No profit is being made from this story and the characters don't belong to me. This is a continuation of The Bet. The Practice By Kenzie Kennedy "Mihoshi!" Sasami tried to shake the blond awake. "Five more minutes, Mom." She mumbled and grabbed the pillow with both hands. "We have to," Sasami pulled the blanket away from her, "practice the wedding today!" Mihoshi thumped to the floor and started to rub her eyes. "What Sasami?" she said. "Washu told me to wake you up because you missed breakfast and we have to start practicing the wedding soon." Sasami wound up. Mihoshi looked at the young girl with wide eyes. "I missed breakfast?" she shrieked. Sasami sighed. *** After Mihoshi had some toast, the family gathered out in the yard. Washu surveyed them all and sighed. This was going to be a long practice session and the wedding was tomorrow! "Okay, listen up!" she said swatting her hand with a baton. "This is going to go off without a hitch!" "But I thought Ryoko and Tenchi were getting hitched?" Mihoshi said. Washu cradled her head in her hands. "It's going to go off without any problems." Washu rephrased. "What's going off?" Mihoshi asked. "Arrggghhhh!" Washu said. "Tenchi, go stand over there by the altar." Tenchi obediently started up the aisle. "Balar, you go up there, too." Balar walked behind Tenchi. "Now when the real wedding starts, Tenchi and Balar will already be up there." She continued. "I'll walk up the aisle next. Then behind me, Ayeka and Mihoshi will walk up. Mihoshi will be in back of Ayeka." "Miss Washu, do you think that's wise?" Ayeka said tentatively. "I will have a train on the dress and if Mihoshi should step on it." "Quite right, Miss Ayeka." She made a mental note of the switch. "Mihoshi will go first, then Ayeka will follow her. After that Ryo-ohki and Sasami will stroll down strewing flower petals all over the place. Sasami and Ryo-ohki will be at the front and then the music will start as Ryoko walks down the aisle." She paused. "Let's try that for now. Mihoshi, walk down the aisle slowly." Mihoshi giggled and started to walk down the aisle. Ayeka fell in behind her walking sedately. Once they were at the top of aisle, Washu gestured for Sasami and Ryo-ohki to walk. Sasami and Ryo-ohki mimed throwing flower petals until they got to the altar. Ryoko took a deep breath and rose into the air. "No!" Washu said. Ryoko looked at her. "You walk slowly down the aisle, not phase, not fly, just walk." Ryoko sighed and her feet touched the ground again. "But Washu, Tenchi's down there waiting for me." She said. "The whole purpose of this is for people to get a look at you." Washu said with her eyes raised skyward. Ryoko started walking and when she got to the top, Washu phased in. "Next step. Ryoko and Tenchi listen to Tsunami and when the time comes, Ryoko will pass her bouquet to Ayeka. Balar will present the rings on a tiny pillow, you each choose one, and slip it on each other's left ring finger." "Next you'll sit down at this table and sip wine. You'll eat and then you'll cut the cake. That's all I'm including unless you want some man to feel your bride up to take off the garter, Tenchi." Washu winked at him. Tenchi shook his head and grasped Ryoko's hand. Washu thought to herself, hm, he's getting possessive. Good. "At the last thing, after you've all eaten, Tenchi and Ryoko will lead the dancing. They'll go out into the middle of the floor and start dancing. Shortly behind them, Ayeka and Balar will go out and dance to keep them company. This will signal the beginning of the dancing and everyone will get up to dance." Washu took a deep breath. "This is the really important part that I'm coming to." She said. "Tenchi, Ryoko... Take the day off. Get out of here. Go to a movie, go dancing, go pick out wedding bands, but don't come back until dinner." Tenchi and Ryoko looked at each other. "Washu, are you sure?" Tenchi asked. "I mean it, scat!" Washu shooed them away. Ryoko touched the portal stick and off they went. Washu slapped her hands together. Now that they were gone and they knew what to do tomorrow, the real work could begin. She turned back to the others. "We have a lot of work to do." She said bluntly. Sasami unrolled a piece of paper that hit the ground. "I've prepared a list." *** "Ryoko, where are we?" Tenchi asked in the darkness. A red ball glared from her hand and the light made her face look eerie. "We're inside Mom's lab." She straightened and called, "Lights!" The lights came on in Washu's lab. "Wow, I didn't know that you could get inside Washu's lab by teleporting." Ryoko giggled. "That's because this isn't really her lab. This is the hallway to the house. Washu made it so I could get here at least." "So..." Tenchi trailed off. "Why are we here?" "Where are we going first? Joy's for rings or somewhere else?" Ryoko asked, twirling a piece of hair. "Joy's last. That way we won't be carrying the rings around." Tenchi decided. "Do you have any ideas of where to go?" "Well, no chores, no lessons, no gardening." Ryoko murmured. "We'll be at the mall later if we want to window shop. How about we go to the tourism