"Tenchi Muyo!" and "Ah! My Goddess" are the property of Pioneer and AIC.  This 
isa fanfic and is not for profit.

Tenchi Muyo!
Odyssey
Chapter Twenty-nine
 It All Comes Together by William Nichols

	He was heard long before he was ever seen.  Usually a courtesan would 
herald the arrival of the emperor of Jurai, but today the emperor needed no 
herald.  "Where is she?!" Azusa bellowed as he threw open the doors to the 
palace infirmary.  The irate monarch was greeted by a cacophony of agitated 
stares and fearful glances.  "I demand to know where my wife is!" he roared.
	"Calm down dear," Misaki begged, trying to hide the embarrassment on her 
face.  For all of his good traits her husband could fly off the handle at a 
moments notice and become the most obstinate fool in the empire.
	Azusa frantically waved his hands in the air.  "Calm?  Be calm?  How in 
the sacred names of Tsunami can I BE CALM!"    By now the majority of the 
medical staff had cleared out of their sovereign's path as he made a beeline 
with a Misaki in tow to the med station where Funaho was laying.
	"Please..." Funaho pleaded barely above a whisper.  "Be quiet for the 
others."  Azusa opened his mouth, but promptly closed it once he remembered he 
was in the palace infirmary.  A slight blush crossed his cheeks as he saw the 
looks he was receiving by his somewhat alarmed subjects.  So that's where Tenchi 
gets it from, Funaho thought.  "I'm fine dear," she added to calm her excitable 
husbands nerves.
	"What happened," Azusa said as he sat down on the edge of the medical 
table and cradled his wife's hand, his former rant replaced with hushed concern.  
"All they told me was that you had blacked out in the Ministry of Intelligence."  
For all his bluster and bullheadedness her husband did have a soft side, 
especially when it came to the well being of his family.
	The raven-haired queen smiled and squeezed her concerned husbands hand. "I 
just got light headed, that's all dear."
	"Must have been more bad news," Misaki said as she sat down on the other 
side of the bed.
	Azusa's face reddened again and his brow creased.  "If it was that boy of 
Yosho's-if he did anything to my darling Ayeka, I swear..."
	"That boy of Yosho's," Funaho began with a sigh, "has done nothing to 
Ayeka."  Although she hid her emotion well from everyone present, Funaho could 
tell that her sister-wife was relieved by this news.  Misaki had not taken it 
too well when she found out the true reason her daughter was gallivanting across 
the universe, and popping up on the evening news.
	"I am glad to hear that," the emperor said curtly.  "I still do not like 
this whole 'champion' and 'Elder' bit.  They are just a legend.  A fairytale, 
and no more."
	"I would not speak so badly of Tenchi right now," Funaho said, wondering 
how her husband could be so obtuse at times.  He rules over half-of the known 
universe, has personally, albeit brief conversations with Tsunami, and has seen 
more unexplainable events than most people see in ten lifetimes.  And yet he 
cannot see what is happening right before his eyes.  How do I break this to him?
	"The simple truth of the matter is that I do not like the boy," Azusa 
added in his defense.
	"Like him or not," Funaho said as she laid her head back onto her pillow 
and closed her eyes, "he is our only hope."
	Azusa frowned.  "And what do you mean by that?"
	"The reason he is has been chosen as champion is to save the universe, put 
simply.  This wave," Funaho paused to make sure everyone was on the same page as 
she was.  After a nod from her husband, she continued.  "This wave will destroy 
everything it touches. And only Tenchi can turn it back."
	All the color drained from Funaho's spouses face.  "E-e-e-everything?" 
Azusa fumbled as the reality of the situation sank in on him.
	"Yes.  And if Tenchi cannot turn it back, everything will be destroyed in 
a matter of days.  A week at the most.  The high priest predicted this and the 
Intel division have confirmed it.  Tenchi is our only hope, whether you like it 
or not dear. "  It was a good thing that Azusa and Misaki were in the infirmary, 
because they promptly fainted after hearing Funaho's revelation.  "Oh dear," she 
said quietly as the doctors moved the rest of the royal family to adjoining med 
tables.  

