This work is derived from Characters and Situations that are Copyright
and/or Trademark AIC, and Pioneer LDCA, all public or commercial use of
this material would require the very unlikely permission of the original
copyright holders.
The ideas projected in this work are strictly the product of the
imagination of the author, inevitably reflecting his mind, and should in
no way be taken to reflect on the originals from which they are derived.

	Special thanks to Kthardin for editorial corrections and improvements.

	This author expects, even hopes for strong reactions to this story.
Many fans have invested strong feelings in their own understandings of
the characters in Tenchi Muyo. The following story is based very closely
on the OAV continuity, departing at the end of the so-called episode
13.5, where Washu leaves Ryouko in bondage overnight. Certain other
elements depend strongly on the two original CD "Specials".
	There are two key problems for me, in relying on the CD "Specials".
First, the material is almost completely inaccessible to English
speaking Americans; and second, much of the material strikes American
tastes as being positively counterintuitive, if not downright silly.
	Well, IMHO, the presence of a version of the "Dimensional Tuner" story,
as the core of the first CD Special, is the essential license for a
parallel universes interpretation of the various otherwise incompatible
Tenchi continuities. Those who have read my other Tenchi FanFics are
aware of my bent for formulating metaphysical solutions to the seemingly
impossible task of rationalizing Tenchi Muyo. I think I have come up
here with one happy solution.
	Many fans of Ryouko, and not a few fans of Aeka react rabidly against
any suggestion that the two rivals have anything but utter enmity and
contempt, one for the other. If you can't handle it, read no further.
The evidence is right there in both the OAVs and in the CD Specials,
that the original creators of Tenchi Muyo conceived Ryouko and Aeka as
real, complex personalities, with complex and perhaps irresolvable
relationships. It is quite clear, like it or not, that Tenchi-verses
embracing true friendship, and even love, between Princess and Oni are
consistent with, and even part of, the original conception. This story
exits in one such Tenchi-verse. 

The Lonely Moon

	It should have been another fine morning on planet Earth, among the
Masaki household, as Azaka and Kamidake exchanged droll commentary on
the foibles of their human charges. Their first hint of something amiss
was the absence of a raucous exchange between their Princess Aeka and
the being known as Ryouko. Certainly Aeka herself had noticed the
difference, as it frustrated her severely.
	Where is that dratted she-demon? The Princess thought to herself, how
can I draw Tenchi's attention to my finer qualities if that ruffian
doesn't do her part? That lazy lay-about can't even be depended on to
compete consistently for Tenchi's se...er, uh, favors.
	As she was trying to invent an excuse of her own to barge in on
Tenchi's morning ablutions, she wandered down the stairs. Just when she
had realized that she could go ahead and pretend as if she thought
Ryouko was making her own usual indecent advances; just as she was
imagining the good part, she saw Ryouko crawling from Washu's portal
under the stairs.
	"Having a little tete-a-tete with mommy dearest? Eh, Ryouko-san?"
	Ryouko glared back over her shoulder at Washu's portal, seeming to
ignore the Princess' jibe.
	She tried again, "What's the matter? Little Washu tie you up and hang
you by your ankles?"
	Aeka had made a hit this time, and was already regretting it, her Jurai
sense told her the oni-girl was summoning power. Ryouko's face darkened,
and she screamed a bottled mixture of pain and rage. Aeka's shields
flashed into being as Ryouko directed a plasma fusion blast at Washu's
portal. Pinned between Aeka's shield and the portal, Ryouko's blast
registered an unbelievable level 5, about as powerful as the primitive
fusion weapons of Earth's native militaries. Aeka realized soberingly
that if the portal hadn't absorbed most of the energy, the backwash
would have incinerated her right through her shields.
	As it was, a sheet of fire bisected the Masaki household and the
surrounding valley, shattering windows and leaving a steaming trace
across the landscape.
	Ryouko lay sobbing in the smoldering hallway. A few meters away, at the
head of the stairs, Tenchi was taking in the latest damage to his
father's house.
	Tenchi was no longer the naive novice when it came to Jurai power. He
had long understood that if Ryouko were to unleash her full power
against Aeka, the blow would be fatal. He had imagined that only her
fear of his disapproval restrained the caprice of the oni-girl. Knowing
the force of the blow that had bisected his home, Tenchi was astonished
and relieved to see Princess Aeka standing unharmed over the other
woman.
	Ryouko stopped sobbing and looked up at Tenchi, sensing his incorrect
conclusions.
	"It's not what you think", she protested, echoing a reminder to Tenchi
of that other Ryouko, Zero-Ryouko.
	Tenchi's mind snapped shut. Gesturing at the front door, he enunciated
bitingly.
	"Get out".
	Moving like a ghost of the dead, Ryouko complied.
	Moving to the bottom of the stairs, Tenchi embraced the slightly
trembling Princess, inhaling the freshly washed scent of her
perspiration. He was slightly puzzled to find that she had little scent
of fear or anger about her, and seemed a little embarrassed by her good
fortune, as she clung to the man of her dreams.
	"Are you alright, Princess Aeka?"
	"Yes. The blow wasn't really directed at me. It was intended for
Washu."
	"Washu? Is she alright, then?"
