Disclaimer:  You know if I went out into the street and shouted, "I own Tenchi!" 
nobody would be stupid enough to believe it anyhow.  Of course, I don't own 
Tenchi!  Tenchi in Tokyo is property of AIC and Pioneer.  I'll miss these little 
moments.... Hehe

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

Tenchi was the first to regain his facility for speech.  He narrowed his eyes 
thoughtfully, as he tried to wrap his mind around Washu's words.  "Little Washu, 
how is that even possible?" he asked, trying not to flinch at the way Ryoko's 
nails dug into his arm even through the sleeve of his black and white jacket.  

Washu shot him a pained look and shook her head as if she were trying to explain 
blue sky to a two year-old.  "Well, I suspect that he didn't so much create 
himself as re-create himself.  Yugi, is apparently a symbiotic life form.  It's 
as if two beings have been fused into one body, and I'm certain that it's not 
the natural state for either.  Once I determine how it happened, I'll be able to 
answer your questions fully," Washu responded with a glib voice, clearly 
announcing that she'd only touched upon the surface of a very complex matter.   
At the same time she waved her hand dismissively to signify that it was of no 
difficulty to the self-proclaimed Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe.  

A small cough from the doorway alerted them to Sasami's arrival.  "You're 
talking about Yugi, aren't you?" the petite princess asked.  Her lower lip 
trembled as she spoke, "She's not in any trouble again, is she?  Because if she 
is, I want to help her!" Sasami declared with deep resolve, jutting her chin 
forward confidently.  Despite her young age, Sasami was a study in regal bearing 
during times of strife.  "Is there anything I can do, Miss Washu?" Sasami 
implored--her large pink eyes filled with genuine concern and compassion for her 
friend.  She wrung her tiny hands, as she waited for a reply from the pensive 
scientist.  

"Hmm," Washu murmured, as she placed her finger against her chin, and she leaned 
back on her floating cushion.  Her emerald green eyes lit with excitement, as 
she thought of a way for Sasami to be of help.  "Technically, Yugi isn't in 
trouble, Sasami, but we do have a reason that we need to help her.  I have an 
especially important job for you to do.  I need to find some very old files from 
before Yugi was imprisoned, and I'll probably need a Royal keyword for access," 
Washu explained gently.  "Do you want to help me locate and download those 
files, Sasami?"  

The little girl practically glowed with happiness, and a brilliant smile 
threatened to split her face, as she rushed forward to thank Washu for letting 
her help.  She grabbed the little woman in an enthusiastic hug and planted a 
quick kiss on her cheek.  "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Washu!  I'll work 
really hard to help Yugi!  You'll see!" Sasami promised.  From her perch between 
Sasami's long blue pigtails, Ryo-ohki agreed with a series of loud and animated 
miya's.  

"The rest of you just give me a couple of days to gather and examine that data," 
Washu instructed.  "After that, I should be able to tell you more," she added, 
as she hopped up from her seat, causing her workstation to immediately vanish, 
and led Sasami to the lab.  She stopped at the door to the broom closet, 
produced a crisp white research jacket for her eager new assistant, and then 
disappeared into the vast subspace laboratory.  

Tenchi gripped Ryoko's narrow shoulders lightly and brought her to her feet.  
She wore her exhaustion openly after her breakdown in front of everyone.  
Fragile was a word Tenchi had never thought to associate with Ryoko, and she had 
once again surprised him by proving to be more than he'd expected.  He wondered 
for the millionth time since coming home how he could have taken those around 
him so lightly--treated them so shabbily.  They had each faced struggles of 
their own, and he had given no regard to their feelings or even their safety.  
Now, a sleepy, hopeful grin graced her exotic features, and it filled him with a 
surging mixture of protectiveness and regret.  "Ryoko, why don't you go upstairs 
and rest," he suggested, as he steadied her wobbly posture.  

"I couldn't sleep now if I tried," Ryoko responded, as quiet elation etched 
itself into her features.  The weight that had been suffocating her all week was 
finally lifted, and she wanted to savor this much-needed moment of peace.  She 
cupped the locket to her chest with both hands for a moment, before sliding 
Tenchi's hands from her shoulders.  "I was afraid that I'd lost... well, you 
know.  I think I'd like to watch the stars for a little while," Ryoko told him, 
as she fought back a yawn.  

