Disclaimer: All the beloved
Tenchi charcters are property
of AIC and Pioneer who can be
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vigin videos (i.e. which have not been
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If you thought the last epsiode
was really upsetting- DON'T WORRY!
Keep reading and I'll make it all
better...I promise..join us...
join us...
Well, enough of that- read on, if
you believe you can! Ahahaha!
-Jim

	TENCHI O-RUSUTA©: KAZEKERA
      PART 6: THOUGHTS OF A GODDESS

The cock crowed, and the birds chirped 
their twittering song while Kazekera was 
standing at the foot of the Masaki Shrine 
early the next morning, waiting for his 
eager pupil. He remembered their words 
together last night:
 "You meet me tomorrow at 5.00 o clock 
sharp near the shrine."
"F..f...five?"
"Sharp."
"I wanna go <sob> to sleep."
"Good. Now do it."
Kazekera now took his huge fob watch from 
his sash and put on a pair of prince-nez 
which he also kept in there, and checked 
the time.
"7 'o' clock exactly. Good."
He then looked over the path leading up 
to the shrine, where he saw a stampeding 
figure with wet hair trying desperately 
not to trip over while attempting to dry 
itself with the towel it was waving in one hand 
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Mihoshi called as she stumbled and ran 
to the foot of the shrine. "I overslept!"
"I know, Miho-chan. It's okay. I deliberately 
told you to meet me two hours earlier than 
I intended to start training."
"Why?"
"Because I know you very well." Kazekera 
smiled and Mihoshi looked at her feet.
"Now let's get to the top. Yosho has very kindly 
given me leave to use the shrine for the whole day, 
so we can't waste our valuable time."
The two of them made their way up the steps, Mihoshi 
rather slowly because she was still worn out. When 
they got to the top he sat Mihoshi down and decided 
to start with some theory.
"Okay. Tell me what a galaxy police officer's first duty is."
"Er...to uphold the law of the galaxy."
"Almost. In the revised memoirs of Grand Marshall 
Gruron Aneck." Mihoshi caught her breath in awe of 
the name. "Recognised throughout the universe as the 
greatest police being who ever lived, always maintained 
that whatever the law, a galaxy police officer's first 
duty is to uphold the JUSTICE of the galaxy."
He produced a book from his sash and brandished it reverently.
"This book contains, nay IS those memoirs, fully 
annotated and revised by all the grand marshals 
after him, including your grandfather. It will be your 
oracle, your guide and your companion. Compared to 
that little blue number they give you at the academy 
which fits inside your pocket..." 
Mihoshi remembered it, and was always rather fond of hers. 
She kept it under her pillow with a photo of one of her 
childhood crushes whom she had never told Kaz about. 
It took her back...but she did her best to pay attention.
"...it is a monolith of police ethics and practice. 
So- shall we begin with a few other simple questions?"
They carried on for about an hour on the ethics and 
morals of police work- when they were finished, Mihoshi 
was all-fired up on the injustice in the galaxy and was 
ready to kick some nostalgic rut. So they started with 
the physical training (Not a word!-Jim) with assault 
courses Kaz had prepared, aiming practice (which Yosho 
had not allowed them to do near the shrine- and after 
seeing the trees they practised on afterward Kaz could 
see why), tests using galaxy police technology borrowed 
from the Yagami, hand-to-hand combat, meditation and 
fight training.
Near the end Kazekera was surprised how little he actually 
had to teach- Mihoshi was remembering everything she had 
put to the back of her brain and filling in the gaps by 
herself. It was very encouraging. After only crippling 
a couple of dozen trees (which made Kazekera wince because 
of his plant-like connections) Mihoshi was beginning to 
shoot okay, then competently, then well and finally expertly. 
Her last trick was to hit a beach leaf on a tree four meters 
away whilst not killing the beetle perched on it. She did 
this leaving the insect only slightly singed and confused.
"Well done, Mihoshi. You're really coming along with this." 
Kaz had said admiringly.
"Oh, it's nothing!" Mihoshi said modestly, putting her hand 
behind her head to relieve her embarrassment, closing her 
eyes and blushing. Unfortunately, while doing this she 
squeezed the trigger and shot down a branch which promptly 
fell on Kazekera's head. He sweatdropped.
"Ow."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Kaz!"
"Don't worry Mihoshi. Time to move on to something different 
now, I think."
"What?"
"Food."
They made their way back from the piece of woodland they 
used for the physical training to the top of the shrine, 
and Kaz sat down on a stone slab and Mihoshi stood next 
to him, so their heads were level. 
"Well, that was VERY impressive. I think you're a partner 
worthy of anyone in the galaxy police."
"Does that mean we can stop now?" said Mihoshi hopefully
"No. That means there's more theory after lunch."
"Ohhhhh...."
"Miho-chan- do you want Kiyone to respect you?"
"Yes."
"Then we do theory."
"Okay."
"And MORE on Friday. Although hopefully you and Kiyone 
will have made it up by then."
Kazekera certainly did hope they got togther again- it 
had been hard on him telling her that Mihoshi had cried 
because of what she had said when she came back late from 
Washu's lab. He advised them to stay apart for a bit- so 
he let her sleep in the lab as well. 
