Here is CH#3

	Kuro looked at himself in the reflection of the lake. He still couldn't
Believe that he had lost his ponytail. More to the point he couldn't believe
he almost lost his head. He had won the duel, but winning was far from easy.
He then looked up at the dark night sky and thought about the events of the
afternoon.

--------flashback----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Kuro backed away from Tenchi and helped him to his feet. It was a
shallow victory. Kuro could hear his friends behind him crying. His mind 
was telling him that this was the right thing. Yet, his heart said something
else. 

	"Good match" said a somber Tenchi as he extended his hand.

	"yeah" said Kruo as he shook Tenchi's hand. Tenchi then limped to
Ryoko who helped him inside.

	Kuro then walked to Aeka but before he could say anything. She began
to cry harder and she ran in after Tenchi. Kuro then turned to see Sasami bawling.
He then walked to her and fell to his knees.

	"Sasami, I am sorry it had to happen this way." said Kuro. He then
wrapped his arms around the young princess but before he could hug her. She
slapped him the face.

	She then began to pound on his shoulders with both of her fists as she
repeated over and over again "I hate you! I hate you!" as she cried. After
a minute or so she finally stopped and ran inside after the others. Kruo 
watched as she ran in and realized that while her attacks did not hurt him
her words caused great pain. If he felt bad about himself before. He felt like
shit now. He almost felt like beating himself up. He did love Aeka, but he
truly wanted to make her happy. He felt that staying with Tenchi would only 
bring her pain in the end. However, at the moment it sure did not feel like 
it. He then turned to see Mihoshi who was still staring at him with a look 
of anger on her face. 

	"Mihoshi please tell them that I will come to take them to Jurai 
tomorrow morning." said Kuro

	Mihoshi simply nodded and went inside as well.

	Kuro then decided that it would be best if he went away for a while
why the others calmed down. Besides he seriously doubted if he was now welcome
in that house.

	Therefore he decided to go to the other side of the lake for the
night. His ship Eano had plenty of food and a place to sleep, however it still
did not help his heart ache.

-----end flashback---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	He now was attempting to get to sleep. However the battle of his
heart and mind were keeping him awake. As he lay back he said "If I am doing
the right thing than why does it feel so wrong."

	Then a calm soothing melody began to come from nowhere. Kuro sat up
and looked around and he saw light glow around the water. When he looked again
he saw a beautiful woman standing before him. She seemed to glow and she smiled
at Kuro.

	"Who...Who are you" said Kuro

	"I am Tsunami" said the woman

	"Tsunami, but that, that is the flagship of Jurai. The most powerful
of all spacecraft. How can?" said Kuro

	"That is not important." she said as she floated towards him. "You
are currently faced with a decision of the mind and the heart. I am here to 
make sure you make the right choice."

	Kuro couldn't believe what he was seeing or what he was hearing.
"What should I do. My head says take them back to Jurai where we can live 
happily. But my heart says I should let them stay here where they are already
happy even if there is risk. Tsunami you have to help me. What do
I do?!" said a desperate Kuro

	Tsunami smiled and touched the face with her hand and said "Your a 
good man Kuro. I can only offer you this advice. When you make your descion
look inside yourself. Don't pit your heart and mind against one another. Instead
use them together. Only then will you truly understand." then Tsunami faded
away.

	Kuro then opened his eyes and saw the sky. He looked around and 
saw no one. "Did I dream that, it seemed so real." he said. He then pondered
Tsunami's words. Use your heart and mind together. Kuro could only lay back
and think. Eventually he fell asleep and Tsunami watched from a distance and
smiled. 

----------next morning---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Kuro arrived at the Masaki residence in the morning as promised. 
There he found Aeka and Sasami packed and ready to go. Both were obviously
upset. The others stood by them as Kuro picked their suitcases up and put them
away. When he told the girls it was time to go. They all got volleys of hugs.
Kuro watched the goodbyes and almost felt like crying himself. However, he
remained silent and promised himself he would get through this. Then came the
grand finale. Sasami picked up Ryo-oki and hugged her as both cried. Kuro
almost lost it there, he had to run into his ship where he began to bang his
head on the wall as he would repeat over and over again "Why me!" 

	When the girls got to the spacecraft Kuro quickly stopped his self
abuse and watched as they refused to speak with him. Kuro was almost at the 
breaking point but not yet. When he gave the order to his ship Eano to leave 
he thought he had made it. 

	When they had finally reached Earth's orbit. Kuro was sure he was home
free. Then it happened. Ryo-oki appeared in her ship form with Ryoko, Tenchi, 
and Mishoshi on board. A screen then appeared that showed the 3. 

	"We just thought we would see you off" said a strangely sad sounding
Ryoko.

