What Might Have Been Chapter Two: Meeting for the First Time Again Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written with the consent of Pioneer/AIC. I do NOT own the characters, with the exception of Kei. Please do not sue me. Comments, criticism, flames, and death threats may be sent to Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com. !!WARNING!! This is NOT mainline Tenchi. It is an alternate universe, and the characters at times will be VERY ooc, compared to those in the series. Please remember that the versions in this story line had very different experiences. ***** Tenchi grinned as he led Kei through the front gates of the carnival. Bright colors flared all about them; joyful, fast paced music filled the air, along with the screams of delight from people on the rides. The carnival would be there for two weeks; they were planning on coming back once Kei was out of the hospital so that she could see it. People moved all about them, but for so late in the afternoon, it was still surprisingly empty. Tenchi closed his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine what it must be like for Kei. To be able to stand there and hear all the noises, smell all the smells, but not to be able to see any of it. This was only the first time that she had ever been to a carnival; she was trying to tilt her head to listen n practically every direction at once. -What's that, Tenchi?- His eyes popped open at the question, and he blinked, looking around. "Hey Baka! I asked what that screaming I just heard was all about?" said Kei, elbowing him. He looked at her. "Oh, sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention. It was people on the roller coaster," he answered, putting his arm around her shoulders. She grinned. "Hey, it sounds like fun. Let's go!" she said. He almost laughed; she was all but hopping up and down in excitement. Grinning, he led her toward the towering behemoth. On the way they passed a small stir-fry stand; the scent tickled his nose. -Hey Tenchi, I'm kinda hungry...- He stopped, and looked around a the little girl's voice. Where was it coming from? "Did you just say something, Kei?" he asked. She glanced at him. "No. What, are you hearing things now? Although with all the babble here, I guess that I can't blame you. Where is this roller coaster, anyway?" she asked. Shaking his head, he started moving again. "We're almost there, Kei. We just have to get in line," he said, as he guided her into place. Now she really was shivering with excitement; he grinned again. "Long line though," he told her. Slowly, it moved forward until finally they were next. "Jeeze, there's a lot of waiting, isn't there?" she muttered, before grinning again. -I can't wait!- Jumping, Tenchi spun, looking behind himself to see if there was somebody behind him, but all that was there was a surprised looking ride attendant. "Sir? Sir, the car is boarding now," said the man. Tenchi shook his head slightly. "Sorry, I thought... nevermind," he said, as the attendant led them to the car. Kei sat down, and he helped her to secure her restraints, grinning slightly at her sour expression. "I hate being strapped in here like this," she grumbled. "Well, if you'd prefer to fall out in the loops..." he told her, and she winced. He checked his own restraints, and then the car began to move forward, to the base of the first hill. The chain caught them, and began jerking them up toward the top. What was that voice the he kept hearing? It sounded so familiar, but... And nobody else seemed to hear it. Was he losing his mind or something? The coaster reached the top, and hung there for a split second. "I'm excited!" said Kei, squeezing his hand. -I'm excited!- came the voice, and then the chain pulled them over the edge. Tenchi felt his stomach hit his throat as they dropped; Kei screamed shrilly in surprise. They gained speed, flying around corners and spinning through corkscrews. Finally, the coaster pulled to a stop and the restraints opened again; Kei was laughing as they stood up and moved toward the exit. She was holding to him a little dizzily, but grinned as she looked up at his face. "That was great! So what's next?" "Ayeka!" Sasami laughed as the docking tube's doors swished open with a hiss of steam, and ran to her. She threw her arms about the elder princess. Ayeka smiled slightly. "Hello Sasami," she said, hugging her back. "Did you bring your things?" she asked, as she stepped back slightly. Sasami nodded. "Yep! The guardians are bringing them over right now," she told her. "So, which one are we going to visit?" she asked, excitement in her pink eyes. Ayeka smiled at her. "After looking at the scans, I think that Earth would be a good choice. Jurai has control of it, so we will be able to safely visit it, and the locals look as we do, so we'll blend in with no troubles," she said, and Sasami