"Tenchi Muyo" and all its characters (except for mine, I think you can tell which one's they are) are owned by Pioneer LDC, AIC, and its contributors. All rights reserved. It was evening, and everyone was having dinner at the Masaki house. As usual, Sasami had made another great meal, and gotten compliments from everyone but Ryoko, who was too busy eating to say anything. That is, until she realized Ayeka was staring fondly at Tenchi. "Hey you! Don't you even think about doing anything with Tenchi! How many times do I have to tell you, Ayeka!" Tenchi sighed and lowered his head, as he knew what was going to happen, but still kept his eyes open enough to see what was going on. Ayeka didn't give Ryoko the satisfaction of making her angry this time though, remembering the last fight they'd had. They had managed to bust the glass dome over the bath, while Tenchi was in it no less. Tenchi had mentioned to her after Ryoko stormed off that she was much prettier when she wasn't angry. Calm and collected, Ayeka simply said "Really Ryoko, I'm surprised at you. You still don't have the decency to allow Tenchi and I to eat in peace." Smirking as Ryoko glared at her, she expected an outburst. Instead, Ryoko mumbled something and began to eat again, though visibly very angry. Ayeka continued eating as well. Suddenly Mihoshi dropped her chopsticks and said "OH NO! I completely forgot about it! I! I don't want to miss any of it!" Everyone looked at her as Mihoshi looked at her food, then picked up her chopsticks and packed her mouth full of food. She then stood up and quickly rushed from the table. Everyone had a look of confusion on their face, that is except for Washu. "There's a romance marathon on tonight," she said quietly. (Sweat beads appear on everyone except Sasami) Sasami gasped. "Really!? I must go get Mihoshi to record it!" She also got up quickly and rushed out of the room. "So, has anybody seen one of my devices around here lately? It looks kind of like a timer, with lots of dials on it? I left it up here when I had to run back to my lab for something." Washu asked. "Hmm? What is it?" asked Tenchi, kind of afraid that something was going to be destroyed from this. "Oh its just one of my best inventions ever!" she stated with a laugh. "It can actually freeze time! Its great for making sure you're not late or something." Tenchi and Ayeka shook their heads, and continued to eat, but stopped when Ryoko started to laugh. "Haha! Now that I know what this thing does I can do anything I want!" she stated, holding up the device that Washu was talking about. "Lemme see.I just hit this and this. and.." she said, quickly turning various dials on it and pressing a button., while Tenchi and Ayeka shouted in surprise. (Washu looking calm as ever) There was a slight pause, and the device and Ryoko began to glow, and there was a sudden "POP!" and Ryoko was gone! "OH NO! WASHU WHAT HAPPENED TO HER!?" Tenchi shouted, him and Ayeka looking at the genius to get an answer. As if to answer his question, they saw Washu pointing towards the spot Ryoko was, and turned to see that a very small Ryoko was standing on the table, angrily glaring at them. "ugghhh!! WASHUUU!!" she shouted in a tiny voice. Suddenly a holographic tape measure appeared beside her, a red line blinking at a certain point. "Exactly 4.5 inches tall!! Just as expected! Another successful experiment!!" said Washu cheerfully as the hologram vanished. Ayeka burst into the familiar cackle as she pointed at Ryoko. Tenchi just looked miffed, asking "Is she going to be all right?" Washu nodded. "It'll wear off soon. I could have made it permanent though! And it's her own fault. Maybe this'll teach you not to mess around with your mommies things Little Ryoko." Ryoko stared daggers at Washu, shouting "This is not funny!!! I'm gonna get you for this!" Ayeka was laughing to the point of tears, but managed to control it enough to blurt out "Oh it seems.you wont have any trouble. leaving some food on you're plate now!!" She then started laughing again. Ryoko slowly turned her head towards her food, confirming what Ayeka had said, her food was a lot bigger to her now. But right now she wanted that arrogant little princess to shut up, so Ryoko walked across the table to Ayek'a glass of water and kicked it, sending it flying up at the princess and spilling all over her clothes, not to mention hitting her square in the face. "OW!" A cup shaped red area slowly appeared on Ayeka's face, who had stopped laughing and remained frozen like that for an instant. Outside the room, Mihoshi and Sasami could hear all of them arguing and yelling at each other, and things crashing. "I just love Romance movies!!" Mihoshi stated, oblivious to anything but the TV. "Wonder what they're doing in there? I hope they don't make a