(Part Thirty-One - Creation Falls to the Land of the Stars) Yep, another entry; and boy, is THIS one a doozy.. For one, the trip to get to the Hot Springs took much of the better part of the day. Not to mention the fact that it was almost a mirror of the trip to the Rainbow Valley over a year ago.. Strange near anniversary no? Ryoko and Ayeka would agree.. Then came Tokimi and Gaia, whom I had not seen in a month; suddenly appearing right at the entrance of the Hot Springs. Oh joy.. And since girls like to bring TONS of stuff, gods knows why, guess who got stuck with doing luggage duty; at least Tenchi and I got a workout.. While this was happening, an old woman; a rather short one at that, conversed with Nobuyuki; with Achika giving a wide berth apparently.. What they said caused me to finally take a look at the place. IT WAS A BLOODY WRECK!!! Nobuyuki and Yosho then said something about how much the old lady had changed, more slave driven prone.. Then Nobuyuki got clocked by a hammer meant for Yosho. The ladies got stuck with the cooking and cleaning, with Ryoko making sure Washu helped out with them this time, with insistence from Tokimi. Sasami and Achika then volunteered to help cook, Ryoko (watching her butt this time, I learned why before coming.) dragged Ayeka and Washu to help with the peeling, though for some reason Mihoshi was asked NOT to help with the peeling this time, got me why.. she got stuck with laundry. Uh boy.. Tsunami volunteered herself with Tokimi and Gaia (who didn't appreciate..) to help sew, apparently there were many sheets to work on. Kiyone decided to help out with Tenchi and me with what was left of the roof.. (wood rot sucks plenty.) while Yosho and Nobuyuki tackled the south wall.. also what was left of it. The Crown Prince, the GP Ambassador, and I took the remains of the East roofing, and made good piles for kindling for winter, replacing the holes with pretty good stock of wood. The old lady apparently knew good quality, I should get the number of the place that furnishes the stuff.. for the next time Ryoko and Ayeka make a mess of the house.. While this was going on, Tenchi told Kiyone and me; of the last two adventures that had happened here. The stuff about Ryoko wasn't all too shocking, though the mess was impressive. Tsunami scarring the bejezzus out of everyone when she was mirroring Sasami WAS a surprise, I could only picture the looks on everyone's faces. HAH!! Course I was thinking of this too much, and WHACKED my thumb a good bit. *sob* Kiyone was laughing too hard, and ended up slipping off the ladder she had been on, which caused me to lose my footing, and fall off in kind. Tenchi was having a field day with all this, and ended up missing Yosho sneak up behind him, Tenchi joined us soon after. Course I was still too consumed with seeing stars, when Tsui appeared in my eyes.. She was appraising that we had worked so fast.. only two more months before the roof would look normal again. Some compliment, from the "White Ghost" I quipped, only to be backhanded in response. Tsunami then announced that lunch was ready, and then mockingly stormed off.. The trials of a married man. Tenchi actually seconded.. Soon Lunch came and went, as did the common praising of Sasami's and Achika's abilities (as always..), as well as Tenchi and I being hand fed by our respective harems.. It went from there to a bit more work.. along with cleaning up a 'mess' that Mihoshi made with the same laundry, (scary. And she's a crown Princess now.. eeeeeeyyy..) It soon however got dusk, and work stopped for the day. That's when the fun actually began. Tenchi and I decided to hit the springs, to get in a good soak, unknowing that the others had already taken up the other side.. Yosho and Nobuyuki were already there, trying to be peeping toms. Achika yanked Nobuyuki over the wall suddenly, and gave him a good tongue lashing; which left Yosho, who got summarily booted to the water below him by Kiyone, acting as the good cop. Tenchi and I then bathed for a bit, as the sounds of many females floated from higher above. We were discussing which roof area to tackle next; when Ryoko appeared in a two piece lavender number, soon after wrapping her arms around Tenchi, who despite protests was phased along with Ryoko to the ladies area, I surmised. Yosho was simply chuckling at this, when he suddenly announced he would bathe at a separate Spring, and simply blocked off my obvious question. So I simply was sitting there, for a moment; wondering why Yosho had left, and even more shortly lashing myself for the obvious. This took the form of a strand of teal hair dangling in front of me suddenly, and I spun around to say hello to Tsui. But got WAY more