The Summer Wind
By Negative-Z
Synopsis: Blue eyes.  Beach bunnies.  Bushy tales.  Bosom buddies.
---------------------------------------
Standard Disclaimer:
I thank all the owners of the Tenchi characters who have chosen not to 
sue me for suggesting some alternative uses for them.  I also thank all 
those behind the song for the same.  

Standard Advertisement:
I thank all the readers who have perused my other submissions and 
favorite authors on fanfiction.net and the TMFFA.

Standard Procedure:
Observe all posted warnings and regulations whenever taking a trip to a 
public beach.

	Tenchi looked over at the radio, wondering if he'd be happier 
when all the animals selling soap and life insurance returned to a 
parade of dolls singing about love and cosmetics.  He'd been driving 
for at least an hour, had lost enjoyment in the new scenery half an 
hour ago, and was just about to seriously regret not letting his dad 
take the chaperone duties.  The entire point of the plan had melted, 
anyway.

	When Mihoshi first ran up to him, pleading for immediate 
transportation in the most urgent formality she could manage, he'd been 
slightly hesitant.  It was the hottest summer since he stopped feeling 
comfortable in an all swim-trunks wardrobe, and the area she wanted to 
go to was barely visible on the far side of the map.  She had blurted 
out something about her old detective partner paying a visit, but only 
having enough time to meet her on a deserted beach near a sign that 
said 'Banbara'.
	Unable to hide his reluctance, Tenchi received an instant swell 
of big pleading blue eyes, ready to break and drown him under wave of 
tears and whines.  Unable to resist an opportunity to see another alien 
babe in a swimsuit, his father had popped up out of nowhere.  Tenchi 
didn't want him to come home with a verbal or physical restraining 
order, however, he also saw an opportunity for some peace and quiet 
away from the girls who were more 'ambitious' in attracting his 
affections.  It would be an oven inside the van, but at least it 
wouldn't be a boiling cauldron at home.   
	It was just his luck, he told himself, that Aeka and Ryoko 
managed to literally fight their way into the van with them, despite 
their attempts to sneak away.  Maybe Mihoshi really didn't want to be 
alone with him, or maybe she simply couldn't contain her excitement at 
seeing her partner.  Regardless and regretful, Tenchi let his two 
biggest fans into the back seat, mumbling a white lie about Mihoshi 
already calling shotgun.  Thus the trip had begun.

