Well, here it is at last.  The true ending to this story.  I hate to
see it come to a close like this, being the first big project of my life.
So
with that in mind, the story will only be ending in one sense.  It will only
be just starting in another.  Translation: these characters will be used in
several future fictions, branching from this central story.  If you don't
like this story and where I've taken it, then I don't think you'll care much
for any work I do after this.  I'm rather attached to Victor by now, so
short
of a wave of e-mail (VM Toumbes@AOL.com) telling me to kill him or myself,
don't expect him to go anywhere.  Well, he'll be going place in the stories,
but not leaving the stories themselves.
    Now, with that squared away, onto the next order of business.  Tenchi
Muyo is the property of Pioneer home video/entertainment, whatever the
proper
name is.  You know who I mean, and if not then you aren't a true fan and we
have no need of your presence here.  The author owns only those writings he
himself writes, and/or any characters he sees fit to create therein.  Don't
sue, I'm broke.  Send any praise, complains, suggestions, corrections,
and/or
credit card numbers to me at VM Toumbes@AOL.com.  Thank you, and enjoy.

    Tenchi Universe Series
        The Finale

        Dum dum duh-dum

VMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVM

    On Jurai, the masses found themselves piling once again into the
royal meeting hall.  However, unlike the Shifting ceremony only a week ago,
all were happy today.  As if this wasn't enough, Gensao had come once again.
It was a blessing to see him twice in life, but twice in a week?  It would
never be forgotten.
    Soon after the last citizen had arrived, Gensao stepped to the middle
of the stage and up to a microphone.  He cleared his throat and spoke.
    "People of Jurai.  Welcome!  The royal advisor, Victor, had just
informed me via telepathy that he's on his way.  Until then, he's left this
recording for you to listen to.  Enjoy!"  That said, a quartet of guardians
with speaker mounted on top of them went to the corners of the room to give
full surround sound.  After a brief crackling, Victor's voice came on.
    "Hello!  I'll be in shortly, but right now I have a special message
to send out.  Aubinimity, this is for you.  I know you want to live a quiet,
anonymous life, which is why you've changed your name repeatedly.  I also
know that you'll be watching this, like the rest of the universe.  This is
for you."  After another pause, earth music drifted out of the speakers.

    "Uptown girl
     She's been living in her uptown world
     I'll bet she never had a backstreet guy
     I'll bet her momma never told her why

    "I'm gonna try for an uptown girl
     She's been living in her white bread world
     As long as anyone with hot blood can
     And now she's looking for a downtown man
     That's what I am

    "And when she knows what
     She wants from her time
     And when she wakes up
     And makes up her mind

    "She'll see I'm not so tough
     Just because
     I'm in love with an uptown girl
     You know I've seen her in her uptown world
     She's gettin' tired of her high-class toys
     And all the presents from her uptown boys
     She's got a choice

    "Uptown girl
     You know I can't afford to buy her pearls
     But maybe someday when my ship comes in
     She'll understand what kind of guy I've been
     And then I'll win

    "And when she's walkin'
     She's lookin' so fine
     And when she's talkin'
     She's say that she's mine

    "She'll say I'm not so tough
     Just because
     I'm in love
     With an uptown girl
     She's been livin' in her white bread world
     As long as anyone with hot blood can
     And now she's lookin' for a downtown man
     That's what I am

    "Uptown girl
     She's my uptown girl..."