***

	Urd quietly paced the floor in Washu's lab.  It had been over two and a 
half days since she had opened the gate to the eternal realm for the Ladies 
Washu and Tsunami.  In those two days Urd had stayed with the remaining members 
of the Masaki family at her Fathers behest.  The platinum haired goddess knew 
the dire straits that they were in, and she knew that their hopes were thin.  As 
much as she had wanted to run back to Bell and Keiichi she saw the wisdom in her 
father's request.  This family had been broken enough by recent events, and they 
needed an understanding soul to be with them.
The white haired goddess of the past looked up from her study of the lab floor 
at the sound of the chibi-crab shaped chime clinking at the lab door.  "What's 
the news?" she asked as Kiyone offered her an opened bottle of Orion.
	"Here on earth they are blaming 'atmospheric distortion' for the loss of 
starlight, but elsewhere it's not good," the levelheaded GP stated before she 
took a sip of her beer.  "IGNN is reporting that mass hysteria has begun to set 
in on some the frontier systems, and that the Tyran's are mobilizing a battle 
fleet to attack the wave."
	"Lot's of good that'll do," Urd quipped before she nursed her bottle 
again.  "When will those militaristic hotheads learn?"
	"If Tenchi doesn't make it back none of it will matter," Kiyone said as 
she glanced up towards the chronometer above Ryoko's bed.  
	
00:03:11:54
	
"He'll make it," Urd assured her newfound friend.  "But I'm worried about Washu 
and the others though."
	"How so?" Kiyone asked.
	"Father said a dark army had gathered in the eternal realm, and He was not 
certain that it could be driven back."  Urd paused for a second and shook her 
head.  "I fear the worst."
	"When a goddess says that, I worry," Kiyone deadpanned.  
	"What's a goddess supposed to do?" Urd asked, not trying to hide the fear 
in her voice.  "I mean, who do you turn to for comfort when your supposed to be 
the one others turn to?"  Kiyone had no answers to Urd's line of questioning.  
She had never put much faith in religion or mysticism in her life, but after 
living with a couple goddess' she was beginning to reevaluate her view on 
things.
	"I don't know," Kiyone said softly as another minute ticked off their 
doomsday clock.
	"Neither do I," Urd said barely above a whisper.  "Neither do I."  The two 
of them stood there in shared silence, prisoners to what little time they had 
left in this existence.

***

	The pall of battle hung heavy in the air in the eternal realm.  Its brave 
defenders had driven back the dark tides and momentarily staved off the dark 
one, but it was a hollow victory.  As many of the victors attended to the 
wounded and dying, a group has gathered around one of the fallen in particular.    
	"You...will...have a fine...son-in-law..." Tokimi whispered as tears 
slipped from the corners of her tightly clenched eyes.  Washu's mind was racing 
at the speed of light as her sister passed from consciousness in her arms.  In 
all the long years of their separation, she had never dreamt that their reunion 
would be cut so brutally short.  It was not fair.  They had turned back the 
darkness that threatened her ancestral home only to have this bittersweet 
victory.  
	The others stood in mute witness to what was transpiring.  All of this was 
impossible.  A goddess cannot die.  Can she?  And if she does, what of the 
realm, and of all hope?  The rugged group of defenders that had circled the 
somber scene shared the tears that streaked Washu and Tsunami's face.  Tears 
streaked even the face of the gruff captain of the guards.  Narrow silver trails 
had washed the grime of battle from his sullen face.
	"Sisters..." the mortally wounded goddess breathed as her chest rose and 
fell for the final time.
	Tsunami turned her back to Washu and the fallen Tokimi.  She could not 
bear to witness this.  "No..." was all she could articulate.  
	Washu held her sisters body and cried.  At first she tears of sorrow, but 
tears of anger quickly replaced them. "No," Washu commanded.  This cold not, no, 
this would not end like this.  Washu laid Tokimi back on the stained ground and 
began to pound her fists into Tokimi's chest.  "I will not allow this!  You will 
not die on me!" she cried as Tsunami gasped at Washu's appeared brutality.  The 
others were as shocked as Tsunami at first, but it soon dawned on them what 
Washu was doing when she pinched Tokimi's nose and breathed into her mouth.  "I 
will not let you go!" she thundered as she desperately tried to revive her 
sister.  Tsunami held her hands to her mouth and hoped that some vestige of life 
remained in her sister, and if it did, that Washu could find it.  After what 
felt like an eternity to Tsunami, Tokimi's body lurched and a raspy breath was 
sucked down her throat.
	"Milady!" D3 exclaimed as Washu cradled the barely alive megami in her 
arms.  
	Washu looked the white-bearded vizier.  "Can you get us to my lab?"
	"That I can," D3 said solemnly.
	"Then let's go!" Washu exclaimed as Tsunami took her place with her two 
sisters.  "We don't have much time!"  Tsunami clasped Tokimi's hand while D3 
began the guttural sounding incantation that would return them to the physical 
plain.  A ring of multi-spectral light began to form at the three megami's feet, 
its rainbow fingers reaching heavenwards.  By the time D3 had finished his rite 
the ring and risen into a cylinder that engulfed the goddesses and sped them 
away from the shattered eternal realm.
	"Be well, Miladies," D3 muttered as he turned his gaze back the ruins of 
his homeland.
	