Ryoko swayed unsteadily, and Tenchi instinctively reached for her.  Before his 
fingers could connect with her shoulder, Kiyone slipped under Ryoko's arm and 
braced the other woman around her shoulders.  "I'll go with you," Kiyone offered 
in a mothering tone, as Tenchi stood speechless with his hand hanging in midair.  
He slowly drew his fingers back, staring at his empty hand in confusion and 
floundering for something to say as Kiyone lead the tired woman away.  

"You're being a lot more sympathetic than I expected," Ryoko told her bluntly as 
their shuffling footsteps departed towards the broad stairs.  

"Apparently, I have a weakness for egotistical space pirates, myself," Kiyone 
grunted back, as Mihoshi trailed after them with a wail.  

"Earlier tonight everything seemed to have gone back to normal around here," 
Tenchi began as he watched the trio give up on the stairs and have Ryoko simply 
teleport them to the roof.  "But it's all really changed now, hasn't it?" he 
asked, not sure whether or not to expect an answer from Ayeka.  

"Well, Lord Tenchi everything does change," Ayeka replied in gentle, graceful 
tones, "I think when Ryoko was in space she grew up in many ways.  I don't think 
she understood just how much that Hotsuma character meant to her, until she 
believed that she'd lost him.  When she came back here, she tried so hard to 
pretend that nothing was different.  She tried too hard to be the Ryoko we all 
expected, but now that the illusion is shattered, she can simply be the Ryoko 
that she's become."  Ayeka studied the line of Tenchi's back, as she measured 
his reaction to her words.  He'd balled his hand into a fist and was staring at 
it unrelentingly.  He seemed lost in the sudden change that had just rolled 
through their little family.  Ayeka realized that he'd never understood just how 
much they all depended on him until he'd been confronted by the independence 
that each of the women had been forced to learn during his time in Tokyo.  

"Thank you, Miss Ayeka," Tenchi said sincerely, as he dropped his fist and 
relaxed his tense shoulders.  He turned to face her with a grin that looked a 
little sad and tattered around the edges.  He reached up to scratch the back of 
his head.  "I guess it was foolish for me to expect things to be exactly the 
same," he laughed uneasily.  He kept replaying his last private conversation 
with Ryoko.  Their exchange at the tree had been his last chance, and he'd 
hesitated when she'd asked for his affection, like a deer caught in the 
impossibly bright glare of oncoming headlamps.  Maybe his chance had passed even 
before then, and she'd only been acting out of her private grief--looking for 
any reassurance to placate her hidden pain.  Some questions he might never know 
the answers to.  "How about another cup of green tea, Miss Ayeka," he offered in 
a genial tone, before she could say anything further.  

"I'd be delighted, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka responded politely, as she returned to 
the table and picked up one of the small flowered cups for him.  She poured a 
cup of the cleansing, acerbic beverage and passed it to him as they sat down to 
examine their personal thoughts in companionable silence.  

On the rooftop Ryoko and Kiyone were having their own discussion while Mihoshi 
dozed beside them.  The blonde officer lay curled in a little ball, and her 
partner checked frequently to ensure that the ditz didn't either roll over the 
edge or begin to sleepwalk.  "We all missed out on a lot while you were in 
space, didn't we?" Kiyone asked the amber-eyed woman who sat mesmerized by the 
myriad pinwheels of light, which stretch on forever overhead.  Kiyone herself 
spent more time looking towards the heavens lately, and often wondered if she 
might be looking directly at the place where Aicheron was now.  

"I guess," Ryoko replied easily.  "I mean I was so excited to see you and 
Mihoshi out in space, because there were so many things that I wanted to tell 
you--particularly about Hotsuma--but then when we sat down to talk the 
conversation went all wrong."  She shrugged slightly.  She picked a fallen leaf 
up from the roof and spun it between her lithe fingers.  

