Welcome to the wonderful world of Love in December. Where we left off last time, Ayeka had fallen in love with someone other than Tenchi and Ryoko had married Nobuyuki, kind of leaving Tenchi free. Well, this fic is the continuation of that. (Sorry, I wasn't really going to write a continuation, but I had a really cool dream so I decided I should write it down. :) Legal Disclaimer!: I don't own most of these characters and the ones that don't appear in the Tenchi Muyo!, Tenchi Universe, ShinTenchiMuyo (a.k.a. Tenchi in Tokyo) Tenchi Muyo in Love, or Tenchi Muyo! Daughter of Darkness (okay, so I don't know the exact names of the three movies, I've never seen them all.) I own. DO NOT use them without permission or you will face the possibility of law suit. (by a teenager!) Thanks for your time! Note #2: This story is written from the viewpoints of severl different characters, please keep that in mind. Thanks again! (*Ryoko hits Kyaku on the head. "Do I get Tenchi yet? No Nobuyuki!") ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I stared blankly at Masaki and Aikami. It was 3:00 in the morning. I had been watching them sleep for a while. These weird feelings had been popping up lately. Masaki and Aikami looked strange under the pale moonlight. Almost like shadows... *********************************************************************** THE NEXT MORNING Ayeka had asked me to watch the baby today! I was so excited! When Masaki and Ayeka walked up the first thing I did was take the baby from him. When I looked up at my sister to tell her how cute her baby was I almost paniced. She was toatlly pale and looked like she needed to go straight to bed. I dumped Aikami back in her father's arms and helped Ayeka lay down on the couch. Masaki gave me the baby back again and went to work, but not without asking me to call him once every two hours and let him know how Ayeka and Aikami were... *********************************************************************** ABOARD THE SOJA I looked at Masaki. He had been my creation, in another atempt to learn the secret of Jurai. So far, everything had gone as planned. I couldn't wait to take over Jurai... ***********************************************************************BACK AT TENCHI'S (I'm sending you all over the place aren't I?) I was really worried. I even called Washu to look at Ayeka against her protests. Washu said all she needed was some sleep. I made her go up to my room and take a very long nap... *********************************************************************** A FEW HOURS LATER (STILL OVER AT TENCHI'S) The phone was ringing. When I picked it up I heard Masaki's concerned voice. "Are they okay? Ayeka looked really bad this morning." "Ayeka's taking a nap now. Washu looked at her and said all she needed was rest." "Good, thank you so much Sasami." was the reply. When he hung up, he didn't seem as worried as he should've. "Who was that Sasami?" "Masaki. He was checking on Ayeka and Aikami. He didn't seem as worried as a normal man who was married to a princess who was on a planet light-years from her natural home, though. He knows we Jurains need the life trees and water to live. I wonder why he didn't try to get the tree of him to go back to Jurai." "I thought he was Jurain?" I asked, curious as to what Sasami meant. "He is. But he should be insisting that the three of them go back to Jurai..." Damn, today was a boring day. Nobuyuki was at work, and Tenchi was at school, so I decided to see what Sasami was making for dinner, but instead, I walked in on a conversation she was having with Mihoshi. All I heard was "Jurai." "Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" "Have you seen the way Ayeka looks?" Sasami asked. "No. What's she look like? Her usually unattractive self?" I snickered at my joke. I swear, I'm a jillion laughs. "Bad. Real bad. She's all pale." was Sasami's reply. "Ha! I bet that thing called a baby cried all night." *********************************************************************** ABOARD THE SOJA Perfect! Now was the time. "Capture them!" I commanded Masaki. He transformed into his battlegear and dissapeared. I watched as he landed neatly infront of the door. [KNOCK KNOCK] Princess Sasami opened the door. "M- Ma- Masaki? Why are you in Jurain battle gear?" "I have come for my wife and daughter." "IN BATTLEGEAR?!?!?" He nodded. Perfect. The Princesses and Secrets of Jurai were to be mine! "O... O.K." He went up to Princess Sasami's room and got her sister. When they came down, Princess Ayeka was dressed in her battlegear as well. Masaki had her on his strong back, and he asked Princess Sasami to bring the baby. It was a rather strange scene. Outside, he said "O.K. Now hold my hand..." The Princess did as asked. Then they disappeared and reappeared in front of me. "Hello, Princess Sasami, Princess Ayeka." I