The story arc Aurora of Rainbow Fire is part two of an 
ongoing series called The Odd Man Out.  All current parts can be 
found at http://members.tripod.com/ballisticsausage/index.html




	Aurora of Rainbow Fire chapter five: A Prison of Glass

	A Tenchi Muyo TV series original-flavored-nonlemon-chapter-
of-a-lemon-comedy-series by Ragun P. Moody.  
	Email the author at kichigai@tds.net with any comments.
	All characters and situations copyright their creators, 
Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and AiC and Pioneer and are 
used without permission.  This is a nonprofit work only.






	"Ahhh..." Kiyone sighed, stretching out luxuriously on a 
beach towel and enjoying the warm early summer rays that played 
over her too-light-in-her-opinion skin.  Naturally pale, Kiyone 
liked to be tan and had been looking forward to the opportunity 
to both quit her hated job and rid herself of the vitamin D 
deficiency she was sure she had.

	"Ahhh..." Mihoshi sighed, arching her back on her own beach 
towel to work out the kinks in her arms and legs, enjoying the 
warm sand beneath her, its heat driving the long winter's chill 
from her in a way that no hot bath or warm heater had been able 
to do.  Her race had lived on a particularly warm, sunny planet, 
leaving her with naturally dark skin and a tendency to nap in the 
sun.

	"Ahhh..." sighed their circle of young male admirers from a 
short distance, enjoying the free show.  Both of the girls were 
in great shape and wearing two-piece bikinis, making the boys' 
trip to the beach worthwhile.

	"Whee!" Sasami exclaimed as she was lifted up by a medium 
sized wave and carried up the beach.  She hadn't been swimming in 
a long time, and after she got used to the unusually high salt 
content, she was having a blast running up and down the beach 
during the last days they were spending on Earth.

	Katsuhito and Nobuyuki sat quietly alert in twin lounge 
chairs just up from them, enjoying the summer rays, the warm 
sand, the view, and the last days their passel of girls were 
spending with them.

	It had been three days since Ryoko, Tenchi, and Ayeka had 
left in Ryo-Ohki, and they still had three more days before the 
other three would leave.  Nobuyuki, never one to miss an 
opportunity to girlwatch, had called in several days from his 
vacation time and rented two hotel rooms overlooking a nice 
stretch of beach.  They would spend the remainder of their time 
there.  

	It wasn't all sunshine and sea salt, though.

	"At least put on a shirt?" Nobuyuki asked.  Although 
phrased as a statement, it was definitely a question.

	"Nope," his father-in-law replied tersely.

	"A towel?"

	"Nope."

	"Please?"

	"Let me see...  No."

	Nobuyuki sighed and averted his sight, looking back to the 
far more inviting scene with the girls.  Hopefully, no one would 
connect him with the skinny old man in a loose pair of Bermuda 
shorts beside him, calmly sipping at a glass of lemonade.  

	Those knobby white knees were practically blinding!  To say 
nothing of the pallid chest and stomach.  It made Nobuyuki 
squeamish to even think about it.

	Farther down the beach, Sasami stopped to examine yet 
another bright white seashell that had somehow managed to avoid 
being collected by the droves of beachcombers and other children 
that regularly scoured the beach.  Sasami wasn't the kind of girl 
who liked to collect things, however, and she lay it back down 
after a close scrutiny. 

	She flipped her long hair back over her shoulders for the 
umpteenth time, grimacing as the wet hair clung to her swimsuit 
and tugged at her head when she looked around, occasionally 
watching the white seagulls dive from the blue sky and snatch 
someone's snack off the ground.  Their cries mingled with the low 
murmur of countless people dotting the sand and the whistling 
breeze blowing in from the sea.  The crash of the waves on the 
shore and the squeals of other children were much less common, 
but still very much a part of the experience.

	With a childish cry of delight, Sasami plunged into the 
water once more, using all her swimming skills to fight the waves 
and head into the deeper waters.  

	Farther out, several surfers could be seen on their 
colorful boards, riding the waves in for as long as they could.

	"Sasami!  Don't go too far, okay?" yelled Nobuyuki 
warningly, his words barely reaching her through the breeze.

	"I won't!" she called back, waving with one hand before 
striking out again.

	"Ah, kids.  I bet she gets over her head, though," Nobuyuki 
sighed.

	Kiyone, who had also been keeping an eye out, struggled to 
sit her relaxed body up.  "Don't worry, Mr. Masaki.  I'll go swim 
with her, just in case."

	Mihoshi jumped to her feet with none of her partner's 
reluctance.  All thoughts of dozing fled her mind at the mention 
of swimming, and she waved Kiyone back down.  "Oh, no, you just 
stay here.  I want to go swim, too, so I'll do it."  At her 
partner's nod the curvaceous blonde bounded merrily toward the 
sea, several of her admirers following discretely and the rest 
being distracted by an even more curvaceous raven-haired girl up 
the beach.  She slipped into the pounding surf like a fish, 
losing no time as she strove to catch up to Sasami.
	
	Sasami, meanwhile, swam strongly through the slightly rough 
waves using a variation on the overhand she'd been taught when 
she was younger.  The salty water stung her eyes and tasted foul, 
but its fresh coolness felt great on her skin.  She reached the 
limit she had set for herself and stopped, treading water and 
raising herself out of the water so she could look around, 
particularly back up the beach where the others were.

	Mihoshi was an excellent swimmer, and arrived at her 
position quickly.  "Hey, Sasami!  Having fun?"  She shook her 
mass of sodden curls to get it out of her face, sending water 
flying.

	Sasami giggled.  "Yep!  Let's go out farther, okay?"

	"Sure!"  

	The two continued their way out to sea, Sasami feeling much 
bolder with an adult on hand.  Mihoshi slowed her pace, staying 
within ten feet of Sasami in case she ran into trouble.  She 
alternated between the backstroke and a curious dogpaddle that 
kept her head up where she could watch the younger girl.

	Sasami stopped again, looking back up the beach to the now 
small figures of the others.  "Wave to them, Mihoshi!" she 
prompted, stretching her arm up high and following her own advice 
before spluttering and pushing herself back above water.

	The two men sitting in the beach chairs waved back, but it 
was harder to tell with Kiyone.

	Sasami spun around, looking out to the surfers.  The waves 
had calmed and now they were just sitting patiently astride their 
boards, waiting for the next big one.

	An unnatural sparkle between her and the surfers caught her 
eye.  It wasn't very much farther out, not compared to the 
distance she'd already traveled, but she was starting to get 
tired and the beach was looking more and more inviting.

	Sasami kicked her legs, raising herself halfway out of the 
water as she strained to see what it was.  She was rewarded by 
another flash, this time with a hint of other colors to it.

	"Mihoshi, can you see what that is?" she asked, turning to 
the older girl.

	A stream of bubbles was her only answer, as Mihoshi had 
chosen that moment to dive beneath the waves.

	Sasami shrugged and prepared to head back to shore, but 
again she saw it, this time closer but still an unknown object.  
She just had to know what it was.  Sighing and mustering her 
strength, she kicked in its direction.

	"Sasami!  Come back!  You're too far out!" Nobuyuki 
bellowed, drawing the attention of everyone on the beach, but not 
Sasami, as she was too far out to hear.

	Sasami turned at the sound of a splash, looking back in 
time to see Mihoshi surface with a gasp.  "Mihoshi!" she called.

	"Huh?  Hey!  You shouldn't go out so far," chided the other 
girl.  "Come on, let's go back."  She beckoned the princess with 
one hand, clearly about to go that way herself.

	"Wait, I saw something just a little farther out.  I want 
to see what it is," she protested.  

	Mihoshi stopped, indecision on her features.  "I don't 
know, you look tired."

	Sasami was tired, the waves making her use more effort than 
normal swimming.  "I'll be okay, and I'll go in as soon as I find 
out what it is," wheedled the princess.  Without waiting for an 
answer, she quickly turned and swam on, masking any protests by 
splashing in an excessively noisy manner.

	Mihoshi shrugged and followed, far from the limits of her 
own strength and endurance.

	Sasami continued on, occasionally raising out of the water 
to get another look.  Each time she could see a sparkle, but 
never could she see what it was.  She had half convinced herself 
that it was just an old glass bottle thoughtlessly tossed into 
the ocean, but she hadn't come this far to give up now.

	"Sasami!  We should go back now!" Mihoshi called, pointing 
ahead when she looked back.  "Big wave coming up!"

	"Oh, no!" she cried, looking up as the surfers finally 
found their ride in.  The sparkly object forgotten, she turned 
and swam in with all her might, fearful of the pounding the big 
wave would give her.  

	Mihoshi reached her quickly, grabbing on with one arm so 
they wouldn't get separated.  "Take a deep breath!" she 
commanded, filling her lungs with air after the statement.

	Sasami breathed in as deep as she could, preparing for the 
worst as the sea swelled beneath them, carrying them up inside 
the curl.

	Mihoshi resisted the urge to whoop as they slid down, 
knowing she'd need that air later.  They bodysurfed for a moment, 
then the wave crested and curled in on itself, sending them 
tumbling end over end before they emerged gasping on the other 
side.

	They both fought for air after the wild ride, tired by 
their efforts, and Mihoshi stretched her hand high and waved to 
show they were all right.

	"Are you okay, Sasami?" Mihoshi asked, concerned.  She had 
an arm under Sasami's arms and was holding her head above water.

	"Pbtth!  Ick!" she replied, spitting out water and wiping 
at her eyes.  "Yeah, I'm okay."  Suddenly she batted at her neck 
as something smooth brushed underneath her chin.  The object came 
into view as she pushed it away; a smooth sphere of glass, about 
the size of a golf ball, with irregular projections on opposite 
ends floating on the sea.  The sunlight caught it just right to 
send a flash of amber-hued light into Sasami's squinted eyes as 
she snatched it out of the water quickly.  "Hey!  I found it!" 
she cried, clutching her prize.

	"Great!  Now let's hurry back to shore."  Sasami agreed 
wholeheartedly, and Mihoshi helped support her as they both 
paddled in.

	If the trip out was long, the trip in was even worse, as 
they swam hard to outrun the next big wave gathering out beyond 
where they had been.

	Kiyone met the exhausted pair at the shore, standing chest 
deep in the water and waiting anxiously for their arrival.  
Mihoshi was struggling by that point, and Sasami had long since 
given up and allowed herself to simply be towed in, devoting all 
her remaining effort to keeping hold of her hard earned prize.  

	"You shouldn't have gone out so far!" she admonished as 
they got within reach, allowing her to dig her toes into the sand 
and pull them both in.  "Mihoshi, you should have known better!"

	"Sorry," she gasped, staggering out of the water.  

	"Don't be mad at her, it was my fault," Sasami replied, 
supported by Kiyone's strong arms.  "I saw something out there 
and I just had to see what it was."

	"And did you?" Nobuyuki asked in his best warm fatherly 
voice, having arrived to help.  He scooped up the little princess 
and simply carried her back up the beach, allowing Kiyone to 
assist her partner, who was already getting her breath back.

	"Yep!" she chirped happily, holding up the amber glass 
bauble for him to see.

	"Ooh, that is quite a treasure you've got there.  Why don't 
you ask Grandfather about it?  I'm sure he knows what it is."  He 
carried her over and sat her on the foot of his lounge chair 
before resuming his own seat.  

	Mihoshi and Kiyone were just behind them, and Mihoshi lay 
down on her towel gratefully.  The distance hadn't been all that 
great, but she had been swimming awfully hard to outrun the waves 
and Sasami had slowed her down.  

	Kiyone sat more easily, assuming a cross-legged position on 
the sand.

	"Have fun?" Katsuhito asked mildly.

	"Yeah, but I'm tired now," Sasami replied.  "But I found 
something.  Mr. Masaki said that you would know what this was," 
she said, holding out her find.

	Katsuhito accepted it carefully, turning it over in his 
hands.  "Ahh..." he said appreciatively.  "You don't see these 
much anymore."

	"What is it?" Sasami asked eagerly.

	"This," he replied, holding it up by one of the protrusions 
and letting it dangle so it would catch the sun, "is a 
fisherman's float.  They used to be quite common and cheap, for 
all their beauty.  Fishermen would use them for their lines and 
nets, and sometimes they would break free or get dropped 
overboard and float around on the waves for a while until they 
were washed up on the beach and someone found them.  Glass is 
more expensive than the styrofoam and plastic they use now and 
most have been found, so they're getting quite rare.  I haven't 
seen one for years; you're quite lucky to have found this one.  
Be careful, they break very easily."  He handed the amber sphere 
back to her, where she cradled it gently in both hands.

