Disclaimer: I in no way own the original characters or events of Tenchi Muyo! 
These are the sole property of AIC and Pioneer. The only things I do own are any 
events and characters I have created over my past two stories. 

Notes: Okay then. Here is my second of three short stories to follow the events 
of Will of the Goddesses. My thanks, first, to all those who have expressed 
interest in my work to this date. I hope that I continue to live up to the 
standards I have set for myself. And once again I have to thank GenSao for 
putting my stuff here in the TMFFA. 

If this is the first Tenchi fic of mine you are reading, then stop right here. 
This is the third story pertaining to a timeline I started in Tenchi Muyo! Will 
of the Goddesses. I suggest you read my first two stories, which can be found in 
the A-B part of the Regular section, before reading this one. I am saying this 
because there were a couple of confusions with my last story. 

I just want to touch on a couple of things before we get started here. At the 
end of the last story I mentioned that Tenchi was 1/4 Juraian in the OVA 
universe. It was pointed out to me that in OVA he is actually 1/8. It is in 
Universe that he is 1/4 since Yosho is apparently 100% Juraian. Well, now that 
is taken care of (if I am still wrong feel free to yell at me :P) 

Oh, and some of you may notice the difference in story title. I was skimming the 
archive, and I happened to see another fic titled "bundle of joy". I don't want 
any confusion to occur, so I added an extra word. As you will see, I think the 
extra word will add a certain amount of truth about the story itself.

So since I have nothing else to go over right now...on with the show. 

See you in the post story notes.


Unexpected Bundles of Joy

May 15th
_____ 

	"Come on. Where are you?" mumbled Sasami Masaki as she rummaged through 
the refrigerator. "Here we go." The sixteen year old Juraian princess' hands 
took hold of a brown package and stepped away from the appliance. 

	She closed the door with her left foot and walked over to the counter in 
the center of the Masaki house's kitchen. Sasami placed the brown package down 
and reached for a white apron. She unfolded the garment and placed it over her 
orange tank top and blue jeans. Once the apron was tied on, the princess pulled 
her shoulder length blue hair into a ponytail so that it was out of the way. 

	Sasami unfolded the layers of the package to reveal a small pile of 
sirloin steaks. "Okay," she said to herself. "Tenchi and Ryoko are going out for 
their anniversary tonight, so that means only five for dinner." She grabbed a 
platter and started counting out the steaks. "One for brother Yosho, one for 
Washu, one for Noboyuki, one for Mayuka," she held on to the last steak for a 
moment," and one for me," she said in a slightly saddened tone.

	The teen wiped her hands off again and proceeded to marinate the meat. 
Sasami's mind was quiet and focused as she went about preparing the food. She 
massaged extra virgin olive oil into each steak and seasoned each one with salt, 
pepper, and rosemary. With blinding speed and skill, Sasami quickly sliced 
several cloves of garlic and placed the slices on the steaks. Moving along with 
practiced form, Sasami put the marinating steaks aside and sliced a myriad of 
vegetables for sautˇing. 

	With both the meat and vegetables prepped, Sasami moved on to her next 
side dish. In a matter of minutes, she had cleaned, de-eyed, and quartered a bag 
of potatoes. The princess began to whistle while she mixed the potatoes with 
crushed garlic, salt, and olive oil. Sasami finished whistling just as she put 
the potatoes into the oven to roast. She checked the oven clock and was 
astonished to see that an hour had gone by.

	She raised a blue eyebrow. "Huh. Four o'clock already. I wonder when 
Tenchi and Ryoko are leaving?" There was still ten minutes before she had to 
sautˇ the steak and put it in the oven with the potatoes. "I've got a little 
time."

	Sasami walked out of the kitchen and stopped at the foot of the stairs. 
"Ryoko!" she called up. There was no answer. "Ryoko!" she called again. "I 
wonder of she's all right?" The teenager rounded the stairs and started 
climbing. 

	When she reached the third floor Sasami stopped in front of Ryoko's room. 
The door was wide open, and Ryoko Masaki was busily walking around the room 
placing candles. Sasami walked up to the door and knocked on the frame. "Ryoko." 
The pirate didn't even acknowledge her. The princess grimaced and walked inside. 
"Well at least say some..."

	Halfway through the door Sasami's ears were assaulted by the loudest rock 
music she had ever heard. She clamped her hands over her ears and started 
shouting. "RYOKO!"

	Ryoko stopped and turned around. The pirate was wearing a pair of gray 
sweat pants, a blue tank top, and her cyan hair was wrapped up in a white towel. 
She blinked her golden, feline eyes once and smiled at Sasami. "Hey, kiddo!" she 
shouted.

	"WHAT?" Sasami shouted back. 

	Ryoko raised her hands and motioned for Sasami to wait a moment. She 
vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room next to a stereo. Ryoko 
touched a couple of buttons and the music stopped. She spun around still 
smiling. "What's up, Sasami?"

	"WHAT?"

	Ryoko laughed and walked over to her. "Oh, stop faking. You can hear me 
just fine."

	Sasami held her hands over her ears for another second before cracking a 
smile of her own and giving up. "I just wanted to know when you and Tenchi were 
leaving?"

	"As soon as he gets back with Mayuka," she replied. The pirate walked over 
to a dresser and picked up a watch. "Ah crap. It's already after four, and I'm 
barely ready." Ryoko brushed past Sasami and hurried over to a standing mirror. 

	"This is so cute," said Sasami. "You're all giddy like Mayuka."

	Ryoko started to unwrap the towel around her head. Sasami could see her 
smile in the mirror's reflection. "I just can't help it," admitted Tenchi's 
wife. She pulled the towel off, and her damp, cyan hair fell loose over her 
shoulders. "Tenchi and I have been married for a year. It still feels like it 
all happened yesterday."

	Sasami watched Ryoko go transparent for a second and then become solid 
once more. During that moment, the pirate's hair resumed its normal spiky 
appearance. Ryoko dropped the towel on the floor and ran her fingers through her 
mane. "What do you think I should do with my hair?"

	"I dunno," replied the princess. "It depends. Where's Tenchi taking you?"

	Ryoko spun around with her hands clasped together. "I don't have a clue," 
she squealed happily. "He wants to surprise me."

	"That is so romantic," sighed Sasami. She leaned up against the wall and 
folded her arms. 

	Ryoko stopped looking at herself in the mirror. "What's the matter with 
you? I thought you were going out with 'what's his name' tonight?" 

	Sasami shook her head. "Nope. We kinda broke up last night."

	The pirate gave her a half frown. "What happened?"

	"I guess the usual stuff," replied Sasami with a shrug. "He wanted to *go* 
farther than I wanted to." She sighed again and put her back to the wall. "Yeah, 
I was curious about what it would be like to go all the way, but one thing 
stopped me. I knew that I wasn't in love with him." A small smile crept on to 
her face. "I thought of you and Tenchi, and how much you two love each other. I 
knew right then that I would rather make love with someone rather than just have 
sex for the sake of sex."

	Ryoko vanished and reappeared with her right arm around Sasami's 
shoulders. The princess sighed for a third time and laid her head on the other 
woman's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Sasami," said Ryoko in a soothing tone. 
"You made the right decision. It truly is better when you wait to have sex with 
someone you love." She gave the princess a small hug.

	"Yeah, I know," admitted Sasami. "I just hope I find love like you did." 
She paused for a moment. "Well, maybe without all the trouble you had," Sasami 
added with a chuckle.
	
	Ryoko released her and gave Sasami a small push. "Ah what do you know," 
countered Ryoko playfully. "It may have taken me two thousand years..."

	"Five thousand years," corrected Sasami.

	"Whatever," huffed Ryoko. "It may have taken me a *few* years, but I 
finally found love. So will you." She nodded her head once to signal the end of 
the conversation. "Now, I think you'd better get back down to the kitchen. I can 
feel Ryo-ohki waking up from her nap, and you know her first stop is always the 
carrot bin in the fridge."

	Feeling a little better, Sasami unfolded her arms and walked to the door. 
She stopped just before it and turned back around. "Ryoko, can I ask you 
something?"

	"What?"
	
	"How did you keep all the loud music inside the room?"

	Ryoko pointed at Sasami's feet. "With that."

	Sasami looked down and saw a small, black box resting near the door. She 
picked it up and looked it over. "What is this?"

	"It's a sound dampner I got from Washu," answered Ryoko. She had returned 
to playing with her hair in front of the mirror. "I was just testing it to make 
sure that it works."

	The teenager got a puzzled look on her face. "But why do you have it?"

	Ryoko looked over her shoulder and smiled mischievously. "Let's just say I 
plan on making a lot of noise later tonight, and I don't want to disturb the 
rest of the house."

	It didn't even take a second for Sasami to understand her friend. Face 
redder than an embarrassed young Tenchi, the teenager placed the sound dampner 
back on the floor. "Well, I better get back to the kitchen before Ryo-ohki," she 
said quickly. "I'll take care of Mayuka tonight, so you and Tenchi just have a 
good time." Sasami stumbled slightly as she backed out of the room. Not wishing 
to embarrass herself any further, the princess bolted down the stairs back into 
the one room in the house where she definitely had some semblance of control.

_____ 

	Washu barely stifled a yawn as she exited her lab and entered the living 
room. "I wonder when I last got some sleep?" she asked herself. The genius gave 
herself a once over and sniffed her green lab dress. "Phew!" she exclaimed. "I 
think I've been wearing this thing too long."

	Her head snapped up as Sasami came rushing down the stairs. The teenager 
stopped short in front of her. "Oh, Washu."

	"Hey, Sasami." Washu squinted and looked closely at the young woman. "Are 
you feeling all right? You look a little flushed."

	"I'm...fine," stammered Sasami. "I was just talking with Ryoko."

	Washu smiled. "Ah, that would explain it. You know, that girl has the 
mouth of a sailor sometimes. So when's dinner?"

	The princess had regained some of her composure. "I estimate about an hour 
or so."

	"Good," said Washu with a nod. "That gives me plenty of time to take a 
bath. I'll be in the onsen." She patted Sasami on the head and walked to the 
front door.

	As she moved across the floor, Washu's dress shimmered and turned into a 
red bathrobe. A basket of bathing materials appeared in her left hand as she 
slid the front door open and stepped outside. She closed the door and proceeded 
to head across the front yard. 

	"Grandma Washu!" shouted a little girl's voice.

	The genius turned her head to the right and saw four year old Mayuka 
Masaki running right for her. The child wore a pair of green overalls and a 
yellow T-shirt. Her bluish black hair was set in a pair of pigtails that bounced 
as she ran. Mayuka laughed with joy and glomped onto Washu's legs. The red head 
ruffled the child's hair.

	"Hello, honey," greeted Washu. "Did you have fun with your daddy?"

	"Yeah!" cheered Mayuka. "First Daddy took me to the movies. Then we went 
to lunch. Then Daddy took me to the zoo. I saw a tiger, an some monkeys, an I 
saw some bunnies, an I saw a really big elephant!"

	"Yes she did," agreed Tenchi as he came up behind her. Hands in the 
pockets of his tan slacks, the twenty three year old father looked down at his 
daughter adoringly. "Aside from a small mishap at lunch," he gestured to a 
chocolate stain on his navy blue collared shirt, "she was a very good girl 
today."

	He knelt down and turned her to face him. "Why don't you go tell Mommy 
we're home, and then go and help your Aunt Sasami in the kitchen?" 

	"Okay, Daddy!" Tenchi gave Mayuka a kiss on the forehead just before she 
sped off into the house.  

	Tenchi straightened his legs while watching Mayuka with a smile. "You're 
turning into quite the father for one so young, Tenchi," observed Washu.

	His smile remained as he looked at her. "You think so?" Washu nodded. "I 
remember when you first brought Mayuka back, I was worried if I could handle the 
responsibility of being her father. For a while, I felt like I was caught in 
some sort of hurricane between school, my shrine duties, and Mayuka. But thanks 
to all of you, I was able to go to school without any fear for her well being." 

	Washu swore that Tenchi was suddenly surrounded by a "fatherly" glow. "I 
missed a lot of her first two years," the prince admitted. "Over the past year 
I've done as much as I could to make up for it." He paused for a moment. "After 
my mom died Dad did his best to spend time with me, but he had to work all the 
time. I love him, and I'm grateful for all he's done for me, but I do miss the 
fact that we never did a lot of father and son stuff."

	Tenchi sniffed once and rubbed his nose. "I want to be there for Mayuka 
whenever she might need me. I never want her to wonder whether or not I love 
her."

	Washu realized that she had a warm smile on her face. The former goddess 
reached out and laid a hand on Tenchi's left shoulder. "You are a good man, 
father, and husband Tenchi Masaki." Her smile suddenly became a grin. "Although, 
you'll be a good husband in trouble if you don't show your wife a good time 
tonight. What do you have planned in that little mind of yours?"

	Tenchi's grin mirrored her own. "Sorry, Washu, but I'm not letting that 
cabbit out of the bag just yet. I've managed to keep it a secret from Ryoko for 
the past month, and I'm not about to tell you just an hour before we leave."

	"Wow. I'm impressed, Tenchi," said the genius with genuine awe. "That's 
some trick considering how deep and intertwined your link with Ryoko is."

	The prince took a step back and bowed. "Why thank you, mother-in-law."

	Washu threw her head back and cackled. "Bravo, Tenchi. We'll make a wise 
ass out of you, yet." She continued to laugh as she walked away. "I'm going to 
catch a bath before dinner. You have yourselves a good time tonight, Tenchi. And 
tell Ryoko to be careful with that sound dampner I gave her."

_____ 

	Tenchi, only a little confused by her last statement, watched Washu walk 
away. Finally, he shrugged and walked into the house. As soon as he entered the 
front door, the prince heard Sasami talking to Mayuka in the kitchen. Deciding 
to talk to Sasami later, Tenchi threw off his shoes and scaled the steps two at 
a time. The prince was greeted by a closed door when he reached the third floor. 
He went to open it, but soon discovered the door to be locked. Tenchi knocked 
once. No answer. He knocked again and received the same response. 

	"Ryoko?" he called at the door. "Ryoko, it's me. Open up." There was still 
no answer. Tenchi could feel his wife on the other side of the door, and she 
seemed just fine through their link. 

	"Ryoko, it's Tenchi," he said telepathically this time. "Why is the door 
to our room locked?"

	"Oh, hey, lover," she replied cheerily. "Sorry, I didn't hear you at the 
door."