"I'm sorry," Kiyone apologized, as she curled her knees in towards her chest and 
rested her chin atop them.  "It seemed like such a huge change for you, and with 
the way you'd returned to crime I was really worried about you," she added, 
rolling her head so that her cheek would rest upon the table of her knees and 
she could look up at her friend.   "It never occurred to me that no matter what 
your reasons for returning to piracy you might have genuinely cared about him.  
You know... you could tell me all that stuff now, if you want."  

Ryoko pursed her lips for a moment and lifted her memory locket so that Kiyone 
would have a good view.  She pressed the large diamond in the center to display 
their snapshots and scrolled to one in particular of a boiling, pink, newborn 
nebula.  Ryoko looked at it wistfully.  "How about I begin with the time that 
crazy bastard decided that we should outfox a supernova?" Ryoko asked with a 
wicked grin and shot Kiyone a wink.  

The next couple of days seemed to pass in a blur, as the household fell into 
order again.  Underneath it all, a quiet anticipation permeated the air of the 
large home.  Sasami continued to assist the genius scientist in the lab, but she 
emerged frequently to cook meals and visit with everyone.  Sasami had learned a 
great deal from Washu, and the young girl was looking forward to the possibility 
of being able to play with her best friend again very soon.  For Ryoko the 
waiting was torture, but Ayeka had come to her rescue with the distraction that 
bickering seemed to bring for both of them.  Even so, the atmosphere around the 
living room was unusually quiet when Washu finally emerged from her lab with the 
definitive results.  Sasami and Ryo-ohki followed her out; Sasami was clad in 
her white lab coat, and she and Ryo-ohki each had a pair of goggles pushed up to 
the tops of their heads.  Washu's goggles dangled carelessly around her thin 
neck, and all three had imprints of the rubber edges across their faces.  

"Well, if everybody will please step into the lab, I have something to share 
with you all," Washu announced with great satisfaction.  "I am truly a genius!" 
she snickered, and headed back into the space beneath the stairs while Sasami 
held the door for everyone to follow before taking up the rear with the merry 
cabbit hopping alongside her.  The subspace lab itself seemed to be a great dark 
void upon first glance with only a giant computer console and view screen taking 
up room in the seemingly endless space.  There was no evidence of walls or 
ceiling and even the ground that they walked upon failed to differ any visually 
despite its obvious solidity.  Tenchi and the women gathered in a semi-circle 
around the console, and Washu took her seat at the keyboard.  

"Okay, people," Washu crowed, "Let's begin with the files that Sasami and I were 
finally able to crack into."  With a keystroke Washu pulled up a giant picture 
of a six-year-old girl with dark hair and striking green eyes.  Reports and 
documents filled smaller sub screens around the image, and displayed everything 
from a complete karyotype listing of the child to what she'd eaten for dinner on 
a given date.  "We all knew that Yugi was a mutant created on Ancient Jurai; she 
was bred to have the ability to create matter from her thoughts and to be able 
to control warriors of her own making.  Their project was a failure however, 
because although she had the basic ability she didn't have the energy required 
to create any substantial objects.  That's why the scientists involved called in 
a little favor to the Jurain military." Washu paused to make sure everyone was 
hanging on her every word.  The faces behind her all displayed the proper awe as 
they stared up at the images on the screens above.  

Washu entered a new keystroke and a photo of Hotsuma, dressed in skintight black 
pirating clothes and carrying a nasty looking blaster, replaced the previous 
image.  He wore his hair in the same ponytail, and just below his thin-rimmed 
glasses on both cheeks he wore painted black war stripes to add to his already 
imposing appearance.  He seemed much harder and angrier than the man Ryoko knew, 
and it reminded her of the way she'd once been.  Even more reports flashed up on 
the panorama of screens, displaying police and military reports along with 
another set of scientific reports.  "Enter the space pirate Hotsuma!" Washu 
announced with a triumphant grin.  "We all know that Ryoko has rare and powerful 
abilities, but just how rare is rather amazing.  In all of history there has 
only been one other pirate with such powers--a perfect solution for them!"  

"So how did they manage to persuade him to help?" Ayeka asked rather innocently.  