    The rest faded into silence.  Almost the second the music cut out
completely, so did the lights.  A spotlight cut across the room and fell on
Victor Maroo Toumbes.  The crowd cheered.  His hand went out to his side.  A
microphone was tossed straight into it, which he raised to his mouth.  "You
know who and what I mean Aubinimity.  Try and tell me you don't."
    Victor made his way down the hall in his usual black cloak.  As he
went, he glanced at the faces around him;
    Kiyone, smiling and looking her best in a deep blue gown.  The smile
faltered slightly when Mihoshi raised her hand to wave, snagged the thin
strap, and snapped it in half.  Kiyone just shook her head and sighed.  To
be
honest, what could she do at a time like this?  Mihoshi had just been
brought
back to life by Sasami the day before (Ryoko said it would be easy, she was
too dense *not* to be pure of heart).  He laughed when he thought back to
when they finally noticed her absence.  When he himself had been brought
back
from the dead, Washu had insisted on having wine ready.  Only she and Ryoko
really knew why, but the others could guess.  They all sipped it, and all
spit it right back out.  Washu had failed to point out it was her own blend,
made fresh that morning.  Ryoko proceeded to throw the bottle on the ground.
As soon as it shattered, it dawned on everyone.  Why hadn't anything else
been broken lately?  Needless to say, it was only a short step to "Where's
Mihoshi?".  All Kiyone could say was, "I thought it was a little too quiet."
Coming out of his day dream, Victor saw Kiyone break the other piece of
material.  It really looked like it had been meant as a strapless dress.  He
smiled back at her.  >Better<.  Kiyone laughed to herself.
    Next to her was, of course, Mihoshi.  She had cleaned up nicely for
somebody who had been lying dead in a mudhole on Earth for a day or two.
She
was dressed similar to Kiyone, only in forest green and with both straps.
No
doubt Kiyone would see to that before long.  She waved to Victor again, a
bit
more cautiously though.  He smiled at her as well.
    After that was Washu, in full Science Academy regalia.  Why they let
her keep the uniform, he'd never know.  He was glad to see her looking a bit
less stressed then she had been when he had first been revived.  It seems
the
ride back to Jurai had been rather...annoying.  She had nothing against
Ryoko
most of the time, but try being stuck in a small cockpit having to hear her
bawling endlessly the whole trip about the loss of the second man she had
really and truly loved while still sober.  It could have been compared to
the
sound of a certain well known scientist laughing her shellfish-esque head
off.
It was enough to make her want to shove Ryoko in a life pod and just hit the
eject button.  Smart as she was, the irony was lost on her.
    Almost to the far end of the hall now, Victor came upon the extended
royal family.  Ayeka and Sasami sat in their usual regal seats.  However,
the
young up-and-coming king himself sat between them.  Victor had needed to put
in a good deal of hard work to make Tenchi understand.  Thankfully, once the
boy had stopped accusing him of being the devil trying to make him touch
himself in an impure manner, it was pretty much smooth sailing.  To Ayeka's
right sat Yosho, tranquil as ever.  Victor thought for a second.  In a round
about way, that was about what he was going to look like in his twilight
years.  He only hoped he could also be as calm, yet powerful.  On Sasami's
left, Noboyuki.  This was an especially happy day for him, since this event
might help guide his son into the world of manhood by taking one of the
alien
women out of the running.
    Finally, Victor got to the end of the hall and stood before Gensao.
Victor handed his black cloak to a waiting guardian, Taka, the same who had
done a similar task at the last ceremony.  Victor shot a sideways glance at
Ayeka.  >See to it that that man gets promoted soon.  This is kinda
degrading
don't you think?  I mean, being a coat check man after all his training?<.
Under his cloak, Victor wore the traditional formal wear for this event.  He
turned back to the front of the hall and waited, as did the rest of the
room.
Music started up once again, soft and flowing, as the other guest of honor
walked in.
    (Bum bum buh-bum.  Bum bum buh-bum.)
    Ryoko walked slowly up the aisle, looking truly radiant in an Earth
style white dress.  This wasn't something she had expected to do just yet,
and not in her wildest dreams did she think it would be here in the Great
Hall of planet Jurai.  She was glad it turned out this way though.
    She went through the same thought process Victor had as she looked
around the room.  She too finally reached the far end of the hall.  Gensao
cleared his throat and spoke from the book in front of him;
    "Dearly beloved.  We are gather here today to join...."
    The ceremony continued as usual, a cross of Jurai and Earth custom.
Finally it came time for the vows.  The two faced one another.  Ryoko spoke
first, as it was traditional on Jurai for the woman to do so.
    "Victor, I haven't known you very long, but it was more than enough
time to realize my feelings for you.  I was truly moved by that song you
sang
to me the night we revived you, before you knew how I felt.  I'll remember
that evening as long as I live."  With that said, she slipped the ring onto
the third finger of his right hand, another Juraian tradition.  The ring was
silver with a red stone set into it.
    Victor cleared his throat and began his own vows.  He, too, had opted
to write his own.  Well, sort of.
    "Ryoko.  You know that I'm not very good at speaking for myself, so I
think that there's really only one way to say this."
    The lights dimmed once more and music began playing through a guardian
once more.  This time however, it was only background music with no lyrics.
A
smile crossed Victor's face;

    "I had second thoughts at the start.
     I said to myself,
     Hold onto your heart.
     Now I know the woman that you are.
     You're wonderful so far
     And it's more than I hoped for.