nodded. "Ok!" Ayeka smiled again, but then looked at her very seriously. "Listen carefully though. We can only stay for a couple of days, and if you get separated from me, you need to use your beacon immediately to call Ryou-oh, ok?" she said. Sasami lost some of her excitement, but nodded. "I know..." She paused a moment, and then brightened again. "But I'm still excited! We don't get to do stuff like this very often, do we?" she asked. Ayeka shook her head. "No, we don't, so don't tell anybody," she told her. Disengaging from Sasami's ship, she brought up a three-dimensional globe of the Earth. "Since I chose the planet, you may decide where we will land, Sasami." She grinned, and looked at the globe for a moment. "How about..." she started, raising her finger and closing her eyes, "there!" Stabbing forward, Sasami opened her eyes and looked at her choice, as did Ayeka. "Hmmm... Japan. And it looks like a good place to land Ryou-oh too," said Ayeka, after studying the data for that region. She nodded. "Japan it is, then." "Yay!" laughed Sasami. Ayeka smiled, chuckling softly, and then looked at Azaka and Kamadake. "Set a course for those co-ordinates, and engage the stealth before we come in range of their satellites," she ordered. "Yes ma'am!" Ayeka turned to Sasami. "Now... Tell me more about that dream, Sasami." Tenchi sighed, and sat up from his bed, glancing at his clock. A large 12:06 glowed at him; for the past hour and a half, he had lay in bed, trying to sleep, but tonight he just couldn't. He wondered if it was because he was worried for Kei, or if it was because he was afraid to go to sleep. Either way, he was still wide awake, with not even a hint of far-off drowsiness. He'd dropped Kei off at the hospital on their way home from the carnival. Tenchi thought that they had probably just about ridden out most of the rides there; Kei had wanted to go again, and again, and again. He was so stuffed full of cotton candy and other carnival foods he thought that he just might burst. Still, it had been a fun night; Kei had enjoyed herself, and that was what was important. Frowning, he stood, and felt his way over to his work desk. Switching on the reading lamp, he sat down, and stared at the desk for a moment, before reaching underneath to thumb the latch. Raising it so that he could draw, he grabbed his sketchbook and flipped it open to a fresh page. Idly, he began to sketch, not really paying attention to what. He found sometimes at nights like this that drawing helped to calm him; more than once he'd woken up to find a half-done drawing. His hand moved across the paper automatically; he finally started to feel slightly drowsy as he started to turn the page. Starting to draw again, Tenchi let his mind relax, and felt himself finally slipping away. But something caught him; Tenchi found himself suddenly hanging just off the edge, no longer sure if he was asleep, awake, or something else entirely. Thoughts came to him slowly, as though through a fog was impeding their progress. Distantly, he saw his hand moving across the paper. The basic outline of a woman appeared, only to be refined to a low-cut dress that was loose on the arms but form fitting about her waist and hips. He saw her head go in; it was turned to the side, but that distinctive spiky hair was impossible to miss. It was like watching through somebody else's eyes as somebody else's hand created something he knew only he had seen before. After a moment, the stone she was laying on formed, and a small pool of water beside her. -Smell of alcohol... yup. Better get her some water...- The drawing suddenly gained vividly real, beautiful color; the strange, beautiful cyan hair; her dress was orange, black and white. He saw his hand - his own hand? - dip into the small pool and bring some water to her lips. She drank it, and then coughed once or twice before opening her golden eyes and looking at him in surprise, a slight blush on her cheeks. Tenchi was abruptly fully awake, and he stood up too fast. His head came solidly into contact with the cabinet above his desk with a loud thunk. His head exploded into pain and he felt the world drop out from under him. As consciousness flickered away from him, he heard a soft, chiming laugher that led him farther into darkness. "There, that looks like a good place to land. Mountains covered in forests, should be plenty of cover for Yagami," said Kiyone. Mihoshi nodded. "There is a house and an old shrine not far away, but that won't be a problem, don't you think?" asked the blonde. Kiyone shook her head. "We'll blend right in with the locals. Gotta give you credit, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea," she told her. Mihoshi beamed a smile at her; Kiyone grinned, and then glanced at her read-outs. "Ten seconds to touch down. Landing struts down." "Inertia dampers and artificial gravity