	"Can I come in?" he asked again.

	"Nope," Ryoko said flatly. "I'm changing."

	Tenchi folded his arms both physically and mentally. "I don't see what 
that has to do with anything? It's not like I haven't seen you change before."

	"This *is* different," insisted his wife. "I don't want you to see me 
until I'm finished getting ready."

	"Okay then, my dear," he said dryly. "How am I supposed to get ready? My 
clothes are in the room with you."

	Tenchi jumped back suddenly as a slender arm phased through the door 
holding a black suit, white collared shirt, and a black and navy blue tie. "Here 
you go," echoed Ryoko's voice in his mind. Then she closed off her end of the 
link before Tenchi could respond.

	Seeing no way to win this one, Tenchi took his clothes from Ryoko. Her 
hand waved at him once before retracting back through the door. The prince 
grumbled silently to himself as he trudged down the hall to the bathroom. Twenty 
minutes later Tenchi emerged showered, freshly shaved, and dressed in his suit 
for the evening. He stopped in front of the bedroom door again and stared for a 
moment. Ryoko was still closing off her end of the link, and since knocking 
hadn't worked earlier Tenchi figured it would be just as useless now. 

	"Guess I'll just wait downstairs," he mumbled. "Lord knows she won't come 
down till she's good and ready, anyway."

	Tenchi walked downstairs and made his way to the kitchen. When he entered 
Sasami was just placing some steaks in the oven. Mayuka was sitting on the 
counter with Ryo-ohki in her lap. 

	 The princess closed the oven door and looked up to see him. "Hi, Tenchi. 
Wow, you look very handsome."

	He blushed ever so slightly and sat down on a stool next to the island 
counter. "Thanks, Sasami." Ryo-ohki squirmed out of Mayuka's arms and hopped 
over to Tenchi. The prince scratched her head. "Hello to you, too, Ryo-ohki."

	"Meow," replied the cabbit.

	Sasami walked next to Mayuka and leaned on the counter. "Where's Ryoko?"

	"Still getting ready," answered Tenchi. He checked his watch. "I hope she 
hurries up. I don't want to miss our reservations."

	Sasami leaned forward and rested her chin between her hands. "So, where 
are you taking her tonight?"

	Tenchi smiled. "Can't say."

	"Teeeennnncccchhhhiiii," called Ryoko from the other room.

	The prince straightened and took a deep breath. "I believe that's my cue." 
Tenchi quickly left the kitchen for the direction of Ryoko's voice. He stopped 
short at the stairs. "Wow."

	Ever so slowly and gracefully, Ryoko descended the stairs towards her 
husband. She was wearing a long, black evening dress slit up the right side. The 
dress showed just a hint of cleavage as its straps went around her neck. Instead 
of its normal spiky nature, Ryoko's cyan hair was straight. All of her cyan 
locks, with the exception of a single one which hung just over her right eye, 
seemed to be cascading down the left side of her head and on to her bare left 
shoulder. The only jewelry she wore, aside from her gems, was a string of onyx 
black pearls hanging around her neck, a pair of tear shaped diamond earrings 
dangling from her ears, and she wore her wedding ring on her left hand. For 
makeup his wife only had on a thin layer of red lipstick.  

	  Tenchi, himself, was finding it hard to take a breath. He just stood 
there dumbfounded by the beauty of his wife. Ryoko reached the bottom of the 
stairs and literally glided over to him. "You look beautiful," he whispered. 

	"Thank you, Tenchi," she said sweetly. 

	"Wow, Ryoko!" came Sasami's voice from behind the couple. Both Tenchi and 
Ryoko turned around to see Sasami and Mayuka standing in the kitchen door. "You 
look amazing!"

	Mayuka ran from the teenager's side over to her parents. Ryoko lowered 
herself to the child's level and embraced her. "Now you be a good girl for 
Sasami," said Ryoko.

	"Yes, Mommy," replied Mayuka. 

	Tenchi leaned down as well and hugged Mayuka. "Goodbye, my little jewel. 
We'll see you tomorrow." Both Ryoko and Tenchi kissed her on the forehead and 
straightened.

	Ryoko picked up a small black purse and slid her arm around Tenchi's. They 
both said their good-byes once more before exiting through the front door. 
Tenchi stopped right at the porch stairs. Ryoko looked at him quizzically. 
"Aren't we going to the car?"

	Tenchi couldn't hold back his smile any longer. "We won't need the car 
tonight." Ryoko's eyes went wide when three green triangles appeared on his 
forehead. Tenchi felt her excitement grow when the blue portal opened up in 
front of them. 

	"And where does that lead?" she asked him innocently.

	The prince stepped back and bowed. "Step through and find out, my lady." 
Before he knew what had happened, Ryoko grabbed Tenchi by the arm and pulled 
both of them into the portal.

_____ 

	The next few hours seemed like something out of a dream to Ryoko. First, 
Tenchi took her to the Players' Club in New York City for drinks and dancing. 
Thanks to Washu they had a card that could mimic any type of credit or 
membership card on Earth. Using that, Tenchi had gotten them into the club no 
problem. Paintings decorated the walls and fine carpet lined the halls. The main 
hall was filled with well dressed men and women enjoying fine music and company. 
Towards the back was a large dance floor with an old time jazz band playing 
away. 

	Ryoko was on cloud nine as she and Tenchi danced through the early 
evening. Whether it was an up-tempo jazz piece written by Louie Armstrong or a 
slow love song pioneered by the legendary Nat King Cole, both Tenchi and Ryoko 
glided across the dance floor surrounded by an aura of pure joy. It was just 
about seven o'clock when Tenchi led Ryoko away from the dance floor to an empty 
side room. The pirate was shocked for a second time when her husband opened up 
another portal. 

	"I thought we were eating here?" she said.

	Tenchi merely gestured at the portal. "Your dinner awaits you."

	Instead of dinner at the Players' Club, Ryoko soon found herself dining at 
an outdoor restaurant overlooking the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. It was a 
warm, yet breezy night as the couple ate together. The lights of Paris twinkled 
like Earth bound stars trying to reach the heavens. While they ate, Tenchi spoke 
of his day with Mayuka. Ryoko listened happily and treasured every word he 
spoke. After dessert and coffee, Ryoko didn't even bother asking where Tenchi 
was taking her next. The cyan haired beauty was content to walk blindly ahead 
with her head resting on his shoulder. Tenchi opened a third portal, and they 
both walked through it together.

	Ryoko was now finding it difficult to believe the evening was not a dream. 
The cloudless, star filled sky watched over her and Tenchi as they cuddled 
together in a gondola floating down the canals of Venice, Italy. Neither one 
spoke a single word for over two hours. They were both more than content to 
communicate via the empathic part of their link. Emotions of love and joy flowed 
between the two lovers like the water beneath their gondola. Two hours later 
they disembarked and strolled down an empty Venetian street.

	Ryoko curled her arm around her husband's waist. "So, my Tenchi. Do you 
have anymore surprises for me this evening?"

	Tenchi wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "Just 
one more, my heart." The triangles reappeared on his forehead followed by 
another blue portal. Tenchi moved his arm from her shoulders to her waist. "Hold 
on tight," he warned just before flying them through the blue circle.

	When her senses caught up with her, Ryoko was only slightly shocked to see 
them high in the sky. There was a faint shimmer as a sphere formed around the 
married couple. Ryoko looked down to see miles of snow and ice in all 
directions. "Where are we?" she asked.

	"Antarctica," Tenchi replied.

	Ryoko started to look all around. "What are we doing here?" 

	"Just wait a second," was all he said.

	Then it happened. One moment stars blanketed the sky. Then, suddenly, the 
stars were replaced by a sea of colors. Reds, yellows, blues, greens, oranges 
flowed together into one majestic tapestry of waves. A smile of pure awe 
inspired joy appeared on Ryoko's face. She had seen a lot of natural phenomena 
during her travels through space, but Ryoko could only remember a few that were 
as beautiful as this. Only one thing managed to pull her attention away from the 
colorful storm above her, and that was Tenchi's love coming across their link. 
Ryoko turned her head to find Tenchi staring at her with adoring eyes.

	Ryoko reached up and caressed the side of his face. The kiss that followed 
was neither passionate nor tender in nature. It was a hybrid of both that 
managed to display just how much love the two of them shared. The kiss ended, 
and Ryoko cupped Tenchi's face with her hands. 

	"Tenchi," she whispered. "Take me home."

	Without another word, a portal appeared beneath them. Tenchi lowered them 
through the circle and directly into their room. They touched down right in 
front of their bed and resumed kissing. Ryoko carefully placed her hands on 
Tenchi's chest and pushed him away. The prince fell backwards on to the bed. 
Ryoko didn't follow, though. Tenchi was about to say something, but a raised 
finger from his wife stopped him.

	"Shhhh," she said quietly. "You wait right there, and I'll be back in just 
a second." 

_____ 

	Tenchi could only watch as Ryoko disappeared from his sight. Immediately, 
the prince scooted forward until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He 
shrugged off his jacket, tossed it aside, pulled his tie off, and began to 
unbutton his shirt. A tingling in the back of his mind alerted Tenchi to Ryoko's 
imminent return. He halted his action to look up at his reappearing wife. Now 
Tenchi and Ryoko had been together for many years. To him she seemed more and 
more beautiful every day. Yet, there were some times when she even surpassed 
herself.

	The cyan haired beauty had replaced her evening dress with a silvery, silk 
nightgown. It was a simple one piece gown that ran the full length of her body, 
but it was still sexy despite the simplicity. A seductive and lusty smile played 
across Ryoko's lips as she walked towards Tenchi. She ran both hands through her 
hair causing it to revert back to its original style. The gown shimmered and 
swayed with every step she took. Ryoko slowly walked around the room lighting 
candles with her finger.   

	Tenchi watched her as he got to his feet. He wrapped his arms around his 
wife as soon as she was close enough. A million words were running through his 
mind, but only the three most important ones made it out. "I love you," he 
whispered.

	Ryoko's arms encircled his neck. "I love *you*," she replied. "Thank you 
for a magical night, Tenchi. It was like something out of a dream."

	"Anything for you, Ryoko." He kissed her lightly. "And the night's not 
over, yet," he added with a knowing grin.

	A fire was suddenly lit behind Ryoko's golden eyes. "Listen to you," she 
purred. "I really am a bad influence on you, aren't I?" Tenchi's only response 
was a passion filled kiss as he pulled them both down to the bed.

_____ 

2 weeks later

_____ 

	Ryoko was not having the best Saturday morning ever. She levitated up from 
the toilet and flushed it. "I hate throwing up," muttered the pirate. She landed 
in front of the sink, grabbed the mouthwash, and rinsed a couple of times to get 
rid of the awful taste in her mouth. 

	"I don't get it," she told her reflection. "I haven't had a drink in over 
a week, and that's the only time I usually puke. Even then I only do it once. I 
never do it four times in a half an hour!" Her mirror image didn't respond. 
"Some help you are." The pirate turned and walked out of the bathroom back 
towards her room. 

	As she walked, the T-shirt she was wearing faded away and was replaced by 
an ankle length red dress with a purple vest over it. Ryoko walked into the room 
and began absently tidying up. She made the bed, picked up and placed various 
articles of clothing in the hamper, and grabbed a couple of Mayuka's toys that 
were on the floor. Ryoko's thoughts were focused when she saw the two action 
figures in her hands. One was Tenchi and the other was herself. Both of them 
were wearing Light Hawk Armor and holding swords. She looked each one over and 
read some small writing on the bottom of their left feet. 

	"Ukarit Inc.," she muttered. "I gotta remember to ask him about getting a 
cut of the profits for these things." She smiled and placed the toys on the 
dresser.

	The scent of breakfast suddenly wafted into the room. Ryoko jumped 
suddenly when her stomach gurgled. "What the hell?" She sniffed at the air again 
and noticed that a strange pain was forming in her stomach. She rubbed it 
carefully. "What's wrong with me?"

	While trying to figure out what was bothering her, Ryoko teleported to the 
living room. Once there she found Tenchi sitting on the couch watching cartoons 
with Mayuka, and Washu sitting at the dining room table working on her holo 
laptop. Tenchi looked away from the TV and smiled at her.

	"Hey. You feeling any better?" he asked with concern.

	She shook her head. "I threw up again."

	Tenchi moved Mayuka off of his lap and walked over to her. He was dressed 
in priest's robes similar to Katsuhito's. Ryoko stood there and let her husband 
embrace her. She sighed and rested her head on his chest. "Maybe you should talk 
to Washu? She can probably figure out what's wrong."

	Ryoko groaned. "I dunno, Tenchi. She'll probably wanna run tests and hook 
me up to a bunch of machines." Several bad memories flashed across her mind's 
eye. "Let's just say I'm not a fan of that."

	"I guess I can understand that fear." There was a small beeping noise near 
Ryoko's right ear. Tenchi slid his sleeve up and looked at his watch. "I have to 
go," he said quietly. "I have morning duties with Grandpa right now, after that 
I have to tend the carrot fields, and then I have to train. How about we go for 
a walk later before dinner?"

	Ryoko smiled and hugged him tightly. "That sounds nice." They shared a 
quick kiss before he said goodbye to Mayuka and left. 

	The scent of breakfast once again made its way into Ryoko's nose. After a 
hug and a kiss for Mayuka, the pirate wandered into the kitchen. Sasami was 
whistling a tune while making several different omelets at once. The teenage 
princess skillfully laid the five different omelets on to a platter. Without a 
pause Sasami placed each pan into the dishwasher and turned it on. Next she 
picked up the platter and placed it on the counter next to another platter 
filled with linked sausages and a bowl of roasted potatoes. 

	The blue haired girl took off her white apron and proceeded to check her 
pink T-shirt and gray sweat pants for stains. Satisfied that she was clean, 
Sasami collected all the platters like a professional waitress and headed for 
the dining room. She smiled at Ryoko as she passed. "Good morning, Ryoko."

	The pirate only nodded. Her attention was completely focused on the food. 
Ryoko quickly teleported to the table. Sasami served her an omelet with some 
sausages and potatoes, and Ryoko started wolfing them down immediately. She 
couldn't help but notice how good the food tasted this morning. "That's odd," 
Ryoko thought. "I never usually pay any attention to what the food tastes like." 
Pushing all thoughts aside, Ryoko shrugged and continued to eat.

	"Where's Tenchi?" asked Sasami. "He was just here."