They chatted a bit after this and Mihoshi wanted to eat 
lunch, but before they did Kazekera had a very important 
question to ask.
"Mihoshi?"
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot." 
Kazekera was suddenly conscious of a pain in his head.
"Please don't mention that word again."
"Sorry. What was it?"
"My dear..." he started 
"Uh-huh. I'm still here."
"Now you and Kiyone aren't speaking...are you lonely?"
She avoided this question by putting a finger to her mouth.
"Sshhhh." She said.
Then she cuddled him close.
This was one of the only times when they were at equal height, 
and could do all the things which lovers did when hugging. 
Of course, when Mihoshi was standing up her face was between 
his chest and his stomach, so she could do....other things. 
But now Kazekera buried his face in Mihoshi's neck and she 
busied herself with one of his long, elegant ears.
Meanwhile, Kazekera drank Mihoshi's scent in with his nose.
It was difficult to describe with human vocabulary- warm, fruity, 
with a very slight tangy content like spice. 
It was, in every sense, the smell of Mihoshi.
Dryads were quite lucky in that, although sight was 
their 'first sense' and they had good perception of depth 
and form, their hearing and smell was also highly developed. 
Of course, things like tactile sensations, taste and 
colour recognition suffered for this, but that was okay.  
However, this meant Dryads saw things in much more 
simple colours than other people- shades of a certain 
colour which could be distinguished easily by a human 
had no difference at all for a Dryad.
Mihoshi had a highly developed sense of smell herself- 
the doctors had done it for her back 'home' on Kazekera's 
planet. He was the first person she had been able to 
recognises- his earthy, plant-like scent was still 
the same as it had been when he was small, only much 
more powerful. There was also a subtle difference 
when he sweated- it was a kind of butter-like quality, 
and of course, a pheromonal content.
But due to his extremely fit system, he very rarely 
pushed himself to sweating in normal domestic duties.
"Don't worry Kaz..." she said, softly hugging him again. 
"You're all that I need."
"Now why do I find that so hard to believe...?" 
Kazekera whispered, looking sadly up at the sky.
They trained on through the day, the members of the 
house (apart from Kiyone and Washu, that is) taking 
turns to bring them their food and equipment.
Then, as evening drew in, Kazekera let Mihoshi know 
that she had done enough training and the two went for 
a stroll to wind down. Coming the other way they met 
Ayeka and Tenchi walking, with Ryoko and Sesami 
chatting behind. It was usually the other way round, 
Kazekera thought- it was obvious Tenchi found it easier 
to talk with Ryoko because she was much more open 
than Ayeka about how she felt. 
Ayeka was still bound with her princessly duties. 
Kazekera knew she had always been- he remembered 
her as a child long ago...
But he noticed Tenchi also GOT ON with Ayeka much more- 
Ryoko was somewhat forceful in her affections and 
Tenchi was modest and retiring (NOT gay or frigid, 
thanks very much- Jim). But today they were more 
relaxed, it seemed. Tenchi and Ayeka were almost 
holding hands...but not quite.
"Hi!" said Mihoshi, waving. She was much happier 
now than she had been last night. 
"Hi you guys." Said Tenchi. Ayeka looked disappointed, 
but took the interruption with good graces. After all, 
she would not have done anything spectacular with 
Ryoko and Sesami watching him...not that she wanted 
to right now. She and Ryoko had a plan which stemmed 
from their walk a couple of nights ago, and after 
everyone else was out of the way, Ryoko would see 
to the first part. At the moment the Pirate and the 
Princess were deliberately trying to AVOID what they 
were really looking for, because it was a secret. 
She dreaded to think what would happen if Sesami and 
Tenchi found out about it...(No it is not anything 
to do with their 'secret love'. Well, not really. 
Not much. Just wait and see what you think- Jim) 
"Good evening Mihoshi, Mr. Kazekera. What have you 
been doing this afternoon?"
"Well, I've been teaching Mihoshi some of the more 
cerebral things about her job. I must say she's done extremely well."
The two of them started to walk level with Ryoko 
and Sesami, who WERE holding hands. Ayeka and 
Tenchi carried on ahead, but turned their heads to speak.
"Well, we four have just been on a hunt for an 
interesting thing me and Ryoko saw a couple of 
nights ago. Would you like to join us?" 
They were just about to speak when Sesami shrieked 
and pointed up the path.
"Wait! There's something over there!" 
And she was right. There was an unpleasant black 
presence, almost like a cloud, flowing noiselessly 
down the road. Kazekera stooped put his arm round 
Sesami, while scrunching up his eyes to make out 
what the shape could be. The visibility was too 
poor for him to make sense of the colours.
Ryoko ran over and grabbed onto Tenchi's other 
arm, while Mihoshi bent down and hugged Sesami 
for comfort.
"What the hell is that?"
"I don't know. But we'll be able to make it out in a minute."
"Why?"
"Because it's coming towards us."
The black blob approached the six wanderers, 
splitting into two very different silhouettes. 
It was hard to make out if they were human...or something else. 
Between the silhouettes was a glint of silver- 
like a ship, which became more and more visible 
as the shadows were defined. But the sky had 
suddenly clouded over, making the sky a much 
darker blue. A pale moon hung in the sky, 
watery and misted. 
