First of all I do not own these characters. AIC/Pioneer owns them and I'm writing this story without their permission. I'm doing this just for fun so there is no reason to sue me. However I'm pretty sure that I own the characters created by myself (which are not entirely too much), but if anybody is going to use them without my permission I wouldn't be mad, but really surprised. This fic is settled after the last episode of Tenchi Universe. There are no elements from the OVA or movies. ' - - - ' means thought of a character The Dark Fleet Chapter 1 - Disturbed Peace The view was just awesome. With the cherry blossoms blooming on both sides of the way the entire area seemed to be covered in a bright red. Even for this region of Okayama it was an unusual pretty sight. The sun was shining down through the trees and at the ground the shadows of the branches formed interesting patterns. Springtime came once in the year and every time it seemed a bit more beautiful than before. But none of this reached the boy who slowly walked down the path that moment. Tenchi Masaki was completely lost in thought because he had just seen something even more beautiful than the nature around him. 'Now what's with my mind?' he thought to himself. He was sure he had seen Ryoko a moment ago and she even had embraced him. Not to forget she had talked to him. These things couldn't have come out of his imagination, or could they? But if it was real, why would she disappear again just after she returned. 'Well, better not think about it anymore. Probably just daydreaming,' Tenchi thought to himself in an effort to calm his mind As he kept up walking slowly he thought about the irony of his situation. 'This is weird. When they were here the only thing I wanted was a quite minute and now that they are gone it's so quite, I can't take it. Never heard of someone who has gone crazy because he wasn't bothered enough.' He smiled to himself at the idea. But his smile quickly faded as he realized that he really missed the presence of the girls. 'Well, even if Ryoko has not returned, I hope she is all right at least.' In spite of his hope deep in his mind he knew that it was unlikely. Getting him to the Jurai Royal Palace had gravely injured her. The darkest of all thoughts welled up inside of him. 'Get a hold of yourself Tenchi,' he said to himself. 'It's no use wondering about these things. I'm just an ordinary student now. Most likely I won't hear of anyone of them ever again.' So he continued his way, forcing himself to think about his day at school. Fortunately he reached the residence soon because school hadn't been too exciting that day. Tenchi entered the house and was immediately greeted by Nobuyuki, who had arrived just before him. " Ahh Tenchi! Home already?" Tenchi was about to tell him that not he was the one who was early but his father. Of course he never got the chance as his father continued in his usual overenthusiastic manner. "So how was your day at school son?" Tenchi was definitely annoyed with the presence of his father. 'Aw, how many times have I told him that I don't need to be cheered up? It's already several weeks since we're back to normal again and he is still doing it. I just don't get it.' Aloud he said: "It was quite and peaceful as ever. I was neither abducted By space pirates nor have I saved any planets or galaxies." His face lit up a little at his own joke. Sometimes it seemed like he was the one who needed to cheer up his father and not the other way round. But today Nobuyuki's good mood was real. A smile appeared on the face of the middle-aged man. "Not met any interesting girls? Come on you can tell me, from man to man." 'Not that again.' Tenchi thought. He knew what his father was referring to with his man-to- man talk. At least this was a sign that Nobuyuki had returned to his normal self, since in the last weeks he had carefully omitted such topics in Tenchi's presence. "Why should I? The girls are still the same as they were as I entered the school dad," he said with a frown. The smile on Nobuyuki's face widened a lot. "Are you sure?" "Dad, I already..." He stopped as the memory of his earlier experience re-entered his mind. 'Now this is strange. How would he know about that?' The eager look on Nobuyuki's face made him realize that he had manoeuvred himself into a rather unpleasant situation. The last thing he wanted to do was telling his dad about his little encounter. The idea of his son thinking about girls would get him entirely crazy. "Umm, well." Nobuyuki's expression became more and more curious. "So how comes that you are here already?" Tenchi finally blurted out. Nobuyuki almost fell to the floor from disappointment, but he quickly recovered himself. "The company closed early today because of an important meeting," he explained much to Tenchi's relief. "By the way, I met your grandfather at the shrine. He asked me to tell you that he is awaiting you for training. This was the last thing Tenchi needed now. "Isn't it a little soon for that. I mean I just arrived from school," he exclaimed. "Don't accuse me. I'm only the messenger." With these words Nobuyuki turned and headed for the kitchen, leaving a confused Tenchi. The black haired boy stood there for a while, stunned by the uncommon conversation, then he left for his room in order to change for training. "What an unusual day." he thought. The large view screen in front of the bridge showed nothing but far away stars and empty space. Much to the discontent of one young woman, who was standing in the middle of the large room. 