    "I don't care what consequences it brings.
     I have been a fool for lesser things.
     I want you so bad.
     I think you ought to know that
     I intend to hold you for the longest time."

    The people applauded as the music faded out and the lights faded in.
Victor removed a ring from his pocket and slipped it onto Ryoko's right,
third
finger.  Hers was also silver, only the red stone was flanked by two pieces
of
amber that very much matched the color of her eyes.
    Gensao closed the book in front of him and spoke the last words of a
Juraian ceremony;
    "I declare you man and wife.  May your trees be as eternally entwined
as your lives."

Author's Notes: Yes people, I know you hate me now for this rather drastic
change to the Tenchi Universe series.  However, I felt that enough had been
done
with Ryoko and Ayeka fighting over Tenchi in their usual way, so why not
marry
one off to put a new spin on the issue?  I choose Ryoko because she seems to
have more in common with Victor then Ayeka would.  Besides, if Ayeka
married,
Ryoko would just move right in on her pray and Ayeka wouldn't care, being
noble
as she is.  Not that she's very likely to marry one of her servants anyway,
which
is what Victor is really. But with Ryoko married, she wouldn't think twice
about
still pursuing Tenchi.  Even if she weren't, Ayeka still has to come to
grips
with her timidness on the topic of confessing her love to Tenchi.
    Notes on the actual content of the story: The ring Victor now wears is
based on a ring I plan to get soon for other purposes.  It seemed like a
nice
design, so I figured I'd use it in the story.  I plan to actually wear it on
the
third finger of my right hand, so if you live in California and see a guy
who
fits the description with a red ring on that finger, say hi, let me know
there's
a reader out there who cares that much.  The idea of that finger being the
Juraian wedding finger came from a fan fiction by Thomas "009" Doscher
(might
not be spelled right, sorry about that 009). If this was mentioned in any
episode
of the show, I missed that and I'm glad he caught it.  I think it's more
likely
that he just made that up himself, and if so I'm sorry I stole the idea from
you.
    As for why I plan to wear the ring on that finger, take your pick of
any reason you like, though there is no real reason.  Here are some to
ponder
over:
1) Symbolic marriage to my work.
2) Sick fulfillment of a love for Ryoko.
3) A desired to be recognized in public by my readers.
4) Pure and simple stupidity.

    Oh yes, for the legal department of the archives: The music I used
are both Billy Joel songs.  I don't own these songs, nor do I own Billy
Joel.
Hope that's enough to make them happy.
    Until next time, which should be very soon, farewell.

        ~VM Toumbes

    Additional notes: I almost forgot, Literary Eagle, whom I've refered
to before as Aubinimity's editor, has asked me repeatedly to make a minor
correction, and I appoligize for letting it slip my mind so many time.  In
fact, everything after my name is being added as a revised copy of this
chapter which I'll try to send out before the next update.  Literay Eagle is
*not* Aubinimity's editor, nor are they mine.  They are only a friend of
Aubinimity who has proofread his stories in the past and they do not want to
take credit for being something they aren't.  Exactly the sort of honesty I
feel this world is lacking.  You should feel moved by this person's modesty.
    Also, I was planning to do an entire extra chapter on the song Ryoko
mentioned late in this chapter.  However, that's a lot of work and it's not
really enough to fill a whole chapter.  The song I had in mind was "An
Innocent Man", by Billy Joel (whom I still don't own, just to remind you
all,
and to keep the guys down in legal off my back).  Maybe track it down, as I
think it's worth hearing at least once in life.  Or, email me and ask for
the
lyrics which I'm too lazy to just put right here (VM Toumbes@AOL.com).
Think
of the situation between Ryoko and Kagato from the OVA series in relation to
the song.  I'm aware that this story stems from the Universe series, but
I've
already established the Kagato I mention in this story line as being from
that series as opposed to the correct one.  This is a small slip on my part
which I appoligize for here and now.
    Thank you for your extra time.
        ~Still VM Toumbes