WARNING: If you are under 18 years of age or live in a jurisdiction where 
adult materials are prohibited, you must exit this document now. This story is 
what Anime fans call a "Lime"; this means that it contains intense adult 
situations and topics, but not explicit descriptions of genital sex. The intent 
is not pornographic, nor did I mean to merely pander to Lactation fetishists 
(though I'm sure they will come).
This story started life as a spamfic inspired by the "Not Milk" series of 
fan-art drawings. It is based on the Tenchi Muyo OAV series, including MnE, and 
departs from continuity at the end of MnE. The Sacred Zone is borrowed from the 
TV continuity without apologies, (ie: I needed it for the story)
	This is a work of satire, based on characters and situations that are 
copyright?AIC and or Pioneer USA. The Phrase "Got Milk" is a trademark of the 
California Milk Advisory Board. (Use of this phrase is an inside joke for North 
American TV viewers. If you live elsewhere I'd be happy to try to explain, but 
don't expect to get the humor) If you live in NA and you don't see the humor, my 
condolences.
	The text is copyright?Anyaku,2000. (note: the copyright holder "Anyaku" 
may be contacted via e-mail at anyaku@hotmail.com)

Got Milk?

	The laughter had barely subsided from Emperor Azusa's lips before he had 
activated his first and second backup plans for bringing his errant offspring 
into line. "Tenchi" indeed! Yousho thought he was going to inject his blow-by 
into the power of Jurai? Not by his throne and all the blood that had built it.
	Seiryo had been a bitter disappointment, but Azusa had played this game 
for a thousand years, and like he'd told Yousho, he could wait another thousand. 
Byzantine is an inadequate word to describe the plots forming in Azusa's mind. 
After all, no one in Earth's Byzantium had more than eight decades to hone his 
skills.

	In the back room of a seedy dockside bar on Rigil Station, the once proud 
captains of the Pirate Guild meet in secret. For the first time in a decade, the 
official representative of the oldest crew in the guild is present. His features 
are youthful, almost pretty, but under his shading hood, the famous natural pink 
coiffure is gone, replaced by the gleaming shave-pate of penance.
	"And you expect us to honor your request? Everyone here knows that you 
imperials have the GP in your pocket. If we do what you want, some of our men 
will die. We might even lose ships. You call off the GP in a certain sector, say 
g-13, we might think about it."
	The shriven Count reaches inside his cloak. Grizzled Pirate Captains 
quail. Despite careful mutual body searches, the captains fear the worst. 
Instead of a weapon, he draws out a distinctive glowing sculpted case, about the 
size of a make-up compact. 
	Fear is instantly transformed to greed.
	"That much ultra energy matter? You must want this move really bad, 
Count."
	A cruel smile curls those dainty lips.

	It was a hot, sunny day, and as usual, Tenchi was up working in the carrot 
fields. It was too early for lunch, and anyway, with Sasami away babysitting 
little Taro, there was little urgency to get back. Then a shadow crossed the 
sun, and Tenchi held up his arm to shade his sweated brow. Five hundred meters 
above the Masaki pond hovered the distinctive circular hull and tall thin keel 
blade Tenchi associated with the Ladies of Jurai, Empresses Funaho and Misaki.
	It took Tenchi less than five minutes to jog down to the house and join 
the few residents actually present on that day. Gathered on the deck between the 
house and pond were Aeka, Ryouko, and Little Washu. Mayuka was in Ryouko's arms. 
Before them was an unfamiliar Jurai guardian.
	When the guardian had finished scanning Tenchi, it projected an 
holographic image of Lady Funaho.
	"Lord Tenchi, we urgently request your presence on our bridge for briefing 
on a family crisis. This meeting will also require the presence of our daughter 
Aeka, and Miss Ryouko."
	Another projection appeared. This one was the likeness of Lady Misaki.
	"Tenchi-chan, you do have the master key with you?"
	Tenchi nodded.
	"Unfortunately, in the crisis, as head of the Imperial Guard I cannot 
permit powered up persons in our physical presence. Please restore Ryouko's gem 
to the master key. You will be expected to surrender the master key once you 
board our ship."
	Tenchi looked at Ryouko, Ryouko looked appalled. Washu placed her hands on 
her hips and set her feet apart. 
	"That's extreme. Disarming Ryouko is unnecessary."
	"This matter does not concern you, Little Washu."
	Aeka piped up, "What's the matter, Ryouko-san? Don't trust Lord Tenchi to 
give it back?"
	"Daughter, the requirement to disarm also includes you. You will remove 
your tiara and hand it to Tenchi prior to transport."
	"But, but..."Aeka sputtered, "That's outrageous. I have worn this key 
since the day Ryu-oh was dedicated to me. Besides, Ryu-oh's power is so limited 
now..."
	"What's good enough for the Pirate ain't good enough for the Princess, eh 
Aeka-hime?"
	Aeka flushed bright red. Ryouko handed Mayuka to Little Washu, and with a 
slight visible paling turned to Tenchi, spreading her arms. In seconds the deed 
was done. Moments later, Aeka handed her tiara to her Lord Tenchi.
	Within seconds the three were transported to a staging room aboard the 
imperial vessel. Before them was a floating table.
	"Please deposit all artifacts of Jurai power on the table in front of you 
for safe keeping."
	Tenchi barely hesitated. After all, no one could counterfeit the feel of 
Jurai Imperial power, and none but the immediate Imperial family could touch a 
master key. The Imperial ladies had long made clear that they favored the trio 
against the wishes of the Emperor. He set the tiara and hilt on the table. They 
vanished. The room flickered with Jurai power, and for the three, time stopped.
	In a corridor outside, Emperor Azusa laughed until the tears flowed. Like 
flies caught in amber, this trio of rebels would remain in time-freeze at his 
pleasure.
	On the ground below, Little Washu gasped as the Jurai vessel vanished in a 
gaudy display of lavender and violet lightning. Without even moving, Washu 
summoned a bassinet for Mayuku, and set to work at her keyboard. Half a day 
later, as the Sun lowered in the west, Washu was still at the keyboard as Sasami 
returned across the footbridge, with Ryo-ohki perched atop her head..
	"Sasami, you're home early?'