***

	Urd had joined Sasami in her silent vigil by Ryoko's bedside.  The 
goddess-to-be and the goddess second-class, limited license, both felt the air 
of apprehension that seemed to be permeating the universe.  Even though the true 
nature of what lay at hand was known only be a select few, and even fewer of 
those truly understood what was transpiring, the general feeling of dread could 
not be avoided.  Sasami sighed as another minute ticked off of the chronometer 
above Ryoko's head.  It plainly stated that there was just under two hours left 
before Tenchi had complete the Odyssey, and therefore only two hours before 
Ryoko was lost forever.    
	"I've brought some snacks," Mihoshi said cheerfully bringing Urd and 
Sasami back from their respective deep thoughts.  Neither of them had heard the 
door chime announcing her entrance, but Washu always said that Mihoshi had an 
uncanny knack for evading her sensors.
	"Thank you," Urd said as she took a steaming cup of tea from the serving 
tray.
	"You're welcome," Mihoshi smiled.  It had amazed Urd that while everyone 
else in the house had become steadily more and depressed Mihoshi had seemingly 
not lost her chipper demeanor.  At first she thought that maybe Mihoshi was as 
oblivious as Kiyone insisted at times, but that just did not seem right.  What 
confirmed her suspicions was when she caught the blonde GP in tears the night 
before.  Mihoshi was just as heartbroken as everyone else in the house, maybe 
more so.  This ditsy fa‡ade was just her way of dealing with the pressure of the 
situation.  An act she put on for others.
	Mihoshi sighed as the timer clicked off another minute.  "How's she 
doing?" she asked as she sat down across from Sasami and Urd.  Before either 
goddess could reply a deafening roar tore through the lab.  Mihoshi had just 
enough time to glance over her shoulder before the force of the opening 
dimensional gateway knocked her on top of Ryoko.  As the roar grew louder and 
the first spikes of untamed energies began to jab out from the vortex Sasami 
wrapped her arms around Ryoko's shoulders to protect her friend.  By now the 
commotion caused by the erupting gateway had drawn the remaining family members 
to the lab.  
"What's going on?!" Kiyone demanded, blaster drawn.
	"It's a portal!" Urd exclaimed as she held her arm up to block the intense 
strobes of light that was flashing from the trans-dimensional orifice.  As she 
strained to look directly at the blinding light the dark mass of a silhouette 
began to emerge.
	"Tenchi?" Kiyone asked cautiously as the mass drew closer to the event 
horizon.
	"No," Katsuhito announced as a second figure emerged beside the first.  As 
the silhouettes crossed the dimensional threshold the gate collapsed back in on 
itself, vacuuming all the energies it had loosed back into the void.  Everyone's 
silence was replaced with concerned gasps as the figures stepped out of the 
shadows.
	"Father," Urd whispered as her eyes focused on what lay before her.
	Kiyone spoke for everyone else.  "Holy shit."           
	"And it's going to get really deep if ya'll don't give me a hand hear," 
Washu said as a medical bed similar to Ryoko's materialized in front of her.  
"Urd, Kiyone, I need your help," Washu said as a bar of green light scanned up 
and down the barely breathing Tokimi's body.  
	"Is this who I think it is?" Urd asked while she helped Washu remove the 
raven-haired goddesses torn tunic.
	"That it is," Tsunami said as she placed a hand on Tokimi's shoulder.  
"And if she passes all hope is lost."
	"I'm not letting that happen," Washu announced forming her holo-computer.  
The black keypad glowed in varied hues as she entered commands and parameters.  
"We have all come so far..." Nothing else needed to be said about the situation.  
All knew that if Tokimi died, there would be no hope to turn back the darkness.  
"Kiyone, check the oxygen flow," Washu said never looking up from her keypad.  
	Kiyone nodded.  "I'm on it."   She dutifully checked the flow meter and 
adjusted the mask she had slipped over the goddess mouth and nose.  Kiyone 
brushed the locks of raven hair from the goddess face as Urd finished cutting 
her bloodied tunic away.
	"Bingo," Washu announced as a small hypo-spray device materialized in 
front of her.  Everyone watched tentatively as Washu pressed the device to 
Tokimi's neck.  The goddess flinched as a hiss emitted from the device and its 
contents entered her blood stream.
	"What was that little Washu," Kiyone asked eliciting a sly grin from 
Washu.  Such an aphorism seemed a little odd seeing that Washu now stood a good 
ten centimeters over the emerald tressed GP.
   	"Maybe my greatest creation ever!" Washu cackled.  "I programmed a type of 
nanite to repair the interior visceral damage and vascular dermal injuries."  
Washu's smile turned to a frown as everyone had the 'What the hell are you 
talking about?' look on their faces.  "I created microscopic robots to go in an 
do microsurgery."
	"Oh," was the universal response as Washu shook her head.
	"Will it work?" Mihoshi asked as Washu intently studied the gash on 
Tokimi's side.
	"Look," the red headed goddess said with a smile as the wound began to 
close.  "I think it will."  Tokimi moaned as the nanites closed the wound and 
finished restoring her injury, mending flesh and nerve alike.  After a tense few 
minutes her magenta eyes opened and she blinked a few times, trying to ascertain 
her whereabouts. 
	"Sisters?" Tokimi asked warily as she tried to set up in her bed.  
"Where...am I?" she asked reaching for the spot where her wound had been.  It 
took every fiber in Washu's being to keep her from glomping her sister.  "Did we 
do it?" 
	"Yes." Tsunami answered.  "We did it."
	"Then the champion is safe?" Tokimi added looking at Ryoko still lying in 
her stasis field.
	"We don't know," Katsuhito said glumly.  "Time is short and I fear that 
Tenchi and Ayeka may be lost."
	Washu deadpanned.  "You haven't heard from them?"  All the color drained 
from the once jubilant genius/goddess face.  Frantically her eyes darted up to 
the chronometer fixed above her daughter's stasis field.
	
