Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and its characters, technologies, 
etc. are property of Pioneer and AIC. All other characters 
and ideas are property of the author and their use is 
prohibited except by consent of the author. Any similiarities 
to actual persons, events, etc. are purely coincidental and 
in no way makes the author liable. To sum up all this legal 
stuff don't steal my original characters and don't sue me for 
use of ones that aren't.

Tenchi Muyo!: Airs of the Past

Chapter 5: Goodbyes and A New Greeting.

When Ryoko got to the table everyone except Aeka and Tenchi had already got 
there. As soon as she got there Washu decided to try and milk off of her good 
mood, "Hello, Little Ryoko, are we still having a good day?"

"Yep, couldn't be better, Mom," Ryoko replied the same cheery way she had all 
day. Washu was still very delighted to hear Ryoko call her mom without sarcasm. 

"Does anyone know where Tenchi or Aeka are?" Sasami hated it when people were 
late, all the food would get cold and her hard work would be wasted. As soon as 
she said it Tenchi walked in the door though. 

Tenchi had heard what she said, "I'm sorry that I was late, Sasami, But I was 
talking to Aeka. She won't be in for lunch until later so we can eat." Tenchi 
sat down at the table and Ryoko immediately clasped his hand in hers. 

Tenchi was sweating slighty. He was thinking about how to break it to them 
without hurting anyone's feelings. Everyone, except Tenchi, was really happy 
though so that would make things easier. 

About fifteen minutes into lunch Tenchi worked up the courage to finally speak, 
"I have to tell you guys something." He was mumbling, but everyone heard him. 
Ryoko could feel him squeeze her hand tighter and knew he was nervous. Washu 
could hardly contain her excitement any longer she was almost certain what his 
next words would be. She could feel Ryoko's joy even through the mental wall 
that was preventing her from probing Ryoko's thoughts. 

There was a tense air at the table as everyone was staring at Tenchi, waiting for 
him to say something. Tenchi was getting more and more nervous especially since 
all eyes were now focused on him. He glanced over at Ryoko and saw the reassuring 
look in her eyes as she held his hand within her gentle and powerful grasp. 

"Part of the reason Aeka is not here right now is I have already told her what I 
am going to tell you. Last night I made a choice," he paused and swallowed hard, 
"I told Ryoko that I love her."

The resulting collective gasp from everyone at the table who hadn't caught on by 
now made him wonder how they would react.

Washu yelled first, she couldn't hold it in any longer, "I KNEW IT!!! THAT IS WHY 
YOU ARE SO HAPPY!!!" At that point Ryoko let down the mental wall and Washu was 
silenced immediately as the flood of emotions filled her. She could vividly feel 
the pain of the stab wound Ryoko had gotten. She lived out the conversation from 
the earlier that day (or night don't be nitpicky) Then she got to the point when 
Tenchi had said he would go and Washu was suddenly and abruptly informed of the trip. 
Washu cried when she got to the point of the first kiss and Tenchi confessing his love.

Mihoshi broke out crying as soon as she heard the news, "Thats (sniff) so beautiful 
(WAHHHH)"

Sasami was the only one of the girls that didn't cry at the news. She was over giving 
Ryoko a hug, happy for her friend. Then she went pale as she thought of Aeka. 

Tenchi went over to her as soon as her saw her worrying, "What's wrong Sasami?"

"How did Aeka take it?"

"She was actually very understanding. Don't worry she will be fine. She just wants 
some time to herself to think over this and about the dreams I've had."

"If you really think she will be OK..."

"She will be OK. Trust me."

Tenchi could easily now tell them of the trip he was soon taking with Ryoko. "I have 
one other thing to say," Tenchi waited for them to recover from his last announcement, 
"I will be leaving tomorrow. I am going on a trip with Ryoko that I promised her a few 
months ago."

Now Washu just had to sneak in a joke here and there, "Going on the honeymoon and you 
aren't even married yet, Tenchi!"