huge mess again." Sasami said softly, though she figured that they would. After the meal, Washu proudly announced that she had some new experiments she was going to start working on. She still had some preparations to make before it actually got to that part, and that she would introduce them to a few new machines when she got done with them all. Tenchi made sure that this message got to Mihoshi as well, though she seemed a bit sidetracked with the marathon. As for the others: Ryoko had flown herself up onto the beam she had a pillow on and kicked back to drink some sake from a thimble she had gotten, overjoyed that she now had gallons (or so it seemed to her) of the stuff. His grandfather had gone back to the shrine, (he hadn't said anything during the whole meal..hadn't even laughed) and Ayeka was having a discussion with Washu. He couldn't hear what they where talking about, and didn't want to interrupt them. Tenchi didn't see Ryo-Ohki anywhere, and Sasami was outside. He decided to go out and see what she was doing. Tenchi saw her standing there staring up at the stars, and walked over to her. He was a little surprised when she didn't look at him or say anything. "Sasami?" She snapped out of it and turned to look at him. "The stars are so beautiful when the sky is clear." She said, half-smiling at him. Tenchi could sense that she was worried about something though, and it showed in her eyes as well. "Sasami. If anything is wrong you could always tell me or Ayeka." She nodded, but didn't smile more. "I know Tenchi. I've just been thinking about something. It's just that..", she said, not finishing her sentence. With that Sasami turned away from him for a moment. Tenchi was about to say something when Sasami looked at him again and said, "Tenchi? Do you think I'll ever meet someone like me?" Tenchi was a bit surprised by this question, and Sasami looked at him again. "I mean..I like being here with You and Ayeka and everyone, but I get lonely for someone my own age sometimes. I never have anyone to play with besides Ryo-ohki..Everyone is always so busy with their own things." Tenchi thought for a moment, then said "I never knew you felt like that Sasami. I guess I have been kind of neglecting you lately. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you though! Do you want me to talk to Ayeka about it?" Sasami shook her head. "You don't have to do that Tenchi. I'll talk to her about it later. Do you want to watch stars with me?" Tenchi nodded, and Sasami smiled at him, pointing to a constellation she had recently noticed and asking him about it. A while later, Tenchi felt a little tired, and yawned. Sasami giggled and told him he should go to bed and get a lot of sleep. (which was hard to do with Ryoko and Ayeka around) When he got inside again, he noticed that Ayeka and Washu where gone. He walked over to where Mihosi was, to see what kind of show it was that she had gotten so worked up over at the table. A weird looking pink think with antennas was crying, shouting something about love. Mihoshi began to snivel and then burst into tears. "It's not fair how could he just leave her like that!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" Sighing, Tenchi decided it might be best if he just went to his room and got some extra sleep. He carefully went up the steps so Ryoko wouldn't hear or see him, and snuck to his door. "Whew" he whispered, and opened his door quietly, slipping in and shutting the door just as quietly. He then turned around to see a dark shape standing there in his room! Startled, he quickly turned on a light to see it was Ayeka! The expression on her face told him that she wasn't expecting him to come in at this moment. "Miss Ayeka! What are you doing here?" he questioned. She instantly turned red and laughed nervously "Oh...nothing! Nothing at all! I was. just.checking to see if you where asleep! But you weren't in here and I was trying to think of where you could be! I was worried that monster woman had injured you or something!" Tenchi sighed, replying. "I'm fine. I was just outside with Sasami and-" before he was cut off with a heavy laugh. Ryoko suddenly appeared beside Ayeka, now back to her normal size. "Well, well, well Princess! Sneaking into Tenchi's room are we? Now who's got the loose morals?" Ayeka glared at her as Ryoko began to laugh again, not noticing the dozens of small wood blocks that appeared in the air. Tenchi, knowing what was coming, quietly slipped out of the room before they could notice. They'd been doing this too much, he thought. He suddenly got an idea of where he could go to get some sleep. A place that would be the last place Ryoko would check and Ayeka would never think he would be. He silently made his way back downstairs and walked back into the living room, where