All characters are property of AIC and Pioneer LCD except one. This 
story line is based on the Tenchi Muyo OVA and Tenchi Universe. It is 
not my intentions to rip off other peoples' work so if this story 
resembles another, it does so inadvertently.


Ryoko True

	"Let me get this straight. My goal is to strike out Ayeka?" Ryoko 
asked. 
	"That's the plan." Noboyuki said from third base.
	"I think I'm going to enjoy this game." Ryoko said to herself. 
She reached down into a milk crate and pulled out a baseball. She 
noticed rust colored smudges from the clay that were beaten into the 
worn leather of the ball and ran her fingers over them. She gripped the 
ball examining its firmness. It was surprisingly hard. She tossed it 
about a foot in the air. Ryoko was again surprised by the weight of the 
ball. She looked at Tenchi who was playing first base.
	"Strike out Ayeka." Ryoko confirmed
	"That's right." Tenchi reconfirmed. Ryoko took a step back and 
looked towards home plate. Ayeka was standing at the plate with the bat 
cocked and ready to swing. Ryoko gave Ayeka a quick grin. She drew her 
arm back and then hurled the ball with all her might. The ball sizzled 
towards home plate before it stuck an invisible object and bounced into 
the visiting team dugout.
	"That doesn't seem fair." Ryoko protested. Ayeka had raised her 
shield at the last moment.
	"Why did you do that?" Katsuhito said from behind the plate.
	"That ball was coming at me rather quickly." Ayeka said 
nervously.
	"It's suppose to. Don't be so apprehensive." Katsuhito advised.
	"Ryoko, you don't have to throw it so hard. This is just 
practice." Tenchi said.
	"I'll tone it down a bit." Ryoko replied. She reached down into 
the milk crate and grabbed another ball. Ryoko took a step back then 
launched another pitch towards home plate. Ayeka ducked in the nick of 
time. The ball shattered the rim of her protective helmet and what was 
left of the helmet flew into the chain-link backstop.  Ayeka was 
sitting next to home plate a little shaken.
	"Do I get half a point for the helmet?" Ryoko asked.
	"Are you alright Ayeka?" Katsuhito asked.
	"You did that on purpose!" Ayeka yelled as she pointed an 
accusing finger at Ryoko.
	"Of coarse I did. I'm trying to get a strike, right?" Ryoko 
admitted. 
	"Ryoko, a strike is when the ball crosses the plate and the 
batter doesn't hit it. You are not trying to drill the batter." Tenchi 
explained.
	"Then why do they call it a strike if it doesn't hit something?" 
Ryoko asked.
	"Did Kiyone get hit when I pitched to her?" Tenchi shouted.
	"I just thought you were a lousy shot." Ryoko admitted. Tenchi 
lowered his head in frustration. 
	"Maybe it's time we took a break." Kiyone offered from second 
base.
	"That's an excellent idea!" Noboyuki spouted.
	"Lunch break everyone!" Kiyone yelled to the outfield. Mihoshi, 
Sasami and Washu ran in from their positions. Everyone gathered around 
the picnic baskets that Sasami prepared. Everyone passed around plates 
and took what they wanted. It had been a while since everyone all had 
the day off at the same time. Tenchi suggested that everyone make good 
use this time off. It was a warm summer day and he thought it would be 
a good idea for everyone to get together and play some baseball. Washu 
was kind enough to create a device that would simulate a baseball field 
behind the house. Unfortunately for Tenchi, teaching baseball to six 
alien girls is proving to be a bit more than he bargained for. 
	"If you call it a strike when some one misses, then what is a 
ball named after?" Ryoko asked.
	"I don't know. That's just the way it is." Tenchi said.
	"This sport doesn't make a lot of since." Ryoko complained. 
	"Oh come on Ryoko, it's too nice of a day to be worried about the 
little things." Mihoshi offered. Washu turned her attention to 
Mihoshi's feet then looked Mihoshi in the face before she spoke.
	"You're right Mihoshi. I think I'll follow your lead and not 
worry about the little things. Like the hundreds of little things that 
are crawling up your pant leg." Washu said. Mihoshi looked towards her 
feet and was horrified to see that Washu was telling the truth. Mihoshi 
jumped and started beating her pant legs with her hands.
"Mihoshi has ants in her pants." Sasami laughed. In the 
excitement, Mihoshi accidentally kicked Kiyone's plate into her 
partner's face. The plate fell to the blanket but the food remained 
stuck to Kiyone's face. Ryoko laughed uncontrollably.
"Are you alright Kiyone?" Tenchi asked.
"I'm going to kill her." A muffled voice announced from behind a 
heap of rice. Mihoshi was finally able to rid her pants of the invading 
insects and everyone finished the remainder of their lunch. After 
lunch, Ryoko was at bat. She stood at the plate and tapped the clay 
from her shoes. Ayeka was now pitching.
"Turn about is fair play, right Ryoko?" Ayeka said smugly. 		
"If you think you are going to nail me with those tooth pick 
arms, you have another thing coming." Ryoko shouted.
"We'll see, demon." Ayeka contested. Ayeka bent over and picked a 
ball from out of the milk crate then stood ready. Ryoko made a few 
practice swings then stepped into the batter's box. 
"Sometime today, Ayeka!" Ryoko shouted. Ayeka wound up and 
pitched a fast ball. The ball sped towards the plate. Ryoko pivoted and 
let loose with everything she had. 	
	"Strike!" Katsuhito yelled after catching the ball. Ryoko turned 
to Lord Katsuhito and looked as though she was going to say something. 
She then turned back to face the mound.
	"What happened, Ryoko? I thought you were a natural athlete. 
Isn't that what you said this morning?" Ayeka taunted.
	"You don't know how happy I am that the pitcher's spot is 
directly in my line of fire. I'm going to give the opportunity to 
become the MTV." Ryoko stated. Ayeka took a big gulp as she noticed the 
fact Ryoko just stated.
	"That's MVP" Tenchi corrected. Ayeka grabbed another ball from 
the milk crate. Ryoko ground her teeth and drew the bat back. Ayeka 
once again threw the ball with all she had. Ryoko let loose once more 
and connected. The ball flew at a forty-five degree angle to its 
original path and hit the chain-link fence.
	"Foul Ball!" Katsuhito shouted.
	"Now what and the hell is a foul ball?" Ryoko asked. 
	"It's a hit ball that counts as a strike against you." Tenchi 
explained.
	"That's not fair! I hit the damn thing." Ryoko complained.
	"You have to hit it into the field of play." Noboyuki pointed 
out.
	"I've had enough. You just get that ball near me Ayeka and see 
what happens." Ryoko threatened. 
	"We all know what's going to happen. You will swing and miss 
again." Ayeka said. Ryoko didn't reply. She drew the ash club behind 
her and made small circles with it, accentuating her impatience. Ayeka 
reached into the crate once more and pulled out a ball. She stood ready 
at the mound. Ryoko's teeth showed though her part lips. Ayeka let 
loose her hardest pitch. Once more, Ryoko swung with all she had. The 
sound of the bat shattering sounded like a bolt of lightning striking 
only a few feet away. The hit ball burned towards the mound and 
impacted the milk crate like an artillery projectile. If Ayeka hadn't 
put her shield up at the sound of the bat breaking, it is very possible 
she would have been seriously injured if not killed by the baseball 
shrapnel that followed. Tenchi just manage to leap out of the way of 
the broken bat. It came to rest halfway between first base and the back 
fence in right field. The original baseball dug a shallow trough into 
center field and came to a halt right in front of Sasami. 
"This is a dangerous sport." Sasami commented. Baseballs from the 
milk crate continued to rain from above a good ten seconds after 
impact.
	"Ohh-Yeahhhh! How many points do I get for that?" Ryoko asked. 
Tenchi looked at his Grandfather who was looking through the rulebook. 
Katsuhito then looked to Tenchi and shrugged his shoulders.	
	"I guess since we aren't going to be able to get the ball out of 
the ground right away, we can rule it a ground-rule double." Tenchi 
rationalized.
	"Is that good?" Ryoko asked.
	"For someone's first time, I would say that is outstanding." Lord 
Katsuhito explained. Ayeka was still rattled from the exploding crate. 	
	"I think I've had enough baseball for the day." Ayeka managed.	
		
	"I agree." Kiyone said. 
"Let's pick up these balls and head back." Tenchi said. The group 
started to pick up the balls and Washu hit a button and the field 
folded itself up into a briefcase. Everyone headed home.

*		*		*

"Well, well, well. I think we have finally found our girl." A 
woman spoke from the shadows of the bridge. 
"It appears that way. The space pirate Ryoko is somewhere on that 
Planet." The ship's computer clarified.
"How much longer until we are there The woman asked. 	
"Approximately five minutes." The computer announced.
"Good, good. Everything is going according to plan." The woman 
spoke again. Moments later, an alarm sounded from the console. 
"What is that?" The woman asked.
"There are beings who possess the power of Jurai on that planet." 
The computer stated.
"Of course there is. The report said so. Can you get a lock on 
them?" The woman asked. 
"Targets locked." The computer confirmed.
"On screen." Ordered the woman. A video screen popped up and all 
the occupants of the Masaki residence appeared before her.
"Well. Lord Yosho, Princess Ayeka and Princess Sasami are all 
here. Apparently the boy who possesses the power of Jurai is friendly 
with my cousins. What a nice surprise! I guess we are going to have a 
small reunion." The woman declared. 
"The Space Pirate Ryoko is in close proximity to the Princesses." 
The computer observed.
"What?!" The woman yelled. The screen panned over to Ryoko who 
was trailing the group.
"Do the princesses know what she has done. How can they tolerate 
being around her." The woman thought out loud.
"I guess I should pay my respects before I get down to business." 
The woman announced. The ship continued to speed towards earth.

