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	    The Masaki Family Line part nine
		by Argus Cromwell
		a.k.a.Dade Gifford

	Tenchi lay back on his bed.  He'd 
been feeling quite unnerved since those last
two months had passed.  First, his dad perished
of heartbreak.  It seemed he had died without  
any warning at all.  Then, Nagi comes and he has
to fight her off, without killing her.  Of 
course, had Sasami not stopped him, Tenchi
probably wouldn't have killed her anyhow.  Just
maimed her a bit, so she'd think twice about
assaulting his family ever again.
	Tenchi looked out the window at the
sunset, as dim reddish-pink tendrils of light
shed into the sky, distorting the blue color
to make it more of a deep, alluring violet.
Not voilet like Aeka's hair...  But close.
Aeka had already gone into a couple of 
contractions.  False alarms, of course, but 
still had Tenchi on his toes.  However, she
was most definately showing.  Her stomach
pursed outwards much more, and her breasts
had enlarged, filling with mother's milk.
Aeka seemed more beautiful this way, as a
mother...
	Tenchi decided he'd better get to
sleep.  School was tomorrow, and his exams
were near.  However, he was worried that 
his son would be born soon and he would miss
that event because of school.  Tenchi forced
himself not to dwell on that, because it 
really wasn't something that would bring
him out of his depression.  He needed to
cheer up.  Of course, Ryoko had been busy
with little Achika, so she wasn't her usual
self.  More...maternal.  Something that 
belied her.
	Achika was now more active.  She
would snatch at hair sometimes.  Not as
much as Taro would, but with ten times the
strength.  One time, Achika had happened
upon one of Kiyone's teal tresses, and
incidentally, tossed her across the room.
Kiyone was okay, just a minor headache
and some bruises.  But a little wary of
Achika, nonetheless.
	Achika had even more cyan hair
now, and the brown eyes were unmistakeable.
Of course, the whole 'throwing people across
the room' thing may have told one something...
Anyway, Tenchi could only wonder when she
would exhibit the flight, phasing, and all
that other wonderful stuff that Ryoko had
been gifted with.  Or maybe, a mixture of
Ryoko's powers and Tenchi's Jurai power, now
that would be interesting.
	Tenchi sat up out of bed, and decided
to go and get something to drink before he
turned in for the night.  He crept down the
stairs, not wanting to awaken little Achika,
who was still snoozing in her crib.  Aeka,
Ryoko, and Sasami were all on the couch, 
watching a movie.  As Tenchi neared them,
Sasami took notice of him and greeted him.
	"Hi, Tenchi!  Want to watch this
movie with us?" 
	"Hi, Sasami.  Uh, no.  I can't,
'cause I have school tomorrow.  Sorry."
	Tenchi scratched the back of his
head.  He looked at Ryoko and Aeka, and
noticed something sweet.  Aeka had fallen
asleep, and her head rested on Ryoko's
shoulder.  Ryoko was still awake, and didn't
seem to mind.  "Hi, Tenchi," she said, 
wearily.
	"Hi, Ryoko...."  Tenchi was a little
taken aback by the warm scene before him.
Not four months ago, Aeka and Ryoko would
kill each other rather than get anywhere 
near each other, and here they were, Aeka
sleeping on Ryoko's shoulder.  "Hey, let
me help you with that," said Tenchi.  He
put an arm under Aeka's knees, and one
behind her back, and lifted her off of 
the couch, grunting with the effort.  She
had gained a few pounds since her pregnancy.
Tenchi forgot about his glass of water and
carried Aeka back to bed.  Sasami and Ryoko
followed closely, silently.
	Upon arriving to his room(well,
their room), Tenchi gently laid Aeka out
on the bed.  She sighed and rolled over,
clutching at a pillow.  Sasami stretched
out beside her, and Tenchi to her other
side.  Ryoko laid on Tenchi's left.  They
slept peaceably, and even little Achika
did not stir...
	  Tenchi awoke to the smells of 
Sasami's cooking.  Ever since Achika was
born, he got rid of his alarm clock.  It
would wake her up, and then Ryoko would 
have to deal with her.  Tenchi went into
the kitchen to catch a light breakfast,
and then to the onsen for a short bath.
After the bath, Tenchi dressed up for
school, and went out to the bus.
	Tenchi looked back and watched as
the Masaki home got smaller and smaller 
as they drove away.  Tenchi sighed, and
tried to rest a little before the bus'
jostling trip ended.  He tried not to
think of the women at home, not because 
he didn't love them, but because he ached
when he wasn't around them.
	Ryoko sighed as she watched the bus
ride off, until it was out of sight.  She
rocked little Achika for a little while,
and Achika grabbed one of her bangs.  But
Ryoko had already lost feeling in her scalp,
so she let Achika do it all she wanted.  
Ryoko felt as if she had changed since Achika
was born.  Like she was no longer the same
fun-loving person.  Maybe it was the three
gems?  Ryoko HAD acquired a pattern along
her skin, almost like a tatoo...a flowery
pattern.  And now she was a lot more powerful
than before.  But that wasn't it.
	Ryoko looked over at Aeka, who was 
mulling over the breakfast table, cleaning it
and giving the dishes to Sasami, who was 
washing them.  Ryoko then realized that Achika
hadn't had anything for breakfast, so she
let Achika suckle for a little while.  Ryoko
sat and relaxed, while watching TV.  There
wasn't anything particularly interesting on,
but then when is there?
