By Keiichi Masaki (keiichi_masaki@hotmail.com)
			
	Tenchi and company are property of Pioneer and AIC--but then, you already
	know that.

	This idea has been nagging at me ever since I picked up Tenchi Universe,
	Volume 6, and was introduced to Mirei, the ghost girl inhabiting the wrecked
	“space Titanic.”  I immediately fell in love with her, and fell in love all over again
 	with Sasami.  After replaying episode 18 a half-dozen times in one night, I knew
	that I needed to see Sasami keep her promise to visit Mirei again.  My take on it is
	that, if time enough has passed, and if she was able to talk Washu into helping, 
	the visit might not end....

	Timeline Note:  This takes place about eleven years after Tenchi Muyo in Love,
	long enough for Tenchi to decide to accept the throne and to marry Sasami.

	Most people think ghosts, if they exist, are incapable of crying.
	Most people are wrong.
	Just ask Mirei.
	She is a girl, about eleven or twelve years old.  Very pretty, with sparkling brown
eyes and hair the color of jade.  Her beauty, however, is but a reflection of her nature:
gentle and loving and utterly lovable, with a healthy helping of beyond-her-years
maturity.  
	This makes the sight of her crying all the more heartbreaking.  Yet she has spent
many years crying here, sobbing and praying for whatever powers there be to send her a
rescuer, or at the very least, a comforter.
	Someone must have been listening, for they responded.  A starship temporarily
lost power while passing through the asteroid field in which her ship rested.  During that
time Mirei met one of that ship’s passengers, a sweet and lively young girl with long
turquoise hair pulled into twinned ponytails and freckles dotting her face (regardless of
what she thought of them, they only enhanced her beauty).  Along with her came an
adorable brown Ohki.  
	Together they spent a wonderful day, using the whole ship and the girl’s
memories as a playground.  They even played hide-and-seek with Sasami’s family 
(although they didn’t know it at the time and were actually trying to rescue her, having
been convinced that she had been kidnapped).
	However, she had to leave.  “My sister and everybody will be so worried about
me!” she had said.  And so they had parted, with a promise to meet again one day. 
Every day since, Mirei had prayed that this would be that special day,that her Sasami
would come back to see her again.
	She knew who had arranged it.
	Her Auntie.
	Mirei could not remember exactly when she had first met her Auntie, but one
thing she knows quite well is that her presence is the sole thing that keeps her from
having the astral equivalent of a nervous breakdown.  She is tall and beautiful, gentle
and wise.  Her hair is so black it approaches midnight blue and her eyes are dark brown
and full of love and compassion.  Many an afterlife “night” has been spent falling asleep
in her gentle arms, being lulled to sleep by her melodious voice and humorous stories. 
Why did you pick her of all people, Auntie? she had asked one night as the lady had
brushed her hair.
	Because, dear Mirei, she is so much like you, her Auntie had answered. 
Noticing that her charge’s eyes were starting to well up with tears, she inquired, Why,
whatever is the matter, my darling?
	Because, she had sniffled, I’m never gonna see her again!  The tears were falling
freely and her Auntie had pulled her close against her, cradling her in her arms and
whispering words of comfort.  Oh, darling, don’t cry....
	Why not, Auntie? Mirei had sobbed.  I have no memories of my own, I don’t
even know where I came from.  Aside from you, I’m all alone.  And I’m gonna be alone
forever!  Coherence had left her once more, and she burrowed still deeper into her
Auntie’s embrace.
	My sweet Mirei, don’t worry.  You will not be alone forever.  I’ll make sure of
it.  Auntie’s voice carried both gentle reassurance and determination.  Your Sasami will
keep her promise.
	What do you mean, Auntie?  Mirei’s crying had subsided, and had been replaced
by a resurgence of hope.  How do you know?    
	Auntie smiled.  I know, darling, because she is my daughter-in-law....
	
	A large tree-ship of the Jurai royal family emerges from translight space into
Sargasso.  Stories have cropped up over the long millennia about this place, about how
no ship--no one--comes back from it.  
	The occupants of this tree-ship are among the only ones to disprove that.
	And now, eleven years later, they have returned.
	To keep a promise.

