:

	The sky turned pitch black as night fell upon the Masaki house, 
and everyone sat down at the table, waiting for Nobuyuki to finish 
dinner, for Sasami hadn't returned with Ayeka yet. Ryoko threw her arms 
around Tenchi and whispered into his ear, which must've been rather 
embarrassing things, for he blushed. Keppa, Washu, and Mihoshi laughed. 
After the brief laughter, Keppa got up from the table and walked into 
the kitchen, where she found Nobuyuki hurrying, and screwing dinner up.
	"Need help?" she asked.