	"I don't get it, Little Washu. I rode all the way to Auntie's on the bus, 
and she was right there, not going anywhere. She claims she didn't call and ask 
my sister to have me come baby-sit Taro-chan. Oh well, I got to spend the day 
there, anyway."
	"This is not good.
	Listen, Sasami-chan, your mothers' ship came and took Tenchi, Aeka, and 
Ryouko away. I'm afraid..."
	"Impossible. Tsunami told me three days ago that Momma and Auntie Funaho 
were going on an emergency trip to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, to investigate 
pirate attacks on our frontier there. They'll be gone for months."
	"Then how could their ship have been here? Surely among me, your sister 
and Tenchi, one of us would have spotted a fake?"
	"They didn't take their personal ship. They requisitioned a battleship and 
crew instead. Only someone with a master key could command their ship in their 
absence. There's only the Tenchi-ken, and father's scepter. Sister's tiara is a 
key, but not quite a master key."
	A suspicion bordering on certainty dawned in the young princess' mind, and 
she dashed frantically towards the Holy tree of the Masaki Shrine, leaving a 
startled cabbit to jump free and scurry back to the diminutive scientist's lap. 
Mayuka chose that moment to begin crying, and by the time Washu had attended to 
that distraction, there was a flash of light under the tree, the Tsumami ship 
had formed over the lake and was vanishing into the darkening skies, to be 
replaced by an incoming light.
	Washu muttered to herself; why did Tsunami always have to work alone?
	"Miaya!" Ryo-ohki interjected her agreement to the thought.
Minutes later the Yukinojo shuttle settled on it's keel in the Masaki pond; the 
lack of a crash betraying the sure hand of Detective Kiyone at the controls. 
Mihoshi appeared on the dock next to Washu.
	"Little Washu, something strange is going on. That order for a long patrol 
on the outer margins of the Solar System was a fake."
	As Washu was filling in the ditzy detective on events, Masaki Katsuhito 
appeared at the far end of the bridge, on his way back to the Shrine, still 
dressed in his best western style business suit. Washu waved him over to her end 
of the bridge.
	"That conference of Shrine Priests was a fake. Something is up, huh?"
	"They've taken your grandson, Aeka, and Ryouko. We're pretty sure it's 
Azusa. Will you join us in the pursuit?"
	"No, I have too many responsibilities right now. I think I'd rather not."
	Or can't? Washu thought, looking at him sharply.
	"Good, then you can take care of Mayuka for me."
	The bassinet disappeared, and Washu handed the infant to the protesting 
great-grandfather. She hit a key to send a file of her research results to the 
Yukinojo, then she picked up Ryo-ohki and tossed her into the air.
	"Ryo-ohki!"
	"Miiwoww!"
	A slightly dazed Mihoshi vanished into the shuttle. With a hiss and a 
roar, the Yukinojo lifted into the sky.
	"Well, it looks like it's just you and me, little one." Katsuhito chuckled 
and dropped his disguise, bouncing the infant in his arms. A faint unpleasant 
miasma wafted from the child, and the young Katsuhito gave a deep rueful sigh.
	"Darn you Washu."
	Meanwhile, the Yukinojo was pursuing a parallel course to the Ryo-ohki. On 
screen, Washu was talking to Kiyone.
	"Won't they try to interfere?"
	"They already have. We received orders not to leave our post in pursuit of 
the kidnappers, before the kidnapping occurred.
	Well, as I see it, that means they couldn't possibly be referring to this 
kidnapping?" Kiyone put on her blankest expression. 
	"Won't they just order you back when you report in?"
	"Hmm, for some reason our hyper-space communication link to headquarters 
doesn't seem to be working right at the moment. We'll have to have it repaired 
when we get back." She demonstrated by punching a number of buttons on the 
communicator panel with no result.
	Mihoshi cut in, baffled: "Ano, Kiyone-san, don't you have to turn the 
switch on for it to work?"

	It had been a number of years since the Emperor had visited this 
particular inner world of the Jurai Empire. It was one of the hidden worlds of 
the sacred zone, and had been cut off for generations from Galactic commerce. 
The population was reduced to a state resembling Earth before the industrial 
revolution. The local palace was in a bit of disarray, but a flurry of hasty 
pruning and refitting of warped planks quickly restored it to full habitability.  
Certain hereditary palace arborists lost their jobs to the unexpected 
reappearance of his Celestial Majesty.
	Aeka and Ryouko awoke groggily to the sights and smells of the green 
outdoors. Through vertical wooden bars they saw an expanse of leafy green wall, 
and splayed against that wall was Masaki Tenchi. There were tendrils growing 
through and around his wrists, ankles and covering his loins, otherwise he was 
naked, sweating in the sultry heat of the hemispheric summer.
	Aeka could now see that they were in a cage on some sort of two wheeled 
cart, about ten meters from her beloved. Her father was mounted on a stallion to 
one side, fronted by a half dozen primitive troopers armed with heavy iron-shod 
staves.
	"Father, what is the meaning of this? Release Lord Tenchi at once, and 
return my tiara."
	"Ah, my rebellious daughter is awake.
	Release your so called Lord Tenchi? I think not. As for your tiara, it is 
a privilege to be granted and taken away by the crown."
	Aeka's thoughts boggled at the claim. The bond between a royal and her 
tree was as private and personal as that between a man and a woman; oh.
	"What crime has Lord Tenchi committed?"
	"Crime? Why, isn't lese-majesty enough?"
	"You're joking! I appeal to the Holy Council."
	"The Holy Council? Bah! With Lady Funaho and your mother absent, and me 
unwilling, there is no quorum to summon the Council."
	An evil grin split Azusa's face.
	"You forget, we are a Pirate kingdom. There is an older law than the Holy 
Council, it is call Ship Law. Under Ship Law, disrespect for the Captain 
constitutes mutiny."
	"Mutiny? He was never under your command."
	"You are in no position to argue with me, my little slut of a disobedient 
daughter. Enough of your sniffing after that half monkey Earth primitive. I have 
sentenced him to exposure. He is going to die on that wall."