	"Daddy went to see Grandpa," Mayuka told her. The child sat down next to 
her mother and started to pick at her food.

	Sasami frowned. "Well, I wish he would have said something to me. Now what 
will I do with his breakfast?"

	"I'll take it!" said Ryoko quickly. Her fork shot out and skewered the 
omelet that had been made for Tenchi. She plopped it down on to her now empty 
plate and continued feasting. 

	The plate was empty again in a matter of seconds. Ryoko sighed contentedly 
and burped. That was when she noticed everyone at the table, including Mayuka, 
looking at her. "What?"

	"I've never seen you eat like that, Ryoko," observed Sasami while 
attempting not to laugh. 

	Mayuka giggled. "Mommy's a piggy."

	Washu gave them a half smile and sipped her tea. "Some people would agree 
with you, sweetie."

	"That's not very nice thing to say, honey," commented Ryoko, ignoring her 
mother. "Have you been talking to your Aunt Ayeka again?" After that the 
conversation around the table moved on to what everyone was planning to do for 
the rest of the day. Ryoko, though, had to resist the urge to help herself to 
more sausage, potatoes, and what was left on Mayuka's plate.

	When the meal was over Sasami started to clear the table. "Mayuka," Ryoko 
said in a suggestive tone. "Would you help Sasami? I need to talk to Grandma 
Washu for a moment. After that we'll go to the onsen and take our bathes."

	Mayuka reluctantly agreed and carried her plate into the kitchen. Ryoko 
waited another second and then moved over next to Washu. "Mom, I think there's 
something wrong with me."

	Washu raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Really? I didn't notice."

	Ryoko grimaced. "I'm being serious. I've been sick four times this 
morning, and then I got this weird feeling in my stomach right before 
breakfast."

	The smile on Washu's face disappeared. "Have you had anything to drink in 
the past twelve hours?" she asked in a doctorly fashion. Ryoko shook her head. 
"Hmmm. What was that feeling in your stomach like?"

	Ryoko thought for a moment. "Well, it was kind of like someone was 
grinding a blunt object into my stomach and making a small pit."

	"And is it there now?" Ryoko shook her head. "Odd. If I didn't know 
better, it almost sounds like you were hungry," concluded the genius.

	"I...thought that wasn't possible?" stammered Ryoko with wide eyes. 
"According to you the gems give me all the sustenance I need. As long as I have 
even one of them I'm not supposed to really need food."

	Washu was nodding. "That's correct." She got to her feet, and the tall, 
red headed genius was suddenly wearing a long, white coat, a pair of tan slacks, 
and a black shirt. There was also a stethoscope draped around her neck. An ID 
tag hung from the right breast pocket of the coat that read "Dr. Washu Hakubi 
M.D." "Come on. Let's go down to my lab and take a look at you."

	Ryoko hesitated for a moment, but finally relented and followed her mother 
to the door under the stairs. Soon the two of them were deep inside Washu's lab 
surrounded by flashing lights and weird noises. Dozens of computer consoles 
littered the area with view screens of data floating over each one. Washu 
stopped in front of a bio bed and motioned for Ryoko to lay down.

	Ryoko raised her hands and started backing away. "No way, Washu. I'm not 
going to get on that thing. Can't you do this with me standing up?"

	The scientist crossed her arms and began tapping her foot. "Geez! How long 
are you going to hold that against me? How many times do I have to say I was 
sorry for leaving you tied up?"

	Ryoko's golden eyes thinned. "Try me again in a thousand years."

	"Just get on the bed, Ryoko," ordered Washu with an exasperated sigh. "I 
promise I'm only going to run a couple of bio scans on you, and there will be no 
tying you down." She put her hand over he heart. "I swear on Mayuka."

	"Well...all right." Ryoko lowered her arms and walked, if not warily, over 
to the bed. 

	Once she was horizontal, Washu summoned her holo laptop and started 
typing. The pirate tensed as several silver spheres began to fly around her. 
Each one had a series of flashing red lights in its center. When the spheres 
left several sensor limbs rose up from the bed and sprayed Ryoko with red 
scanning beams. It was taking all of the cyan haired woman's will power not to 
start firing at her mother's scanners. The scans lasted a few more seconds, and 
then it was all over. Ryoko sat up and watched as Washu continued to read the 
data on her laptop.

	"Well?" prompted Ryoko. 

	Washu's mouth was hanging open. "I'll be damned!" she breathed. Her green 
eyes looked up and stared at Ryoko. "This is pretty serious, Ryoko."

	A cold feeling started to creep over Tenchi's wife. She swallowed and 
straightened her back. "Give it to me straight, mom. I can take it."

	Washu was silent for several seconds. "Ryoko," she said finally. "You're 
pregnant."

	Ryoko's own jaw fell open. "P...p...preg...pregnant?" Her hands started 
shaking. "H...how...how? I don't mean that I don't know how a woman gets 
pregnant, but I mean, well you know what I mean." She clamped her mouth shut 
with the realization of her rambling.  

	Washu started typing again. "Truth be told, this has got me just as 
surprised as you, my dear. When I created you, I never intended for you to 
procreate. Yes, you have all the necessary *equipment* inside and outside, so to 
speak, but I never made you compatible with other species."

	Ryoko had both her hands on her stomach. "Then how?"

	"You want my best guess?" Ryoko nodded. "Then my best guess is that it has 
something to do with the Light Hawk Wings. The powers both you and Tenchi share 
must have altered you on a genetic level so that the two of you are able to 
produce offspring."

	Ryoko realized that she was smiling now. "So, Tenchi and I can have 
babies."

	Washu sighed. "If you want to put it in those simple terms, yes. Tenchi 
can knock you up anytime and anywhere." Washu finally smiled warmly at her 
daughter. "Congratulations, my Little Ryoko."

	"I'm going to have a baby," Ryoko whispered. She continued to rub her 
belly and smile. "I'm going to have a baby."

_____ 

	There was a beeping noise somewhere in the room. Empress Ayeka Jurai 
wasn't sure exactly what it was, but she knew that it was keeping her from 
falling back asleep. The beeping continued, and Ayeka started to mumble 
incoherently into her violet pillow. She managed to free her left arm out from 
the white sheets just enough to poke the body lying next to her. 

	"Shoytal," she groaned. "Answer that."

	Shoytal Ruhanal, Captain of the Royal Guard, and Ayeka's lover, answered 
her with a groan of his own. She poked him again, but that only served to 
provoke the captain into shoving his head under a pillow. Ayeka frowned and 
freed her right arm.

	"Lazy bum," she muttered. Her right hand fumbled around on the night table 
until it found a communicator. Ayeka cleared her throat and brought the item to 
her mouth. "This is the Empress. Go ahead."

	"Sorry to wake you, your Majesty, but we just received a transmission 
bearing the Royal Seal Beta code. Shall I put it through?"

	It only took half a second for her to put a name to that code. Ayeka took 
a deep breath before speaking again. "Fine."

	The communicator clicked off, and Ayeka just tossed it away. She heard the 
sound of a view screen appear next to her side of the bed. "Hey there, 
princess," greeted an all too familiar voice.

	The Empress opened one dark pink eye to see Ryoko's smiling visage. 
"Ryoko, do you have any idea what time it is?"

	"Nope," answered the grinning pirate. 

	Ayeka closed her eye again. "Well what is so important that you had to 
wake me up? Is Sasami all right?"

	"Yeah."

	"Is something wrong with Tenchi or Mayuka?"
	
	"Nope."

	"My bother?"

	"No."

	"Then what do you want?" growled the Empress before thrusting her face 
into the pillow.

	"Well," she heard Ryoko say. "I just have a small family announcement to 
make." There was a short pause. "I'm pregnant."

	"WHAT?" cried Ayeka as she shot up into a kneeling position. "You're 
what!?"

	Ryoko was beaming. "P R E G N A N T. Pregnant." She pointed at Ayeka. "Why 
don't I give you a second to put something on before we continue?"

	Ayeka looked down and remembered that she was naked. Face bright red, the 
Empress quickly pulled the sheets over her head. "View screen close! Audio 
only!"

_____ 

	Ryoko was still smiling after she turned the communicator off. She rose 
from her floating pillow and started looking for the lab's exit. 

	"What did Ayeka have to say?" asked Washu. Her genius mother came floating 
down from above in a spherical chair.

	Ryoko grinned. "After the initial shock wore off, she congratulated me. 
She'd head over here now, but the next generation of tree ships are almost 
complete. As soon as they are all up, running, and manned with crews she'll come 
here for an extended vacation."

	"So how long till then?" asked Washu.

	Ryoko shrugged. "Ayeka figures about a month maybe two." She turned and 
started searching for the exit again.

	"Okay," said Washu. "What are you going to do right now?"

	"Well," started the pirate. "I'm going to go tell Sasami. Then I'll leave 
a message for Kiyone, who'll tell Mihoshi in turn. Next I'll take Mayuka to the 
onsen, and during that time I'll think of a way to tell Tenchi."

	Washu raised an eyebrow. "My, my, my. We certainly have this all planned 
out. I want you to wait a second on those plans of yours." Ryoko stopped and 
turned back around. "Since I have you here now, as your doctor I want to lay 
down the ground rules."

	"Rules?" repeated Ryoko.

	"Yup," confirmed Washu with a nod. "Since this is uncharted territory for 
both of us, you have to be very careful for the next seven to nine months."

	"I thought pregnancy lasted for nine months?" interrupted the pirate.

	"In normal humans, yes," agreed Washu. "But you, my dear, are anything but 
normal. With the way your system works, plus the gems, and the wild card of the 
Light Hawk Wings, I have estimated your gestation period to be somewhere between 
seven and nine months. To put it simply: the kid will pop out some time between 
November and January."

	Ryoko could accept that. "All right. So what are the rules?"

	Wahsu raised a finger. "One, no use of powers at all. We don't know what 
effects teleportation or phasing through matter may have on the fetus. Also, any 
expenditure of power, such as swords or energy blasts, may create too much of a 
strain on your body. And definitely no Light Hawk Wings. Two, you will be 
getting hungry now since the baby will need energy. Your gems will still support 
you, but not the child. Therefore, you will be put on a well balanced diet to be 
left up to Sasami and myself. And no alcohol or caffeine."

	"I know that much," snapped Ryoko with a scowl. "I'm not stupid. I've seen 
it all on TV."

	"Three," continued Washu. "Every two weeks you'll come back down here for 
routine check ups. During those check ups I will be making sure that both you 
and the baby are healthy. At the same time I will provide you with vitamin 
supplements just to make sure you don't have any energy problems." Washu floated 
the chair over to Ryoko. "Are you getting all this?"

	Tenchi's wife had heard every word and understood most of it. Yet, she 
still had a puzzled look on her face. "There will be a posted list, right?" 
Washu slapped her forehead and groaned.

_____ 

	It was just an hour or so before sundown. Ryoko was sitting on the end of 
the dock with her feet hanging off the end and swaying. She sat there running 
over her plan to tell Tenchi that she was pregnant. It was all planned out to 
the letter. Sasami was in the kitchen working on dinner right now. Mayuka and 
Ryo-ohki were in there with the teenager helping. Washu was somewhere in her lab 
too focused on her experiments to notice anything less than a supernova. Ryoko 
shifted her attention from the house to the direction of the onsen. She could 
feel Tenchi making his way towards her now. He'd just finished his evening bath, 
so the prince was going to be nice and calm. For their walk, Ryoko would lead 
them to their favorite spot down by the lake. Once there she would get him to 
cuddle, and then slowly work her news into the conversation.

	A light breeze blew by, and Ryoko turned her head back to the water. The 
orange light from the setting sun danced on the water as it rippled. Ryoko 
crossed her ankles and carefully placed her hands on her stomach. A warm smile 
crept on to her face. She let her senses stretch inward. Ryoko almost chirped 
with surprised joy when she felt the ever so faint awareness within her. 
Suddenly, something was different in there. One moment there was that single 
faint sense of life in her womb, and then it changed to two!

	"There are two in there!" she breathed. "I'm going to have twins." Ryoko 
was so preoccupied with her latest discovery, that she nearly jumped off of the 
dock when Tenchi placed a hand on her right shoulder.

	"Ahhh!" she cried out.

	Tenchi reacted by jumping back. "Whoa! It's just me."

	Ryoko quickly regained control of her breathing and got to her feet. Her 
husband was wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of black drawstring pants. "It's 
okay, Tenchi. I was just really deep in thought."

	He dropped the laundry bag in his hands and walked over to her with a 
smile on his face. "You must have been. I haven't really been able to sneak up 
on you since we were first linked." Tenchi wrapped his arms around her, and they 
shared a brief kiss. "Are you ready for our walk?" he asked after the kiss.

	Ryoko gave him a smile of her own and nodded. She looped her right arm 
through his left one, and the couple walked away from the house. It was only a 
few minutes later that the two of them were walking along the lakeshore. Saying 
only a few words intermittently, Tenchi and Ryoko strolled along until they 
reached a collection of four cherry blossom trees overlooking the lake. The 
fresh, green grass below the trees was carpeted by a thin layer of pink cherry 
blossoms. A breeze blew past the clearing sending the blossoms swirling into the 
air. 

	Tenchi and Ryoko passed through the pink blossom storm and settled down 
under one of the trees. Ryoko seated herself up against the tree with her legs 
stretched out, and Tenchi laid down with his head resting in her lap. The two of 
them sat there for a while not speaking. Ryoko was perfectly content, for now, 
to listen to the breeze blowing while caressing the side of her beloved's head. 

	"So, was Washu able to figure out what was making you sick this morning?" 
asked Tenchi.


	Ryoko had to resist the urge to start laughing at his question. "In a 
way," was all she said. "Tenchi, can I ask you something?"

	"Anything," he answered closing his eyes.

	Ryoko took a breath to steady her nerves. It was now or never. "Do you 
like the way our life has turned out? I mean, are you happy right now?"

	He smiled. "I'm the happiest man on this planet." His right hand came up 
and clasped hers. "I have a beautiful wife whom I love dearly, my odd yet 
wonderful family, and a beautiful daughter."

	Ryoko gripped his hand tightly. "So, you like being Mayuka's father?"

	"I wouldn't trade being her father for anything, just as I wouldn't trade 
being with you for anything," he replied. "I love Mayuka very much, and I want 
to be the best father possible."

	"Uh huh," said Ryoko. "Have...," she paused for a second. "Have you ever 
thought about having more children...with me?" 