off, Kiyone!" "Firing braking thrusters." The Yagami shuddered as the micro-thrusters fired, slowing their descent to a crawl. "Touch down in three... two... one... mark!" There was a bump, and then the ship was still. Kiyone grinned at Mihoshi. "Shutting down the main engines, and going to hostile stand-by mode." The ship sighed as it powered down, an indicator turning on to confirm that the sensor cloak was active. "Hostile stand-by confirmed Kiyone; we're invisible to all but a visual scan," said Mihoshi. Kiyone nodded. "Ok, we've landed and are secure. How far to that Shrine?" she asked. "Just one click west," answered Mihoshi. Kiyone sighed. "At least it's a nice day for a walk. Do you have everything you need?" she asked. Mihoshi nodded, picking up a small duffel bag. "Well, let's get going then," she said, standing. Mihoshi grinned, and they exited the ship. Once they had moved a few feet away, they paused a moment while Kiyone pulled out her com-link. "Computer, activate camo- shield." The metal skin of the ship shimmered for a moment, and then changed color to match that of the surrounding forests. Turning, they started moving west. "Sure is nice here," said Mihoshi. Kiyone nodded, looking around at the towering trees. "Yeah... Feels like I'm coming home after a long time away, for some reason," she said quietly. Mihoshi looked at her in surprise. "You too? I was just thinking that I've been here before... It's a really weird feeling of déjà vu..." she told her. Kiyone glanced at her. "Probably just because we've been out in space for so long. We're not used to used to planetary air or something," she mused. After a moment, her partner nodded. "Probably." She looked around. "Still... it just seems so... familiar." Kiyone sighed. "I know. Who knows, maybe we lived here in another life," she laughed. Mihoshi blinked at her, and then laughed too. "You did." They stopped in shock, as a young, pink-haired girl suddenly appeared before them. She was grinning; Kiyone abruptly registered the fact that her clothing was an old-style Science Academy uniform. "Who... Who are you?" she asked, hand inching toward her blaster. She grinned. "I am Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe! And you are Kiyone and Mihoshi, detectives first class, graduated galactic year, 3020, second and third in your class, respectively." They looked at each other agape. "How do you know all that???" asked Kiyone. Washu grinned. "Didn't I just say that I was the greatest scientific genius in the universe? Actually, you two have been expected here for awhile," she said, grinning. "Huh? How?" Washu shook her head, her expression turning serious. "This will be kinda tough to explain, and we're still waiting for two others to arrive. All that I can say right now is that twenty years ago, something very wrong happened, and we need your help to fix it." She paused, and then grinned. "At the very least, you'll get a couple of good meals and something to laugh about when you think about the crazies that you met!" "Ugh... Why does my head hurt so much?" groaned Tenchi, as he reached up to rub his head. When he felt a slightly painful tug on his arm, he paused. Blinking, he looked at his arm to see a small, clear tube attached to a long needle which vanished into his flesh through a plug in his arm. Blinking again, he looked around, and realized that he was in a hospital room. Lifting his other arm and seeing that it was IV-free, he gingerly felt at his head, to find it wrapped in bandages. "Oh yeah... I hit my head last night. I think it was last night, at least," he mumbled to himself, as he leaned back in the hospital bed. He was alone in the room; glancing around, he found the call button and pressed it. A moment later, Tenchi blinked in surprise as his aunt Washu came in dressed in a Nurse's Uniform. She grinned. "Oh good! You're awake! That means that I can start collecting my samples!" she said. "Huh?" he asked in confusion. Had he hit himself harder than he'd thought? "Samples silly! I need to find out what makes you different from normal humans," she said, as she produced an impossibly huge hypodermic needle from a pocket. The needle alone was thick as his arm and almost as tall as she was. "I think I'll start with your brain tissue!" she exclaimed, as she turned the needle toward his face, and aligned the needle with his eye. "What are you doing aunt!" he shouted, trying to push away, but the bed sheets became hands and held him down to the bed. The fluid in the IV changed color; it began to burn through the bag, and it suddenly felt like it was feeding pure flames into his arm. The muscles around the IV started to cramp painfully; he wanted to shout in pain, but couldn't, as his jaw began to knot up. Washu laughed sinisterly. "Now, hold still Tenchi... This is going to hurt just a little bit..." She started to move