	Tenchi is standing with his hands clasped behind his back on the Achika’s
bridge.  This Tenchi is taller, and somewhat stockier.  He is clad in the raiments of a
Juraian Emperor, and he is now the spitting image of his grandfather’s young
self--except with a mustache.  There had been a time when he was certain that he would
never sit upon a throne, had determined not to.  How times change, he reflects.  “Okay,
we’re here.”  He nods at the two guardians flanking him on their pedestals.  “Kurama,
Hiei, good work.  Now, bring us alongside that ship.”  He indicates a starship not unlike
a spaceborne steam liner.  
	“Yes, Lord Tenchi,” answers Hiei, the black-marked guardian (ten points to
whoever can tell me which manga and anime series I left these names from!). 
“Initiating parking orbit alongside.”
	Tenchi nods and strides off the bridge down to his and Sasami’s bedroom.  She
had insisted that they have a room looking out on the stars, and....well, he never could
deny his wife anything.  A faint smile grows on his lips as he walks into their chamber
and sees her.  
	Sasami has grown from an adorable little girl into a beautiful woman.  Her hair
is tied in two long ponytails hanging down her back.  Her eyes have become a deeper
shade of strawberry.  Her body underneath her robes--well, let’s just say it’s very nice. 
She looks up at Tenchi and smiles, the smile that had told him the this was the love of
his life.  He remembers proposing to her when she turned sixteen.  That was quite a
night for her, he recalls, her first kiss and an engagement ring on her finger.  The love
and gentleness in her eyes is mesmerizing, and as always, it takes him a moment to
realize that she’s talking to him.  “....Tenchi?  Are you listening to me?”
	He shakes himself.  “Sorry, darling.”
	She smiles wider and reaches a hand up to him.  He gently pulls her upward and
into his embrace.  She sighs.  “Thank you for doing this, Tenchi.”
	“Anything for you,” Tenchi whispers, holding Sasami close.  “Anything for my
Sasami.”  He brings a hand up under her chin, gently turns it upward.  She tips her head
back, closes her eyes.  Their lips move toward each other, then touch, then open....
	“Ahem!”
	They both turn to see Washu, in her Science Academy uniform, looking at them
amusedly and tapping her feet.  “Are we gonna do this, or are you two gonna make out
like you always do?”
	“We’re going to do this,” declares Tenchi.  He takes Sasami’s hand.  “Ready,
love?”  She nods eagerly.
	
	Mirei is looking out one of the mirrors.  She doesn’t quite know why, but she has
the feeling that something is going to happen today.  When she asked Auntie about it the
other night, she had just smiled and said, Wait and see.
	So, she waits.
	And soon she sees.
	There are figures walking toward the mirror, carrying handlights.  In the lead is a
tall, dark-haired man.  He looks calm and gentle.  To one side is a short woman with
spiked pink hair--
	Spiked pink hair?
	Mirei takes a closer look.  This woman looks familiar, somehow....and it hits her. 
This was one of the people looking for Sasami that day!  Against her better judgment,
she starts to feel hope.
	The third person becomes visible, and Mirei feels almost giddy.  The woman is
tall, stately, and beautiful, but she would recognize those freckles, those gentle eyes
anywhere....”Sasami!”
	The woman looks up suddenly.  “Mirei?”
	“Yes, Sasami, it’s me!”
	“Where are you, Mirei?”
	“In the mirror ahead of you!”  She waves a hand and the passageway is flooded
with light.  The man and the short girl look flustered, but Sasami sees her now.  She
rushes forward and plasters her face against the mirror, a silly, happy grin on her face. 
“Mirei!”
	“Sasami!”  Mirei takes a good look at her friend.  “You’ve changed so
much....you’re beautiful.”
	Sasami blushes slightly, then motions to the others with her.  “Mirei, this is my
husband, Tenchi, and our friend Washu.”
	Mirei curtseys in the mirror.  “Pleased to meet you.”
	Tenchi smiles a nervous but friendly smile.  “Hi.”
	Washu just grins.
	“What are you doing here, Sasami?” asks Mirei.
	Sasami laughs.  “Keeping my promise, silly!”
	“You are?”
	Tenchi clears his throat.  “Mirei, Washu here is a scientist.  She can bring you
back to life, give you a new body.  Would you like that?”
	“Well....”  Yes, I would, thinks Mirei, but then what?  Where would I go?
	Sasami sees the look in her friend’s eyes, and unhatches the second half of the
surprise.  “Then, Mirei, you would come home with us!”
	Mirei’s heart (as such) leaps with joy.  “Really?”
	Tenchi nods.  “Yes, Mirei.  Really.”  His smile becomes a silly grin.  “I’ve
always wanted a daughter with green hair.”
	That is a very stupid joke, granted.  But it is more than enough to send all of
them into giggles.  
	No one more than Mirei.  Finally, she is leaving.

	“....and they lived happily ever after.  The end.”  Sasami closes the book and
smiles at her daughter, changed into nightclothes and tucked into bed.  “Do you want to
hear another one, darling?”
	Mirei smiles up at Sasami.  “No thank you, Mommy.”  She stretches and yawns. 
“I’m so tired....”
	“Well, it’s time for you to go to bed, then,” announces Tenchi lightly.  He scoots
over and hugs Mirei.  “Good night, sweetie.”
	“G’night, daddy.  Love you.”
	“I love you too.”  Tenchi kisses Mirei on the forehead, gets and squeezes
Sasami’s shoulder as he leaves.  “I’ll see you soon, honey?”
	“Yes, dear.”  Sasami hugs Mirei.  “Pleasant dream, my sweet Mirei.  Your father
and I love you, and we’ll be here when you wake up.”
	“I know, mommy.  Love you too.”  Mirei leans back, lets Sasami tuck her in, and
settles back for sleep as Sasami leaves the room and kills the lights. 
Chana-ohki--Ryo-ohki and Ken-ohki’s daughter--scampers up and settles on the pillow
next to Mirei’s head.  The cuddly cabbit nuzzles the young princess for a bit before
settling herself down for sleep.
	Mirei closes her eyes, looking forward to pleasant dreams.  As sleep takes her,
she thinks, Thank you.  Thank you for everything....Auntie Achika.
	And she hears a voice say, Actually, now, that’s Grandma Achika, but you’re
welcome anyway.  Now, good night, my little Mirei.  You’re home.
	Home at last.

 Recommended music:  Tracks 9 and 12, Tenchi Muyo OVA Best, Vol. 1