Outside Aeka was sitting just out of view waiting for Tenchi to make his announcement. 
She risked a peak through the window and saw Ryoko holding Tenchi's hand. She slowly 
started to cry and began walking back to Funaho. It was too much for her to bear. Tenchi 
had chosen Ryoko and it was painfully obvious now. 

She knew she could pull through the disappointment. She had managed before. After all 
it had only been a few short years since she knew Tenchi. In a Jurian lifetime a few 
earth years were almost insignificant. She had waited for Yosho much longer only to 
be shattered at the end. Either way it would only be a few hours until her Jurian 
Escort arrived to take her home for awhile. She could put up a false air of happiness 
or avoid everyone until then.

The rest of the group had finished lunch and were aware of Tenchi's decision and that 
he and Ryoko were leaving in the morning. Tenchi went upstairs to pack. When he got to 
his room the door closed behind him. He spun around but there was no one there. He 
relaxed a bit then he felt a strong pair of hands catch him on the shoulders and spin 
him around he felt Ryoko press her lips against his, and felt an all to familiar tingle 
in his nose as he walked/got pulled over to his bed.

Sometime later......

Tenchi eventually finished his packing and it was getting fairly late. Ryoko had 
already fell asleep on his bed, a very satisfied smile on her face. Tenchi decided 
to grab some dinner then came back up and slept next to Ryoko. 

Tenchi jumped up off the ground. He was back in the same darkness from his nightmares. 
It wasn't possible! He had won! The surroundings started to shift around him. He looked 
around and he was in a room like none he could remember. It was a huge room filled with 
people. They were dancing to soft music that he couldn't really pick the words out of. 
He was just staring around at the room, when he felt a hand take his. He looked and 
saw Ryoko staring at him. 

He had trouble not staring back. She was wearing a form fitting and somewhat revealing 
black dress with a low cut v-neck and slits up the sides of both her legs. It was made 
of a shiny material that sparkled when she walked catching the light. 

She took his hand and led him to the floor where everyone was dancing. All of the 
songs had a slow rhythm but were easy enough to dance to. 

Tenchi danced in his dream and nothing else happened. He was safe. No crazy old 
man was trying to kill him anymore. 

When Ryoko awoke she watched Tenchi sleep, but he woke up soon after she did. 
It was still early. Tenchi's alarm had not gone off yet. When Tenchi woke up he 
rolled on his side and was woken up by a long kiss. "Good Morning, sleepyhead."

"Hey, I went to bed after dinner unlike some people who fell asleep in the afternoon."

"I'm amazed you didn't fall asleep after that."

"Lots of endurance training"

"Tenchi, I had the most wonderful dream. You were there wearing a fancy tuxedo and 
I was in a beautiful dress that had you staring at me."

Tenchi picked up were she left off, "It was black and shimmered. We danced all night 
to slow, calm music in a room filled with other people."

"How did you know?"

"I had the same dream. You were so beautiful in that dress."

"Oh, you are so sweet, Tenchi, I love you so much!"

"I love you, My Beautiful Angel"

Things progressed like any other day in the Masaki home. Aeka was in her room 
packed and awaiting her escort. She had explained to everyone what she was doing, 
except Ryoko. She could not yet bare to speak with her it still hurt too much. She 
was afraid Ryoko would rub it in. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't 
even notice Ryoko phase in until Ryoko was sitting next to her.  

Ryoko gave her a pat on the back, "Why so glum, Princess?"

"I know you aren't that stupid. You know exactly why I am depressed. So go ahead, 
gloat, that's what you came here for isn't it?"

Ryoko was a little angered by Aeka but she didn't blame her. She couldn't imagine 
being that kind had Aeka been the one Tenchi picked. "It just so happens I came 
here to wish you a good journey. I also wanted you to know that even though I hate 
you and you hate me, we can still be friends."

"So who told you about my leaving?"

"Who didn't?"

"Me."

"Well...everyone but you. Besides, I couldn't have you leave before I came 
to gloat could I?" she was teasing her.