really stressed Princess Ayeka's name. She wobbled to a stand, next to her shadow husband and stared at me... "Masaki. Why are we here?" He did nothing but laugh like a mad man. "Kagato is my master." "Kagato, explain what he means. And where is Aikami?" "Aikami is no longer in existance." I think my eyes were the size of plates. "Masaki and Aikami are my creations, Aikami was only a shadow! Mirrors of true people from your past..." FLASH! I was standing on a sandy beach on Jurai. A guy similar to Tenchi stood behind me. FLASH! A burned building loomed before me. Masaki's house. MASAKI! I remembered him! He was a prince from a planet near Jurai, a planet called Lyrox. FLASH! I was now back in the Soja, standing next to a shadow and my sister. Luckily, when I moved out, Lord Tenchi had given me Tenchi-ken as a reminder of my friends. I generated a blade of pure energy showing that I was ready to fight if it was necessary. I sneaked a look at the view screen. Lord Tenchi was down there. Sword practice. Even we princesses had been taught the Jurain form of sword fighting. 'Thank you, Yosho, for teaching us... It's going to come in handy.' I thought. Lord Tenchi... He didn't even know that we were gone. "Do you find that distracting, Princess?" Kagato asked as he cut the viewscreen. "Now, you are to prove that you and Princess Sasami truly hold the Secrets of Jurai!" With Kagato's words, Masaki attacked. I couldn't get a defense shield up. Surprisingly, Sasami generated one of her own. I smiled at my little sister, as the little triangles on her forehead lit up. Of course! She was going to get Tsunami to help us. In a few seconds, ten Lighthawk Wings were in front of us. I used my crown and Tenchi-ken to generate three of my own. In a few seconds, we were both in our "Lighthawk Battlegear." (Kyaku: That's what I like to call it. Now read on!) "I must admit, the two of you may be stronger than I thought. However, THAT WILL NOT STOP ME!" The princesses were staring at me stupidly. Princess Ayeka lifted the Lighthawk Sword and used some language most unfitting for a Princess. "You bastard! You decived my entire family. My father almost commited suicide because I married a man that he did not choose or approve of. I lost my love, Lord Tenchi. I went through hell in a marriage that wasn't real. I tricked myself by saying that I was happy, but obviously not so. You tore my life apart. I swear I will have revenge for that." "My, not such a gentle and quiet Princess. I didn't know you could use some of those words." came my retort. Her face burned bright red in embarassment. In rage, she lept at me (damn, she was nimble) and caught my right shoulder. Masaki came but failed to restrain her. Princess Sasami was using the Lighthawk Wings to protect my attacker. Princess Ayeka rose to her feet after a jump attack that ended up in her busting her knees on the ground. Princess Sasami stood next to her. I swear I could almost see Tsunami next to Princess Sasami. "Ayeka!" I turned, surprised to see Prince Yosho and Prince Tenchi. "Ayeka! Mishoshi tipped us off saying she saw you dissapear with Masaki, Aikami, and Sasami. Washu looked into it for us and found you!" He ran over and stood next to Masaki. Fool. Masaki attacked him before he knew what was coming. "You see boy, Masaki Tomino is my creation. Would the four of you like to fight the two of us? Is that it? Do you want to die today? You do realize, that is the only way to get out of this hopeless battle." Princess Ayeka didn't take my comments well. I didn't know she had moved until I felt the Lighthawk Sword slice into my back. "You BASTARD!" she growled. "As if you didn't tear my life apart, you are trying to kill Lord Tenchi!" The Princess looked really pissed off. "What? Are you going to kill me? Do you really think you are that strong? Do you enjoy making me waste my time?" I angered the princess even more. "Obviously so! We've done it before!" She growled as she jumped. I tried to evade, but she slashed cleanly through my chest. I felt no physical pain. Only the guilt. Dammit, I'm supposed to be a ruthless crimanal. Fearless. All that. But guilt? It was ridiculous. And I saw then, that the Princess deserved to marry the man she loved, not a shadow... Just as I had seen with Ryoko and Washu. Kagato was really dead. Ayeka had really done it. "Ayeka, I never realized you and Sasami were capable of holding your own against Kagato! I'm so glad!" She shook her head and mumble something about wanting to go home just before she collapsed. I smiled, hugged Sasami, and contacted Kiyone, asking her to teleport us to Yagami. When we got home, we learned that there were a couple of more lives to repair... NEXT TIME: Love in December 3 (Ruin) -Kyaku Questions? Comments? Flames? (welcomed!) Please send to my new address, Kyaku@txucom.net or Ryakami@yahoo.com