	"Not really," he said without opening his eyes. "I guess I've been too 
focused on the present to worry about the future."

	Ryoko grimaced. She wasn't getting very far here. Tenchi wasn't getting 
any of her hints, and he also seemed very unconcerned about future family plans. 
"Is something wrong?" he asked suddenly.

	The pirate kicked herself inwardly for not keeping her emotions from 
crossing over the link. "Well, would you want to have more kids?"

	"Sure," he said. "Of course I'd want to have a child with you, 
eventually."   

	This was it. "Tenchi, what...what would you say if I told you 'eventually' 
was now?" His eyes snapped open. "I'm...pregnant," she told him with a sheepish 
smile.

	He didn't say a thing. Ryoko also couldn't read anything across the link. 
She was starting to get worried. "Tenchi, why aren't you saying anything?" 
Tenchi slowly raised himself up to a sitting position keeping his back to her. 
Ryoko reached out and touched his left shoulder. "Please say something!"

	When he turned around, Ryoko was relieved to see a smile on his face. 
"What can I say when my lovely wife tells me she's going to have my baby?" 
Tenchi reached out and drew her in for a tender kiss. "Like I said before," he 
began after they separated. "I'm the happiest man in the world." 

_____ 

July 8th 
_____ 

	"Where are about to enter Earth's atmosphere," announced Shoytal from Ryu-
oh's control podium. "Everyone prepare for atmospheric entry."

	Standing at various places around the control podium were the rest of the 
Royal Guard. Gerin was lounging in front of the podium, Verka was hauling the 
last of Ayeka's luggage out to the open, Mastir was leaning up against a rock 
polishing his weapons, and Nunar sat cross legged meditating under a tree. 

	"All right," cheered Gerin. "Several months of vacation!"

	"Wrong, Gerin," corrected Shoytal. He took a moment to turn on the ship's 
jammers so that the Earth's sensors would not detect them. "Her Majesty is on 
vacation. We are still on duty. That is why we will all take time to participate 
in training with Lords Tenchi and Yosho."

	"Dammit," cursed the red headed knight.

	"Oh, just suck it up, Gerin," Mastir told him. "Lord Yosho is a legendary 
swordsman, and Lord Tenchi is also quite good."

	"Good enough to beat Shoytal," added Nunar.

	Shoytal kept his eyes on their descending speed. "That is exactly why we 
must take the opportunity to train with them."

	"Ha!' exclaimed Gerin. "You just want to get in good with the family." He 
scrambled to his feet and walked over to the captain. "Admit it. You also want 
to suck up to her Majesty's brother and Lord Tenchi."

	"I'd be quiet, Gerin," warned Verka as he put down a large, purple trunk. 
"You don't want Her Majesty to her you say that."

	"Hear him say what?" asked the Empress as she walked out of the entrance 
to the residential portion of the ship. Ayeka was wearing a simple blue and 
white kimono with her purple hair tied back into a single, ankle length 
ponytail. Her circlet peaked out from beneath her bangs. She gave them all a 
half smile. "What should I not hear?"

	Gerin stiffened and saluted. "Nothing, Empress! Nothing at all!"

	She held her smile and walked over to Shoytal. He was finding it hard to 
suppress his amused smile. The knight captain stiffened slightly when he felt 
her lay a hand on his left shoulder. 

	"Stop teasing the poor Captain, Gerin," she said cheerfully. "Or would you 
like to de-root Ryu-oh as soon as we land?"

	Gerin's head drooped. "Yes, Ma'am. No, Ma'am." He saluted again and walked 
off the podium. "Why does everyone always pick on me?" he muttered.

	"Because you make it so easy," replied Mastir without pausing in his 
polishing.

_____ 

	Ayeka's vision blurred for a moment while she and her Guard were beamed to 
the front yard of the Masaki home. When she could see again, the Empress was 
greeted by Azaka and Kamidake.

	"Good day, Empress Ayeka," they said at the same time.

	Ayeka smiled warmly at her old Guardians. "Hello, Azaka, Kamidake. How are 
you both?"

	"We are quite well, Empress," answered Azaka.

	"And we have been taking good care of Princess Sasami," added Kamidake. 
"Of course we are not allowed to follow her off the property, but we do a good 
job while she's around here."

	"She doesn't let you follow her off the house grounds?" Ayeka said with a 
raised eyebrow. "Perhaps I will have to talk to her about that." She patted both 
floating logs and walked by. "Either way, I thank you for looking after my 
sister. Would you two please pilot Ryu-oh into Miss Washu's hanger?"

	"Yes, Ma'am!" the Guardians said in unison. They disappeared, and Ayeka's 
party continued forward.

	The Empress was slightly shocked at the scene playing out in front, or 
rather on the side, of the house. If Ayeka wasn't mistaken, there was a skeleton 
construction of a new addition to the house right next to Tenchi and Ryoko's 
room. Standing below it was Noboyuki and Washu. Noboyuki was in his standard 
shirt and tie work clothes, and Washu was wearing a pair of blue overalls and a 
yellow construction hat. Both of them were talking over a blueprint. 

	"We should have the drones reinforce the beams here, here, and here," said 
Noboyuki in a professional tone while pointing to several places on the 
blueprint.

	Washu was nodding. "I can do that. That will provide a good basis for the 
sound proof walls of the game room." Her holo laptop appeared, and she typed in 
several commands. Soon about a dozen human like robots were working on the 
addition.

	"I must say I am very impressed by this," commented Ayeka. "Is all this 
for the new babies?"

	Noboyuki seemed startled by Ayeka's sudden appearance, but Washu was not 
phased at all. "You're correct Ayeka. The top floor is the new nursery, and the 
downstairs room is a new game room." She leaned closer to Ayeka. "That last part 
was my idea."

	Suddenly Washu dolls A and B appeared on her shoulders. 

	"You're the greatest, Washu!" cried A.

	"You're always thinking of ways to have more fun, Washu!" added B.

	"You're the Recreational Director of the universe, Washu!" included A.

	"WASHU'S A GENIUS!" they both shouted before disappearing back into her 
hair. Ayeka's only response to the little scene was to smile and nod. 

	"Uh, Miss Ayeka," interjected Noboyuki. "Tenchi, Sasami, and Mayuka are at 
the supermarket, but Ryoko's inside in the living room."

	Ayeka nodded her head slightly to him. "Thank you, Mr. Masaki."

	Shoytal took a step forward and bowed his head. "Excuse me, Mr. Masaki, 
but where can I find Lord Yosho?"

	"Grandpa? He should be up at the shrine." He pointed up the hill. 

	"Thank you, sir," said Shoytal. The knight captain turned about face to 
his men. "Verka and Gerin start unloading Her Majesty's belongings. Mastir and 
Nunar will come with me to see Lord Yosho." He looked over at Ayeka. "I'm sorry 
to leave you all alone, but..."

	Ayeka raised her left hand. "It's fine, Shoytal. It pleases me that you 
feel comfortable enough here to leave me alone for a moment," she told him with 
a small smile. "Now go and talk swords with my brother." She pushed him lightly 
in the direction of the shrine.

	The Empress was about to ask about Ryoko's condition when Washu's voice 
came from inside the house. Ayeka looked from the genius in front of her, to the 
house, and back to Washu again. "How did you do that?"

	"That?" replied Washu with a head gesture towards the house. "That was the 
alarm I built to keep track of Ryoko. She's not supposed to use any of her 
powers during the pregnancy. Although, she does try to levitate or fly every now 
and then when she gets frustrated. That's about all she tries to do, but I still 
won't allow any sort of drain on her system." Ayeka was finding it hard not to 
burst out laughing at Washu's doctorly manner.

	The scientist's voice continued to sound from within the house. "Guess I'd 
better go and look in on her."

	"Oh, please let me," suggested Ayeka. "Since she cannot use her powers, I 
want to take full advantage of it."

	Washu folded her arms and gave Ayeka a wary look. "Okay, Ayeka. Just go 
easy on her. I don't want Ryoko to get too agitated."

	Ayeka straightened and crossed her heart. "I swear on Tsunami's tree to go 
easy on Ryoko." The Juraian ruler turned and walked to the front door with a 
child like grin on her face.

_____ 

	"Prohibited use of powers detected!" cried Washu's voice. "Prohibited use 
of powers detected!"

	"Oh just shut up already!" shouted Ryoko.

	The alarm finally stopped. Ryoko sighed and laid her head back down on the 
cushion. The pirate lay sprawled out on the couch in an oversized red and orange 
T-shirt and a pair of yellow sweat pants. She turned her head to the left and 
groaned unhappily at the empty pitcher of lemonade on the coffee table. 

	"I'm still thirsty," she grumbled. Tenchi's wife sighed again while 
looking at the source of her inability to easily get off the couch. Already over 
two months pregnant, Ryoko's stomach was protruding outward. 

	Normally at two months pregnant, a woman would be able to get up without 
too much difficulty. Ryoko, however, was carrying twins that seemed to drain 
almost all the energy she had. Tired as she was, getting up from being 
completely horizontal was not very easy to say the least. That, and Ryoko's 
pregnancy was a special case to begin with. 

	Ryoko reached up and poked the furry creature sitting on top of her 
stomach. "Ryo-ohki?" she asked nicely. "Can you go get me some more lemonade?"

	The cabbit opened her golden eyes and looked down at her mistress. "Meow 
meow."

	"What do you mean you can't?" snapped Ryoko. "Why not?"

	"Meow meeow meoow," replied Ryo-ohki.

	"So what if Sasami banned you from the kitchen!" Ryoko cried. "She's not 
here right now." Ryoko flashed her ship a winning smile. "Just do me a favor and 
get me some more lemonade. I promise not to tell her."

	Ryo-ohki sat back on her hind legs. "Meeoow meow meow meow!"

	"You're too paranoid," huffed Ryoko. "She'll never know you were in 
there." Ryo-ohki stuck her tongue out at Ryoko and curled back up into a ball. 
"Well, don't come begging me for carrots any time soon, you little traitor."

	"Now is that any way to speak to Ryo-ohki?" chimed a familiar voice from 
somewhere out of Ryoko's line of sight.

	"Ah crap," groaned Ryoko. "*You* of all people are not supposed to see me 
in this kind of situation." Despite the tone of her voice, the pirate smiled as 
Ayeka's upside-down visage appeared over her. "Hey there, princess." Ryo-ohki's 
head shot up at the mention of Ayeka. The cabbit meowed happily and jumped on to 
her right shoulder.

	Ayeka scratched Ryo-ohki under the chin while continuing to speak with 
Ryoko. "What do we have here?" asked the Empress with a wondrous look on her 
face. "It appears I have discovered the rarely seen Mount Saint Ryoko! And by 
the looks of it, she is slowly building up to a massive eruption." Ayeka started 
laughing uncontrollably at her own humor. 

	"You're a riot, Ayeka," sneered Ryoko. "If *Empress Airhead* can control 
herself for just a moment, do you think she can help the First Crown Princess of 
Jurai up?"

	Ayeka stopped laughing immediately. "You do love throwing that in my face, 
don't you?" She reached out and grabbed Ryoko's arms.  

	"Uuunnhhhh," moaned Ryoko once she was upright. "Definitely better." It 
took a moment, but Ryoko was soon able to get herself off of the couch. She 
picked up the empty lemonade pitcher and motioned with her head towards the 
kitchen. "Come on," she told Ayeka.

	Tenchi's wife slowly walked to the kitchen with Ayeka beside her. She 
placed the pitcher down on the island counter and started moving to the 
refrigerator. Ryo-ohki jumped off Ayeka's shoulder and padded over as well. Her 
eyes glassed over when she looked at the area of the carrot bin.

	"Forget it, cabbit," Ryoko told her ship. She moved the creature away with 
her foot and opened the door.  

	"No no," said Ayeka quickly. "Let me get that for you." She gave Ryoko a 
smirk. "After all, that's why I'm here. When one gets as fat as you are, tasks 
tend to become a little bit more difficult." The Empress moved Ryoko away from 
the refrigerator door and took out another pitcher of lemonade.	

	"Your kindness is overwhelming," countered Ryoko. "Face it, honey. You're 
just jealous that I got knocked up first."

	Ayeka took out a pair of glasses and poured lemonade into each. "I have no 
idea what you are talking about, Ryoko. I am the ruler of the Juraian Empire. I 
cannot just get *knocked up* unless I want to."

	Ryoko pulled up a stool and sat down. "So what's keeping you from doing 
it?" She rested her head on her right hand and grinned at her old rival. "You 
not in love with Mr. Military?"

	Ayeka stopped pouring and looked up. Ryoko could see a little bit of 
vulnerability in her dark pink eyes. "No, that is not it." She smiled slightly. 
"I think I do love him. He's brave, honorable, loyal, and he cares about me and 
not my crown."

	"Then what is it?" asked Ryoko, no longer intending to tease.

	Ayeka sipped her lemonade. "You see, if I were to become with child while 
still being unwed two things would happen. One, the child would be considered a 
bastard and unable to be an heir to the throne. The Royal line must be preserved 
at all costs. While you and Tenchi are within the direct line, my claim is still 
stronger. Two, my position as Empress and our family would be at risk. The noble 
houses and the Holy Council would not stand for such an incident."

	Ryoko frowned at Ayeka. "I see that once again you're letting all those 
*high and mighty* Juraian customs run your life."

	"I am not," snapped Ayeka while returning the frown. She started to tap 
her fingers together. "Well, not really. I guess I'm just using them as an 
excuse."

	Ryoko drained half her glass of lemonade. "For what?" she said after a 
small burp.

	"I...," she stammered. "I want to marry Shoytal," she admitted. "I know 
that I would be happy with him, but right now he could only be my Royal consort 
at the most."

	"Unless?" prompted Ryoko.

	Ayeka took a long drink of her lemonade. "I need something stronger than 
this," she muttered after returning the glass to the counter. "I cannot ask 
Shoytal to marry me, even though I am the Empress. If he so desires, Shoytal 
must ask the current head of my family for the right to court me in traditional, 
Juraian manner. Once he has proven himself in the eyes of my family, then he may 
have the right to court me. Even then I must wait a certain amount of time 
before I can accept his hand in marriage." Ayeka sighed and finished her 
lemonade. "It really is a long and drawn out process, but it does have its 
romantic aspects."

	"Oookay," murmured Ryoko. "Isn't there a way to bypass it all?"

	The purple haired ruler was shaking her head. "Not even for me. In fact, 
for me it is even more required to follow the traditions."