	Just then, Washu came up from her
lab.  "Oh, hi, *mom*, what have you been doing?"
said Ryoko, with a hint of her usual playfulness
in her voice.
	"Nothing particularly interesting, just
using the sample I got from...er, just, you 
know, the usual!"  Washu laughed nervously while
scratching the back of her neck.
	Ryoko looked at her curiously.  "Okay,
whatever."
	Washu turned around and let out a sigh
of relief.  She went into the kitchen and came
back with a rice ball.  "So, how's my granddaughter
doing?" she said, nonchalantly.  
	"Oh, just fine.  She's a hungry little devil,
though."
	"Hmm, well, lots of children are, at that 
age.  It's about the only thing they can do anyway."
	"She certainly knows how to pull hair."
	"And I bet you've already lost feeling in
your scalp, right?"
	"You got it."
	Aeka and Sasami finished cleaning up in the
kitchen, and came back out into the living room.
	"You know, Ryoko, you could do the chores,
and I could feed the baby, next time."
	"I don't know, have you been eating right?"
	"Hmph!  Of course!  Don't you think I know
all about that?"
	"Just had to check, princess."
	"Well.  Next time, will you do it?"
	"I'll think about it."
	Aeka nodded and sat down on the couch next
to her.  She picked up the remote, and flicked the
channels.  Sasami was on the verge of telling her
sister to put it on "Sailor Moon," but reined 
herself in.  After all, she had the body of an
adult, why not act like one?  Sasami would miss the
shows, but felt it was a reasonable sacrifice.  All
in all, things hadn't really been that different.  
She was still the cook and dish washer, and Tenchi
still had school.  Well, maybe the fact that Ryoko
and Aeka didn't fight, and that Ryoko was just on
the other end of the couch nursing a baby might
amount to something...
	And Aeka seemed more virile, more content
than she had before.  Her hair was more lustrious,
and her attitude had improved, or so Sasami thought.
Aeka had really learned to cope with-
	"Aaah!" Aeka screamed.
	Sasami sat up quickly.  "Aeka, what's wrong?"
	Aeka seemed unable to answer.  Little Achika
started to cry.  Ryoko looked her in the eye.  "Aeka!
C'mon, answer!  What's wrong?!"
	Washu seemed to be studying Aeka.  She then
snapped her fingers.  "I got it!  She's having 
contractions!  Hurry, get her into the lab!"
	Aeka's face was twisted into an expression
of anguish as Ryoko handed Achika to Sasami and then
lifted Aeka up.  She carried Aeka as quickly but as
carefully as she could to the lab, Washu ahead of
her all the way.  Washu led Ryoko to the same bed
she had used for Achika's delivery.  In ten minutes,
Washu had Aeka prepped and ready to go.  Ryoko was
by her side, holding her hand for a minute, when
she thought of something.
	"Be right back!" she yelled over her shoulder
as she ran out the door.
	"Where're you going?" called Washu.
	"I'm going to get Tenchi!"
	Ryoko exited the lab, and then teleported to
the school.  There was much screaming and clamor as
Ryoko phased through many walls, into several of the
classrooms, looking for Tenchi.  Not too much time
later, she found Tenchi.  Ryoko grasped him by the
arm, and before she could tell him what was going
on, she teleported them to the house.
	"Ryoko, what's going on?" he said in a 
worried tone.
	"Aeka's going into labor!"
	Tenchi's eyes bugged out, and he ran for
the lab, Ryoko flying closely behind.  Tenchi
ran up to the side of the bed, and Aeka clutched
his hand.  "Tenchi.." she said, before another
contraction wracked her.
	"Aeka, I'm here.  Everything's okay."
he said.
	Washu stepped up next to Tenchi, dressed
as a nurse.  She administered some painkillers to
Aeka, and went back to get the cart of instruments
she would need for the procedure.  Aeka seemed to
calm down, but only a little.  Tears were falling
down her cheeks.  Tenchi kissed them away.  Aeka
squeezed his hand gently, to let him know she 
appreciated it.	
	It wasn't till several hours later that
the final contractions began.  Aeka clutched his
hand, but much too hard this time.  Tenchi's
screams merged with Aeka's.  And once his hand
was too crushed for her to squeeze it anymore,
she folded it over and squeezed it again.  It
was the most excruciating half-hour of Tenchi's
life.
	After Washu had cut the cord and handed
the child over to Aeka, she set the bones in 
Tenchi's hand and wrapped it up.  Of course, 
she had to use an agent to heal him, because
there really wasn't any bones to work with.
Just powder.
	Tenchi came back to Aeka's side with
a heavily bandaged hand (The bandages were all
that was keeping his hand looking like a hand).
Aeka had hair plastered to her forehead with
sweat.  She smiled weakly at Tenchi, holding
their new baby son.  Even though he had just
been born, Tenchi's son had hairs that could
be seen, little, diminuitive, purple hairs.
The child opened his eyes and looked at his
father.  The eyes were brown, same as little
Achika's.
	"Oh, Ten-chan..." said Aeka, softly.
She sighed.
	"Aeka, I still haven't been able to
think of a name for our child."
	"Hmm...  Well, I think I have the
perfect name for him, Tenchi."
============================================
Don't bother with the name.  It's already
been taken care of.
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