	"Wow...  I've never seen anything like this before," she 
said reverently.  "I'll put it somewhere safe when we get back to 
the room."

	Nobuyuki yawned widely.  "Speaking of rooms, why don't we 
head back now?  Sasami can put the float away, and we can all 
shower and go get something to eat.  How about it, are you girls 
hungry?"

	Mihoshi's stomach growled loudly, making everyone else 
laugh and causing her to blush.  "Well, swimming is hard work!  
It makes you hungry, you know."

	They grabbed their towels and chairs and went back to the 
hotel, intending to come back later in the evening.


				****************


	Sasami awoke, gasping and clutching at the sheets.  It took 
her a moment to calm down, her view of the rather ordinary hotel 
room reassuring her that she was on vacation and not...  Wherever 
she had been.

	She looked around at the room silently, rubbing the sleep 
from her eyes and noting Kiyone curled up asleep on the other 
side of the bed.  She pulled her white nightgown straighter, 
disliking the way it had bound around her tightly.

	Kiyone stirred, twitching repeatedly and mumbling something 
too faint to hear.  Her eyes were troubled, and her hands seemed 
to be clutched around some imaginary adversary's neck.

	Sasami shook her head and looked over to the other bed, 
where Mihoshi was asleep.  The ditzy GP officer was sprawled out, 
her head toward the foot of the bed and one leg dangling from the 
side wrapped in sheets.  Her face was visible in the dim 
moonlight streaming through the large sliding glass doors at one 
end of the room, her mouth moving slightly as she breathed.  That 
and Sasami's heartbeat seemed to be the only sounds in the room.

	Or maybe not.  Sasami strained her ears, trying to catch 
the faint sound she thought she had been hearing while she 
recovered from her nightmare.

	Was that...

	Singing?

	She cupped her hands around her ears and turned her head 
back and forth, but couldn't hear it anymore.

	Maybe it was someone outside?

	Sasami eased herself out of the bed, taking care not to 
wake Kiyone.  Soundlessly, she crept on bare feet to the room's 
door, gingerly turning the lever and opening the door a crack.

	The hall was softly lit by yellow bulbs, the carpeting 
covering the floors and the spongy wallpaper muted the echoes 
produced by the faraway hum of an ice machine.  No, no singing 
was coming from there, at least not now.

	Sasami ducked back into the room, blinking to readjust her 
eyes to the dimmer light.  A small travel suitcase lay open on 
the table, and she walked over to it.  Inside was a carefully 
wadded up shirt, and inside that was the glass float she had 
found earlier that day.  She removed it carefully, leaving the 
shirt laying half out of the suitcase as she held it up to the 
light.  It gleamed dully, its warm colors reduced to shades of 
grey in the moonlight.

	She looked around again, thinking of her dream.  What it 
had been she couldn't say, but she had been having it every night 
for the past week and a half.  Ayeka didn't know, and even Ryoko 
had never woken up when Sasami had cried herself awake, vainly 
reaching for something.

	Not that last part, though.  Gasping for breath, water 
closing in, held away from everyone by...  

	She couldn't remember.  It was probably just a fear of 
drowning brought on by the earlier swim.

	Ayeka had told her that if you named a fear, you could 
conquer it.  Tenchi's Grandfather had said something similar, 
although it had taken her longer to figure that out from the koan 
he had quoted.  

	Sasami sighed, looking out the window at the few fluffy 
clouds hanging in the night sky, speeding out to sea on the wind.  
They were dark patches in a black, starry sky, but the moon gave 
them light halos, adding definition and depth.

	Maybe fresh air would do her good.  She closed her hand 
around the glass, feeling it warm to her touch, and opened the 
locks to the balcony doors.  She winced as they clicked loudly in 
the silence, but slid the doors open wide enough to accommodate 
her small body.

	Whistling wind filled her ears, and she quickly closed the 
doors behind her before it woke her chaperones up.  The wind was 
chilly, odd since it was blowing from the land out to sea, 
heavily laden with the smell of cars and factories, dirt and 
plants, all the smells of land.  She wondered what it would be 
like to be on a ship out on the ocean.  Would she still be able 
to smell, to taste the land?  Or would the salt spray be the only 
thing in her nose?

	A sudden chill swept over her with the speed of the wind, 
making her pull her nightgown around herself tighter.  There were 
scary things out there, dangerous to little girls.  She'd best 
stay on land, where it was safer.

	Sasami smiled at the idea, placing her hands on the railing 
and looking out to sea.  She had sailed the vast gulfs between 
the stars for as long as she could remember, and had been doing 
it alone for several years now.  Earth's dark waters held no 
terrors for her.  Dangers, sure, if she wasn't careful.  But she 
already knew that there were worse to be found elsewhere, and she 
had no intention of being careless.  That much had been drilled 
into her over and over again.

	Oddly, she felt astonished at her thoughts.  She wondered 
why.

	Again, she heard something just at the edge of her hearing, 
the voice of another young girl like herself, a voice that seemed 
not to be affected by the whispering of the wind, or perhaps it 
was borne on it.

		o/~  A pretty thing will shine and gleam, 
		to better catch their eye.
		So close, so near, or so it will seem,
		They may claim it if they try.
		And though their friends may shout and scream,
		No matter how they cry,
		The child is lost into a dream, 
		And pulled down from the sky.o/~

	Sasami listened raptly, gradually getting better at hearing 
the words.  She hummed along softly, something which the singer 
seemed to appreciate.

		o/~I watch it pass, 
		from within the glass,
		A tool of the oni's spell.
		Young girls so brave, 
		hit by a wave,
		and drowned in its swell...o/~

	"But I didn't drown," Sasami protested, although to who she 
didn't know.  "See, I'm right here.  Mihoshi saved me."  
		
	"Yes, I'm glad. That really throws my song off, doesn't 
it?" the words asked faintly, full of hope and happiness.  The 
voice giggled, and perhaps there was a hint of a sharp sound, 
like two hands clapping together.

	"But where are you?  Who are you?"  Sasami looked around, 
especially at the other balconies around her. 
		
	"My name is Miko Oshira, and as for me, hold the float up 
to the moonlight."

	Sasami did as she was bade, peering through the translucent 
glass.

	The float was as empty as it was when she first looked 
through it.  But there was something, something faint, almost 
like it was engraved on the inside of the glass since she felt 
nothing when she ran one fingertip across it.  

	It was a picture, she decided, and after much scrutiny she 
could make out that it was a picture of a girl, sitting on the 
ground with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped 
around them.  Then, as she watched, one of the arms moved, 
reaching up and waving at her!

	Sasami was not startled.  Surprised, yes, but she'd seen 
stranger things before.  Still, somehow the glass slipped from 
her fingers and fell toward the hard tile floor of the balcony.

	She held her breath as it hit, fearing that it would 
shatter into a thousand tiny splinters of glass, but the float 
merely bounced twice.  She breathed easier after that, and 
crouched to pick it back up again.

	An errant gust of wind hit it, spinning it wildly and 
sending it rolling toward a gap in the railing.  It was quick, 
but she snatched it back before it took the plunge.

	"Oh no you don't," she muttered, holding it in both hands.  
She glanced up as a cloud covered the moon, briefly removing what 
little light she had.
	
	"Thank you," the girl in the glass said.  "For a moment 
there I was afraid that I'd never see you again."

	"It slipped," she admitted.  "I'll be more careful from now 
on.  How did you get inside that float?"

	The engraving of the girl sighed, although Sasami wasn't 
holding it up to the light to see.  "A long time ago, how long I 
don't remember, I was a young girl like you, living with my 
parents in Kochi.  My Dad fished and my Mom sold the catch.  I 
liked to go out on the boat with my father, and he would let me.  
I didn't have any brothers and sisters and he didn't have any 
help, so he would let me help him fish if the weather was good."  
She paused, and Sasami thought she might be crying silently.

	"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," Sasami 
said comfortingly.

	"No...  No, it's alright.  I've just never told this to 
anyone before.  You're the first person I've talked to in I don't 
know how long."  The voice seemed to be stronger now, warming up 
from long disuse, or possibly just because Miko was getting used 
to speaking this way.  "I was out fishing with him one day.  It 
was beautiful; the waves were small, the sky was clear, and the 
wind was warm.  We had been running lines all day, and we went 
back to check the nets.  Dad never had any trouble pulling the 
nets in by himself, no matter how heavy they were with fish.  But 
this day, there was something BIG in the nets.  It pulled down so 
hard he couldn't even get it to the surface.  I tried to help 
him, but it started pulling back harder."  She spoke faster now, 
the words coming in a rush.  "The boat almost tipped over, so 
Daddy let go.  I did too, but my hand was caught in the net.  It 
pulled me in."  There was a faint sob.  "It was dark underwater, 
but I could see a monster swim up to me."

	"A monster?" Sasami asked in a high voice, her body 
shivering, but not from the cool breeze.

	"An oni, I think," Miko replied.  "At least it looked like 
what I'd always been told oni look like, although I've never 
heard of one living in the sea."

	"An oni?" Sasami asked again.  "What is an oni?"

	"It's a big monster.  This one was kind of dark green, and 
it had horns on its head and big, clawed hands."

	Sasami nodded, although she privately groused at such a 
vague description.  She knew of several species that could be 
described like that.

	"Anyway, it grabbed me as I was drowning and magically put 
me in this float."  Her tone turned from remembered fear to 
sadness.  "I floated back to the surface, but I couldn't do 
anything in here.  I could see my dad, though.  I watched him 
until I floated away.  I screamed and screamed at him, but he 
couldn't hear me."  Miko paused.  "Ever since then, I've been 
trapped in this float.  There's some kind of spell on it that 
makes girls like me want to get it, but it never gets very close 
to shore.  And every time one of them tries, they drown."

	"Except me," Sasami reminded softly. 

	"Except you," Miko agreed.  

	"That's so sad."  Sasami held the glass bauble close, the 
best form of hug she could offer.

	"It's okay.  The hard part is watching people drown like I 
did."
	
	"Don't you want out?"

	"Un huh, I sure do.  But I don't know how.  I'm trapped."

	Sasami inspected the glass critically.  "What if I broke 
the float?  Wouldn't that let you go?"

	"It might.  Would you please try it?"

	Sasami nodded, then looked around.  "Umm..."

	"You could try stepping on me, if you were wearing shoes.  
Or you could use a rock."

	Sasami nodded.  "I don't have my shoes on right now, but I 
can get them."  She glanced down at her feet, wishing she had put 
her shoes on first.  The balcony floor was cold.

	"No, it's okay.  I want to talk to you for a while first.  
What's your name?"

	Sasami blushed and stifled a yawn.  "Oh, I'm very sorry.  
I'm Sasami of Jurai, but I'm going by Masaki for right now."

	"Why?"

	"Because very few people have ever heard of Jurai here, and 
Ayeka says we mustn't call attention to ourselves.  We're not 
really supposed to be here, but no one has said we couldn't 
stay."

	"I've never heard of Jurai, either," Miko admitted.  "Is it 
in Japan?"

	Sasami shook her head, and for the first time felt a little 
silly talking to empty air.  "No, Jurai is a long, long way from 
here, orbiting around a star so far away we can't even see it 
anymore."

	"Around a star?  Orbiting?" Miko asked, her voice full of 
confusion.

	Sasami felt bad.  Her own education had focused in many 
ways on the spaceways, and she tended to forget that Earth people 
were planetbound.  "I come from an empire in the stars," she 
answered more plainly, without bragging.  "I'm the second 
princess."

	"Really?" Miko asked very politely, believing her 
implicitly with the confidence only a ghost can have.  "I know 
you don't feel like everyone else I've been close to.  There is 
something different about you, but I didn't know what it was."

	"I came to Earth looking for my sister, and found her 
staying with the Masaki family near the city of Tokyo.  Her ship 
had been hurt, so we were going to leave on mine, but there was 
an accident and my ship was destroyed, too.  We stayed for 
months, and she fell in love with Tenchi Masaki.  She, Tenchi, 
and Ryoko, another friend, went back to Jurai several days ago, 
and I'm leaving pretty soon."  Now it was Sasami that tried to 
keep the sadness out of her voice.  "This the last few days of my 
time here on Earth."  Her voice wavered.  "I'm going to miss it."

	"Forgive me for asking, but how are you going back if your 
ship was broken?" Miko asked deferentially.

	Sasami shook herself.  "Mihoshi and Kiyone are acting as my 
guardians.  Mihoshi was the blonde girl who saved me when I swam 
out to get you.  Kiyone is her partner, and still has her 
spaceship.  I'm traveling with them."

	"Mihoshi was very brave and strong," Miko said approvingly.  
"If it hadn't been for her, you would have drowned."