Mihoshi was just standing up, yawning. "Hey..uh..Mihoshi?" Tenchi said, scratching the back of his head as she looked at him curiously. "Would you mind if.I ...slept on the floor ...in your bedroom tonight?" Mihoshi instantly smiled, blushed, and clasped her hands together. "Of course you can Tenchi! I wouldn't mind it at all!" she said, almost suggestively. Tenchi thanked her, wondering if this was such a good idea. "I was just going to bed myself!" She said, giggling, as she shut off the tv. A little over two hours later, Washu stepped out of her lab to see who was available. She saw nobody. "Hmm. This might have to wait until the morning. I hate delays." She was about to go back into her lab when Sasami walked in. "Hey what are you still doing up?" Sasami stopped and looked at her, and Washu thought she saw a hint of something in the princesses' expression. "Anyway, I just got done with a new invention! Wanna see what it is, Sasami?" The girl nodded, smiling a bit, and followed Washu into the lab. Sasami was always kind of excited whenever there was a new invention or project in the lab, and this cheered her up. Usually because something funny happened afterwards. "Here it is! I haven't given a name to it yet, but it'll come to me eventually!" Washu exclaimed as she pointed to a circular platform that had an open glass enclosure around it. The platform was hooked up to various machines and control panels that formed a half circle around it. "Wow!...What is it Washu? What does it do??" Sasami asked, extremely curious at the moment. "This machine here can subdue the bodies physical consciousness and alter the brain's state of being! It also has a sensory enhancement and deprivation feature!" After about six seconds and no reaction Washu then remembered that nobody here ever understood her unless she made things really really simple, and Sasami was not any different yet. "Hold on a second and I'll demonstrate it for you" From out of nowhere a life-size Sasami doll that looked exactly the same as her (except it didn't have any hands or feet, and its face wasn't greatly detailed) appeared on the circular platform. Washu went up and applied a clear plastic mask onto it that fit over its mouth and nose (a band that fit around the head kept it in place). She then went over to one of the control panels and hit some buttons, and the glass enclosure sealed itself and it began filling up with a bluish liquid from below. Sasami watched as the liquid filled the tank completely and the doll of her was floating inside of it. She laughed at how funny it looked. "Now, at this point the liquid in the tank would cause the person, which would be you, to lose physical consciousness and enter an altered mental state. That means that you would think you where in different places or times, while your body is actually here. More descriptively, you might re- experience things that happened back on Jurai, or you could see some knowledge that's buried in your subconscious." Sasami felt relief at the thought of this, and turned to Washu. "Do you think that I could try it for the night? Pleeeeaaasseee Washu??" She pleaded. Washu saw a bit of desperation on Sasami's face, and nodded. "Weeellll...You can..but first you have to change into a different outfit. Wouldn't want to ruin your clothes!" After Sasami had put on something that resembled a light blue one- piece bathing suit, Washu escorted her towards the platform. "Oh and another thing. You should take out those hair ties." Washu stated. Sasami nodded and casually reached up and undid the ties, handing them to Washu to put with her clothing. Straightening out her hair a bit so it would wasn't over her shoulders, she stepped into the tank and slipped the mask on, adjusting it so she could breath easily. "Now, just relax a bit and I'll get this started." She heard Washu say as the glass sealed closed. She then felt a warmth at her feet and looked down to see the liquid was filling the tank. Sasami looked at Washu, seeing that her mouth was moving but she couldn't hear her. It then hit her that the tank was soundproofed. Good idea, she thought to herself as the liquid came over her knees. She was having a lot of mixed feeling about things lately, and she was pretty confused. She'd only told Tenchi a part of what was wrong. That's why she asked if she could do this, because she felt that it would help her to clear some things up for herself. Sasami sighed as the liquid came up to her chest. She closed her eyes, already feeling the effects the fluid was having on her body, and felt herself float a little. She let all her muscles relax and just let her body absorb the warmth as the tank filled up past her head and then completely. There was a bubbling sound as what remained of the oxygen in the tank was pushed