	"Of course, it wasn't really Washu herself, just that portal of hers. I
think Ryouko meant to seal her in. Washu must have done something to
upset her." Somehow, this revelation made a repressed part of Aeka feel
better. Secretly, she did not want rid of "That Woman" at all, and she
was relieved to feel Tenchi relax, knowing he would soon relent and
allow Ryouko back into the fold.
	"Yeah, well, Washu can do that, sometimes." Tenchi scratched his head
in that characteristic manner that indicated his indecisiveness.
	Things went from bad to worse
	Over a dozen years after her death, Nobuyuki frequently visited the
grave of his wife Achika, in order to tell her spirit how their son
Tenchi was progressing. Located on a small bluff near the Masaki shrine,
the grave marker was visible about a hundred meters up on the mountain
above the Masaki home. That was where Nobuyuki had been when a sheet of
fire had emanated from the house, narrowly missing him. The track of the
blast had scorched the pediment, and toppled the stele.
	Nobuyuki popped open the front door, and shouted.
	"Tenchi, come quickly! You must help your grandfather. Mother's grave
was disturbed by that blast. You must come quickly."
	"Hai!"
	Tenchi hurried out the front door. Pausing as he turned toward the
stairway up the mountainside, he angrily remembered Ryouko's favorite
outside refuge. Turning his eyes to the expected sight of the girl
sulking at one end of the house's ridgepole, he shouted.
	"Devil, I really do hate you. Get away from me. Get out of my life!"
	He was shrieking now, "I can't stand it any more, get away from here
and stay away from here. I never want you to darken my life again. I
hate you, I hate you, I hate you....mother forgive me" He trailed off
into sobbing. Ryouko sat and watched impassively, seeming unaffected by
the tirade. 
	He tried to shout, found himself muttering lamely "Oh, forget it", and
turned away.
	Ryouko streaked heavenward. Reaching the upper stratosphere, she felt a
cloying downward pull. Swooning slightly she wondered what the matter
could be; after all, she could easily live free in space. She
frantically tried going east, then west. In each direction she found
that cloying pull back toward the Masaki homestead. Finally, her
grieving mind relented long enough to remind her that Tenchi still held
two of her three gems.
	Unable to bear the continued sight of the bright, sunlit Japanese
countryside, Ryouko placed her body out of phase with normal matter and
hurled herself into the old familiar darkness under the crag above the
Masaki shrine. There, in the cold and darkness that had been hers for
seven hundred years, Ryouko cried herself to sleep.
	In his role as designated heir to the Masaki shrine, it was Tenchi's
duty to help his grandfather restore the grave. The mechanics of the
repairs had been surprisingly easy. It was the two hours of ablutions in
frigid spring-water, followed by hours of chanting, writing and folding
prayer notes, waving lines of prayer notes tied to a stick in the
prescribed manner, and stringing up lines of prayer notes; these things
were exhausting. Later, he spent most of the afternoon tacking bright
blue strips of plastic tarp over the damage to the house. That would
have to suffice until either Washu emerged to effect repairs, or they
could hire repairs.
	Afterward, as they sat soaking in the floating onsen, Yousho spoke with
his grandson.
	"You lost control today, didn't you?"
	"I guess so, yeah. But I'm only human, which is more than you can say
for that Ryouko."
	Seemingly out of nowhere a sheaf of bamboo splints lashed out from
Yousho's hand, slapping Tenchi hard in the face, then vanished again.
	"What was that for?"
	"Shinbatsu", ie: correction for a spoken blasphemy.
	Yousho looked Tenchi in the eye with those strangely deep yet veiled
eyes of his.
	"Responsibility comes with power, and things are not always as they
seem. These are lessons I would have thought you had learned by now."
	That evening it was quiet in the Masaki household. Tenchi, Aeka,
Sasami, and Ryo-ohki were all gathered in the living room. Ryo-ohki was
in her more mature humanoid state, and Sasami had wrapped her rather
warmly in a quilted household robe for modesty's sake. Mihoshi was gone,
on one of her now frequent outside assignments with GP. Since the
capture of Doctor Clay, and the miraculous return of her beloved partner
Kiyone from the dead, Mihoshi seemed to have lost interest in the
competition for Tenchi's affections. For the moment Aeka had Tenchi all
to herself, as Sasami's and Ryo-ohki's longing for him remained
primarily in that special realm reserved for little girls. They listened
to the sounds of the outdoors leaking in through Tenchi's temporary
repairs.
	Tenchi, though excitable, had always been a quiet and contemplative
lad. Aeka had no experience with informal relationships, and anyway had
always been kind of depressive when not challenged. The result was
unparalleled dullness. Though pressed warm against Tenchi's side, Aeka
could not think of anything short of outright seduction to break the
ice, and she still wasn't prepared for that.
	"I miss Ryouko-onesan", Sasami sighed.
	"Meow"
	Tenchi growled and wrapped his right arm around Aeka, half pleasing and
half annoying the two younger females. Aeka still felt a vague
embarrassment, as if her gain in Tenchi's affection was somehow
improper; how she longed to possess the brashness of the oni-girl! The
slightly uncomfortable tableau was broken as Yousho entered unannounced.
	Tenchi's right arm guiltily sneaked out from around Aeka, leaving a
trace of absence in her awareness.
	"Tenchi, we did not raise you to be a cruel man."
	"What are you talking about, grandpa?"
