TENCHI MUYO! EXILE...
EPISODE 7: Yosho and Ayeka

 Princess Ayeka hummed happily as she brushed her hair and
got ready for a date with her brother, Yosho. Now that his true appearance
had been revealed, he had seen no need to return to his disguise. He'd
started courting her a month later, after taking care of a few details. To
avoid too many questions from those in the family not familiar with Jurai,
the story was created that Katsuhito had died and that Yosho, who just
happened to be named after their legendary ancestor, was Naoki's cousin
who'd heard of his marriage and had come to stay for a while.
 Since no one outside the immediate family knew Naoki had been a
Draalthi named Trakal, this story had worked out very well.
 Ayeka fixed her kimono.
 "Ayeka," Yosho called, "are you ready?"
 "I'll be right there!" She called as she hurried down the stairs.
 
 Yosho was dressed in Western-style clothes. A pair of slacks and
a nicely pressed dark blue button-down shirt. He smiled as Ayeka joined
him. "You look very nice."  He told her.
 "You think so?" Ayeka blushed.
 "Mmm hmmm." Yosho nodded. He extended his arm, gallantly.
"Shall we?"
 "Of course." Ayeka smiled up at him as she took his arm and
allowed him to guide her to the door.
 "You kids don't stay out too late!" Nobuyuki called out, enjoying
himself immensely.
 Yosho shot his son a warning look, but Ayeka's giggled erased
any annoyance he might have been feeling and he returned his attention
to her.
 "Dad," Tenchi asked, after the Juraian Prince and Princess had
departed. "Don't you think you're going a little overboard?"
 "But, Tenchi!" Nobuyuki whined, "I'm having so much fun!"
 "Yeah!" Ryoko scolded her husband. "Let dad have some fun!"
 "I really like you, Ryoko." Nobuyuki told his daughter-in-law. "I
can't wait to see my first grandchild."
 "Miya!" Ryo-Ohki chimed up, taking on her humanoid child form
and climbing up into Nobuyuki's arms.
 "I'm sorry," Nobuyuki winked. "I mean my *second* grandchild."
 "She's *NOT* my child!" Tenchi wailed as he ran off. He could
not believe his father was still running that stupid joke into the ground.

 As tough a time as he was having, Tenchi wasn't having
anywhere near as much trouble as Naoki.
 Washu and Tokimi were arguing over what species he should
be and changing him back and forth at an annoying rate.
 "He *must* be human," Washu's argument went. "Yosho is
posing as he cousin."
 "He is the *last* Draalthi!" Tokimi debated. "He must remain
a Draalthi!"
 This just kept on going on unabated.
 "Human!"  Washu made him human.
 "Draalthi!"  Tokimi made him a Draalthi.
 "Human!"
 "Draalthi"
 "Human!"
 "Draalthi!"
 "Human!"
 Naoki had had enough... "TSUNAMI!!!" he called out as he collapsed.
 Washu and Tokimi blinked at each other for a moment.
 "Now look what you've done to him!" Washu exclaimed.
 "Me?!" Tokimi returned, somewhat taken aback by her sister's tone.
"You're the one who changed his original species."
 "So he wouldn't end up in a freakshow. You think the people here
will accept him as a Draalthi."
 "His wife did."
 "She loves him. Tokimi, there are people out there who would shoot
him for being the wrong  *color* never mind *SPECIES*!"
 "There is a solution."
 Washu and Tokimi turned and saw Tsunami kneeling over Naoki,
comforting him.
 "Huh?" The both asked.
 "The Masses." Tsunami explained.
 "Oh!" Washu smacked her forehead. "I can't believe I'm so stupid! A
Masses infusion would solve the whole problem! Tsunami, you're a genius!"
 "I get it from my sister." Tsunami smiled.
 Washu walked over to the repaired tank where the Masses dwelled.
This was a new batch she'd discovered a few weeks earlier. As she made her
way across the lab with her sisters, they passed a jade crystal in which
slept a human girl. The girl, about nineteen years old, was quite pretty. Her
hair fell down over her shoulders in a straight line. Her head was bowed
forward in slumber. She seemed a simple innocent girl, and indeed she was.
 "Washu..." Tokimi's voice carried a tone of concern.
 "I can't." Washu shook her head, and fell silent. She would say
nothing more about it.