"Hotsuma was taken down by a traitor inside his gang--a man named Mitsuru 
Hirobashi whose home planet had been robbed by Hotsuma when Mitsuru was around 
12."  Washu played a short video clip that must have been made by the Jurai 
military unit that had handled the capture of the most wanted criminal of 
Ancient Jurai.  Ryoko glared as she watched the young man step up behind Hotsuma 
in a scene that seemed pure chaos--a job gone terribly wrong with the arrival of 
Jurai's military units.  There was the quick glint of metal, as Mitsuru buried a 
concealed knife deep into the blond man's back near the spine.  Those around 
Ryoko flinched and grimaced at the action, but Ryoko merely crossed her arms and 
looked furious.  

"So the scientists decided to use him for their own little unwilling guinea 
pig?" Ryoko demanded pounding her fist into the corner of Washu's metal console.  
The edge crumpled under her knuckles, and everyone jumped at the noise, which 
reverberated in the darkened room.  "That's disgusting!" she fumed.  "Those 
bastards had no right to play god like that!"  

"They figured he would have been executed anyhow, and they convinced the higher-
ups that at least this way he could serve a purpose and repay society for his 
crimes," Washu explained, as she pushed Ryoko back from the bent corner of the 
console.  The pink-haired scientist shook her head, as she tried to remember 
exactly where she'd been in her lecture.  "They were very lucky that he didn't 
die before they got to him, because that knife wound was critical," she 
continued, "However they did manage to successfully negotiate for his transfer 
to their facility and so that leads to how the Yugi we know came to be.  Please, 
try to restrain yourself if you want to see the experiment, Ryoko."  The child-
like woman looked critically at the livid female standing just behind her 
shoulder.  Ryoko met her gaze evenly, but after a few moments dropped her eyes 
and turned her head in quiet acquiescence.  

Sasami picked up Ryo-ohki and scratched her behind the ears reassuringly, as 
Washu started the next video clip.  It showed a large tiled room filled with 
working scientists.  A massive device stood in the center of the frame and had 
two glass tubes on either side of a nest of wires.  A small workstation plugged 
into the tube on the far left of the shot, and a pair of scientists was placing 
the naked raven-haired child into the first tube with great care.  A contingent 
of armed guards led the cuffed, drugged, and still struggling space pirate 
toward the other tube.  His hair flung with his desperate struggles, and the 
room filled with more shouting as he reopened the injury to his back and could 
no longer fight.  Ayeka covered her younger sister's eyes, as they removed the 
hospital gown and cuffs and closed the tube.  Catching that as a cue, Washu 
quickly switched to a closer cropped shot of the scene.  

The bearded man at the controls began to type away and the tubes filled with 
blinding light and energy.  Hotsuma and Yugi both screamed in excruciating 
agony--the child squeezing her eyes tightly shut, while the pirate pounded on 
the clear tube futilely.  Then with a flash both disappeared, reforming in 
Yugi's tube as the small blonde child they had faced in Tokyo.  

"Dear God," Kiyone whispered, putting her fingers to her mouth and looking to 
Ryoko for any sign of a reaction.  The pirate seemed too calm, but her eyes 
spoke volumes of hatred for the men in the tape.  

"What just happened?" Mihoshi asked in utter confusion, as she folded her hands 
prayer-like in front of her yellow and white striped top and looked from person 
to person for an explanation.  Tenchi and Ayeka wore matching expressions of 
disgust and outrage on their pale faces.  Sasami wiped hot tears from the 
corners of her rosy eyes, while Ryo-ohki sniffled in her arms.  Kiyone was 
watching the silently furious Ryoko.  Washu on the other hand stared at the 
screen in a haze of intellectual rapture and overwhelming curiosity.  

Washu pulled up a computerized representation of Yugi's present genetic code.  
"Well, the scientists blasted them both down to their atoms and recombined them 
into one body with Yugi as the dominant member of the life form.  From what I've 
gathered from their notes they had originally been hoping to eradicate any 
consciousness from Hotsuma during the procedure.  In fact, the likelihood of his 
mind surviving at all was slim, but the fusion was made in mere nanoseconds--and 
he has a powerful life force.  I believe the merger with Hotsuma must have 
caused Yugi to become emotionally unstable and created a violent streak. That's 
what led to her rampage on Jurai." Washu told them as she rotated the viewpoint 
on the DNA strand.  She magnified one of the spurs of genetic material that hung 
off the regular double helix like feelers.  A computer tag identified it as 
Hotsuma's DNA, although other sections of his genetic code had fused with or 
pushed aside Yugi's so that the result looked like a stretched out puzzle maze.  

