Disclaimer:  Pioneer, not me.  Except in the case of Riko.

=-=-=-=-=
First Knight

Side Story:  A Day in the Life

Brian Burke
Tenchii@hotmail.com
=-=-=-=-=

        As Misa relaxes naked in the bath, she ponders about  a few things.
It's
been two years since the wedding of Ryoko and Tenchi.  Things have been
settling down recently.

        Well, since Ayeka is on Jurai, she hasn't been able to fight with
Ryoko.
As the name sticks in her thoughts, she wonders how her sister is doing.  As
for her other sister, she still remembers Ryoko's wedding night.

        Sasami didn't move for three hours.  It was kinda funny when
everyone went
about there business, and she just sat there, frozen.  Misa's own timeline
was so much different.  No Ryoko.  No Mihoshi.  No Kiyone.  It was kind of
boring, when you stop to think about it.  The next day, she started wearing
her hair down, like Misa's.  After a minor haircut, (since Sasami's hair
trailed for a foot behind her), she looks more like her sister.

        One thing that really changed was because Misa forced it to change.
The
event that caused one of Misa's life tragedies was averted.  In her original
timeline, it nearly killed Sasami.  Misa did everything she could to make
sure her sister didn't get hit by the same thing.

        Looking out the dome of the onsen, Misa looks towards the house.
"Things
are so much different, now." Different in many ways.  For one, Riko never
existed at this point in time.  And now, she's going through school.  Since
Earth is Misa's home, now, it is Riko's as well.  For that, she is sending
her daughter to school here, rather than Jurai.

        Standing, her wet, nude body glistens in the light of dawn.  As she
stretches her muscles, she hears a few crack as they are driven from
relaxation.  If it were her timeline, she would have been Tsunami by now.
That's another thing about this timeline.  She is no longer attached to
Tsunami.

        Yui and Riko have been getting along great.  Riko is acting like the
perfect older sister.  Feeling her legs finally stretched, Misa wraps a
towel around her bare body and walks to the door.  "Time to get Riko ready,"
she says to herself.  Putting on her kimono, she keeps from freezing her wet
body on this chilly autumn day.

=-=-=-=-=
        As she walks in the cold weather to the house, she really regrets
losing
the inter-dimensional bath.  During another fight, Ayeka and Ryoko
completely trashed the inside of it.  When Misa tried to stop the argument,
her added power level caused the bath to de-stabilize.  Throwing the pair
out, she escaped herself just as the inter-dimensional bath vanished
forever.

        Opening the door, she curses herself for acting so foolishly.

        Not a month later, Washu built the new onsen.  Actually, this one is
much
better, for the fact you can't get trapped in it.  It's not as good for the
fact it requires a bit of a hike.  No problem, except on cold days like
this.

=-=-=-=-=
        After dressing in a sweater and slacks, Misa walks downstairs and
can
already smell Sasami's cooking.  Misa still has a few tricks up her sleeve
that Sasami does not, but that doesn't come between them.

        "Morning, Misa," the teenager says brightly.

        "Morning, Sasami.  Anyone else up?"

        "Devon and Tenchi are practicing, of course.  Kiyone and Ryoko are
nearby,
I guess.  So, it's just us, again."  As Misa approaches, Sasami pours two
cups of herbal tea.

        Sipping her tea, "how's your own training coming?" she asks.

        Sipping some tea herself, she sits next to her sister.  "Alright, I
guess.
Tenchi's a good teacher."

        "Yeah, I know," she responds.  "He taught me, too, remember?"

        "Yeah, I remember."  As she sits peacefully, her mind gets stuck on
that
one thought again.

        "Sasami," Misa reminds, "need I remind you-"

        "No.  I don't need to be reminded.  But, why me?  Why not you?  He
wouldn't
have to wait, then, and you'd get to be with Tenchi."

        "That's just it, Sasami," she says.  "I had my chance.  I forfeited
it to
save everyone else.  Now, it's your turn."

        <My turn...>

        Misa looks to her questionably, "are you trying to say you don't
want to?"

        Shaking her head, "no, of course not!  I want to do this, but it was
just a
bit sudden."

        "Hmm..."  Pondering, Misa subtly points to the stove.  "Sasami..."

        Turning, she finds the food perfectly cooked.  She is not really
sure how
she timed it that way, but it's not important.

        Riko walks in, wiping the sleep from her eyes.  "Morning..." she
mumbles.

        Misa lifts her and puts her daughter on her lap.  "How are you
doing,
Riko?" she asks her red haired child.

        The five year old red head gives a yawn as a response.  "I had a
weird
dream last night.  Mommy, you were fighting Unca Devon."

        Misa looks to Sasami, who looks to her, shrugging her shoulders.
"Don't
worry about it, Riko," she says.  "I don't want to fight him."