Ryoko shivered, and tightened her grip on Tenchi's arm.
"There are two of them!" Ayeka whispered 
"Whatever they are!"
Mihoshi and Kazekera cuddled Sesami closer, 
as her red eyes began to tremble and her small 
body shook with fear. Mihoshi's eyes were also 
beginning to water, two lines of frightened tears 
flowing down her face.
But the shapes were much closer now, and it was 
easier to see that even if they weren't monsters, 
they were certainly not human. As Tenchi looked, 
he could see that the two men had vivid, angular 
faces as though they had been sculpted from rock 
and painted with something which a slightly bizarre 
artist (e.g. the author) might have thought was 
skin colour. They appeared, in essence, to have 
been made by someone who had never actually seen a 
human being before. They both had short cropped 
hair on the top of their heads and thick ponytails 
at the back. The hair was layered in two colours- 
blue on the bottom, purple on the top. Their 
all-in-one suits shared the same colour-scheme. 
One was short- only 5 ft tall at the most, the 
other very tall and muscle-bound; it was only Kazekera's 
huge height which prevented him from being intimidating. 
The shorter man (whose right hand carrier a huge 
metallic-blue glove which seemed far too long to 
actually fit his arm, stopped a little further 
forward than his companion when they got to about 
4 feet from Kazekera, and spoke-
"Kazekera of Bronze. I am Alpha, first warrior of 
the Py-Te-soma . This is my brother, Beta."
"The first? So you defeated Dekku and Rannu."
"We did."
"And is that your ship there? I presume you 
landed it some time ago." Kazekera squinted to see 
the silver pod between the two men.
"It is, and we landed it precisely one solar rotation ago."
(I know 'one solar rotation' sounds a bit poncy, 
but it's better than 'one Earth day'. And these 
things vary across the galaxy, you know.- Jim)
"Why are you challenging me?"
"It was Rannu's wish that we should further our 
honour to our race by defeating the first warrior 
of the Dryads."
"I am NOT the first warrior of the Dryads."
"Not officially. But we have it on good authority."
"You were misinformed. I am not even the first warrior 
of my family."
"Your modesty is also spoken of. But we will fight you, 
on honour of both the Py-Te-soma  and the Dryads."
"I agree. But you must give me a moment to explain this to my friends."
"Very well."
Kazekera walked over to the others, who had strained 
their ears to hear what the three men had said. 
"What's happening?" Mihsohi looked pale. "You're not 
going to fight are you, Kaz?"
"I'm afraid I have to. These men are from a species 
called the Py-Te-soma- they will not give up a target 
which has been set. But..." he looked softly at Mihsohi 
"Don't worry. Even if I lose, I can chose defeat over 
death. They will accept it."
"No! Don't, Kaz!"
"I have to. They will follow me unless I do- and I don't 
want any of you to get caught in the cross fire." 
He turned to the others.
"I HAVE to fight these men. And I want you all to 
stay out of the way."
Tenchi was still looking over at the men. 
They creeped him out- their angular, exaggerated features 
looked scarier to him than if they had been totally 
monstrous. It was simply the imitation of humanity 
which was so eerie.
"What are they? They don't even look human!"
"That's because they're not. They are really just inside..."
"Kazekera of Bronze! You are not at liberty to 
discuss our races' crippled state. The secrets of 
the Py-Te-soma  are our own." Alpha shouted to him, 
cutting him off. Beta nodded in agreement.
Kazekera looked to them, and then turned round to 
his friend with a grave look.
"Suffice it to say...they are far from it." He whispered.
"But why are they after you?"
"The Py-Te-soma race is proud- they believe themselves 
to be some of the best warriors in the galaxy. These 
two, being the first of their race, have the honourary 
title of The Greatest Fighters and Bounty Hunters Known."
"Hey!" Ryoko sneered "NAGI is the best. You can always 
judge a girl by her enemies- and believe me, she's the 
greatest. I wouldn't fight anything less."
"You don't understand. The Py-Te-soma  battle for pride 
and honour- not for fame. If you thought a little harder, 
you would realise they are not well known simply BECAUSE 
they are so good."
"Huh? Why's that?"
"Because every one who might have spread the news is dead. 
If they hadn't been so good, maybe they would still be alive."
"Oh."
"Anyway- the reason they are here is because I am somewhat 
well-known in the underworld too. I am one of the only 
Dryads to achieve this kind of inter-galactic fame, since 
most of my species do not travel in space. They believe 
that if they defeat me, they will have achieved fighting 
superiority over my whole race."
"That's a bit of a burden, isn't it?"
"Well, I will just have to win, then, won't I?" he said jauntily. 
Aeka's mouth kept tightly closed throughout this. 
SHE knew about the Py-Te-soma . 
She had read about them while Sesami was still a baby...and she 
knew the penalty for revealing their secrets. All she was 
willing to share was that there were always two- one the 
muscles, the other the energy and the brains. They had 
some kind of mental link...even though Alpha and Beta 
may not have been born brothers, they were 
certainly 'grown' into them. 