	"Oh great." mumbled Kuro

	"Goodbye Sasami!" cried Mihoshi

	"Goodbye Mihoshi! I'll miss you" said Sasami

	"Merooowwwww!" cried the ship Ryo-oki

	"I love you too, Ryo-oki" bawled Sasami

	Kuro finally cracked. He slumped over his console and began to cry.
"That's just so sad! I can't take it. I just can't do it! I'll take you back."
bawled Kuro as he banged his fist on the chair.

	Sasami then stopped crying almost like a faucet being turned off. She
then looked at Aeka and they both simultaneously said "We got him!"

	Kuro suddenly froze and sat up. He then slowly turned and said "What
do you mean you got me!"

	The girls had embarrassed looks on their faces and each had a large
sweatbeed to match. Before they could respond however a loud crash was heard
followed by a siren. 

	Kuro then looked at his map to see some craft of some sort had just
collided with Ryo-oki. He quickly turned to see a medium sized craft making
a controlled landing while Ryo-oki was spinning out of control towards the
Earth's atmosphere. Kruo then said "Oh No, Eano follow that Cabbit"

	Eano quickly turned and dived after the ship. Once they reentered 
Earth's atmosphere Kuro saw how bad the damage was. Two of Ryo-oki's pillars
were crushed and its main body was severely burned due to the sloppy reentry.
He then saw something that made his heart skip a beat. Ryo-oki obviously 
fell unconscious and reverted back to her cabbit form. He saw the cabbit, and
3 injured passengers as they fell towards the earth. He then knew he had 
only one option. 

	"Eano except all orders given to you by Aeka, and get me a wing pack."
he said. A backpack like item appeared from the wall and he quickly put it on.

	"What are you going to do?" asked Aeka

	"I'm going to fly down there, get them and bring em here." said Kuro as
he opened the hatch in his ship.

	"That's crazy!" yelled Aeka attempting to be louder than the wind.

	"Yeah, I know" said Kruo and then he jumped out. When he was 
close to the group he hit a button on the strap of the pack. Two mechanical
black bird like wings extended from it and he flew to the group. The closest
pair was Ryo-oki and Mishoshi. He grabbed them both and quickly flew them to
Eano where Aeka and Sasami grabbed them. Kuro then dived back and grabbed the 
unconscious Tenchi and Ryoko. However the wings were not strong enough to 
carry all 3.

	"Oh no, If I don't bring them both back know. I won't have time to
pick them both up." said Kuro. He then looked towards the ground and said 
"We are falling to fast. We'll all die.....alright smart-guy now what do you
do" Kuro said to himself. Kuro then got an idea, he realized the consequences
but he had no other choice. "Why do I have to be so damn noble!" he yelled
as he removed the wing pack and put it on Tenchi. It was a difficult process
considering he still was holding Ryoko over his shoulder. Not to mention they
were falling like a rock towards the earth. He finally got the pack on, he 
then shook Tenchi for all he was worth trying to get a response.

	Tenchi was groggy at best but was able to respond with a "Whaaa?"

	"Hold Ryoko Tenchi!" Kuro said as he placed the space pirate in Tenchi's
arms. 

	Kuro then punched in a code on the packs strap keypad. A robotic 
voice was then heard "Understood, preparing for landing." The wings then
began to flap and slowed Tenchi's and Ryoko's decent. Kuro however continued
to fall. It was at this time that Tenchi truly came to his senses. He 
quickly realized what Kruo had just done. 

	Kuro saw how close the ground was and saw he was going to land near
Tenchi's house. For some reason the only thing he could say was "I love you
Aeka!" He then screamed at the top of his lungs as he knew he was about to 
die. He scrunched his eyes shut and clenched his teeth just before what he 
thought were his final moments. He then felt a sudden jolt. He finally 
opened one eye and realized he was floating about one foot of the ground. 
He then turned his head to the right and saw a short spiky red haired girl 
holding a remote of some type.

	"W.....W....Washu?" asked the jittery Kuro

	"Don't you just love air brakes" said Washu. She then hit a button
on the remote and Kuro fell the remaining one foot.

	Kuro then got to his knees and looked himself over. He was shaking like
a leaf and was still scared out of his mind but, he was more or less unhurt.
He then turned to Washu and said "Thank you......L....L....Little Washu"

	"You speak with Queen Funaho as well?" asked Washu

	"Yeah" muttered Kuro

	Tenchi landed seconds later and about a minute later the Eano did as
well. Aeka and Sasami both jumped from the ship and said "Are you alright"

	Kuro smiled and extended his arms. Sasami and Aeka began to run towards
him and ended up running right by him as they hugged Tenchi. Kuro then 
fell face first to the ground arms open for hug that never came. 

	When Kruo  got to his feet. He saw Washu levitating Ryoko and 
Ryo-oki. She then looked at Kuro and said "Do you need anything?"

	"Yeah, I think I need a new pair of shorts" said Kuro as he stood,
his legs still very wobbly.
	
CH #4 is coming up