00:01:23:19

           "Steady there," Kiyone said as she grabbed hold of the wobbly Washu's 
shoulders.  "They'll make it."
	"I certainly hope so," came a baritone voice from behind them.  Everyone 
spun around as the iron heel of Ignatius Baltus boots clanked across the lab 
floor.  "They left me at the temple of light some time ago."
	"Then what are you doing here!" Washu spat.  If looks could kill the 
collective glares Baltus was receiving right now would have him decomposed to 
dust in seconds.
	"Quiet witch," Baltus shot back.  "You of all people should know that time 
is of no meaning to the Elder.  The champion should arrive and claim his 
sacrifice any second now."
	A wicked grin crept across Washu's face.  "Are you finished now?"
	"Yes."
	"Good." Washu smiled as she stroked a few keys on her keypad.  Instantly a 
blue glow engulfed Baltus before he morphed into a meter tall creature with a 
turtle's shell and a ducks bill.  "Stay a water sprite for a while then," Washu 
said as the others tried to contain their laughter.	  An angry "Quack! Quack!  
Quack!" was all the resistance Baltus could offer as he jumped up and down and 
shook his little fists at Washu.
	"He's so cute!" Mihoshi squealed as she ran and grabbed the Baltus-sprite.  
The little creature started to turn blue in the face as Mihoshi laid a bone 
crushing bear hug onto the hapless emissary.  A strained 'Quack!' was all the 
resistance Baltus-sprite could muster before it passed out from lack of oxygen.  
"Did I kill it?" Mihoshi asked as the first monsoon of tears began roll down her 
cheeks.
	"No," Washu laughed.  "Although he would deserve it."  Washu reluctantly 
hit a button on her keypad restoring Baltus to his normal form.  "Wake up big 
boy," she added hitting another key.
	Baltus groaned and rubbed the side of his head as he got back to his feet. 
"Quack! Quack- I mean you shall pay for that witch," Baltus said eliciting a 
hushed giggle from everyone present.  
 	"Listen," Washu warned, "you are not on anyone's favorite list around 
here.  It would be in your best interests to sit down and shut up until Tenchi 
gets back.  Or I could turn you into a water sprite again."  Baltus was about to 
open his mouth but he flash of hellfire that shot across the goddess emerald 
eyes told him that now was not the time to argue.  Respectfully he bowed his 
head and stepped back into the shadows.
	"What now?" Kiyone asked as she helped Tokimi down from the med table.  "I 
mean what can we do till Tenchi gets back?"  
	Tsunami shrugged.  "I guess we wait and worry.  What else can we do?"
	"Good point," Urd added to nods from everyone.  
Katsuhito stepped forward.  "If they do not make it back in the next hour, Ryoko 
will not be the only who perishes."   
	"I wouldn't worry about that," came Tenchi's voice as a point of light 
coalesced in the midst of them.  The speck enlarged until it took the outline of 
Tenchi, Ayeka, and another person, whom arms Ayeka's seemed intertwined around.  
The outlines' iridescence continued until they became solid.  A cheer rose up as 
Tenchi, Ayeka, and Marnot stepped out from the portal. "We did it!" Tenchi 
announced holding up the completed medallion.
	"And you did not miss the landing," Ayeka said as she stooped down to give 
the running Sasami a hug. 
	"Ayeka!" the little princess cried as she buried her face into her 
sister's shoulder.  "We've been so worried!"
	"That we have," Katsuhito added as he examined the completed medallion.  
"You have done well."  
	"Thanks," Tenchi said as his gaze cut through his assembled family.  He 
had two things he had to do first.  Part one was confirmed when he saw that 
Ryoko was still relatively safe in her stasis field, just as he left her two 
weeks ago.  The chronometer at its head was precariously low, but she was safe.  