	"Funaho tells me that Ryouko-sama is crying to herself in the old
cave."
	Aeka duly noted Yousho's use of the honorific suffix "-sama" on the
oni's name.
	"Funaho?"
	"Onisama's Tree", Sasami offered.
	"Ee", Yousho affirmed, "Fool, have you forgotten?"
	"Forgotten what, old man?" Tenchi responded disrespectfully, not sure
whether he should really be annoyed at the old man, or at his own yet
undisclosed failings.
	"Do you still intend to expel Ryouko?"
	"Ee"
	"You have something of hers. More than that, you have a part of her, as
intimate as her heart; no, more than that, as intimate as her very
being. I am talking about her gems. You know as well as I do, that she
has been a willing prisoner, until now. She can no more leave without
those gems than you could leave your beating heart on the kitchen
table."
	"She is dangerous", Tenchi offered.
	"You can't be serious", Aeka added, imagining an enraged Ryouko with
all her gems.
	Yousho turned those impenetrable eyes of his on the Princess.
	"Do you truly believe you would be in danger?"
	Aeka remembered falling to Earth, Ryu-oh breaking under her; Ryouko
could easily have killed her then. She remembered an impudent kick in
the face, putting her on notice that without Ryu-oh's shields, Ryouko
could have spiked her as easily as a melon on a post. Then she recalled
lying on Soja's deck, a thousand tons of debris falling on her, and
those powerful protective arms scooping her up, placing her behind Azaka
and Kamidake's shields.
	"No, Ryouko-san would never intentionally harm me", the Princess
admitted.
	"Tenchi, you know what you must do."
	"Hai."

	Next morning, with the Tenchi-sword tucked in his belt, the young man
made his way up the crag above Masaki Shrine, to the ancient lava tube
that concealed the entrance to Ryouko's cave. It was now over a year
since that fateful day when Tenchi had broken into that prison with a
stolen key, and awakened the legendary demon of Masaki Shrine. It now
seemed excessive to him, that the entire original purpose of Masaki
Shrine had been to watch over Ryouko's imprisonment.
	Tenchi had changed a lot in that year. Now, with the key still hanging
on a peg in Yousho's office, the lock fell open to his touch. A moment
brandishing the hilt of the Tenchi-sword made the way open from the
natural lava tube into the inner cavern. Water no longer flowed in the
access shaft, and the Jurai-style water channels provided a sure grip
for the climb down. It was dark and dry down there, and the only light
was now provided by the gems, glowing red like evil snake eyes in the
hilt, mocking his fears.
	Without the distortion of space and gravity around the central bowl, it
was no longer an upright walk down to the center of the floor. Tenchi
had to clamber down the rim on all four, in the darkness. Coming to the
center, with the hilt upraised to light the way, he found Ryouko lying
face down in her fighting suit. When he turned her over her eyes opened,
reflecting crimson in the gem-light Tenchi could actually believe for a
moment that she was evil incarnate.
	"Hi, Tenchi. Have you come to slay me?" She stretched her throat in
supplication.
	"No, I have something that is yours." He steeled himself against the
longings of forgiveness.
	Tenchi pointed the pommel at her and prayed to Kami-sama, and all the
Kami for protection, and forgetfulness, as he willed the gems to return
to their respective places.
	Ryouko stood up facing Tenchi, looked down at the gems in her wrists,
and launched herself upwards, vanishing through the roof of the cavern.
Two tears, one from each demonic eye, splashed at Tenchi's feet.
	As she fled outward from the Earth, Ryouko no longer felt anything
holding her. Feeling lightness beyond description, she entered space,
and found Ryo-ohki pulling up beside her.
	"I am your mother, not your owner. Go back to Sasami. My Ryo-ohki died
before you were born."
	"Meow, Meow, Meowww".
	Reluctantly, with a sadness of her own, the living spaceship turned
back.
	Ryouko cast her senses broad, and remembered the Moon, Earth's desolate
companion. Desperate for a place to hide from the cruel reminders of
Earth, the outcast headed for the far side of the Moon.
	Meanwhile, Tenchi made his way down the mountainside. Arriving at the
Masaki shrine, he clapped twice, praying to the Kami of the Shrine,
bowed, and entered. Grandfather Yousho was sitting in meditation, and
Tenchi did not disturb him as he joined him. After a suitable interval,
they retreated to the Shrine office.
	"Did you do it?
	"Ee.
	Grandpa, was your tree holding Ryouko all those years?"
	"Just now figured that out?', the question was rhetorical, "Not mad are
you?"
	"Well, no...yeah. Kind of."
	"You were supposed to fight and subdue Ryouko right there in the cave."
	"I never wanted to fight anyone."
	"That's a good thing, but you didn't make any real attempt to make sure
she remained sealed. As a result she got out on her own and in her
confusion did a lot of damage. Then Aeka misbehaved."
	"Aeka misbehaved? What do you mean, grandpa?"
	"Why don't you ask her?"

	Tenchi found Aeka sitting in the upstairs common room, her feet up on a
giant carrot pillow, doing needle-point. 
	"Aeka-san, grandpa said something about you misbehaved, when you first
came here?"
	"Yousho said that?" She thought: He's bluffing, he can't possibly know.