*		*		*

As the group walked towards the house, a huge spacecraft appeared 
in the skies above the Masaki residence.
	"Who is it Ayeka?" Sasami asked. 
	"I don't know Sasami. It's definitely a Jurai ship but I've never 
seen that design before." Ayeka explained. The ship came to a stop in 
front of the house. The group walked to the house and waited. Moments 
later, a woman appeared on the walkway. She was about the same height 
as Ayeka. She had straight, long, jet-black hair and was dressed as 
Jurai royalty. Her eyes were dark violet in color. If the day had been 
any cloudier, they would appear black. The attractive young woman 
approached the group.
	"Good afternoon Princess Ayeka and Princess Sasami." The woman 
greeted with a bow. 
	"Good afternoon. I'm sorry but I do not recall having met you 
before." Ayeka replied.
	"We have met before but you were too young to remember me. I am 
Katsume Saito." The woman said.
	"You are Lady Saito?" Ayeka said taking a step back. 
	"Come now my Princess, there is no need for that. I mean you no 
harm. We are family." Lady Saito said. 
	"What is your business here?" Ayeka inquired.
	"I've come for the power that destroyed the Royal Palace and a 
large portion of Jurai seven hundred years ago." Lady Saito explained. 
	"Then your business is with me." Ryoko offered. Lady Saito turned 
and her face tightened. Her head tilted forward so her brow cast an 
ominous shadow across her eyes. Lady Saito's eyes looked like black 
dots that no light could escape. Ryoko could plainly see the expression 
on Lady Saito's face.
	"If you have a problem, here I am." Ryoko taunted.
	"Katsume!" Lord Katsuhito yelled. Lady Saito broke her glare at 
Ryoko to see Lord Katsuhito approach.
	"Lord Yosho, it has been a long time." Lady Saito greeted. 
	"This is my home and you will treat all the people who live here 
like family." Lord Katsuhito explained. Lady Saito whipped around to 
face Ryoko once again. Her hateful expression returned.
	"I must beg your pardon Lord Yosho, but I'm not going to treat 
that beast any differently than I had planned on treating her." Lady 
Saito stated.
	"If that is the case then you can leave. You are in Jurai 
territory and you are breaking the law. I can even have these two 
Galaxy Police detectives arrest you." Lord Katsuhito explained as he 
gestured at Kiyone and Mihoshi.
	"I'm sorry this bitter sweet reunion has come to such an abrupt 
and sorrowed conclusion but I'm not here for family matters anyway. I'm 
here on business." Lady Saito explained.
	"What type of business?" Ayeka asked. 
	"I managed to get a hold of the report Detective Mihoshi filed 
regarding the Kagato incident. I found the part about the nature of 
this monster's power especially riveting. I only think it's fair that 
she treat me to the secret of her power after all that she has put me 
through." Lady Saito said as she removed what looked like a gun from 
her sleeve. She quickly aimed it at Ryoko and fired. The weapon 
discharged a blue beam that struck Ryoko in the chest. Ryoko struggled 
as hard as she could and managed to fire an energy blast. Lady Saito 
deflected the blast but she wasn't paying attention to where she 
redirected it. The blast hit the ground next to Sasami and knocked her 
unconscious.
"SASAMI!!" Ayeka screamed as she ran to her injured sister. The 
beam from the hand-held weapon continued to fire as Ryoko screamed in 
pain. The beam ceased and Ryoko collapsed to the ground. Lady Saito 
opened her hand. A small red gem rested in her palm. Washu looked at 
Ryoko's wrist. The gem wasn't there.
"RYOKO!" Tenchi yelled. He removed the master key from his pocket 
and generated his blade. Lady Saito turned to face Tenchi.
"The master key? This boy is your successor, Lord Yosho?" Lady 
Saito asked. Lord Katsuhito nodded with a grim expression. 
"Well, then I'm glad I came when I did." Lady Saito said as she 
squared off against Tenchi. She produced a long, slender, violet blade 
in her right hand and a short, slender, violet blade in her left. She 
held both blades parallel to the ground and pointed at Tenchi. She 
stood with a slight crouch.
"Let's see how well you have been trained." Lady Saito stated 
with a smile.
"That doesn't seem fair." Tenchi said.
"I know but I'll go easy on you." Lady Saito said. Tenchi looked 
to his grandfather.
"She's not kidding, Tenchi." Katsuhito clarified.
"You mean you don't know?" Lady Saito spouted incredulously.
"Don't know what?" Tenchi asked with confusion. Lady Saito 
laughed.
"Who do you think trained Lord Yosho?" Lady Saito asked 
rhetorically.  
"Great!" Tenchi complained. Lady Saito smiled again.
"Stay on guard, Tenchi." His grandfather advised. The two circled 
each other until Tenchi charged. Lady Saito blocked his attack with her 
long blade. She tried to bring her short blade between Tenchi's arms 
but Tenchi saw this, deflected the attack and rolled away from her.
"Not bad at all. It took nearly ten years for Lord Yosho to learn 
how to defeat that attack." Lady Saito noted. Lady Saito lunged at 
Tenchi with her short blade. Tenchi blocked the assault. Lady Saito 
moved the short blade to prevent Tenchi's sword from countering her 
next attack. She swept her long blade low to strike Tenchi's legs. 
Tenchi leaped out of the way. That was exactly what Lady Saito wanted. 
Lord Katsuhito put his hand to his forehead. He knew what was coming 
next. Just as Tenchi was starting to come down from his leap, Lady 
Saito launched her right leg into the air and her foot slammed into 
Tenchi's gut. Tenchi had the wind knocked out of him. Lady Saito 
supported his weight for a moment before removing her foot from 
Tenchi's stomach. Tenchi landed on his hands and knees but he 
instinctively attacked with a sweep. Tenchi's left leg knocked Lady 
Saito's legs from beneath her and she landed flat on her back. She was 
stunned for a moment then performed a handspring and landed in her 
original fighting stance. Tenchi and Lady Saito stood facing each other 
both a little winded. Lady Saito looked to Lord Katsuhito who was 
wearing a smile.
"I see you have come up with a few tricks of your own." Lady 
Saito said to Lord Katsuhito. She looked back to Tenchi and examined 
his stance.
"You should never lose sight of the basics." Lady Saito 
instructed. She thrusted her long blade at Tenchi's head. He knocked it 
out of the way. She swung her short blade behind Tenchi's blade. Tenchi 
couldn't move his sword at all. Lady Saito had pinned his blade between 
hers. 
"This fight is over." Lady Saito stated. She cranked down on her 
weapons causing Tenchi to loose his grip. The master key flew out of 
his hand. Lord Katsuhito caught the key. Tenchi panicked. He was 
weaponless against his grandfather's master. Lady Saito saw this and 
took the advantage. Her weapons disappeared, confusing Tenchi further. 
Tenchi was soon being pounded from every direction imaginable. The next 
thing he knew, he was in a daze and lying sprawled out on the ground. 
Lady Saito was standing over him in an offensive fighting stance. She 
relaxed and turned to Lord Katsuhito.
"Good overall but he needs work." Lady Saito mused. Washu stepped 
up to Lady Saito. 
"Is there something I can do for you little girl." Lady Saito 
said with a smile as she bent down to the little girl. Washu brought 
her orange blade to within an inch of Lady Saito's neck. There was no 
way for Lady Saito to defend herself.
"You should never lose sight of the basics." Lord Katsuhito 
repeated.
"What have you done to my daughter?" Washu asked. Lady Saito 
looked confused for a moment.
"You must be the notorious Washu." Lady Saito said. Washu didn't 
reply. 
"If you kill me now, Miuki will kill you in kind." Lady Saito 
explained as she looked to her ship. Washu still didn't reply. Lady 
Saito vanished. Washu lunged for her but she was already gone. The 
Jurai ship, Miuki, brought its weapons to bare on the Masaki house. 
Washu grabbed Ryo-Ohki and threw her over the house. The cabbit 
transformed in time to absorb the brunt of the attack.
"Ryo-Ohki, Attack!" Washu ordered. Ryo-Ohki charged her weapons 
and unleashed a devastating volley of cannon fire towards the Jurai 
ship. Miuki didn't have a chance to open its light hawk wings. Ryo-
Ohki's attack splinter shards of wood from Miuki's hull. Lady Saito 
thought discretion was the better part of valor and turned to beat a 
hasty retreat.
"Yagami!" Kiyone yelled. The large Galaxy Police ship emerged 
from the clouds and blocked Miuki's escape. Miuki opened its wings and 
fired at Yagami. One lucky shot smashed in Yagami's bridge and disabled 
the ships navigation and guidance systems. Yagami listed hard to port 
and descended rapidly toward the earth.
"NOOOO!" Kiyone yelled as Yagami fell towards the group.
"Ryo-Ohki!" Washu yelled through her psychic link. Ryo-Ohki raced 
across the sky and rammed Yagami out of the way. The GP ship fell into 
the side of the mountain and smoldered.
"Kiyone, she shot down our ship." Mihoshi observed.
"No Kidding!" Kiyone hissed at her partner. Miuki took off for 
space. Ryo-Ohki transformed back into her cabbit self and collapsed 
from exhaustion. 

*		*		*


"Look at what I have?" Lady Saito laughed as she showed the 
computer the contents of her right hand. 
"You actually got it!" The ship's computer stated. Lady Saito's 
cheerful expression suddenly turned sour.
"Of coarse I got it. You doubted me?" Lady Saito questioned.
"I knew you were going to get it but I didn't think you would get 
it so fast." The computer explained.
"I thought it was going to be a little more difficult as well." 
Lady Saito admitted.
"I guess they drastically underestimated me." She concluded.
"Or maybe they thought you just wanted to visit with relatives 
you haven't seen in a long time." The computer commented. Lady Saito's 
expression softened for a moment then became angry.
"Just fly the ship. If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Set 
a coarse for Kilken. I'll use my lab there to figure out how to use 
this thing. Prepare the lab for my arrival as well. I'm going to be a 
little busy." Lady Saito said.
"What about Ryoko and the other gems?" The computer asked.
"I guess I made light of their stubbornness. I'll figure out how 
to draw from the gem's power. Once I figure that out, I'll come back to 
collect the other two and finish Ryoko. If you need me for anything, 
I'll be in my quarters." Lady Saito said as she walked off the bridge.  

*		*		*
Washu burst into her lab and everyone else followed. Tenchi carried 
Sasami to one of the tables. Katsuhito carried in Ryoko. Washu produced 
a slew of instruments and started examining Sasami first.
"Is she going to be alright, Miss Washu?" Ayeka asked. Washu 
raised her hand for Ayeka to be silent.
"She took quite a beating but she will recover. It's going to 
take some time though." Washu said. Washu shifted her attention to 
Ryoko. Tenchi watched with concern, as did everyone. Washu's eyes 
widened and she noticeably started working faster.
"What is it, Washu?" Tenchi asked. Washu looked frustrated for a 
moment. 
"Kiyone, come over here. The rest of you, out." Washu ordered.
"What about.." Tenchi started.
"No questions. Leave!" Washu said loudly.
Everyone, except for Kiyone and Washu, walked out of the lab. Tenchi 
checked the door as he left. Sure enough, Washu locked it.
"Who is Katsume Saito?" Tenchi asked as he turned to Lord 
Katsuhito.
	"She is my cousin." Lord Katsuhito replied.
	"She was Duchess of Planet Kilken and also the head of the 
Empyreal Defense Council. She wasn't satisfied with the 
responsibilities she was given and sought to gain more prominence in 
the eyes of the Holy Council. She spent most of her time trying to find 
a way to gain political power and also find a way to better her mastery 
of the power of Jurai. Unfortunately, her political preoccupation 
caused her to neglect her responsibility as head of the Empyreal 
Defense Council. When Ryoko attacked Jurai virtually unchallenged, Lady 
Saito was blamed. She lost the majority of her political backing and 
then she tried to organize a revolt against the king. The king quickly 
put an end to the revolt and Lady Saito was forced to flee Jurai. She 
has been living in exile ever since. This was the first time I've seen 
her since before I left Jurai." Katsuhito finished. 
	"Why is she here and what does she want with Ryoko?" Tenchi 
asked.
	"Apparently, she blames Ryoko for her fall from power. I imagine 
she is a little bitter." Lord Katsuhito said. 
	"What are we going to do now?" Ayeka asked. 	
	"We are going to have to wait for Washu to finish with Ryoko and 
Sasami. She is the only one who can track down Lady Saito." Tenchi 
explained.