than I bargained for.. Gaia to the left, Tokimi to the right, and Tsui holding center. What they were wearing caused me into a near vegetable state. Gaia had a pure white one-piece, with a deep V-cut down the front middle. Tokimi.. uh. The 'suit' (I guess a one piece.. I think..), had the same color scheme as her usual get-up, and it started from the neck, ran down over the left breast, went around the back I surmised, reemerged to cover the right breast, and ran down to the, um.. bottom. I could only guess it attached to the back somehow, I think. Last of course was Tsui, who wore a one-piece that was VERY flattering, a mix of white, teal, and blue; it also had embroidered stylized leaves. My next action was to act on my flee impulse, like a gazelle being looked at by a trio of hyenas. Which didn't get me far, as Tokimi was already in front of me. Gaia then inferred that I didn't like the company of ladies, to that effect. Tsui then suggested I needed time to simply be around ladies. Tokimi then let go of me, allowing me to fall into the water, (Tokimi's little joke.) As I surfaced, all the three goddesses did was to simply submerge into the water, and simply wade around for a while. While they didn't make anymore advances on my person, they knew what they were doing. They DID however prevent me from leaving, thanks to a emplaced repelling shield, as I tried to make a silent escape. After two tries, I gave up and tried to act civil, by staying as far away as I could, which didn't last long either. Tsunami by marriage rights, finally started to advance, and I tried to hide under the water. Things suddenly got weird, as the water started darkening and flashing, and I surfaced to see the sky rolling with subspace energy, and then a massive gravity field started to yank on the area around us. Tenchi and Ryoko then appeared, asking the goddesses what this was.. Their silence said only in volumes they understood. A bolt then smacked the water the goddesses and I were in, and I was thrown into the air; somehow not harmed, but flying up towards the subspace rift, which by now had a definite form to it. I was starting to panic a bit, when Tsui grabbed me from behind, and I wondered out loud where everyone else was. That's when I saw something from the side of my eye. I called Tsui's attention to it, who looked, and GASPED!! A bolt knocked Tsui away from me, and by the goddesses luck, I was thrown near the floating figure. I was able to grab hold of what turned out to be a raven long haired female, one that had the dress that resembled the other goddesses. Unfortunately, my curiosity was cut short, as the subspace field abruptly ended, and.. I can't exactly fly, at least not in a PANIC!!!!!!!!! My last feeling was of falling, and then of a watery black-out. I next awoke with sounds of discussion and arguing, then with the sight of Tsui and Sasami looking at me. All I got next was a bunch of yelling and name calling, guess who; with Mihoshi trying in vain to settle nerves down. I sat up, and got some worried looks from the others, which I promptly told I was fine, somehow. I looked around with a headache nonetheless.. And saw the same female I has, well.. caught.. She was sitting there in a simple gray kimono, her hair tied in a ponytail, that made her look like Achika, except for the 'interesting' fact, of her hair was literally sparkling. Like it was the night sky, and it was full of stars. (which by the way, was the same outside, which only confused me more.) I asked who this new female was, and only got a few strange, stressed grunts from each of the present goddesses, which Achika and strangely enough again, Washu as well.. My confusion was answered finally by the stranger, who named herself Creation (yes, that's correct..), who made a SHOCKING announcement. She.. heh.. was the Mother of each of the present Goddesses!! Of Achika, Gaia, Tokimi, Tsunami, and even Washu by her announcement; the last literally shocking the heck out of everyone else present, even moreso Ryoko. Ayeka then asked why she was here. All we got was that she was checking up on her children. I then looked at each of the goddesses, who promptly fainted one by one. Then the sound of the old lady bellowed through the section we were in, which made us ALL jump. That.. was the last time the Misaki clan was ever invited to the Springs, I think we made a bad impression. Washu saved the day, after waking up; by porting us all (with the van..) back to the residence. Fine by me, because we all went straight to bed. I've had my fill of that day, which ended up being the start of some MAJOR happenings for us all, most of all.. It would test my relationship with Tsunami to no end.. (End Part Thirty-One)