	Sasami nodded seriously, momentarily forgetting how tired 
she was.  "I know, it was scary.  But Mihoshi always succeeds, 
and Kiyone is just as good."  A sudden chill gust whipped her 
thin nightgown around her, and she shivered.

	"It's very late at night," Miko reminded gently.  "Why 
don't you go back to sleep?  We can talk in the morning."

	"Can we?" Sasami asked.  "I didn't hear you say anything 
earlier."

	"I don't think it matters.  Now that I know how, I think I 
can talk to you anytime.  I wonder if others can hear me?"

	Sasami considered that, realizing that she wasn't actually 
listening to Miko with her ears.  "I don't know...  But we'll 
see," she assured the ghost, then yawned.  "And I think you're 
right.  I'll talk to you again in the morning, okay?"

	"Okay!  Sleep tight!"

	Sasami slid the door back as quietly as possible and 
stepped inside right as the curtains flapped for the first time.  
After getting used to the chilly, whistling wind outside, the 
room seemed supernaturally quiet, making her glance around warily 
at the shadows as she carefully replaced the amber float back in 
its padded box.  After all, there _were_ ghosts about, and if 
Miko was to be believed, which Sasami did, there were things much 
worse than ghosts lurking about for unwary little girls.

	Mihoshi snerked loudly through her nose, breaking the 
silence and nearly making Sasami giggle.  Kiyone rolled over and 
buried her head under the pillow in a move that was as 
unconscious as it was ingrained.

	Sasami smiled.  With guardians like this, who could worry 
about monsters?  She climbed back between the sheets smoothly, so 
as not to wake Kiyone.  And as she drifted off to a dreamless 
sleep, she heard a faint whisper on the edge of her mind.

	"Good night, Princess from the stars."

 
				****************
	

	Sasami woke up quickly that morning, stirred from her sleep 
by the sounds of people moving about in the room.  She glanced at 
the drawn back blinds and sliding glass door as she sat up, 
rubbing sleep from her eyes.

	"Good morning, Sasami," Mihoshi said cheerily as she pulled 
a pair of shorts on over her bikini.  "Sorry I woke you up, I was 
trying to be quiet."  

	"Good morning," she replied, noticing that Kiyone was still 
asleep.  "It's early to be going out, isn't it?"  The first glow 
of sunlight was just lighting up the horizon they had such a good 
view of.

	Mihoshi nodded and pulled on a light t-shirt.  "A little," 
she admitted.  "I'm going for an early swim.  Do you want to go?"

	Sasami considered it, and the events of the night before 
flooded into her mind.  "No, but thanks," she replied, sliding 
out of bed and walking over to the box with her new treasure, or 
friend, depending on how you looked at it.  "Will you be back in 
time for breakfast?"

	Mihoshi nodded.  "I shouldn't be gone more than half an 
hour, and it'll be at least that long before everyone feels like 
waking up."  She picked up her beach towel from the day before 
and waved at Sasami.

	"Be careful," she warned, placing her hand over the cool 
glass nestled in the padding.  "There are things in the water you 
don't want to meet.  Enjoy your swim, and don't be too long."

	"I will, and I'll be back soon."  Mihoshi left the room.

	Sasami quickly pulled the float out and held it up to the 
light.  Sure enough, the faint etching of a girl could be seen 
within.  "Miko?" she asked quietly.

	"I am here," replied the young girl's soft voice in her 
mind.  "Did you sleep well?"

	"Very well, thank you.  Let's go back on the balcony and 
watch the sun rise."

	"Okay, if you want to," Miko replied.

	Sasami quickly stepped out.  There would be time enough to 
dress later.

	"So, what are the stars like?" Miko asked quickly, hungry 
for any news of the outside world, even if it wasn't hers.

	Sasami shrugged, then smiled and stopped a giggle.  "Big 
and hot," she said truthfully.  

	"Big?" Miko asked. 

	"And hot," Sasami agreed with a straight face.  "Actually, 
most of them are just like your sun, but they come in all 
different sizes.  There are two thousand and sixty-three planets 
and settled planetoids in the Juraian Empire, orbiting three 
hundred and twelve suns.  But people only live on four hundred 
planets and three hundred planetoids, and a lot of us live in the 
Forest Ring, which isn't really a planet."

	"What is it, then?"

	"It's a huge ring of space trees around a really small sun, 
which orbits around another, bigger sun.  It's a really neat 
place, and was our first colony."

	"Space trees?" Miko asked, not really understanding how all 
this could be.

	"Really really really big trees that live in space and can 
fly.  My ship was a small one."

	Miko was silent for a few moments, then asked, "Why do you 
live in trees?  Why don't you build houses?"

	Sasami seemed confused herself.  "Why not?  We like trees.  
They shelter us, feed us, protect us, supply us with our 
powers...  Trees are great," she enthused.  "We didn't have 
anything until we found the first space trees and the spirit they 
had.  Now we're the most powerful empire in the galaxy, and 
Emperor Kashi is the most powerful being in it.  The trees give 
him their power, and he can smash whole worlds by himself if he 
needs to."

	"Power?" Miko asked again helplessly.

	Sasami held a finger to her lips for a moment, then ahhed.  
"It's like the ki your warriors use, only more powerful.  In a 
few years I'll be able to use it, too.  My sister already can, 
but I don't know if I'll ever be as powerful as she is.  She's 
really strong."

	"Oh...  I...  See.  Your world must be really different 
from ours."

	Sasami shook her head.  "No, not really.  The Forest Ring 
looks different, but everywhere else looks pretty much the same.  
We can do things you can't, but we still have things that are the 
same.  Gardens, parks, buildings, markets...  Earth is just about 
like here.  We even speak the same language."

	"Really?" Miko asked, amazed.  "You already knew Japanese?"

	Sasami nodded.  "Except we just call it Juraian.  Earth was 
one of our colonies a long time ago, but there was a big war and 
we had to leave.  Some of our people stayed, though, and that's 
why we have the same language."

	"So why haven't you all came back?"

	"Because it was decided to see how you would do on your 
own.  Earth is a 'Natural Evolution Preserve' and no one is 
allowed to come here.  My sister and I, and the rest of our 
friends, aren't really supposed to be here, but it's okay as long 
as we don't tell everyone."

	"So you weren't supposed to tell me?" Miko asked.

	"It's okay.  Tenchi and his family know.  You've just got 
to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"  Sasami smiled at the 
float.

	"It's a promise."

	They sat in silence for a while, watching as the very edge 
of the sun peeked above the horizon.  The waves were light, only 
cresting into white froth as the climbed the beach, even now 
dotted with towels and umbrellas.  Sasami scanned for Mihoshi, 
but didn't see her.  The wind blew in from the sea, smelling of 
cool salt water.

	"Everything has changed since I was last on land," Miko 
commented sadly.  

	"How so?"

	"Back then, all we had were sailing ships and rowboats.  
Now I see all kinds of ships going back and forth, and big things 
flying through the air that remind me of kites.  I see a lot of 
those, even more that I used to see ships."

	"Airplanes," Sasami said, nodding.  "Earth people ride in 
them because they're faster than ships."

	"Things sure have changed.  Even the buildings don't look 
like they used to."

	"My sister said that it is because Earth is going through a 
period of rapid change right now.  It's not like back home for 
me.  People may change, but the forests never do."

	"I think I'd like to see your world," Miko said.  "Really, 
I think I'd like to see anything besides more of the ocean.  I've 
seen enough of that."

	"Well, that's okay.  I'll take you with me, if you want me 
to.  It's no trouble."  Sasami smiled at the idea.  She'd missed 
having a friend her age, give or take a century.

	"That'd be great!" Miko replied enthusiastically, then fell 
abruptly silent.  

	"Is there something wrong?" Sasami asked.	 "You're acting 
strangely."

	"I just don't know what to make of all this," the ghost 
girl admitted sadly.  "More has happened to me today that it has 
in so long, I don't know what to think."

	"Would you like me to leave you alone again for a while?" 
Sasami asked.  "I like to be alone sometimes to think about how I 
feel.  We're all going to breakfast, anyway."

	"No, no, it's okay," Miko assured her.  "I want to go with 
you."

	"Are you sure?"

	"Yes, I'm sure."  Her light voice was strong and full of 
conviction.  "I thought about everything a lot last night, and I 
think I'd like to just kind of ride around with you for a while, 
before you actually introduce me.  I don't know if I could deal 
with a lot of questions right now."

	"Oh, I'm sorry!" Sasami apologized hastily.  "I didn't mean 
to bother you!"

	"No, you're not bothering me at all, honest.  But grownups 
can be so..." 

	Sasami nodded.  "That I know well.  Okay, then.  I'll just 
put you in my pocket.  Can you still see out if you're covered, 
or what?"

	"Yes, that'll be fine.  I really don't know how I see, just 
that I do."

	"Okay," Sasami agreed readily.  "Well, it's getting close 
to breakfast time, and Mihoshi should be back any minute now, so 
I need to get dressed."

	"I'll be quiet in front of everyone."

	Together, they reentered the stillness of the room.  
Mihoshi still wasn't back yet, and Kiyone was a motionless lump 
under the blanket.  Sasami gently put Miko's glass sphere back in 
the padded box, rubbing it lightly with one finger before she 
turned away.

	"Good morning, Sasami.  Were you watching the sunrise?"

	Sasami jumped slightly.  "Kiyone?"

	The lump stirred.  "Yes, I'm awake.  Just lying here.  
Where's Mihoshi?"

	"She went for a swim," Sasami explained.  "She should be 
back any minute now." 	

	"Any hour now," Kiyone agreed, only mildly sarcastic.

	It didn't take an hour, but it did take another fifteen 
minutes for Mihoshi to knock on the door and be let in.  Tenchi's 
father and grandfather had already called to see if the girls 
were up, and were watching TV in their room while they waited for 
the girls to get ready.  Both dressed simply, Kiyone in slacks 
and a button down blouse with a jacket thrown over it, and Sasami 
in a similar outfit.  She covertly slipped the amber glass sphere 
containing Miko's spirit into her jacket pocket while Kiyone was 
in the bathroom and Mihoshi was picking out clothes to match her 
partner.
	
	It didn't take long for Mihoshi to clean up, and soon they 
were all settling in at a table in the nice hotel restaurant on 
the bottom floor.

	Miko used her ghostly senses to explore the room as best 
she could, eavesdropping on conversations and looking at everyone 
in a way that surely would have earned a spanking had her mother 
been present to see such bad manners.

	"Sasami?" she whispered as quietly as she could in Sasami's 
mind.  "What are you looking at?" 

	Sasami blinked, nearly putting down her menu.  Taking the 
ghost's question literally, she raised the laminated paper to 
obscure her face and whispered, "The menu.  I'm trying to decide 
what to eat."

	"You can read?" Miko asked, astonished.

	"Umm, yes," Sasami replied, more than a little confused.  
Everyone she knew could read.

	"Oh, yes, you're a princess."

	Sasami mentally shrugged and decided to ignore it, 
returning her attention to the menu.

	"What's that?" Miko asked again.  "That flat yellow thing."

	"An omelet," Sasami replied.

	"You want an omelet, Sasami?" Nobuyuki asked.

	Sasami blushed, realizing she'd been speaking too loudly.  
"Um, yes, thank you.  With peppers, please."

	"Sorry," Miko replied quietly.  

	"It's okay, Sasami whispered back, very, very quietly.

	"It's just that I don't know what anything is," she 
continued.

	"Did you say something, Sasami?" Mihoshi asked.

	Sasami lay her menu down and coughed politely into her 
napkin.  "Um, no, Mihoshi."

	"Oh, okay."

	Sasami wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

	Soon the waitress came over to take their orders, which 
Nobuyuki gave her.  She quickly left to get their drinks.

	"So, girls, are you going to go swimming again today?  Or 
do you have something else in mind?" Katsuhito asked.

	Kiyone looked at Mihoshi.  "Swimming?"

	"Swimming," Mihoshi replied.  She turned to Sasami.  
"Swimming?"

	Sasami shrugged.  "Swimming."

	"Swimming," they all chorused together after turning to the 
two men.

	Katsuhito turned to his son-in-law.  "I guess they're going 
swimming."

	"Swimming it is," he agreed.  

	Just then, the waitress returned with a big tray of drinks 
balanced in her right hand and proceeded to sit them in front of 
everyone.  Sasami got a glass of water and cup of hot tea, and 
everyone else received coffee.  

	At one point the waitress had to squeeze between Sasami's 
and Kiyone's chair to set a cup down in front of Nobuyuki.  As 
she did so, she brushed against the loose jacket where it hung 
down the side of Sasami's chair, and the little float slipped out 
of the shallow pocket.  It bounced twice on the floor before the 
waitress, unaware, kicked it across the floor.