	"Is that what you think of me? My Lord Tenchi has never approached me 
improperly. Anyway, at least let Miss Ryouko go, and return her gems. She is no 
longer wanted for any crime, you know, and has always opposed my attachment to 
Lord Tenchi."
	"That may be true, but she has an attachment of her own, and would cause 
trouble for me. You know, I like it this way. You're ordinary women now. 
Powerless, the way women should be."
	Meanwhile, Ryouko had managed to find and free the simple latch on their 
cage. She kicked the door open and ran up to fling herself on Tenchi. A stave 
lashed out and a red welt appeared along the side of Ryouko's head. She fell to 
the ground, convulsing.
	"Ryouko", both Tenchi and Aeka cried out.
	Tenchi tried to lunge from the wall. Aeka ran to the stricken girl.
	"Aiii, what is this? There is something growing up inside of me! What have 
you done to me, you monster?"
	"We can't have the little monkey defecating on our palace wall, now can 
we? That tendril is harmless, though of course no power in this world other than 
a master key can extricate it from your guts. Just a little extra insurance that 
no one can cut you free."
	"At least let the girls go."
	"Not until my daughter has learned her lesson about defiance."
	Aeka looked up from cradling Ryouko's head, certain of her carefully 
constructed illusions crumbling within her.
	"Your man had no right to strike Ryouko. Even under Pirate Law, a 
condemned man has a right to visitors."
	"Bah, the little bitch will recover. Nothing I know of can deprive Washu's 
whelp of her healing powers. I could probably cut her head clean off and it 
wouldn't make a difference. I will enjoy reading the reports of your man's 
suffering"
	Azusa wheeled his horse around and rode away, his men following in 
disarray.
	"You're no better than Kagato. You know that?" The Princess called after 
his receding back. 
"Oh, Ryouko, I'm so sorry."
	Aeka's mind traced through the outlines of the trials she'd gone through 
with this synthetic oni-girl. Recalling the real Kagato, she thought how wrong 
her first ideas of Ryouko's character had been. Over the last two years, Ryouko 
had developed into a true friend.
	By now, Ryouko had stopped convulsing. Her eyes came open and she looked 
up at Aeka: "I always knew we were in the same business, Princess."
	"Oh, you!" The Princess exclaimed in a tone of mock disgust, pushing 
Ryouko's head off her lap. 
	The two girls stood up and huddled in front of Tenchi, one to either side. 
Each one was crying and rubbing her cheek against Tenchi's, each pressing their 
body against his side, clinging.
	"Calm down now, girls. I'm not dead yet. Sooner or later Little Washu will 
find us."
	"But how long will that take? Weeks? Months?" Aeka demanded.
	"Tenchi, what about your lighthawk wings?" That was Ryouko's plea.
	"This damned root up inside me is grounding out every trace of my Jurai 
power. There's none in me to work with, and the trees in this wall are not 
really sentient or free, they remain bound by his command. They won't talk to 
me.
Anyway, Take stock, girls. There's got to be something we can do."
	The girls looked around. The ground was cleared down to dirt and stubble 
for a good thirty meters around the palace, and a road ran ten meters in front 
of Tenchi's position. The Palace itself was about a hundred meter hexagon of six 
meter living Jurai-tree hedge, utterly unclimbable and non flammable. There were 
three guards within sight, moving and conscious. To the north, the rooftops of a 
small town appeared above the trees. In all other directions there was forest.
The girls themselves were wearing ordinary clothes. Aeka was caught wearing two 
layers of her brightly colored silk kimonos, over her padded undergarment. On 
her feet were house slippers. Ryouko was wearing her white split skirt and 
blouse, with a red body stocking, gloves, and a green and mustard half jacket 
clipped to the sides of her blouse. Around her waist was a black sash. Other 
than their garments the girls had nothing.
	Ryouko thought ruefully on the fact that, being at home, neither of them 
had been carrying anything with them. Well, at least the body stocking was made 
of Juraian combat suit fabric, and the outer garments of a similar material. 
Self cleaning and repairing, even the soft booties of the body sock would wear 
forever. The only part of Aeka's clothing made of exotic materials was the 
underwrap. Typical of Juraian anti-assassin precautions, that padded 
undergarment not only would stay clean, it was probably capable of deflecting a 
direct hit by a battleship's main armament.
	The only artifact in the clearing was the two wheeled cart with the wooden 
cage, and even as they were watching, a group of four men marched up and started 
pulling the cart away.
	"Uh, Ryouko, I've got to take care of...you know. Stay with Tenchi and 
I'll be back in a few minutes. Call out if you need me."
	"So we can die together?"
	Aeka nodded. 
	She walked into the forest and disappeared for what seemed like an 
eternity. When she re-appeared, she was holding a hand inside the lapel of her 
kimono. Two soldiers armed with staves moved to intercept her. They yanked her 
hand from her bosom, spilling a large leaf full of water. She was then patted 
down rather rudely, but thoroughly, though the soldiers didn't try anything 
funny. By the time Ryouko got to them, the search was over.
	One of the soldiers wheeled on her, poking Ryouko in the chest with his 
staff.
	"Now don't either of you go trying to bring the prisoner anything, or 
you'll receive the beating of your lives, the both of you together. Just this 
one time is a warning. 
	Say, is it true you're a demon from the stars?"
	"Try me and find out", Ryouko managed to scowl and smile at the same time, 
showing her fangs.
	The soldier backed up two paces, but tried to conceal his fear.
	The two girls went back over to Tenchi, who was sweating in the oppressive 
heat. Aeka pressed her cheek against his chest and cried again. Ryouko guessed 
that Aeka's padded undergarment also actively cooled her, so the girl wasn't 
suffering from her heavy garments in the heat.
	"I'm already thirsty. Thank you for trying, Aeka-sama", Tenchi praised the 
Princess.
	"My turn", Ryouko offered, though they all knew that with her unique 
physiology she probably didn't face necessity yet.
	"There is a small stream about two hundred meters that way", Aeka pointed.
	When Ryouko returned, the soldiers stopped and searched her, even if they 
seemed quite nervous about it. She kept silent, and when they were through, she 
marched straight up to Tenchi and planted her lips on his. Tenchi struggled to 
protest and a little water trickled down his chin into her cleavage. 