out, and Sasami felt herself slowly fading out of consciousness. Washu had called up a screen to show Sasami's various life signs: like stress level, heart rate, and oxygen intake. "All signs indicate a generally relaxed state of conscious, though her nervousness before getting in the tank was higher than it should have been from something like this. Looks like everything will run smoothly though!" She stretched a bit and yawned. "I guess I need some sleep to recover from the all nighter I pulled yesterday! I can just leave this to the automated control." Washu stood up and walked towards a doorway that suddenly appeared, entering it and shutting the door behind her. Ryoko had just finished another little bottle of sake, sighing as she tossed it away. That Ayeka made her so mad! She always got so furious when Ryoko had a little fun at mocking her. At least it hadn't become more than an argument this time though. She usually felt a little guilty whenever their fights did damage to the house, and it got Tenchi mad at them. After their argument they noticed Tenchi had disappeared! Ayeka had dismissed it as Tenchi just running from a monster, and went to bed. Ryoko, on the other hand, wanted to know where he had gone. She'd waited in his room for a while for him to come back, but got tired of waiting. She then got a couple more bottles of Sake and drank them, bringing her to her present situation. She floated up to the beam that she had set a pillow on and lay down on it. She sighed again and wondered about travelling a bit. She had been on this planet for more than 700 years (mostly trapped in the cave) and hadn't really seen any of it yet. Needless to say she was beginning to get a little curious about what this planet was really like rather than going on others assumptions. Maybe she should take a trip to another continent? Ryoko began to consider this, and closed her eyes, waiting to fall asleep. An hour later as Tenchi now lay in Mihoshi's room just calming down enough to fall asleep. Tenchi had gotten an extra futon and blankets from the storage room so he wouldn't have to sleep on the floor. He hadn't gotten to fall asleep right away, because Mihoshi had talked to him for a while before she dozed off. He smiled as he looked over at her to see that she was kind of sprawled out on the futon. Mihoshi was really happy about Tenchi asking to sleep in her room, and she had stared at him for most of the time until she fell asleep. He didn't know what happened with Ayeka and Ryoko after he had left, but he decided not to think about it. He realized he could hear Mihoshi's breathing, and began to think about what it would be like if he ended up with Mihoshi. He did play situations out in his mind: choosing Ayeka, choosing Ryoko, even Washu. There was no way things would go that easily though. He knew that. But Mihoshi was a beautiful woman, he thought as he finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Meanwhile, just outside the moon's orbit, a ship similar to the Yagami was slowly coming to a stop. The ship was a dark gray color, and was considerably bigger and less sleek looking. Inside its cockpit where two figures staring at a screen that showed a time scale to their destination, which was earth. One was a man with long black hair, dressed in a black and gray armor. The other was a woman about a foot shorter. She had bright orange-red hair and was wearing a gray and white outfit that looked similar to a Jurian's. "It's taken me a long time trying to find her, you know. She was never one for staying in one spot before." The man said, then after a pause he sighed and looked over at the woman. "I know she remembers but I don't know how she's going to react. Anyway, I'll go down there first to confirm. After things get settled you can come down too." Nodding, the woman replied "We should rest a bit first. Then we'll see if Washu really is here or not." She then smiled crossed her arms and smiled. The man turned and left the cockpit, saying, "Don't get into any firefights out here while I'm asleep." The woman shrugged, and began thinking of what was going to happen if Washu really was at planet Earth. "Washu just might get more than she bargained for." She said softly. (Scene 2) Sasami found herself in an endless black, and wondered how she had gotten here. "Can anyone here me?" she shouted. She found that she could walk around on an unseen surface, at least, but had no idea where she was going. She had gone about twenty feet when all of a sudden a spotlight came on just ahead of here and she saw the younger Sasami, the one that had fallen and died, step into it. She still looked the same, so small..her hair tied at both sides but not yet long enough. The younger Sasami looked at her, and just then a spotlight came on above her and