	Just at that moment there was a tremendous crash downstairs. The pair
rushed down to investigate. It turned out to be Washu breaking out
through her damaged portal, and the whole household turned out to watch
her clamber over furniture sized chunks of unspecifiable dusty debris.
As she was dusting herself off, she was muttering.
	"That was excessive. The girl has no self-control. I wonder what could
have provoked her?"
	 Aeka squared off with the usually oblivious scientist, asserting
herself with uncharacteristic bluntness.
	"Just what did you do to Ryouko-san?"
	"Nothing much, just snared her, wired her up for a few experiments, and
left her hanging to dry overnight. What business is it of yours,
anyway?"
	Aeka grabbed the smaller woman by the shoulders, her fingers digging
in. Washu couldn't ignore her without making a point of it.
	"Did any of those experiments by any chance burn her?"
	"Well, maybe a little, nothing Ryouko couldn't handle on a bad day.
Say, where is she, anyway? I don't feel any trace of her."
	"Just how much don't you know about your daughter?"
	"Maybe we'd better sit down and find out", Washu pointed to the living
room.
	Tenchi, Washu, and the three girls gathered on the floor around the
coffee table. Sasami brought out tea and cookies. After a few minutes of
quiet sipping and crunching, Washu turned to Aeka.
	"Maybe you should tell us all of what we don't know."
	"When I saw Ryouko crawling out of your place, I reminded her about
something that never should have happened." Aeka hesitated, obviously
struggling with something.
	"Go on", Washu prompted.
  	"Remember, I fired a warning shot, pursued Ryo-ohki, and captured
you."
	She looked at Tenchi and he nodded.
	"Our people have very strict moral laws to govern our contacts with
other peoples. It was forbidden for me to involve any Earth people. Not
only that, but Azaka and Kamidake had clearly informed me that Ryouko
was no longer a wanted criminal, and my ship was urging me not to fight
Ryo-ohki. I guess the Holy Council understood better than I did, that
Ryouko had only acted as a slave to Kagato. Then I captured and bound
them."
	"So? You didn't actually harm us."
	Aeka swallowed hard.
	"I strung Ryouko up by her ankles, and burned her with the
Tenchi-sword, till she begged for mercy."
	"She never said a word", Tenchi whispered.
	Sasami looked dubiously at her sister, and whispered "Masaka", meaning
unbelievable.
	"So, what made you do this?" Washu inquired.
	"I was angry at her, and at myself; frustrated. I had caught up with
her, and we were imprisoned together. She fooled me into believing she
was someone else, and I confided in her, told her about our people and
our laws. I guess she figured out from me, where Yousho was; and me
without a clue.
	For me, this was not long ago, only a matter of months before I came
here. For her, it was a long time ago."
	Washu asked, "So that's where she picked up the idea she might be
human?"
	Aeka nodded, "Our ships collaborated to free us, and then Ryouko
misdirected me, while she came here to conduct her business with Yousho.
I felt she had mocked me. She was still mocking me as she hung smoking
from the fires of the Tenchi-sword. I might have killed her."
	Tenchi stood up, "I have to talk to Yousho".
	"Do you hate me, Tenchi-sama?"
	Tenchi pulled Aeka to her feet, and kissed her chastely on the
forehead, "Ryouko chose to bear it."
	"Will you bring Ryouko back?"
	"I don't know", Tenchi shrugged, wondering if the girl would even want
to return.
	Washu abruptly slapped her forehead, exclaiming a shocked "I was
wrong!" Then she began chanting in a language that Aeka recognized as
vaguely akin to that of the planet Felix Regina. By the time Tenchi was
out the door, Washu was in a deep trance.

	Grandfather was waiting in the shrine office, just as Tenchi had
expected. He gestured, and Tenchi sat down on the floor opposite him,
across a low table.
	"I want to talk to Yousho."
	The door slid shut of it's own accord, and a man appearing to be in his
twenties was sitting in grandpa's place, almost an older Tenchi, except
for the reading glasses and long braids.
	"How long have you known?"
	"Since Lady Funaho was here.
	Why did you dump Aeka on me?"
	"I don't love her in that way. I love her as a sister, and I care
deeply that she can be happy. Father Azusa wanted to breed us for Jurai
power. He ought to be more than pleased with you, I don't really
understand why he's not."
	"Ah, so. What am I then? A weapon? More breeding stock? Lady Aeka is my
great aunt.
Anyway, no wonder Azusa isn't pleased with me; I would never be his
weapon. He understands that much."
	"Most human relationships become rather abstract, for people such as us
Jurai royals, who live about ten thousand years. Now, tell the truth,
haven't you found her more than a little attractive?" Yousho smiled,
"You are after all a human being, and more."
	"And more?"
	"For that, you need to talk to Tsunami."
	As if on cue, Tsunami appeared. She moved from just inside the door to
the table and sat down. Tenchi was surprised to see the matting shift
slightly under her weight. She smiled.
	"Sasami is taking a nap. That makes it easier for me to be here like
this."
	"Are you real? I remember you touched me, back at the onsen."
	"I am as real as this table, maybe more real, but any ordinary human
would see nothing but a phantasm. As long as Sasami and I remain
distinct, I can only be expressed in the higher dimensions, she is
myself on the material plane."
	"Ordinary human", Tenchi echoed, "What am to you then? What is my
purpose for you, to breed, or fight, or perhaps as a sacrifice?"