	Tenchi took some solace now when he looked in the rearview 
mirror; Ryoko and Aeka were leaned against each other, apparently 
passed out from the heat and extensive bickering.  Had it started when 
Ryoko tried to give him a neck-rub, or when Aeka made a comment about 
being the only one to bring a tasteful swimsuit?  Tenchi hardly knew 
and didn't care.  If he didn't change the radio soon, he wouldn't be 
able to think straight for the rest of the day.
	"Mihoshi," Tenchi began in a casual but friendly tone, "you 
wouldn't mind if we tried a different station now, would you?"
	Previously caught up in everything that passed outside her 
window, the detective snapped around with nearly the same eyes she'd 
used to get herself this far.
	"Oh pleeease Tenchi, don't change it!  They said they were going 
to play 'Love is Such a Loving Thing'.  I love that song."
	Her reply wasn't too loud, but Tenchi reflexively looked back to 
make sure the other girls were still asleep.  He relaxed and sighed, 
relieved that the radio would be the only source of cacophony for a 
while longer, but disappointed that he wouldn't be able to listen to 
the breeze.
	On that note, he reached back to the controls and flipped the air 
conditioning switches roughly, knowing that he couldn't get it to work 
anymore than he could change the station, but releasing some tension 
just the same.
	"Sorry Tenchi, but if we role down too many windows we won't be 
able to hear the music.  Maybe Washu could fix it."
	Tenchi mumbled something in contentment or indifference.
	It was still getting hotter.  The sweat was gathering in most of 
the least comfortable places on his body.  He'd already wiped along his 
upper lip enough times to have a cold, but he knew a fever was more 
likely.  It was the peeling, squishing puddle on his lower back that 
bothered him the most.  Leaning forward helped for a second, but it was 
equally miserable to drive in that posture.  All of the grime and filth 
in the car similarly decided to congeal in a thin but unending film on 
his fingertips.  Rolling them together didn't help, and he told himself 
not to think about how much better it would be after smearing a few 
palmfuls of sunscreen.      
	Not caring about the print he knew he'd leave, Tenchi pressed his 
hand against the window and drew it back.  He looked over periodically, 
waiting for the shiny outline to start bubbling or steaming.  At least 
he still had his water bottle, but he at least could have put some ice 
in it first.  After a few sips he figured it tasted a little better 
than his sweat would have.
	One last fast food pass and Mihoshi's song came on, flashy and 
impossible to ignore, rather like the pompous summer sun, Tenchi 
thought.  He even predicted every overused layer and effect in the 
premature diva's melody lingering in his head like an itchy sunburn.  
It didn't make it any worse, but certainly didn't help that Mihoshi was 
humming along.
	Tenchi looked over with a cynical half grin, hoping she would 
recognize the silliness of it and laugh so that he could as well.  
Unfortunately she was focused outside the window, a thousand miles 
away.  This was enough to make him chuckle, shake his head, check the 
curiously empty road, and look back over.
	Mihoshi had rolled her window down just enough to toss the top 
curls of her blonde hair.  Tenchi watched the tiny movements, amused 
with a boyish impulse he often had to pull on one of the larger springs 
and watch it bounce back into form.  His eyes traveled down the various 
tones of muscle and the enduring tone from what must have been their 
galaxy's best tanning spot.  The screaming pink of her bikini top had 
hurt his eyes initially, but at least it fit properly, though no easier 
on physics or his hormones than Ryoko's painted on pieces.  Right on 
schedule, Tenchi's other brain told him to get his dirty eyes back on 
the road, but Mihoshi shifted in her seat just enough to have to 
readjust her left strap and reveal an area where a tan line should have 
been.  An inevitable mental image of the detective making use of a nude 
beach, and a responsive vision of her turning Banbara into one, flashed 
through his head.   
	 Once Tenchi's view helplessly descended to the pink elastic 
peeking up around Mihoshi's cut-off jean shorts, he had to focus back 
on driving.  Nothing had changed on the road at all, but there were two 
throats being loudly cleared in the back seat.  The imitation leather 
steering wheel was beginning to feel like melted rubber beneath his 
tight, moist, and grimy hands.  He imagined how he might keep the van 
from crashing if and when one or both of them were strangled from 
behind.  Mihoshi's song ended with a big snare blast that sounded too 
much like a large gun.   
	"Mihoshi." Ryoko's voice was dry ice from the sweatbox behind 
them.
	"Yes Ryoko." Mihoshi turned and leaned her head towards the back 
seat, smiling innocently.  Only Tenchi noticed his dry gulp, and his 
shaky reach for what might be his last sip of stale water. 
	"Don't forget your towel."
	Ryoko gripped the large folded square of printed starfish like a 
trash can lid and slammed it down ever so gently on Mihoshi's lap, 
letting it fall open just enough to cover her thighs.
	"Yes, you should always have extra drying cloths whenever you may 
get wet."
	Aeka's formal suggestion included two towels, one passed over 
each side of the seat and over each curve of Mihoshi's chest.
	"Yeah, and don't forget one just for your hair," Ryoko continued, 
her exaggerated manners beginning to beam through the veil she absently 
let fall over Mihoshi's head.
	Mihoshi giggled obliviously, while Tenchi continued to fill 
himself with air long after his water was gone.
	"Oh, and you may also want to bring an extra for your friend." 
Aeka added with all the kindness of a jealous spinster at a baby 
shower.
	"Remember to have one just for sitting on." Ryoko delivered her 
gift like a clever bomb.
	"Uhhh, thanks you guys." Mihoshi answered brightly, though 
uncertain and somewhat muffled beneath all the towels.
	Tenchi glanced over despite himself.  If he were not still 
waiting for the real violence to come he might have laughed at the 
multicolored fuzzy ghost in the seat next to him.  He looked back to 
the road without a breath, wondering if going pale was compacting the 
already intense inferno.  Pulling at his collar to let out some steam 
seemed appropriate, but he just drove, that's all he was, just the 
driver, pay no mind.    
	"How about you Tenchi?  Did you bring enough towels?" Ryoko asked 
darkly.
	Tenchi looked at the remains of his handprint on the window, then 
at the sea grass alongside the road.  He wondered if it would be soft 
enough to cushion a fall from a moving vehicle.	
	"I...uh...don't think I'll be swimming today."
	"Are you sure, Lord Tenchi?  It is the perfect weather for it." 
Aeka echoed the question sweetly enough to eat through steel.
	"I'm sure." Tenchi was convinced but not very convincing.  
Thankfully no one could see that he was about ten pounds lighter under 
all his sweat.
	The next song began directly after a barrage of sampled call in 
fans and sound effects.  It was impossibly more upbeat than the 
previous one.
	"Oh!  Oh!  Tenchi!  Turn it up!  This song is my absolute 
favorite!"
	Mihoshi's arm tented out beneath a couple layers of towel, 
shaking in the direction of the radio.  Tenchi tried to listen to the 
wind and forget the sun outside, leaning forward despite the discomfort 
in an attempt to disappear into the steering wheel.