 Naoki picked up his head and looked at the girl in silence.  As he
wondered why she was being kept in stasis, the added senses he'd been given
as Tokimi's avatar came into play and he sensed, within her body, something
evil.  He bared his teeth, even though he was currently human, and growled at
the sensation. He had the feeling that what he was sensing was vaguely familiar,
but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

 "Naoki," Washu told him. "I'm going to give you a Mass infusion."
 Naoki blinked, uncertainly, at her.
  "That means, " Washu explained, "that I'm going to combine your DNA
with the Masses. You'll be able to take on any form you wish."
 Naoki blinked again.
 "You're not getting this, are you?" Washu asked.
 Naoki shook his head with a light-tipped smile.
 Washu was about to explain further when Mihoshi walked in. Washu
wished she knew how the hell Mihoshi kept doing that. She saw Mihoshi heading in
the direction of the stasis controls and quickly steered her away from them.
 "So, what did you want, Mihoshi?"
 "Ummm... Oh yeah... its time for lunch."
 "Oh! Good!" Washu smiled. "Naoki, you ready?"
 "Yeah. I'm starving." Naoki smiled back.

 As they left, Mihoshi dropped something which quietly bounced into the
corner near the stasis machine. Wordlessly, she retrieved it, not noticing when
her sleeve hit the switch, flipping it to the off  position. She rejoined the others and
they all went to the main house for lunch.

 "This food is delicious." Tenchi praised.
 "Thank you, Tenchi." Sasami replied.
 "You're awfully quiet today." Naoki told his wife.
 Makiya nodded. "I'm just thinking about how grateful I am that you're here
safe and sound."
 Tenchi nodded in agreement. "We're all grateful, Naoki. You're very brave,
but you really shouldn't risk your life for us."
 "Force of habit." Naoki shrugged, taking a bite of his food. "Good job,
Sasami."
 Sasami beamed, proudly.

 The girl blinked as she woke from her twenty-six year slumber and looked
around Washu's lab. She rubbed her eyes and blinked again, making sure she was
awake.
 "Where am I?" She asked, looking down at herself.  Last thing she
remembered was being in the elevator at Tokyo Tower. Something had blown a
foul smelling wind at her and the others and they had collapsed. She shivered, her
entire body affected by the intense cold in her abdomen, and tried to find an exit.

 Trakal was in Draalthi form trying to ward off the chill he was himself feeling
at that moment. Without success. "Would someone turn up the heat?" he asked.
 "No way!" Ryoko exclaimed. "Put a coat on."
 "Trakal?" Makiya asked. "Are you sick? Maybe you've got a fever?"
 "The thermostat is broken and Ryoko's just being difficult."
 "I am *NOT*!" Ryoko exclaimed.
 "The thermostat is fine, Trakal." Tenchi told him. "I just checked it."
 "Then why am I so cold?"
 "Maybe your wife's right?" Tenchi suggested.
 "Maybe so." Trakal gave in, too troubled to fight about it. "But," he added,
determined to get in the last word, "your wife is still a pain in the ass."

 "How's your tempura?" Yosho asked, taking a bite of his own meal.
 "It's delicious." Ayeka replied, after swallowing what she'd been chewing.
"And your gyoza?"
 "Also delicious." Yosho finished it and sat back, watching her with interest as
she finished. "Of course, having a nice view to enjoy while dining makes a meal even
better."	
 Ayeka blushed.
 "There's a theatre not far from here." Yosho told his sister as he gazed at her
with the intensity of a man in love. "Would you care to go see a movie?"
 "I'd love to." Ayeka, who'd never been to a movie, replied.
 "The theatre plays what they call Old Classic movies."   Yosho explained. "They're
playing an old classic from the United States called "The Maltese Falcon."
 Ayeka nodded and gazed, demurely at him over the rim of her glass.
 Yosho summoned the waiter as soon as Ayeka was finished and the two paid for
their meals, politely declining a dessert offer on the grounds that they'd soon be having
some snacks at the movies, and departed from the restaurant.

 While Sam Spade chatted with a woman who kept changing her name
along with  the rest of her story, another detective was apologizing to her former
 commander.
 "Oh my!" She spluttered nervously, swept up the broken dish, trembling "I ...
I'm very sorry. I'll pay for it, I..."
 "That's not neccessary." Sarnd replied. "Kiyone, it was my fault. I should've
waited until you were sitting down before ..."
 'Before proposing to me?" Kiyone smiled. "Commander..."
 "I suspect you're going to decline my offer?" Sarnd's voice had a note of
disappointment in it."
 Kiyone nodded, sadly. "I'm sorry." She told him. "I know you're retired, but
I can't stop thinking about  you as my superior officer. And you're old enough to be
my father."
 "I understand." Sarnd replied. "To be honest I knew it was a long shot before
I asked."
 "Then why did you?"
 "I love you." Sarnd shrugged as he took a sip of coffee.

 "Just rest," Makiya told Trakal, who was lying in their bed with all the blanets
wrapped around him.  She kissed his forehead and shook her head. "You're not feverish."
she said. She was puzzled by this, but also relieved.  She turned off the lights so he
could get some sleep, and he yelped in alarm, which was quite surprising considering what
he used to do for a living.
 "How is he?" Washu asked.
 "He doesn't seem to have a fever." Makiya replied. "Perhaps you'd better look at
him?"
 Washu nodded and entered the room.