She remembered the details of the Py-Te-soma  scientists' 
experiments to try to save their race after a dreadful 
nuclear disaster, which had left them in their 'crippled state'...
and she shuddered. Even after hundreds of years, it 
was still hard to forget the lengths to which this 
proud race had gone to save itself.
Kazekera had already started walking back to the men, 
after trying hard to calm Mihoshi fears with a kindly smile.
Beta stood opposite Kazekera- it was clear he would 
do the bulk of the fighting while Alpha stood by and 
gave orders. So the fight began. 
After a little wait, Kazekera darted forward with 
great speed, to be met by a fist , which he quickly 
rolled with and elbowed Beta's stomach. The tall man 
did not double up, but threw Kazekera away like a dancing 
partner and landed a volley of blows to his stomach, then 
he stepped back. As Kazekera was about to make his next 
move, the next four punches came-
Wham, thump, thump, cunch.
One punch to the chest, two to the stomach and 
one to the jaw. Kazekera was already being forced back, 
simply taking the punches, his arms almost useless 
by his sides. Tenchi couldn't stand by and watch. 
Kazekera was not as powerful as he was- he knew it. 
Kazekera had no Jurai power, and these guys had the 
upper hand. It wouldn't be wrong to help- just 
block a few blows, would it?
Wham, wham, wham! 
Another three punches hit Kazekera in the chest, 
and he braced himself against the pain. As the 
fourth was aimed, Tenchi dived and tried to block it...too late. 
Kazekera batted Tenchi away with his hand, while 
blocking for himself. It appeared that he had 
simply been letting the others win for a time 
while he sized them up. And Tenchi had spoiled 
it by getting in the way. 'Damn!' he thought to himself.
"Master Tenchi! This is not your fight!" shouted 
Kaz as he ducked under another volley of blows. 
Ryoko and Ayeka ran to where Tenchi had fallen to 
see whether he was okay, and to take him away 
from the battle scene.
Strong as Tenchi was he didn't really want three 
enemies to fight, so he let Kaz carry on. He knew 
it might get him killed- but his friend had made a 
choice to fight alone, as he himself had done before. 
He knew it was up to pride now- pride and honour. 
However, Tenchi had been right about one thing.
"Now the real fight begins." Kazekera said. 
"The first ones...are always free."
'He's being really heavy handed about this' 
thought Ryoko , as she knelt by Tenchi 'If these 
guys are as good as he made out...is it really sensible 
to be so over-confident?'
"Are you okay, Tenchi?" asked Ayeka 
"I'm fine, thank you Ayeka. Thank you both for 
seeing if I was alright..."
The girls helped him up, together. They had learned 
to help each other more these days- even when Tenchi 
was around. Since Tenchi wasn't really hurt- Kazekera 
had hit for defence rather than attack, and the ground 
was soft- he didn't actually need the girls to pick 
him up, but he let them do it anyway because they were 
doing it together. Even last year (at Christmas 
time, just a few short months ago) picking him up 
from injury would mean a vicious tug-o-war between 
them leaving him more hurt than before. 
They turned their attentions back to the fight.
Beta was squaring off to Kazekera- it was obvious 
that this was where the real power came in.  Beta 
looked at him and grunted.
They both waited.
Then the big man threw his fist forward, lightening 
fast. It would no doubt have delivered a crushing 
blow, had it not been used to throw him over his 
opponent's head and bring him crashing onto the floor.
"Big muscles and no brains. Not exactly a winning 
combination." Kazekera remarked accurately.
Beta got to his feet and growled. He lurched forward 
to grab Kazekera, but the Dryad was more agile and 
darted out of his way. They started to circle each 
other. Beta landed two quick blows on Kazekera's 
chest, and he fell backward, rolling into a crouching 
position on the floor. He kicked out, but the big man 
avoided the kick and balled his two hands into one fist. 
He brought it down to hit Kazekera's head, but he 
moved and it hit his back instead. The Dryad faltered 
and looked like he would collapse, but then he pushed 
out with his back legs and his head hit his opponent's 
stomach with a soft thump. The large man held his 
stomach, leaving him open to a right hook on the 
jaw by Kazekera followed by a left.
Beta fell over like a tree, crashing to the ground, 
not even putting his hands out to steady himself. He 
grunted and pulled himself back up.
"Brother, get back here, quick!" yelled Alpha. 
He did so, before Kazekera could strike another blow. 
So the Dryad held his guard, and the enemies faced each other.
Alpha's glove glowed yellow, while Beta just stood 
looking at his opponent. Suddenly Alpha pointed his 
fist fully forward, and the glowing became a crackling. 
Kazekera's face was still set, and his arms still by 
his sides. Then a stream of vicious neon power shot 
out of the energy around the glove- it was wide and 
obviously had enough power to knock the wind out of 
any fighter. As the lightening-like missile headed 
towards him, Kazekera quickly took a small metal 
object from his knee guard and, moving like a blur, 
slipped it onto his index finger and flicked pointed 
hand out as if to block the blast with the finger tip
But as the blast reached the centre of the two 
fighters, it was suddenly pulled thin and long, 
INTO the metal finger guard. Then it passed through 
Kazekera. For a second he echoed with static energy, 
his image juddering and shaking with a thousand 
yellow shadows on the vision of the spectators. 