	After half an hour without conversation, air conditioning, or a 
break from music too sensual for children and too simple for adults, 
they came to what had to be the sign Mihoshi's partner was talking 
about.
	"I think this is it." Tenchi announced robotically, bringing the 
van to a very slow stop alongside the sign.  
Apparently Banbara was a lookout point rather than a beach.  Sand 
spilled onto the road from a flat area big enough for five other cars, 
whenever they decided show up.  Tenchi listened to the grind and tinkle 
of sand beneath the heavy tires, such sweet, comparatively sweet music.  
Air, oh yes, there would be air soon.  He pulled the emergency break 
roughly, yanked the keys, and nearly stumbled outside.  The other doors 
opened and slammed behind him, but he barely heard the footsteps as he 
stretched out to the cool ocean breeze, offering himself in praise of 
this new savior.
	"But---but where's the beach?" Mihoshi asked anyone as she looked 
everywhere, swirling her laden carry-on bags like a pair of maces.
	"Right here, detective." Ryoko called out coolly.
	"Huh?" Mihoshi asked with another whirl, finally locating Ryoko 
and Aeka leaned against the guardrail.  The simple wooden structure 
creaked as Mihoshi rested one of her bags on it, dusting the other 
girls with tiny clouds of green paint chips and termite droppings.
	"Where?" She squinted out at the shimmering ocean.
	Ryoko cleared her throat with annoyance.
	"Or, I guess I should say, right down there."
	Mihoshi followed Ryoko's pointing finger over and down, all the 
way down, to the bottom of the cliff.  Sure enough, there was sand and 
waves down there.
	"Oh my," Aeka breathed, "how on earth are we going to get down 
there?"
	"I'm not sure." Mihoshi answered with the beginnings of a whine.
	"We're not." Ryoko stepped back from the railing with arms 
folded, her voice harsh and intolerant. "If you want to see your 
partner so bad you can climb down there yourself, Tenchi and I will be 
waiting when you get back."
	"Excuse me?" Aeka interjected with aggravation flaring beneath 
her petite sunglasses.  "Now why can't you just fly us all down there?  
You claim to be so strong."
	"Look princess, I ain't nobody's pack-mule!  Besides---" Ryoko's 
defiance melted into indigence, "it's too hot out here and---and sea 
water is bad for my hair."   
 	"HA!  What's this; the charmless monster-woman is concerned about 
'damaging' that ratty explosion of fur?"
	"How bout' you say that again?!" Ryoko made a fist and growled.
	Their argument and subsequent hair-pulling match faded into the 
soft echoing waves like a squealing flock of seagulls.  Tenchi used the 
same mechanism he'd all but worn out in the car, while Mihoshi ignored 
them completely as she searched for her control cube amidst all the 
towels.
	"Hey you guys."
	Everyone forgot themselves and turned toward the ever unusually 
content voice.  Mihoshi was standing on the other side of the 
guardrail, busily arranging her control cube.
	Tenchi took a step forward and was about to shout out for her to 
be careful when a large and pink-tinted bubble swallowed her up like a 
thin balloon.  She spoke again with a voice echoed and re-echoed in 
rubber.
	"You can go try to find a better spot or something, but could you 
please be back here in a few hours."
	The bubble floated up and just over the ledge.
	"Mihoshi, are you sure your partner's down there?" Tenchi asked 
with enough concern to make the others glare at him then the bubble 
girl.
	"Of course Tenchi.  She probably just wants to keep a low 
profile."
	"Well, you heard her Tenchi," Ryoko turned with a shrug and faced 
him with a sweet smile, "how bout we go get some ice cream."
	"Ice cream?" Tenchi furrowed his brow in confusion. "You---you 
want ice cream."  
	"Why Lord Tenchi, how nice of you to offer.  I think I saw a 
place where we could get some a few miles back."
	Aeka's voice fanned him like a large perfumed feather, but he 
still watched them both reenter the van with an increasingly frustrated 
expression.
	"A few miles?  A few hundred miles you mean!"
	His objection was undercut with his exhausted whine, and 
overruled by the sound of the side door slamming and two voices arguing 
for the front seat.
	"But---hey---I---" Tenchi's shoulders finally slumped in a sigh, 
and he turned back towards Mihoshi in time to see her wave.
	"Thanks again Tenchi, I'll be back up here in about four hours, 
maybe five."
	Tenchi flapped his lips with a final sigh, and waved weakly as 
Mihoshi floated down over the cliff.  Then he jumped.
	Ryoko honked the horn again with one hand while keeping Aeka in 
the back seat with the other.
	"C'mon Tenchi, she'll be fine, let's go!  I said 'I' called it 
first, no you-" Ryoko's argument voice once again became a buzz in 
Tenchi's head. 
	When he finally worked up the will to get back in the van he had 
almost worked up the courage to make them both sit all the way in the 
back.  At the least, he was going to control the radio for the rest of 
the day.  Experimenting with his dad's preprogrammed stations he came 
across a station with a pleasant glow of old transmission static, 
introducing someone, obviously an American, whom he guessed was old and 
had blue eyes. 
	The small and un-enhanced orchestra was like a divine and subtle 
cleaning crew, sweeping and sanitizing all the noise and almost all the 
discomfort from the van.  This man's voice was gentle without being too 
overtly seductive, and his song reminded him of the smoky and dignified 
black and white American films he'd watched in his film class.  It was 
nice to feel like an older man cushioned in silver nostalgia.  He 
pulled onto the road and breathed the first bit of true relief in 
hours, rolling the windows down and turning the volume up with the full 
knowledge that he wouldn't hear any complaints.    