The next person he was searching for had not been present when these events were 
set into motion.  A slight glint off a square spectacle lens caught his eye from 
the far corner of the lab.  "Excuse me," Tenchi said as he pushed his way past 
Kiyone, a white haired lady he had never seen before, and a woman who resembled 
the statues of the goddess Tokimi he had seen during this Odyssey.
	"He's even better looking in person," Urd commented to Kiyone who nodded 
in agreement.  Tenchi stopped a few feet away from the person at the edge of the 
shadows.  A exhale of cigarette smoke rolled across the small divide as Nobuyuki 
stepped forward.  The father and son exchanged quiet glances before Tenchi fell 
into his father's arms.
	"I'm proud of you son," Nobuyuki said as he patted his sons back.  "And 
your mother in heaven is too."
	"I know dad," Tenchi added, meaning the words.  "And she loves the both of 
us."  Nobuyuki pulled back from his son and looked into Tenchi's eyes.  His eyes 
mirrored the silver trails that had streaked his sons face.  "Mom loves the both 
of us."  Nobuyuki pulled Tenchi back into him and squeezed him one more time.  
Baltus was about to make a comment when he noticed Washu's finger hovering 
ominously close to a button on her keypad.  Wisely he chose discretion.
	"Go to Ryoko," Nobuyuki said as he pulled a well-worn handkerchief from 
his pocket and wiped his glasses.  Tenchi recognized the clothe in a new light 
now and nodded in acknowledgement of his fathers request.  
	"I am afraid that she cannot be awakened   until you have been judged by 
the Elder," Baltus said stepping forward from the shadows.  Tenchi's eyes darted 
between Ryoko, Baltus, and Marnot.  Seeing the champions angst Marnot stepped 
forward.
"As much as it pains me to agree with Ignatius here," Marnot began as he started 
walking towards Tenchi, "he is correct.  The Elder must judge you before Ryoko 
can revived."           
"Then lets go," Tenchi said as he gently scooped Ryoko from her stasis bed.
	"That will not be necessary," Baltus announced.  "The Elder have taken it 
upon themselves to come here."
	"W-w-w-what do you mean?" Washu stammered.  "Here?" Even though there were 
four goddesses, two guardians, a champion, and a host of the universes most 
powerful being assembled in her lab, the thought of The Elder revealing 
themselves here was nearly incomprehensible.
	"Not here, witch," Baltus spat.  "The Elder have chosen the holy place 
atop the mountain to descend upon this plain." 
	"Holy place..." Tenchi muttered as the location dawned upon him.
	"The shrine!" everyone exclaimed in unison.
	"Hold still everyone," Washu commanded as she closed her eyes and wrinkled 
her nose.  The grays and blues of the lab faded away and were replaced by the 
crisp night air of the shrine courtyard.  A thin blanket of snow hugged the 
ground.  Nearly all of the stars in the night sky had been blanked out by the 
approaching darkness, leaving the nearly full moon as the only source of 
nocturnal light.  The silver disk shown brightly, its pale light casting shadows 
on those gathered.  
	"Nice," Marnot commented as he studied the ancient architecture of the 
shrine.
	"See," Ayeka said playfully, jabbing him the ribs with her elbow, "that is 
how you teleport."  Marnot chuckled and returned the princess playful poking.
	"It would seem that someone has made a new friend," Tsunami commented to a 
smiling Washu.  Reluctantly Tenchi laid Ryoko back on to her stasis bed which 
Washu had teleported as well.  He had traversed the cosmos and fought demons 
from within and without in his effort to save her.  And even though the greatest 
challenge still lay ahead, Tenchi knew that she would be by his side.  She had 
been that glimmer of hope to him, the same glimmer that everyone saw in him.  
All that was lefty now was to wait.