lit up the place she was standing at. Sasami found that she was wearing a more mature version of the younger girl's outfit. Still not knowing where she was at, she questioned the little Sasami. "What's going on?" The younger version looked confused, and said "But you told me to come!" Not remembering this at all, Sasami was about to say something in return when another spotlight came on to her left and Tsunami stepped into it. "Tsunami what are you doing here?" Sasami asked, slightly nervous, but turning her sight away from the other to look. Tsunami gave her a look similar to the one the younger version gave her. "Tsunami? But I am Sasami." This surprised Sasami. "But you're not Sasami! She is Sasami!" she said, pointing to the other one, not looking. "You're right. She is Sasami also." Tsunami said. Looking to where she was pointing now, Sasami let her arm drop when she saw that the young girl now looked exactly like her. "But. She died!" Was all she could say. Tsunami smiled, as did the other Sasami. "You don't need to tell yourself that. You know what Tsunami's intent was." They both said in unison. Sasami gasped as she thought about this, then stepped back a bit. "Y- you... you mean that?.." A few seconds after she said these words, everything went black again. "NO! Come back and tell me! I have to know the answer!" she shouted out. "You already know the answer." Said a faint voice that sounded like Tsunami's. Not knowing what to do, Sasami just stood there, feeling like crying. As she stared into the darkness, she saw two faint figures approaching each other. Sasami noticed one was male, and the other female. As they got a closer, they became illuminated and she saw that the male was severely wounded and carried a blue energy blade, but he had a peaceful look on his face as he turned to face her. The man slowly faded into the darkness as the blade's color shifted from blue to gold. The female however, was not wounded but her clothing was covered in blood. She smiled at Sasami and burst out laughing, and vanished in a quick burst of light. Sasami was left to wander around in the darkness until more images came to her, and she saw outlines of several ships out in space firing at each other, one was the Tsunami. As she watched, the ship that was firing at the Tsunami and three others (One was Ryo-ohki, the others she didn't recognize, though one of the ships was enormous!) suddenly formed ten light hawk wings. With a huge blast of energy, it destroyed Ryo-ohki and the smaller unknown ship. Then the massive ship fired a burst at the Tsunami that was so bright Sasami had to turn away. When she looked back, she gasped in horror as she saw the Tsunami with only two dim light hawk wings left, smoking and beaten. Sasami screamed as the ships faded out and she was in darkness again. Mihoshi was in Washu's lab, watching as the scientist performed some more of her testing on Tenchi, the poor guy. She knew that if Washu found out she was in here she would yell at her again, and Mihoshi always felt bad after someone yelled at her. Trying to sneak back out unnoticed, she turned around and started to walk out when she felt something catch on her pocket, so she pulled away. Various alarms and braxons went off immediately, and Mihoshi looked down to see that she had accidentally pulled a switch that was labeled "Instantaneous Matter Cloning Beam". She knew that this wouldn't be good if she just let it go, so Mihoshi began to press buttons and flip switches and dials on its control panel. "Oh my I think this is it! No this! I don't know!" she stated, panicked that something was going to blow up and Washu would yell at her! "OH NO! THERE'S TOO MANY BUTTONS!!!" Mihoshi screamed over the sirens. She heard loud clanking and whirring and looked up to see a large cannon-like machine turn itself to where Washu and Tenchi where, and lights came on all over it as it powered up. There was a bright white flash, and a loud BOOM! Mihoshi instinctively crouched down and covered her head to avoid any debris, hoping the explosion wouldn't be too big. To her surprise, there wasn't one, it was just a very loud noise, and Mishoshi uncovered her head and looked up. She saw Ayeka, Sasami, Ryo-ohki, Washu, and Ryoko looking down at her ominously. Mihoshi's vision blurred as tears began to form in her eyes. "Do you have any idea what you have just done?" Washu said in a low voice, causing Mihoshi to shudder a bit. "I-..I don't know! .I'm sorry!! But it-" she sniffled. "You're SORRY?" Ryoko said sharply. Mihoshi fell back onto her rear as the group closed in and surrounded her, sliding back a little. "I really can't believe that YOU could do something like this!" Ayeka snorted. Mihoshi looked at Sasami, who was also frowning at her, and began to cry. "Imm...sorry!! I