        "You never know," Sasami adds.  "Our dreams usually give us clues.
Maybe
Riko inherited that trait."

        "Possibly."  Looking at the clock, it reads 6:00 in the morning.
Lifting
her daughter, "come on, Riko.  Time to get ready."

=-=-=-=-=
        As seven draws near, Misa and Riko race to the bus stop where Riko
is
picked up every day.  Riko is having a ball as she hangs onto her mother.
As Misa runs full throttle down the forested path, Ryo tries desperately to
hang on to her friend's long blue hair.

        However, when they reach their destination, Misa can hear the bus in
the
distance.  "Ah, nuts," she sighs.  "We missed it.  Gotta get going sooner,
tomorrow."

        Dropping to the ground, Ryo looks to Misa with a grin.  "Meow!"

        "No, Ryo, that would not be a good idea.  Thanks for the thought,
though."

        "Meow..." she cries.

        "Sure, we'd get Riko to school.  But, how could we explain a flying
crystal
beaming girls into the schoolyard?"  Finally, a thought struck her.  "Ryo!
Contact Washu.  Tell her to send Ryoko here."

        Not a second later, the cyan haired woman appears before the
time-displaced
family.  "What's up?"

        Misa picks up her daughter and hands her to Ryoko.  "We missed the
bus.
Can you take Riko to school real quick?"

        "Sure!" she agrees.  Looking to the five year old, "ready, Riko?"
she asks.

        "Yeah!" the child responds.  "Let's go, Auntie!"

        Misa leans over and kisses Riko on the cheek.  "See you later,
sweetie."

        "Bye, Mommy!"

        That said, Ryoko takes off towards town with the tyke.  Misa stands
there,
smiling as she silently appreciates Ryoko for the task.  After her daughter
and her ride disappear into the distance, she and Ryo walk home.

=-=-=-=-=
        As the day progresses, Devon watches as Tenchi and Sasami spar
fight.
Although she's still young, Sasami is getting quite good with a sword.  It
could be the LHWs, but it may be that Sasami is a fast learner.  The battle
isn't as fierce as Tenchi and Devon's, but Yui still has to be lifted to
avoid incomings from time to time.

        At the end of a fight, Sasami is on the ground, defeated, as Tenchi
stands
over her.  "Not bad, Sasami.  You really had me going there," he says,
lifting up his trainee.

        "Well, I do practice a lot," she says.

        "Yes, I see," he returns.  "Why don't you go get cleaned up, and
I'll be in
shortly."

        "Alright," she says, walking home.

        "Are you going easy on her?" Devon asks, with Yui sitting on his
shoulders.

        "No, of course not.  In fact, I was using every trick in the book to
keep
ahead of her.  She's pretty damn good," using a towel to dry off his sweat.

=-=-=-=-=
        As the day wears on, the days activities are the usual ones.  The
house is
cleaned, the fields are kept up, and Tenchi, Devon, and Sasami train
further.

=-=-=-=-=
        Around six, Noboyuki returns home with Riko, as always.  "Momma!"
she
shouts, running into the house.  Finding Misa resting on the couch, her
mother picks her up and drops her on the cushion.

        "Welcome back, honey.  How'd your day go?"

        Pulling out a piece of paper from her bag, she hands it to Misa.  "I
made
it in art today!"

        Looking at her daughter's masterpiece, "that's great, Riko!"
Standing, "I
know where we can put it," she says, walking to the kitchen.  Riko soon
follows.  Standing at the fridge, Misa uses a couple magnets to keep it on
the door.  Picking up the artist, "perfect, right?"

        Riko gives a single nod, and a big smile in response.  After being
put
down, Riko runs off to take off her still present coat.

        As Misa further examines the piece, which is a big stick figure with
a mane
of blue behind it, she sees the word 'Mom' in big kanji in the corner.
There are a few other artworks accompanying it.  One is of her pet, Ryo.
Another is of her aunt, Ryoko.

        As Misa walks away from the gallery, she still remembers ever so
clearly
what she went through to get Riko from her own timeline.  To this day, she
still doesn't know why Kagato wanted Riko.  All tests on her have shown up
negative.  One theory stands out, but she doesn't know if it'll work.

        Walking out of the lab, Washu sees nothing out of the ordinary.
Misa and
Sasami are cooking.  Mihoshi and Riko are watching TV.  Ryoko and Tenchi are
nowhere to be found.  And, Kiyone and Devon are cuddled in a nearby couch.

        As she walks to Riko, "hi, little one!" she says to her.

        "Hi Washu!" she replies.

        Washu proceeds to sit next to Devon, and he responds by making the
cuddling
a threesome.

        Misa walks in shortly afterward, and sits next to Riko.  Smiling
brightly,
her daughter leans into her.

        "Ah, this is the life," Misa sighs.

--End Side Story--