Then he leant back, putting his other index finger 
near the ground, and the energy flowed out of it 
and earthed itself in the dirt.
It was, in all, a fantastic manoeuvre. Alpha's 
lip curled- he knew he had wasted his first, most 
powerful blast. The rest would not be either as 
fast or a strong.
But he still fired, small bolts of light shooting 
thick and fast around his opponent. But Kazekera, 
crouched on the ground, sprung up and whipped out 
of the way of most of them, left only with a few 
minor burns and grazes on his furry flesh.
After he had avoided all the energy blasts, 
he jumped like a tiger, and, grabbing Beta's 
shoulders, flipped over his head.
Even though the big man was too solid to be 
overbalanced even by Kazekera's weight, he 
lost his footing for a second and struck out 
to remove the Dryad from his shoulders. He missed, 
and started almost 'chasing his own tail' trying 
to get him off.
Kazekera took advantage of this confusion and leapt off, 
seizing the smaller man's power glove, and wrenching 
it off. Then he dived back to his original standpoint 
and stood with his legs bent in the ready position. 
The smaller man's face went pale. His glove arm 
began to shake uncontrollably, then vibrate faster 
than muscle would seem to allow. Jets of the yellow 
power began to crackle from the palms of his hand, 
and he clenched it in a fist to try to prevent 
them escaping. Ayeka turned nervously and called to Kazekera.
"So that glove is the source of his power?"
"No, unfortunately. It just keeps it in check."
"So...er...what should we do?"
"Duck."
This proved to be sensible advice. In a few second, 
the man's glove hand had exploded in a mass of power- 
it crackled like lightening all around the trees, 
charring the branches black and frying everything it 
touched. The short man finally aimed his fist upward, 
sending the blast upward, where it discharged, 
leaving a static-saturated atmosphere.
"Well, that's it- you've run out of power. 
Do you want to carry on fighting?"
Kazekera straightened himself from the kneeling 
position he had been in, and looked at the two. 
The sweat was dribbling down his now dirty face, 
and his hair was unkempt. 
"No. We will carry on until either we are defeated...or dead!"
Beta grunted in agreement.
"As you wish."
He swung himself up into the air and pulled down 
a charred branch off the electrically baked tree 
behind him. The he fell down, twisting his body 
as he did so. Then, leaping frog-like off the floor 
as he touched it, he held the branch sideways and 
pounded towards the two men. The were both taken 
aback and they were pushed onto the floor by the 
log, but the big man who had been hit in the chest, 
grabbed the branch as Kazekera sailed over the top 
of him and his brother. Then he swung it round, 
but Kazekera dug his left heel into the ground 
before the man could gain enough power to throw him. 
The momentum this caused, coupled with a powerful 
kick from Kazekera's right foot sent the man lurching 
and toppling to the left. He did not let go, however, 
and provided enough of a distraction to let the 
smaller man, whose head had been hit by the branch, 
to get up and kick the Dryad's single supporting 
foot from under him. Kazekera did not lose his bearings, 
however, and put his left hand on the floor to 
steady himself while using the power of the trip 
to catch Beta another kick to the head upon which 
he dropped the branch and struck out a fist which 
missed. Then Kazekera lost his balance and fell 
to the floor but was instantly up again, grabbing 
the branch and punching in every direction, hitting 
the smaller man in the stomach first then , as 
his twisted around to add more torque to his ascent, 
smashing into the tall man's legs. Finally, standing 
almost upright with all the power released, he 
whacked his first opponent in the forehead, sending 
him flying backwards to receive a painful impact on 
the ground. Then he pulled the branch forward and 
slammed it back into the big man's stomach, causing 
him to double up. He attempted to run over to his 
brother, and was sent further on his way by a kick 
in his kidneys. Both of them were now utterly 
incapacitated. 
Kazekera stood over them, breathing heavily, 
with the branch casting an ominous shadow over the two. 
The mad gleam in his green eyes which had been 
there throughout the fight died away. 
"Get up." He grunted. 
They obeyed.
"I am giving you an honourable defeat. 
Now get away from this planet and do not bother 
my friends and family ever again!"
The two looked utterly helpless for a second, 
before turning on their heels and walking briskly 
away...or as briskly as they could manage with 
the wounds they had both sustained. At the end 
of the horizon, they turned back to him, giving 
a little bow.
"Goodbye for now, Kazekera of Bronze! You are 
as honourable and as skilful as they say! I hope 
we will fight on more equal grounds one day!" said 
Alpha. Then they popped back into there small ship. 
It shot immediately away causing a huge slipstream 
of blustering wind which strained a the trees roots 
and branches, accompanied by a blast of deafening 
sound, before speeding into the atmosphere leaving 
no marks of any kind.
The leaves and blossoms torn from their trees by 
the passing of the ship fluttered to the floor 
in the silence following this.
The utter quiet was unbroken until a single 
ecstatic voice cried out.
"Oh, Kaz I'm so proud of youuuu!"
Mihoshi ran over and hugged her man round the 
waist, squeezing herself to his stomach.
"You should be ashamed of me. I let it get to me again."
"Let what get to you?" asked Sesami
"The fighting rage. I'm sure you know about it, 
Miss Ryoko- in the midst of a battle your instincts 
take over; it's something I have yet to conquer."