*		*		*

Washu's hands were racing between her keyboard and fidgeting with 
different types of equipment. Kiyone was also hurrying around the lab 
fetching things that Washu asked for. Washu's typing slowed and finally 
stopped. Kiyone was out of breath when she walked up beside Washu. 
Kiyone tapped Washu on the shoulder.
	"Why me?" Kiyone managed. Washu looked over her shoulder when she 
answered. 
	"Because you are the most objective of all of the people who know 
Ryoko. I needed someone with a level head. Tenchi couldn't help. Nor 
could, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Noboyuki, or even Lord Katsuhito." Washu said.
	"I guess I should be honored." Kiyone mused.
	"It is a virtue." Washu said as she turned her attention back to 
Ryoko. The two stood in silence as they looked at Ryoko and Sasami.
	"How is Sasami?" Kiyone asked.
	"She has a mild concussion, superficial abrasions and a sprained 
ankle. She will be up and around in no time." Washu said.
	"How about Ryoko?" Kiyone asked in a more subdued tone. Washu 
didn't reply for a few moments.
	"She has third degree burns over 60% of her body. She fractured 
her skull in several places when she hit the ground and her brain is 
swollen. She could also have some neurological damage. She's in a 
coma." Washu said as she lowered her head. Kiyone looked at Ryoko. She 
couldn't believe that the person lying on the table in front of her was 
Ryoko. It was less than an hour ago when she was laughing and having 
the time of her life. Now she was fighting for survival on an operating 
room table. She had a number of tubes sticking out of her body in 
different place to let the fluid drain. Her skin was badly discolored 
from the burns she received. Blood was seeping through her head 
bandages and her face looked puffy. Kiyone looked at Washu. Washu's 
eyes were watery and her mouth was drawn tight to hold back the flood 
of emotions that her body wanted so desperately to let out but Washu's 
will held fast. 
"Get Tenchi in here with the Master Key, Now!" Washu demanded. 
Kiyone could tell by her tone that Washu was serious. Kiyone ran for 
the living room. Washu looked at Ryoko and almost burst into tears once 
more but something in her prevented her from doing so. She quickly 
closed the drapes around Ryoko. The door to the lab flung open and the 
little crab noisemaker was ripped from the jam and skipped off the 
marble floor a few times before it came to rest underneath a table. 
Tenchi ran up to Washu. Kiyone followed him.
"How are they? How are Sasami and Ryoko?" Tenchi blurted.
"I need the gems." Washu said flatly.
"What for?" Tenchi questioned.
"Now!" Washu yelled. Tenchi held up the hilt of the key and 
closed his eyes. The two gems disappeared from the hilt then reappeared 
in Washu's hand. She looked at them for a moment then closed her eyes. 
The red stones levitated just above her palm then disappeared once 
more.
"Where did they go?" Tenchi asked.
"Ryoko needs them in order to heal faster." Washu explained. 
"How are they?" Tenchi asked once more.
"Sasami will be fine." Washu said.
"And Ryoko?" Tenchi asked.
"It's hard to say." Washu stated. Tenchi's expression changed 
from frightened to determined.
 "I want to see her." Tenchi announced.
"You can't." Washu said.
"Why not?" Tenchi asked with surprise.
"I know that she wouldn't want you to see her in her current 
condition." Washu explained. Tenchi looked frightened once more and 
started to step towards the drawn curtain.
"Didn't you hear me. I said you can't see her." Washu said with a 
little consternation. 
"I don't care." Tenchi stated as he continued his stride. Washu 
stood between Tenchi and Ryoko's bed. Washu spread her arms to block 
Tenchi but Tenchi pushed his way right past her. Washu jumped in front 
of Tenchi and slapped him. Tenchi flinched and then spun back around 
and slapped Washu with the back of his hand. Kiyone was about to pull 
her hair out from what she had just witnessed but she remained silent. 
Tenchi and Washu faced each other. Both of them looked at each other 
with utter shock. Washu couldn't believe Tenchi just hit her and Tenchi 
couldn't believe he just hit her either. Both realized that the tension 
was to blame.
"I'm sorry, Washu. It's just that I can't believe that she is 
really hurt that bad." Tenchi said.
"It's alright, Tenchi. I think that I needed that anyway. Ryoko 
is hurt pretty bad and we both need to respect what she wants." Washu 
explained. Tenchi nodded. He looked at Washu a little closer and could 
tell something wasn't quite right. We walked up to just in front of 
Washu and scrutinized her expression. Washu looked placid except for 
her teary eyes. Kiyone didn't understand what was going on until she 
saw Washu's bottom lip start to tremble and her eyes started to squint 
as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. Kiyone had seen enough. Tears 
streamed from Kiyone's eyes and she tightly clamped a hand over her 
mouth to stifle her sobs as she ran out the door. Tenchi put his hands 
on Washu's shoulders and pulled her into his chest. Washu couldn't hold 
back any longer. She gripped Tenchi's shirt, buried her face in his 
chest and burst into tears. Washu tried to explain herself but only the 
sobs of a worried mother came out of her mouth.  
"It's ok, Little Washu." Tenchi said as he tried to comfort 
Washu. Washu let loose everything she was trying to hold back until she 
finally regained her ability to speak.
	"It's my fault." Washu whispered.
	"What are you talking about?" Tenchi asked. Washu didn't reply.
	"How can this possibly be your fault?" Tenchi asked. Washu pushed 
herself away from Tenchi. She wiped her face on her sleeve and tried to 
regain composure. 
	"Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I worked on the Washu 
Super Tracker?" Washu asked. Tenchi nodded his confirmation.
	"Do you remember how I slept for five days afterward?" Washu 
continued.
	"Yes." Tenchi answered.
	"I had a dream during those five days that reminded me of a 
project I didn't finish. Ryoko isn't complete." Washu said. 
	"What do you mean?" Tenchi asked with genuine curiosity. 
	"I originally created Ryoko in order to release the full 
potential of the gems. In my dream I actually completed Ryoko. When I 
awoke, I was still contemplating whether I should finish her." Washu 
explained further.
	"Why didn't you?" Tenchi asked.
	"First of all, the power released could destroy Ryoko. Secondly, 
I thought you would have been reluctant to give Ryoko the gems. There 
was no danger so there wasn't any real reason to unleash a much more 
powerful Ryoko on the universe." Washu explained.
	"I can see your reason." Tenchi said.
	"Lastly and probably most importantly, Ryoko's appearance would 
have been altered and I doubt that she would like the idea of losing 
favor with you." Washu finished. Tenchi stared at the ground.
	"However, if Ryoko had possessed the full power of the gems, that 
woman wouldn't have been able to do what she did." Washu said. Tenchi 
looked up to face Washu.
	"That's nonsense!" Tenchi objected. Washu looked up with 
surprise.
	"Nonsense?!" Washu asked.
	"Yes, nonsense. There is no way you could have known what was 
going to happen today. You had everyone's best interests at heart by 
not giving Ryoko the gems. If you try to blame yourself for things you 
think you could have prevented when in all actuality there was nothing 
you could do, you would never be able to enjoy life. You would be too 
worried about preventing unavoidable accidents." Tenchi explained. 
Washu pondered Tenchi's explanation then looked at him and smiled. 
	"You're right." Washu said. Tenchi smiled. Washu looked back to 
the drawn curtain then looked back to Tenchi.
	"There is no more we can do for either of them right now. We need 
to take a break before we plan our next course of action." Washu said. 
Tenchi nodded. The two headed towards the lab door. Just before they 
walked out, Washu raised her right hand. The little crab noisemaker 
reappeared on the jam of the door and rattled as the two stepped out of 
the lab and into the living room. 

*		*		*

"What is happening in there? How is Sasami? Why is Kiyone 
crying?" Ayeka spoke relentlessly.
"Calm down, Ayeka." Washu advised. Ayeka desperately tried to 
calm herself down with limited success.
"We all just saw Kiyone run from your lab crying. We want to know 
if everything is alright." Ayeka explained. She was still having 
trouble controlling herself.
"Sasami is a little banged up but other than that, she'll be just 
fine. Ryoko is in serious condition. She is stable but her injuries are 
severe and she is in a coma. Her body will heal but I don't know if she 
will be able to recover from any neurological damage she might have 
sustained." Washu explained. Everyone let out a collective gasp. Ayeka 
never liked Ryoko or, at least she would never admit that she liked 
her. However, Ayeka wouldn't ever wish anything so terrible on her. 
Ayeka looked at Tenchi who was obviously very distracted by the day's 
tragedy. Mihoshi was balling her eyes out. She started when Kiyone ran 
out of Washu's lab and didn't show any signs of slowing. The room 
remained silent for a few minutes, except for Mihoshi. 
"What are we going to do?" Noboyuki asked. 
"I'll head back into the lab and try my best to speed along 
Sasami and Ryoko's recovery. But I don't want you to forget, Katsume 
Saito is still out there and she is working on a way to solve the 
secret of the gems' power. Once she does, she'll want the other two. We 
are going to have to track her down and find her before she is able to 
integrate the power of the gem into her being. I don't know why but, I 
have a really bad feeling about what would happen if she succeeds." 
Washu explained.  Kiyone stepped out of the bathroom and walked down 
the hall and into the living room. Her eyes were red and she was still 
sniffling. Mihoshi cried even harder after witnessing her partner's 
grief stricken face. Kiyone timidly made her way toward Washu and 
Tenchi. She stopped in front of the two, clutching a piece of toilet 
tissue as though loosening her grip would make her fall to pieces. 
Tenchi and Washu looked at one another then back to Kiyone. Washu 
stepped toward the Galaxy Police Detective.
"I'm sorry you had to see all that, Kiyone. As you can imagine, 
both Tenchi and I are under a great deal of stress right now. I assure 
you everything is fine." Washu said. Kiyone looked to Tenchi. 
"Washu's right, Kiyone. We weren't ourselves at the time but 
everything is closer to normal now." Tenchi explained. Kiyone was about 
to say something when Mihoshi nearly tackled her partner.
"Oh, Kiyone! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Mihoshi cried.
"What are you sorry for?" Kiyone asked as she tried to free 
herself from her partner's death grip.
"I don't know! I don't know?" Mihoshi continued to cry. 
"Let go of me, Mihoshi. I can't feel my arm." Kiyone pleaded. 
Mihoshi finally let Kiyone go but she continued to cry. Everyone sat 
down in the living room, except for Ayeka. She went into the kitchen to 
make everyone some tea. Tenchi felt a little more comfortable now that 
the scene from the lab was over. He knew that he wouldn't feel total 
relief until Ryoko was safe. His thoughts continued to wonder. When he 
saw her outside, her clothes were burned and only when his grand father 
picked her up could he tell she had really been hurt badly. Ryoko had 
been injured many times before but never to this extent. Tenchi 
couldn't imagine how bad she might look behind that curtain. Or maybe 
he could and just didn't want to.

*		*		*

"I'm sorry." A voice spoke from the darkness. Ryoko looked around 
and saw no one. She was standing by herself. 
"You are sorry for what?" Ryoko yelled.
"I was only trying to make you happy. Instead, I only brought you 
so much sadness." The voice spoke again. Ryoko could tell that it was a 
woman's voice but it was not familiar. The voice seemed to come from 
every direction.
"I don't care about that. I need to find my way out of here." 
Ryoko yelled. 
"I can not help you. Only you can find your way out." The voice 
spoke.
"Thanks for nothing." Ryoko yelled. There was no reply. 
"The least you can do is tell me who you are." Ryoko yelled 
again.
"There will be time for that later. Everyone you care for is in 
danger. You will not be able to help them from where you are now. You 
need to focus. You must do everything within your power to get out of 
this place. Tenchi needs you." The voice said.
"What's wrong with Tenchi?" Ryoko yelled. The voice didn't 
answer.
"I had better get to it then." Ryoko thought out loud. She lifted 
off and flew as fast as she could. She couldn't even tell she was 
moving. She had to try something. She fired small energy bursts into 
the ground so she could have an idea of where she was going.  
*		*		*

"I found you!" Washu yelled. She was typing franticly on her 
keyboard and the Washu Super Tracker responded by putting the energy 
pattern of the gem on her viewing screen.
"You found her, Miss Washu?" Ayeka asked.
"Yes. She is on Planet Kilken. The energy pattern is the same as 
the gem's but it is slightly distorted. She must have already started 
to experiment on the gem." Washu explained.
"What do you plan on doing?" Tenchi asked.
"We are at a serious disadvantage with Ryoko and Sasami not 
around to help. That doesn't mean we can't get the ball rolling, 
however. Ayeka, I want you to talk to the king and tell him everything 
that has taken place. That includes what happened to Sasami." Washu 
said.
"Father will go through the roof when he hears that. There's no 
telling how my mother is going to react. They will summon the entire 
Jurai Fleet at the very least." Ayeka said.
"Good. That's exactly what I want." Washu said.
"Kiyone and Mihoshi, I want you two to inform Galaxy Police 
Headquarters. Tell them the same and tell them if Saito succeeds, the 
entire galaxy is going to be in turmoil." Washu said. 
"Don't you think that is a bit much?" Kiyone asked.
"No, I don't" Washu clarified. Kiyone thought Washu was 
embellishing on the truth but her last statement just set her straight. 
Washu really thought the entire galaxy was in trouble. A scream rang 
out from the corner of Washu's lab. Everyone stopped what he or she was 
doing and ran to towards the screaming. Washu stopped everyone just 
before they reached the beds. She didn't want anyone to enter but her. 
She stepped behind the curtain to find Sasami screaming and in tears. 
She was out of her bed and had her arms wrapped tight around Ryoko's 
neck. Ryoko hadn't changed the slightest since she was brought into the 
room. Sasami looked up at Washu as she walked in from the other side of 
the curtain. She quickly hobbled over to Washu on her sprained ankle 
and tried to form words.
"MISS WASHU! WHY WON'T SHE WAKE UP? WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER? PLEASE 
DON'T LET HER DIE." Sasami screamed hysterically. 