"You are as bad as your boyfriend," Aeka suddenly found herself laughing along 
with Ryoko. 

Aeka's ship was the first of the two to leave earth and would most likely be 
back after Tenchi and Ryoko. 

Washu barely made it out of her lab in time to say goodbye to Aeka. It had been 
the first time she had come out since Tenchi let the family know about his trip. 
She was a big mess too. She was wearing blue jean coveralls (something almost never 
seen on Washu,) A pair of small goggles, and was covered in grease. She disappeared 
as fast as she appeared as soon as Aeka was in her ship. Sasami tried to stop her 
but all she got was Washu muttering something about not enough time to talk. 

A few hours later after some teary goodbyes and preparing luggage to be loaded, Ryoko 
and Tenchi were just about ready to go. They were about to board Ryo-ohki when the 
same grease covered Washu emerged from the house yelling to them to stop. 

"You two lovebirds are so impatient I barely had time to do this!" she walked over 
and pulled the blackened goggles off and pulled of some greasy gloves. She opened a 
subspace portal and pulled out a card. "This is access to my science academy bank 
account that those poor saps never closed and has been collecting interest for the 
last several thousand years. There is enough on that to buy a small galaxy so don't 
spend it all in one place, OK? That is the small present I have for you two. Now I, 
Washu! THE GREATEST SCIENTIFIC GENIUS IN THE UNIVERSE! shall reveal my latest creation! 
Oh, I'm so excited!" 

With her display of egocentricity a subspace portal opened up five times larger 
than the house. Washu snapped her fingers and a the bow of a huge, silver ship made 
its way crawling out of the portal. "I call it the Washu Luxury Liner fifty-thousand! 
This bad boy has all the cool toys you will need for long cruise through space and 
still travel in perfect style and comfort!"

"And you did this between lunch yesterday and now?" Tenchi was secretly hoping it was 
safe. Especially since he knew they wouldn't get away from the house in anything but that.

"Yes, I'm such a genius!" Washu was still caught in her own ego.

"Are you sure its ready? You did have to rush it a little didn't you?" Tenchi was 
scratching the side of his head. He didn't want to offend her, but he wasn't so 
sure about the ship.

"Oh it's just fine now climb aboard if you have any questions ask the Virtual Washu."

"Virtual Washu??" 

"It is a computer with my personality and intellect! It's just like me!"

With that she ushered them over to the vessel and all their luggage was beamed aboard. 
The ship started out of the atmosphere as soon as they were on board. 

Tenchi found himself sitting on a high backed chair in what looked to be a theater room. 
Sitting next to him looking just as bewildered was Ryoko. The screen in front of them 
came to life and they saw Washu smiling at them. 

"HI!" the voice echoed through the room. 

"Um, hi Washu." 

"No, I am Virtual Washu! I am the onboard computer for this vessel and if you need 
anything you will have to talk to me!" the Washu on the screen smiled the same evil 
little grin Washu does. 

"Well, It certainly looks like Washu." Ryoko spoke up for the first time since they 
got on the ship. 

"Little Ryoko! It's been to long since I've seen you in person! The last time you 
were just a child." A tear came from an eye of the Washu.

"What the hell kinda crap is this? You're a computer! You've never met me before!" 
She was getting angry and started to float out of her seat. 

"Temper, Temper. I have known you ever since you were little. I have the same 
information as the computer in Washu's laboratory. I know all about you and Tenchi 
too! Washu never does anything with out inputing the data in her computer after all." 

At this point Tenchi was pulling Ryoko back down in her seat before she destroyed 
the computer. She kissed him and rubbed his chest. The computer just stared at them, 
"Ahem, I'm not blind either."

Tenchi only blushed a little, it was only a computer after all. "Is there a way to 
shut you off so we can have privacy?" Tenchi glared at the computer.

"So you don't want me around right now, huh? How long do you want your privacy?"

"I'll let you know."