forward, the needle lancing toward his eye. Somehow, he managed to grate out some words. "No, stop! LET ME GO!!!" "Gah!" exclaimed Tenchi, as he sat bolt upright, looking around. He found himself once again in a hospital room, but unlike before, his parents and grandfather were there with him. Glancing at his right arm, he once again saw an IV, but the liquid was clear; it didn't burn or make his muscles cramp. A dull, throbbing pain thudded in his head, as though every single headache he'd ever had were all happening at once, centered just left of square between his eyes. Achika looked up in surprise at his shout, and then sighed in relief as she saw him awake. "You finally woke up, thank goodness," she said, smiling. "I almost wish that I hadn't," he groaned, gingerly feeling at his forehead through the bandages there. "What happened. The last thing that I clearly remember was looking at the time." His father sighed. "We aren't quite sure, but when we found you, you were laying on the floor, bleeding from a nasty cut on your forehead. Washu said that you had a concussion; that was two and a half days ago. You've been unconscious since then," he said. Achika nodded, handing him his sketch book. "This was open on your desk when we came in," she told him. Tenchi flipped it open, and found the drawing that had triggered that weird half-dream. He frowned as he saw blood splattered all over the girl's face and body, ruining the drawing. Then he blinked as he realized that the little pond next to her had been filled in perfectly by a blood stain, as if it had been painted in there. "A lake of boiling blood," he mumbled softly. "What's that Tenchi?" asked his mother. He looked at her, and very carefully shook his head. Even so, he groaned as that set off an explosion of pain. "N-nothing. Two and a half days? Then that means -" he started, before there was a soft knock on the door. He turned to see Washu there, grinning. "Well, well, look who's finally awake. What did I tell you Achika, no more than three days. Think you're up to a visitor, Tenchi?" she asked, grinning. He nodded slowly, and she turned around, disappearing just long enough to push a wheelchair bearing Kei in it in. Heavy bandages were wrapped around her head and eyes, covering them completely, but she was grinning. "Kei!" "I thought that I was the one who was supposed to be blind, baka. Now I hear about you hitting your head on something even I could miss?" she laughed. Tenchi grinned, as he closed his sketch book. "I would have thought that they'd have taken off the bandages off by now to see if the operation was a success," he said. Washu smirked at him. "Well, I tried, but SOMEBODY had to go and get himself unconscious, so she refused to let me take them off until he woke up," she said, looking at Kei wryly. Tenchi blinked as she blushed slightly. "I just didn't want the first time I actually saw the baka to be him out cold! Well, he's awake now, so come on!" she exclaimed, squirming in the wheelchair. Washu smirked again, and then began to carefully unwrap the bandages. Layer by layer, they slowly came off, as a tense, hopeful excitement settled into the room around them. Finally, all that were left were two large, thick pads that covered Kei's eyes, a final bit of protection for them. "Ok. I want you to listen to me very carefully now Kei. Squeeze your eyes shut as tight as you can at first. If they're open before they have the chance to get used to the light, it may damage them beyond repair, ok?" said Washu, in an uncharacteristically serious tone. Kei nodded. "They're closed," she said. Taking a deep breath, Washu carefully pulled the pads away. "Now... Very, very slowly, open them, just until you can see a very little light," she instructed. Kei's eyelids fluttered slightly, until just the tiniest slits opened. "It's so..." she started, and then paused. "So... bright. Not was I was in before, this is... warm. It makes me think of something warm, and what I was in before made me think of cold," she said. Washu nodded, and grinned. "Alright, now this is up to you. When you think that you can handle it, let your eyes open a little more, but if they start to hurt, close them again right away," she told her. Kei nodded. They all watched in silence as her lids slowly, ever so slowly began to spread open. It had to have been only minutes, but to Tenchi the whole thing seemed to take hours. Slowly, she opened her eyes; just a little at a time, until finally, finally, they were fully open. Tenchi felt his jaw drop as he saw them. Gone were the teal irises that he had always known, replaced by sparkling golden orbs. For a moment, just for a moment, they wavered, unfocused, as though trying to understand how to work, before slowly dilating and locking onto him. "T... Tenchi?" she asked softly. Wordless, he slowly nodded at her. For a moment, she