*		*		*
Ryoko thought she heard something. She stopped so she could here more 
clearly. She heard a very faint voice. It was the voice of a child. She 
set down on the ground and concentrated hard. The voice was getting 
progressively louder. She strained with everything she had. The voice 
was familiar. It was the sound of a child crying in the distance. Ryoko 
exerted all her strength to make out what was being said. Ryoko could 
finally make out Sasami's voice.
	"Sasami." Ryoko whispered. 
	"Miss Washu. Why won't she wake up? What's wrong with her? Please 
don't let her die?" Sasami's voice said almost inaudibly. 
	"Is she talking about me?" Ryoko thought to herself. Ryoko 
launched herself skyward and flew straight up as fast as she could. Her 
eyes were shut tight and all she did was concentrate on the sound of 
Sasami's crying.
	"Hold on Sasami. I'm coming." Ryoko yelled.

*		*		*

Washu helped Sasami walk out from behind the curtain. 
"She'll be fine Sasami. She is just in a deep sleep." Washu said 
as she tried to comfort the young princess. Sasami's crying lessened 
and she sat down on the floor. Tenchi walked up to Sasami and picked 
her up. Sasami draped her arms around Tenchi's neck and cried into his 
shoulder. Tenchi looked at Washu pleadingly. Washu nodded and Tenchi 
walked towards the living room. Washu looked back to the curtain. She 
paused for a moment before she headed for the lab door. When she turned 
towards the door, she was confronted by a crying Mihoshi. Washu looked 
a little puzzled. 
"Is there something I can do for you, Mihoshi?" Washu questioned. 
Mihoshi bent over and picked up the little scientist in a bear hug. 
Washu tried to free herself to no avail. Washu heard something through 
her link with Ryoko.
"Mihoshi! Put me down now!" Washu ordered. Mihoshi continued to 
cry and refused to listen to Washu.
"Mihoshi, if you don't put me down this instant, I'm going to 
have to hurt you." Washu warned. Mihoshi still didn't listen.
"I warned you!" Washu yelled. The scientist leaned back and head 
butted Mihoshi on her nose. Mihoshi dropped Washu immediately. Washu 
was gone like a shot as soon as her feet hit the deck. Mihoshi dropped 
to her knees and grabbed her face with both hands. Washu stood next to 
Ryoko's bed and watched for any change. Washu could see Ryoko's eyes 
moving behind her eyelids. 
"You can do it, Ryoko. Fight! Don't give up. You are almost 
there." Washu yelled through her link. Ryoko's eyes cracked open and 
looked over to Washu.
"Do you know how annoying your little girl voice is." Ryoko 
whispered with great difficulty. Washu was smiling ear to ear.
"Well hello there crazy girl. You know it's not a very nice thing 
to scare your mother half to death." Washu joked. Ryoko tried to smile 
but every little motion she tried hurt a great deal.
"Bring Sasami here." Ryoko asked.
"Sure." Washu answered. Washu sprinted for the door and grabbed 
Mihoshi by the collar along the way. The door flung open and Washu saw 
Tenchi trying to comfort Sasami as she sat on the couch.
"Sasami. Someone wants to speak with you." Washu said with a 
smile. Tenchi's face lit up when he saw Washu's smile. Tenchi helped 
Sasami into Washu's lab. Once Sasami realized where she was going, she 
picked up the pace. Washu stopped Tenchi from coming in. He looked a 
little hurt but he understood. Sasami walked up next to Ryoko's bed. 
Ryoko leaned her head so she could see Sasami. Sasami squealed with 
delight when she saw Ryoko was awake. She through her arms around 
Ryoko. Ryoko screamed in pain through her psychic link but didn't say a 
word. Washu instinctively brought her hands over her ears. 
"I wish you wouldn't do that Ryoko." Washu said. Washu walked up 
next to Sasami. 
"Sasami, your arms are hurting Ryoko." Washu said. Sasami 
realized what Washu was talking about and jumped back. Ryoko sighed 
with relief.
"Oh, Ryoko. I'm so sorry." Sasami apologized. Ryoko smiled
"That's ok Sasami. You always hurt the ones you love the most." 
Ryoko joked.
Sasami smiled. Ryoko raised her hand to Sasami's face and brushed away 
a tear from underneath her eye. 
"Don't worry about me kiddo. I'll be ok. It was you that helped 
me find my way out of the darkness. Thank you." Ryoko finished. Sasami 
grabbed Ryoko's hand and squeezed it tight. 
"Go get some sleep, Sasami. You look worn out." Ryoko said. 
Sasami nodded and hobbled out of the curtained area.
"Washu, cover up this disgusting looking stuff then ask Tenchi to 
come and see me." Ryoko instructed. Washu agreed. She stood a few poles 
around Ryoko's bed and an opaque screen covered Ryoko so the only thing 
you could see was Ryoko's head and neck. Tenchi walked in and looked 
down at Ryoko. He thought he would be able to handle whatever he saw. 
He was wrong. Ryoko looked at him and struggled to smile. Tears formed 
in Tenchi's eyes.
"I hope those tears aren't for me." Ryoko whispered. 
"I'm sorry Ryoko." Was all Tenchi could manage through his choked 
up voice.
"What do you have to be sorry about?" Ryoko asked.
"I should have been able to protect you." Tenchi said.
"Don't be silly. I've never asked anyone to fight my fights for 
me. If you are going to blame anyone, blame Ayeka." Ryoko managed.
"Why would I do that?" Tenchi asked.
"The two of them are related and probably collaborated on this." 
Ryoko joked. Tenchi smiled but his tears ran down his cheeks. He 
couldn't stand seeing Ryoko like this. He reached down to touch Ryoko's 
face but stopped for fear of hurting her. 
"It's ok Tenchi. Please.." Ryoko said. Tenchi put his hand on her 
cheek. Ryoko smiled and pressed her cheek against Tenchi's hand.
"Don't worry about me Tenchi. I'll be.." Ryoko passed out. 
"Ryoko. Ryoko!" Tenchi raised his voice. Washu stepped in. 
"Don't worry Tenchi. She is just exhausted." Washu said. Tenchi 
looked at Ryoko's face. It was tensed with pain. He turned and walked 
out of the lab.

*		*		*

Washu stepped out of her laboratory and into a dark house. Washu was 
used to keeping late hours but she wasn't usually so absent minded 
about what time it was. She was expecting to see everyone sitting on 
the couch, watching television. She looked at the clock on the wall and 
saw that it was three o'clock. Washu brought her hands to her face and 
rubbed her eyes and then her temples. It had been a long night in her 
lab. She had made considerable progress but she felt as though she 
weren't any closer to helping Ryoko than she was at the beginning. 
Washu's stomach announced its desire for food. She strolled to the 
kitchen. A smile came to her face as she recalled a dispute she had 
with Sasami. Washu thought it would be much more time efficient if she 
just installed miniature refrigerators next to her work places in the 
lab. This way, she wouldn't have to come to the kitchen to get a snack 
or meal whenever she was engrossed in a project. Sasami argued that if 
Washu did that, no one would ever see her again because she would 
almost have no reason to leave her lab. Washu decided to put the 
refrigerators in anyway but whenever she was about to do so, Mihoshi 
would show up and either wreck the refrigerators or another part of 
Washu's lab so that she would have to put the refrigerator project on 
hold. Washu later found out that Sasami was the one who kept asking 
Mihoshi to fetch her for whatever meal it was. Sasami was a clever girl 
for her age. Washu's thoughts strayed. She tried to clear her mind of 
worries. She walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Washu 
was happy to see some of last night's dinner was saved. Although 
Ayeka's culinary talent wasn't near as refined as Sasami's, it was 
dinner. Washu placed the bowl on the counter and was about to open it 
when she was distracted by something outside the window over the sink. 
Someone was standing out in the yard. Washu couldn't see who it was but 
instinctively knew that it was Tenchi. She stepped out through the side 
door and quietly approached him.
	"Is something the matter?" Washu asked with almost a whisper. 
Tenchi turned as though he was pulled out of a daydream.
	"I can't sleep." Tenchi said as his attention returned to the 
stars.
	"I have something that could help you sleep." Washu offered.
	"No thank you. I would rather find the natural solution." Tenchi 
said without looking down. Washu looked up to see what he was looking 
at. The night was clear and cool. Thousands of stars were strewn across 
the sky but Tenchi was focused on one celestial body in particular.
	"Venus?" Washu asked.
	"Is that what that is?" Tenchi asked back.
	"Yes. It is especially bright now due to the planetary 
alignment." Washu pointed out. Tenchi smiled.
	"Is there anything you don't know?" Tenchi teased. Washu smiled 
back.
	"There has to be something." She admitted. Tenchi's cheery 
expression melted to a more concerned expression. 
	"I was going to go for a walk. As soon as I stepped out, I was 
distracted by that light in the sky." Tenchi said. Washu remained 
silent.
"Do you think Ryoko will pull through?" Tenchi asked as he 
adjusted his stance. Washu looked to the ground for a moment the looked 
back to Venus before she answered.  
"In time, Tenchi. In time."

*		*		*

Ryoko was standing in the middle of the dark again.
	"I'm so happy that you were able to get out of that nasty place." 
The voice said.
	"It looks like I'm back in that nasty place to me." Ryoko stated.
	"You are not." The voice declared.
	"Then where am I" Ryoko said. 
	"You are on the verge of crossing the nexus that links your plane 
of reality and my plane of reality." The voice explained.
	"Planes of reality? Do you mean I'm on the verge of dying?" Ryoko 
asked.
	"If that's how you wish to view your situation, then yes." The 
voice announced.
	"I don't want to die." Ryoko stated.
	"Unlike most beings in your reality, you have some influence on 
when you are to cross into the next plane." The voice said.
	"Is that so?" Ryoko said.
	"Yes." The voice confirmed.
	"Where are you?" Ryoko asked. A woman suddenly appeared out of 
nowhere. She was about the same height as Ryoko. She looked slightly 
older. She had dazzling silver hair and was dressed in flowing white 
robes that were lined with silver.
	"Here I am." The woman spoke.
	"Who are you?" Ryoko asked again. 
	"I am the origin of what your reality calls the power of Jurai." 
The woman spoke. Ryoko didn't reply.
"You were the one who apologized to me earlier, were you not?" 
Ryoko asked.
"Yes." The woman answered again.
"Why?" Ryoko asked. The woman looked pained by the question.
"I am responsible for your creation. I am your mother." The woman 
answered
	
*		*		*

Tenchi was able to finally get to sleep. Unfortunately, that wasn't 
until sunrise. He was still asleep even though it was late in the 
afternoon. Washu was also asleep. The house was quiet except for the 
sounds of Ayeka cleaning dishes in the kitchen. Everyone tried to get 
back into the normal routine to help relieve some of the stress over 
Ryoko's situation. Mihoshi and Kiyone were out on patrol. Lord 
Katsuhito was at the temple and Noboyuki was at the office. Washu's 
laboratory door slowly creaked open. A very tired and still injured 
Sasami slowly stepped into the living room. She used the couch as 
support as she made her way towards the kitchen. Sasami stepped in. She 
smiled at her sister. Ayeka had her back to the door and couldn't see 
Sasami. Sasami was amused to see Ayeka wash the lunch dishes. She also 
laughed to herself as she noticed it was almost dinnertime. Ayeka was a 
little too meticulous in her dish cleaning duties.
	"How long until dinner is ready?" Sasami asked.
	"Is it dinner time alr.." Ayeka stopped as soon as soon as she 
realized who was speaking. She quickly spun to see her little sister 
leaning against the door.
	"SASAMI! What are you doing out of bed?" Ayeka immediately 
scolded. Sasami's smile faded. Ayeka quickly walked up to Sasami, knelt 
down, and tightly embraced her sister. 
	"I'm so happy to see that you are alright. I don't know what I 
would do if I lost you." Ayeka managed through a choked up voice. 
Sasami smiled once more and rested against Ayeka. 
	"I know you think you have a had a lot of rest already but you 
aren't completely healed yet. You need to rest." Ayeka explained. 
Sasami nodded.
	"You don't have to sleep in that room though. How would you like 
to lay on the couch in the living room and watch some television?" 
Ayeka asked. Sasami smiled her approval. The two made their way into 
the living room and Ayeka tucked her sister in to the couch with some 
spare blankets. Sasami looked around and couldn't help but notice the 
relative silence.
	"Where is everyone?" Sasami asked.
	"Lord Tenchi is asleep, Kiyone and Mihoshi are on patrol, father 
is at work, Washu is asleep in her room and Yosho is at the temple." 
Ayeka answered. Sasami's smile vanished from her face and she started 
frown.
	"What's wrong, Sasami?" Ayeka asked.
	"The house isn't the same without Ryoko around." Sasami noticed.
	"It will only be for a little while. Ryoko will be back to making 
trouble in no time." Ayeka explained.
	"Don't worry about Ryoko. She isn't the most wanted space pirate 
because she couldn't get herself out of trouble." Ayeka said trying to 
put her sister at ease. Tears still streamed down Sasami's face. 
	"How do you know she's not going to die?" Sasami almost yelled. 
Ayeka cradled her sister's head in her arms and pulled her into her 
chest.
	"Don't worry. Washu said that she will be fine. Washu will find 
out how to make Ryoko better and everything will be back the way it was 
before you know it." Ayeka said. Sasami stopped crying but still clung 
to her sister tight. The two sat on the couch in each other's arms 
until Sasami fell asleep once again.