tried to stop it but! WWAAAAAHHH!!!" Suddenly their faces turned from angry to joyful. "It's the greatest thing you've ever done!!!" they all said in unison, parting to reveal a whole bunch of Tenchis strewn about the floor, dazed from being cloned. "I shall see you rewarded for this deed!!" exclaimed Ayeka. Mihoshi slowly stopped crying and wiped her eyes, confused. "Huh?" Ryoko picked her up and led them over to the Tenchis. "Now there is a Tenchi for each of us!! I don't have to fight with spoiled Princess anymore!" the space pirate said, dropping her and picking up a Tenchi and hugging him (though the Tenchi was wearily telling her to stop it). Mihoshi stood up and looked around. There seemed to be just enough for everyone: Ayeka was doing her best to try to get her Tenchi to wake up, Sasami and Ryo-ohki where talking to another, Washu was chasing a Tenchi down and shouting about a sample, and there was another Tenchi who was just sitting up. Mihoshi rushed over to him and dived on him, giving the Tenchi and large hug. "Oh I can't believe it!" she shouted, wanting to cry again, but from joy this time. Now she would be able to be with Tenchi! "Ohhh I don't believe this!" said all the Tenchis in unison. She then suddenly woke up. It was morning now, and Mihoshi slowly opened her eyes and yawned. "Mmmmm. that was a strange dream." She sat up and looked to her left and saw that Tenchi was still asleep. She smiled and wondered how much Tenchi actually liked her. Enough to retreat to her when Ayeka and Ryoko got to fighting, she thought with a light laugh. She watched him for a while, thinking about all that had happened between them, though there wasn't all that much. She would have to change that, she thought, feeling a little embarrassed for thinking like that. Mihoshi got up and stretched, then decided to take a bath while everyone else was asleep. She gathered some fresh clothing. "I've got it!" shouted Ryoko, her eyes suddenly opening. She grinned, floating down from the beam, vanishing as she touched the ground, and reappearing in the room where she kept her clothes. "Haahaa! This is gonna be great! All I need now is some of my stuff and I'm set!" she stated, looking around the room, then a realization hit her. "Hey! Wait a minute. How am I going to carry all that stuff around?" Ryoko folded her arms across her chest, thinking. "This might have to wait." Ryo-ohki was wandering around in Washu's lab, trying to find her friend Sasami. Having searched the whole house last night and most of the lab this morning, she felt sure that Sasami must be somewhere in this darker part of it. Ryo-ohki was not surprised when she saw that there was a new machine here, but she got closer she realized that it was a tank. As she moved around from behind the control panels that surrounded most of it, she saw that the tank had Sasami inside of it. "Miya!" she exclaimed, hopping closer so she could see what Sasami was doing in the tank. Staring up, it looked like she was just sleeping in there. In an instant she changed into her humanoid Ryo-Chan form and tapped on the glass, smiling at her friend. Sasami didn't open her eyes and smile or wave back or even move at all. Frowning a bit, Ryo-ohki wondered if Sasami was sick. Maybe that's why she was in the tank! Maybe her mother had noticed Sasami was looking sick and put her in the tank to heal her! "Miiyyaa!" she stated, changing back to her cabbit form and rushed off to look for Washu so she could get Sasami out of the tank and play games with her. Washu was just coming out of her lab when she heard Ayeka calling for Sasami. Following her voice to the kitchen, she saw that Ayeka was looking kind of panicked. "Miss Washu! Have you seen Sasami anywhere? She didn't sleep in our room last night, and I don't know where she is!" Washu frowned a bit and pointed at her "I told you this before! I'm not helping you with anything unless you start calling me Little Washu!" Ayeka immediately became furious, and grabbed the little scientist by the collar. "THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CALLING YOU LITTLE! SASAMI IS MISSING!" she shouted. Washu shook her head. "Calm down. Sasami's in my lab. She spent the night in one of my new inventions!" Washu said proudly. Ayeka let go of her, looking worried now. "Why would she do that? There's nothing wrong with her is there?" Washu shook her head again. "No it's nothing serious. Sasami should be regaining consciousness in a few hours." Ayeka turned white. "WHAT!?" she shouted. Washu sighed, and gestured for Ayeka to follow. "Just come into my lab and I'll show you! Everything's under control. You know, I am the greatest scientific genius in the universe after all!" Ayeka, still white and half doubting that last sentence, followed Washu. "What is