	"Is anyone sunburned?" Kiyone asked, feeling her own slight 
scorch tingle.  "I know I had a little trouble sleeping last 
night."

	Nobuyuki nodded in sympathy.  "Yeah, I got a little more 
sun than was good for me, too.  But you should really see 
Grandfather's legs."  He chuckled.  "They aren't white anymore."

	Katsuhito shifted uncomfortably.  "Mmm, yes, it has been 
some time since I've worn shorts on such a sunny day."

	Nobuyuki chuckled again.  "You see?  I told you that you 
needed to cover your legs, but did you listen?"  He made as if to 
jab at the old man's legs, but soon found his wrist twisted in a 
grip of iron.

	"Don't.  Push it."  Katsuhito's glasses glinted in the 
fluorescent light.

	"Right...  Right..."  He pulled his hand back and massaged 
it gently.

	"Umm, I'll be right back, okay?" Mihoshi said, standing up.  
"Which way is the restroom?"

	"I think I saw a sign that way, around the corner," Kiyone 
replied, making shooing motions in that direction.

	"Thanks!"  Mihoshi pushed her chair back and hurried away.

	Mihoshi glanced this way and that as she walked, looking at 
all the other morning diners.  Families were quite common, and 
she didn't spot even a single person dining alone.  Suddenly, a 
soft tink sound grabbed her attention and drew it to the floor.

	There, spinning madly, was an amber glass fishing float 
exactly like the one Sasami had found the day before.

	"Well, I wonder who this belongs to?" she murmured aloud as 
she quickly picked it up and examined it.  It certainly looked 
just like Sasami's, but maybe they all looked like that.  She 
decided to ask the nearby diners of any of them had dropped it.

	"Excuse me, sir, ma'am," she began hesitantly as she 
approached the nearest table and held up the float.  "Did any of 
you drop this?  I found it on the floor just now."  She received 
several silent headshakes.  "Sorry to trouble you," she replied 
politely.  

	Mihoshi checked several more tables with much the same 
results, although several certainly acted like they wished it was 
theirs.  Then her pressing need reasserted itself and she hurried 
on to the restroom.  Finders keepers, and possession is nine-
tenths of the law and all that.  She slipped it in her own jacket 
pocket, intending to show it to everyone at her table when she 
got back.

	In the restroom, once her business had been taken care of, 
Mihoshi stood back up and readjusted her clothes.  The toilet, a 
newer model, automatically started flushing.  Just as she 
fastened her pants she heard a high clink of something hitting 
porcelain behind her.  She turned quickly to see the float hit 
the whirlpool with a splash and quickly spiral to the center.

	"Oh, no!" Mihoshi cried.  At first she was tempted to 
ignore it for the moment.  After all, weren't floats supposed to 
float?

	In rude defiance of all laws of relative density, the float 
dropped beneath the surface.  With a speed of reflex that she 
only demonstrated in life or death situations, or when playing 
video games, Mihoshi went to her knees as her hand plunged into 
the toilet, actually going in the very large outlet hole before 
she was able to recapture the errant float.  Giving a sigh of 
relief, she put her other hand against the side of the stall to 
steady herself before she stood.

	Unfortunately, she accidentally put her hand directly on 
the large button marked 'bidet'.  And to think, she'd always 
wondered what that word meant.

	A gentle, but surprisingly strong jet of water arched up 
from a jet in the back and hit her right in the face, soaking not 
only that, but her hair and the front of her clothes.

	"Ewwwww!" she spluttered loudly as she stood back up with 
the float in hand, a grimace of disgust on her face.  She'd 
definitely need to wash herself off before she went back to the 
table.

	
	Back at the breakfast table, their food had already been 
served and everyone was digging in heartily.  Several comments 
about Mihoshi's absence were made, but they didn't let that stop 
them.

	Mihoshi finally arrived, her jacket thrown over her left 
arm.  "I'm back," she replied somberly.
	
	Nobuyuki and Katsuhito were the only two in position to 
actually see her when she walked up.  Both paused in mid-chew, 
looks of astonishment plastered on their faces.

	Kiyone didn't notice their expressions.  "What happened?" 
she asked, turning around.  "Did you fall in?"  And then she got 
a good look of Mihoshi's wet, clingy blouse and jacket, and her 
sodden curls.  A single drop of water fell off and splatted on 
the floor.

	"Oh, my," Sasami said quietly, getting a look for herself.

	Nobuyuki snickered, once.

	"I was going to the bathroom," she began as she awkwardly 
draped her jacket over the back of her chair, "and I found this 
float on the floor, just like Sasami's."  She opened her hand to 
show them.

	Sasami gasped in astonishment and quickly checked her 
pocket.  Upon finding it empty, she quickly reached for the 
float, and Mihoshi let her have it.

"Well, I asked around and no one claimed it, so I was going to 
bring it back here, but it fell in the toilet, and, well..."  

	Suddenly, Sasami wished she hadn't been so quick to take it 
back from Mihoshi.  "Eww!"

	"That's what I said!" Mihoshi said reasonably.
	
	Kiyone smiled through her own revulsion at the face Sasami 
was making as she held it between two fingers and wiped at it 
with her napkin.  "I certainly hope you washed it."

	"Well of COURSE I washed it," Mihoshi replied indignantly.
	
	Sasami gave a sigh of relief, then carefully tucked it away 
in a more secure pocket in her pants.  "Thank you, Mihoshi, it is 
the one I found.  I didn't know it had fallen out of my pocket."

	"Why did you bring it to breakfast?" Tenchi's grandfather 
asked.  "I think it would be safer in your room."

	Sasami shrugged nervously.  "Um, I don't know, I just 
thought it'd be a good idea...?"  She willed him to believe it, 
and not ask any more awkward questions.  "I'll be sure and leave 
it up there from now on."

	"That's good.  I'd hate to see that little treasure get 
broken."

	"Me, too," Sasami agreed fervently.  She started to pick up 
her fork again, then stopped and reconsidered.

	"Going to go wash your hands first?" Nobuyuki inquired 
innocently.

	"Umm, yes."  And she did.

	
				****************


	"Well, it looks like we're all going swimming again," 
Sasami noted quietly to her pocket as she picked through her 
remaining swimwear in their room.

	"I know," replied the ghost girl, "I was still there when 
everyone was talking about it.  It was right after that when the 
serving lady brushed you and knocked the float out of your 
pocket.  I tried to call to you, but you didn't seem to hear."

	Sasami stopped and stared into space.  "That's strange, I 
never heard you."

	"That's what I thought.  I don't know why you couldn't."

	Sasami hmmed as she finally decided on a two-piece in 
green.

	"I don't want to go back to the beach with you," Miko said 
suddenly.

	"Hmm?  Why?" Sasami asked.

	"Because I'm scared.  You might lose me again, and I'd end 
up back in the ocean.  I don't want to be lost in the sea again.  
Never ever again."  Miko's voice sounded frightened and lost.

	"That's okay," Sasami replied a little too loudly, quick to 
reassure her friend.  "I'm not going to lose you again, but you 
can stay here if you want to."

	"I'd like that."

	"I'll put your float back in that box, and I'll be back 
here before we go to dinner.  You'll have plenty of time to 
think."  Sasami did as she was saying, carefully placing the 
bubble of amber glass back in the soft tissue padding and 
covering it.

	"Thank you," came the reply, soft and sweet as a whisper on 
the wind.

	Miko watched in complete silence as Mihoshi and Kiyone came 
back into the room from wherever they had gone, presumably the 
older men's room from the things they mentioned.  Mihoshi, whom 
Miko privately felt was too silly, even though she made an 
excellent bodyguard, was being chewed out by Kiyone over 
something she'd done or not done, it was hard to tell.  They kept 
using words Miko didn't know, and she just couldn't follow the 
conversation.  It appeared to be about the clothes Mihoshi was 
wearing that had gotten soiled.

	Miko watched as the yellow haired woman started sniffling, 
then actually crying.  The ancient little girl was amazed.  She'd 
never seen a grown woman cry before.  Then again, Mihoshi seemed 
to be special in a lot of ways.  She'd certainly never seen a 
woman with that color hair before.  Or that fast.  Miko was still 
amazed that Mihoshi had caught her float.

	Kiyone finally relented, and even apologized after she was 
admonished by the princess Sasami.  Miko liked Kiyone for some 
reason she couldn't describe.  Kiyone was almost everything Miko 
thought she would expect from a lady in waiting, or a guard to a 
princess.  Once Miko got used to the idea that Kiyone seemed to 
be a leader, she found herself admiring the strange woman from 
another world.  She was tall, beautiful, smart, and utterly 
confident.  Miko wished she could grow up to be like that.

	Miko wished she could grow up at all.

	"Goodbye, Miko, I'll see you again at the end of the day," 
Sasami whispered quickly as she passed the table Miko rested on.  
As she did so, the moment's distraction caused her to put her 
feet wrong and stumble, hitting the edge of the table with her 
side and giving it a strong jolt.  Shaking her head at her own 
clumsiness, Sasami quickly ran to the door where Kiyone was 
waiting to lock it behind them.

	The table was small and narrow, for there wasn't much space 
in the room, but it had four legs on each corner and was stable 
enough that it didn't rock much when the princess brushed it.  
The small cardboard box sitting on it couldn't have fallen off.  
It shouldn't have slid all the way to the edge of the table where 
it could totter back and forth.  There was no way it could have 
fallen off.

	But it did.

	Miko saw it all happen from the outside, which was more or 
less how she perceived herself.  The glass sphere was far too 
small for her to really fit inside, but it anchored her to the 
spot, wherever it might be.

	So when the box fell those few long feet towards the floor, 
Miko knew it.  When the box chanced to land on one corner and 
bounce, Miko saw it.  Miko watched in horror as the movement 
jarred the float out of the box and sent it flying on a short arc 
through the air, where it bounced and rolled on the carpet.  Miko 
was more terrified than she'd been in nearly a hundred years, 
even more scared than when she was nearly flushed down the 
strange toilet earlier that day, when the short glass protrusions 
at the top and bottom caught the carpet and kicked it on a new 
course to stop in the center of the open area of the room. 

	Miko was frightened because she knew what had made it 
happen.  

	For the first time in several decades, Miko felt the oni's 
dark presence.  She knew it was still in the sea, hiding from 
human eyes, away from human enterprise.  It was a long way away, 
still in the depths of the ocean, but she knew it was coming.  
She could feel/see/taste its mind and spirit all around her, even 
though she knew it was far away.  
	
	It was the oni that had made her slip despite careful 
hands.  The oni had caused her fall from the pocket of a 
princess.  And it was the oni's will that she should lay exposed 
and vulnerable on the soft woven mat that covered the floor of 
the guest room.

	Miko sobbed softly in fear and pain, memories of all the 
other times she had felt the oni's hatred and evil coming back 
unbidden, or perhaps they were deliberately sent by the demon to 
torment her.  

	She whimpered, but that was no defense.


	"Are you okay, Daddy?" young Miko asked excitedly.  "Is it 
really big?"

	"Yes, Miko-chan, it's very big," her Daddy gasped, grunting 
with the effort as he hauled on the bunched up net with all his 
might.  "A big octopus maybe, or a shark."  He smiled despite his 
strain.  "It's definitely not just tangled on the rocks."

	"What about a dolphin, Daddy?" she asked.

	He shook his head.  "Oh, no, honey, a dolphin breathes air.  
They drown in fishermen's nets."  Just then the net sagged and 
jerked, pulling his mighty arms straight.  "Nnnngh!" he grunted 
and pulled again on the net, getting enough slack he was able to 
quickly let go with one hand and transfer his grip farther up the 
net.  "This good luck!  This catch will feed all of us with 
enough left over to sell!"  The net jerked again, slowly pulling 
their boat around towards the open ocean, away from the small bay 
they were in.  "If it doesn't get away," he added grimly.

	Miko nodded, eyes wide.  She loved her Daddy, he was so big 
and strong.  She would help him land this fish for her Mommy.

	She scooted behind her father as he worked, wrapping her 
hands in the weave and pulling behind him with all her small 
strength.  "I'll help you, Daddy.  We'll get this fish in."

	Her Daddy had just laughed and pulled in another three 
feet.

	Having scooted to the far side of the wide-bottomed boat 
and run out of room, Miko let go and slid closer to get another 
grip.  But the net wouldn't let go of her.  In her youthful zeal, 
she had buried her hands in the loose weave and twisted it around 
her wrists.  Now, tightened by her pulls, the fibers cut into her 
skin and wouldn't give her enough space to pull free.