*		*		*

	"I don't think I heard you right. Can you please say that again?" 
Ryoko asked.
	"I am responsible for your creation. I am your mother." The voice 
repeated.
	"I'm afraid I still don't get it." Ryoko said.
	"That is completely understandable." An approaching voice said 
from behind Ryoko. Ryoko turned and saw Tsunami walk past her and 
stopped before the woman with the silver hair.
	"What are you doing here, Sasami?" Ryoko asked. Tsunami kneeled 
before the woman. The woman nodded and Tsunami rose to her feet and 
turned to Ryoko.
	"Sasami isn't here. I am the conscious will of the ship of 
Jurai." Tsunami explained.
	"I don't care about that. This woman said she is my mother." 
Ryoko said.
	"And she is correct." Tsunami clarified.
	"That's not true. I'm sorry to say it was Washu created me." 
Ryoko replied.
	"Washu did create you." Tsunami said again. Ryoko had a blank 
expression.
	"Now I'm really confused." Ryoko admitted.
	"The reason we are here is to help you understand what has, is 
and is going to happen." Another voice spoke. Ryoko looked over her 
shoulder to see Achika walk towards the woman with silver hair.  
	"Who else is going to show up?" Ryoko asked. Achika kneeled 
before the woman and then quickly rose.
	"Who is this woman and why do you keep kneeling before her?" 
Ryoko asked.
	"This is our mother. You may address her as Lady Jurai." Achika 
explained.
	"Wait a minute. This woman isn't my mother." Ryoko protested. 
Tsunami smiled.
	"Jurai has many daughters, sons, and countless grandchildren. She 
refers to all of them as sons and daughters." Tsunami explained once 
more.
	"What is going on? I imagine it's something important if all of 
you are here and it obviously involves me." Ryoko stated. Tsunami and 
Achika looked at one another then back to Ryoko.
"You're reality is in grave danger." Tsunami said.

*		*		*

Lady Saito was working diligently on trying to draw power from the gem. 
It wasn't until two hours earlier she learned that if you apply any 
amount of electrical power to the gem, you get the same type of energy 
back, only enhanced ten fold. She was preparing to integrate the gem 
into herself.
	"Do you think that is a good idea?" The computer questioned. Lady 
Saito looked to the computer.
	"I'm going to have to assimilate into my being before too long. 
Why do you ask?" Lady Saito inquired.
	"Well, so far you have only used electrical power in your 
experiments. The gem may react differently when exposed to the power of 
Jurai." The computer explained.
	"That's a good point. Maybe I'll try exposing the gem to a 
minimal amount of Jurai power and see what happens." Lady Saito 
offered. She placed the gem in a suspension field and brought her 
finger a few inches from it. A small flash of energy arced from Lady 
Saito's finger to the gem. The gem didn't react. It just remained as it 
had been in the suspension field. The gem glowed bright red only 
moments before it released a sizable explosion. Smoke quickly filled 
the laboratory. 
	"Lady Saito! Where are you?" The computer called out. A few 
coughs could be heard from beneath an overturned desk. The desk fell 
over and Lady Saito stood up in her dirty garments. 
"I'll live. I'm glad I tested it first." Lady Saito admitted. 
"What power!" The computer exclaimed. 		
"I agree. Now that I know what to look for, I'll practice control 
and manipulation of the reflected power. That is, as soon as I find my 
notes. Have you seen them?" Lady Saito asked.
"I believe that is them burning next to the door." The computer 
pointed out.

*		*		*

Tenchi and Lord Katsuhito stood with their wooden blades resting on 
each other's shoulders. Katsuhito stood calm and focused. However, 
Tenchi had a hard time concentrating. Katsuhito tried to take advantage 
of Tenchi's distraction and launched a sneak attack. Tenchi was barely 
able to deflect his grand father's initial attack and was struggling to 
defend himself against the following assaults. Tenchi focused for a 
brief moment and countered Katshuito's thrust and snapped his grand 
father's boken. The broken piece of wooden sword flew over Lord 
Katsuhito's shoulder and noisily crashed into a bush. Katsuhito looked 
Tenchi in the face with a stern expression. Tenchi stood back with a 
little shock. 
	"Is something bothering you, Tenchi?" Lord Katsuhito asked. 
Tenchi lowered his boken.
	"Ryoko is in trouble grandpa and there is nothing I can do about 
it. I'm out here practicing while she is near death. I just can't sit 
hear and pretend like there isn't anything wrong." Tenchi finished. 
Katsuhito walked over to his grand son and put his hands on his 
shoulders. 
	"Listen Tenchi. I know there are times when you feel you must 
act, even when there isn't really anything you can do. But there are 
times when you can't waste your time worrying about things you can not 
help. Washu is doing her best to help Ryoko and she will let us all 
know as soon as she finds something out. Until then, you can use your 
time wisely by bettering the things you can help, like your lousy 
swordsmanship."  Lord Katsuhito concluded.
	"If I'm so bad, then why do I have a sword and you don't." Tenchi 
challenged. Lord Katsuhito removed his hands from Tenchi's shoulders 
and took a few steps back.
	"Do you now?" Katsuhito asked with a little sarcasm. Just then, 
Tenchi's wooden blade fell from the hilt and his pants fell around his 
ankles. Tenchi quickly pulled his pants up.
	"GRAND PA!" Tenchi yelled. Lord Katsuhito smiled.
	"There is still a lot for you to learn, Tenchi." Lord Katsuhito 
laughed as he started back for the house. 
	"Let's go home. I'm pretty hungry." Katsuhito said. Tenchi smiled 
and walked up beside his grand father. 
	"You didn't have to cut my pants." Tenchi complained. Katsuhito 
continued to smile.
	"Yes I did." 

*		*		*

Sasami was glad to be out of bed. She was still a little groggy but she 
couldn't stand being in bed when there was so much to done around the 
house. Everyone else tried to keep her in bed but Sasami would be 
caught sweeping outside or cooking in the kitchen. It didn't take long 
for everyone to realize that they weren't going to be able to keep her 
in bed so they compromised. Sasami could clean and cook but she had to 
take occasional breaks. Sasami was cooking dinner in the kitchen when 
Washu walked in. Washu looked like she was going keel over from 
exhaustion. 
	"Good Morning, Sasami. Breakfast sure smells good." Washu 
commented.
	"Miss Washu, it's six-thirty in the evening. I'm cooking dinner." 
Sasami stated.
	"Oh well, food is food." Washu said sleepily. She walked out of 
the kitchen dragging her feet.
	"Miss Washu, did you want something?" Sasami asked.
	"Who knows." Washu mumbled on her way to the living room. 
Everyone else was in the living room watching television. Tenchi and 
his grand father were still in their training clothes. The two must 
have just come in from practice. They turned to see Washu walk in.
	Kiyone was about to ask Washu how her work was going but Washu 
suddenly collapsed to the floor. The group sprang to there feet and 
rushed to Washu's side. Kiyone helped her sit up. 	
	"I think it's time you had a break." Kiyone stated.
	"There is still work to be done." Washu managed said sleepily.

*		*		*

	"What do you mean my reality is in grave danger?" Ryoko repeated.
	"In order for you to completely understand the severity of the 
situation you must first know about the secret of the power of Jurai." 
Achika explained. 
	"I'm listening." Ryoko muttered.  
	"As I said earlier, Jurai has many children. However she only 
three children that were directly born from her. Many eons ago, one of 
her direct daughters became fascinated with your reality. She couldn't 
divert her attention from it and it was her wish above anything else to 
become a part of your reality. Jurai loved her daughter very much and 
granted her daughter's wish. Unfortunately, Jurai's daughter could not 
exist in your reality without the power of her mother. Jurai searched 
this reality for a being capable of containing her power. The space 
trees were the only beings in this reality capable of enduring the 
power of Jurai. The daughter was born and reborn many times and enjoyed 
her time in this reality. One fateful day, a corrupt and evil being 
stole the power of Jurai by capturing the space trees. He tried to use 
the power of Jurai to take control of the galaxy. Jurai was able to 
recreate her power in this reality and encapsulate it in three small 
gems. One gem for the first daughter, the second gem for the second 
daughter and the third gem for the firstborn son of Jurai. The gems 
were designed to directly oppose the power of the space trees. The 
second direct daughter volunteered to wield the power of the gems 
because she loved her sister very much. The second daughter was able 
defeat the evil being and free her sister but at a price. The second 
daughter was forced to become mortal after her battle. When this 
happened, she lost her memory. The second daughter was trapped in this 
reality without the knowledge of how to bring out the full potential of 
the gems. Recently, the one named Kagato tried to integrate the power 
of the space trees and the power of the gems into one. Even if Tenchi 
hadn't defeated him, Kagato would have failed. He wasn't of royal 
descent and could never have integrated the two powers. Now, a grand 
daughter of Jurai has just succeeded where Kagato failed. The two 
powers being combined has corrupted the gems and a portion of the space 
trees. They will eventually destroy one another and the galaxy." 
Tsunami finished. Ryoko took a step back and tried to make since of all 
she just heard.
	"Tenchi is in danger." Ryoko said.
	"Yes." Achika said.
	"What and the hell am I wasting my time here!" Ryoko yelled.
	"Ryoko wait!" Achika cried out but it was too late. Ryoko was 
already gone.

*		*		*
"Why did you do what you did to that woman, Lady Saito?" The 
computer asked. Lady Saito couldn't believe what she just heard.
"What did you just ask?" Lady Saito growled. 
"I asked." The computer was interrupted.
"That hell spawn is responsible for my ruin. If she hadn't done 
what she did, I would be able to go back to my home. Now I'm forced to 
live in hiding." Lady Saito finished. 
"What about Princess Ayeka and Princess Sasami?" The computer 
asked again.
"What about them?" Lady Saito replied.
"They are family aren't they? Are you aware that the blast that 
you deflected from Ryoko injured Princess Sasami?" The computer 
informed. Lady Saito lowered her head.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. That was an accident. Explaining my 
actions might have given them enough time to do something that could 
have messed up everything." Lady Saito explained.
"Do you still care for them?" The computer asked. Lady Saito 
didn't reply right away.
"I remember times when I was still a part of the family. I can't 
believe how much Princess Ayeka has grown. Did you know that I helped 
during Ayeka's birth?" Lady Saito admitted. 
"No, I didn't" The computer answered. 
"Unfortunately, my responsibilities on Kilken kept me away from 
the rest of the family and I wasn't able to keep in touch as often as I 
would of liked." Lady Saito said and paused.
" I thought Princess Ayeka was such a darling child. I always 
wanted a child of my own but that is an impossibility. I thought that 
maybe I could treat Ayeka as my own daughter but, that abominable 
corruption of a woman attacked Jurai three weeks before I was supposed 
to go home and ruined my life. I can not inflict enough pain on this 
woman to appease my hatred, but I am going to try." Lady Saito 
summarized.
"What will you do after that?" The computer asked.
"Maybe, the king will pardon me for destroying that evil space 
pirate." Lady Saito said. 
"I don't think he will look too kindly on you almost killing his 
daughter." The computer offered.
"You may be right but I can still hope. I'm going to return one 
of these days. I'll either live there, be imprisoned there, die there, 
or just maybe rule there." Lady Saito said.