"But you saved us all!"
"Not really." He replied, pointing at the stricken Tenchi. 
"Tenchi could have defeated them much more easily, 
but I stopped him. I put you all at risk."
"Stop it!" Mihoshi scolded him "You're making it 
really difficult to be nice, you know!"
"Sorry."
"Now come back home. You need rest."
"Miho-chan." Kazekera started and lowered his voice. 
"It's coming on to eventide!"
"Oh!" Mihoshi jumped "Sorry! Right!" she turned to 
Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka and Sesami 
"Move along! There's nothing to see here!"
"But what about Kazekera? What's going to happen 
about those two men?" Ayeka said. She was not about 
to be told that what was going on was not suspicious 
in any way. "Tell me now, Mihoshi!"
"I'll explain it when we get home, now, hurry up!"
Mihoshi had them all marching back to home before 
they knew what was what. 
All except one. She had managed to linger behind a bit.  
Kaz was left standing in the middle of the road,  
and so she crept back to him. Ryoko wanted a little 
help from the newest member of the Masaki 'family'.
"Uh...Kazekera?"
"Miss Ryoko?"
Kaz had not yet started call Ryoko 'Ryoko Runu', 
and she was a little disappointed at this. 
Not that she would bring herself to admit it, of course.
"Can I have your help a minute?"
"Of course, Miss Ryoko. What with?"
"Follow me first and then I'll tell you."
He did obediently, and Ryoko led him a little 
deeper into the woods.
Ryoko was extremely impressed at Kazekera's fighting 
skills, and with her own considerable power it took 
a lot to impress her. But this wasn't why she 
had asked the Dryad for his time- she had a secret 
little agenda which she and Ayeka would both be keen 
on, and she delighted in her knowledge that it was 
extremely naughty of her to be thinking about it.  
The two walked up the winding paths of the forest, 
saying very little as was there custom when not in 
company. After all, they were both loners in there way. 
She took time to look across at the Dryad. 
Even though it was his usual custom to go around 
in very revealing clothes, she had not yet checked...
'Aha!' she thought to herself as his arm swung 
by his side 'There they are!'
Mihoshi's statement had been accurate. Kazekera 
did indeed have nipples- three of them- down the 
side of his body. That meant, if she was guessing 
correctly, that he would have another three on the 
other side. Six nipples. She wondered what on Earth 
the Dryad women looked like.
She also wondered what he must have been like when 
Washu taught him as an adolescent. It must have been 
weird to have taught someone who time travelled into 
the future like that- like you had to live 1000 more 
years just to catch up with them or something...  
Now might be a good time to explain how the Dryad's 
time travel works. The Dryads had not conquered 
time travel, exactly. They did not used time-travelling 
technology, but their planet was almost unique because 
it attracted temporal distortions or 'time holes'. 
In fact, the Dryad city of Les Lornock has time holes 
like San Francisco has Earthquakes. But they had 
HARNESSED this natural power to their advantage, 
with machines. Kazekera had been put through a 
'caged' temporal warp which was famous because it 
transported people to the Galactic Academy in the 
time of it's heyday, i.e. when Washu was teaching 
sciences. 
But there was a hitch- the 'reverse time hole' came 
every 20 years, then disappeared into nothing. 
So when you missed it, you missed it badly. 
Thankfully, despite Washu's pleas to make him stay 
and deal with the 'loose cannon' Kagato for a little 
while longer, Kazekera had not missed it. 
But the knowledge of what he had inadvertently put 
Washu and her (then only theoretical) daughter Ryoko 
was aching at his mind...
But Ryoko neither knew nor cared about the Dryad's 
guilt. She was fine now, with her Tenchi and his 
family. She just wondered how Washu felt seeing 
this boy from her distant past just a few years 
older than when she had seen him last. When probing 
Washu's thoughts about it one day, she had been given 
the proverbial 'shove off' by the genius- it seemed 
that Kazekera was locked away with the other ancient 
baggage that both women would rather forget.
"Miss Ryoko?" the Dryad asked "Was there something 
particular you wanted?"
"Yeah... I wonder if you knew about plant types. On Earth, I mean."
"Well, I could have a guess at some. Flora is quite 
similar on this planet to my own. Why this sudden 
interest, Miss Ryoko- are you thinking of becoming a botanist?"
Ryoko's nose screwed up and she snorted.
"As if. Plants and animals, well...I never really 
got along well with them. No- what I need is to see 
if I can distil the effects of this plant me and 
Ayeka found. I've never seen one like it before."
"Where is it?"
"It was quite a way into the forest, but I remember 
the route well enough."
"Okay."
Ryoko led Kazekera along the road she and Ayeka had taken. 
Suddenly she stopped and let out a breath of triumph.
"Hey! There's one there!" she pointed at a bush by the 
roadside, and the two walked over. It was indeed the 
same sort they had found...but she didn't remember one here. 
She knew quite clearly that she had NEVER seen that plant 
before in her life...but the one she was going to must be 
at least 800 yards away.
"Well...I can certainly name this one, Ryoko." Said 
Kazekera, studying the small lemony fruits of the bush. 