By then Ryoko had Tenchi's shirt off. The computer Washu was still staring. 

"Ok, if I have to go I will on one condition."

"What's that?" Tenchi was anxious for the computer to stop staring it was making 
him nervous. 

"From now on you call me Little Virtual Washu!!!" Then the screen faded off.

"It acts like her, too." The request of the computer would have been strange had it 
not been 
made to do things Washu would do. 

Aeka was only a few hours into her trip to Jurai and she already missed earth. She 
wished Sasami had decided to go with her so she wouldn't be so lonely. She also wondered 
if Tenchi and Ryoko would be alright. If they went to far out of Jurian Space, Ryoko was 
still wanted in parts of the universe and there would be nothing that she could do to 
help them. Then there were bounty hunters who would be glad to capture Ryoko or some of 
the more criminally inclined might try to hold Tenchi hostage. 

It would be approximately twenty two hours until the ships got to Jurai and there 
wasn't anyone aboard that Aeka knew. Whenever she managed to find a crew member that 
wasn't working he (or she I'm not prejudice) was too busy worrying about her status
to be anything less than totally formal so she couldn't find a single person to talk
to. At this point she would have settled even for Ryoko she was feeling so lonely. It 
was shaping up to be a very boring journey. 

The cruiser itself was very comfortable, fit for a member of the royal family. 
There were also a number of smaller escort ships but Aeka didn't know much 
about them. The cruiser was not set up for long distance travel so there wasn't 
much to do on board. The closest thing to recreation was a mess hall for the 
crew but there was never more than a small handful of people there. Most of the 
crew was working or hiding in their quarters the whole trip and Aeka was the only 
passenger on board. 

Aeka was walking aimlessly through the halls of the ship when she bumped into a 
crewman and they both fell over. 

The man started to apologize, "I'm so sorry I wasn't watching were I was..." he 
trailed off when he noticed who it was. 

"Oh knock it off I am so tired of all of you and your formality!" Aeka had 
enough. The first crew member who started to talk to her on as an equal stopped 
as soon as he saw her. 

After he had helped Aeka to her feet he bowed and then tried to get away.

"Hold it right there!" Aeka was getting frustrated. "Didn't I tell you not to 
be so formal?"

"Forgive me, my liege," he bowed again, "but I am bound by duty to show you 
proper respect."

"Pick your head up! Look at me and stop cowering just because of my status!" 
She was in the habit of fighting with Ryoko so much she was lacking slighty in 
self control when she got really angry.

He looked at her and was visibly shocked by the princess' display of anger, 
"I'm really sorry but seriously I need to get to my duty station. I was 
already late. Thats why I was in a hurry."

"Could you at least tell me your name?" Aeka was trying to calm herself. 
Normally if she was this mad she would have just fought by now, but she 
couldn't do that if it weren't Ryoko she was mad at.

"I am Chief Petty Officer Zari Motae, at your service," he flashed her a 
weak smile. 

"I do believe I'll hold you to that, Zari" she smiled back at him.

"I really do need to go now..." he started to turn, but the icy glare he got 
from Aeka made him stop. 

"I do believe you said you were at my service, so, for starters, what do all 
you people do for fun?"

Back on the Washu Luxury Liner Fifty-Thousand, Ryoko and Tenchi were talking 
to the computer again. Tenchi was the one doing most of the talking since Ryoko 
already didn't like it. "Does this ship have a name other than the Washu Luxery 
Liner Fifty-Thousand?"

The computer Washu turned her back on them, "I can't believe you two haven't given 
me a name yet!"

They looked at each other and then at the computer, "Us?"

"It is your ship after all." she was looking back at them. 

Ryoko looked at Tenchi, "Well, I have a ship already so, what do you want to name 
your ship, Tenchi?"

"Since when did it become my ship? It's yours just as much as it is mine. Washu 
gave it to both of us." 

"I don't want anything to do with naming it. I don't need another ship. Ryo-ohki 
is just fine for me. Thanks but no thanks."