*		*		*

	"Washu! Washu!" Kiyone yelled out as she burst through the lab 
door. The crab noisemaker held fast. Washu made a mental note to change 
it from tin to titanium at her earliest convenience. 
	"What is it, Kiyone?" Washu asked. 
	"I just got a message from my commander." Kiyone said happily.
"Well, let's have it." Washu stated.
"He and the king are working together to stop Lady Saito. The 
Galaxy Police on Planet Kilken as well as the Jurai Military have been 
notified to not attack or approach Lady Saito as long as she is on the 
planet. As soon as she leaves, The Duke of Kilken will raise the 
planetary defenses and await further orders from headquarters." Kiyone 
explained.
"I just received a message from father that states the same thing 
and a bit more." Ayeka spoke as she walked into the room.
"What is it?" Washu asked.
"Father has gathered the entire fleet on the perimeter of the 
Kilken system along with a flotilla of Galaxy Police battleships. He is 
awaiting word from the Duke on Lady Saito's status before he sends in 
his ships." Ayeka informed Washu.
"It certainly looks like the stage is set for one of the greatest 
gunfights in history. We better not be late. We may miss the show." 
Washu spouted.
"WHAT?!" Ayeka and Kiyone sounded off in unison.
"What do you mean, 'What?" Washu asked back.
"You aren't seriously considering going out there are you?" 
Kiyone asked with skepticism.
"I most certainly am." Washu confirmed.
"Why on earth would you want to do that." Ayeka asked. 
"First of all, I need to get the gem back. With it, I may be able 
to revive Ryoko. Secondly, I want to have a part to play in this 
woman's undoing. I think I'm allowed that much. I don't think I'm the 
only one, either." Washu said as she motioned toward her lab door. 
Ayeka and Kiyone turned to see Tenchi walk into the room with the 
master key in his hand.
"Lord Tenchi. You aren't going are you?" Ayeka asked.   
"Ayeka, my contribution may decide the fate of the galaxy, the 
Jurai Royal Family is my family as well and I let Ryoko down. I can't 
just let the person responsible for Ryoko's condition wonder free." 
Tenchi explained. Ayeka looked into his eyes. She could tell that there 
was no way she would be able to talk Tenchi out of going.
"If that is the case, then I'll go as well." Ayeka offered.
"Me too!" Sasami chimed in.
"You are not going." Ayeka ordered.
"Come on, Ayeka. I'm the only one who can summon Tsunami. We are 
going to need her help." Sasami pointed out.
"She's right." Washu said.
"I guess you will have to go." Ayeka conceded. 
"We have been ordered there as well." Kiyone said as she looked 
at her view screen pen.
"I don't want to go!" Mihoshi whined.
"You have to go. It's your duty." Kiyone scolded as she grabbed 
Mihoshi by the collar.
"I'll go as well." A voice spoke from the doorway.
"Grandpa." Tenchi whispered.
"Katsume won't be satisfied with just having the combined power 
of Jurai and the gem. I'm sure she already has plans for taking over 
Jurai." Lord Katsuhito said.
"The more the merrier." Washu said.
"Don't worry about Ryoko. I'll keep a close watch on her." 
Noboyuki said.
"Thank you, father." Ayeka replied.
"Let's not waste anytime. Who knows how long it will be before 
Lady Saito figures out how to use the gem." Washu advised. Everyone 
walked out of the room except for Ayeka, Azaka and Kamedake. She walked 
up beside the Jurai Guardians.
"I want you two to stay here." Ayeka said.
"But princess, our duty is to protect you." Azaka commented.
"Your duty is to defend the interests of Jurai. If Lady Saito 
manages to defeat us, she'll come for the remaining two gems. If she 
gets hold of those, there will be no end to the horrors she will 
inflict on the people of Jurai and the rest of the galaxy." Ayeka 
concluded.
"I see." Said Kamedake. 
"Your orders are to protect Ryoko to the end. Do you understand?" 
Ayeka commanded. 
"Yes ma'am." The two guardians said simultaneously.

*		*		*

Ryoko's eyes slowly opened. She was still in the bed that Washu had 
prepared for her. She felt a little better but that wasn't saying much. 
Her head still ached considerably and she still found it hard to move 
with the burns she had sustained. Ryoko slowly sat up. The motion put 
her in agony. She let out a brief yelp. Azaka and Kamedake turned from 
their places at the foot of Ryoko's bed and faced her. 
	"Miss Ryoko. You shouldn't try to move around in your condition." 
Kamedake offered. 
	"I didn't know you cared." Ryoko managed.
	"Princess Ayeka ordered us to guard you to the end if need be." 
Azaka said. Ryoko paused then looked to the Jurai guardian.
	"Did she now?" Ryoko said with the slightest of smiles.
	"Yes." The two guardians confirmed.
	"Well bless her scheming little heart." Ryoko said sarcastically. 
Ryoko threw the covers from off of her and removed the tubes that were 
attached to different parts of her body. She pulled the bandages off of 
her head and did her best to swing her legs over the side of the bed. 
Only the guardians were in the room so Ryoko didn't feel self-conscious 
about screaming out loud. It was better than screaming through her 
psychic link and alarming Washu to what she was trying to do. Ryoko 
only hoped that Washu wasn't checking up on her. Noboyuki came running 
into the room.
	"Are you alright in there Ryoko? I heard a scream." Noboyuki 
stated.
	"I'll be fine. I just need to loosen up a little." Ryoko 
explained from behind the curtain. She finished the motion and her feet 
were touching the floor. Azaka and Kamedake moved close to Ryoko.
	"Miss Ryoko, what are you doing?" Azaka asked. 
	"What does it look like I'm doing tree stump? I'm getting up." 
Ryoko quipped.  
	"We can not let you do that. We have very specific instructions." 
Kamedake stated.
	"Who do you think Ayeka cares for more, Tenchi or me?" Ryoko 
asked.
	"Tenchi." The two said at the same time.
	"My actions may endanger my life but they can also save Tenchi's. 
He is in more danger than anyone knows and only I can help him. I think 
the Princess would agree." Ryoko said. Ryoko closed her eyes and 
readied herself. She knew what she was going to feel next was going to 
hurt more than anything else she had ever experienced. She stood and 
powered up until her black and red battle suit appeared on her body. 
Ryoko's eyes filled with tears and she steadied herself next to the 
bed. Ryoko levitated in place. She felt relief as the weight on her 
frame was lifted and the pain subsided a bit. 
	"What are you going to do?" The two asked in unison.
	"I'm going to save Tenchi. Don't hold dinner on my account. It 
may be a long while before you see me again." Ryoko said before she 
disappeared.
	"Miss Ryoko!" The two guardians called after her.
	"She is more gallant than the Princess gives her credit for." 
Azaka commented.
	"I hope she makes it back for her sake and ours." Kamedake said. 
Noboyuki stepped in from the other side of the curtain with a tray in 
his hand. 
	"I have some nice soup and tea for you Ryoko." Noboyuki spouted. 
When he looked around, all he saw was the two guardians and an empty 
bed.
	"Where did Ryoko go?" Noboyuki asked.
	"Out." Azaka replied. Noboyuki looked at the tray and then looked 
to the two guardians.
	"Do you two want something to eat?" Noboyuki offered while 
raising the tray.
	"We do not require food nor water." Kamedake responded.
	"I guess I know what I'm having for dinner." Noboyuki said.

*		*		*

Four plasma cannons were arranged to fire at the same target 
simultaneously. Lady Saito stood in the middle of the deadly 
configuration with confidence in her new abilities.
	"Are you sure you want to do this?" The computer asked. Lady 
Saito grinned.
	"My max power, before the introduction of the gem, would be 
enough to stop these cannons' blasts. I want to see how much effort I 
need to put forth in my new state to defeat them." Lady Saito stated.
	"Very well." The computer affirmed.
	"At my command." Lady Saito ordered. The four cannons powered up. 
Lady Saito focused before she spoke.
	"Fire." She commanded. The cannons fired. Their beams were 
immediately deflected when they hit the Jurain noble's shield. The 
cannons suddenly became silent. Lady Saito stood in her original 
position. The only thing that changed was her expression. She looked 
very surprised.
	"Are you alright, my lady?" The computer asked. It took Lady 
Saito a few moments to respond.
	"I'm fine. Confirm the cannons were at max power." Lady Saito 
said.
	"Maximum power output confirmed. Are you satisfied by the 
results?" The computer asked.
	"Overwhelmed is more like it. Without the gem, I would have to 
focus everything I had to stop that shot. This time, I didn't even feel 
the cannon fire hit my shield." Lady Saito explained.
	"What now?" The computer asked.
	"I think it's time we had back to Earth and collect the rest of 
the gems." Lady Saito said.

*		*		*

Ryo-Ohki sped towards the Planet Kilken at top speed with Tsunami in 
trail. The crew was deathly silent for the majority of the trip. Tenchi 
couldn't help but look at the place where the gems used to rest on the 
master key. Ayeka walked up to Tenchi and sat next to him.
	"You look very worried Lord Tenchi." Ayeka said in subdued tones. 
Tenchi looked up slowly.
"I'm having trouble trying to figure out how all this happened." 
Tenchi said.
"What do you mean?" Ayeka said with a little confusion.
"One day, I was teaching all of you how to play baseball. Two 
days later, I'm in a spaceship racing into battle to save the galaxy 
and possibly the universe." Tenchi explained. 
"When you put it like that, it does seem strange." Ayeka 
admitted. 
"Two days ago, my biggest concern was Ryoko hitting you with 
baseballs. Now, Ryoko is near death in Washu's lab." Tenchi trailed off 
at the end.
"None of the things that bothered me those few days ago don't 
really matter right now. I would give anything to have those troubles 
back instead of these." Tenchi said.
"You can't change what has happened, Tenchi. All you can do is 
try to do your best today." Ayeka smiled. 
"That's kind of what grandpa said. Thank you, Ayeka." Tenchi 
said. He stood and saw Washu standing close to the dome window. She 
wasn't looking to where they were headed but from where they came. 
Tenchi and Ayeka walked up to Washu. 
"How are you doing, Little Washu?" Tenchi asked. Washu opened her 
eyes. 
"I can't speak with Ryoko through my psychic link but as long as 
I can establish the link, I know she is still.." Washu couldn't finish. 
"She'll be fine Miss Washu. She is the most stubborn woman I 
know." Ayeka said trying to cheer Washu up.
"Washu! I just got a message from the Galaxy Police command ship. 
The Jurai military has just been attacked by Miuki." Kiyone announced.