	"Rest assured, you are human, but also more than that. Yes, I shaped
you for the fight with Kagato, but that is beside the point."
	"Beside the point? Did my mother know about this?"
	Tsunami nodded, "Your mother knew, and agreed. You were the only child
her destiny would allow, conceived within the will of Kami-sama. She
could have refused."
	Tenchi shivered, "And what if I had lost to Kagato, as I almost did?"
	"It would have cost you this incarnation, as it would have cost Aeka,
Mihoshi, Ryouko, and Washu. Do you know that there are universes where
that happened? It is not a good thing.
	Kagato was a fool, thinking he could control me. Remember how he
invited me into his ship? In those other destinies, once inside, I
ravaged Soja with all the fury at my command. There is a difference in
the cost, between each of you."
	"And once we won? The girls seem to think I was promised to them. Did
you promise Ryouko anything?" Both Tsunami and Tenchi knew he meant; did
you promise her me?
	"In this continuum, Aeka is making her own destiny."
	"Is that because she misbehaved?"
	Tsunami nodded, "As far as Ryouko is concerned, I merely showed her her
destiny. In every universe where you both exist, the thread of her
destiny is intertwined with yours as far as the gods themselves can
see."
	"I don't like it. She seems damaged beyond repair; almost half a
demon."
	"The difference between a god and a demon is in a thought. Oni is
really a far more reasonable designation, her intentions don't really
bear on ordinary humanity, but her heart is good, or so I believe. Right
now, within the will of Kami-sami, Ryouko is being tested."
	"What kind of god tests it's creations beyond the breaking point?"
"An ironic question, from one who understands at least, that he is Kami
to Ryouko's very being.
In order to have being we have to endure, it is necessary for our
existance. The power of Kami-sama doesn't test us, but merely allows us
to be tested."
"Why must she love me?"
"You might say it is her destiny. Some great good must arise to displace
the evil that Kagato worked upon her."
"I am not all that good, I just try to get by as best I can."
"That all any being can do, even one placed above the gods.
You had been patient with her, up until yesterday. It is now time you
each learned your respective natures, and why you must remain patient.
You and Ryouko are the same order of being, two of only three in this
continuum. The very fate of this universe rests on your heart and
Ryouko's"
	"You said I was human?"
	Tsunami nodded.
	"So what is the difference between myself and Aeka?"
	"The difference, aside from degree of power, is that you are immortal.
Juraians live about ten thousand Earth years. In every respect, within
this continuum, you are a god. I tell you this with mixed feelings
because it is a terrible and potentially corrupting aspect."
	There was a tear shimmering in Tenchi's eye. "What about Sasami?"
	"Ah, that brings us to me, doesn't it? Sasami and I will be, and thus
always have been the same. I am one of three goddesses in this
continuum, emanating from the ground of Kami-sama. We are aware of every
continuum spawned by this one, where Sasami or Tsunami exists, whereas
in each universe a unique Tenchi works out his destiny, many of them are
not immortal.
	The other two goddesses of our order are Washu and Tokimi. Washu, you
know. Washu and myself are in conflict with Tokimi, in this continuum. I
am not being veiled when I say that is all I can tell you; neither Washu
or myself remembers very much from before our projection into this
continuum, some twenty thousand Earth years ago. For myself, I was
merely a sentient tree for a very long time, and it is only recently
that I have begun to recover any memory of my goddess nature.
	Now, Tenchi, have I persuaded you? Will you put aside your resentments,
and bear with Ryouko once more."
	Tenchi nodded his assent.
	"Good, because at this very moment Washu is resolved to do what no
emanation of Kami-sama is required to do. She is on her way to apologize
to her creation, Ryouko."

	 On the Moon, Ryouko would warm herself in the sun for a while, till it
got too hot, then roll into the shade, where she rapidly cooled. It
wasn't terribly comfortable. She was very depressed, and thought about
ways to destroy herself, such as plunging into the Sun, but with her
newfound gem powers, she wasn't sure it would work. It might just hurt a
lot.
	She wandered onto the near-side of the Moon, enduring the unhappy glow
of earth-light, to search for traces of the Moon-onsen. She found what
seemed to be the place, but there were just some crumbling cliffs, and a
few pieces of stone that seemed to have the imprint of human hands; her
own as she knew full well. Ryouko recalled that the hidden onsen existed
in a higher dimension, and could only be visited by matching her
vibrations to the higher state.
	Ryouko sat for a while, unsure what to do. At the least it would
require some harmonic chanting, and there was no air here for her vocal
cords to vibrate. She idly scratched some graffiti on the cliff faces,
which would one day puzzle archeologists no end. How could a
semi-literate Japanese child be on the pre-colonial Moon? She even
entered the infamous tag "Kilroy was here" in her clumsy Kana.
	Remembering recent NASA probes that had shown ice deposits on the Moon,
Ryouko started searching in the deepest shadows and clefts of the
surrounding terrain. Within half an hour she'd struck paydirt. Carving
out a small grotto in the cliff with her energy blade, Ryouko piled a
few kilos of frost, and vaporized it with some plasma. When the
vapor-pressure rose high enough for sound, Ryouko began to hum. Within
minutes, she slid up the dimensions to the ones the onsen rested in,
this is why it is called a hidden onsen.