this??" Ayeka questioned as she looked at the tank Sasami was in. "Ask Sasami when she gets out. I don't want to have to explain it again." Washu said softly, checking the control panels to make sure they where still accurate. "Everything's perfect!" she stated happily. Ayeka stepped closer to the tank, the blue glow changing the color of her clothing, wondering why Sasami asked to be put in something like this. She stared at Sasami, noticing that without her hair tied like she usually had it she looked older, less child-like. "There was nothing wrong with her?" Ayeka asked, still a little nervous. Washu turned and looked up at Ayeka. "Physically, she's in perfect health. Emotionally, that's different. Something was bothering her, that was obvious. She wouldn't have wanted to be put in there otherwise. Ayeka, I suggest that you talk to her when she gets out." Saying nothing, Ayeka turned and watched Sasami again. Washu decided that she would leave her alone, and began to walk back to the labs exit. Ryo-ohki came out from behind a control panel and rushed to Washu, hopping up into her arms. The cabbit began to frantically communicate with Washu to find out what was going on with her friend Sasami, and Washu smiled and began to explain it to her. Mihoshi and Ryoko where now taking a bath, having nothing else to do for the moment. "It's so calm around here today! And we've been in here for almost an hour! I cant believe it time passes so quickly!" Mihoshi exclaimed. "I know. And I haven't seen anyone else but you today, and Tenchi hasn't been anywhere I've looked!" Ryoko replied, casually turning to Mihoshi to see that she was blushing. "What's wrong with you?" she questioned. Mihoshi laughed lightly, and began making her first fingers poke into each other, (still blushing) answering, "Oh nothing! But Tenchi...he asked if he could..I can't believe he! Oh maybe he does!" Ryoko stared at her (a sweat bead appearing on her head). "What are you talking about Mihoshi? And what about Tenchi?! You didn't do anything to him did you?" Before Mihoshi could answer, the device on her wrist began to beep, and she quickly stood up and looked at it. "Oh my! Sorry Ryoko but duty calls!" Mihoshi exclaimed, pulling the pink cube out of her hair, twisting it a few ways and vanishing before Ryoko could strangle her. As Mihoshi appeared on the cockpit of her ship, she shouted in triumph, raising her arms up. "Wow! I got it right the first time! Oh yeah!" Immediately after that, the screen that was blinking 'Emergency' changed to reveal the face of her superior, who immediately recognized the fact that she was standing in something of a victory pose wearing nothing but a wet towel. His eyes went wide in surprise, and he shouted "Mihoshiiiii!!" as he fell backwards off his chair. Mihoshi looked down at herself and realized this too. "!!!!!." She turned blue, threw her hands over her body, and rushed out of the cockpit screaming. Tenchi yawned as he stepped into the living room. It was surprisingly quiet today, and this made him a little nervous. What was wrong with him? He always felt nervous around the ladies, never knowing what they would do, but now that they where nowhere in sight and all was quiet he was still nervous! He could just sense the impending doom and knew that soon they where all going to storm in and rush him at once or something. He laughed softly at the thought of this, and decided to just make the most of it. Tenchi plunked himself down onto the couch and sat there in the silence, just thinking. He heard Ryoko come in and go into Washu's lab, and then they both came out and went outside. He wondered what was going on, but figured he would find out soon enough. Tenchi heard a whoosh, and felt a slight blast of air, followed by the sound of someone landing behind him. Figuring it was Ryoko, he turned around to see that it wasn't Ryoko at all, but someone who looked a little different. "What?-" was all he got out as she pricked him on the neck with a needle. Tenchi jumped back, but he didn't had time to react to anything, because about six seconds later he suddenly felt weak and lost consciousness. The woman smiled and tossed the pin away, catching Tenchi before he hit the ground. Then they vanished. A few minutes after Mihoshi had left, Ryoko had gotten out of the bath and turned her attention to completing her share of some of the chores. Grumbling as she swept the walkway that lead to the stairs, she began to laugh as she thought of how much Ayeka was going to yell about having to sweep the bottom half of all those stairs! When she had let it all out, she heard something, and turned to see somebody walking towards her. He was wearing a black and gray outfit that Ryoko had never seen before, so she guessed that he wasn't an earthling or Jurian. "Do