***
The summer wind
came blowin' in
from across the sea
***

	The bubble reached the sand with a few gentle bounces.  A hole 
dilated near Mihoshi's bare navel and she pulled at it, stretching one 
slender leg, ducking her body through, and catching her other foot as 
the hole closed again.  The sand was hot but thankfully soft against 
her rear.
	"Oh! Now how do I get this thing to-" She pried at her ankle in 
frustration.
	With a sound like finger tips over a balloon, followed by a 
marble dropped in soup, the 'descending sphere', often called the 
'bubble head' when given to inexperienced detectives, transformed back 
into the control cube and plopped down in the sand between Mihoshi's 
knees.  She picked it up and rose to set it back in her second canvas 
bag, between the towel for her hair and the towel for her partner...or 
was it the towel for her hair and the towel for sitting?  It was hard 
to remember, but after thoughtfully scratching her head and shaking the 
sand from her shorts, she decided it wasn't that important.
	"Now where could she be?"  
Mihoshi muttered to herself and scanned up and down both 
directions of the coast.  The uneven density of the sand was a little 
strange to her and she had to wobble a little to catch her balance 
before spreading her search.
	"Kiiiyooone!"  
The name echoed off the surf-smoothed face of the ravine, causing 
her to look up again and marvel at how long it must have taken to turn 
a pile of ragged stone into a dark and shiny wall.  A little red crab 
scurried along one of the smaller ledges and her eyes brightened.  She 
considered bringing it home for little Washu, but thought better of it.   