	"Daddy?" she asked calmly, a little bit embarrassed.  "I'm 
caught."  
	
	He looked around and saw her struggling to free her hands.  
He frowned.  "Miko-chan, that's dangerous, men have been pulled 
into the sea when they've been caught in their own nets.  Hurry 
and get my knife.  Just cut the net."

	Miko tried, but she couldn't pick up the knife and wield it 
to cut free.  "I can't, Daddy," she replied, a note of fear in 
her voice.  She'd heard those same stories, that the fish of the 
ocean sometimes used the same nets to pull in men.

	"Damn it, girl," her Daddy had said, fear making him harsh.  
"Whatever it is on the other end of this net is so strong it can 
nearly pull me in, and you've gotten yourself tangled in the 
net!"

	"I'm sorry, Daddy!" she said, crying.  "I didn't mean to!"

	Her Daddy calmed himself down.  "I know, honey, I know.  
You were just helping me.  Watch, I'll get my knife and cut 
through the net myself."

	"Okay."  She trusted in her Daddy.

	Miko's father pulled fiercely on the net, pulling in even 
more slack, which he promptly kneeled on.  Then he quickly let go 
with one hand and grabbed his knife.  Once, twice, and again he 
slashed at the net, intending to sever it in two rather than take 
the time to actually free his daughter.  

	Unfortunately, the net was his best.  The cord was woven 
and twisted from the strongest fibers he could get, and it was 
proof even against the rough scales of a shark.  A man's haul of 
fish could be tangled in the net, and it still would not break.  
His dull knife only cut a few strands with each stroke.

	Perhaps sensing that his attention was elsewhere, whatever 
it was under the water picked that moment to struggle back with 
all of its might.  The net tore through his fingers in a rush, 
despite the fact he held on so tightly he lost the ends of his 
fingers.  Her Daddy jerked the knife away as Miko was pulled into 
him, knocking him away into the side of the boat.  

	Miko disappeared into the water with a shriek, and the rest 
of the net, tangled in her legs, was brought with her.

	She thrashed and fought as she was pulled down into the 
dark water, and her mad rush slowed.  Miko floated in place, 
straining for the surface.  She could see the net billowing 
around her, and far above her head was the surface of the water, 
the boat holding her father making a strange shape on the 
rippling surface.

	And then she saw it, swimming for her.

	
	Miko cried out in silence, for there was no one to hear 
her.  It had been awful.  She had drowned as the oni reached for 
her, slipping into blackness.  She feared she would be eaten, but 
she woke up soon after, floating on the surface.  

	She could see her Daddy, even.  Miko called to him, 
screaming for all she was worth.  Her Daddy was crying as he 
rowed the boat around the bay and out to sea.  She was only a few 
dozen yards from him, screaming for him to save her, but he 
didn't hear.  He didn't see her, bobbing there on the waves.

	Miko screamed far beyond anything she'd ever been able to 
do while alive, well past the point she'd have been coughing with 
a raw throat, but he didn't hear.  

	Her Daddy, whom she loved with all her heart, had rowed out 
to sea and left her to float on the waves.

	She'd noticed the oni, then, and her not-breath caught in 
her throat.  It hung motionless below her, watching her with its 
huge, bulbous eyes so yellow.  She thought she saw it smile 
before it slowly sank out of sight.

	It had visited her many times that year, and the next, and 
the next.  Miko had nearly gone insane from loneliness, floating 
on the sea, but something within her made her not notice the 
boredom, nor the rising and setting of the sun.  Time passed, but 
Miko only noticed it when something new and strange happened, 
like the first time she saw a ship, the first time she saw a ship 
without sails, the first time she saw one of the big flying 
things, an airplane.  And the first time she watched another 
little girl die, drowning after she'd swam far out to see to get 
the beautiful sparkly thing floating on the ocean.

	That little girl, her name Miko didn't know, had struggled 
and cried and fought the pull of the ocean until she was less 
than five feet from Miko's prison when her panic-stricken face 
sank beneath the surface, one hand still reaching out for the 
glass, so strong was the compulsion.

	Miko hadn't quite recovered from that. 

	The oni had revisited her, silently praising her work, 
letting her know that it couldn't have lured that girl to her 
doom without Miko's help. 

	She had railed at the evil beast, but it had merely swam 
away, leaving the foul taste of cruel satisfaction in the water.

	And then it happened again, although the girl hadn't really 
been a swimmer, and had succumbed to the undertow less than 
twenty yards from the shore.

	The oni had came back once again, this time holding the 
dead, bloated body in one monstrous claw and stroking the 
billowing hair in a parody of tenderness.  It bit the head off in 
one bite and silently thanked her for the treat as it chewed.

	Miko didn't want to think about that.  Any of it.  Girls 
had died as they tried to claim her many times over the years, 
and it had all started to run together.  She would look away 
every time, unable to bear seeing their faces, of seeing them at 
all.

	Still, she felt her soul grow colder every time she heard 
the awful silence that meant the struggle was over.

	Miko's attention was jerked back to the present as she 
heard a knock on the door.  There was silence for a moment, then 
she heard the handle click.  


	Hikari Fumimoto hummed tonelessly to herself as she opened 
the door and backed into the room, pulling a small laundry cart 
with her which she left in the doorway so that it was slightly 
ajar.  She stepped over the glass float laying on the floor 
without noticing, its warm amber color blending in well enough 
with the light tan carpet.  Then she quickly began straightening  
the room.  

	New plastic cups, still in their wrap, were left in the 
bathroom, along with fresh soap.  The used towels and washcloths 
were gathered and dumped into a laundry bag, and everything was 
wiped down with a combination of rag and mop.  The beds were 
made, but the sheets of this room weren't due to be changed until 
the next day after these people checked out.

	With the speed and surety of long practice, Hikari quickly 
finished the room.  She even picked up a fallen box of tissue and 
put it back on the table she supposed it fell off of.

	Then, as she started blithely walking out the door, 
something _grabbed_ her attention and _forced_ it towards the 
floor.

	There, laying carelessly in the open like a dropped 
diamond, was the glass fisherman's float.

	Hikari looked around warily, but something about that float 
made her want it.  She picked it up by one of the stubs, holding 
it up so that she could look at the pretty thing.  It caught the 
little light in the room and turned it golden amber, rippling and 
refracting it off the many irregularities in its walls.

	Looking at little else but the float, Hikari took a few 
steps forward, blindly reaching for the handle to her cart.

	"Ahem.  Excuse me, Miss?"

	Hikari's head snapped around, a guilty flush spreading on 
her face.  "Oh, excuse me, Ma'am, you startled me!"

	Kiyone stood just in front of the laundry cart and gave her 
a dark glare made even more frightening by the dark red sunburn 
that lit up her face.  "I'm sure I did.  What's that in your 
hand?"

	Guilty, embarrassed panic forced her eyes wide.  She'd been 
working as a maid at this hotel for five years, and she'd never 
once even been tempted to steal anything from a guest's room.  
Now she'd fallen from grace, and sure enough there was someone 
waiting to catch her.  

	"Umm, umm, umm!" she stammered, unable to say anything 
else.

	Kiyone sighed.  This was not the face of a hardened 
criminal.  This was the face of a kid caught with her hand in the 
cookie jar.  "I'm sure you just found it lying on the floor.  You 
were going to put it back, weren't you?"

	"Yes!" squeaked the maid in a high, thin voice.  "I did 
find it laying on the floor!  I'll put it back, honest!"

	"That's fine.  We appreciate you cleaning up the room for 
us," Kiyone said, pushing her way through the door and sliding by 
the cart.

	The maid, grateful that the guest didn't seem to be 
inclined to press charges or have her fired or anything, quickly 
pressed the pretty bauble into Kiyone's hands and pushed her cart 
out the door.  "Thank you, Miss!  I'm done with the room!  I'll 
be going now!"

	"Stay out of trouble," Kiyone said seriously, giving her 
patented 'Policeman's Eye' to the terrified maid.

	"I will!  I will!  I-"

	Kiyone closed the door in the maid's face, unwilling to 
deal with the pathetic eagerness to please the poor woman had 
extruded.  She'd take a hardened criminal over a petty thief any 
day.

	Then she smiled despite herself.  She'd managed to get 
inside the room, alone, without using her key or verifying her 
identity in any way, all by, as her Intimidation 597 professor 
had called it, 'bamfoozeling' someone.  If she was a thief, or a 
police officer without a search warrant, she would have free 
reign to search or loot the room.

	Kiyone smiled.  It was nice to know she hadn't lost the 
magic touch while on forced vacation.

	Then she winced.  Despite the copious amounts of sunblock 
she'd used, she still had a bit of a sunburn, and felt rather ill 
besides.  She put the float back in its box and climbed into bed.

	It was time for a nap.


				****************


	"Kiyone?" Sasami called as Mihoshi unlocked and opened the 
door.  The sound of running water reached her ears as soon as the 
door opened, and she guessed that the older woman must be in the 
shower.  As Mihoshi sat down on the bed, the little princess 
walked over and checked the box.  Sure enough, Miko's float was 
still inside.  Sasami stroked it lightly with one fingertip and 
whispered a soft hello.

	Mihoshi, who, having little else to do at the moment, had 
watched Sasami walk over, chose that moment to speak.  "Gee, 
Sasami, did you think it was going to just get up and walk away 
while you were gone?  Most inanimate objects don't do that, you 
know."

	Sasami jerked, startled.  "Oh, uh, no..."

	Kiyone walked out with her hair wrapped in a towel and 
another around her body.  "Actually, it very nearly did that.  I 
suggest you hide that thing from now on, Sasami, the maid nearly 
walked off with it.  I caught her with it in her hand as she was 
walking out the door."

	Sasami gasped.  "Really?  That's terrible!"

	Kiyone chuckled and shook her head.  "It's bad that it 
happened, but I got a feeling that that was the first, and most 
importantly, the last crime that girl ever thought about 
committing."  Kiyone laughed again, then sighed and shook her wet 
head.  "The look on her face..."

	"Was it that look where they can't decide to laugh or cry 
or wet their pants?" Mihoshi asked in morbid curiosity.

	Kiyone brightened.  "You've seen it?"

	Mihoshi nodded happily.

	"You haven't told me about that one," Kiyone noted as she 
started rubbing her hair briskly.  She stopped abruptly and 
interrupted Mihoshi mid-breath.  "But not now, okay?"

	Mihoshi deflated like a pool mattress with a cat on it.  
"Aww..."

	"You should get a shower, Sasami."  

	Sasami glanced at Kiyone.  

	Kiyone gestured at the little bathroom.  "It's free, unless 
you'd rather go last."

	Sasami shook her head.  "No, I'll go now."

	A bit less than an hour later, Sasami was dressed and 
ready, and Mihoshi was fastening buttons on a nice suit dress.  
Kiyone had already called Nobuyuki and Katsuhito to let them know 
that they were about ready, and had turned on their TV and 
channel surfed while she waited on the other two.

	Deciding that guileless innocence, which wasn't really now 
that she'd thought about it, was better than trying to be sneaky, 
Sasami openly announced her intention of carrying the float with 
her to dinner.

	"Do you think that's a good idea?" Kiyone asked.  "It's 
already fell out of your pocket once.  If Mihoshi hadn't stumbled 
across it, you'd have lost it."

	Sasami nodded.  "I'll be careful which pocket I put it in.  
But if I leave it here, I won't be able to keep an eye on it."

	Kiyone shrugged.  "It's your decision.  Personally, I'd 
just hide it in my suitcase."

	"Oh, don't worry so much, Kiyone," Mihoshi protested.  
"It's like a good luck charm.  Remember that dried pracibunny 
foot I used to carry?"

	"The one that weighed two pounds?"

	"I know it was a little large for me to put in my pocket," 
Mihoshi admitted.

	"Yeah, I remember it," Kiyone replied.  "That was the one 
you had on a strap around your neck.  It made you look like a 
Vinhart hunter-gatherer in uniform.  I also remember that we 
ended up eating it when the engine gave out near Kenji's Nexus 
and we starved for two weeks."

	Mihoshi nodded.  "And it was a very lucky thing I had it, 
too."

	Kiyone grimaced and shuddered.  "Yeah.  Lucky..."

	There was a knock on the door.  Mihoshi, being closest, 
opened it to show Nobuyuki and Katsuhito, both looking very 
spiffy in tailored suits.  

	"Wow!" Mihoshi enthused.  "You both look great!  I didn't 
even know you owned suits like those."

	Nobuyuki exchanged a glance with his father-in-law before 
he answered.  "Well, we don't get to use them very often.  But as 
this is your second to last night on Earth, we wanted to make it 
special.  I've made reservations, like I said, but we're making 
an occasion of it.  It's not often we get a chance to escort two 
young, beautiful girls out to dinner."  He grinned widely and 
nudged his father in law in the ribs.

