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. 
Lullabye is property of Billy Joel and whatever his recording 
company is. I do not own the original lyrics to the song nor 
the song itself.

Tenchi Muyo!: Airs of the Past

Chapter 8: Homecoming

Zari Motae quietly knocked on Aeka's door onboard the Jurian Cruiser
that was taking them back to Earth. "Aeka?"

"Come in, Zari," Aeka had been much happier since she had found the 
book she had come for. She had also gotten closer to Zari than she 
had thought possible with an officer on a Jurain vessel. 

The two had become good friends during her time on Jurai. Zari had 
helped her search the books in his off time. Aside from sleeping, they 
had spent most of their time together when Zari was off duty. 

Aeka guessed that they would get back to earth in time to introduce Zari 
and have dinner with the family. From what Washu had told her, Tenchi and 
Ryoko had decided to return from their journey to deal with the old man 
before he had a chance to deal with them.

On board the Sorrowful Oni, Ryoko had easily caught up with Bial Kallia. 
They chased each other through the corridors, making a few holes in the walls. 
They didn't really use weapons very often and it was kinda hard to miss, the 
corridors didn't leave much room to dodge the others shots.

Eventually, Ryoko cornered Bial and then tackled him through the wall. Right 
into the room Tenchi was now in. 

"Uhh... looks like you two had fun," he stared at them with a disapproving look 
on his face.

Ryoko wasn't sure if he was jealous that she was spending time with Bial instead 
of him or he was angry that she just made a new door in the ship. "Are you 
jealous, Tenchi? Cause if you are I could knock you through a wall, too!"

"Well, I don't need to be knocked through a wall."
But he didn't say he wasn't jealous....

"Well, if you are jealous I can always fix that," she traced her finger in 
a circle on his chest and whispered things in his ear that a few months ago 
would have made him turn beet red. 

Bial had gotten his wind back by now. (hey you try being tackled through a 
wall sometime and see how long it leaves you groggy) "Sorry about the wall... 
I'm going to go find myself a place to get some sleep now so see you guys 
later."

Ryoko thought for a second, "Ok, if you go out of the new door and head all 
the way down the corridor and hang a left there are some bedrooms."

Bial nodded and walked out. When he was out of earshot Tenchi looked at Ryoko, 
"You know the rooms by our bedroom are by are a lot closer. Why did you send 
him so far out?"

"You are so naive it's cute," she kissed him deeply and teleported them to 
their bedroom. 

Aeka had arrived on earth with Zari standing beside her. The whole house was 
a little shocked seeing a complete stranger that they didn't even know would 
be coming. 

After answering some questions about his background and what he was doing, 
they went inside. (A/N: writing what they said is not important. Its 
already been said in other chapters) 

four weeks later..... 

The computer on board the Sorrowful Oni always made announcements to the bridge  
whether or not anyone was actually there. It was just another stupid thing it 
was programmed to do. 

The passengers were eating breakfast. It didn't matter if they missed the 
message, they already knew that they would get to earth today.

Back at the Masaki home everthing was in chaos except in the kitchen. Everyone 
was excited about Tenchi and Ryoko returning, and they knew there was someone 
else with them. Everyone but Sasami was running around picking things up, 
making the house look good. The house had gotten a little dirty without Tenchi, 
Ryoko, or Aeka to help clean it. 

One big problem is when something got clean Mihoshi would walk by and knock 
things over in her haste, making another mess. Sasami wasn't helping clean 
because she was too busy cooking a big dinner for the whole family and their 
guests. 

The Virtual Washu had lined up landing coordinates supplied by Washu months ago. 
The ship would fly right back into subspace and be ready for the next time it was 
needed.

Ryoko phased out of the ship as Washu's drones collected their bags. She phased up 
to the ceiling of the living room and almost laughed at what she saw. Everyone was 
sleeping in various place in the living room. Mihoshi and Nobuyuki were leaned 
back to back in the middle of the room both snoring. Washu was sitting at the 
table her head resting on her hands. Aeka was laying on the couch her head in 
some guy's lap. Katsuhito was on the other couch face down. 

The only one who wasn't there was Sasami. Then she heard a pan in the kitchen. 
She phased in to see Sasami running around the kitchen from place to place. 
She snuck up behind her, "Hey, Sasami!"

"AHHH!" Sasami must have jumped three feet in the air then spun around, butcher 
knife in hand, "Didn't I say to stay out of...." she trailed off when it dawned 
on her who it was. 

"So what made everyone else so tired?"

Sasami gave her a bearhug that reminded Ryoko of Misaki, "I missed you guys so 
much! Where's Tenchi? I need to say hi to him too!"

"He's not inside yet, I should go let him know to be quiet though. 
Who's the guy Aeka's sleeping on?"