***
It lingered there 
to touch your hair
and walk with me
***

After spreading out what she hoped was the right towel between 
her two bags, Mihoshi realized that she'd arrived at the last few hours 
of the day when the steep decline wouldn't be casting a shadow over the 
entire beach, though she wondered at the luck of this. 	Her bags 
were becoming increasingly heavy beneath the overbearing heat.  Knowing 
but forgetting that the sun was always bright even when it wasn't bold, 
she looked up as if to shout to some janitor to turn it down, and 
promptly turned away with a painful moan.
	"Wherever you are Kiyone, I hope you brought sunscreen!" Mihoshi 
called out to the ocean as she fanned herself with her sunhat.  
One more (hand shielded) gaze upward and she decided to test the 
water.  Bending smartly, she pulled the shorts down and wiggled them 
off her right foot, dropped the hat on top of them, and tied her hair 
up, looking down and around her with a small smile.  It was lucky that 
the beach was disserted, but she figured it only took a moment to 
adjust the slightly immodest suit anyway.  

***
All summer long 
we sang a song
then we strolled
that golden sand
***

Her jaunty jog into the waves quickly dissolved into a tentative 
tiptoe through the foam.  The thought of its temperature didn't disturb 
her so much as its possible content.  Mihoshi sprinted to her bag, 
sprinted back with the cube, pointed it at the water, read a varied but 
low level of toxins, took quick steps back to the bags, and long steps 
back to the water again.
"I---hope---it's not too cold." She breathed, quickly winded for 
exerting herself in such whether.  
The cool foam crooned over her scorched toes and she wiggled them 
happily into the muddy sand.  After wading in to thigh level, she 
determined that it was just freezing enough to safely counteract the 
summer heat.  In preparation and hesitation she bent over and splashed 
her hands through a dying wave, slapping her wet hands together as she 
prepared to wedge the water with a dive.

"RRRRRRAAAGGGHHH!"

A hideous monster roared up from the waves, pale and emaciated as 
dead fish beneath a net of glistening seaweed.  It spread its claws out 
and snarled menacingly, taking a few heavy steps in Mihoshi's 
direction.  The breeze carried the splashing screaming sound of her 
escape up the ravine to no one.

***
Two sweethearts
and the summer wind
***

	After a stumbling dash, Mihoshi reached her bags and searched 
madly for her trusty cube, tossing her arsenal of towels in every 
direction.  Soon as she found it she clutched it with both hands and 
thrust it threateningly in the direction of her assailant.  The sound 
of laughter made her stop before she could list the potential 
consequences for assaulting a galaxy police officer.
	A tall woman, slightly less pale around the neck and arms, was 
hardly able to pick the seaweed off herself and walk at the same time; 
she seemed to be using her ration of laughter for the year in the 
course of a few minutes.   
"Ki-Kiyone!" 
Mihoshi's surprise relaxed her arms and widened her eyes.  Kiyone 
bent her knees, teal hair dripping and making mud on the sandy towel.  
One last piece of seaweed shook on her shoulder for all the humor of 
it. 
"Mihoshi--- shouldhaveseen---face!" She managed to squeeze out.
Shock to relief to anger.  Detective First Class Mihoshi stood 
with shaky fists at her sides and glared.
"Why, you!"