	Katsuhito also had an amused smile on his face, although it 
wasn't nearly as obvious as Nobuyuki's.  "Both of you look very 
beautiful as well.

	"Thank you," Kiyone replied, blushing.

	"Oh, thank you," Mihoshi replied as well, then looked to 
her partner for guidance.  "Ano, Kiyone?  You're blushing.  Does 
that mean you're embarrassed?"

	Kiyone's eyes narrowed to hard, mean slits and she glared 
at her partner, even as her blush deepened.  "No, Mihoshi, I have 
a sun burn.  My face has been red all day," she growled, daring 
Mihoshi to deny it.

	"Oh, I'm sorry."  Mihoshi looked embarrassed herself.  "I 
didn't know that sun burns got worse after you went inside for a 
few hours, because you're a lot more red now than you were- see?" 
Mihoshi cried, pointing.  "It's still happening.  I don't know, 
Kiyone, do we need to put some cream on that before it gets any 
worse?  I know you've never been able to handle the sun very 
well..."

	Suddenly, Mihoshi blinked and stepped back.  Kiyone was 
standing less than a foot from her without seeming to have 
occupied the intervening space.  As Mihoshi opened her mouth 
again, her partner's hand blurred and the inhalation of breath 
cut of with a grunt.

	"Put a sock in it, Mihoshi."

	"Mmmph!"

	Kiyone turned to her charge.  "Sasami?  Are you ready?"

	The princess nodded, smiling.  "I sure am."

	"Gahh!" Mihoshi complained, making a face as she pulled the 
wadded up sock out of her mouth and laid it on the bed.  "That 
tasted terrible."

	"Come on, Mihoshi," Kiyone said as she guided Sasami out 
the door to the waiting men.

	Shaking her head, Mihoshi followed.

	
				****************


	"Wow, that was wonderful, Mr. Masaki," Mihoshi enthused 
after she swallowed the last bite of well-seasoned steak and 
wiped her mouth with a napkin.  "Thank you so much!"

	"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it," Nobuyuki replied, not 
letting himself think about how much it all had cost him.  It was 
money well spent.

	"Yes, thank you," Kiyone said in a voice that was entirely 
too girlish for her tastes.  "It is a delicious meal."  Unlike 
her friend, Kiyone ate much slower, and still had some meat and 
vegetables left.

	Sasami, too, was still eating, although she 
enthusiastically mmmhmmed in agreement.  She was sitting between 
Mihoshi and Kiyone, with Mihoshi on her left, closest to 
Katsuhito.  Kiyone was sitting beside Nobuyuki, taking care not 
to get anything on her pale tan skirt and button up blouse.  Her 
jacket had been put across the back of her chair.

	Soon everyone was finished and making conversation, 
discussing the events of the day and of the past, especially the 
time since Mihoshi and Ryoko first came to Earth.

	They laughed again at some of the things Ayeka and Ryoko 
had gotten into, and there were many thanks all around for the 
hospitality, help, and excitement that had been brought into 
everyone's lives.

	Nobuyuki nodded wisely as he mentioned that.  "You girls, 
including Ayeka and Ryoko, have been the best thing to happen to 
our household in a long, long time."

	"Things had been somewhat dull," Katsuhito agreed, but 
let Nobuyuki speak his piece.

	"Ever since you and Ryoko came, Tenchi has been growing up 
faster than ever," he said, looking at Mihoshi.  "You've showed 
him that there is more to life than the simple things; that 
there's a whole universe out there waiting to be explored.  I 
think both of you," he continued, but gave a significant look to 
Kiyone, "have been wonderful role models for responsibility and 
duty."  He turned to Sasami.  "And you, Sasami," he paused, 
blanking his expression for a moment as he fought his emotions, 
"You've been like the daughter that we never got a chance to 
have."

	Sasami blushed and looked down at her lap.

	"Achika had always said she wanted a boy and a girl," 
Katsuhito said quietly, using one long finger to wipe beneath his 
glasses.

	Nobuyuki nodded, his face set in a mixture of happiness and 
regret.  "In a way, I suppose you're all like family to us now."  
He grinned.  "We didn't get one daughter, we got many, and it's 
been good on both of our old hearts to see so many young people 
around the house."

	"If nothing else, the exercise we get just trying to keep 
up," his father-in-law said with a smile.

	"Yes, those were some adventures."  Nobuyuki didn't seem to 
mind.

	Sasami suddenly realized that she hadn't checked the pocket 
of her formal kimono in a while, and Miko had been awfully quiet, 
even the few times she'd whispered to her.  Her questing fingers 
quickly found the smooth glass tucked inside her kimono, then, 
without conscious decision, closed around it and drew it out so 
that she could look at it.

	Miko's ghostly form was still etched on the inside of the 
glass, hugging her knees to her chest and pressing her face into 
them.  She looked miserable.

	Sasami stroked one light fingertip over the glass and 
thought a wordless hug.

	"Sasami?  I thought you were going to leave that in your 
room?" Nobuyuki asked when he noticed her toying with it.

	Sasami shrugged.  "I was.  But it was nearly stolen by the 
maid earlier today, and I decided the safest place would be where 
I knew where it was."

	"Stolen?" Tenchi's father asked.

	Kiyone nodded and told the story as Sasami continued to 
look at it.

	Sasami kept looking into the glass, watching Miko.  The 
etching moved slightly, and Sasami thought she saw the girl 
shudder.  "Miko?  Miko, are you okay?" she thought as loudly as 
she could, her muscles tensing reflexively.

	"No," Miko whispered back.

	"Hmm," Katsuhito replied.  "Well, the more valuable a 
treasure is, the more easily it is lost."

	Sasami jerked, realizing that she hadn't been paying 
attention.  She nodded, thinking about the night before when she 
first met the ghost, and all the other times she'd nearly lost 
it.  "It's almost like it's trying to get away, but that's 
silly," she said in a subdued tone of voice.

	"May I see it again?" he asked.  When Sasami nodded he 
stretched out his hand and accepted it.

	Miko stirred and looked around for the first time in hours, 
sensing the change as the gentle old man touched the glass and 
Sasami's cool, vibrant energy faded.  The man had a warm, 
comforting feel, but a wave of hatred washed over her, making her 
gasp in her mind.  Once again, she felt the oni's distant anger, 
and her vision changed.

	Katsuhito no longer looked like an elderly but still fit 
gentleman.  His cheeks sagged and flapped as he talked, and the 
fingers which caressed her prison were like sticks stuck through 
rotten pieces of meat.  His rotten, putrid face loomed large in 
her vision as he held her close, and she could see the torn flaps 
of skin where his nose had been flap as he sniffed deeply.  

	Miko couldn't stand the horror and quickly looked away, 
unable to understand when or how he had drowned.

	Katsuhito nodded after a moment.  "Yes, I can see how you 
might think that," he said to Sasami as he handed it back.  "Have 
you smelled it?  It smells strongly of the sea, despite having 
been washed."  He glanced at Mihoshi.  "Repeatedly."

	The scene was no less horrible for Miko when she looked 
away.  Where Sasami had been sitting was a bloated, pasty white 
corpse, the once lustrous hair snarled and tangled as it floated 
around her head, and as she watched one matted clump tore loose 
from her scalp, taking a piece with it as it floated across the 
table.  Her eyes were gaping, bloodless holes ringed by the 
tattered bits of her eyelids, and her nose, lips, and one ghastly 
rent in her left cheek all showed signs of constant nibbling from 
fish.  The fingers on the hand she withdrew back across the table 
were skeletal, ragged things that belonged on a zombie, not a 
vibrant young girl.

	Sasami did as he suggested and held it close to her nose.  
She took a deep breath.  "That's right!" she exclaimed.  "It does 
smell like the ocean!"  She frowned and took another breath.  
"And something else...  Kind of like rotten fish."

	Miko shuddered and buried her head in her arms, hoping, 
praying, asking for anyone, anyone at all, to make it stop.

	Katsuhito nodded.  "Something about that float makes me 
think it still belongs to someone.  It has a foul taint to it."

	Sasami frowned.  She'd felt nothing like that from Miko.

	"Anyway, I suggest you be careful with it."

	Sasami nodded, still looking at it.

	"So," Nobuyuki began, changing the subject to something 
lighter.  "What would you girls like to do now?" he asked with a 
grin.

	The trio looked at each other questioningly.  "Well, I 
don't know," Kiyone replied for them all.  "Did you have 
something in mind?"

	Nobuyuki nodded and shot a look at Katsuhito.  "Dancing?"

	"Dancing."

	"I think we'd like to carry you all out dancing," Nobuyuki 
said as he returned his attention to the girls.

	Kiyone laughed softly to herself.  "We'll, I guess we're 
going dancing."
	
	"You know," Nobuyuki said as they all stood and he left a 
stack of bills on the table, including a tip, "It's not often a 
man gets to go dancing along with his father-in-law, especially 
when none of the girls they're dancing with are either his 
daughters or his wife.  I think there are rules against this sort 
of thing."

	They all laughed as they left for the dance floor.  Except, 
of course, for Miko.

	
				****************


	Several hours later, tired but not exhausted, the men 
escorted the girls back to their hotel room and retired to their 
own for the night.  Both had danced surprisingly well, Nobuyuki 
because he'd danced more while he was young and Katsuhito because 
he was a fast learner.

	The GP officers giggled and laughed, reduced back to 
schoolgirls by the occasion, and Sasami fit right in.  They had 
all had a wonderful time on this, their second to last night on 
Earth.

	"Sasami," Miko said suddenly, startling the young princess 
with her tone of voice.  "We need to talk.  Can you find 
somewhere where the others can't hear you?"

	"Yes," Sasami whispered under her breath, her laughing mood 
gone in an instant by the intensity of the question.  "I can go 
out onto the balcony."

	"No!" Miko hissed.  "Stay inside.  Stay close to your 
guardians."

	Sasami looked around.  Kiyone and Mihoshi were still 
talking animatedly as they discussed the night, and both were 
sitting on their beds and changing into more casual wear.  Her 
eye fell on the bathroom, and she slipped inside.

	"Okay, we can talk now, as long as we do it quietly," 
Sasami said as soon as she closed the door to the small bath.

	"Good, because this is important," Miko said quickly.  "All 
day, strange things have been happening.  Like you said earlier, 
it's like I'm trying to escape.  I _was_ on the floor when the 
maid found me.  You bumped the table when you left, and I fell.  
I shouldn't have, but I did anyway.  I keep slipping out of your 
hands when I shouldn't.  And every time something like that 
happens...  I can feel him.  He wants me back."

	"Slow down, please," Sasami protested.  "Who?  Who wants 
you back?"

	"The oni," Miko said fearfully.  "And I can feel him right 
now.  It's like your Grandfather said, he wants me back.  I can 
feel his anger all around me.  He hates you so much..."  There 
was a choked sob.

	"It's okay, Miko," Sasami assured her.  "I'm here, and so 
are Mihoshi and Kiyone.  We won't let him take you."  She started 
to take the float out of her pocket.

	Suddenly, it jumped rather forcefully in her hand.  Despite 
the surprise, the little princess was able to keep her fingers 
wrapped around it.  She held on with all her might as it twitched 
and jerked in her hand, and was forced to hold it to her chest 
with both hands to keep it from getting away.

	"What's happening?" Sasami whispered in fear, her arms 
straining with every jerk.

	"He wants you to let go," Miko said, also frightened.  
"He's telling you to let go, that he's going to drown you and 
make fish eat you and, on and on!"

	"I won't let go," Sasami replied fiercely.  "Tell him I 
won't let go."

	"Sasami, please!"

	"No."  

	And then she could feel it, see it in her mind's eye, hear 
the voice that was not a voice, a sound like the roar in a 
seashell, like bubbles in the depths.  She hated herself, wished 
she would die painfully, wished she'd spend eternity alone-

	"No!"

	-she would drift on the currents, watching as fish ate her 
eyes, chewed off her fingers, and stripped her flesh.  She would 
float on the water and no one would care.  She saw something huge 
swimming below her.  Something with dark scales and wicked claws, 
something with malice in its heart, which opened a cavernous 
mouth full of teeth and swam up at a frightening speed-

	Sasami shrieked in fright.

	-Mihoshi and Kiyone were pounding at the door, wanting in, 
but it was locked somehow, and even a powerful kick from Kiyone 
couldn't splinter the frame.  There was no one who could save 
her, not now, not ever, Miko would be alone again, this time 
forever-

	Sasami sobbed and forced her eyes closed against the 
visions, but it wasn't something she saw, it was something she 
knew.