	Aeka halted her hand, halfway through the swing of one of her powerful 
slaps. Her backhand fell limply against Ryouko's cheek. She put her hand over 
her mouth.
	"Oh, forgive me, Ryouko-san. I didn't realize what you were trying."
	"It's not exactly the way I ever pictured our first kiss", she commented 
with regret, "Anyway, we can hardly do that enough to help without arousing the 
guards' suspicions, and it doesn't solve the problems of salt and sustenance."
	A while later, Ryouko waited patiently while Aeka planted a sloppy wet 
kiss on Tenchi's swollen lips. Tenchi looked very abashed, and his cheeks turned 
red. He was breathing hard through his nose.
	"I see what you mean, Ryouko-san. It's exhilarating, but not exactly what 
I had hoped for in a first kiss."
	Later on, as the sun was lowering in the sky, each of the girls repeated 
the experiment When darkness closed the two curled around Tenchi's feet, and 
each other. Against their hope, the guards produced fairly efficient lanterns 
that allowed them to keep a dim but sufficient watch over the three.
	"Aeka-sama, if this continues, I have some other things I can try. I hope 
you can forgive me. Later tonight I am going hunting, my body will need minerals 
and salts it can only extract from flesh. Shall I hunt for you also?"
	"No" Aeka shuddered slightly against her, "There are wild Jurai trees in 
the forest. I am already drawing sustenance from those who are able to recognize 
me as kindred, and I can bring Tenchi the healing sap on my lips."
	As she spoke it brought to her mind how different her senses and 
perceptions had become with even the brief contact she'd just had. She recalled 
that Ryouko had been bound to the tree Funaho for the seven hundred years of her 
captivity.
	"According to Washu I also am kindred to the trees, but I don't even know 
how to talk to them."
	"If we get out of this alive, I will teach you how."
	Aeka looked into those great, luminous, impossibly dilated cats-eyes and 
pondered her own humanity. We are all aliens, she thought. In the full darkness, 
Ryouko padded away. Judging by the movement of the stars in the sky, it was 
hours later when Ryouko returned. The guards intercepted her and searched her. 
This time they held a stave across her neck and forced her to open her mouth. It 
seemed the kissing ruse was over.
	Ryouko lay curled against Aeka, her hair cushioning on one of Tenchi's 
feet, in mirror of Aeka. The Princess noticed that Ryouko's normally sweet 
breath had a heavy coppery, fleshy taint.
	In the pale shade of first light, Aeka saw that Ryouko's lips and chin 
were smeared with blood and saliva, dripped down onto her cleavage. Ryouko sat 
up and saw the expression on Aeka's face. She disappeared into the forest and 
returned clean and shivering, with water dripping from her hair, face and 
breast.
	As the sun struck his face, Tenchi moaned into consciousness. As that rude 
root drew waste from his body, and nothing was going in, the guy was already 
looking gaunt and sickly. It was a day of physical agony for Tenchi, and of 
psychic agony for the two girls, as they watched their beloved sweat, and 
listened to him moan. The girls even tried soaking their clothes in the stream 
and running back to embrace Tenchi. But the guards held them back until their 
clothes were too dry to have any cooling effect.
	The sun went down on a Tenchi who's tongue was so swollen that he could no 
longer speak clearly. He began to cry out for his mother.
	When it was dark enough for a modicum of privacy, Ryouko went to the 
stream and returned with moistened mouth. After the humiliation of opening her 
mouth for the guards, she went to Tenchi and kissed him deeply, willing herself 
to salivate with the pleasures of the mouth. Finally his tongue and mouth were 
moist enough to function.
	"Aeka, keep a watch and warn me if the guards are coming. They mustn't see 
this"
	Ryouko climbed the necessary thirty centimeters upon Tenchi's helpless 
frame. Clinging with one arm and both legs, she used her other arm to free a 
breast from her blouse and thrust a naked nipple into his mouth before he could 
know to turn aside.
	Despite the dim light, Aeka saw what she was about and cried softly in 
muted rage, striking Ryouko on the back and sides, pulling at her arms and legs 
in an effort to dislodge her. Aeka was hissing with rage, barely able to keep 
her voice down.
	"Demon, harlot, slut, how can you think of your lust at a time like this?"
	Ryouko ignored the blows, whispering back.
	"Quiet. Hush, or you'll alert the guards. Damn it, Aeka, I am trying to 
keep Tenchi alive, don't you see? I've made myself to lactate for him. It took a 
night and a day, but Washu taught me that control. Remember how I nursed Mayuka 
the first six months?"
	Aeka became subdued. Meanwhile, buried within the dim and tortured mind of 
Masaki Tenchi an awareness, a primal memory emerged. He began to mouthe the soft 
living flesh that filled his mouth and awareness. Is it possible that he 
remembered another? Perhaps a gigantic young woman on a sea of white bed sheets, 
in a white room, a plume of jet black hair splayed across her pillow so far 
above his head?
	Under the now hungry questing of Tenchi's mouth, Ryouko began to feel the 
heartbeat pulse of pleasure and release in her bosom. Warm, bitter-sweet rich 
creamy milk filled his mouth and he swallowed. Swallow followed swallow, in a 
pulsing, sucking ecstasy of maternal love, until the contractions of her breast 
became hard and unproductive. She switched breasts, and the feeding resumed more 
calmly. When the second breast was depleted, Tenchi turned his head aside and 
whispered.
	"Gods, what are you thinking, Ryouko-san?"
	Ryouko could feel the tears pouring down his cheek onto her now empty 
breast.
	"I'm keeping you alive."
	Tenchi felt unmanly tears continue to flow in his humiliation. To even 
worsen the humiliation, he could feel the enwrapping tendrils of the wall-hedge 
restraining his lust. He was mortified, as he recalled the time he'd overheard 
Taro-chan playing with the luscious Mihoshi's breasts. No one knew how secretly 
and desperately these beautiful women aroused him to climax in his fevered 
imagination. How could he possibly feel lust for a woman in these circumstances, 
a woman toward whom he had astutely denied his lust? 
	Ryouko-san had been his dependent; therefore it would have been 
inappropriate for him to take advantage of her. Now the roles were reversed, he 
was her dependent, and still, he told himself, it would be improper and unmanly 
for him to take advantage. I am supposed to protect women, not be nursed by 
them, he told himself.