***
Like painted kites, those day's and nights
they went flying by
*** 

The slightly drier detective launched forward, catching her 
former partner across the shoulders.  One set of laughter turned to two 
sets of grunts, turned to two sets of laughter as they wrestled in the 
sand.  Eventually Mihoshi managed or was allowed the first pin.  She 
looked down at her friend, hair strewn across her panting face, water 
glistening along her almost snowy skin, and smiled without relaxing the 
pressure.
Kiyone looked up, sapphires beaming down between two curtains of 
swirling gold.  She watched a few drops of sweat crawl down from 
Mihoshi's forehead to her chin.  The clash of flower pink over roasted 
bronze brought her gaze down to the heavy and heaving breasts 
positioned just above her own.  She smiled back up without struggling 
under Mihoshi's grasp.  Though technically in the shade, the 
temperature had gotten noticeably hotter.

***
The world was new
beneath the blue
umbrella sky
***

	They went into the kiss with barely enough time to close their 
eyes.  Kiyone leaned up till Mihoshi was lying completely against her, 
she tried to match the movements of her hands to the sensuous play of 
their tongues.  Each of them rolled a few times, clutching at each 
other's swimsuits to pull them tighter against the sensitive regions.  
Their thighs folded tightly together and rubbed the fine sand with the 
soft flesh.  
Their break for breath showed them a flattering and demanding 
gaze.  Mihoshi tenderly moved a few strands of hair from Kiyone's face 
and pressed her chest forward.  Kiyone returned the pressure, spread 
her hands into all those curls, and hungrily tasted every crevice of 
Mihoshi's mouth twice.  When the next breath couldn't be avoided, they 
lied side by side, starring deeper.  In perfect unison they stood, 
brushed themselves off hastily, reaffirmed their privacy, and scampered 
toward the towels. 
A pink and a blue bikini top flew up towards the sun and fell 
short into the sand.  Kiyone sat on one side of the towel, her arms 
beneath Mihoshi's back as Mihoshi's legs curled around her.  She could 
feel the reflexive rhythm of the remaining pink fabric making friction 
against her abs, and for a moment she considered trying to flex them 
enough to respond, but could only do so much at once. 
Mihoshi massaged and pulled at Kiyone's hair as her breasts were 
kneaded, tweaked, and tasted.  Her euphoric sighs and gasps clenched 
higher and higher in her throat, gradually melting into moaning waves.  
She pulled her fingertips down Kiyone's back, almost in a scratch, then 
brought them under to cup the slightly smaller but firmer breasts in an 
attempt to reward and encourage.  The mouth-work on her chest became 
even more intense with the addition of a vibrating groan and blasts of 
lusty air.

***
Then softer than
a piper man
one day
it called to you
***

	Just as the sensations began to tighten Mihoshi's moan's into 
excited cries, Kiyone pulled her head away, moving her knees so that 
she could lay flat over the still rocking expanse of feminine beauty.  
Propped up on both hands, she looked down at the pleasure-thinned blue 
eyes and breathed out as serious as she was anxious.
  	"Mihoshi."
	"Wha?" She answered in an intoxicated haze.
	"Mihoshi, are you---are you sure this is still what you want?" 
"Kiyone." Mihoshi held a deep breath, arched her back, and 
gripped Kiyone's hips to steady her response.
"Yes, Mihoshi?"
"No more jokes, okay."

***
I lost you
I lost you to the summer wind
***

	Kiyone removed the pink just slowly enough to savor the softness 
of Mihoshi's legs as they swayed together in anticipation.  She removed 
her own comparatively drab covering without a need for grace, wiggling 
them down, stepping out of them, and spreading herself over the waiting 
caresses of taut and sweaty skin.  Mihoshi moaned up into their kiss 
then broke away in a desperate gasp.
	The length of Kiyone's middle finger darted and waved about the 
walls of Mihoshi's sex.  A quick shadow passed across her lover's 
euphoric face as she flipped her hair to one side and spread her left 
hand over her left and Mihoshi's right breast, maneuvering their 
nipples together in every direction.  Soft gasps and high-pitched 
whimpers became rhythmic, barely hiding the sound of delicately 
drenched flesh flapping around the beat of a queen bee's wing.        	
	Mihoshi mirrored the actions of her lover's hands, pulling 
slightly at the musky curls between her fingers, and smiling wickedly 
as she heard a helpless whimper not unlike her own.  They moved quick, 
and deep and eventually rough.  The perfect lust of their symmetry 
never breaking as breasts squeezed together and wrists clashed like two 
unyielding pistons.  Though both their heads had been arching steadily 
away, an impossible rise in intensity jerked two fluttering pairs of 
eyes and two gapping mouths back to marvel at each other.  Reassured 
with a familiar reflective spark, Kiyone collapsed onto Mihoshi as they 
both began to scream passion into their lover's sweltering hair and 
neck.          