	The float grew hot in her hand, the heat of the hot sun on 
the open ocean multiplied by all the hatred and pain the oni had 
wrought.

	Her skin started to blister, but Sasami held on, even 
against Miko's repeated pleas that she let go, that she was 
hurting.  Sasami let go with one hand and resisted the powerful 
urge to open the other, choosing instead to turn the water in the 
sink on and plunge her hands beneath it, anything to cool the 
burning glass.

	The water heated in an instant, scalding even more of her 
hand.  The visions were gone, all of the evil power going to make 
her drop the glass-

	Something inside her awoke.  A part of her that had long 
been quiet was now speaking out, and she knew that she had won.  
"No," she insisted quietly, ignoring the heat of the glass which 
no longer had the power to burn.  "I will not let you have Miko 
_ever_ _again_."

	The presence faded, leaving her to sag to the floor, 
exhausted by her efforts.  The door burst open a moment later, 
having never been locked at all, and Mihoshi and Kiyone ran in.  

	"Sasami, what happened?" Kiyone demanded, her GP pistol in 
her hand.

	Mihoshi was quick to drop to her knees and hold Sasami, 
examining her for injuries with a competence born of fright and 
fear for her charge.

	Sasami was silent for a moment, then gently slipped the 
float back into her pocket and held her hands out for inspection.  
"I burned myself," she admitted, averting her eyes and wiping 
tears from them with one long sleeve.  "I accidentally turned the 
hot water on and put my hands in, see?"  She winced when Mihoshi 
touched the red skin, causing the blonde to apologize and hurry 
away to find some cream.

	Kiyone nodded and put away her gun before she walked over 
to the sink and turned the water off, noting silently that only 
cold water was running into the sink.  "Well, you certainly 
scared the both of us.  Why did you lock the door, Sasami?"

	Sasami looked at her in honest confusion.  "But I didn't.  
Was it stuck?"

	Kiyone shrugged.  "I suppose it must have been."

	Just then Mihoshi came back with a jar of coco butter and a 
couple of pain relievers.  Sasami obediently swallowed the pills 
and took a drink from a plastic cup of water Kiyone offered her, 
then allowed herself to be carried back into the bedroom and 
fussed over.  The cool cream stung a little at first, but quickly 
soothed her hands.  She closed her eyes and lay back on the bed 
with a sigh, putting one arm over her eyes so that the sleeve 
covered her face.  

	Kiyone sat on the edge of the bed.  "Does it feel better, 
now?"  

	Sasami nodded simply.  She was tired.

	"Tell me, Sasami.  What's wrong?" Kiyone insisted a little 
more firmly.

	The young princess frowned beneath her sleeve.  She didn't 
want to try and explain all that had happened with the ghost, 
Miko, so she tried to think of something more plausible to 
explain for her odd behavior.  "I don't know what you're talking 
about," she replied. 

	Kiyone gave her a frank look.  "Sasami, you haven't been 
yourself all day.  You've been acting strange, talking to 
yourself, going off alone..."

	Sasami shrugged again.  "I keep thinking that I'm going to 
have to leave soon," she admitted truthfully.

	Kiyone patted her leg.  "I know you don't want to go back 
to Jurai, but Sasami, I'm sure your parents miss you..."

	"No they don't," she replied petulantly, startling herself 
with the vehemence of her reply.  She would rather have tried to 
explain the ghost than try to have this talk about her parents 
grownups seemed to want to have about once a year.

	"Of course they do.  You're their little girl."

	Mihoshi piped up from a nearby chair.  "Mommies and daddies 
always miss their little girls when they're gone, that's what my 
Mommy and Daddy always told me when I was little."

	"Not mine."  Sasami rolled over suddenly, accidentally 
kicking Kiyone's arm with her foot.  "All they ever saw in me was 
more status.  I'm not their daughter, I'm their second princess."

	"Oh, come now, Sasami," Kiyone replied.  "While I'm sure 
that you have to go to a lot of private schools and special 
tutors to prepare you for your rank and station, they still love 
and care about you, and miss you when you're gone."

	"How would you know?" she replied angrily.  "I've never 
even seen Mommy or Daddy for more than a week at a time.  As soon 
as I come back they send me somewhere else."

	Kiyone nodded unseen.  "They want you to know your duties 
and be loved by the Empire.  I've seen the videos and heard the 
reports.  You're always going to some other part of the Empire to 
spend time, bless a new park, meet lots of people...  Princesses 
have to do these things if they're to be a good princess."

	"I'm tired of being a good princess," she groused.  "I 
always have to worry about what everyone will think about me.  I 
have to be nice, and responsible.  I have to be perfect!  If I'm 
not then someone, usually Mommy, will sit down and tell me that 
I'm being immature and that I had better stop, or else."

	Kiyone started to put a comforting hand on her, then 
reconsidered.  "I guess..." she started, then trailed off.  "I 
guess it just goes with the job, Sasami.  It may not be fair, but 
is it fair for someone to be born into a poor family, or to be 
born handicapped?  These things happen."  Kiyone use her hands 
for emphasis, her voice full of sympathy.  "You may have all the 
money you'll ever need, and you don't have a brain defect that 
makes you autistic, but you were born the second Princess of 
Jurai.  Just being a princess puts you in a glass prison.  You 
can't get out of it and everyone can see in."

	"Sometimes I just want to make everybody mad so they'll 
leave me alone."  Sasami paused for a moment, but just as Kiyone 
started to reply she interrupted her.  "That, and I think it'd be 
kinda fun," she admitted.  "Ryoko sure does enjoy it."

	Kiyone winced.  "Ah, Sasami, I don't think Ryoko is an 
appropriate role model for a young girl."

	Sasami twisted around to look at her.  "So?  Why does 
everything have to be appropriate?  Can't something just be fun?"

	Kiyone nodded, thinking about the past two days and her 
last one tomorrow.  

	"Lot's of things are fun," Mihoshi added.  "I think being 
on Earth has been kinda fun.  Being a GP officer is fun.  The 
amusement parks on Happyworld are fun."

	"Fun is where you find it," Kiyone agreed.  "But you've got 
to do your duties first."  Her eyes flicked in Mihoshi's 
direction involuntarily.  "I know how you feel about your 
parents, because I felt the same way about mine."

	Sasami's eyes narrowed and she quickly buried her face in 
her pillow.  Not another 'I've been there because I'm so much 
older and more experienced so chin up.' talk.  She hoped she'd 
never be like that when she grew up.

	"Both of my parents worked full time jobs," Kiyone 
continued, unaware of her less than sympathetic audience.  "The 
only time I did see them was when they interrogated me about my 
grades, activities, what kind of career I was working toward..."  
She smiled a wan little smile.  "My parents were very achievement 
oriented.  Much like yours."

	 Sasami allowed that she may have a point.  "I still don't 
want to go back.  I like it here."

	Mihoshi nodded sadly.  "So do I.  It's a nice planet, I 
think it'll make a great vacation spot when they finally lift the 
'hands off' warning.  But you can always come back to visit 
again, like Mr. Masaki said."

	Sasami shook her head, fighting the tears that welled in 
the corners of her eyes.  "No I won't.  I'll be too busy running 
around the galaxy again, being a princess."

	"Of course you'll be back," Mihoshi said like it was the 
most obvious thing in the universe.  "How could you not come 
back?  Unless you decided you really didn't like it and told 
everyone that you didn't want to go, or something.  I know I'll 
never go back to Rewlnair.  That planet smelled like a bathroom.  
A bathroom that really needed cleaning."

	If it had been Kiyone to say that, Sasami probably wouldn't 
have believed her.  But Mihoshi never lied, and she spoke like 
she knew something Sasami didn't.  

	"Why would I be allowed to come back?" she asked, sitting 
back up and turning around.  

	"You travel with your sister often, don't you?" Kiyone 
asked.  "She's getting married to Tenchi, right?"

	"Well, maybe," Sasami said doubtfully.  "If she gets 
permission.  Mommy could still say no."

	"Oh, I'm sure that won't matter to Ayeka," Mihoshi said, 
giggling.  "I've never seen her take no for an answer.  Why, 
there was this one time, she had Tenchi tied down to a pole and 
she-"
	
	"Mihoshi!" Kiyone exclaimed, scandalized.

	Mihoshi clapped both hands over her mouth.  "Oh, right!  I 
wasn't supposed to ever tell anyone I'd saw that, because 
Grandfather was going to be so mad that they'd broken the-"
	
	"Shut up, Mihoshi!" Kiyone started replying, but stopped 
when Sasami put a hand on her arm.  

	"No, wait!  I want to hear this story," pleaded the 
princess.

	"But, you shouldn't be listening to this sort of thing," 
Kiyone replied, blushing.

	"Let her talk and I'll tell you where Ryoko's secret 
hideout is," she offered.

	"You will?" Kiyone blurted before she could stop herself.

	"Well, no," Sasami admitted.  "But I will tell you why we 
don't have any more feather pillows in the house."

	"Ooh, is it a funny story?" Mihoshi asked excitedly.  

	Sasami giggled.  "Ayeka sure laughed a lot."

	Kiyone leaned forward.  "Do tell."

			
				****************


	Sasami slept lightly until well after midnight, tossing and 
turning, still plagued by dreams of dark, swimming monsters and 
drowning.  She felt Miko's loneliness, and shared it.  She saw a 
man, tall, strong and rugged, his face lined with equal parts 
hardship and laughter.  He picked her up and laughed, then faded 
away.  He was replaced by a woman, pretty and slender, her dark 
black hair tied away from her face as she worked at some unseen 
task.  She looked up and smiled at Sasami, motioning for her to 
come over, but she faded as the princess ran.  A powerful sense 
of loss filled her, because Mommy and Daddy were gone, and they'd 
been gone a long, long time.

	Sasami woke up with tears in her eyes.

	"I think...  I think I'd like to go home now," whispered 
the ghost of the long dead little girl, her glass prison still 
tucked away in the pocket of Sasami's sleepwear.

	Sasami nodded.  "Before the monster gets you again."

	The ghost silently agreed.

	Slipping out of bed without waking Kiyone was easy.  Sasami 
quietly put on her shoes and snuck out of the room into the dim 
yellow light of the hall.  She wasn't sure why, but she knew she 
needed to do this where it all started.

	The ocean.

	The hotel was quiet at this time of night, with only a few 
dozen people walking its cavernous rooms and long hallways, 
mostly security guards and staff, and a steady trickle of 
partygoers staggering to their rooms.  None of them noticed the 
small girl hurrying behind plants and around corners to avoid 
being noticed as she steadily made her way to the lobby.

	There she almost had some trouble, as she didn't think the 
door security staff would be inclined to let a young girl roam 
the streets alone.  Instead, she found a large group of laughing, 
rowdy people actually leaving the hotel and stuck close behind 
them, looking for all the world like child following neglectful 
parents.  

	This worked well, and she was soon able to get out and 
free.  Sasami lost no time running toward the sounds of the waves 
splashing against the shore.

	Once she neared the water, Sasami paused to kick off her 
shoes and revel in the cool sand on her feet.  She walked forward 
more, and soon the waves were washing in around her, chilling her 
toes and erasing the prints she left behind her.  She didn't stop 
until she was knee deep in the water and the froth of the waves 
almost touched the bottom of her gown.

	"Thank you, Sasami."  Miko didn't need to say what for.

	"You're welcome."  Sasami stared out over the moonlit ocean 
at a ship's lights, one of several traveling close to the 
horizon.   "I miss my parents, too."

	"He's out there, you know." 

	Sasami nodded.  "I know.  I can feel him."

	"I think you should hurry and get away," Miko cautioned.  
"I don't want you getting hurt."

	"Okay."  Sasami grabbed at the material of her gown, 
twisting the mouth of the pocket closed and wadding the material 
up around the glass.  She grabbed it in both hands, then 
hesitated.  "Miko?"

	"Yes, Sasami?"

	"I'll remember you.  I love you, and I hope you find your 
parents."

	Miko sighed, crying softly.  "I love you, too, Sasami, 
thank you.  I'll never forget you."

	Sasami wiped away a tear and nodded.  "Goodbye, Miko."  
Then she squeezed the float in the material with all her 
strength.  

	Despite it seeming to be as thin as a soap bubble, the 
glass refused to break.  Sasami shook it, and hit her hands 
together repeatedly, anything to break it.  Nothing she tried 
worked.

	"Sasami!  He's coming!" Miko shouted out in warning.

	Sasami stopped her futile attempts to bust the float and 
looked around, noticing for the first time that the ocean had 
turned as flat and still as glass.