just stared at him, and then, slowly, suddenly, she began to laugh as tears started to stream down her face. "I... I can... I can actually see you!" she exclaimed, her voice a mixture of absolute shock and pure joy. All at once the room broke into applause and relieved laugher, Achika, Nobuyuki and Katsuhito all hugging her and congratulating her in turns. "Achika... Nobuyuki... and you have to be Katsuhito, that voice only fits you." They each smiled as they were named, and then started deluging her with questions. For a moment, though, Tenchi frowned, and then waved Washu over, while Kei was distracted by his parents. "Aunt... Why did her eyes change color like that?" he asked softly. Washu frowned for a moment, with a considering look in her eyes. "I'm not really sure yet, Tenchi. I think that it was a side effect of the operation. You see, Kei was blind for two reasons. There was an abnormality in her optic nerve, and a chemical imbalance in her iris. Alone, she would have had semi-normal vision, though she would have required powerful corrective glasses, but together, they were too much for her body to compensate for. When I performed the operation, my goal was to remove the abnormality, which I succeeded in doing. When we did, for some reason the imbalance normalized itself." She paused a moment to be sure that he was following what she was saying. He nodded; she had explained as much before. "It's possible that the teal color that we had always seen was actually a result of the imbalance; once that was gone, they reverted to their true color," she finished. "So, she never really had teal eyes; they were golden the entire time, but hidden by that imbalance?" he asked. Washu nodded. "Like I said, it's a possibility. I need to run some more tests to be certain," she said. "If you ask me, I think that they kind of fit her personality. Bright, sparkling, and a bit mischievous." Tenchi nodded slowly, and looked at Kei. She was smiling and laughing, looking around in wondrous disbelief. For a moment, her gaze locked on to him, and she smiled warmly and a little secretively; the drawing that he'd done in class flicked into his mind for a moment. Except for hair style and color, he realized that they did resemble each other now; sisters, or perhaps a mother and daughter. He smiled back at her, before her attention was pulled back away. Tenchi sighed, and glanced at his sketch book again. Who was she? And what was happening to his dreams? What was happening to him? Ayeka nodded, as Ryou-oh came to rest in the lake, and activated the cloak. There was a house all but on top of the small pond, but her scans hadn't picked anybody up inside, so she had decided to land there. Unfortunately, tree-ships had to make planet-fall in fresh water; the trees required it. That was the one true disadvantage to the great ships. Beside that, they were very good, very dependable star cruisers. "Powered down, Princess Ayeka," confirmed Azaka. "Very good. Azaka, Kamadake, we will return in two earth standard days. Stay with the ship, and respond immediately if you pick up a distress signal from either my or Sasami's beacons," she ordered them. "Yes, your highness." "Are you sure that you should be doing this, your highness?" asked Kamadake. She smiled fondly at the guardian, and lightly touched the floating robot. "How can I learn about my subjects if I do not go among them? In order to rule them justly, I must understand how they live; I can not judge them according to how I live," she said, before turning to Sasami. "Are you ready to go?" she asked. Sasami nodded. "Yep!" They turned to leave, but paused, as a beep went off. "Incoming message, Princess Ayeka. Would you like to view it?" asked Azaka. Ayeka frowned. "Do not allow them to see or hear me until I give the order," she told them. "I do not believe that will be a problem, your highness. It appears to be a recording," said Kamadake. She nodded. "Put it on, then," she said. A viewscreen opened, and a woman in her early thirties appeared. She had her long, raven black hair tied back into a single, long ponytail. Ayeka blinked; she appeared human, but her facial structure seemed partly Juraian "Princess Ayeka, Princess Sasami. My name is Achika Masaki, and if you are receiving this as I hope, you have landed in the lake. I am sorry that I could not be there in person, but there has been an emergency, and I had to leave. This will sound strange, but you both are old friends. I promise that I will explain everything to you as soon as I get back; it should be no more than a few hours after you arrive, if that. Please, I ask that you await us in my home; feel free to use anything you need. It is very important that we meet. There are also two Galaxy Police officers there; they should be able to answer some, if not all of your questions." She paused a moment, and smiled. "I