*		*		*

Ryoko materialized just outside the earth's atmosphere. She turned and 
looked down at the glowing blue sphere. She remembered seeing the 
planet just as it is right before she crash-landed on earth seven 
hundred years prior. She remembered thinking about the stunning scene 
for an instant before Yosho imprisoned her in the cave. Now that she 
was out and looking down at it, she regretted never having really 
looked at earth from the same vantage before. 
	"What a beautiful sight." Ryoko thought to herself. The sight 
reminded her of the countless summer nights when she would swim in the 
lake. She would float on her back and gaze at the stars and the moon if 
it were up. Ryoko then felt sadness at the realization that she may 
never share those nights with Tenchi like she dreamed. 
	"Is it worth it?" Ryoko thought to herself again. She knew that 
she would probably die in the near future. She thought of saving 
Tenchi. Would she save his life only to sacrifice hers. That would mean 
that Ayeka would win him over in her absence. Ryoko lowered her head at 
the thought. Then again, she would rather loose him to Ayeka than 
anyone else. At least she would know that being apart of the Jurai 
Royal Family would mean a much more lavished lifestyle than she could 
ever give him. Her thoughts then strayed to the idea of her being 
around Tsunami and Achika in the next plane of reality. She smiled as 
she thought of giving them a hard time the same way she gave Ayeka a 
hard time.
	"It might not be all that bad." Ryoko lied to herself.
	"But I'm not finished yet." She commented. She took one last look 
at the earth. She smiled at the thought of it looking like a huge blue 
marble. She knew she had to be on her way but she couldn't break her 
stare. Ryoko felt as though turning her back would make it disappear 
like a dream. The sadness started to return to her. She frowned and 
felt her stomach start to knot up. She was almost sure that this was 
the last time she would lay eyes on the planet where she hoped to live 
with Tenchi. Ryoko stifled her emotions as she turned back towards the 
blackness of space.
	"Life is but a dream." She thought as she dematerialized.

*		*		*

"I've never seen anything like it before." Lady Funaho stated. 
She looked out through the window onboard the king's ship. Miuki had a 
full spread of light hawk wings and was picking the Jurai Armada apart. 
Miuki displayed twenty wings, which is twice as many as Jurai's most 
powerful ship, Tsunami. Galaxy police ships raced in front of the 
medium sized ship in an attempt to block its path. Miuki simply used 
its wings to cut its way through the ships. Miuki finally broke free of 
the attacking ships and now had a corridor free of obstructions to 
anywhere Lady Saito wanted to go.
"Let her go." Ordered the king. 
"Excuse me?" Lady Funaho asked with surprise. 
"She is too powerful right now. The more we send ships in her 
direction, the more they are going to be turned into debris." The king 
said.
"She is inexperienced with her new power and this is the most 
ships we are going to be able to bring to a fight with her. If we let 
her go now, we may never have a chance to defeat her again." Lady 
Funaho stated.
"Your Majesty, Miuki is coming about." An officer sitting at a 
console yelled. Miuki certainly appeared to be turning back into the 
fray it just cleared.
"What is she doing?" The king asked. Lady Funaho's heart sank as 
she realized the truth.
"She has no fear of us. She is going to try and defeat us here 
and now." Lady Funaho offered.
"She can't be that arrogant." The king stated. Miuki shifted 
fifteen of its wing to the bow of the ship and dashed through a group 
of Galaxy Police ships. Seven GP battleships were destroyed in one run. 
"This is insane." Lady Masaki said as she walked onto the bridge. 
"Where is your ship?" The king asked. 
"Pick a pile of burning rubble out there. One of them has to be 
mine." Lady Masaki said. Miuki turned towards the king's ship.
"Fire everything we got!" The king ordered. The king's ship let 
loose a hail of fire that obscured its intended target. A cloud of 
smoke enveloped Miuki. 
"That should have been enough to slow her down." The king 
affirmed. Miuki burst through the cloud on a collision course with the 
king's ship. 
"Sound collision!" The king ordered. The white lights went dim 
and were replaced with red flashing lights. Several different ships 
attacked Miuki from above. The two major contributors were Ryo-Ohki and 
Tsunami.  Miuki was knocked off course and started to swing around for 
another run. A video screen popped up in front of Lady Funaho. Washu's 
image appeared.
"Did you see that? We gave it everything we had and it was just 
enough to barely push the ship out of the way." Washu yelled.

*		*		*

"We aren't going to be able to destroy her ship to ship. We are 
going to have to board Miuki." Washu said.
"How are we going to do that?" Tenchi asked.
"Look at Miuki. Lady Saito has been fighting with the majority of 
the light hawk wings towards the bow of the ship. We'll use Ryo-Ohki as 
a diversion while we sneak up behind Miuki on board Tsunami. We'll use 
Tsunami's wings to pry open a hole. Then we will be able to board 
Miuki." Washu explained.
"I guess we have no other choice." Ayeka stated.
"Let's do it." Washu said. Washu gave Ryo-Ohki the orders she 
needed before everyone was transported to Tsunami.

*		*		*

"Hahahaha! They never stood a chance. This is going to easier 
than I thought." Lady Saito boasted. 
"Your Majesty, Ryo-Ohki is preparing to attack." Miuki said.
"The battle ship of the demon Ryoko? I guess she isn't as injured 
as I thought." Lady Saito growled. She looked through her monitor to 
see Ryo-Ohki positioning herself in front of Miuki.
"A head on attack against fifteen wings of the light hawk? You 
are an incredibly foolish monster, Ryoko. If that's the way you want 
it, then that's the way you are going to get it. Rip her asunder!" Lady 
Saito ordered. Ryo-Ohki dashed at Miuki and fired all she had in one 
shot. Ryo-Ohki then quickly dashed backwards to avoid Miuki's counter 
attack. 
"I knew you were a coward. Hit and run tactics aren't going to 
work on me." Lady Saito taunted. Miuki suddenly shook violently. Lady 
Saito was unable to keep her balance and fell to the floor.
"What was that?" Lady Saito yelled. The screen changed to show 
Tsunami prying open the aft light hawk wings.
"Shift an equal spread of wings to the rear!" Lady Saito 
panicked.
"Too late." Washu said as she walked onto the bridge followed by 
Ayeka, Tenchi and Lord Katsuhito. Lady Saito stood and dusted herself 
off. She calmly walked over to the console and placed her hand on it. 
The gem appeared in Lady Saito's wrist.
"Your fight is going to be with me, Katsume." Lord Katsuhito 
spoke.
"That's Lady Saito to you, Little Yosho." Lady Saito corrected.
"Who knows. It could be Queen Katsume before too long." Lady 
Saito said. Lord Katsuhito didn't reply.
"Tenchi, give me the key." Lord Katsuhito requested with his hand 
out. Tenchi placed the key in his hand. Lord Katsuhito walked up to 
within three meters of Lady Saito. He generated a blade and stood 
ready. Lady Saito generated her long and short blade and stood ready as 
well. Before anyone could see, the two nobles charged each other and 
stood with their weapons locked. They broke free and their weapons flew 
furiously. Tenchi could barely see the blades move. Tenchi thought that 
his grand father would be at a disadvantage with only one blade versus 
Lady Saito's two. Lord Katsuhito seemed to be faring rather well. The 
two leaped back and repositioned themselves.
"Very good, Lord Yosho. Not only have you maintained your 
proficiency with the blade, you have actually become much better." Lady 
Saito praised.
"I'm sorry to say that I have finally noticed you were holding 
back with me all those years." Lord Katsuhito said.
"Don't worry. I don't plan to hold back any longer." Lady Saito 
said as she charged Lord Katsuhito once more. Once more the two 
warriors' swords met and clashed at incomprehensible speeds. Lady Saito 
kicked out at Lord Katsuhito but he was ready for it. He rolled out of 
the way used his momentum to land a kick of his own on Lady Saito. His 
foot impacted her lower abdomen and the force of the kick knocked her 
to the ground. Lord Katsuhito stood over her with his blade pointed 
right at her. 
"Didn't you tell me not to become impatient and risk everything 
on one strike." Lord Katsuhito reminded his master. 
"Yes I did but I also recall instructing you to never let your 
guard down." Lady Saito said. A light hawk wing appeared between Lord 
Katsuhito and Lady Saito. The wing rammed Lord Katsuhito and sent him 
flying through the air. He landed hard behind Tenchi.
"Grandpa!" Tenchi yelled. Lord Katsuhito looked up at Tenchi with 
a smile. Lord Katsuhito tried to stand but was unable to. 
"It's up to you now boy. I can't fight anymore. I know you can do 
it. Have faith in your ability." Lord Katsuhito said as he handed 
Tenchi the master key. Tenchi stood and faced Lady Saito.

*		*		*

Ryoko continued to hop-scotch her way towards Kilken by teleporting 
herself over large distances of space at a time. It was quicker than 
straight out flying but she wished Ryo-Ohki was with her. All she could 
do was concentrate on Tenchi. It was up to her to save him. A new 
thought entered her head. What if she died but failed to save Tenchi. 
All her efforts would be meaningless. She couldn't afford to fail. Out 
of all the times she had run the gauntlet, out of all the times she was 
put to the test, this would be the one defining moment in her life. She 
drew relief from the idea. If she could save Tenchi this one time, her 
life would be complete. Pain coursed through her chest and abdomen. It 
was her body's way of reminding her she shouldn't be trying to do what 
she was doing. Ryoko never listened to anyone. She would cut off her 
nose to spite her face, at least that is what Washu told her. Ryoko had 
a hard time disagreeing. Rebellion was just as much a part of her as 
her gold eyes. She was about to start reflecting on her life but 
stopped as she remembered that taking on Lady Saito would be no easy 
task. She was going to have to focus in order to defeat this woman.

*		*		*

Tenchi raised his blade. Lady Saito stood and dispensed with the one 
wing of the light hawk. She raised her blades and stood in a stance he 
was not familiar with. She was in a deep crouch with one leg extended 
fully and she pointed her long sword over her head. Her short blade was 
aligned with her extended leg and was pointed at him as well. She 
quickly moved her legs in large sweeping motions. She covered the 
ground between her and him with amazing speed. All the while, she 
stayed close to the ground. Tenchi was totally on the defensive. 
	"Don't fight her style, Tenchi. Flow with it." Lord Katsuhito 
yelled. Tenchi soon found himself in a similar stance and started to 
press the attack. Lady Saito's style was becoming loose and sloppy. She 
started to stand and Tenchi followed her every motion. Tenchi swung for 
Lady Saito's head. She rushed Tenchi and embedded her elbow into 
Tenchi's neck. Tenchi staggered back and fought for breath. Lady Saito 
turned to see a lock of her hair lying on the ground. She became 
instantly enraged. She charged Tenchi. Her strikes landed with immense 
power. Tenchi had to do something. He made out like her assaults were 
draining him more than they actually were. His ploy worked. Tenchi 
guessed that her strength increased with her anger. She became 
confident again and started to ease up. Tenchi ceased the opportunity 
and grabbed Lady Saito's hand. She looked surprised for a moment. 
Tenchi tried to land a punch but she ducked and landed one of her own 
forcefully into his gut. Tenchi sank to his knees, stunned.
	"You think you were actually fooling me? Do you know how old I 
am? I've seen just about every trick there is." Lady Saito said. She 
grabbed Tenchi by the neck and lifted him off the ground. She pounded 
Tenchi's stomach with powerful upper cuts as she held him with her 
left.
	"You should have listened to your grand father. You don't risk 
everything on one attack. If your strategy fails, you will lose." Lady 
Saito pointed out.

*		*		*

"Hold on, Tenchi. I'm coming." Ryoko thought out loud. She could 
see something as she entered the Kilken system. Vast amounts of burning 
debris appeared. They looked to be pieces of Jurai and Galaxy Police 
battleships. Ryoko started to panic at the thought of being too late. 
She then noticed that the King's ship was still intact. She teleported 
herself onboard the bridge of the King's ship. She instantly collapsed 
to the deck. The King, Masaki, and Funaho turned to see Ryoko.
"Ryoko!" Masaki alarmed as she ran to the downed space pirate. 
Ryoko raised her hand to stop Masaki. Masaki stopped in her tracks. 
"Ryoko, you seriously need medical assistance." Funaho advised.
"I'll be fine. Where is Tenchi?" Ryoko asked.
"The last I heard, Tenchi was on board Ryo-Ohki. They were going 
to attack Miuki and we haven't heard from them since. Miuki's wings are 
down now. I think at least part of their plan succeeded." Masaki 
informed. Ryoko struggled to her feet. Everyone could see the large 
amount of blood running from Ryoko's hair and it covered half of her 
face. She staggered to her feet as she fought off a bout of vertigo.
"Good heavens, Ryoko. We need to get you to the infirmary." 
Funaho said. 
"I need to find Tenchi!" Ryoko yelled in frustration.
"Your best bet is aboard Miuki." The King stated.
"Thank you." Ryoko managed.
 