	Ryoko grabbed the pitcher and started to refill her glass. Suddenly a plan 
started to form in her mind. Her fangs peeked out from her upperlip in a 
mischievous grin. "Ryoko?" said Ayeka carefully. "Ryoko, what are you thinking? 
I know that smile, Ryoko. Tell me what you are thinking right now!" ordered the 
Empress.

	Ryoko wagged her finger at her friend. "My dear Ayeka," purred the pirate. 
"Trust me. When have I ever steered you wrong?" Ayeka moaned and thrust her face 
into her hands.

_____ 

	"I don't know, Ryoko," said Tenchi as he got into bed. "You know how I 
feel about meddling in other people's business. Especially when those other 
people are family." Wearing only a pair of red and white striped boxer shorts he 
threw back the comforter and laid down.

	"Awe come on, Tenchi," begged Ryoko. She too wore a pair large, white 
boxer shorts, but with an oversized purple T-shirt as well. "Don't you want 
Ayeka to be happy?"

	"Of course I do," he told her as he pulled the comforter over the lower 
half of his body. "I just don't see how ordering Shoytal to ask her to marry him 
will accomplish anything?"

	"We wouldn't exactly be ordering him," she tried to explain. "He would 
simply be doing us, the First Crown Prince and Princess, a favor." She gave him 
a broad smile. "Besides, they love each other anyway."

	Blushing only slightly, Tenchi folded his hands behind his head. "No, 
Ryoko. Even if they do care about each other, it isn't right. You can't just 
order people around like that." He turned his head to the left to look at her. 
"When did you start caring about your position as First Crown Princess?"

	"Oh, I dunno," she replied. "I was talking with Ayeka this afternoon, and 
I just remembered. It sounds cool anyway." She cleared her throat and 
straightened her back the best she could. "First Crown Princess of Jurai Ryoko 
Masaki." She started chuckling.

	Tenchi smiled, but shook his head all the same. "Instead of ordering 
Shoytal to marry Ayeka, why don't we just talk to him about this tradition Ayeka 
told you about?"

	Ryoko folded her arms and settled back against the mountain of pillows 
behind her. "I suppose that would work, too. I just wanted them to hurry up and 
do it," she said. She reached over and patted his bare chest. "You'll give him 
your blessing as head of the family, won't you?"

	"Uh," he started to say. "I can't do that, Ryoko."

	His wife snatched her hand away and scowled down at him. "And why not?"

	"Because I'm not the head of the house," he answered. "From what I know, 
with Azusa the way he is Grandpa is the head of our Juraian house. Shoytal will 
have to ask him." 

	"Well, won't you at least put in a good word?" she asked with puppy dog 
eyes.

	Tenchi leaned up, kissed her once and turned off the lamp on his night 
table. "Good night, my heart." He leaned over once more and kissed her stomach. 
"Good night in there," he whispered before rolling on to his right side.

	"Tenchi?" Ryoko nudged his back. "Tenchi," she said menacingly. "Answer 
me, Tenchi." 

	"No," was all he said.

	"No to what?" she asked. "What was that no for?"

	"No," he repeated.

	"Teeennnccchhhiii!"

	"No."

	"Come on!"

	"No."

	"I'll do that thing you like," she offered.

	"No."

	"Fine," he heard her huff. "Be that way." Tenchi felt her move around on 
her side of the bed for a few moments before settling down. Her lamp went off, 
and there was silence. 

	After a few seconds, Tenchi rolled on to his back and slowly slid his left 
hand to the center of the bed. Halfway there he found Ryoko's right hand. Their 
fingers slowly intertwined, and Tenchi squeezed her hand lovingly. Ryoko 
squeezed back, and the two of them drifted off to sleep.

_____ 

	Ayeka glanced up the stairs as she passed by them. Tenchi and Ryoko's 
voices, while not exactly clear, could be heard on the second floor. While it 
was obvious they were having some sort of argument, Ayeka was smiling. Knowing 
those two it would be resolved moments later. The Empress continued down the 
hall to the room she used to share with Sasami. The room had been converted to 
Mayuka's room two years ago, and Sasami had taken Ryoko's old room in the attic. 
Mayuka was staying in Sasami's room for the duration of Ayeka's visit.

	The Empress stopped at the open door to gaze inside. Mayuka's tiny bed had 
been removed and replaced with a large futon. The room's wall paper was covered 
in multi-colored cabbits, a trunk of toys was sitting under the window, a four 
drawer dresser and a standing closet sat against the wall opposite the futon, 
and a few pieces of Ayeka's luggage lined the wall opposite the window. Sitting 
in front of the futon in a lotus position was Shoytal.

	He was shirtless with only a pair of white pants on. His tree weapon was 
placed before him just inches away. Ayeka watched him silently for a moment. In 
this meditative state, the knight captain seemed totally at peace. His chest 
rose up and down evenly with every breath. Ayeka continued to watch him with 
mixed emotions. Ever since her conversation with Ryoko earlier that day, the 
Empress had been wondering about her feelings for Shoytal. How much did she care 
for him? If he ever did ask for her hand in marriage, would she truly accept?

	Yes, she did have strong feelings for him, but Ayeka suddenly found 
herself wondering just how deep they went? Memories of the past few years 
started replaying in her mind. She started at the beginning with the early 
battles during the Goddess War. Shoytal was always there watching over her and 
making sure she was safe. Of course he had been doing his job, but Ayeka knew 
now that it had been something more for him. He had told her so. 

	Her left hand slowly traced the white scar running down her left cheek. 
Ayeka remembered the day she had received the scar, and what Shoytal had almost 
done back then. She had been covered in demon gore, wounded, and scarred, yet he 
had still tried to kiss her. He hadn't cared about her imperfections then, and 
he still did not care now. Since that night Ayeka had started doing the one 
thing she had always been afraid to do with most people. She had started opening 
up to Shoytal. Even now she still did not know exactly why she had done this. 
Perhaps it had something to do with the constant time they spent with each 
other. Either way, Shoytal had not let her down. He had been the first man since 
Tenchi who she had been able to safely open up to and trust. 

	And all that time, Shoytal had accepted her as simply a woman. Yes she was 
his ruler, and he made that clear simply by watching over her everyday. But 
whenever she looked into his lavender eyes, Ayeka could tell that he was seeing 
Ayeka and not Empress Ayeka. He cared about the woman and not the royalty. He 
was loyal to her and not her crown. He loved Ayeka and Ayeka alone.

	Ayeka suddenly realized she was smiling. A year ago she had expressed her 
sadness that her family was moving on without her. They were living life without 
her around. Now, however, she had created a life of her own. A life with someone 
who loved her and...

	"Whom I love as well," she whispered.

	Shoytal moved ever so slightly at the sound of her voice. He slowly turned 
his head to look at her. "Why are you standing in the doorway?" he asked.

	Ayeka stifled a laugh and walked into the room, closing the door behind 
her. Shoytal may have been a trained knight, commander, and tactician, but he 
still sometimes seemed completely unaware of the things going on around him. 
Ayeka loved that little piece of innocence about him. She slowly walked over to 
stand in front of him. Then she hiked her kimono above her knees and straddled 
him.

	"Admiring the handsome knight," she said finally before kissing him. Ayeka 
was getting a rush from being so forward.

	The kiss ended, and Shoytal looked at her with wide eyes. "Ay...Ayeka! 
What has gotten into you? I've never seen you like this!"

	She smiled and tapped his chin. "It's this place. Whenever I come back 
here I feel so alive. Here I am truly allowed to cast aside my royal duties and 
just be myself."

	Shoytal reached up and carefully removed her circlet and placed it down 
next to them. "I already know who you are," he told her while brushing her 
purple locks over her ears. "You are my Empress," he said with a smile of his 
own. "And I am your loyal subject."

	Ayeka scowled at him playfully. "Be serious, Shoytal." She raised her 
hands and gestured around the room. "This house is where I first discovered what 
it was to live life without a leash. It was here that I found a place besides 
Jurai that I could call home."

	"So you really miss living in this house?" he asked her.

	"Yes, I do," she answered with a nod. "But not as much as I used to." She 
leaned her head forward and kissed the captain again. Their lips parted, and 
Ayeka placed her forehead against his. "Thank you for being my family, Shoytal."

	"Ayeka," he started. "You cannot just call me that." He paused as she 
moved back slightly. "At least...not yet."

	Her heart was beating very rapidly. "What are you talking about?"

	Shoytal took her wrists in his hands and held them together. "It is not 
proper for the Empress to be sleeping with a simple knight captain."

	Ayeka was starting to shake at his words. "Sh...Shoytal, please do not say 
such a thing."

	He gripped her wrists gently. "Let me finish." She nodded hesitantly for 
him to continue. "*You* do not deserve to have just a consort or lover. You 
deserve much more than that, Ayeka. That...," he smiled again, "that is why I 
have formally asked Lord Yosho for permission to court you."

	Ayeka's heart skipped a beat. "You...you did that?" He nodded. "You mean 
that you are going to follow the traditions of courting for...for me?" He nodded 
again. Tears started to trickle from the corners of her eyes. She had not 
realized until this moment just how much the tradition truly meant to her. "You 
do know that even if we marry, you cannot claim the title of Emperor?"

	"I don't care," he whispered. "I will always be content as a soldier as 
long as I have your love."

	"How long before brother will give you permission?" she asked while wiping 
away her tears. 

	"Lord Yosho says I must train with himself and Lord Tenchi until I reach 
the appropriate level mental skill," he explained. "I'm not exactly sure what he 
meant by that."

	"Oh, I would not worry so much about that," she told him. "Yosho of all 
people should not be so mindful of traditions. I am sure that he just wants to 
make you sweat for a few months."

	The realization of what was happening suddenly caught up to the Empress 
completely. She was going to be engaged! Then she was going to be married! Ayeka 
took Shoytal by complete surprise by cupping his face and kissing him fiercely. 
Shoytal was soon returning the kiss, and it was not much longer before her 
kimono was lying across the toy trunk.

_____ 

August 23rd
_____

	"Okay, does everybody know what to do?" asked Tenchi. He looked everyone 
in the kitchen over once to make sure they were listening.

	Ayeka wore a sleeveless pink blouse and a pair of tan slacks. Shoytal and 
the other knights, due to the fact they were still all on duty, were dressed in 
their Juraian light armor. Sasami was wearing jean shorts and a purple tank top. 
Ryo-ohki had taken the form of a six year old in a yellow dress. Kiyone had on a 
pair of white slacks and an orange shirt with a white vest over it. Mihoshi 
stood behind her wearing her usual pink tank top and tan slacks. Katsuhito wore 
his robes, and Noboyuki was still in his shirt and tie from work. The prince 
himeself wore a pair of slacks and a green collared shirt.

	Tenchi realized that he didn't see Washu anywhere. "Um, where's Washu?" he 
asked.

	"Oh, don't worry, Tenchi," came the genius' voice from behind. Tenchi 
turned around to see her coming into the kitchen. Washu was wearing a sleeveless 
lavender dress that stopped at her knees with a dark red vest. "I'm right here."

	Tenchi nodded and knelt down to Mayuka, who was standing next to him. The 
child wore a light blue dress with no sleeves and tiny cabbits all over it. 
"Okay, sweetie. Go upstairs and get Mommy."

	"K." She spun around and ran out of the kitchen. 

	Tenchi straightened and looked over the group again. "Now remember. No 
remarks about her age." He looked at Ayeka. "No comments about her weight." He 
looked at Mihoshi. "And no sexual innuendoes." He looked over at Washu. "Do we 
all understand?"

	"Yes, Tenchi," all three women and Gerin replied.

	"Tenchi?" came Ryoko's voice from the living room. "What do you want? I 
was trying to take a nap!"

	"I'll be right there!" he called back. "All right, let's go."

	"I'll take the cake," offered Mihoshi. 

	"NO!" shouted everyone at once.

	The blond GP jumped back. "Geez. You don't have to yell."

	Kiyone walked in front of her partner and took the five layered, chocolate 
cake Sasami had made earlier that day. "I'll take the cake. You will walk at 
least ten feet away from this cake at all times."

	Tenchi shook his head once and went into the living room. He spotted Ryoko 
immediately. His wife was waddling away from the stairs in his direction with 
Mayuka trailing right behind her. She wore only a very large pair of green 
overalls. She placed her hands on her protruding stomach and yawned. "This 
better be good, buddy. I was pretty damn comfortable up there."

	Smiling broadly, the prince walked over to her and kissed Ryoko on the 
left cheek. "You're planning something," she said with thinned eyes. "You can't 
hide it from me, Tenchi. Out with it."

	"Okay, but close your eyes first," he told her. He motioned rapidly for 
everyone to come in. Once the entire group was in the living room, Tenchi had 
Ryoko open her eyes. Ryoko's golden eyes went wide at what she saw.

	"Happy Birthday, Ryoko!" they all said together.

	Tenchi, Ryo-ohki, and Washu felt it before it even registered on Ryoko's 
face. First one golden eye started to twitch and then the other. Next her lips 
started trembling followed by short, quick intakes of breath. Finally, Ryoko 
took one long deep breath and...

	"Wwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" she wailed. Tears running down her 
face, Ryoko just started crying uncontrollably.

	Tenchi quickly embraced her and started rubbing her back. "Ryoko?" he said 
in a soothing voice. "What's wrong?"

	"I'm already fat!" she cried. "Now I'm fat *and* old! Waaahhhhhh!!!!" She 
threw her head back and continued to cry.

	Tenchi turned Ryoko away from the group while waving them to go back into 
the kitchen. She was almost controlled to the point of not sobbing, when the 
front door suddenly opened. All heads snapped around to see Ukarit, in a gray 
business suit, carrying an armload of presents. 

	"Did I miss the party?" asked the gangster with a green toothed grin.

	Ryoko burst into tears all over again. 

	Everyone leveled icy glares at Ukarit. "What?" he said innocently.

_____ 

	It was sometime later that evening. The entire first floor of the house 
was filled with family and friends. Some were playing games, while others were 
just eating or watching TV. Tenchi and Ryoko, however, were sitting out on the 
back porch. Ryoko was leaning on Tenchi's left shoulder and not feeling very 
good about herself.

	"I can't believe I broke down like that," she said. "I just couldn't keep 
it all in."

	"Ah, it's okay, Ryoko," Tenchi told her. "You're going through a lot right 
now. I shouldn't have surprised you like that. I think it was just too much to 
handle all at once." He kissed her head. "I'm sorry."