'How much longer will this unpleasant journey last?' Ayeka asked herself for the hundredth time. Nearly two weeks had passed since their departure from Jurai and they weren't even close to Earth yet. Not that she wanted to see Tenchi as soon as possible... 'If we do not reach planet Earth fast, maybe I will no longer be able to stand the thought of seeing Lord Tenchi again. Can I ever face him again after what happened back on Jurai? Perhaps he will even be annoyed by me coming to visit him.' These thoughts were not new to the purple haired princess, in fact she did nothing but going over the same things again and again. Would he be pleased to see her? Pleased to see her only as a friend? Regarding Tenchi's personality this was most likely. But Ayeka was still hoping that there could be more between them. 'But if he had feelings for me would he not have stayed?' She was falling into a dark state of mind again, like she usually did in the last two weeks. 'You are being selfish Ayeka.' she had to tell herself. 'How could he have stayed and lived together with me not knowing what happened to this demonic space pirate. Even if she may be an annoying person she is still his friend.' Ayeka had managed to brighten up a little. Surely besides him not wanting to rule Jurai this was the only reason for him leaving her. There was still hope. 'I wonder if the devil women is alright.' As much as she wanted to deny it Ayeka knew that Ryoko had helped Tenchi a lot getting to the palace. She also knew that she had only done it for Tenchi, but without her help Tenchi probably wouldn't have even gotten close to the palace. 'I hope she is alive. Her dying on such an occasion is just not right even if she had deserved it for her crimes.' She sighted as her thoughts returned to Tenchi. "After all I am still looking forward to see Lord Tenchi again," she said out loud. "Me too!" exclaimed a small voice behind her. Ayeka stood frozen in place for a second, then suddenly spun around. "Sasami, I told you already not to frighten people like this." The excited expression on the face of the younger princess decreased only a little. "But this is fun." Sasami said a bit sulky. "It is not for the person who gets the heart attack." Again the excitement decreased but still lasted. "You are no fun big sister." "We are not having a funny occasion." Ayeka replied almost a bit too harsh. "You just said that you wanted to see Tenchi. I want to see him too. So isn't that a happy occasion?" Sasami said, her eyes again sparkling with excitement at the thought of seeing Tenchi, his dad and his grandpa soon. Ayeka was definitely worked up over her sister invading her private thoughts, but she controlled herself because she knew that there wasn't any bad intention behind this. "Maybe you are right. It is," she said a calm smile appearing on her face. Ayeka realized that gloomy thoughts weren't going to change things. Now she had to make up for her unfair behaviour in face of Sasami. "You will cook for us all when we are there?" she asked, already knowing the answer. "Of course! It's my pleasure." Sasami's excitement returned even stronger than before. In fact the idea of having one of Sasami's meals together with Tenchi suited Ayeka. She was glad that her little sister was with her. "So how long will it take us to reach Earth from here?" The question brought Ayeka back into cruel reality. "I fear we have to wait at least one more week. With the Yeno we have not captured the fastest of all ships" That was a mistake Ayeka really regretted, but they hadn't got the time to wait for a faster ship to be available. "Aww, can't we speed up somehow?" the little princess pleaded, well knowing that there was no way. "Not at all. We have to..." The ship shook violently almost knocking them from their feet. "We are under attack!" the calm voice of the log guardian Azaka stated. "How is this possible without the presence of any ships nearby?" Ayeka asked sharply. "An unidentified ship in front of us opened fire," Kamidake replied without emotion. "Then how did it get there?" the princess asked with impatience. "This is unknown," was the only response. Ayeka was about to get into a discussion with her guardians as she noticed Sasami's pale expression. She was staring at the view screen. Ayeka looked at the screen waiting to see only stars and empty space just like some seconds ago, but she was wrong. The ship that was placed in front of the Yeno filled the entire screen and it could only be described as a nightmare. It was quiet at the training grounds, almost too quiet. Tenchi had managed to prepare himself in less then five