"Although it initially seemed that Hotsuma's mind had been annihilated, it had 
really just been disrupted by the extreme trauma of the recombination process.  
Sometime during their stasis, Hotsuma's mind awoke but without the memory of his 
previous life--probably a psychological defense mechanism or a symptom of post 
traumatic stress disorder," Washu rattled off no longer aware of the others in 
the room.  "He recreated himself by dipping into Yugi's power, in the same 
fashion that she creates things using his ability to channel energy.  During his 
association with Ryoko, he became increasingly human again, and those headaches 
and nightmares were a symptom of his reemerging memories."  Washu swung her 
chair around to face her stunned and silent audience.  

"How do we undo it, Washu?" Ryoko asked with an edge beneath her husky voice.  
"We know what they did.  Now how do we undo it?"  She stared at the rotating 
coil of DNA that was still sprawled across the broad screen above them.  Her 
fists were balled so tight that her knuckles showed white and her arms trembled 
slightly with the effort she was expending to restrain herself.  

"Are we sure that we want to try to undo it?" Tenchi countered, and he swallowed 
loudly as Ryoko turned on him furiously.  

"What the hell do you mean by that?" the cyan-haired woman nearly screamed.  
"Because he's a pirate you just want to leave him like that?  Would you be 
saying that if someone had done this to me?" she hollered without seeming to 
pause for breath.  

"That's not what I meant!" Tenchi shouted back.  "How do we know that trying to 
reverse this won't kill them both?  We have to think about both their safeties!"  
He seemed outraged that Ryoko would accuse him of such a thing.  He might be 
jealous as hell of Hotsuma at the moment, but Tenchi still wouldn't sink to 
leaving the man trapped in a half-life.  

"I don't know about Yugi, but I can tell you that Hotsuma would rather be dead 
than live like that," Ryoko answered solemnly, pointing toward the monitor.  

"Everybody just calm down," Washu commanded as she stepped between the pirate 
and the Earth guardian.  "Don't forget that technology has come a long way in 
the past three and a half millennia!" she told them with a wagging finger.  
"Especially, when you're talking to the Greatest Scientific Genius in the 
Universe!" she declared proudly, planting her hands upon her hips and staring at 
them each as if daring them to challenge her title.  Satisfied that her prowess 
was without dispute, the green-eyed woman planted her hands upon her hips and 
turned to her young assistant.  "Lights, Sasami!" Washu ordered, pointing 
towards the heavens.  

"Yes, Ma'am!" Sasami cheered, as she skipped over to a dark end of the room.  
She'd replaced her goggles and was grinning just like the pink-haired 
megalomaniac who owned this corner of subspace.  Sasami fiddled with something 
in the shadows and a moment later a spotlight shone down upon her.  "Ladies and 
Gentleman!" Sasami announced as Ryo-ohki jumped up onto the princess's shoulder.  
"The Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe is proud to present the ultimate 
proof of her brilliance," Sasami praised as Ryo-ohki swayed back and forth like 
a puppy's overjoyed tail.  She pressed something else and the entire room blazed 
to light.  "The Tele-geneto-extractor!" Sasami cheered before falling into a fit 
of insane, Washu-like giggles.  

"That is possibly the most terrifying moment in the history of the Jurai royal 
family," Ayeka whispered dry-mouthed.  

"Yeah, in an insanely kind of cute way..." Ryoko acknowledged, closing her slack 
jaw in time to see Washu posing in front of a brushed metal device that looked 
suspiciously like the one they had just witnessed on the overhead screen.  The 
child-like scientist stood at the helm of a large control station between two 
glass-domed pods.  The external form appeared much sleeker, with streamlined 
energy devices at the top of each chamber.  The glass was frosted on the lower 
half of the tubes to allow for some sense of modesty.  The controls seemed far 
more advanced with very precise computer displays for power output and genetic 
manipulation.  It looked very like the original, but Washu could easily build a 
weapon of mass destruction that looked exactly like a toaster--so looks alone 
didn't count for much.  