	Still and all, it was a moot point. The hedge restrained his lust just as 
it restrained the rest of his body. Tenchi experienced a new depth of 
helplessness and despair.
	Finally, Ryouko eased herself to the ground. Under the dim and glittering 
starlight, Aeka could see that Ryouko's breasts were still exposed. The oni-girl 
appeared more relaxed that Aeka could ever remember her while awake. Aeka too 
was crying, and she whispered to Ryouko.
	"I suppose you're satisfied now? I have to watch while you nurse Lord 
Tenchi with an intimacy that I can never hope to approach."
	"Baka. Don't you understand? This is humiliating Tenchi. He'll probably 
hate me forever more. Besides, it's not enough."
	Another whisper came from above:
	"No, I don't hate you, Ryouko. I do understand."
	"Do you?"
	Aeka broke in, "What do you mean, not enough?"
	"I mean my body works in this respect like an ordinary human'. I can 
produce at most three tenths of a liter of milk at a feeding, maybe twice a day. 
That is simply not enough to keep Tenchi alive. Tell me, Princess, can't your 
Jurai trees control your hormone levels? They should be able to cause you to 
lactate."
	"These trees are wild, they know very little about human beings. I doubt 
if any of them has a clue how to do that."
	"Hmmm, I can produce the necessary hormones at will, with my body. The 
problem is how to get them from my body to yours. I can secret them in my 
saliva, my milk, or my urine."
	"Ugh. Well, kissing you might not be the worst of all worlds."
	Ryouko shook her head in the darkness, laughing lightly.
	"We'd have to kiss intimately for hours. So it's really between piss and 
milk. Urine is the easiest, of course. If I secreted them in my milk we'd have 
to be sure you consumed it all. The last thing Tenchi needs right now is for him 
to start lactating."
	It only took the Princess a moment to resolve her priorities.
	"Uh, I think I'd rather go with the milk. I'd drink your piss to keep 
Tenchi alive, but not if there's an alternative."
	"You realize that unlike mine, your breasts will not return completely to 
their virginal condition afterwards? Your nipples and aureoles will remain 
enlarged and darkened. Well, uh, your breasts will be larger."
	"Jealous? It's an easy decision. After all, this is Tenchi we're talking 
about.
	How long till my hormones are ready, Doctor Ryouko?"
	"I'll be ready by dawn."
	The two girls giggled in the darkness. Then Ryouko rose and padded off 
into the forest. She returned again before dawn, with blood on her lips and 
breath. Aeka made her return to the stream and clean herself off.
	"I don't wish to suckle on a she lion."
	"There are not a lot of other options."
	As dawn lightened the girls concealed themselves, lying in the shaded 
forest margin. Aeka motioned for Ryouko to be still, and she reached to loosen 
the demoness' breasts. It's strange, she thought, almost like making love to 
her, or maybe being an infant again. Aeka knew that she had nursed at Lady 
Misaki's breast, an unlikely experience, until she was two. The prolonged 
nursing was much talked about and criticized, but the Royal Surgeon had told 
Misaki that it was necessary for the child's health.
	Two years of age meant Aeka had some vague memories of the experience, but 
she was much larger now, and her nurse much smaller. On the other hand, Ryouko's 
nipples were larger than she'd ever seen them in the bath, protruding, the 
aureoles also more swollen, a delicate coral pink. She took a tentative peck at 
the one on the left 
	"Come on, Aeka. Get serious. It's for Tenchi."
	"You're enjoying this", she accused.
	"Of course I am. That is the nature of the process. You'll see what I mean 
when you nurse."
	"I never imagined I'd be doing this sort of thing with you, Oni-sama, much 
less for Tenchi's sake. It's a bit too much like that time in the dimension 
tuner, only more strange."
	"That wasn't our real bodies, so it was more like a dream" Ryouko 
dissembled, "Well, it hardly makes us lovers, though I expect it'll be hard to 
go back to the way we were before."
	"As if this is not some nightmare?"	Aeka half closed her eyes, letting her 
mind drift free of her sensations, and covered the upper breast with her mouth, 
drawing her lips in over the swollen aureole. Her tongue and lips found the firm 
nipple and she sucked, without result. A little puzzled, she tried again, and 
again. On the third try, Ryouko sighed softly and the nipple pulsed faintly. 
Aeka's mouth filled with the bitter-sweet warmth of mother's milk. The roundness 
of Ryouko's breast filled her vision, and she renewed the will to forgo 
consciousness of what she was doing.
	Much as the sustenance of the trees could maintain the Princess forever, 
this was different. Soon she managed to soothe her conscience and her taste that 
this was normal, and she continued to suckle till the first breast was depleted, 
and she moved to the second. When she was finished, she looked up to find Ryouko 
asleep, a faint peaceful bliss written in her repose. She covered Ryouko's 
breasts and moved out of the forest into the light.
	Returning to Tenchi, she found him half conscious, and kissed him on the 
mouth, with the taste of mother's milk still on her lips. She hugged Tenchi and 
whispered assurances to him.
	"Aeka, forgive me" he mumbled, "Ryouko will prolong my life in spite of 
myself. You must think me to have abandoned you. I have never meant to favor one 
of you over the other. This is terrible. I thirst for her milk and kindness."
	"Hush, my Lord, we will sustain you together. Wait until dark." 
	Aeka reached inside her kimono, and felt an itching, and a tingling in her 
breasts. She had always tried to ignore such sensations before, but she knew 
that the action of Ryouko's hormones would be far more violent than any 
reasonable medicine. If she'd half understood the dimly understood physiology 
lessons that Ryouko had passed on to her in the night, she'd be lactating by 
nightfall.
	Ryouko emerged from the forest, and was duly searched before she rejoined 
Aeka and Tenchi. Together they huddled and whispered. Half delirious, Tenchi 
pleaded.
	"Ryouko, I thirst, please let me drink from you."
	"Shhh, now, Tenchi. We must wait until after dark. Then the both of us 
will sustain you", Aeka reassured him
	"Tenchi, you must live for us to have meaning."