***

	A divine being casts his gaze across the nine realms onto the realm of 
Midgard.  Through the flames he sees the small band that has congregated on a 
mountainside in the physical plain.  All hope rides on the lad who has been 
chosen as Champion, a mantle few can bear.   His hand strokes his white beard as 
his raven Hescamar caws from his shoulder.  His daughter is amongst that small 
band, and he hopes for her safety.  But in his heart he knows that the twilight 
of this universe is at hand.  
	"G”tterdammerung," he says in a voice full of dread.  Hescamar caws in 
agreement.  

***

	"The Elder descend," Baltus announced as if divine beings entering the 
physical realm was an everyday occurrence.  But considering his company at the 
present, it was an everyday occurrence.  Tenchi looked up as a ring of clouds 
began to form over the shrine yard.  The wind grew silent and a deafening hush 
fell over the surrounding countryside as eddies of otherworldly energies 
blossomed from the gate.  All eyes present were trained on the silent vortex 
raging overhead.  No one dared to speak, much less move.  From the center of the 
swirling clouds a speck emerged.  Slowly the speck descended until Tenchi was 
able to make out the features of the being descending to his realm.  The figure 
was clad in a full-length hooded black robe, with scarlet accents on the sleeves 
and up the front where the garment fastened.  A scarlet sash was tied around the 
beings mid-section, and his hands were clasped, hidden within the folds of the 
robe.  Without making the slightest sound the being stepped down to the snow 
covered courtyard.
	No one dared to speak as the descended Elder strode forward.  After 
surveying the surroundings the being lifted his hands to the edge of his hood 
and slid it back, revealing his face to those gathered.  Where Mihoshi had 
expected a devils face and Sasami had expected elfish features, the Elder looked 
liked any other human in the universe.  His features were chiseled and resolute.  
Locks of obsidian hair that escaped the topknot he wore framed a square jaw and 
high cheeks.   The only thing that distinguished this being from any other 
present were the black wings tattooed around his piercing, crimson eyes.
	"Baltus, Marnot," he calmly spoke.  The two guardians stepped forward and 
took a knee before their lord.  "Do you still deem this boy worthy of the 
fellowship?"
	"Yes Milord," they spoke as one.
	"Masaki Tenchi," The Elder spoke, looking up from Baltus and Marnot.  
"Come forward."  Tenchi nodded and stepped forward.  His collected family moved 
aside, clearing a path to the Elder.  Washu nodded as Tenchi tread past, as did 
Katsuhito and the other Megami.
	"Masaki Tenchi," The Elder spoke again as Tenchi stood next to the 
kneeling Baltus and Marnot.  "The Guardians of the Five Temples have deemed you 
worthy of this fellowship as well.  You have found the spirit of the champion 
that hid within your soul.  You have become the light that shall turn back the 
darkness, and bring hope to the hopeless."  The Elder paused as a sword 
materialized in front of him.  The blade of the sword was engraved with glyphs 
whose meanings have long been forgotten.  The hilt was styled as intertwined 
vines that branched out to form sweeping guards in the shapes of dragonheads.  
	"Kneel," The Elder spoke as Tenchi sank to one knee.  "You are the chosen 
son of the Earth and of Jurai.  Your heart is pure and strong; your courage is 
endless," he began as he touched the blade to Tenchi's right shoulder.  "Under 
the rose of heaven," he said touching the blade to Tenchi's left shoulder, "I 
give thee the name of Champion."  As the blade touched him this time Tenchi felt 
a spark jump between the blade and him.  Tenchi inhaled sharply as he felt the 
