This is a fanfic written in response to a challenge that
GenSao@geocities.com posted at RFFC a short while ago.

Ni Kappuru Monogatari
-------------------------------
(Disclaimer: Pioneer AIC Owns These people.
I feel very sorry for them.)

CHAPTER 1

 Ryoko peeked her head into the Shrine and was
amazed by what she saw. There, sitting in quiet meditation,
was Yosho. A gasp escaped her lips before she could stifle
it.
 Yosho turned. He knew there was no point in
reassuming his disguise. Ryoko had already seen the truth.
In  a way, he was grateful. The secret would be far easier
to bear now that he had someone to share it with. There
had been Tsunami, of course, but she had blocked it from
her conscious mind to prevent Sasami from knowing.
And Ayeka, his sweet sister/fiancee, was as blissfully
oblivious as her younger sibling.

 "Ryoko," Yosho offered, deciding to be very formal
and polite about this new wrinkle. "Would you care for a cup
of tea?"
 Ryoko thought about drawing her sword, but decided
not to. She recalled how he had wounded her when Kagato
had come back. He'd wounded her, but he hadn't killed her.
 "I thought about you for years, Ryoko." Yosho
admitted.
 "Why didn't you release me sooner?" Ryoko sipped
her tea to punctuate the question.
 "I arranged for your release to coincide with the end of
your statute of limitations." Yosho explained, taking a sip of his
own. "When I fought you, my Tree sensed a telepathic connection
between you and an outside force. I know right away that you
were not responsible for your actions."
 "But you fought me."
 "I had to make the others think I was or the would've
attacked you themselves." Yosho poured more tea. "I
manuevered you to Earth, which my mother had often spoken of,
and hid you here until your statute of limitations was up."
 "You took my gems."
 "To break the control that was being exerted upon you."
 "So, why all the compassion? Why the concern?" Ryoko
sounded more than a little skeptical.
 "I thought about that ." Yosho admitted. "Then I realized, I'm
falling in love with you."
 Ryoko started to protest, but her words were cut off as
the first man ever to defeat her became the first man to kiss her.

 Lady Ayeka hummed quietly as she swept the yard. She
heard a voice, but it didn't register at first. Finally, she did hear...
 "Ayeka! Go tell Grampa its time for lunch!" Sasami aws calling.
 "Okay, Sasami." Ayeka headed off to the Shrine.

 Ayeka arrived at the Shrine a few minutes later. She made sure
her kimono was properly in place, then knocked a couple of times before
opening the Shrine door.

 Sasami smiled as Tenchi walked into the hallway, carrying a
basket of freshly picked carrots. "Hi, Tenchi."
 "Hi, Sasami." Tenchi replied. "Is it lunchtime yet?"
 "Mmm hmm." Sasami nodded. "Could you go tell Washu for me?"
 "Do I have to?" Tenchi pleaded.
 The look on Sasami's face told Tenchi that he did.

 Ayeka stood there with her mouth agape. If someone had looked
at her throat, they would've seen her heart in it.

 Yosho, looking as young and handsome as he had on the day
he had left Jurai, was seated in his usual manner upon the floor of the
Shrine Temple. Across from him, Ryoko knelt in a prim manner that
Ayeka had never expected from her. The two were leaning toward each
other, their lips touching in a tender kiss.

 "I love you, Ryoko." Yosho spoke against the lips of the object
of his affection.
 "I love you, Yosho." Ryoko replied. "And I'm grateful for your
kidness to me. You raised your daughter and grandson well."
 "Are you sure you want this, Ryoko?" Yosho asked her. "I
mean, you've worked so hard get Tenchi."
 "I still love Tenchi, Yosho." Ryoko told him. "But I don't want
to spend my life married to a man who doesn't love me the way I love
him. Tenchi does love me, I know that, but not in that way."
 "You've finally grown..." Yosho finally realized that he and Ryoko
weren't alone. He turned and saw the older of his two sisters standing there,
her face ashen.
 "Ayeka..." Yosho began.
 "I... I... I HATE YOU!" Ayeka cried out as her pain washed over her.