minutes and it had taken him additional five minutes to reach the grounds. So all in all only ten minutes had passed since his father had told him about the early training, but his grandfather was nowhere to be seen. "Something fishy is going on here." Tenchi knew that his grandfather would never be late to anything. That only left the possibility that some trick was played on him. He stood carefully scanning his surroundings, but there was no movement except for that of the wind dancing with his short hair. "If this was dad's idea I should just head back and forget about it. But if granddad is behind this..." His eyes widened as he realized the meaning of his last thought and in the same moment he heard a piercing battle cry from behind him. Tenchi was taken over by his instincts, let himself fell to the side and rolled over before hitting the ground. The powerful blow of his grandfather missed him by inches. Tenchi immediately leapt to his feet, wooden sword ready, and blocked Katsuhito's next blow directly. The impact was quite painful but Tenchi had gotten used to his grandfather's nearly superhuman strength over the years. As none of the fighters showed the intention to withdraw, a power battle began. Tenchi cursed himself for not withdrawing instantly because he had to use all his strength to just hold himself against his grandfather and he knew he wouldn't last long. "Tenchi, I told you the moment you take a defensive position you have lost the battle," Katsuhito spoke as calm as ever. "Easy to say," Tenchi gasped breathlessly although he knew that his grandfather was right. His strength was fading quickly. Only a few more moments and he would go down. In a last desperate attempt he focussed all his remaining power and with an agonized scream he pressed back. The surprising resistance threw his grandfather out of balance. The swords separated and Katsuhito retreated a few steps. "Well done Tenchi," he said still not the least bit tired. Tenchi was breathing heavily and breathing heavily and had temporarily lost all ability to speak. But his grandfather wasn't about to give him recovery time. He immediately threw himself at Tenchi again. The young boy blocked the blow ducked and kicked at his opponent's feet only to have his leg intercepted by his grandfathers halfway. Tenchi lost his footing, was spun around himself in the air one time and hit the ground uncomfortable. Every bone in his body ached severely but he was determined to not let his grandfather win that easily. He rolled on his back just as the sword of Katsuhito hit the ground were he was lying a second ago. Tenchi kicked at his grandfather again and this time he succeeded. The old priest had to fight for his balance giving Tenchi the time to get to his feet again. But in spite of avoiding his grandfather's attacks Tenchi knew that the outcome of the battle was already determined because of the extremely superior skill of his opponent. If he was to stand even a little chance he had to gather all his strength and press the attack not giving his grandfather the possibility to start any moves for himself. So he did. He slashed viciously at his grandfather again and again and he even managed to have him retreat a little. In that moment he saw something out of the corner of his eye. There was a blur of white, red and green. Someone was standing closely behind him. "What the heck..." Tenchi was totally startled and moved his head only to see that there was nobody standing there. The same moment he nearly passed out as a powerful blow of the wooden sword hit his head. "Ouch!" he exclaimed pained. "Try harder Tenchi," was the only comment from his grandfather for the moment. Katsuhito left his grandson some time for recovery, then he announced: "That is all for today." All of a sudden he broke into a grin. "Time for dinner. I'm terribly hungry." Tenchi hadn't noticed that it was that late already because until now he was too occupied with the fight. 'Seems I did really well. I've never held myself against him that long,' he encouraged himself. But he knew that perhaps he would have even been able to defeat his grandfather today. Without haste they started their way back to the residence. "You know granddad, that wasn't fair," Tenchi pointed out. "You can't expect fairness from every opponent Tenchi. If I were an assassin I wouldn't challenge a skilled swordsman on face-to-face battle in order to kill him. That's why you always have to guard your back." "I wasn't referring to that." "You are not telling me that you turning around in the midst of battle isn't fair of me?" As every time Katsuhito was not only beating Tenchi in combat but in the review of it too. But after all he was his mentor for that reason. "But someone was standing behind me. That scared the hell out of me." Tenchi stopped for a moment. "Come to think of it, you must have seen him." His grandfather kept on walking so that Tenchi had to go on in order to keep up with him. "Starting to blame ghosts, eh?" Katsuhito mocked him. "So who was it?" A confused look appeared on Tenchi's face. "Well, if you know it was a person, you maybe recognized her." Tenchi froze in place a shocked look on his face. "Is something wrong?" Katsuhito asked with confusion. "What did you just say?" Tenchi didn't bother to answer his grandfather's question. "That person, did you recognize him?" "You did not." "But I did. What else should I have said?" he asked challenging. "Well um ... nah forget about it. I only caught a glimpse, why should I know him anyway?" Tenchi lied. "If you allow yourself to be distracted by any stranger, you need a lot more training." 