spark spread throughout his being.  With a new clarity he saw what had been 
granted to him.
	"Arise and claim your sacrifice," The Elder spoke as the sword returned to 
the immaterium from whence it came.  "She is restored."  Tenchi looked over to 
Ryoko who still lay motionless in her bed.
	"Ryoko?" Tenchi asked hopingly, but she remained still.
	"She has been restored," The Elder said quietly to Marnot.  "So why does 
she not rise?"
	"I have an idea Milord," the guardian said with a wolfish grin.  Slowly 
Tenchi walked over to Ryoko, hoping each step of the way that she would move, 
but she laid just as before.
	Washu's eyes went wide as her link with her daughter was restored.  "Oh!" 
she said as Tenchi stopped a few meters away from where Ryoko lay.  "Excuse me," 
Washu said as she pushed past Tsunami and Tokimi as grabbed Tenchi by the arm.  
	"Huh?" he questioned as Washu began to whisper something into his ear.  
	"What is that witch up to?" Baltus asked the Elder, who was beginning to 
see what was going on.  Tenchi's eyes went wide as Washu pulled her lips away 
from his ear.  He understood.  A smile crept across Nobuyuki's face as he pulled 
his mini-camcorder from his jacket pocket.  He was not going to miss this.     
	Tenchi gently slid his hands behind Ryoko's shoulders and raised her head 
ever so slightly.  With the lightest touch he pressed his lips to hers.  After a 
moment that seemed all too short, Tenchi pulled back slightly to see Ryoko's 
tear filled eyes.  "I promised," he whispered as his mouth met hers again.  This 
time the kiss was full of the fires of passion.  At Ryoko's beckoning Tenchi 
deepened the kiss as she ran her hand through his plait of black hair.
	"I would say she is just fine," Marnot whispered to Ayeka who had once 
again taken her place by his side.  Ayeka nodded.  Even though she had found a 
love of her own, a small part of her ached to see Tenchi kiss Ryoko the way she 
had wanted to be kissed for so long.
	"I'm so moved!  I'm so moved!" Mihoshi cried, garnering a laugh from the 
assembled Megami and a forlorn shake of the head from her partner.
	"I love you," Tenchi whispered, finally breaking the embrace.
	"I know," Ryoko said as she swung her feet off of the bed.  After two 
weeks of being inanimate, it felt good to be able to move again.
	"Whoa," Tenchi said as her first steps were made on wobbly legs.
	"I'm fine," she said regaining her balance, but not refusing the arm 
Tenchi had slid behind her back.
	"You have been most brave," The Elder said as he clasped Ryoko's hand.  
"Please accept our humblest apologies for the methods we employ."
	"You are forgiven," Ryoko said.  "I've always said that I would go to hell 
and back for you Tenchi," she added looking into his chocolate yes.  'God I love 
those eyes,' she thought. 
	"Now miss Ryoko," Ayeka said feigning annoyance.  She had been planning 
this for several days now, and she relished the thought of being able to get a 
rise out of her former rival once more.
	Before Ayeka could finish her feigned chide, a cold, callous laugh echoed 
across the shrine yard.
	"He is come," The Elder said, fear etched across his face.  Those present 
spun around as a lithe figure clad in purple and gold appeared on the opposite 
side of the yard.  His cold laughter was joined by his slow, methodical applause 
as he approached them.  Once again all had fallen silent, leaving only the 
beings applause and the crunch of snow under heel to be heard.
	A sneer twisted across the beings lips.  "Bravo," Aescheron spoke.  
"Bravo."


The Odyssey shall continue...           

	  
Notes:  I hope this chapter will hold its own compared to the last one, and I 
hope that it has been worth the wait.  Now we go into the void.
Thanks again.
William Nichols.