 Ayeka ran all the way back to the house. Blinded by her tears, she
collided with Tenchi, who was standing in the hall trying to gather up the
courage to enter Washu's lab.
 Tenchi  came dangerously close to toppling over, but didn't. Instead,
he instinctively put his arms around the sobbing princess. "Its okay, Ayeka."
he told her. I'm sure everything is going to be just fine."
 "My brother... he... he..."
 Tenchi became worried. Was he dead. Had his grandfather...
 "He was ... kissing that... that monster woman and... and..."
 "Oh, is that all?" Tenchi gave a sigh of relief, glad that Yosho wasn't
dead after all. But why would Ryoko...?
 "He wasn't even old!" Ayeka sobbed into Tenchi's chest. "He's
been disguising himself. He had no intention of marrying me! All that was
a lie from the very beginning."
 "Ayeka..." Tenchi began. But he couldn't think of the right words.
 Ayeka stood there, trembling with grief and anger, as Tenchi did his
best to soothe her.
 Tenchi stood there, caressing Ayeka's back, doing all he could to
calm her and take away her pain. None of these things were working. What
could he do. She was his guest and it was his responsibility to see to it that
she were happy. He thought about kissing her.  But no, he couldn't. He still
hadn't chosen between Ayeka and Ryoko and he didn't want to give Ayeka
false hope. But Ryoko and Yosho had been kissing, so maybe...
 Tenchi lifted Ayeka's chin with a single finger, then kissed her softly
for the very first time.

-CHAPTER TWO-

 Hand in hand, Yosho and Ryoko made their way back to the house.
 "I suspect our things will be on the lawn." Ryoko remarked.
 "That's a very strong possibility." Yosho replied. "Please, Ryoko,
don't get upset if my sister..."
 "That's all behind me now." Ryoko smiled. "She and I have nothing
left to fight over now that you and I..." She paused. "Are you certain you want
to do this? I mean the Jurai Royal Family isn't exactly happy with me."
 "Actually, the only one left who still has a problem with you is father.
But then, he always has been a bit stubborn."
 "Like father, like daughter." Ryoko remarked.
 Yosho nodded as they arrived at the door of the house.

 There wasn't anything on the lawn, so maybe that was a good sign.
Unless Ayeka were using her Jurai powers to blast their stuff instead.
 Yosho slid the door open and saw Tenchi and Ayeka kissing.
 For a moment, Ryoko felt jealousy boil in her heart. Ayeka was
kissing her Tenchi! The Princess Brat was kissing Tenchi the same way
she had been kissing Yosho and... Oh yes, that's right... she thought as
her heart lightened again... I'm in love with Yosho. Then I guess its okay
if Ayeka and Tenchi are kissing. But that doesn't mean I can't have fun
with it.  Out loud she teased, "Tenchi and Ayeka sitting in a tree,
K I S S I N G."
 Ayeka finally broke the kiss. "You've got a lot of room to talk,"
She returned. "Kissing *my* fiance like that."
 "If he was still your fiance, then how come you didn't marry him?"
 "He was too old... At least I thought he was."
 "That's a bit shallow isn't it?" Ryoko asked.
 "Juraian law states that a married couple..."
 "But you're not on Jurai, Princess." Ryoko reminded her. "Anyhow,
it doesn't matter now. I have Yosho and you have Tenchi."
 "Ryoko," Ayeka began out of habit. Then Ryoko's words hit home.

 You have Tenchi.

 Ayeka's face, which had gone from despair to simple sorrow during
the kiss, now brightened the rest of the way. She gazed up at Tenchi, who
seemed totally unaware that they were't kissing anymore. "Tenchi?" She
asked.

 Tenchi shook his head. "Huh?" He asked. He had been
daydreaming since the kiss had started. The typical boy-in-love daydream
that consisted of sharing hearth and home with the girl he loved. "Oh." He
blushed a little, as he saw the others, as if he thought they might be able
to see into his mind.

 "Hey you guys! Lunch is getting cold!" Sasami complained from
the dining room door.

 "Coming!" The others told her, as reality sank in. They turned and
filed into the dining room.