He was extremely puzzled- he didn't know that this plant 
grew on Earth. But then again, he had thought that Apples 
didn't either so he guessed the fruits on this planet 
must be more similar than he'd imagined.
"This plant grows on my planet. In standard galactic language 
it doesn't have a name, but roughly translated it is 
called "The Children's Sleepiness" or "Child's Sleep". 
AND it can be distilled to a very pleasant drink which 
Mihoshi will show you how to make. However, although 
it makes you relaxed and drowsy, in the process it 
loses some of it's more..." he gave an outrageously suggestive wink 
"...interesting and... exotic qualities."
Ryoko blushed as she realised what she had, 
in essence, admitted to the Dryad. 
She had admitted what she wanted it for.
She thought back to that evening- how she and Ayeka 
had talked openly about not being able to wait to get 
back to their own rooms and their own...private affairs. 
She had barely contained herself enough for it to be 
inconspicuous that night, since Washu still hadn't got 
round to sound proofing her wall.
"Your blushing...and I know why!" teased Kaz in the 
kind of sing-song way very small children used. 
Ryoko tossed her head à la Ayeka in mock disgust. 
"Please don't be so childish." She said 
"I'M not embarrassed at all." 
"But I'm guessing that Tenchi might have been."
It wasn't in Ryoko's nature to be embarrassed or coy 
but the ruby red was spreading over her cheeks like a 
blanket of clouds on a harvest time sky. At the same 
time she was trying to stop giggling girlishly.
"Still..." he continued "There IS something I could get. 
It's as common as dirt on my planet; we call it a Passion Fruit."
Ryoko burst out laughing.
"What? What is it?" he said, his clear brow creasing.
"Well, Earth people have a fruit called the passion 
fruit as well but..." she laughed again 
"I don't think it's THAT kind of passion!" 
She really was hysterical now. 
"Well." Said Kazekera looking down at the struggling Pirate. 
"It's a good job I didn't mention cherries..."
Ryoko's mind spontaneously caught the innuendo and her body 
shook with even more waves of uncontrollable laughter.
"Oh gawd." Kaz picked up Ryoko, who for all her incredible 
power was still as light as a girl of seventeen, and put 
her over his shoulder.
"Come on, Ryoko. Time to go home. "
With his free hand he picked some of the yellow fruits 
and slid them into his pocket, then turned round and 
concentrated on Ryoko who was still having fits of the giggles.
"You'd better dry up before we get home, young lady; you 
don't want Tenchi Runu to think your weak."
Ryoko calmed down a little and looked down at her 
escort. She didn't need him, really. She could fly 
but...there was just something about being carried 
which made her feel good. Like a child again. 
Well, like a child might feel. She didn't know 
what it really felt like to be a child.
"Hmm...." She was still a little spaced out by 
the heat, sounding drowsy. 
'Of course' thought Kaz, 'the effects of the 
Child's Sleep must be why Ryoko's getting so giggly.' 
"Hmmm...." Said Ryoko again. 
"Do you have six nipples, Kazekera?"  
Now it was Kazekera's turn to blush, which he did deeply, 
his vast cheeks staining an odd mossy green, and not 
the red which they usually did.
"Please don't mention those, Miss Ryoko. I'm not sensitive 
about a lot of things, but I would be grateful if you 
didn't ask about my nipples."
"But DO you?" she pressed. Kaz sighed, and told her
"Yes. Now let's leave that for some other topic."
"'kay."
She paused.
"You're a real sweetie, Kaz."
He almost jumped at this. Ryoko the tough space pirate 
sounded like Sesami.
"What?!"
"Call me 'Ryoko Runu, Kaz. Please."
"If it won't compromise your image, Ryoko, I'd...well, I'd be happy to."
So the drowsy Ryoko, more reminiscent of Mihoshi than 
her ordinary self, and her gigantic transport loped 
off into the blue evening scenery .  
Kazekera didn't notice, as Ryoko hadn't, that the roots 
and branches of the bush wound their delicate way back, 
or perhaps from, the very place the Princess and the 
Pirate had originally found them, and that the plant 
was spreading fast and far. It was not in a dangerous way, 
as if it was taking over, but rather as if it was alive 
like it had never been before.

The evening had darkened to an even more royal shade of 
blue, but being summer light had not yet died away, and 
there were still promises to keep.
Sesami, who had broken away from her friends halfway 
back to the house, sat by the great tree Funhoe and 
looked across at her alter ego. 
They had been joining on and off for a while, but they 
hadn't exchanged thoughts or words since Kazekea arrived. 
Every time there was a surprise Sesami made her godly 
companion wait- it was more exiting that way. And being 
almost omnipresent (lit: everywhere) there was precious 
little which Tsunami could find exiting.
But Sesami had been adamant- Tsunami was NOT allowed to 
'be around' when something new happened. She enjoyed 
talking about it far too much to let that happen.
"Well, Sesami. What has been happening?"
"I've been waiting to tell you, Tsunami- we have a new guest!" 
Tsunami's beautiful face tilted slightly in a gesture 
of encouragement to her kindred soul.
"Go on." She said, hands crossed elegantly in her lap.
"Well, he- he's a he by the way- CLAIMS he's Mihoshi's 
friend, but OF COURSE he's her boyfriend. We all guessed 
that the minute he came in." Sesami smiled the girlish 
smile of the eternally young and (therefore) all-knowing.