	Soon it was not just Tenchi that was uncomfortable. The Princess began 
covertly trying to press against her sore and swelling breasts. It was like an 
itch that continued to build, until the victim became frantic for relief. Ryouko 
was not unaware of her suffering. About the middle of the afternoon, Aeka was 
squirming and openly reaching inside her kimono, rubbing her now distended 
nipples. Ryouko took hold of her shoulders.
	"Come"
	She led her into the forest, and pulled open the Princess' lapels, 
exposing her breasts. The Princess was breathing hard, sweating in the shade, as 
she tugged on her nipples. A little bit of clear liquid wetted her fingers.
	"That's not milk", she complained.
	"You're forgetting your basic reproductive physiology again, Princess. 
That is colostrum. Normally a mother secretes that for a day or two before the 
milk comes. It wouldn't hurt Tenchi, it mostly contains antibodies to help the 
baby's immune system, but I don't think you can wait.
	The best thing is to stimulate yourself to release the colostrum, so the 
milk can come."
	The Princess looked abashed, despite her distress.
	"I can't do that, it would be too much like masturbating."
	"If you can't do it, then I'll help you."
	To Aeka's surprise, instead of grasping her breasts, Ryouko half-curtsied 
and took a breast into her mouth. To her own surprise, the Princess surrendered 
to the logic of the Oni-girl. Almost instantly the maddening itching and 
pressure vanished, to be replaced by a floating sensation that Aeka associated 
only with her dreams of her Prince, most recently Lord Tenchi.
	"Oh, my", she gasped. "You suffered alone?"
	"It was nothing."
	Aeka recalled that in the ten minutes that she had seen Ryouko in Kagato's 
captivity, the villain had twice seized control of her mind, and twice tortured 
her to unconsciousness without cause.
	"How can I explain to myself this intimacy with you, who are my rival for 
the Princes' affection?"
	"Who else is there?"
	When she had suckled both breasts, Ryouko covered them, and they went back 
out to wait at Tenchi's feet. Later, as the sun was lowering in the West, Aeka 
felt renewed pressure in her bosom. Reaching inside her kimono, she pressed, and 
drew out fingers wet with the white of milk.
	Darkness came. To Aeka's surprise, Ryouko urged her up to Tenchi. She 
hadn't realized how awkward it would be. She couldn't get any traction on the 
wall, and her clothes made grasping Tenchi and offering her breast seem 
impossible. How the devil did Ryouko manage?
	Finally she opened her kimonos and under-wrap. Looking down in the 
darkness, she whispered.
	"Forgive me, Lord Tenchi."
	"You don't have to do this, Aeka-san."
	She ignored his protests and shinnied up his body, wrapping her naked 
thighs around his trunk and pressing herself against him. As disoriented as he 
may have been, Tenchi's body betrayed his astonishment and pleasure as his 
hungering mouth found sustenance in Aeka's breasts.
	The sensations were even beyond what the Princess had expected. She was 
humiliated to discover that she was wet against him, and the bright myriad of 
stars in the crowded Sacred zone around them seemed to pulse and swim in rhythm 
to the rising tides in her body. She suppressed her moaning as her body 
fulfilled several hungers of it's own. Finally she eased herself down, languid 
with a surfeit of pleasurable sensations.
	"Damn, I wish I'd thought of that", Ryouko snickered ruefully.
	"I'm sorry", shame filled Aeka's voice, "I had no idea."
	"How do you think nature persuades us to nurse? If nursing weren't 
pleasurable, mothers probably wouldn't do it nearly so much."
	"Ryouko-san, how do you stay up there so easily?"
	"My powers aren't totally gone, I just have little energy for them, 
without the gems; but it takes little energy to support my weight. How do you 
think I got that damned cage open?"	
	After Tenchi had settled down, and the most recent round of guards had 
passed, Ryouko hoisted herself up Tenchi's body, and gave her life giving milk 
to him. Having finished, she disappeared into the forest as before, but this 
time she reappeared within an hour.
	"Good hunting, Ryouko-san?"
	"Yes"
	Together they lay down at Tenchi's feet. Aeka reached out and kissed her, 
feeling the cold fresh stream water on Ryouko's lips. They held each other close  
as the stars wheeled over head. Aeka shuddered and pressed her face into the 
other girl's neck, sobbing, her hot tears pouring down. She whispered.
	"Oh, Ryouko, I'm so ashamed."
	"Of what?"
	"The way I lost control of my body, and did things on Lord Tenchi's body, 
things one shouldn't even speak of, adding to his humiliation at a time when he 
certainly doesn't need it."
	"I've told you before, it is only natural to desire someone. What you took 
for mockery was also truth."
	"It is not natural for a woman to nurse her lover, nor is it natural to 
arouse oneself to climax in that circumstance, and before others."
	"It is also not natural for a father to bind the one his daughter loves, 
and consign him to a cruel death."
Sometime shortly before first light, the two girls got up and roused 
Tenchi from his dreams. This time, Aeka had rather more control of herself, and 
Ryouko less. As Aeka listened to Ryouko's impassioned breathing, and smelled the 
close aroma of her arousal, she thought; why am I no longer outraged? Is she not 
still my rival? No, she is not. We are closer than any sisters, together with 
Lord Tenchi we are one.
It was the fourth day, and but for the effect of the Jurai tree sap 
transferred on Aeka's lips, Tenchi should have darkened and blistered in the 
fierce sun of hemispheric summer.

In space it had been nearly three weeks since the kidnapping. The ship 
Tsunami was drifting in normal space on the margins of the Jurai Sacred zone. 
Sasami bent over to peer at the tall lady that was her reflection inward into 
the hyperspatial heart of her being.
"Tsunami, I'm scared. The sacred zone is closed to all but the Emperor and 
the high Priest."
"Sasami, you are my high Priestess. Besides, the sacred zone was dedicated 
to me, remember?"
"Hai. Tsunami, when I become one with you, what will it be like? Will I 
still be here, inside of you?"
"It's not that way at all. Though I won't know what it is like till it 
happens, I shall be you, you shall be me. Together we will be one person, and 
will no longer have to converse across the layers of being."
"Are you scared?"
"Sometimes", Tsunami couldn't lie to her other self, and Sasami knew it.