	"You don't have to apologize, Tenchi," she told him. "You can't be 
responsible for my mood swings. Although," she started to say with a smile while 
tapping the side of his head, "that little link should give you enough warning."

	Tenchi pulled her closer. "Hey! What about it not being my fault?"

	Ryoko stuck her tongue out and tweaked his nose. "Mood swing. Deal with 
it." And he did deal with it by leaning forward and kissing her. Suddenly, 
Tenchi pulled away and looked around. "What is it?" asked Ryoko. "Is something 
wrong?"

	His brown eyes scanned the back yard for a minute, and then he looked over 
to the house. As he focused on the third floor, a thin smile spread across 
Tenchi's face. "Somebody is playing around with Tenchi-ken."

	"Who would..." Ryoko eyes widened as her thinking caught up to his. "No! 
She knows better than that!"

	Tenchi looked away from the house and back to her. "Yes, she does. I don't 
think this is totally about playing with the sword." He carefully rose to his 
feet. "You go back inside and enjoy the party. I'll take this one."

	Ryoko reached out, and Tenchi helped her to her feet. "You sure? You 
haven't had to be the heavy for a while. She just might push you over." Tenchi 
kissed her once more before going back inside and up the stairs.

	"Ah, hell," sighed Ryoko. The pirate stroked her stomach. "I love the two 
of you to death," she told the twins inside of her, "but between what Zero did 
to me about seven years ago and you two I don't know how much longer I can go on 
with these rampant emotions?" Ryoko continued to rub her stomach as she 
reentered the house to take part in her party.

_____ 

	Mayuka carefully opened the drawer of her father's night table and removed 
the prize. Being a direct descendent of the Royal family, Tenchi-ken did not 
mind being handled by the now five year old girl. The magical weapon gleamed 
even in the dim light of her parents' bedroom. Mayuka had watched her father use 
the weapon a few times during his training at the shrine, so she knew exactly 
what it could do. Well, she knew that it could make a pretty blue blade. The 
child's yet untapped Jurai power was just starting to react with the sword, when 
the wooden hilt suddenly flew from her tiny hands.

	"Aaaahhhh!" she cried out. Shock caused Mayuka to jump back, lose her 
balance, and land on her rear. "Owe," she groaned. "I hurt my tushy."

	"You're lucky that's all that you hurt, young lady," came one of two 
voices Mayuka didn't really want to hear at this particular moment.

	She slowly looked up to see her father standing in the doorway. "Hi, 
Daddy!" she said quickly and with a big smile. "I was just..."

	"Getting Daddy's sword for him?" he finished. The look in his eyes and 
tone of his voice instantly told her that there was no way out of this one. 
Tenchi walked over, sat down on the bed, and patted the empty space to his 
right. Mayuka sighed and climbed on to the bed.

	Holding Tenchi-ken in his left hand, Tenchi put his right arm around her 
shoulders. "Now, do you want to tell me what you were really doing?"

	Mayuka stared down at her feet. "I wanted to see the sword and make the 
blue light with it."

	"Uh huh," she heard him say. "What have I told you about Tenchi-ken?"

	"That it's not one of my toys," she answered. "That it can hurt me if I'm 
not careful."

	"That's right," he said. "It's like going into Grandma Washu's lab without 
supervision. It's not a smart thing to do." They both laughed at that remark. 
"But that was not the only reason you were up here, was it?" 

	Mayuka's only response was to start tapping her heels together. "Mayuka, 
look at me." She lifted her head to look at her father. "You're feeling strange 
about the babies, aren't you?"

	The little girl sniffed lightly. "Yeah."

	"You feel like you're being ignored, don't you?" she nodded again. Mayuka 
felt Tenchi lift her up and sit her down on his lap. "You knew that either your 
mother or myself would find you up here?" 

	She nodded again. "Are you mad at me, Daddy?" she asked sadly.

	Tenchi hugged her and gave her a kiss on the head. "No, I'm not, sweetie. 
It's my fault that you felt ignored. With all the focus on Mommy's birthday and 
the babies, I guess you kind of fell between the cracks today. Now Mommy is 
going to need a lot of help once the babies are born, but I promise that I will 
not forget you. After all, you are going to be their big sister," he told her in 
a cheerful tone.

	Mayuka liked the sound of that. "What's that?" she asked.

	"Being a big sister means that you are going to have to help take care of 
the babies," he explained. "You're going to have to look after them and help me 
and Mommy make sure that they stay safe and healthy. They are going to be small 
for a long time, and they will both need you to help them out." Tenchi smiled 
and ruffled her hair. "Now, can you do this for me?"

	Mayuka smiled back and felt a strange thrill inside. Her daddy had just 
asked her to help him! To Mayuka, her parents were the two strongest people in 
the world, and for Tenchi to ask her for help made her feel so happy. "I'm gonna 
be the bestest big sister ever, Daddy."

	"That's my girl," he said with a long hug. Mayuka's joy was suddenly 
interrupted when he lifted Tenchi-ken in front of her eyes. "We still have this 
to deal with."

	Tenchi lifted Mayuka off of his lap and placed her face to face with him. 
"If I don't give you some sort of punishment for playing with my sword, *I* will 
get in trouble with Mommy. Therefore, here is what we are going to do." He stood 
up and placed the weapon back in the night table draw. "Since you want to play 
with Tenchi-ken so much, you are going to have to earn the privilege to use it." 

	Mayuka watched her father close the draw and pick her up. Tenchi rested 
her on his hip and continued speaking. "When I was about your age, your great 
grandpa started training me at the Shrine. So, starting next week you will begin 
training with Great Grandpa and me. And one day, if you work really hard, maybe 
you will get to hold Tenchi-ken again."

	Mayuka was finding it hard not to start hugging Tenchi and kissing him all 
over his face. To her, this did not sound like a punishment. All this meant was 
that she would get to spend more time with her daddy and learn how to be strong 
like him. Mayuka plastered on a fake frown and lowered her head. "Okay, Daddy."

	Tenchi stopped at the top of the stairs and looked her in the eyes for a 
second. Under his serious gaze, Mayuka couldn't contain her laughter. The little 
girl laughed happily and kissed him on the cheek. Tenchi laughed with her as 
they walked down the stairs back to the birthday party.

_____ 

	"Hey, Kiyone!" bellowed Ukarit. "Hurry up with those drinks!"

	"Do I look like a waitress?" she shouted back from the kitchen. She 
grabbed several glasses of liquid and placed them on a tray. "I'll give you your 
drink you big, pink idiot," she muttered. "Right up your ass."

	The teal haired GP picked up the tray and started backing out, therefore, 
she did not see the other body walking into the kitchen. Kiyone cried out as she 
was jolted forward. The tray of drinks went flying from her hands and crashed on  
the floor. "Dammit, Mihoshi!" snarled Kiyone. She started turning around to 
loose the full power of her anger on her partner. "Why do you always..."

	Kiyone cut her rant short when she came face to face with Mastir. The 
blond haired knight smoothed his moustache and smiled. "M...Mastir!" she 
stuttered. "I...I thought you were Mihoshi."

	"I'm terribly sorry, Detective Makibi," he apologized. "I should have made 
a little noise while entering the room. My training has caused me to become 
rather silent when I move."

	"Th...that's fine," she replied. Kiyone mentally slapped herself back into 
focus. "You still should have watched where you were going," she snapped 
quickly. "Stupid Juraian knights," she mumbled while turning around to clean up 
the mess. 

	She bent over and started placing the broken pieces of glass on the tray. 
"You have a nice piece, Detective Makibi," commented Mastir.

	Kiyone's face turned bright red as she shot up. The GP spun around and 
thrust her finger in his face. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

	Mastir cleared his throat and started to clean up the mess on the floor. 
"I was merely commenting on the firearm you have holstered on the back of your 
pants. Is that a standard Galaxy Police issue blaster?"

	Kiyone's right hand flew to her gun and drew it. "You...you meant my gun! 
I th...thought you meant..." She took a quick breath and held the weapon up. 
"No, I've made a few modifications to it. The power amplifier can fire a blast 
twice as strong as standard blaster."

	The Juraian knight finished putting all the broken glass on the tray and 
placed it on the counter. He then proceeded to clean up the spilled liquids with 
a rag. "Impressive, but still not as strong as a standard Juraian blaster or 
tree weapon." He mopped up the last drop and tossed the rag into the sink. "The 
Galaxy Police do try hard, though."

	Anger was literally oozing off of Kiyone. "I'll have you know, Mister 
Knight, that Galaxy Police weapons and training methods are just as good as the 
Juraians'!"

	Mastir smiled again and headed for the living room. "You just keep telling 
yourself that, Detective. And do not worry, I will tell Lord Tenchi that the 
kitchen needs to be vacuumed and mopped once in order to get all the glass."

	Kiyone watched him casually leave the room. She looked around the kitchen 
once, and when there was no obvious target for her anger the GP kicked the wall 
several times while cursing like Ryoko.

_____ 

November 3rd
_____ 

	Focus. That was the one word running through Tenchi's mind. He gripped a 
deactivated Tenchi-ken in his right hand tightly while running through the snow 
dusted forest around the Masaki Shrine. The cold air meant nothing to him. His 
training clothes were sufficient enough to block the chill. The only things he 
needed to worry about were his pursuers. The prince stretched out with his 
senses and located Verka and Nunar trailing him by twenty yards. The two knights 
were trying to use their powers to shield themselves, but Tenchi easily felt 
them. 

	Tenchi darted between the bare trees barely disturbing the thin layer of 
snow on the ground. He felt Verka and Nunar separate in an attempt to surround 
him. Tenchi smiled and used Tenchi-ken's force field to levitate up into the 
trees. The prince lightly hopped from limb to limb in the direction of the 
Shrine. He briefly noted a surge of power directly to the east. 

	"Shoytal's engaged Gerin and Mastir," he muttered. "I'd better hurry up 
and get to the Shrine before he does."

	This exorcise was a test specifically for Tenchi and Shoytal. The two men 
had been facing different combinations of the other four knights for the past 
several weeks. Once a month they would duel with each other, but that was only 
so Katsuhito could gauge their progress. Tenchi, himself, was very impressed 
with how much Shoytal's skills had improved over the past few months. The knight 
captain had already been a first class warrior for many years. But under the 
trained eyes of Katsuhito, he had jumped ahead in ability with leaps and bounds. 
Tenchi had been finding it hard to handle him in their last couple of 
engagements. Today's test was designed for both men to battle a random 
combination of foes, defeat them, and reach the Shrine so that they could face 
each other.

	Tenchi stopped short as a pair of energy blasts shot up at him from the 
ground. Tenchi stepped back and dropped down from the limb. As he plummeted 
towards the earth, Tenchi-ken's blue blade flashed to life. He landed easily 
enough and dashed straight ahead towards the Shrine. Using his peripheral 
vision, Tenchi saw the two knights running along both his sides. Nunar attacked 
first. Tenchi stopped on a dime and somehow side stepped the short knight's 
green bladed axe. He countered with a quick kick to the back of Nunar's right 
knee, sending the knight tumbling forward. 

	Verka jumped over his partner and lunged for Tenchi. Tenchi knew that 
unless he used his Light Hawk Wings, which was against the rules of engagement 
for the test, Verka was much stronger. Tenchi activated his sword's force field 
just seconds before Verka's purple claws reached him. He used the large knight's 
momentum to push him down. Verka cried out as Tenchi's feet passed through the 
force field, kicked him in the gut, and sent him flying backwards. 

	"Always use your opponents against themselves," Tenchi told his foes. "One 
of Grandpa's first lessons for combat." The two knights were back on their feet 
again and circling the prince.

	He leveled his blue blade and waited for them to strike. Both men attacked 
at the same time. Nunar's speed enabled him to reach Tenchi first and slash at 
his mid-section. Tenchi merely made a small thrust, hooked his blade under one 
of Nunar's, and spun to his right. Nunar did not let go of his weapon, thus he 
was propelled around along with Tenchi right into Verka's attack. Tenchi 
deactivated his blade, and Nunar's axe locked with Verka's left claw. Before 
Verka could slash at Tenchi with his other claw, the prince brought the his 
sword hilt right into the large knight's face. Verka grunted and fell back 
pulling Nunar's axe with him.

	Tenchi reversed the direction of Tenchi-ken and placed the front of the 
weapon up against Nunar's forehead. "Do you yield?" he asked seriously.

	"I yield," replied Nunar in his whispering voice. 

	The prince nodded and started for the Shrine again. "Tell Verka I'm sorry 
when he comes to," he called back over his shoulder. 

	Tenchi resumed his course to the Shrine as though the previous battle had 
not even occurred. Three minutes later he burst from the woods into the 
courtyard of the Shrine. Tenchi-ken came alive as he continued running at full 
speed across the yard. Virtually one second later Shoytal emerged from the 
opposite end of the yard with both blades of his sword ignited. The white cape 
of the captain's armor fluttered behind him as he ran right for Tenchi. The 
prince obliged his opponent by not altering his course, either.

	The two men passed each other, and a shower of blue sparks filled the air. 
They stopped, spun around, and lunged. Tenchi-ken speared right for Shoytal's 
left thigh. The captain twirled his sword counter clockwise to deflect the 
attack. He pinned Tenchi-ken's blade to the ground and slashed at Tenchi's head. 
Tenchi responded by deactivating his weapon and flipping forward over the lower 
of Shoytal's two blades. Shoytal's counter attack was to bring the lower blade 
up towards Tenchi's undefended back. 

	With a thought, Tenchi sent a sliver of force field out to tangle up 
Shoytal's weapon. The attacking blade was covered by a transparent blue tendril 
and flung aside. The knight captain mimicked his opponent's earlier tactic by 
deactivating the compromised blade. He reset himself to fight with a single 
bladed sword and charged. Tenchi reactivated Tenchi-ken's blade ato parry the 
first attack. Both men proceeded to trade a seemingly endless series of slashes, 
thrusts, and parries.

	The two combatants crossed their blades momentarily and pushed away. They 
regained their balances instantly to charge again. Both men thrust for the 
other's chest, and the blue blades parried each other in the process. Tenchi and 
Shoytal applied pressure to their parries causing them to move in a clockwise 
circle. Each blade completed a circle around the other and was less than and 
inch apart. Both men lunged at the same time. When they stopped, the two of them 
were only several feet apart.

	Tenchi held his stance for a moment before deactivating Tenchi-ken and 
standing up straight. Shoytal did the same, and they both turned face to face. 
The combatants mirrored each other with the small red lines under their left 
eyes. 