"It's quite simple really," Washu cooed, as she brushed her cheek against the 
side of the nearest pod like a cat marking its favorite catnip mouse.  "We just 
put Yugi in here, and then I can blast them back apart and reconstruct the 
originals using my genetic sequencer and teleporter.  All of their genetic 
information and vital statistics have been entered into the computer already, 
and unlike that dinosaur of a machine in the tape this baby has an exact energy 
output so it's really quite safe."  Washu crinkled up her eyes grinned with 
self-satisfaction, placing a finger to her cheek to accentuate an adorable 
dimple.  

Everyone turned to look at each other.  There really wasn't a decision to be 
made.  No amount of sleep would remove the incursion of a separate mind into 
Yugi's consciousness.  What had been done to the child and the pirate was 
unthinkable, and it was a silent agreement on all parts that it had to be 
reversed.  With a slight nod Tenchi headed up to the cave to collect the 
sleeping child, and carry her back through the morning light and towards her 
chance at a new life.  

"Sasami, why don't you get a nice robe for Yugi for when she emerges?  And a 
warm blanket for Hotsuma," Ayeka suggested brightly as her sister ran off to the 
linen closet, eager to be useful.  The purple-haired crowned princess looked at 
Ryoko conspiratorially.  Her left eye twitched, with irritation.  "Ryoko you'd 
better be handy with that blanket when the time comes, because if my sister sees 
anything that she shouldn't you will feel the full weight of it," Ayeka told the 
snickering space-pirate.  

"I'll save Hotsuma the mortification, Princess," Ryoko assured her, as the pig-
tailed princess returned with the requested linens.  "Thank you so much, Sasami-
dear," Ryoko clucked with sickening sweetness, taking the blanket and covering 
Ayeka with it like a practice run.  "Piece of cake," she promised with a wink.  

"Okay, you clowns," Washu groaned.  "This should be much smoother than the 
initial fusion process, but it will still be traumatic.  When Hotsuma regains 
consciousness, I can't guarantee what he will remember or how he will react.  At 
least the fusion will have healed his wound.  I have a power dampener over his 
tube, so between that and Ryoko we should be set.  I can repair any damage to 
his memory at a later date.  Sasami should be able to handle Yugi without any 
problems."  The egotistical scientist told them as she pushed the women to the 
sides of each chamber.  She tossed Ryoko a spare pair of the glasses with the 
instruction that if she wanted to keep her retinas intact she'd wear them.  By 
the time that Tenchi returned with the slumbering child, Washu was ready to 
begin.  She slipped Yugi into her pod and ensured that everyone stood back and 
wore their protective goggles.  

Ryoko's heart beat like a drum, as she watched Washu entering the commands to 
initialize the separation process.  If this would only work, she would do 
anything.  If she could just have a second chance, she wouldn't make the same 
mistakes--nor would she let him.  She closed her eyes as the light in the 
chambers flashed blindingly, filling the room with a brilliance that harkened 
back to the power of the Olmekian supernova.  Ryoko panted slightly as she felt 
the power coming from the machine wash through her.  She hoped vaguely that 
Sasami was okay on the other side, but the princess didn't channel energy the 
way Ryoko did and probably didn't feel a thing.  An earsplitting shriek filled 
the room, at first a fusion of two voices screaming with one single torment then 
a distinct pair of individual screams.  As the light died away, Ryoko could see 
Hotsuma unconscious in the tube, with his long blond locks streaming across his 
still features.  She could make out a slight rise and fall to his chest, but he 
seemed more fragile than she'd ever seen him.  

As the glass lifted, Ryoko hurriedly wrapped him in the soft folds of the white 
cotton.  He limply collapsed onto her causing her to stagger under the 
unexpected weight of him.  She could see his eyes scrunching up as he drew up to 
bleary consciousness.  His body jerked against her, as he fought for control of 
his limbs--like a fawn struggling to take its first steps.  His bare feet 
slipped over the cold tile floor and he opened his impossibly cool blue eyes to 
stare up at her.  "R...Ryoko..." he croaked hoarsely, as the emotions played 
over his struggling features.  