"Are you afraid of losing yourself?"
"No, it's like any other tomorrow, only you will always be with me."
The ship Tsunami crossed into the Sacred zone.
Almost a parsec away, on another frontier of the Sacred zone, the crew of 
the GP Patrol Ship Yukinojo silenced alarm after alarm, overriding navigation 
limiters as it crossed where no GP vessel should be.
In his palace, Azusa cursed, Tenchi should have been dead or dying by now, 
and the little bastard seemed to be holding his own. The Emperor had been about 
to investigate this phenomenon, when the monitors had picked up a ship violating 
the Sacred zone. Picking up his scepter and transporting himself aboard the 
Empress' ship. Marshall's daughter or not, that damned Mihoshi wouldn't get away 
with this one, he promised himself.
It took Azusa less than a day, despite his speed being limited by the 
crowded stars and nebular gasses, before he confronted the rash intruder. The 
Yukinojo mother ship was the heaviest class of GP cruiser, normally operated by 
two persons. The Marshal's decision to allow his grand daughter to continue 
operating the ship alone was a scandal that had even reached the Emperor's ears. 
Still, nothing the GP had could withstand the kind of Jurai power carried by the 
Emperor.
	When the GP ship hailed him, Azusa was surprised that another face 
appeared in front and to the left of the infamous blonde. This was a lady of 
regular features, with extremely dark blue green hair, and large clear blue 
eyes. Her insignia carried markings indicating her seniority, and command rank.
	"Ah, Officer Kiyone, I heard you were dead."
	"Obviously an erroneous report, your Majesty."
	"Officer Kiyone, you are violating the Jurai Sacred zone. The penalty for 
that is summary execution. I am being lenient; based on the known condition of 
your subordinate, you may retreat at once, and turn yourselves in for 
confinement and examination at the nearest Imperial naval base."
	"We are in hot pursuit of the kidnappers of an Earth native, one Masaki 
Tenchi, in violation of Holy Council order number ten dash two-seventy-three. 
Said kidnappers impersonated the Imperial ladies Funaho and Misaki. Under terms 
of ten series Holy Council orders, all Imperial Subjects are compelled to join 
pursuit throughout all of space and time to capture and punish such criminals."
	"Enough of meddling women!" Roared the enraged Azusa, "I am the Emperor 
and my word is Law. You defy me on pain of my personal wrath."
	He raised his scepter, and a dark transparent bubble surrounded the 
Yukinojo.
	"You'd better look behind you", tisked the teal tressed officer.
	"That's an old one, Miss Kiyone, doesn't work in space." 
	Just then Azusa noted a blinking alert light in the upper left corner of 
his heads-up display. He examined a sub-screen and a chill crept over him. The 
bubble disappeared from around the Yukinojo, and an image of a blue haired woman 
replaced Kiyone on the main display.
	"Monster, devourer of children, what do you want with me?"
	Tsunami sighed, "You seemed to accept your daughter as real when you 
visited Earth?"
	"Oh, I have no doubt that is really my daughter, but you have turned her 
against me."
	"Have I? Indeed, I have neither spoken nor thought against you until now, 
but you have raised your scepter against the ones whom I have chosen, the ones 
whom I have shaped.
	It was you who chose to condemn your Sasami to the life of a high 
Priestess against her will. It was you who demanded the perverse betrothal of 
your Aeka to her own brother, and warped her spirit to believe it was this thing 
humans call love. Finally, it is you that have stolen Tenchi, whom I brought 
forth from your lineage as my warrior, and consort to the Battle Maiden of 
Washu, and of the one whom we shall not name.
	Sasami prayed to me, and to Kami-sama, for release from your prison, as 
did Aeka. I have heard their prayers, and if it were not for Sasami within me, I 
would condemn you in your turn.
	I will have your scepter now, and leave it to the Ladies Funaho and Misaki 
to instruct you in proper conduct."
	Azusa made a grab for his scepter, but it was too late. As it faded, the 
ship's screens went blank. Azusa sat down glumly, and began the long wait for 
the return of his wives, trying hard to imagine some way of explaining his 
actions.
	
	The fifth night closed over Tenchi and the two girls, the darkness of an 
approaching storm was closing in. Soon, even Ryouko, with her unnaturally 
dilated cat's eyes could barely make out the dim outlines of her companions. To 
Tenchi, Aeka, and any human observers, the darkness was absolute. Aeka ascended 
Tenchi's body by feel alone. As she did so, rain began falling in torrents.
	As they became heavy, Aeka shed her outer garments. Her open under wrap 
fell away and she was naked to the storm. Lightning crackled and roared around 
them, disclosing to Ryouko in flashes this strangest of visions.
	When Aeka descended from her task she was shivering. As they huddled 
against Tenchi, Ryouko also removed her soaked outer garments, she peeled off 
her body suit, and helped the Princess into it, shouting over the roaring storm.
	"I am more immune to the elements, even now. Here, we are nearly the same 
size. This will keep you warm."
	Then she ascended Tenchi's body. Now she could appreciate fully, and 
perhaps more than fully, how extreme the sensations were as Tenchi suckled her 
breast, and she pressed her naked body against his. When she was finished, they 
huddled again, attempting to shield Tenchi from the full force of the elements. 
Suddenly Aeka exclaimed.
	"Ah, my under wrap! How stupid of me, I forgot all about it, Ryouko-san. I 
think I can get it around Tenchi's body."
	"We'll have to remember to take it down before first light, or surely the 
guards will beat us all."
	Soon the under wrap was secure around Tenchi, and adjusting to the heat 
flow of his body. The boy was not shivering. The storm intensified, and Tenchi 
shouted to the girls.
	"You must get under cover, It's no good for you to stand here naked to the 
storm and get no rest. If you have never felt it necessary to obey me, obey me 
now. Go! Find some shelter."
	Aeka took Ryouko's hand. "I know a way."
	They gathered their soaked outer garments and Aeka led Ryouko into the 
forest. The darkness was so intense that even Ryouko was at a loss to more than 
feel her way. Under the trees the storm was considerably attenuated. Ryouko 
recognized that they were now under the spreading branches of a very large tree.
	"Remember I promised you I'd teach you to talk with the trees? I'm going 
to try now, in spite of not having my tiara."