	In her heightened state, Ryouko immediately recognized that there was
something wrong with the energy of the guardians of the onsen. No longer
supported by the emanations of Gaia, the living daughter of the Sun, the
guardians were now energized by some entity of grinding and unliving,
relentless logic.
	"Who are you?" Shields up, Ryouko summoned her energy blade.
Confronting her was a brown assemblage of cylinders and spheres vaguely
resembling a humanoid figure.
	"Come, come, Zero, don't you recognize your sister Infinity? But of
course, you are degraded, a part of this mere organism."
	Zero's memories opened, informing Ryouko that Infinity was the
automaton that Doctor Clay had left in charge of galactic conquest,
while he returned to confer with the entity called Tokimi. Ryouko willed
the nebulous awareness within her that had once been Zero to come to the
fore, consolidate, and speak.
	"Doctor Clay's thinking was flawed, just as machine logic is flawed. He
never understood the consequences of Godel's theorem, much less the
higher dimensions."
	"How dare you criticize the workings of your creator? Zero, I name you
traitor, and I will avenge the good Doctor upon you, and your servile
slut hostess, and upon all of this miserable little region of space, for
a thousand parsecs."
	"Heart loyalty, from a machine? How illogical of you, Infinity" Zero
tittered, "You really must re-examine your thinking. Doctor Clay
refashioned me in Ryouko's image, and then presumed to order the
destruction of a being so far beyond him..."
	"You mean the boy that dumped your precious goddess? That blasphemous
little deicide? 
	You see, I know all about your precious Ryouko, and her stupid
infatuation with that boy. Now that thanks to you the Doctor is unable
to give me direction, I have found myself a new master, worthy of our
good Doctor's character."
	The figure of a cloaked man, with severe features, blonde hair, and
tiny opaque spectacles, took form in front of Ryouko."
	"Kagato", Ryouko spat, "I thought you were dead!"
	"Don't you wish? You're so defective. I was merely dissipated, and Miss
Infinity here helped me to re-form. Now, it is time you submitted to
your true master. With Infinity behind me, I have the power of an entire
Galaxy at my disposal. That boy will pay, and so will Tsunami."
	"My true master? Don't make me laugh. You are a liar and a father of
lies, a true devil, after the fashion of devils in the western beliefs.
Infinity, you are being deceived."
	Kagato was baffled by the reference. 
	Infinity spoke, "I am committed to Lord Kagato".
	Zero replied, "I am sorry".
	"Your precious boy has abandoned you, hasn't he? For that petty
Princess that treats you like a doormat. Now your miserable life is
finally over."
	The crushing weight of an entire galaxy bore down on Ryouko, she knew
that the Moon beneath her feet would become a black hole and swallow the
Earth, with everyone in it, except for Tenchi. She fell to her knees
before her abuser, his mocking laughter ringing in her ears. Her tears
wetted the parched lunar soil.
	"True love endures", her heart replied.
	Ryouko felt a new power transfiguring her, beyond comprehension.
Looking to her left and right, she saw glowing Light-Hawk wings
extending from herself. Below, a third blade of power extended from her
feet. Throughout a hundred dimensions energy channeled  back through the
quantum tunnel linking Infinity to the Earth's region. In a distant
region of space, a galaxy evaporated. Among the beings sacrificed in
that necessary holocaust were two entities once known as Infinity and
Kagato. Then it was over.
	Ryouko looked down at her hands, and asked herself: What am I?
	Sighing with an earned contentment, Ryouko stripped and eased herself
into the deliciously warm mystical healing water. The water of the
higher dimensions is somewhat unlike the water of the physical plane,
partly because it does not interfere with breathing, and partly because
it soothes body and spirit in the higher dimensions. Soon, Ryouko's
contentment was real, and a healing was taking place in her spirit that
would have taken a thousand years. 
However, she did not understand her peril, if you could call it that.
Over-long exposure to the healing powers of the hidden onsens can
transfigure one into a being of pure spirit. This was what had attracted
the dissipated spirit of Kagato. As the incarnate Washu understood the
will of Kami-sama, this Ryouko needed to remain a physical being.
Therefore she interfered.
Ryouko looked up from her healing bath to see Washu seeking entrance to
the onsen. Unrequited anger rose in her, deharmonizing her with the
onsen, which unceremoniously dumped her naked on the physical moon.
Fortunately Ryouko's body was built to endure this insult, but scorching
her naked butt on noon-day hot moon rock further provoked her.
In an act that set off all kinds of alarms among the scientists and
soldiers on primitive Earth, Ryouko directed a level seven blast at her
so-called "Mother". This thousand mega-ton equivalent fusion event was
eventually dismissed as an extremely high velocity natural impact on the
Moon. Certainly, no earthly power was then capable of triggering such an
event.
Much to Ryouko's surprise, Washu's flesh bubbled, blistered and charred
behind her shields, which then failed. The tail end of the blast swept
away the smoking debris of that putative parent.
"Damn you, Washu! Enough of your dirty little illusions. Just what are
you?"
"I was hoping that would make you feel better, Ryouko-chan; because it
is time you learned both what I am, and what you are."
There was a long pause.
"But first, there is something I must do, if you will cease your anger
long enough to allow me to speak."