"It's okay, Partner," Ryoko told him comfortingly, as she drew him into her arms 
and planted kisses over the planes of his face.  He reached up in confusion to 
brush away the joyful tears that gathered in her eyes.  "Don't you EVER do that 
to me again, you stupid ass!" she commanded, much to his amusement.  

"I can assure you it's not an experience I ever want to relive," he rasped, 
giving up his movements and simply relaxing into the warmth of her arms.  He was 
remembering more and more, as he adjusted to having a real body again.  His head 
was killing him, but he couldn't remember ever feeling happier at any point in 
his life.  

"So how do you feel, Hotsuma?" Washu asked him, as Ryoko laid her cheek against 
his forehead.  "My genius should have made that only a third the pain of the 
initial fusion process," Washu proclaimed as she leaned over them wagging her 
finger knowledgably.  

"Everything hurts," Hotsuma groaned breathlessly, as Washu passed him a small 
bottle of water to re-hydrate his parched throat.  As he sipped it gratefully, a 
small form hurled itself into his chest excitedly, nearly knocking his breath 
away.  

"Hotsuma!" Yugi rejoiced, fixing him with a huge grin that shone even in the 
lights of her green eyes.  She looked so different from the child he'd grown 
used to, but he knew from the kinship that he still felt this was indeed Yugi.  
"You're really here!  Look at us, Hotsuma!" she giggled excitedly as she 
snuggled into his chest.  

Hotsuma wrapped his arm around the child's back and ruffled her hair 
affectionately.  "It's nice to finally meet you, Yugi," he teased, as the rest 
of the crowd gathered around them.  

Tenchi finally convinced Washu that she had run enough tests for the time being, 
and the science-hyper redhead reluctantly released her patients under the 
condition that they return for regular check-ups with her.  Sasami dressed her 
friend in one of her old shorts sets, which was covered in a summertime 
watermelon pattern, and Washu fabricated some clothing for the blond pirate, who 
was too tall to fit into anyone else's.  A pair of black chinos and a pale blue 
silk top later, he anxiously followed Ryoko outside of the lab and out into the 
daylight for the first time in over three thousand years.  

Sasami and Yugi bounced into the yard to chase butterflies with Ryo-ohki, and 
the others lined the edge of the porch to watch them play.  The girls ran and 
tumbled behind the ecstatic cabbit, nearly falling on the poor thing once.  Ryo-
ohki backpedaled through a patch of orange wildflowers just in time and gave 
them a miffed series of mews before cantering away with her head held high.  Her 
dignified retreat didn't last long, as a gold and blue butterfly landed on the 
tip of her turned-up nose.  The little brown cabbit stopped and stared at its 
slowly beating wings in pride and amazement, and everyone laughed.  

Ayeka watched the raven-haired child dart about joyfully with Sasami, and the 
princess looked thoughtfully at the little girl who for the first time in her 
life could be a normal child.  "Lord Tenchi," Ayeka asked, drawing her thin 
purple brows together, "Does this mean that Yugi will indeed grow up to be 
Sakuya?"  Only Ryoko could hear the edge of insecurity in her polished voice.  

Tenchi laughed as Ryo-ohki leaped over both girls' heads, and they landed on 
their bottoms with a surprised squeal.  "No, Miss Ayeka," he answered with 
surprising contentment in his voice.  "She'll grow up to be Yugi-the way she 
always should have."  He looked to Ryoko for agreement.  He felt a pang of 
jealousy watching her busily fuss over Hotsuma.  He knew that he'd always miss 
her attention and kick himself over what might have been, but he was also 
genuinely happy for her.  Seeing her the other night left Tenchi wondering how 
much he had hurt her himself-and the others too.  He wouldn't forget again how 
precious his family was to him.  