	"That will be enough, boys," said Katsuhito as he walked towards them from 
the Shrine entrance wearing his usual priest's robes. Mayuka was walking beside 
him wearing a small, black training gi of her own. The old man stopped in front 
of his students and looked them over carefully. "The winner of this contest was 
to be decided by whomever drew first blood. Since you both struck at the same 
time, I declare this a draw for now." He folded his arms inside his sleeves and 
walked back to the Shrine. "We are finished for today. Go home before your women 
begin calling up here to ask how much longer the two of you will be." Tenchi and 
Shoytal watched the old man until the Shrine door closed behind him.

	Tenchi tucked his sword into his belt and touched the small cut under his 
eye. "You know, Shoytal. Ryoko and Ayeka are going to make a big deal when they 
see this blood."

	"You are probably right, Tenchi," agreed the captain. He tucked his own 
sword in his belt and started for the stairs. "Come. We should be getting back."

	Tenchi picked up Mayuka. "What about the others?"

	"Lord Yosho said we were finished for today," he reminded Tenchi. "I do 
not think the other four will be done for some time yet."

	The prince shrugged and looked at his daughter. "Seems logical." He 
quickly fell into pace beside him. "Mayuka, you aren't upset about having to 
miss your Saturday morning cartoons?"

	"No way, Daddy," answered the child. "Watching the you and Mr. Shoytal 
fight was much cooler."

	"That's good," he said. "Just remember, sweetie, that fighting is not 
really something *cool*. It is something that Shoytal, Mommy, your Aunt Ayeka, 
myself, and others do as a last resort to solve problems." He paused for a 
second. "Well, maybe not Mommy."

	"But," the prince continued, "unnecessary fighting can lead to lots of bad 
things." He looked her in the eyes. "Do you understand all that?"

	She nodded. "Uh huh. We don't fight unless we have to."

	Tenchi kissed her on the forehead. "That's my little jewel."

	A short time later the three of them reached the house and entered through 
the front door. Tenchi closed the door and put Mayuka down. The little girl 
kicked off her sandals and ran into the living room. Tenchi and Shoytal removed 
their own footwear and followed. They found the room fairly filled with people. 
Six women and Ukarit were scattered around the room. Mihoshi and Kiyone, who had 
been too drunk the night before to drive home, were decked out in borrowed 
sweats watching TV. Mayuka had run over to the dining room table and was 
currently talking with Sasami, who was serving her some breakfast. Sasami was in 
a pair of blue sweat pants and a long sleeved white turtleneck. 

	Ryoko and Ayeka were also at the dining table, but the two women were 
sifting through an open trunk. Ryoko was wearing a yellow turtleneck with her 
overalls, and Ayeka was in a pink and white kimono with a purple waist bow. 
Ukarit, in the gray business suit he liked to wear when on Earth, was standing 
over them. He looked away from the two women at Tenchi and Shoytal.

	"Hey, Tenchi. Cap'n. How's it going?"

	Tenchi walked over and shook his friend's hand. "Good morning, Ukarit. 
What are you doing here?"

	The pink man gestured to the trunk. "Just dropping off your cut of last 
months revenue." Tenchi could see, now, that the trunk was filled with nothing 
but fine jewelry. Ryoko and Ayeka were taking turns pulling out various items 
and trying them on. 

	"Well, why don't you stay a while and have something to eat?" suggested 
Tenchi.

	"Since I'm invited, how can I say no?," replied Ukarit with a broad, green 
toothed smile.

	Tenchi leaned down and kissed Ryoko on the cheek as he joined them at the 
table. She patted him absently on the leg while continuing to take the pieces of 
jewelry she liked the most. Shoytal gently touched Ayeka on the shoulder, but 
the Empress responded in a similar way as Ryoko. Sasami greeted them all before 
carrying away several dirty dishes.

	"I'll be back with some food for you guys in a second," she told them. 
"Just let me put these in the dishwasher."

	"Thanks, Sasami," answered Tenchi. Once she was gone, he turned to talk to 
Ukarit. "Did you bring the guys with you?"

	"Yeah," said the gangster as he poured himself some tea. "They're in the 
hanger with Red running some diagnostic scans on the Loaded Dice."

	Sasami soon returned with some food. Ryoko and Ayeka also finished 
examining the trunk's contents and rejoined the group at the table. Ryoko helped 
herself to some of Tenchi's food, which eventually lead to Tenchi simply giving 
it all to her. Ayeka was fussing over Shoytal's eye, but he somehow managed to 
continue eating. 

	"Kiyone," complained Mihoshi. "Do we have to watch this? I hate war 
movies."

	"I let you watch your cartoons earlier, so now it's my turn to choose the 
program," explained Kiyone. "Besides, I like to watch the strategies."

	The group at the table turned to see what was on the TV screen. It 
displayed two opposing armies with one trying to spearhead its way into the main 
ranks of its enemy.

	"I don't get that," remarked Tenchi. "What purpose does that serve?"

	"It is meant to shatter the enemy's ranks and scatter their troops while 
yours remain in good, tight formation," replied Shoytal. "It has been known to 
work, therefore, it is a viable strategy."

	"I still think it's a stupid thing to do," said Tenchi. He pointed at the 
screen. "Look, the spearheading force was stopped dead, and now it's 
surrounded."

	"But it is still a good strategy if used correctly," insisted Shoytal.

	"I don't think so," countered Tenchi.

	The knight captain leveled Tenchi with a serious gaze. "I mean no offense 
by this, Tenchi, but I do not believe you know what you are talking about. You 
may be an extremely skilled warrior, but it takes much more than that to be a 
good strategist. As captain of a tree ship, I have had enough experience to know 
about such things."

	"You know he is correct, Tenchi," added Ayeka. "As having lead several 
major campaigns myself, I can attest to the fact that planning a good strategy 
is very difficult."

	Ryoko huffed. "Ah, stow it, princess. You're just siding with your 
boyfriend against my Tenchi." The pirate put her arms around her husband's neck. 
"Tenchi could make up a good strategy any time any where."

	Ayeka took a hold of Shoytal's right arm. "Oh really? Shoytal could foil 
any plan he could come up with!" She leaned forward slightly. "Oh, no offense, 
Tenchi."

	"None tak...," he started to say when Ryoko interrupted him.

	"Ha!" she cried. "Wanna bet?"

	"Excuse me," interjected Ukarit. "I believe we are now in an area of my 
expertise."

	Ryoko and Ayeka turned their attention to the gangster momentarily. "Stay 
out of this!" they both shouted. Ukarit gave them a shaky smile and moved a 
little aways from the table.

	The space pirate released Tenchi and stared down the Juraian empress. "I 
bet Tenchi can beat anything Shoytal can come up with!"

	Ayeka's dark pink eyes thinned. "Fine. I'll take that bet and say that 
Shoytal can do the same to Tenchi!"

	"But, Ryoko...," Tenchi tried to say.

	"Ayeka, I'm not so sure about this...," added Shoytal.

	Ryoko and Ayeka shook hands. "Now all we need is a battle field," Ryoko 
said to no one in particular.

	All heads looked in the direction of the hall at the sound of a door 
opening and closing. Washu walked into the living room wearing her green lab 
dress. "I believe it is time for *my* area of expertise, so to speak. Tomorrow 
two teams, which I have already generated from all those in the house right now, 
will compete in a mock battle for tactical supremacy."

	"What kind of battle, Washu?" questioned Tenchi.

	A very disturbing smile spread across the genius' face. "Why a little game 
called Capture the Flag, Tenchi, except with my own set of rules." Washu threw 
her head back and started laughing maniacally.

	Ryoko looked down at her stomach and sighed. "And that's your grandma. The 
greatest scientific madwoman in the entire universe."	

_____ 

November 4th
_____ 

	The following morning almost everyone was gathered deep inside Washu's 
lab. Tenchi, Ryoko, Ukarit, Somar, the Twins, and Kiyone were all wearing green 
army fatigues. Ayeka, Shoytal, Verka, Gerin, Mastir, Nunar, and Mihoshi were all 
wearing tan army fatigues. 

	"Where is Sasami?" asked Ayeka. 

	"Oh, she's finishing some homework," answered Tenchi. "It's geometry so 
Dad's helping her out, and Mayuka's with Grandpa." Ayeka nodded and pulled on a 
long tan trench coat. Tenchi noted that she looked something like she did during 
the War.

	"Okay, kiddies. Here's the situation," announced Washu. The red headed 
genius walked out of the shadows wearing a buttoned up white lab coat. "We have 
Tenchi's team versus Shoytal's team." Her laptop appeared, and she typed in a 
few commands.

	The world shimmered for one second, and the entire group was suddenly 
standing in the middle of a dense jungle. Leafy green trees with vines dangling 
down stretched up to a clear, blue sky. Plants with giant leaves dotted the 
surface, and animal noises could be heard all around.

	 "This here is a simulation of several rain forests here on Earth combined 
into one," explained Washu. A holographic map appeared in the air. The map was 
overlaid by a grid with one blue half and one red half. "The blue region belongs 
to Tenchi's team, and the red is Shoytal's. Each of you has a base deep inside 
said regions. These bases contain your team's flag and arsenals." She raised her 
right hand and a plasma rifle appeared in it. "The weapons I have provided look 
real, but in fact these weapons only project harmless light rays. While the rays 
do no actual damage, the sensors monitoring the game will tell me when you have 
been 'mortally wounded.' After that you will be teleported away from the jungle 
until the game is concluded. The first team to break into the opposing team's 
base, steal the flag, and return with it to their own base wins."

	She gave them all an appraising glance. "All right then. Game on!" She 
snapped her fingers and everyone disappeared.

_____ 

	"Okay, boss. What's our plan?" asked Gerin. 

	Shoytal and his team were gathered inside the shack that was Red Base. The 
shack had only a table, a rack of weapons, and a stationary, double barreled 
cannon on the roof. Shoytal laid out a map on the table. Everyone gathered 
around to listen to him. 

	"After careful consideration, we can determine that Blue Base is somewhere 
here in grid J-15. Now, after training with Tenchi for the past several months I 
believe I can predict what his actions will be. Whenever he fights, Tenchi 
initially plays defense so that he can learn his opponent's strategy. Once he 
has a fair idea, he then tries to take advantage of an enemy's weakness while 
counter attacking."

	Ayeka checked over a pistol in her hands. "So what will we do?"

	Shoytal smiled. "We are going to keep things simple. Tenchi will sit back 
and wait for us to attack. Once we have begun attacking, I believe he will try 
and break up our plan. Then if we are neutralized, Tenchi's team will then have 
no problem taking our base."

	"I can see your reasoning, Captain," commented Mastir. "But what is our 
plan of attack then?"

	"Simple," answered the knight captain. "We will not be attacking with a 
plan."

_____ 

	"Okay, kid. What crazy thing are you going to have us do?" asked Ukarit. 

	"Well, it's not really that crazy," admitted Tenchi. The blue team was 
gathered in a shack similar to Red Base. "Ryoko, because of her current 
condition, will stay here and man the roof cannon. The rest of us are going to 
fan out and take up defensive positions here in grid I-15. Then we just sit back 
and wait for Shoytal to attack."

	"That's a good defensive plan, Tenchi, but how can we win doing that?" 
asked Kiyone. The GP was just finishing stuffing all her teal hair under a dark 
green cap.

	"That's part of our secret weapon," he said with an unusually devious 
smile. Tenchi reached into his jacket and pulled out Ryo-ohki. The cabbit smiled 
and meowed. Tenchi placed her on the table with a couple of carrots. "Ryo-ohki 
is going to be our early warning system. She is going to be patrolling grids I 
and J-14 waiting for Red Team to show up. When she sees them coming, she'll send 
the images to Ryoko, who will then send them to me. Whatever Shoytal has planned 
we will be ready to counter it long before he gets here. Once we have defeated 
all of Red Team, we can take their base at our leasure."

	"This plan is sound," Somar commented. 

	"Of course it is," agreed Ryoko. She waddled over and gave Tenchi a kiss 
on the cheek. "My Tenchi came up with it."

	Tenchi picked up a fake energy sword and a rifle. "All right, Blue Team. 
Let's go."

_____ 

	Washu sat back in her hover chair with a bag of popcorn while watching 
several view screens at once. Shoytal's team was advancing on grid J-15 with no 
real obvious plan. Tenchi's team was hiding in J-14 waiting for Ryo-ohki to 
report. The fun was about to begin as Red Team entered I-14. The genius felt 
Ryo-ohki report to Ryoko who in turn told Tenchi. Blue Team then proceeded to 
take up cross firing positions around the projected path of Red Team.

	Red Team was only moments away from Tenchi's ambush, when it suddenly 
scattered in all directions. Washu watched with awe as each member of Red Team 
seemed to be acting individually. "Impressive, Shoytal," she told the screen. 
"You knew that Tenchi would wait and attempt to break up any plan your team came 
up with. So to counter that you simply went in with no team plan, but instead 
gave everyone instructions to attack however they wanted to."

	The genius felt Ryoko relaying the change of tactics to Tenchi. "Okay, 
Tenchi. Let's see how you handle this one."

_____ 

	"Blue Team, this is Blue Leader," Tenchi said into his communicator. 
"According to what Ryoko can get from Ryo-ohki, Red Team has broken up into 
several smaller units. Said smaller units seem to be acting individually of each 
other. Abort defensive postures. Repeat, abort and wait for further 
instructions."

	Tenchi emerged from his hiding spot and scanned the area. Using his Jurai 
power Tenchi could easily pick out the members of Red Team and where they all 
were. Verka, Gerin, and Nunar were heading east. Ukarit and his boys were 
closest. 

	The prince clicked on his communicator again. "Ukarit! Head east and 
intercept to intercept an enemy unit."

	"Gotcha, kid."

	Next Tenchi felt Mastir heading southwest. "Kiyone, I've got Mastir 
running parallel to you."

	"Don't worry, Tenchi. He's as good as down."

	Tenchi ran a quick mental check on who was left. There was no sign of 
Mihoshi, which meant she was guarding Red Base. That left Shoytal and Ayeka who 
were heading right in his direction. Tenchi powered up his rifle and started 
moving. It was not long before he spotted Shoytal darting between trees. The 
knight captain dodged left, right, left again. 

	"Oh crap!" exclaimed Tenchi just as he spotted Ayeka taking aim at him 
from behind Shoytal. 