realize that this will all be hard to believe, but please, I need you to trust me." She smiled again, and then the message ended. Ayeka looked at Sasami. "Did she look like one of the people in your dream?" she asked. Sasami frowned. "She... no, but she... somehow, she seemed familiar," she said. Then she looked at her. "She looked gentle... Could it hurt to at least find out what she meant?" she asked. "And how did she know our names, much less that we would be landing here?" mused Ayeka. Frowning, she looked at the Guardians. "Please bring up a view of the house." A moment later, it came up, and Sasami gasped. "That's the house Ayeka! The house I saw in my dream! I'm sure of it!" she exclaimed. Ayeka frowned again. "I do not like this, Sasami. I want to know how they knew we were coming, when we ourselves did not know until barely two and a half days ago," she said, looking at the image before them. The house seemed normal enough, yet her mind ticked off the number of things that it would have had to have in just in order to monitor for their landing, and send that message. It was an impressive list of items. "Sis, I just have this feeling. It's so strong, I'm just sure that we can trust her. Something is bringing us here, and we... we have to believe her!" she said. Ayeka studied her for a moment. "Is this really so important to you that we look, Sasami?" she asked finally, softly. "Yes, Ayeka. I just..." She trailed off, unable to find the right words. Ayeka chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "Azaka, Kamadake. Scout out the house," she said finally. "Yes Ma'am!" The guardians vanished from the bridge. "I just know we're doing the right thing, Ayeka. How much of a chance that I would point right to the house that I saw unless we were meant to come here?" asked Sasami. Ayeka favored her with a slight smile. "We shall see, if it is safe," she replied, yet now that she was thinking about it, she too began to notice a certain... pull, a longing that seemed to come from the house. After a few moments, the Guardians returned to the ship. "The scouting has been completed. No traps detected," began Azaka. "Two non-human life forms that did not show up on ship scans are inside. A null field extends ten feet from the house in all directions, deflecting our scans," interjected Kamadake. "Both life-forms had Galaxy Police PDT's," Azaka finished. "PDT's? What are those?" asked Sasami, looking at Ayeka. "All Galaxy Police officers of detective or higher rank are implanted with Personal Data Transmitters. This is so that if they are deep under cover, or lost in space, they can be tracked, or if they are killed, there is always identification," she said, before glancing at the Guardians. "Can you confirm their ID codes?" Azaka's eye glowed for a moment. "Detective First Class Kiyone Makibi and Detective First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu ID codes confirmed. Currently stationed Gamma Quadrant outpost aboard the Ranger-class cruiser Yagami. Both are on one week leave of absence," he replied. Ayeka nodded. "And somehow they too come to this place," she mused. "Very well then, as it seems this Achika spoke the truth, we shall go in and look for ourselves." Sasami smiled at her broadly. "BUT! If I say that we need to leave, I want you to promise me that you will without any argument, ok?" she said, squatting down so that they were eye to eye. Sasami lost some of her smile, and nodded. "I promise you, Ayeka," she said. Ayeka nodded, and rose, pausing a moment to adjust the wide silver broach that hid most of her scar. "Guardians, transport us to the front door." Kiyone looked up as the door to the Masaki house slid open, and squirmed slightly uncomfortably. Washu had lead them to the house, and filled in some information: who she was, how she'd known they were there. Unfortunately, she had left most of the more important questions, like what she'd meant by about them living there in another life, unanswered. Then she had had to excuse herself, explaining that she had to get to the hospital in order to perform an operation on a blind girl. The other family members had appeared too; she had found herself liking Achika immediately, and something had compelled her not to let Nobuyuki too close, though he was very polite. When Katsuhito had come in and introduced himself, another name had been on the very tip of her tongue; she found herself still trying to remember it. Between all the apologies for going in and out so much, Kiyone had gathered that Achika and Nobuyuki's son had been injured. They were waiting for him to wake because he apparently played an important part in what was going to happen. She sighed, and hoped that who ever came in would be able to tell them something more. Mihoshi was out cold on the couch next to her, snoring softly. Setting down her tea cup, Kiyone looked