"Huh?" Sasami glanced out of the kitchen for a minute, "Thats Zari. He's an 
officer from Jurai that is spending some time on Earth and Aeka offered to 
let him stay with us."

With that Ryoko phased back out to the ship and saw Tenchi walking towards the 
door to Washu's lab. "Tenchi!" 

He looked up towards her just in time to see her tackle him, "I said that I 
could tackle you, too!" she kissed him and pulled him back to his feet. 

"If you remember right, I said I didn't want to be tackled..." he looked down 
and brushed himself off. 

She put a hand on his shoulder, "You're not mad are you, Tenchi?" 

He saw the sad look in her eyes, "It's not a big deal." 

"Ok, I didn't want you to be mad at me. By the way, I came in to let you know 
we should be quiet when we go in. Everyone except Sasami is asleep."

"Alright, I had Washu's drones take our stuff to my room and told Bial he could 
use your old room."

"Ok, Tenchi, what should we do until they wake up?"

"I think I'll have a look around, It's been awhile since I've been home."

"I'll see you later then!" she kissed him and phased out.

"Ryoko, wait! Oh well, I suppose I can go alone."

Sasami was putting the final touches on dinner when Ryoko came back into the 
kitchen. "Hey I let Tenchi know to be quiet. I'm going to the onsen and I 
don't want to be disturbed ok?"

"I won't let anyone know."

"Thanks, kiddo." she gave Sasami a quick hug and phased out.

Tenchi stared out across the lake as he walked out of the house.
He decided he would go look at all the normal places near his house.
By then everyone should be up and he could eat.

"You have no idea what I've got planned, Tenchi!" Ryoko laughed to herself.

When Tenchi got to the carrot fields he was amazed, it was well tilled and 
planted. "I guess grandfather did a good job filling in for me."

Then he went to Funaho. He had so many memories here. The one that stuck out
though was when he fought Kagato and found out he was a Jurain Prince.
He still remembered what Kagato had called Ryoko. "He called her My Precious 
Ryoko. I never thought much of it then, but it's true," he smiled as he 
talked to himself.

The next place he stopped was the shrine. His grandfather had kept it good and 
clean, too.
 
He walked slowly over to Ryoko's cave and thought about all the times 
she must have watched him, even if he didn't remember it.
Then he walked back down to the lake. 

It was getting pretty late by now and he gazed at the sunset over the 
calm water. He started to turn back towards the house, "Hey I haven't 
been to the onsen yet and everyone else is still asleep. I could use a 
bath." 

Meanwhile in the onsen....

"Dammit! Where the hell is he? He's always been predictable before," Ryoko 
sat soaking in the warm waters, waiting for Tenchi to go to the onsen. 

Just as she was getting impatient she heard the door slid open and there was 
Tenchi holding a towel aorund his waist. She whispered under her breath, "hehe, 
right on time!"

Tenchi was strode towards the water that Ryoko had just been in when he felt 
something warm and wet press against his back and yank his towel away from 
him. 

She whispered in his ear, "Ten...chi." The only thing she didn't expect was 
when Tenchi started to laugh. She pulled back from him, "Hey, I don't see 
how this...."

Tenchi turned around and put a finger to her lips, then she noticed the 
blood seeping from his nose. He smiled, "I didn't think you could give 
me a nosebleed anymore."

She laughed as she wiped the blood off with his towel, "I'm just full of 
surprises."

Back in the house everyone else had woken up at the nagging from Sasami.
Washu was the first to notice that they were home when she felt Ryoko's 
presence over their link. She called to her mentally, "Ryoko... Ryoko?"

Ryoko heard her call, "Kinda busy... go away."

"Ryoko, come on home. What could be so important to blow off your family?"

"That's pretty funny right now, but shove off"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't want to know, just leave me alone."

"Do you know where I could find Tenchi at least?"

"Uh, yea, he's busy too, pipe down now wouldya?" 

"You don't mean that... oh boy.....now I'm embarrassed....." with that Washu 
closed her end of the link as well as she possibly could.

When Tenchi and Ryoko came home, everyone greeted them and Bial Kallia came 
down from the upstairs. They all said there greetings, but no one besides 
Ryoko noticed Bial come downstairs. 

Ryoko finally pointed to Bial, "This is the person we said was coming home 
with us."

Aeka was the first one to speak up, "You??!!! I thought you were dead!! 
RYOKO!! What is that doing here!?!"

Bial stopped her, "Calm down, Aeka, I'm not the same person I used to be 
and it's nice to know you recognize me anyway."

Aeka walked up and slapped him, "That's for all the damage you caused."
she slapped him and then backhanded him, "That's for introducing me to 
that pirate," she pointed at Ryoko, "and making think you were dead."