	The Empress opened fire with a rifle. Red beams rained all around Tenchi 
forcing him to hug the earth. He ditched his rifle, drew a blaster, and fired 
several shots in Ayeka's direction. There was a brief sound of rustling leaves 
that Tenchi figured was Shoytal passing his position. The prince fired off a few 
more blind shots in Ayeka's direction and vaulted to his feet. There was another 
series of red blasts, but Tenchi was already moving too fast for Ayeka to hit 
him.

	"Ryoko!" he called out over their link. "Shoytal got past me, so be 
prepared for him. I'm not too far behind him and will be there soon."

	"K, Tenchi," she answered.

	Tenchi holstered his blaster and drew his energy sword without pause. 
"Feels like yesterday's exorcise all over again," he muttered while running 
through the heavy vegetation.

_____ 

	Kiyone could see him running parallel to her and knew that the Mastir 
could probably see her, too. The GP dropped her rifle, drew two blasters, and 
opened fire. Blue beams lanced out at the running Mastir. The knight stopped 
short and started scaling up the nearest tree. Kiyone cursed, but continued 
firing. Eventually he was too high up for her to see clearly.

	"Damn!" she growled. A small breeze caressed her neck. Kiyone reacted 
instantly and threw back her right elbow. Mastir blocked it easily and backed 
off.

	Kiyone spun around completely and started firing again. Mastir ducked or 
dodged each shot with apparent ease. A pair of wooden knives flew from his 
jacket sleeves and connected with both of her hands. The GP cried out and 
dropped the two guns. Mastir lunged at Kiyone without pause. She reacted 
instantly by blocking both of his punches and using his body to roll away. 
Kiyone could not help but notice a small smile on Mastir's face.

	"I'll give you something to smile about!" she threatened just before 
attacking. 

	Mastir blocked her own punching combination and side stepped her knee 
thrust. The blond knight took a step back to perform a spin kick. Kiyone ducked 
under the kick and drove her right shoulder into his exposed back. Both of them 
tumbled off balance towards a tree. Mastir threw his hands out to keep his face 
from hitting the wooden pillar. His hands hit the tree first, stopping the two 
of them from a painful collision. 

	Next he grabbed Kiyone's right arm while spinning right. She felt him 
trying to pin her arm and decided to spin with him. The GP was somehow able to 
reverse the arm hold in mid-spin. Now that she was in control, Kiyone pinned 
Mastir's right arm behind his back and forced the knight to the ground. 

	"You have the right to remain silent, buddy," announced Kiyone. She drove 
her left knee into his back to emphasize the point. "You are now my prisoner."

	Mastir turned his head to the right in order to speak. "It seems you have 
bested me, Detective Makibi. I guess that I am now subject to your every whim 
and desire."

	Now if one were to question Kiyone about what she did next, she would be 
at a loss to explain her actions. Maybe it was because of the heat of the 
jungle, the blood pounding in her ears, or the adrenaline rushing through her 
body. Whether it was one, all, or neither of those things Kiyone simply acted. 
In one smooth motion she released Mastir's arm, rolled him over on his back, and 
straddled him. Half a second later she was kissing him full on the lips. 

	Kiyone pulled away from the kiss, and Mastir started to say something. She 
quickly placed her left hand over his mouth. "Just shut up," she said between 
heavy breaths. Kiyone pulled off her cap with her right hand allowing her teal 
locks to fall around her face. The teal haired beauty tossed her hat away and 
resumed kissing Mastir intensely.

_____ 

	"I see him!" shouted Ryoko telepathically.

	"Lay down fire to slow him down, Ryoko," ordered Tenchi. "I'm only ten 
seconds behind him. And try not to hit me."

	"Oh ye have too little faith," she replied. 

	Tenchi could hear the roof cannon on the shack open fire up ahead. He 
ignited his blue bladed energy sword. Exactly ten seconds later the prince 
cleared a cluster of plants to see Shoytal dodging large blue blasts coming from 
Ryoko's weapon. 

	"Ryoko, hold your fire!" Tenchi shouted over the link. "I've got him."

	The blasts ended, and Shoytal made a run for the shack. "Shoytal!" shouted 
Tenchi. 

	The knight stopped short. He turned around and waited until Tenchi reached 
his position. Shoytal dropped his rifle. "Tenchi," he greeted with a slight nod.

	Tenchi raised his sword. Shoytal responded by igniting a red bladed sword 
of his own. "Does this seem at all familiar to you?" asked Tenchi with a smile.

	Shoytal mirrored the smile. "I admit there are some similarities to 
yesterday's exorcise. Shall we commence?"

	The two warriors were about to get into it, when a female scream filled 
the air. Both men halted their actions and looked towards Blue Base. 
"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!" came Ryoko's voice again.

	"Ryoko!" cried Tenchi. He bolted for the shack dropping his weapon in the 
process. Tenchi jumped up to the roof right to his wife. He landed next to the 
gun to see Ryoko standing there shaking. "Ryoko? Are you all right?"

	There was a strange look in her eyes. "Tenchi, I think I broke myself. I'm 
leaking."

	Relief and panic flooded his awareness. Tenchi walked over to embrace her. 
"You're okay, Ryoko. I think your water just broke."

	"My water?" Tenchi's wife looked down at her stomach. "Th...that m...means 
I'm going into l...labor." Tenchi could feel her mixture of excitement and fear. 

	He kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry, love. Washu?" he called up to 
the sky.

	"I'm already on it, Tenchi," came the genius' voice from everywhere. "I've 
got the delivery room all set up. I'm teleporting you and Ryoko right there, 
now." 
	
	There was a flash, and the couple found themselves in a replica of an 
Earth hospital room. There were three green walls and one that was a mass of 
monitors and computer consoles. Washu was standing there wearing a teal surgical 
uniform with her mane of red hair gathered under a surgical cap. She snapped her 
fingers, and Ryoko was wearing a white patient's gown. "Okay, missy, on the bed 
with you. Your contractions haven't really started yet, but I want you to get 
settled. This is going to be a long and bumpy ride."

_____ 

	"You definitely have to hand it to Miss Washu," said Ayeka. "Only she 
could replicate a complete hospital in her lab."

	"Yeah," agreed Gerin. He took a bite out of a hamburger and grimaced. 
"Right down to the bad food."

	Everyone was gathered in an average looking waiting room. The white walls 
were lined with couches and littered with chairs. 

	Ayeka ignored the knight's comments and started pacing. Once Washu had 
made the announcement, everyone had quickly made their ways back to the house to 
change. The knights were back in their armor, Ayeka wore a pair of slacks with a 
white turtleneck. Sasami was in a set of gray sweats with Ryo-ohki sitting on 
her head. Noboyuki was wearing kakies, a white collared shirt, and videotaping 
everything with his camcorder. Mihoshi wore a pair of white pants and a pink 
sweater. Ukarit was back in his business suit, but his boys were still wearing 
their army fatigues. The Empress also knew that Yosho and Mayuka were still at 
the Shrine. The only people Ayeka did not know about were Kiyone and Mastir.

	The hours passed with no news. Five hours into the labor Kiyone and Mastir 
burst into the waiting room. Both were still wearing their fatigues from the 
game, although, Ayeka swore that Kiyone had originally been wearing green 
instead of tan. Another hour passed, and her brother with in tow Mayuka showed 
up. Ayeka could tell from the child's black gi that they had been training. The 
Empress didn't completely approve of this, but she was not in charge of Mayuka's 
life anymore. 

	It was shortly into the seventh hour when one of the walls exploded. 
Everyone in the waiting room ran for cover as a series of red energy lances 
followed the explosion.

	"Ryoko! Calm down!" they heard Washu scream.

	"Ryoko, please stop!" they heard Tenchi add.

	"You did this to me, you horny little bastard!" shouted the pirate. "I am 
never letting you near me again!" A cone of red energy poured out of the hole.

	Ayeka swallowed very hard. She tensed even more when Shoytal placed a hand 
on her shoulder. "Shoytal?"

	"Yes?"

	She placed her own hand over his and gripped it. "Never remind me of this 
day when we have children."

_____ 

	Breathe in. 

	Breathe out.

	Breathe in.

	Breathe out.

	Ryoko had to keep telling herself to do this. Then as suddenly as it was 
there, the pain was gone. The pirate released a long, drawn out breath. She had 
finally allowed Tenchi to calm her down to the point of not hurling energy 
blasts. Her husband was currently standing right beside her looking the part of 
the worried male. He hadn't bothered to take time to change out of his fatigues. 
His face was a mask of concern, and Ryoko could feel that concern coming across 
their link as well. With cyan hair matted against her sweat drenched face, Ryoko 
managed a weak smile for him. 

	Washu walked over from her wall of computers. "Okay, Ryoko. On the next 
contractions you're going to have to push. It's going to be tough, but I'll be 
right here to help you." Washu's laptop appeared. She stared typing, and several 
automated beds rolled up behind her. Ryoko could see that the beds were 
specifically sized to hold a baby. Washu set up the leg harnesses and placed 
Ryoko's legs in them

	Ryoko's muscles tensed. She took a deep breath and leaned forward. "Here 
it comes!" The contractions started again, and she had to fight not to yell.

	"Push!" commanded her mother. 

	She did.

	"Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!"

	She felt Tenchi embrace her from behind and hold her up. "That's good, 
Ryoko," he said calmly in her ear. "You're doing fine."

	"Fine!?" she snapped. "I'm trying to push something the size of a 
watermelon out an opening the size of a lemon, and you think I'm doing FINE!?"

	"Don't talk!" ordered Washu. "Push!"

	Time seemed to stop for Ryoko. The only thing in the universe to her was 
the desire to push. Tenchi's wife pushed with all her might. Ryoko heard herself 
yell again, and then there was the sound of crying. She opened her golden eyes 
to see Washu holding a tiny baby in her arms. Tenchi's hands tightened on her 
shoulders. Unfortunately, the pain was not done yet. Washu placed the first 
child on one of the beds and returned to Ryoko. Ryoko pushed again, and again, 
and again until the pain finally disappeared for good. A second set of young 
lungs loosed a high pitched cry.

	Ryoko let out a relieved sigh and collapsed back into Tenchi. She could 
hear Washu moving about doing several things with the babies, but Ryoko just 
couldn't find the energy to open her eyes. 

	"Ryoko," Tenchi told her quietly. "I think you should open your eyes."

	She slowly obeyed his suggestion. Washu was moving towards them holding 
two little bundles. One was wrapped in a pink towel, and the other was in a blue 
one. Ryoko allowed Tenchi to prop her up on several pillows. Her breathing 
became quick and excited as her newborn children were handed to her. Tears of 
happiness trickled down her cheeks as she held her babies for the first time.

	"Say hello to your son and daughter," said Washu. 

	"Hey there," whispered Ryoko. "I'm your mommy."

	"Have you two decided on names for them, yet?" asked Washu. 

	"Yes," replied Tenchi absently.

	"Rei and Hiro," finished Ryoko. 

	Ryoko took a moment to really look at her children. Hiro already had some 
hair the color of his mother's. His little eyes opened for a moment, and she 
could see that they were round and brown. Rei had her father's dark hair. Her 
eyes were also brown, but they were shaped like Ryoko's. The pirate said a 
silent thanks that neither of the babies had her ears. She didn't mind her own, 
but Ryoko didn't want her kids to have to grow up with them. 

	Tenchi leaned close to his newborn son and daughter. "Hi, Hiro. Hi, Rei. 
I'm your dad." He looked away from them to Ryoko. The couple's eyes locked for a 
moment. Tenchi slowly moved in and kissed her. "I love you," he told her.

	"I love you, too," she said.

	Washu started to back out of the room. "I think that I'll go and spread 
the good news, and then get started on putting together their birth 
certificates." 

	Tenchi and Ryoko nodded without acknowledging her. As far as they were 
concerned the center of their private universe had just changed, and they didn't 
give a damn about anything else.

_____ 

	It was shortly after midnight that Tenchi found himself standing in the 
doorway of his and Ryoko's bedroom. Wearing a pair of black pajama pants and a 
green T-shirt, he simply stood there smiling and watching his family sleep. 
Ryoko, wearing a simple white nightgown, slept up against a few pillows with 
Hiro and Rei in her arms. Mayuka was passed out in her blue pajamas across 
Ryoko's lap with a content smile on her face. 

	Tenchi quietly closed the door and walked into the room. He turned off the 
lamp on Ryoko's night table and carefully climbed on to his side of the bed. The 
prince picked up Mayuka, without waking her, and placed the child between 
himself and Ryoko. Finally, he pulled the comforter over all of them. 

	The prince kissed each one lightly and laid back on his pillows. He smiled 
to himself as memories of the early days with Ryoko, Ayeka, and Sasami flashed 
through his mind. Most prominent was the memory about the day of Ryo-ohki's 
rebirth. Tenchi tried hard not to start laughing when he remembered Ryoko trying 
to pass Ryo-ohki's egg off as hers and Tenchi's. Tenchi had been mortified at 
the thought of having a child, yet alone having one with Ryoko at the time. 

	Tenchi turned his head to look at his family once more. He was a different 
person now than he was back then. That scared boy had grown into a man who was 
not afraid of life and its challenges anymore. Once in the beginning that boy 
would have traded all the women, especially the one sleeping next to him now, 
for just one hour of peace. Now the man would not give up a single one of them, 
*especially* his wife and children, for anything in the entire universe. 

	And so Tenchi just laid there watching his treasured family sleep long 
into the peaceful night. 


More Notes:

Phew! That was a long one. I really didn't expect this to go so long. Hell, it 
was almost 20 pages longer than the last fic. Anyway, I hope that you liked it. 
I sure as hell had a great time writing it. I also hope that my name choices 
were good for the twins. That was my main worry. I didn't want to use "catch 
phrase" names, but after a lot of thought those two seemed to fit really well. 

I did my best to portray a pregnant woman. If I made some mistakes, I apologize. 
I am a guy after all, so what do I know anyway?

I tried really hard to deal with a lot of other issues in this fic besides the 
whole pregnancy thing. Even though this was a Tenchi+Ryokocentric fic mainly, I 
felt that I really had to deal with some future things I want to play around 
with. 

Well that is all for my closing rant. Look for my next fic in a few weeks. Right 
now it is titled "Soul or a Goddess". Remember that the title is subject to 
change. Thanks for taking the time to read this stuff. All comments please go to 
Roas1@hotmail.com. later.

Roas Atrades