up as the first of them came in, and felt her jaw drop. It was about seven feet tall; a log with the name Azaka painted in blue under a single, blue electronic eye. A second log entered, identical to the first save that this one's name was Kamadake, and it's eye and name were red. Kiyone very, very slowly nudged Mihoshi. "Wake up!" she hissed, as the Guardians of Jurai scanned the room. If they were there, then only one person could be coming. Mihoshi snorted drowsily, and sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Wha... I was just dreaming that we were after a criminal..." she mumbled. Kiyone hauled her up to her feet. "Quiet! Don't you recognize them you bubble head??" she asked softly. Mihoshi looked at the floating logs, and blinked. "Huh? But I thought that they were the Princess Ayeka's royal guards..." For once, that statement sank in, and Mihoshi stood at stiff attention. The Guardians finished their scan, and then floated apart, revealing the hall behind them, and the two girls there. The first of the pair was the taller, and obviously older by a bit of the pair. Her eyes were a dark red that scanned the room every bit as carefully as the Guardians had; a long, thick braid of lavender hair almost touched the floor. She wore a silver silken tunic, with a wide sash of crimson about her waist. A silver broach with a huge, blue stone encircled her throat, hiding all but a small bit of a thick, slashing scar. Even if she hadn't have seen her on the vidbytes, Kiyone would have known that she was Ayeka from just looking at her. To her side stood a shorter girl with freckles and large pink eyes. Her hair, which was pulled into a pair of ponytails, was blue like the sky, and she was wearing a pink and blue tunic. She was smiling from ear to ear, and looking around herself in excitement. Sasami, second in line for the royal throne of Jurai. Kiyone felt her eye begin to twitch, as she bowed deeply to them. Mihoshi followed suit somewhat less smoothly. Of all of the Juraians that might have come, why, oh WHY! did it have to be these two! Ayeka made a soothing gesture. "You may rise. I assume you are Detectives Kiyone and Mihoshi?" asked Ayeka. They straightened, as Kiyone nodded. "Your Highness, I'm not really sure how to explain our presence here on Earth. I realize that it has been declared a preserve by Jurai, but-" Ayeka shook her head, and smiled slightly. "It is of no matter. Sasami thinks that we were brought here for some purpose; perhaps you were as well," she said calmly, before looking at her sister. "Did you see them in your dream?" Sasami looked at them closely, and then abruptly grinned. "Yes, I'm sure of it!" she exclaimed. Kiyone and Mihoshi looked at each other. "Begging your pardon, but... what dream?" asked Kiyone. Ayeka smiled slightly, and nodded at her sister. "It is yours to tell, Sasami, as it was your dream," she said. Sasami grinned. "Well, I had this dream where I saw this house, and me, and my sister, and you two, a boy, and two other girls there. And we... The only way to put it is that we knew each other. We were friends," she said, somehow grinning even wider than before. Kiyone looked at Mihoshi again. "The family that owns this house - I'm not entirely sure of the entire story, but their son, Tenchi, was hurt, which is why they aren't here at the moment. There's a picture of him there, on the wall," she said slowly, pointing. Sasami looked, and nodded. "That's him," she said, looking at Ayeka. "See, I knew that we were supposed to come here!" The princess slowly nodded. "So it would seem," she said. Smiling, she sat down on the couch, and gestured for them to join her. "I take it, then, that you have met the rest of the family?" she asked. "Only for a few minutes at a time; they've been running back and forth from the hospital and here," answered Kiyone. "Achika said that they were pretty sure they would all be back by this evening." "And you said that their son - Tenchi? - was hurt? That only leaves two others from Sasami's dream," she said, and Kiyone nodded. "Maybe only one; when we landed, we were met by Washu," she told them. Ayeka blinked in surprise. "As in the Washu that was exiled seven hundred years ago by the Science Academy? She is here as well?" she asked. Kiyone nodded again. "She told us that once everybody was here, she would explain everything." "This," said Ayeka, frowning thoughtfully, "is becoming the most unusual vacation. Tell me, have you had the feeling that you have been here before? Or that it was familiar?" she asked. "Almost since Mihoshi and I were assigned to this area," answered Kiyone smiling slightly. "Have you?" Ayeka studied her for a moment, before nodding slightly. "Yes. When Sasami and I first came into the house, it was like I had been here before. I shall be most interested in what Ms. Washu, and Ms. Masaki have to say."