***
The autumn wind
and the winter wind
they have come and gone
***

	Long breaths to cool the explosion.  Lazy hands smoothed the hot 
shine over their perfectly contrasted, equally glazed skin.  They 
lounged on their sides, moving strands of hair and kissing fingertips 
beneath affectionate gazes.  

***
And still those days
those lonely days
they go on and on
***

	For the merging borders of the coast neither of them felt 
inverted, but only converted, offering their faces to the balancing 
grip between tense thighs, kissing deep.  Cool green waters and pearly 
foam washed onto the sand, and waved under the sun.  The next crash of 
surf built up in slow serenity, its power muffled by the earth and 
echoing through the stones.  

***
And guess who sighs
his lullabies
through nights that 
never end
*** 

After an exhausted crawl they faced each other again, wonderfully 
too wet and overheated in too many places.  Kiyone and Mihoshi breathed 
in all the pungent aromas magnified by summer heat, closing their eyes 
to the heavenly sea breeze.  They turned on their backs in time to miss 
the sun passing the edge of the ravine.  Still the sky was vacation 
bright, unaffected by the patchy clouds save for the beauty of their 
passing.  Kiyone looked over at the peaceful bliss on Mihoshi's face, 
no doubt finding a new game for them in the broken shapes.  She 
caressed her lover's shin with her own.   
	"I get kind of lonely out there without my sunshine," Kiyone 
began dreamily, "but, did you really miss me Mihoshi?"
	A jolly cloud and its little friend passed by and Mihoshi smiled 
a little more without any need to open her mouth or turn her head
	"Mihoshi?"
	Without a place for someone else's memory of strife, and with 
maybe enough energy to lift her head back after rolling it to look at 
her lover, Mihoshi sighed.
	"Did you say something, Kiyone?" 
	A large drop of sweat rolled into Kiyone's hopeless half-grimace.

***
My fickle friend
the summer wind
***  

---
	Tenchi stopped the van a few feet from Mihoshi and Kiyone, a 
small cloud of dust traveled over their knees as they each held up an 
end of the last dry towel.  The temporary shade billowed in the breeze, 
cutting their wave short to keep hold of it.
	"Well hello there!" Tenchi called out as he slammed the door and 
almost dropped what was left of his ice cream.  "You must be Mihoshi's 
partner."
	"Either that or a hitchhiker...trying to finger a ride." Ryoko 
crossed her arms, leaned against the van, burned her elbow, and rubbed 
it as imposingly as possible.
	"I believe the expression is 'thumbing a ride'."  Aeka corrected 
as she approached just behind Tenchi, leveling a formal smile to the 
quickly hidden look of uneasiness on the new woman's face.