Katsuhito Masaki coughed to attract their attention as he stepped into the yard.  
"Excuse me, Tenchi, but we have a visitor."  He gestured over his shoulder to a 
young dark-haired man, dressed in jeans and a black tee shirt and carrying a 
rucksack over his left shoulder.  The man pushed a long brown strand of hair 
away from his face and looked up at the porch with his angular yellow-green 
eyes.  "He wandered into the shrine by mistake.  He says he's looking for 
Kiyone," Katsuhito finished.  

Ryoko knowingly stepped to the side so that Kiyone could have an unobstructed 
view.  "Hey look!  It's Aicheron!" Mihoshi burbled, waving at the newcomer.  She 
turned her head to see Kiyone's reaction.  She heard Kiyone gasp in recognition, 
but otherwise her partner just stood there frozen.  "Don't you want to go say 
hello to him?" she asked, nudging the teal-haired detective in the ribs with her 
elbow.  

The action was enough to free Kiyone up, and with a yell she threw herself at 
Aicheron, wrapping her arms around his neck and locking her legs about his 
waist.  He caught her weight with a familiar "Oooph", and Kiyone broke into 
loud, deep laughter.  Aicheron smiled back wrapping one arm around her back and 
grabbing her leg with the other hand to support her.  "Still as graceful as 
ever, I see," he said cocking an eyebrow at her.  

"What are you doing here?  How did you find us?" Kiyone asked, leaning back to 
looking him square in the eyes.  

"I heard there was a planet named Earth, where ex-pirates and galaxy police 
officers lived together in peace, and I figured I might go looking for it," he 
told her.  "Once I arrived it wasn't that hard to track your com signal," he 
added with a wink.  He looked past her to the eager faces on the very crowded 
porch.  "Do you think there might be room for one more person around here?" he 
asked Kiyone with a hopeful look in his eyes.  

Kiyone nodded enthusiastically.  "Oh yeah!" she promised.  "So is this the part 
where the ex-pirate and the cop live happily ever after?" she teased, leaning in 
closer for a kiss.  

"I think that part comes after we marry off Mihoshi," he whispered 
conspiratorially.  He leaned in closer to her, noting the way she'd laced her 
fingers into his hair.  

"The poor guy," she laughed, before Aicheron silenced her with a kiss.  They 
broke off short, as Mihoshi came running out to them and began hugging them both 
and chattering unstoppably.  

Ryoko laughed and rested her head against Hotsuma's shoulder.  She sighed 
contentedly as he immediately wrapped his arm around her and cradled her against 
him.  "Welcome to Earth's Home For Retired Space Pirates," she chuckled at 
Aicheron, before looking up at Hotsuma.  She was still enjoying every little 
detail of having him back, and she kept losing herself in the rise and fall of 
his breath or the rhythm of his heart beneath her cheek.  "You know, Partner," 
she whispered, "That goes for you too.  So how does it feel to be a retired 
space pirate?"  

Hotsuma was studying his hand in the sunlight, turning it over and over as he 
stared entranced at the play of the light upon his skin.  "Wonderful," his 
breathless voice answered.  Looking away from his hand, he pulled her against 
him and pressed his cheek against the top of her head.  "Wonderful," he 
repeated.  

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

Author's note:  And there we go!  I'll miss having this story to work on.  It's 
my first completed fic, and it was one of the most fun things I've ever worked 
on.  If I can find a good enough plot in my head, I'd love to continue further 
adventures in this new timeline that I've spawned.  I have some ideas for the 
characters, but I'm holding out for a good unifying plot.  ;)  I do have a new 
Hotsuma and Ryoko story in the works.  I'm planning it out now, and the setting 
will probably pick up a few months after the end to the regular Shin series.  

That just leaves one last order of business...

Amagasaki pops into being from out of nowhere, and looks down in horror to find 
that he is dressed in a bunny girl costume.  He looks around in a panic and 
tries to cover himself, as laughter and catcalls fill the air.  He opens his 
mouth to scream, but he is shocked when a voice like Betty Boop springs forth 
from his throat in song.  He hugs himself, and sways back and forth with the 
music that has begun to play.  "I wanna be loved by you... just you... and 
nobody else but you," he sings.  "I wanna be loved by you... alo-o-one!" He 
bends down and sticks his bottom in the air, in a classic Betty Boop pose.  
"Boop, boop be doop!"