center?" "Tourism center?" Tenchi quirked an eyebrow. "You think everyone knows everything about the universe?" Ryoko said. As an afterthought she said, "Except for Washu and my aunts." Tenchi shook his head. "Then why don't we go?" Ryoko hit the transport button. *** At the tourism center, Tenchi and Ryoko looked at all the different pamphlets. They both decided against amusement parks since they wanted something calming for today not something that would raise their blood pressure. Ryoko's eye caught on something. She picked up the brochure and her eyes sparkled with delight. She reluctantly started to put it back when it was snatched out of her hands. "Hey!" she said turning. Tenchi stood behind her grinning. "Oh, so you like waterfalls? Who would have guess it from my little space pirate?" Ryoko reached for the brochure, but Tenchi teasingly kept it over her head, behind his back, anywhere he could to keep it from her. "Now, when does the tour start?" he said looking inside. "In about five minutes." He looked up. "Want to go?" Ryoko grabbed his hand and they were gone. *** "So here's what I want you to do." Washu had commandeered the list. "Balar, I want you to do the fields today." She drew something out of a portal. "Sprinkle this on the field and it'll stall the weeds until two days from now." "Ayeka, Sasami, you two clean the house. Make sure that there aren't any clothes lying around, make the beds, etc. We're going to have a lot of people around tomorrow." "Mihoshi, I want you to sweep the shrine steps." Washu finished. "I'll be inside the lab working on the wedding present for them." *** After the tour was over and Ryoko had filled her eyes with running water and dipping her hand in the cold water, they went to lunch at a small restaurant. Surprisingly, no one on the tour or at the restaurant grumbled at Ryoko being there. She was starting to feel like a normal person. She grinned at the thought. Normal. With a goddess for a mother, engaged to Tenchi, the Crown Prince of Jurai, and she was thinking about normalcy? Tenchi reached across the table to grasp her hand. "Want to go to Joy's after this?" She nodded. *** Washu sat in her lab. The machine was through picking her mind at last! She yanked off the helmet and went to her computer. She started working with the data. With her mind running at full speed, the present should be completed by dinner time. Washu allowed herself to cackle like a maniac. "I am such a genius!" she shouted. *** Tenchi and Ryoko appeared outside Joy's. As always Melanie was working inside. When she saw the two enter, she grinned. "Hi, again!" They waved at her. "What are you two lovebirds up to today?" she joked. "Wedding bands." Tenchi told her. Melanie's jaw dropped. "Isn't it a little soon?" Tenchi explained the Juraian custom to her as Ryoko looked around at the plain gold bands. Some of them had a diamond in the center, some were plain gold, some were silver, but none of them caught her eye. Melanie came out from behind the counter and tapped Ryoko on the shoulder. She walked away with the cyan-haired woman and black-haired man following her. "These are what you might be interested in." she said mildly. The rings were a little bit more decorated than the ones Ryoko had been looking at. Tenchi pointed to one. Melanie chuckled and pulled them out. "I thought you'd like these when you said you were a prince of Jurai." She confided. The ring on the left was slender while the ring on the right was made for a man's hand, wider. They were gold with a pattern of pink and green leaves running around the band. Ryoko's eyes feasted on the rings. Now these were something that she could live with for a few centuries. She glanced at Tenchi who was eyeing the rings just as enthusiastically as she was. Melanie said tactfully, "Shall I wrap them or will you eat them here?" *** Tenchi and Ryoko walked through the front door cautiously. Was it dinner time yet? "Come in! We've been waiting for you." Sasami called to them. They grinned and walked in. "So how's been the day, Sasami?" Ryoko said casually. Sasami continued to stir the rice. "Well, we've cleaned everything so don't mess it up." She sighed. "It took us all day. We had to have rice crackers for lunch, 'cause no one left me time to fix anything." "And the yard is all set up and waiting for us tomorrow." Ayeka calmly walked into the kitchen. "Mihoshi did the shrine steps while Sasami and I cleaned the house. Balar did the fields and Washu spent most of the day in her lab." *** Speaking of whom, Washu was putting the finishing touches on her present. She twirled her gems in her hand. Whispering to them, she smiled triumphantly at their answer. *** The dinner was wonderful as always even though Sasami was rushed. After dinner, Sasami and Mihoshi went to wash and dry the dishes. Mihoshi hadn't broken anything in a long while, so Sasami was calmer about her being in the kitchen. Ayeka and Balar went to the library to read for an hour or two. Tenchi and Ryoko went outside to sit on the roof. "So how do you feel about tomorrow?" Tenchi asked. Ryoko shrugged. "Yeah, me too." Ryoko