***
The summer wind
***

	"Hello, my name is Kiyone.  I really appreciate you bringing 
Mihoshi all the way out here." The shade fell and hung over her 
shoulders like a sash as she bowed politely.
	"It's not a problem." Tenchi lied or forgot as he crunched into 
his cone.  "That's Ryoko and this is-"
	Tenchi's gesture to his left came up empty as Aeka interrupted 
from the right.
	"Princess Aeka of Jurai.  Pleased to meet you."
	"The pleasure is mine." Kiyone bowed a little lower.
	"Um, Tenchi?" Mihoshi asked feebly, hastily folding the towel 
into the smaller bag.
	"Yeah Mihoshi?"
	"Well, you see---uh---I---well Kiyone, she has some vacation days 
saved up and I uh-"  Her voice scurried about like a frightened mouse 
while she approached, shifting her weight from sandal to sandal.
	"Mihoshi, what are you-"
	"Sorry, we've barely got room for one cop." Ryoko teleported and 
coolly draped herself over Tenchi's shoulders.
	"Ryoko!  Stop being so rude." Aeka pulled Tenchi free.  "It is 
Lord Tenchi's decision."
	"Oh I really wouldn't want to be a bother." Kiyone bowed again.
	"But Kiyone, it's so beautiful!  They've got a lake and a forest, 
and Sasami cooks and-" Mihoshi rushed back over, slightly slouched from 
her bags but eyes still beaming.
	"I really shouldn't."  Kiyone lowered her head, but when she 
looked up again she was taken off guard by the switch from pleading 
cuteness to brimming joy.
	"Please Kiyone." Mihoshi bargained happily, knowing no one else 
could see her smile or the devious twinkle behind it.  "They've got a 
great big private bath too."
	"It's okay with me, I guess." Tenchi smiled and scratched his 
neck.  
Though she knew it was rude, she kept her face down, hoping there 
would be sunburn enough to hide her blush and mumbling at Mihoshi to be 
quiet. 

***
Warm summer wind
***   	

	Ryoko sat next to Mihoshi in the back of the van, flipping 
through a bathing suit catalog, while Aeka regarded the new guest with 
the highest courteously and most covert examinations of potentially 
competitive assets.
	"That's a lovely suit Miss Kiyone." 	
	"Thank you, and just Kiyone is fine."
	"I hope you used plenty of protection."
	Kiyone forced herself not to loose her sip from the princess's 
water bottle.  Aeka began admiring her hand, oblivious to the size of 
her seatmate's eyes.
	"I know what it's like to have fair skin, and you can never have 
too strong a sun-block."
	Aeka similarly failed to notice a large sigh as she searched her 
bag of various tubes. 
 	"Don't worry, she used some more of mine after she came---I---I 
mean after she landed." Mihoshi's reassurance became strangely unsure.  
Kiyone robotically twisted her wide eyes around to the back seat.
	"That was nice, Mihoshi," Tenchi answered happily from his 
happily isolated and windblown seat, "you and Kiyone must be really 
close friends."
	Kiyone began to twist even wider eyes towards the front again.
	"Yeah," Ryoko leaned her chin over the seats and took a sharp 
sniff of the bag between Aeka and Kiyone, "and from the smell of it; 
they could both teach us a thing or two about friendship, huh Aeka?" 
	Aeka watched Ryoko wink at her, responding with a succession of 
confusion, shock, and fear.  She mumbled tense commands for silence 
just as Kiyone was doing the same to her blushing partner.  Mihoshi let 
out a whimper as she fiddled absently with the air conditioning switch.
	"Can you roll down another window Tenchi?"

***	
Mmm...the summer wind
***

Tenchi let their voices blow away with all his sweat and cares, 
smiling beneath his dad's old sunglasses as the DJ announced another 
song by the artist he'd enjoyed so much earlier.  He figured it had 
something to do with luck being a lady, but let the same good old-
fashioned music flow over him as he leaned to let the wind rustle his 
hair.



Author's Notes:
	Unfortunately old blue eyes passed away a year or so ago, but I'm 
sure the lengths I went through to listen to this song would sooth any 
insult his spirit might have suffered to see how I used it.  For those 
of you who don't know who I'm talking about, just ask your 
parents...then get them to read and review!
	Yes, I tried to add a little more humor to this one, mostly 
because summer is my least favorite season and I need the cheer.  That, 
and I just couldn't resist the idea of turning an average Mihoshi and 
Kiyone lemon into an unlikely first song-fic.  This is also my first 
attempt at Yaoi, but I'm only interested in comments concerning my 
writing style.  If you have a bias against non-heterosexual relations 
then please just focus on how I tied them in with the flow of the 
lyrics.  If, however, anyone thinks I was dehumanizing this kind of 
expression as a cheap gag, let me make it clear that this story's humor 
comes from poor taste rather than mean spirits. 
	I'm submitting this on the Solstice just as I did for Winter Coat 
(though I listed it as the equinox---dyslexia my damn!) but the final 
lemonade break will hopefully be out before autumn.