	Something big and dark broke the water in the center of the 
patch of water that reflected the moon's image back up at her.  
Something with a humped back, misshapen, horned head, and burning 
yellow eyes.

	"litttlehuman foolissshgirl..." it said in a voice like the 
roar in a seashell, like the bubbles in the depths,  "didyou 
tthink iwould lett myttreasssure go soeasssy?"

	
				****************

				
	High up in the hotel room shared by the three girls, 
Mihoshi's eyes snapped open.  "Sasami!" 

	Kiyone bolted upright an instant later, already realizing 
that she was the only one in bed.  "Sasami?  Mihoshi, find her!"

	"She's at the beach!"


				****************


	Sasami gasped in fright at the demon's appearance, her 
heart thudding in her chest.  This wasn't how it was supposed to 
go.

	"ohyesss...  thississ how ittalwayss goesss..." the evil 
creature bubbled.  "come littletthing," it crooned, subtly 
beguiling her.  "comeswim witthme."

	Sasami took a step forward, trembling.  "I don't want to," 
she whispered.

	"No, Sasami!" Miko cried in her mind.  "Get out of the 
water!"

	"come," it commanded.  "you cannottwillnott ressisstt me!"

	Sasami stopped.  It was surprisingly easy.  

	"COME!" it roared, and the sea boiled around her.

	"No," she replied simply.  She could feel the trees she 
shared a link with, and the still young sapling that would one 
day be her true ship spread its comforting, many-hued power 
through her mind and body.  No, this little fish could not hurt 
her.

	"YOU," it roared again, this time not with sound.  

	"You see, Miko?  He's not so scary.  He's just all talk."  
Sasami glared as fiercely as she was able at the monster in the 
sea, who still hadn't gotten any closer to shore.

	"isssee..." it said, calming down.  "icannot force 
littlehumanyou."

	"That's right," Sasami said bravely, nodding.  "You can't.  
The trees protect me."

	"Is that what that is?" Miko dared ask, feeling some of the 
power channeling into her young protector.  "I've never felt 
anything like this!"

	The ugly, deformed head rose up enough for her to see the 
water dripping off its foul teeth and rounded chin.  "but ifyou 
wantt my ttreasssure...  youmusttt _take_ itt fromme..."  The 
threat given, it slowly slipped back beneath the surface, not 
even leaving a ripple in the glassy smooth water to show it had 
been there.

	Doubt entered Sasami's mind.  She didn't know if she could 
do that.  

	"Sasami?" the ghost asked uncertainly.

	"I don't know what to do," she admitted, a little scared.  
She blinked in astonishment as a perfectly smooth bubble grew out 
of the water a few yards out from her, where it was deeper.  The 
bubble grew bigger and bigger, far beyond anything normally 
possible in water.

	And then it popped, releasing the sound contained within.

	"DIE."

	With a horrible sucking sound, a huge area of the ocean 
surface dropped out of sight, leaving a crater in the water two 
dozen feet across about fifty yards from shore.  The surrounding 
water began to rush into the hole, but it, too, disappeared.  
Soon it was a powerful whirlpool, sucking at everything nearby.

	Including Sasami.

	The water rushed away from the shore in a torrent, knocking 
the little girl off her feet and dragging her kicking and 
screaming toward the gaping maw.

	"AAAH!" she screamed.  "Someone help me!"

	"Sasami!  Swim hard!" Miko cried encouragingly.  "You've 
got to make it to shore!"

	"I can't!" Sasami cried, panicking.  The shore got further 
and further away, no matter how hard she kicked and paddled.  The 
water sucked and pulled at her gown, almost like hands were 
dragging her away.  Salt water stung her eyes and made them cry, 
and the undertow threatened at any moment to carry her beneath 
the surface.

	"You've got to try!  Don't let him get you!"

	"Sasami!  Saasaamii!" 

	Her heart leapt, and she caught sight of two figures 
running as fast as they could over the beach through her blurry 
eyes.  

	"Hold on, Sasami!" Kiyone called, running down the now 
exposed sand where the water should have been.

	Hope renewed, Sasami kicked even harder, and soon two pairs 
of strong hands were grabbing onto her, helping her keep her head 
above water.

	"I've got you, Sasami!" Mihoshi said, pulling her back 
towards shore.

	"But who's got us?!" Kiyone wanted to know.
	
	"AHHH!  We're all going to drown!" Mihoshi cried, splashing 
about futilely.

	"Calm down, Mihoshi!  Use your control cube!" Kiyone 
ordered.

	"Ahhh!  We're going to drown!" Sasami cried, finally 
panicking.

	Mihoshi grabbed it from where it had been clinging to her 
waist with one hand and paddled hard with the other.  A quick 
check showed that they were now only a little ways from the 
whirlpool, and picking up speed fast.

	"Hurry!"

	By sheer chance, or maybe it was some nugget of training 
that had actually sank in, Mihoshi twisted it just right the 
first time.  A big yellow ring materialized around them, and they 
found themselves splashing frantically in a foot of water on the 
rubbery floor that made up the inside of the ring.

	"Quick!  Grab the ropes!" Kiyone said, grabbing Sasami and 
wrapping a length of rope handhold around them both.  Mihoshi 
grabbed one as well.

	"Miko!" Sasami yelled, letting go with one hand and 
grabbing for the glass in her pocket.  Amazingly, it was still 
there.

	"Here we go!" Kiyone cried as their craft pitched over the 
rim of the whirlpool and started a short spiral down.

	"Whee!" Mihoshi added, caught up in the moment. 

	They dropped ten feet below sea level, then simply stopped 
at the bottom, spinning in time with the water circling around 
them.

	"Hey, we stopped."  Mihoshi looked around in surprise and 
wonder.

	"We stopped?" Sasami asked, also looking around.

	"But, how?" Kiyone wondered.

	The water rushed down, nearly to the sea floor, which 
wasn't very deep here, and somehow dissipated.  But the life raft 
was far too buoyant to be pulled beneath the water, and it simply 
hung there as the water rushed past to foam and disappear just 
below.

	"Take THAT you stupid oni!" Sasami called.

	The water stopped.

	"Uh oh," Mihoshi said, voicing her opinion.

	With no force to keep it in shape, the water rushed in from 
all sides, nearly drowning them.  But despite now being 
completely full of water, the super light craft simply popped 
back to the surface, actually taking to the air for a moment 
before it splashed back down with a chorus of screams.

	"Whew!  What a ride!" 

	"Yeah!" Mihoshi agreed.  "But, umm...  What just happened?"

	Kiyone nodded.  "Yes, Sasami?  Would you mind telling us 
why you were out here, alone, nearly getting drowned?  And what 
made that whirlpool in the water?"

	Sasami squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.  "It 
was the oni."

	"What's an oni?" Mihoshi asked.

	Sasami shrugged and decided to tell all she knew.  "I don't 
really know.  It's a kind of Earth monster, I think.  There was a 
girl in that fishing float that I found.  The oni put her spirit 
in there a long time ago.  I was just trying to let her out, but 
the monster came and tried to get me."

	Kiyone frowned.  "A ghost?  Does this have anything to do 
with what happened earlier?"

	Sasami nodded.  "Unh huh.  It was the oni.  It can control 
water."

	Mihoshi nodded.  "Makes sense to me.  I've heard of beings 
that could do that."

	Kiyone glanced at her with an unreadable expression.  
"Well, we'd better get back to shore before it attacks again."  
Kiyone looked around the small craft.  "Mihoshi, where're the 
controls?"

	"Umm, I don't know.  They're here somewhere..."  

	The two of them started feeling around the sides, 
eventually stopping when Kiyone found a small box attached on the 
inside of the ring.  By pushing at the controls through the 
rubbery material, she was able to make the raft move towards 
shore under its own power.  It was a short trip, and soon they 
were standing on sand again while Mihoshi tried to de-materialize 
it again.

	"Now, Sasami, we need to do something about the spirit," 
Kiyone began.

	"Her name is Miko," Sasami said, fishing out the float and 
holding it up for inspection.  "She wants to thank you for saving 
her from the maid."

	"Hello, Kiyone," whispered the high, girlish voice in 
Kiyone's head.

	She jumped.

	"Thank you for saving me.  And Sasami.  You're very brave."

	"Oh, err, well," she stuttered, not sure if she liked the 
idea of talking with the dead.  Such things were strictly taboo 
in her home culture.

	"Do you have any idea how I can break the float, Kiyone?" 
Sasami asked in concern.  "Miko says the oni will keep trying to 
take her away until he gets her, and she wants to move on."

	"Yes, that's a very good idea," Kiyone agreed.  "We should 
break the seal, somehow.  Hey, here's an idea.  Let's give it to 
Mihoshi.  She can break anything."

	Mihoshi looked up from a small mountain of building canvas 
that had somehow gotten materialized on the beach.  "Huh?"

	"No, wait, I think I know how," Sasami replied 
thoughtfully.  "I think I'm old enough, now."  She brought the 
float back down and cradled it in both hands.  She looked up.  
"Kiyone?  Mihoshi?  Will you come with me?"

	The dark haired GP officer could only nod.

	The two of them walked back into the water, this time 
stopping when it covered their ankles.  Mihoshi quickly joined 
them, picking subspace lint out of her hair.

	Sasami stood between them, but separate, her hands clasped 
as in prayer with the amber glass trapped between them.

	She prayed.

	Sasami asked the trees to help her, to give her strength as 
she asked.  She prayed that Miko would find her parents, wherever 
they went.  She asked that the evil magic be broken.

	A small, floating log appeared in front of her face, 
quickly followed by another, and another.  Soon there were dozens 
of logs surrounding her, hanging motionless in the air.

	"Yes," the princess of Jurai said aloud.  "I can do this."

	"Goodbye, Sasami," Miko whispered.  "And thank you, Kiyone, 
Mihoshi."

	"I'll miss you," Sasami whispered back.

	The ocean whirled and splashed around her-

	and Sasami crushed the prison between her palms.

			
				****************


	"Aren't you going to swim, Sasami?  It's your last day on 
Earth, you know," Nobuyuki prodded.  

	He, Katsuhito, and Sasami were still seated in beach chairs 
high up on the beach, sipping colas and watching Kiyone and 
Mihoshi race to out swim each other along the beach.

	"I will," Sasami replied thoughtfully.  "But I think I'll 
just sit here for a while."

	"Well, okay, if that's what you want."  Nobuyuki's 
expression clearly showed that he'd never met a little girl that 
would rather sit and watch others play than actually have fun on 
the beach herself.

	"Now, now," Grandfather said.  "She's probably tired.  She 
has been swimming for the past two days, you know."

	Sasami shook her head.  "It's not that.  I just want to 
remember everything, so I'm looking really hard."

	"Ah, you seek to 'etch the image in your mind forever'."  
Katsuhito nodded.  "Yes, I can understand that."

	"Well, Sasami," Nobuyuki said after a moment, "I just want 
you to remember that we'll never forget you, and we hope you'll 
come back to visit us when you get the chance."

	Sasami nodded.  "Yes, I'm sure I'll see you again at the 
wedding.  I'm looking forward to it."  

	"Our family joined as one..." Tenchi's father said 
lovingly.  "You know, I've always considered you and Ayeka as if 
you were the daughters Achika and I never had."

	Sasami smiled.  "Thank you.  I can't thank you enough for 
letting us stay.  I've really felt at home here on Earth."

	They watched as Mihoshi pulled ahead of Kiyone by about ten 
feet, then collided with another swimmer in a tangle of arms and 
legs.  Kiyone raced by, doing the backstroke so she could laugh 
at her partner.  Mihoshi's hasty apologies barely made it to 
their ears over the spray of water and shrieks of the gulls.

	Sasami giggled.  

	Katsuhito chuckled at the sight.  "You know, I bet 
traveling with those two is an adventure in its own right.  
There's no telling what they'll get into."

	Sasami giggled.  "Don't worry, Grandfather.  I'll look out 
for them."  More quietly, she added, "Just as they looked out for 
us."




	Washu: The next chapter is an experimental work where you, 
the reader, get to see everything from a first person POV, inside 
their head. 

	Ryoko: In Aurora of Rainbow Fire chapter six part A, ride 
along with me as I return triumphantly to my favorite hangout and 
show my new pets to my old friends, and take care of a few things 
that popped up in my absence.

	Ayeka: In AoRF chapter six part B, see things as I when we 
visit a notorious den of sin and corruption.  Grandmother will be 
so excited when she meets _my_ pets. 

	Tenchi: In part C, you'll get a glimpse of what it's like 
to be me.

	Washu: Try not to be too critical of Aurora of Rainbow Fire 
chapter six, because remember, it's all very experimental.