'But being distracted by someone certain is right, huh?' Tenchi finished the statement in his mind. "A swordsman can't allow himself to daydream in battle. Remember that." 'What the hell is going on here? Can't he make up a sentence without hints anymore or am I loosing my mind completely now?' Tenchi was about to burst and tell his grandfather of his weird experiences as they reached the house. "Ah, very well. I hope Nobuyuki prepared dinner yet," Katsuhito scattered Tenchi's confusion. They entered and were greeted by Tenchi's father. "So you're finally back. I already started worrying you would forget about our little party today." Tenchi became attentive. "Little party? Have I missed something here?" Nobuyuki was quite surprised. "Didn't dad tell you about it?" he cast a questioning glance at Katsuhito. "Well, I wanted Tenchi to find out for himself," the old priest replied a bit disappointed. Tenchi's father waved Katsuhito's words away with one hand. "Whatever, he knows anyway now. We got a special guest today who will have dinner with us." "So who is it?" Tenchi asked with nervous curiosity. Somehow he felt a bit cornered and he knew that feeling all too well. "As for that, you will have to find out for yourself." Nobuyuki answered unable to hide his amusement. He gestured towards the dinning room. Tenchi felt like he was being lured into a trap as he approached the doorway. He entered and found an opulent meal prepared at the table, but nobody was to be seen. He took some steps towards the table, but then the feeling of being watched grew unbearable. "What's going on here?" he shouted, aware of making a fool of himself. "Oh Tenchi! You must have missed me so much," a well-known voice announced behind his back. 'So it wasn't my imagination after all.' Any last doubts Tenchi may have had about the identity of their visitor vanished as he was hugged from behind and lifted into the air. "Hey, Ryoko let me go. I can't breathe," he reacted like he was supposed to in such a situation. After a little while she did as he said and they got back to the ground. She teleported in front of him, a dumb look on her face. "You're not surprised?" "Well, it's not that easy to surprise someone who travelled through space to fight an intergalactic villain, trying to restore order and peace in a galaxy in turmoil," Tenchi lied. In fact this whole scene had scared the hell out of him. "Guess you're right." Ryoko was a bit disappointed now. After Tenchi's positive reaction to her first appearance she had wanted to surprise him even more and had carefully planned her entrance. But it seemed she had failed. Much to Tenchi's discomfort her expression became suddenly joyful. "So you knew all the time I would come back and you waited for me so that we could finally be reunited. That's just so romantic." With these words she threw herself at him and embraced him again. It was one of her typical hugs, which Tenchi had to break as fast as possible because he wasn't able to breath anymore. 'I know I'll regret this one time, but it's the only way,' he thought as a plan came to his mind. "Umm... Ryoko, this is... not the right... time... for this," he gasped. Somehow he managed to get his arm free and gestured towards the door, where two men were standing watching the scene with great interest. "Oh." She let him go and retreated a step. "Guess we'll have to wait for the right time then," she whispered seductively. 'Damn,' Tenchi thought. "Very well. Now that this is settled, shouldn't we take our meal?" Katsuhito said, not able to suppress the disappointed look on his face completely. "It may not be as good as Sasami's cooking, but my son still knows how to get things on the table." "I will take this as a compliment dad." Nobuyuki replied flatly. They all sat down at the table and started eating. "Now Ryoko, you just arrived and except about our little joke with Tenchi you haven't talked much to us. I would be interested in what happened to you after your attack on the royal palace." Tenchi's father started the conversation. "Yeah, tell us. I was really worried." "That's so sweet of you Tenchi." Tenchi and Ryoko blushed simultaneously. "Ahm well, that was some unpleasant experience," Ryoko started her story. "After I left you my injuries got worse and I thought I wouldn't make it. I was never injured that badly before, so I just didn't know if my healing ability would be able to handle it." The memory was more than just unpleasant. Everyone in the room could see that, so they all waited patiently for Ryoko to continue. "I actually