"Well I suppose I will call her.... I got it!" Tenchi suddenly had a big grin on 
his face. 

"And what are you calling it?" Ryoko asked, surprised he had thought of a name 
so quickly.

"If you don't want to own this ship with me, then I will just name it after you!" 

"What? Hey, no way, I am not having this thing named after me!" 

"I'm going to call it Sorrowful Oni!" (A/N: Oni is japanese for Demon)

"Well, the thought is sweet, but I still dont want it named after me."

The computer Washu spoke up, "Ships name entered in log"

Ryoko glared at the now smiling computer "WHAT? Take that out there is no way 
this ship is being called that!"

"I'm sorry but the captain has chosen that name and once chosen it cannot be 
altered."

"Tenchi, I'm gonna get you for that one." With that Ryoko chased Tenchi who was 
already running out of the room.

Back on Aeka's ship, Zari had shown Aeka around the ship. Aeka was right, there 
weren't many places to go for fun. The only places Aeka didn't know about were a 
small room that had a bar and some tables to play various kinds of social games, 
and another room that had some couches and a fairly large television. 

After taking her those two rooms, Zari walked her to his. "Each crewman on board 
brings some of his own personal belongings to pass the time. Feel free to help 
yourself to my quarters should you get bored again." The room was fairly large 
for a crewmans, but Zari was an officer after all. He had a computer console on a 
desk in the corner of his room and some models of Jurian ships and soldiers in 
various formations on another desk near his computer. Across the room was his bed 
and next to it a bookshelf with some older and rare books on it. 

Aeka took a moment to survey the room, "Well, your room is definitely more interesting 
than mine."

"One of the good points to living on board is that one eventually becomes quite 
accustomed to it and makes the most of it," he smiled a little, pleased that he had 
been commented by the Crown Princess of Jurai, whether or not she wanted him to 
think of rank.

Aeka proceeded to walk inside Zari's quarters and perused the collection of 
books. It was a collection of many classic works from many different corners 
of the galaxy. There were some from Jurai, a few from earth even, books on 
science, great works of fiction, galactic history, combat tactics, and even 
galaxy standard law manuals. 

"This is quite a collection of books you have here, Zari," she was looking over 
books from earth to see if she could recognize any of them.

Zari walked over to the shelves and looked at them with her, "One of my hobbies 
is collecting from everywhere I go. It helps me remember my journey. I have one 
book for every time I visit a sector."

"How many times have you been to earth?" 

"This last time makes it twelve." He picked a small leather satchel from his desk 
and put a new book on the shelf next to the other books he had from earth. Then he 
walked over to his desk and turned on his computer. He sat down in an chair and 
started to fiddle with some thing on his screen. 

Aeka watched him for a minute then noticed a picture of a woman in an expensive 
Jurain dress standing next to Zari who was in a military dress uniform. "I don't 
mean to pry, Zari, but may I ask who that is?"

The officer had a pained look one his face at the mention of the woman, "She was 
the only woman I have ever loved. She died long ago, early in my career, but I 
will never forget her." 

Aeka wore an expression of understanding as Zari went into detail about the woman. 
She had died in of a disease that ate at her for a few years before she finally 
passed away. He told her of some of his foundest memories of her. When he was 
finally done telling Aeka about her, Aeka felt an odd sort of empathy with him 
and proceeded to tell him about Tenchi and Ryoko.

To Be Continued.....

Author's Notes: ok this was a somewhat boring chapter but it is necessary 
nonetheless. If you can live through a prologue without any Tenchi characters 
in it I'm sure you can live through a boring chapter. Now I apologize that this 
chapter took a whole lot longer than I thought it would but things come up and 
I did quite a few minor revisions before I was satisfied with this chapter. 
The next chapter will be quicker I already know exactly what to write and I am moving 
straight to there from here. Hope you liked it see you later! As always Questions, 
Comments, Hate e-mail, or accolades of praise and admiration go 
to: kemanorel_7@yahoo.com