She would have slapped him again, but Bial pushed it away and slapped 
her back, "Enough, I am not a Jurian nor a noble anymore. You do that 
again or I won't let it go lighty next time."

Seeing Aeka slapped, Zari jumped inbetween them and decked Bial.

Bial glared at the officer and extended his hand, "Jurain, huh?"

Zari shook his hand, "Bounty Hunter, that is the Crown Princess and 
my friend. If you want to hurt her again you will have to go through 
me."

Ryoko walked up and put a hand on either of their shoulders and phased 
all three of them out.

The whole group stood in silence for a minute just staring at where the 
three used to be. Washu was the first to break the silence, "Follow me! 
I know where they went."

In the training grounds Bial and Zari stood there staring at each other, 
neither one caring where they were. Ryoko took her hands off their 
shoulders, "Hey what the hell are you two up to? HEY! snap out of it!"
They didn't pay her any attention so she slapped them both in one solid 
swipe, "Both of you retards settle down. Bial, stop beating on Aeka! 
Zari, I believe that's what Sasami said your name was, back the hell 
off," she glared at both of them, "I'm the only one who will beat the 
shit out of people in that house you got it!??"

They both shot her an icy glare. She gave them both another slap and 
caught them in an evil gaze. "If you're gonna kick each other's asses then 
do it out here and do it with these." She handed them each a bokken.

They glared at each other again, then placed their bokkens together. 

They both started with overhand swings that hit each other in mid swing.
Bial followed up with a slash from the right that Zari swept aside, then 
he stabbed in. Bial sidestepped and drop kicked Zari sending them both 
flying to the ground. Bial leapt up from prone and aimed his bokken 
in the middle of his jump straight for Zari's neck.

Washu and the rest of the group rounded the corner to see Bial mid air 
aiming right for Zari. Ryoko was standing off to one side, watching the 
two men try and tear each other limb from limb with wooden swords. 

At the last second Zari rolled to his right and Bial's bokken came down 
point first in the dirt. Bial managed to pull it out without snapping it 
just as Zari knocked his legs out from under him. 

Zari lunged forward just as Bial had to him a moment ago and held his bokken 
out at full arms length, aiming for Bial's face. Bial held his own sword up 
and brought his knees up just as Zari hit him. The force knocked the wind out 
of Zari, but not before both bokkens shattered. 

Zari struggled with his breathing as Bial stood back up and took a haphazard 
fighting stance. Zari threw his bokken hilt aside. Bial smiled and threw his 
away then they lunged at each other. 

Bial connected with a solid right and Zari took a step back, landing a boot 
to Bial's head. They were about to charge again when Ryoko stepped inbetween 
them.

Bial spoke in a guttural, beastial voice, "Out of my way. I don't want to 
hurt you, Ryoko." 

She heard Zari from behind her, "Step aside, demon. I'm going to finish this 
here and now."

Ryoko laughed, "You two couldn't put a scratch on me right now even if you 
tried."

With that both of them charged, Ryoko right in the middle. 

She phased out just as they both dove at her, then drove them both to the 
ground hard with a well placed kick. 

The rest of the group just watched her as she picked up both the men 
and slung them over her shoulders.

For the first time she noticed that they were there, "What? Why you staring?" 

Eventually when everyone got back to the house They finally had dinner then 
crawled off to bed.

Washu was in her lab, working on some of her more tiring experiments.
"X minus y to the eighty-ninth power over q times z plus l..."

She was jarred out of her equations by a feminine voice, 
"Busy as always, Washu?"

She spun around to look at who had snuck into her lab, "Tsunami? What are 
you doing in my lab?"

"It is time you came to know the truth, Sister."

Tenchi was dreaming about a ballroom with Ryoko dancing with him like they 
both had been for a few months now except this time she disappeared right 
in the middle of it. He looked around the room for her, but couldn't find 
her anywhere. Then he woke up.

When Tenchi woke up it was still dark outside. he could see moonlight streaming 
through his window. He glanced at Ryoko and realized she was awake and crying 
silently. He hugged her to him, "Ryoko? What happened? What's wrong?"

"We were dancing in our dream like normal," she tried to calm herself, "then I 
woke up and felt my energy being pulled from me. The gems are gone, Tenchi. 
I don't know who did it or how, but all the gems are gone. Even my replicas."

To Be Continued..... (don't ya just wanna slap me?)

Author's Notes: Ok first things first. Sorry it took so long yadda yadda.
I'm tired of making excuses for taking to long so I'm not going to this 
time. I made this a cliffhanger so I will try to be quick about the next 
chapter. As always Questions, Comments, Flames, Critism, lyrics to songs 
you think describe 'that asshole of a fanfic author' (jk LOL) and anything 
else you think would catch my eye go to: kemanorel_7@yahoo.com