you need something?" she asked him. The man nodded and answered "Yes. I'm looking for a woman named Hakubi Washu. I believe that she is here, isn't she?" Ryoko was a bit surprised, and stared at him for a moment, trying to figure him out. The man grinned slightly. "I can wait if you want to finish what you're doing." With that Ryoko said "Good point. Come on", turned and walked to the house, the man following. "Wait here for a moment and I'll get her." Ryoko said as she entered the house, leaving the man at the front of the house. He grinned, stepping out onto the grass as he stared at the lake and the mountains. It was so quiet here that you could her the wind and birds chirping. Nothing like what he'd had to deal with for the past few years. He could see why Washu was here now. After a few minutes he heard the sound of the door opening again and turned to see who had come out. Washu stood there in the doorway, looking at the man with a slightly surprised expression. His clothing looked familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place him. The hair, and his pale gray eyes only amplified this. She had only known a few people with pale gray eyes, and ... Then it hit her. "Rane?!" she gasped. The man nodded, still grinning. Ryoko came out, standing behind Washu, just in time to see the her "mothers" reaction. Ryoko was a bit baffled by this, and turned to Washu. "Hey! What's this about? Who is this guy?" Washu sighed, knowing she would have to answer. "His name is Rane Geldahal. He was an.old friend of mine. But I thought he was dead.. After that attack." Rane's smile faded after this statement, and he began to walk up to them. "Is that what happened?" he said. Ryoko tensed, ready for action, but Washu grabbed Ryoko's arm and gave her a look that told her to stop, so she did. Washu took a few steps forward towards the guy, and stood there. "Do whatever you want to Rane. I know why you came here. I can't say that I truly regret it, and you know I probably deserve it." The man's expression did not change, but he raised his hand a bit and gathered a bluish energy ball, then closed his hand to form a dark blue energy sword that looked similar to Kagato's. Ryoko tensed up again, ready to fire an energy ball at the man if he tried anything, but Washu just stood there with a look of sorrow. Rane quickly swung the sword up to Washu's face, grinning a little. Washu flinched, but then felt the blade pressing against her cheek. Rane then pulled the sword back and lowered it to the ground. Washu felt a stinging sensation on her cheek, then put her hand on it and looked to see that she was bleeding. He had only given her a cut? "Rane?" was all she said. He was still grinning as he jabbed the blade into the ground in front of him, staring her directly in the eyes. "No.. you and your creation have paid enough penance for that." Washu looked back at Ryoko for a second and mentally told her to stay back. She then turned back to Rane and gave him a small smile, though she did have tears in her eyes. "There was no way you could be alive! I saw you..get." Washu stated, trailing off. Rane shook his head, speaking softly. "Torn apart? Or left for dead? How many times was that?..Washu, I thought you would have at least known enough about me to realize that as a scientist myself I would not have let something like that kill me." Ryoko said nothing as she watched this, but wondered if everyone Washu knew was like this. She barely understood them! With this the sighed and shook his head "I could still try to kill you, but I know that would not be the way of things. My mission here is not to destroy, but to repair what has already been destroyed." Washu truly smiled at this, nodded, and said "You know it may take a while." Rane nodded back, opened his hand, and the energy blade vanished. "Now, Washu. I believe that we can help each other out." Washu's face slowly returned to normal, though the cut was still there, a little trail of blood down her cheek. "And Rane..I have a favor to ask of you." Rane crossed his arms across his chest and replied "That's all right. What is it?" Washu's smile returned and she put her hands on her cheeks, turning away from him slightly. "Could you please call me Little Washu.all right??" Ryoko looked stunned, and fell over. Rane got a puzzled look on his face, and then began to laugh. "I am little you know!" Washu exclaimed. To be continued. Note: This takes place a few months after the 13th episode in the first OAV series (so NO Kiyone), and it had nothing to do with the movies because I haven't seen them yet. I tried to make this close to the series, but also to show some changes that the group might be going through. After all, anything that stays the same for too long gets stagnant, I think. Hope you like it!