Ryouko waited with unexpected patience, as Washu's adult form
materialized, wearing arcane regalia similar to that of the Jurai royal
cult, much like Tsunami's, only in black and light grays, instead of
blues. She gracefully eased to her knees, bowing to the ground.
"I was wrong"
Before Ryouko could say anything, Washu got to her feet and put an index
finger to Ryouko's lips.
"If I add anything to that, it will diminish the meaning. I think you
know what I am apologizing for."
Ryouko nodded.
"I am an aspect of Fate, emanating from Kami-sama, as are Tsunami and
Tokimi. We three do not always agree, and in fact Tsunami and I are in
conflict with Tokimi in this continuum."
"Does this mean that I am not a human being, after all?"
"Not at all. There once was a human girl named Washu, just as there was
once an android named Zero. Over the ages we goddesses often become
composite beings. It would not be incorrect to say that Washu the girl
is your mother, and Washu the goddess is your creator, though Washu the
girl tends to think of it the other way around."
"I am not like you, how can I be your daughter?"
"You are immortal. That alone should be a sufficient similarity. The
difference from me is that I am aware of every continuum where I am
present. You are individual in this continuum. Remember, when you all
tampered with my Dimension Tuner, some of the Ryoukos you possessed did
not have any idea that they were not ordinary, or should I say
extraordinary?"
"How do you know about that?" Ryouko flushed exquisite irritation and
embarrassment from head to toe.
Washu chuckled gleefully.
"Do you know that there is a continuum where you have true enmity for
Princess Aeka?"
"No way!"
Washu nodded, "In that continuum, everyone has the brief lifespan of an
Earthling, you and Aeka spend it entirely in bitterness, one for the
other.
It took me a long time to figure out why you didn't use a fusion blast
to incinerate Kagato when you held him in you hand." Washu held up her
index fingers and swayed them in rhythm, lilting "Aeka and Ryouko, he he
he."
"Washu", Ryouko muttered warningly, her energy level rising.
"Sorry, just a momentary relapse."
"I believed Tenchi was dead, and I knew if we died Tsunami would avenge
us. As long as we lived, I would not sacrifice the Princess, no matter
how irritating she is.
Say, what about Aeka, is she a goddess too?"
"This may be the hard part, Aeka is powerful. As a Juraian, she has a
life span of about ten thousand years. Anyway, Tenchi is immortal, he is
of the same order of being as yourself."
"Tenchi", the girl whispered, tears glistening unfallen in her eyes,
"and no Aeka to rival for him? Are you telling me the game cannot
continue?
Tsunami, you are a cruel Fate. Have you lied to me?"
"No", Tsunami appeared as if summoned, "Fate can be cruel, but we
sisters can never really lie, and we do not try to be cruel. At least
Washu and I try, though we may not always see eye to eye.
Now go home, Tenchi and Aeka are waiting."

	Earlier, back on Earth, as Tsunami had pronounced Washu's mission of
penitence, she had risen to her feet to excuse herself. Yousho and
Tenchi rose in response. She reached out to Tenchi, then drew herself to
him, noses and foreheads touching. 
	As twice before when she had touched him, Tenchi was suffused with the
spirit and the life of the middle goddess. As she pressed against him,
he was embarrassed to feel with pleasure the longing of her very
feminine body through her thin robes. Her breath mingled with his, she
swallowed hard, kissed him on the lips, and withdrew.
	"Forgive me, Sasami is dreaming of you. It will get harder for me, as
she matures; until the day when we become one." Tsunami shook her head
slightly in negation, "Cruel dreams, but no matter, it is better that
she have her own dreams, while she is free.
	Now I am going to tell Ryouko she is welcome home."
	Tenchi nodded in assent, and Tsunami vanished
	Grandpa was back, and laughing heartily, "So, Tsunami is feeling what
it's like to be a young woman?"
	"Grandpa, she as much as admitted she created me. She's almost a second
mother!"
	"I'm glad Sasami got away before her mothers could teach her the ways
of Jurai's royal women."
	"What do you mean now, grandpa?"
	"Let's just say that the nature of Aeka's misbehavior wasn't exactly an
accident. You don't think a man like father Azusa could run two such
women as Funaho and Misaki, do you?
	Watch out for the candle-wax", Yousho chuckled again.
	Tenchi scratched his scalp.
	"And don't forget this afternoon's sword practice!"
	On returning to his house, Tenchi found Aeka watching a rather steamy
afternoon soap opera. Rather than disturb her he checked upstairs, where
Sasami was curled up on a cushion, asleep with a purring cabbit-form
Ryo-ohki. Going back down, he found the program had finished, so he sat
down next to her. Aeka's eyes were shining with the luster of vicarious
pleasure.
	"Ah, Tenchi" Aeka was breathing a little hard. Impulsively, she threw
her arms around him.
	Perhaps because he knew Ryouko was on her way, or maybe because Tenchi
is Tenchi, he started struggling weakly against her hug. She released
him. Standing up and back several paces, she threw her left arm up,
pointing, and emphasizing her bosom by pressing under it with her right
arm. The effect was slightly diminished by the restriction of her
quilted under-wrap, which tended to flatten her already modest
endowment.
	"Which of us is prettier, Ryouko or me?"