died there." Shocked looks were changed. "But my body managed to repair itself fast enough for me to be resurrected without further damage. Meanwhile Ryo-Ohki had a hard time thinking I was dead." "My, this is quite some story." Katsuhito remarked in his normal manner. "By the way, where is Ryo-Ohki now? I haven't seen her around." Ryoko's serious look vanished and was replaced by her usual playful expression. "Well, I told her to hide 'till tomorrow for not ruining my fun with Tenchi." Tenchi just ignored the last comment. "So you recovered from death, but that still doesn't explain why it took you so long to get here," he stated the obvious. "Oh Tenchi, you must have waited so long for me," the pirate purred, moving closer to Tenchi. "Yes... I... kind of thought may be dead," Tenchi stammered, adjusting the distance between them. Ryoko decided to save her advance for later. "You know, there were some planets with lots of money in store and I just couldn't resist." Nobuyuki grinned. "Same old Ryoko." They all laughed out for some moments. Time passed as they sat there together and talked about their latest experiences some more. But eventually a fateful question came up. "Now there is one thing you still haven't told us, Ryoko. How long do you intend on staying with us." Nobuyuki asked still grinning about the latest joke. 'I don't get it. How can he ask such a stupid question?' Tenchi thought, knowing the only possible answer. "I'll just wait 'till our honoured princess shows up. Bet she's already on her way." That wasn't quite the kind of thing Tenchi had expected. He gave Ryoko a confused look. "What makes you think so? She told me she wouldn't be able to leave Jurai again that fast." "I just doubt that she has given up already." "Hm, so you want to settle things once and for all when she arrives here." Katsuhito said, staring off into the distance. "Yup, that's right." Ryoko confirmed. "Hey, wait a moment. What's the meaning of this?" Tenchi exclaimed. "Don't worry Tenchi. I'm sure we still have some time left. Just the two of us." 'But that's just what I'm worried about' "Great, so you are staying at least for a while," Nobuyuki cut in. "We'll finally get some action around here again." "Dad!" Tenchi shouted. 'Just when I was getting used to a normal life again,' he sighted inwardly. "He is right Tenchi. It has gotten too quiet in the last weeks." Katsuhito stabbed his grandson in the back. 'Well, at least it won't be as nearly as chaotic without Ayeka and Ryoko fighting.' Aloud he said: "I for one had enough action today. I think I'm going to bed." "That's a wise decision Tenchi," his grandfather remarked. "You probably want to share your room with Ryoko," Nobuyuki said in a casual voice. "Oh Tenchi! So you want me to spent the entire night with you," the pirate announced before Tenchi had the possibility to react. "I never said something like that," Tenchi exclaimed bluntly. "But Tenchi, it's quite natural for two young lovers to share a room," his dad told him. Tenchi became a bit frustrated, like he ever did when his dad behaved like that. "The only thing I need right now is my privacy." With that he stood up and hurried to his room. To his surprise Ryoko didn't try to follow him. 'Sometimes I just don't know what to do with that guy,' he thought closing the door behind him. He turned and nearly ran into Ryoko who was standing right in front of him. He hastily took some steps back, but she didn't advance on him. She just kept standing there looking serious. "Are you annoyed by me returning here?" she asked out of the blue. The words hit Tenchi hard and he realized that his behaviour could have lead to that conclusion. "No, not at all. I'm glad you are all right, but I need some time to think things over." "You really mean it. You're glad to see me again?" she asked hopefully. "Yeah." Tenchi confirmed. For a moment there was silence and Tenchi started to worry that she may have misunderstood what he just said, but her face stayed serious. "Well then, see you tomorrow," and with that she disappeared. Tenchi exhaled slightly and let himself sink onto the bed. He knew he wouldn't find much sleep tonight. ...to be continued Coming in the next chapter: - a heated space battle - a shocking discovery - Tenchi and Ryoko sharing a moment Now that you are through with it I think it's save for me to admit that English is not my native tongue. It is German and this is my first attempt at fan fiction in English. Since I haven't done any serious German stories before you can call it my first attempt at fan fiction at all. I'm doing this because I like the sound of English language a lot more than German and I just can't imagine the Tenchi-Characters speaking German. At this point I would like to thank Lois and Andrew for proof reading my fic and helping me out with the language in some places. Dear reader, I need your opinion now. Do you think I got it right or have I totally screwed it up. Please send me feedback to Kryo2000@gmx.net I need to know what you think about my story in order to make progress with my favourite language.