	She pressed her forehead against Ryouko's and Ryouko felt the warm hum of 
the Princess' thoughts flowing into her like an electric current.
	(Ryouko?)(Hai, Princess)(This is my tree-friend Silver-leaf) Ryouko felt a 
flow of thoughts not formed into words, the thoughts felt cozy, like the hug of 
a sister. (Silver-leaf, this is my friend Ryouko. Will you shelter us from the 
storm?) To Ryouko it felt as if she were once again touching the mind of the 
tree Funaho, and it felt to her as if she were being scrutinized closely. (Yes, 
kindred and friend)
	Aeka led Ryouko a wall of rough textured bark. There was another wave of 
warmth, and the two women pressed through a vague resistance and were in a small 
confining womb of darkness, soft, dry, and living. Ryouko was surprised to 
discover that Aeka was once again naked, and that Aeka's mind could feel her 
surprise. Aeka spoke aloud.
	"Only natural materials can pass inward into a tree."
	"Ah, that's why I was naked in the cave?" She could feel Aeka's 
affirmative.
	"I was surprised how easy it was. I thought without the tiara I would be 
an ordinary human."
	"Tenchi said Tsunami told him that the keys are only tools. The true power 
comes from within. Have faith in your own power; that's what she said."
	"Hmmm, that's a different view. I was always raised to believe that the 
power was something outside."
	"Speaking of outside, how will we know what's going on outside?"
	"I am surprised myself. Silver-leaf can talk with the trees that make up 
the palace. She can't override Father's orders, but she can tell Tenchi's 
condition, which is good, and she can tell the weather and time."
	"Meanwhile, we are in here. Not exactly an ideal for claustrophobes."
	"Well, we can get some light."
	The chamber lit up faintly with a phosphorescent green. It was less than 
two meters in diameter, a shallow bowl lined with a soft excelsior like 
material. The two girls were intertwined at the bottom of the bowl.
	"How long can the air stay good in here?"
	"Oh, a large tree like Silver-leaf could sustain us for thousands of 
years, as long as she lives. Of course, it would be very boring, but you can 
sleep, and dream with the trees."
	"I've had quite enough of that for my lifetime."
	"Oh, I imagine it would be gentler with you not being a prisoner."
	"I prefer normal sleep, unless you'd rather make love."
	Aeka thought of a long gone world, one she and Ryouko had always agreed to 
call a dream. In a moment of wistful introspection, she realized just how much 
she'd like to take up the offer, but she knew her own level of anxiety all to 
well. She shook her head, but kissed the demoness on the lips.
	"No, not here, not now. With Lord Tenchi's life in the balance, with him 
out in the storm, I couldn't possibly lose myself in sensation. You really are 
immoral!"
	"Immoral? That is not the right word. Let's just say that I have no reason 
to conform to standards to which I was not raised. I learned long ago to live 
for the moment." she paused, thinking, "Until Tenchi came along, and there was a 
future worth living for."
	The pair slept until Silver-leaf roused them before first light. Emerging 
from the tree, they recovered their clothes, Aeka donning the red body suit, and 
Ryouko her white split outfit. They carried Aeka's damp kimonos.
	Returning to Tenchi, they woke him and went through the ritual of feeding 
him before recovering the under wrap and changing around to their original 
clothings.
	A sixth day and a seventh passed before Tsunami appeared in the sky. In an 
instant the tendrils of the palace's wall trees released Tenchi and the three of 
them were transported into the presence of Sasami.
	As the girls explained the astonishing story how they had survived, Tenchi 
seemed to be trying to vanish into the shrubbery, naked, pale of face, and 
guilty of expression. Sasami's expression was otherwise. She cupped her hands to 
her childish breast and interrupted.
	"Nani, nani? Sasami would like to be able to do that for Tenchi-nii-chan."
	Tsumani's presence popped into being, and she chorused with Ryouko:
	"Absolutely not!"
	Tsunami flushed, "Sasami, dear heart. Your body is not ready for that", 
She turned to Ryouko, "Lets just leave it at that for now."
	Ryouko nodded, "Say, Tsunami-sama, I thought you couldn't be present when 
Sasami is awake?"
	"Well, er, uh, it's like this.it can be very confusing. I have enough 
trouble helping Sasami understand our connection as it is. There's not really 
anything to prevent it.
	By the way, if each of you will sleep inside me, I will readjust your 
physiologies to present circumstances."
	"Ano", Tenchi called out from behind the woefully inadequate cover of one 
of Tsunami's shrubs, "Do you think you could give some clothes now?"

	Several weeks later, after they had returned to Earth. Tenchi was having 
one of those rare talks with grandpa where the old man decided to forgo his mind 
games and talk strait to the boy. Tenchi took advantage of the break to ask a 
question.
	"Grandpa, I'm confused about my feelings toward Aeka and Ryouko now. How 
am I supposed to protect women from whom I have nursed like a newborn? It's just 
as bad as before, only different. Before, I was trying to avoid taking advantage 
of them, now I'm afraid they'll feel they mustn't take advantage of me.
How can they respect me, or themselves."
	"Tenchi, women can be very scary. Sometimes it is your duty to protect 
them, whether they are older or younger, or even your lovers. Other times, 
protecting them is the last thing you should do. Women protect their mates too, 
you know. When it is appropriate for a woman to love you, there is no element of 
taking advantage in making love to them. This goes to the very purpose of male 
and female. 
	Wake up, boy. There is nothing wrong with those women wanting you, and 
nothing wrong with you wanting them."
	"And yet, you'd be angry if I got one pregnant without marrying them, 
wouldn't you?"
	"Yep."

	Later that evening, Tenchi went to the floating onsen for his bath. 
Entering by his private door, he held his folded towel before his private parts. 
He was already settling into his favorite pool when he heard voices; he had 
walked in on Aeka and Ryouko. He called out to identify himself, and as they 
approached he noticed two things; first, that Aeka was naked, as well as Ryouko, 
and second that the girls were not vying between them for his attention. His 
mind was overwhelmed with a flood of suppressed memories. In his confusion, one 
question bubbled out of his lips. 
	"Got Milk?"
	Both girls facefaulted.