leaned back and braced herself with her arms against the roof. "I don't know. I thought I would feel nervous. Everyone's made this out to be such a big deal." "Well, I feel nervous enough for the both of us." Tenchi confided. Ryoko winked at him. "You shouldn't. After all, I was a space pirate, if controlled. We could elope and you could claim that I kidnapped you." Tenchi made a show of considering this. "No, no, no. You'd get in trouble with Washu. Besides, don't you want to wear your dress?" Ryoko grinned. "It's the prettiest dress I've ever worn." "And I'll be counting the seconds until I see you in it." Tenchi whispered into her ear. *** Ayeka and Balar sat in the library with quiet music playing. Ayeka suddenly put her book down. She sat staring at the wall for some time. What will father say when he meets Balar tomorrow? *** Later, the women met in the onsen. Washu immediately began soaking her body in the steaming hot water. Mihoshi giggled a bit and enjoyed the water. Ayeka sat still letting the water shift over her. Ryoko swam a bit and then settled down. "So Ryoko, how are you feeling about tomorrow?" Mihoshi asked. Ryoko sighed. "Everyone keeps asking that. I feel fine." "Well, I know I had lots of jitters at my wedding. I almost didn't go." Washu said. "Oh, wow. Did you end up going after all?" Mihoshi asked. Washu hit herself on the forehead, muttering where were you when they handed out the brains? "Nervous about tomorrow night?" Washu asked mischievously. Ryoko scowled at her mother. "No!" Washu examined her nails. "Good. Tenchi came to talk with me on the subject." Ryoko nearly jumped out of the water. "What?" she screeched. "Really, Ryoko, your manners." Ayeka said, her head dripping from the water Ryoko had splashed her way. "Sorry, princess. Washu, what did you tell him?" Ryoko demanded. "I told him," Washu let them all wait in suspense. "To have fun." "That's it?!" Ryoko screeched again. "And that if you ran into serious problems you could call me." Washu grinned. "I AM going to be blocking most of the link tomorrow night." "Most?" Ryoko commented. "I'm blocking out your nuptials but I'm keeping an ear open for questions and extreme "Oh, my god, ten thousand assassins just burst in the room and I'm in my underwear!" Washu finished. "Or less." She considered. Ayeka blushed. Mihoshi giggled. Ryoko looked into the water as if searching for the reason why her mother was so quirky. The bath was uneventful from there and everyone dried off and went to where they slept. *** Everyone had thoughts to worry them before they went to sleep. Mihoshi worried in her bed about whether or not she was going to step on Ayeka's train or not. Despite the fact that Mihoshi was in front of Ayeka. Once that occurred to her, she worried about stepping on Washu's long train. *** Sasami and Ryo-ohki were worried about how many flowers to put down on every step. What if they ran out of flowers before the top of the aisle? Being little girls and cabbits they soon ran out of worrying fuel and fell asleep. *** Balar worried for about a minute on what the emperor would think of him. He reasoned out that the emperor was a good person, after all, he was Ayeka's father. *** The big worries remained with Ayeka, Tenchi, Washu, and Ryoko. Ayeka finally sat up and looked out the window for a while at the calm stars. How would her father react to Balar? She had promised to promise to marry him. Her mothers would be happy for her tomorrow. But what if Balar did something wrong or Azusa didn't like him? She sighed. I'm a princess. I was being groomed to marry someone who would become emperor. Now I am a cadet line and can't I marry whomever I want? Even if he is a former god, has no land or power... Her thoughts trailed off. But Tsunami said to love without fear. Ayeka smiled. Tsunami was a goddess. Besides, if it didn't work tomorrow, she could stay on Earth for as long as she liked. *** Tenchi tossed and turned for a bit. He finally got up and sat at his desk. He doodled his name and Ryoko's on a piece of paper while thinking idly. I'm getting married. Tomorrow. I'm eighteen years old, was an ordinary Earthling, and now I'm marrying a ex-space pirate. He sighed. But that's not the problem, is it, Tenchi? He thought about the problem. What did a woman want anyway? Washu said to have fun, but that was her being cryptic again. Why did all the people in his life have to beat around the bush? Grandfather spouted cryptic lessons, Washu did the same thing... Tenchi flopped down into bed again and tried to smother his worries with a pillow. *** Washu's thoughts chased each other. What would happen when she presented her gift? How would the guests get along? Would they be shocked at Tsunami appearing or would it cement the fact that Tenchi and Ryoko were supposed to be together? Exhausted, she finally dropped off. *** Ryoko thought of Tenchi and their new life together. She thought of the dresses and how lovely they had all looked. She thought of her mother's marriage and the fear that she had. She shook her head at the end and sank into the pillow that was waiting for her..