 "That was a lot of fun." Ayeka told Yosho as they left the movie. "We should tell
Trakal and Makiya about it."
 "Trakal would love Sam Spade." Yosho smiled. "They're not that much different."
 "No, I guess they're not." Ayeka smiled, thoughtfully. "That woman kind of reminded
me of Ryoko."
 "Aren't you two over all that yet? I mean, she got what she wanted, you got what you
wanted."
 "Did I?" Ayeka wondered, aloud. "She got a husband. I don't."
 "There's no reason you can't..."
 "Marry Tenchi?" Ayeka asked. "Share him with that hussy?"
 "I was going to suggest  you marry me, actually." Yosho replied. "But if  you'd rather
have Tenchi, I guess I can help you to..."
 "You want to...?" Ayeka had a look of shock on her face that was extremely comical.
 "If you'll still have me..."  Yosho offered. "I know I don't deserve you after all that I
 put
you through, but..."
 "Yes." Ayeka managed to say, once she remembered how her mouth worked.
 Yosho smiled at her and Ayeka felt a sensation of warmth spreading out from her
heart and infecting every part of her  from her toes to her face where it appeared as a
demure blush.
  "I can't wait to tell the others." Ayeka told him. "They'll be so excited."

 The others were already excited. But for another reason.
 Makiya had gone to get Trakal a glass of water, and had returned to find him in a coma.
She'd immediately gone to find Washu, only to find Washu in a crisis of her own. Another
girl from 1970 had somehow been freed from stasis and was somewhere in the area.
 "So?" Makiya asked. She didn't see how another girl from her class would pose a
problem.
 "So," Washu replied. "she's carrying the reincarnation of Kain inside her. I've managed
to make a few alterations, but that's no guarantee he won't be just as dangerous as
before."
 "Do you think this is the reason Trakal is so sick?"
 "My guess is that that is the reason." Washu nodded.
 "We have to find her." Makiya pointed out.
 "Wrong!" Washu stuck up a finger (no, not *that* one) *I* have to find her. You're
staying here with Trakal."
 Makiya sighed and turned her attention to her stricken husband. She wanted to help
Washu cure him, not just stand idly by and watch.
 "He's my husband, Washu..." she began.
 Washu tapped Makiya's belly with a blackboard pointer. "And that's his child." she
interrupted.
 Makiya nodded. "You're right." She bent carefully and kissed Trakal's muzzle (he was
 still
a Draalthi for the moment), enjoying the softness of fur against her lips.
 "Found her." Washu announced triumphantly.
 "Where?" Makiya blinked. How could Washu have found the girl so fast?
 "Over there." Washu pointed at the doorway.
 Makiya looked up and saw her classmate standing there, or rather leaning there. She
looked to be in pain and Makiya and Washu realized she was in labor!
 "Isn't she a bit early?" Makiya asked.
 "I suspect Kain's impatient to be reincarnated."
 "You mean he's conscious of what he's doing?"
 Washu nodded. "I can only hope he's not conscious of what I was doing." She replied as
she manuevered the girl onto a nearby futon and prepped her for delivery.
 The impact of Kain's impending delivery was so powerful that it forced Trakal's body back
into consciousness. Trakal, who's Jurai blood and past connection with Kain had left him a
semi- psychic bond with Kain, sat up and joined Washu at the girl's bedside.
 "I see you're awake." Washu grinned at him. "Feel better?"
 "No." Trakal was on edge. He summoned an energy sword, prepared for anything.
 Washu turned a moment later, holding a large egg in her hand.
 'So, that's how Kain's species are born.' Trakal thought to himself.

 Kain's consciousness wasn't sure what was going on. He'd heard the screams of the
young woman he'd implanted his clone into, heard her giving birth. But he was still in
darkness, and still in her small, hard womb. Hard? He realized he was inside an egg. He
didn't know all that much about the people of Earth, but he did know that they didn't
hatch out of eggs. Something was very wrong here. He would get to the bottom of the
matter. But first he had to be reborn. He pushed at the egg's inner shell until at last he
forced his way back into the universe.

 Makiya and Washu watched the egg in morbid fascination, keeping a respectful distance
from it and also keeping a safe distance from Trakal. Trakal himself was keeping a close
eye on the egg. There was a great deal at stake, the safety of the world, and more
importantly, the well- being of his wife and the child in her womb. The egg broke into
pieces as Kain forced his newborn body into world with all the force he could muster.
Trakal stared at him in stunned silence, a bemused look upon his face.

 Kain looked up at Trakal, prepared to launch into a litany of threats and barbs about the
Galaxy Police. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was:

 "Miya!"

Lt. Trakal
Operative of the Galaxy Police SIU