-CHAPTER 3-

 "So," Ryoko asked, as she took another mouthful of rice, "when's the
wedding?"
 Tenchi hemmed and hawed nervously.
 "I should ask you the same thing." Ayeka returned, pointedly.
 "Next Saturday." Yosho responded, calmly, taking a sip of his tea.
 "Wha wha WHAT?!" Ayeka stammered. "Brother, you can't mean
that you and Ryoko are..."
 "Oh, you better believe it, Princess." Ryoko grinned.
 Yosho turned to Tenchi. "I have a wonderful idea, Tenchi. Why don't
you marry Ayeka when I marry Ryoko?"
 "A double wedding." Sasami sighed, dreamily. "That's so sweet."
 "Well, ummm...."
 "You can't say you don't love her." Ryoko teased. "Not with the liplock
I saw you two in earlier."
  "I was just comforting her."
  "I expect the two of you to fall to the floor any minute." Ryoko taunted.
  "I am *not* a loose woman!" Ayeka shouted.
  "Calm down, Ayeka," Yosho smiled. "Ryoko's only teasing you."
  "Hey, Yosho?" Sasami asked. "When Ryoko becomes our sister-in-law,
will you two be living in the main house or the Shrine?"
  "Hmmm." Yosho mused. "I'll have to give that some thought.
  "Sister-in-law?" Ayeka murmured, dazedly. The whole thing seemed like
a dream. Yosho was young and engaged to Ryoko and Tenchi had kissed
her. It was certainly a very strange dream, she decided. But it was nice in a
way.
  "Uh huh." Sasami asked.
  "All in favor of Tenchi marrying Ayeka saying "Hai"."
Ryoko prompted, cheerfully. And why not? After all, she was
now happily engaged. It wasn't Tenchi, but in many ways,
This was a man who had no fear of her, who cared for her.
It was a man loved her, for who she was, and not for whom
she might one day become.
        Everyone except the couple in question raised their hands.
        Ayeka saw that Tenchi's hand was down.
        "Fine." She said, standing up and walking out.
        After a moment, Tenchi followed her.

        Tenchi caught up with Ayeka at the pond. "Ayeka..."
        "You didn't raise your hand." Ayeka said, pointedly.
        "Nor did you." Tenchi replied. "I didn't want you to feel
pressured."
        "Do you love me, Tenchi?"
        Tenchi turned her face toward his. "You mean the world to
me Ayeka."
        "But do you love me?"
        Tenchi thought about it for a moment. He never had
considered her in that way. He had always admired her
courage, the way she stuck by her convictons. But he never
actually thought he might be falling in love with her. But
now that he was thinking about it, he had to admit he did
feel a sense of affection toward her.
        "Yes,." He finally said. "And I do want to marry you."
        "Then, let's do what my brother has suggested. "Let's
make it a double wedding."
        Tenchi nodded in agreement.

        "Well?" Ryoko raised a querying eyebrow as Ayeka and Tenchi
returned to the dining room.
        Lunch had been replaced by tea and desserts. Ayeka took one
being offered to her by her sister-in-law-to-be, examined it for
signs of being some kind of prank, saw nothing, and bit down. It
actually tasted good.
        "Sasami made them after she cleaned up breakfast." Mihoshi
chimed up. "They were supposed to have pink frosting on them,
but I..." She looked down. "Sorry." She apologized, meekly.
        "It was partly my fault," Sasami told her gently. To Ayeka
she sounded almost more like Tsunami than Sasami, but only for
a second. "I should've warned you about the damp spot on the
kitchen floor."
        "It's okay," Tenchi told them both. "They're delicious. Even
without pink frosting."
        Ryoko began to laugh all of a sudden. The sound was light
and melodious and held no malice or indication that any prank
might be forthcoming.
        Still...
        "What's so funny?" Ayeka asked, pointedly.
        "You do realize that we've swapped fiancee's, don't you,
Princess?" Ryoko asked.
        Yosho had been Ayeka's fiancee once, but...
        "Tenchi was *never* your fiancee', Ryoko." She pointed out.
        "No, but he would've been if you hadn't stuck your nose
in our business."
        Ayeka chewed, daintily on a cookie. After swallowing, she
spoke up. "If you hadn't attacked Jurai, my brother never would
have left." She pointed out.
        "I guess that makes us even." Ryoko shrugged.
        "I suppose it does." Ayeka replied.
        Ryoko picked up the last of the cookies.
        Everyone at the table expected her to taunt Ayeka with it,
but to their surprise, she broke it in half and handed one of
the halves to Ayeka.
        Ayeka looked at it thoughtfully. Then she looked up at Ryoko
as if actually seeing her for the first time. Not her deeds, not
the mocking tone she sometimes used when teasing Ayeka. But her.
It was as if this one act of sharing had somehow opened her eyes.
        "Thank you." She replied, wincing inwardly because she'd had
to say it to a woman whom part of her still considered a rival.
        "You're welcome." Ryoko replied, unable herself to believe
what she was saying and certain that the others were as well.
        Sasami accepted the two rival's mutual kindness at face
value. And not because she was young, either. It simply seemed
natural to her. They had become best friends, and had only not
seen it because they'd been too busy fighting over Tenchi. Now
that Tenchi and Ayeka were engaged and Ryoko was happily engaged
to Yosho, that distraction was no longer there.
        Ryoko and Ayeka seemed to know this, too. They would still
tease and taunt each other, but now it would be the cheerful ribbing of
friends.
        No, not friends... sisters.


Lt. Trakal
GP No Tantei-A