"He looks really scary- he's even taller than you, 
Tsunami, with fangs and long bronze hair, but he's 
really, really sweet. Although..." Sesami bit her 
lip in thought "He got into a fight today."
Tsunami was rather shocked. She knew many things 
about the forests around the house- even if Sesami 
wouldn't let her look near it occasionally. But she 
made sure that the only nasty things which ever 
happened around her were contained within the house- 
with such volatile power around she knew it would 
only take a rather stupid bunch of thugs before 
someone started getting REALLY hurt...she had 
certainly not sensed this fight.
"It's okay." Sesami hastened to add "We won. 
I mean, he won. Tenchi and Ryoko wanted to help, 
but he wouldn't let them. But the guys he was 
fighting with have gone now."
"Hmmm. Sesami, you must be careful. If I am not 
allowed to see these events, how can I prevent them?"
"It's okay!" Sesami reassured her "We have got some 
powerful warriors on our side, you know!"
"But I worry, Sesami. You are what keeps me alive, 
and you're so fragile..."
"Huh!" Sesami stuck out her lip in a very 
un-Sesami-like way "So what if I am?"
"Sorry, sorry." Tsunami rolled her eyes in a 
very un-god-like way at her companions mock sulking. 
"Go on telling me about Mihoshi's friend."
"Okay!" Sesami was happy again "His name is Kazekera, 
and he's taken all our names because we're his family 
now. It's part of his culture, you see- he's a Dryad."
The shock with which the knowledge of the fight 
had provoked in Tsunami was as nothing to the shock 
she got from this. Her radiant, royally dressed frame 
literally juddered like an earth-quake.
"What? A Dryad here?"
"What's wrong, Tsunami?"
"I...well, I thought...it's nothing really, Sesami. 
I just...haven't known that many Dryads, that's all. 
Tell me more about him."
Sesami had seen this blip, but let it go knowing she 
could unlock any of Tsunami's secrets when they were 
joined again. 
"Okay...he's sort of half-and-half -a hybrid. Which means 
he's smart and strong. He's not as smart as Washu...and I 
don't think he's as powerful as Ryoko. But he's famous for 
his skill. The men he was fighting came from a planet 
JUST to beat him in a fight. But he gave them an honourable 
fight which was apparently all they wanted. He's been all 
over the place."
"And what does everyone think of him?" Tsunami's voice 
sounded genuinely questioning here. She REALLY needed 
to know what Kazekera was like.
"Oh, you know. Ayeka doesn't trust him and Tenchi thinks 
he's okay...Washu and Mihoshi know him, of course..." 
"Washu knows him?"
"He was a pupil of hers. With..." she whispered 
confidentially "Kagato!"
Her voice returned to normal "Anyway, Kiyone seems 
okay with him and Yosho and Nobiyuki just carry on 
as normal. We've all taken to him, really."
"But Ayeka distrusts him?"
"Well, you know Ayeka. But I can't see what's wrong 
with him. He's so nice to everyone. He calls me 
Sesami-chan, and Sesami RUnu, and sometimes 
'little sis'...but I especially love it when he 
calls me 'sami. That's the best!"
Sesami was warming to her subject. She told Tsunami 
about all the things that had happened since he had 
arrived, while the goddess listened.
At the end of it all,  Tsunami paused to thank Sesami 
verbally for all she had told her, even though 
thinking it would have been much easier. 
The little princess hopped off in the ever-dying sun 
of the summer day. She was looking forward to tomorrow, 
when she and the goddess would join again.
She just hoped Kaz would be able to meet her, and she 
would see how nice he was. Thinking of her friend, 
she wondered where on Earth he could be...she hadn't 
ever seen him come in for the evenings. She imagined 
he just liked to go to bed late.
And so, she carried on walking by the light which 
was now almost gone, leaving the jet black of night 
shimmering with its silvered glitter. 

As Sesami's footsteps disappeared, Tsunami curled up in 
her tree, thoughtful and worried.
She did not like Dryads. 
They were gentle, yes...nature loving, even. In fact, 
they could barely live without being close to nature. 
But she could not sense them well. It was just like 
human beings from this world...when she arrived, the 
complete crystal clarity of her senses was replaced 
by a blurry watery sight. It was like taking off your glasses.
Dryads and Earth creatures were not good for here. 
She liked being near her sister and the Jurians in 
the Masaki house- they were an almost open book to 
her godly views.
She sighed.
It was like someone had deliberately chosen for her 
to end up on a planet full of people she didn't understand.
But she knew if this Dryad turned bad...and anything 
was possible...she had at least one friend.
And so Tsunami slept.

THE END

What is this mysterious secrect dislike the god of
love nurtures for the Dryads? Why is she hiding
it? Who...or what were these attackers?
Will Kiyone and Mihoshi make up?
Some of these questions might possibly be 
answered in the next queiry causing episode of 
Tenchi O-Rusuta©: Kazekera!
So please please please please read it!
PLEAAASSSEEE!
Yrs.
Jim 'Diabolo' Moore
comageddon@ntlworld.com
or
jetset@ntlworld.com