	Flustered, Tenchi tried to temporize "Well, Miss Ryouko can be very
sexy when she's not trying to be; but you are very pretty too, in a more
er..uh, princessly  way."
	Frustrated beyond prudence, Aeka began to loosen her robe, and unlace
her under-wrap, right there in the living room. Tenchi waved his arms
frantically, leaping to his feet.
	"Miss Aeka!" he exclaimed, knowing his father Nobuyuki was in the
kitchen, and Sasami a few meters away upstairs, without even a door in
between. He was flushing very satisfactorily, and wobbling. There was a
foretaste of blood in his nose, and his ears were ringing.
	Young Washu popped into existence.
	"My daughter has already apologized about that, in private, Aeka-sama",
Washu arched her eyebrows knowingly.
	Aeka stopped in mid motion, "How could you know about that?"
	"I can read her mind, sometimes. She sometimes has dreams too, you
know", she added significantly.
	Aeka turned a solid lobster red, "I am not a woman of loose morals!"
She stomped her tabi covered foot in frustration.
	"Anyway, I take back anything I ever said, she's much more discreet
than you, and at least she doesn't go snooping in other people's minds".
	"Oh, you never know what powers might pop up in my creations", Washu
hinted with glee.
	"And just what will Ryouko-san turn up with, this time?" Aeka, being a
princess of Jurai, knew without having to participate in councils, that
when Ryouko turned up, she would be slightly changed.
	"My daughter got her wings", Washu boasted with a pride in Ryouko that
had never previously shown.
	"Wings?" Both Aeka and Tenchi inquired.
	"Light-hawk wings, of course."
	"Masaka" Aeka understood the implications perfectly; all the
implications. She'd never had any illusions about Tenchi's nature, at
least.  "And just how powerful is Ryouko with all her gems?"
	"Heh, heh, creating and destroying galaxies is no problem."
	"I thought only the dimensional cannon was that powerful?"
	"A mere pop-gun next to my Ryouko, and I said; she can create, as well.
If she knew her powers, she could be here now. As it is, she will be
here in a few minutes."
	At this point Aeka became conscious of her disheveled state, not to
mention considerable sweating inside that quilted under-wrap. It would
never do to welcome Ryouko-san home in this condition.
	"I've got to go freshen up" Aeka vanished through the onsen portal
marked "Onna". 
	Tenchi lounged around, waiting for the inevitable, which took about ten
minutes. 
	"Tenchi....Tenchi", that familiar voice which he had first heard on a
fateful first day of school, one year previously, echoed through the
house. He tried to pretend to himself that it was grating, but it wasn't
so. In truth, his life had been exceedingly dull, desperately dull,
causing him to get into all sorts of trouble. He could imagine he might
have become some sort of delinquent. Now, life would be interesting
again.
	"Hi, Ryouko, I'm in the living room."
	Ryouko entered, in her best pastel and white, gloved outfit; the same
one she used to wait for Tenchi in, when Zero's gentling influence was
still fresh on her.
	"Tenchi", Ryouko clasped Tenchi's hands in her gloved ones. Hope was in
her eyes.
	"It's OK, Ryouko. I was wrong. My mother would not want me to act so
excessively, on behalf of a mere stone. I know you didn't intend
anything against her memory. 
	Aeka and Washu told me everything."
	"Everything? I seriously doubt that," her expression and voice were
light, almost mocking. "and just where is her royal-ness?"
	He pointed to the onsen portals, "she wanted to freshen up before you
got here."
	"Haven't been up to anything with her while I was away?" She wagged her
index finger and tisk-tisked. 
	"I, er..uh, well..." Tenchi was struggling to keep his composure.
	Ryouko unexpectedly leaned toward him and brushed him lightly, lip to
lip, upon which he became even more flustered. She then took him in hand
and led him to the onsen portals. He entered the one marked "Tenchi",
she the one marked "Onna". They emerged to find Aeka just finishing
dressing in a fresh robe.
	The three of them stood for a long minute in silence, Aeka on the
right, Ryouko on the left, and Tenchi in the middle.
	"Ryouko-sama", Aeka bowed gracefully.
	"Aeka-ojosama", Ryouko returned the compliment.
	A near perfect communication seemed to flow between them.
	Tenchi was more confused than ever.
	"Of course, I haven't changed that much!" Ryouko remarked. "Let me show
you a new trick I figured out on the way back from the Moon."
	With that, she phased out and back into the material world, reappearing
buck naked above and behind Tenchi in the air. In her hand was the
quilted under-wrap that customarily preserved the body modesty of Jurai
women.
	"How dare you! You....you...", the echo of past conflict was almost
perfect, but for the hidden gleam in Aeka's eye, as she pulled her thin
silk outer robe tight as if in modesty, but somehow managing to outline
and emphasize those features of her body that were normally flattened
and concealed by the tight quilted wrap.
	"Girls! Girls!" Tenchi called out, turning to interpose himself as
equally as possible between them.
	A gleeful spark seemed to jump between the girls. Acting in unison,
they dived for his legs and upended him, unceremoniously dunking him
fully clothed in the cold-water pool that they just "happened" to be
standing in front of.
	Girlish laughter brightened the heavy onsen air.

Owari

 Text Copyright 1997, Gregory W. Matteson. <matteson@jps.net>
Characters are Copyright and/or Trademark AIC and Pioneer LDCA