*		*		*

Lady Saito had Tenchi cornered. She was sure she had him right where 
she wanted him. 
	"I'm sorry that I must do this to the crown prince but what must 
be done, must be done." Lady Saito said as she raised her long blade. 
Ayeka leaped in front of Tenchi at the last possible moment. She 
erected her shield around Tenchi and Lady Saito's strike was deflected.
	"Princess Ayeka, what do you think you are doing?" Lady Saito 
questioned.
	"I will not let you harm Lord Tenchi." Ayeka announced.
	"Princess Ayeka, please get out of my way." Lady Saito said 
coldly. Ayeka didn't budge. Lady Saito raised her long blade once more 
and brought it down on Ayeka's shield. Ayeka was able to withstand Lady 
Saito's attack for a few moments before her shield collapsed and she 
was thrown clear of Tenchi. 
"Forgive me princess but I need you out of the way." Lady Saito 
said as she redirected her attention at Tenchi.
"You are very skilled and have great power young man. That is why 
I must destroy you." Lady Saito decreed. A wicked smile lit up Lady 
Saito's face as the thought of ridding herself of the last obstacle 
started to fill her mind with visions of her ideal future. The blade 
was cocked back into position but before she could swing her stroke of 
grace, a foot struck her jaw and sent her skidding across the floor 
until the wall stopped her. Everyone looked up in amazement as they saw 
what they thought they shouldn't be seeing. Ryoko stood in the middle 
of the room. She was obviously winded and still in very bad shape. She 
was bent half over with exhaustion. Her head was bleeding profusely 
from her previous injury. Lady Saito stood and looked at Ryoko.
"Look at you. You are in such terrible shape. I hope you are in 
as much agony as you appear to be. I must commend you on your 
persistence though. I can't believe you were able to cross space so 
quickly in your condition. And you did it just to fight me. I'm 
honored" Lady Saito finished as she brought the hilt of her blade to 
her face to salute Ryoko.
"I didn't come here to fight you, fool. I came here to save 
Tenchi." Ryoko cursed.
"Save Tenchi? Is it possible that you have some scruples? I think 
not." Lady Saito contested.
"You are a damn idiot. I have no doubt that you and Ayeka are 
related." Ryoko said.
"HEY!" Ayeka protested.
"The power of Jurai and the power of the gems were never meant to 
be combined. They were designed to destroy one another. When you 
combined them, you sealed the fate of the entire galaxy." Ryoko pointed 
out.
"A likely story. I think that you are aware of the might I 
possess and are trying to concoct a story that will help you get your 
way. Unfortunately for you, talk is cheap and I'm not buying." Lady 
Saito said. 
"I guess we are going to have to solve this the old fashion way." 
Ryoko suggested.
"I'm very pleased that you are here. You saved me the trouble of 
hunting down the remaining gems. After you are gone, I plan on making 
them a part of me and I will rule the galaxy." Lady Saito revealed. 
Ryoko raised her fists and was ready to fight. Lady Saito wasted no 
time and charged Ryoko. Ryoko raised her hand to generate a blade was 
terrified to find out that she couldn't. Lady Saito's blade hurled at 
Ryoko's head but was blocked by Tenchi's blade. Tenchi shoved Lady 
Saito back and stood at the ready once more beside Ryoko.
"I let you down before. I'll never let you down again." Tenchi 
promised. Ryoko focused with all she had. Normally, she didn't even 
need the gems to form a blade and having two gems should have given her 
the ability to make a blade without even feeling it. However, her 
condition made the simple tasks extraordinarily difficult. She created 
the blade and stood next to Tenchi.
"I want you get out of here, Ryoko. You are no condition to stand 
let alone fight." Tenchi said.
"I'm not leaving." Ryoko protested.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled.
"I'M NOT LEAVING!!" Ryoko yelled at the top of her lungs. The 
effort caused her great pain but Tenchi knew she wouldn't be dissuaded. 
"I'm not going to forgive you for this, Ryoko." Tenchi scowled. 
Ryoko smiled.
"Yes you will. You always do." Ryoko laughed. Ryoko took a few 
steps away from Tenchi to give both of them enough space to fight. Lady 
Saito's eyes darted from Tenchi to Ryoko and back. Ryoko fainted an 
attack but leaped back. Tenchi dashed at Saito's body. Lady Saito 
brought her short blade from low to strike Tenchi from knee to neck. 
Ryoko stepped back in and blocked the stroke. Lady Saito was wide open. 
Ryoko focused all she had and fired an energy blast into Lady Saito's 
gut as she screamed in pain. The blast blew Lady Saito through one of 
Miuki's walls. Ryoko tried to maintain her balance and stand. Tenchi 
steadied her. Ryoko looked through the hole in the wall and admired her 
handy work. 
"That was for Sasami." Ryoko taunted. Ryoko suddenly became aware 
of Lady Saito standing behind her. She tried to turn but Lady Saito 
grabbed Ryoko by the hair and held her fast. Ryoko screamed in agony 
once more. Tenchi tried to move around Ryoko to get a shot at her but 
Lady Saito moved Ryoko to keep her between Tenchi and herself.
"You filthy beast. How dare you touch my royal person!" Lady 
Saito hissed. 
"This is your reward for your insolence. Die and burn in hell!" 
Lady Saito whispered in Ryoko's ear. Lady Saito's short, violet blade 
slowly emerged from Ryoko's gut. Ryoko's eye's opened as wide as they 
could.
"RYOKO!" Washu screamed. Lady Saito removed her blade and Ryoko 
started to fall towards the floor. Lady Saito stepped back for Tenchi 
to catch her. Tenchi couldn't form words. He caught Ryoko and gently 
laid her on the floor. He looked at her face to see she still wore a 
surprised expression. Ryoko's eyes slowly moved to look at Tenchi. 
Ryoko tried to raise her hand to his face but only made it halfway. 
"Tench.Ten.." Was all Ryoko could manage and then she was gone. 
The light in her gold eyes faded. Her eyes remained open but Tenchi 
knew she was dead. Her body went limp in his arms. Tenchi shook his 
head slowly then violently. He still couldn't manage any words. He 
embraced Ryoko. He then raised his head skyward and yelled with all his 
might.
"NOOOOOO!" Tenchi roared. The ship shook. Lady Saito stepped back 
in shock. She couldn't believe the power that Tenchi still possessed. 
Tenchi lowered Ryoko's head to the ground and closed her eyes with his 
right hand. He flung the master key to the ground as he stood. Ayeka, 
Washu and Lord Katsuhito were surprised to see the expression of hate 
on Tenchi's face. He was breathing heavily and his forehead burned 
bright with the emblem that signified his own power. Tenchi levitated 
for a moment as his light hawk wings cracked the air like lightning. 
Lady Saito looked on without worry. She focused and her light hawk 
wings blazed forth. 
"Washu. Get everyone out of here." Tenchi said. Washu agreed 
without question. Ayeka helped Lord Katsuhito and Washu ran up next to 
Ryoko. Washu looked at her slain daughter and started to cry. She cried 
out to Ryo-Ohki though her psychic link and they were all soon 
transported aboard Ryoko's ship. Tenchi stood and stared at Lady Saito. 
She did the same.

*		*		*

Ryoko opened her eyes to find herself in unfamiliar surroundings. She 
saw Tsunami, Achika, and hundreds of people she didn't recognize 
standing around her. Lady Jurai sat upon a thrown that overlooked the 
room that Ryoko was standing in. Ryoko felt a bit uneasy.
	"Hi there. How's it going?" Ryoko said. Muffled laughter came 
from the people standing around her. Ryoko noticed that she was no 
longer in pain. She examined her body. She was still wearing her blood 
stained battle suit but she wasn't injured in the slightest. Ryoko 
looked back to the thrown to see Lady Jurai staring at her without any 
expression on her face. Ryoko felt compelled to do something but she 
wasn't sure what. She found herself lowering herself to one knee and 
bowing her head. A few whispers came from the crowd as they looked on. 
Lady Jurai smiled brightly. Ryoko couldn't see her but she knew that 
Lady Jurai wanted her to rise. Ryoko stood. Tsunami approached Ryoko 
from the edge of the crowd.
	"You are a very brave woman, Ryoko." Tsunami said as she 
approached. Not used to being praised, Ryoko became defensive. 
	"I'm not brave. I'm selfish and greedy." Ryoko retaliated. 
Tsunami smiled.
	"Yes you are, but for the right reasons." Tsunami said. Laughter, 
again, came from the crowd surrounding the two.
	"Where am I?" Ryoko asked.
	"You are in the thrown room of the Palace of Jurai." Achika said 
as she walked towards the two. Ryoko's eyes widened as she remembered 
what happened before she arrived. 
	"Tenchi needs my help. I need to get back there." Ryoko stated 
with excitement. 
	"There is no need to worry about that reality any more, Ryoko. 
The galaxy you were a part of is about to be destroyed and everyone you 
care about will be here." Tsunami explained. Ryoko looked to the floor 
then back to Tsunami. I want Tenchi to be with me but he doesn't want 
to be here. I know he would rather save his home and everyone he cares 
for. Even Ayeka deserves a chance to live out the rest of her days. 
There is still a chance." Ryoko said.
	"No there isn't." Achika stated.
	"What do you mean?" Ryoko asked.
	"Lady Saito's power has already surpassed Tenchi's. Her strength 
can only be match by one of the light hawks." Achika explained.
	"What are you talking about? Tenchi can produce the wings of the 
light hawk." Ryoko shouted.
	"Those are not the wings of the light hawk." Tsunami said. Ryoko 
was confused once again.
	"What you think are the wings of the light hawk are merely plumes 
from the wings. Each space tree can produce so many plumes. That is why 
all the trees must combine their power to create the light hawk." 
Tsunami explained.
	"If that is the case, then I've never seen the lighthawk." Ryoko 
admitted.
	"That is correct. The only instance where light hawks have been 
created in your reality is when the evil one took control of the space 
trees so many eons ago and when the second daughter created the crimson 
light hawk to defeat him." Tsunami explained. 
	"Wait a sec. Did you say light hawks? As in more than one light 
hawk?" Ryoko asked with amazement. 
	"Yes. The first light hawk was sent to your reality and its power 
divided amongst the space trees in order to provide a source of Lady 
Jurai's power so that the first daughter could exist. The Crimson light 
hawk was sent to sustain the second daughter as well stand ready to 
destroy the first light hawk in case the space trees were captured."
	"This Crimson Light Hawk can be summoned by combining the power 
of the three gems?" Ryoko asked.
	"Yes." Tsunami confirmed. Ryoko shoved her way passed Tsunami and 
Achika until she stood in front of the stairs leading to Lady Jurai's 
thrown.
	"Lady Jurai. Please send me back with the ability to create The 
Crimson Light Hawk." Ryoko requested. Lady Jurai frowned. Voices of 
concern shifted through out the crowd. Tsunami and Achika grabbed Ryoko 
by her arms.
	"Ryoko, there isn't any way you could withstand the full power of 
the light hawk. You are not one of Lady Jurai's direct daughters." 
Tsunami advised.
	"Bologna. I know Tsunami is the first daughter and I know that my 
mother, Washu, is the second daughter. If I am created from Washu then 
I should be able to control the power of the second light hawk." Ryoko 
argued as she looked pleadingly towards Lady Jurai. Jurai looked 
concerned as she stared back at Ryoko. She stood and descended the 
staircase. Ryoko, Tsunami and Achika took a few steps away from the 
bottom of the staircase. Lady Jurai looked to Tsunami, then to Achika. 
Both released Ryoko's arms and stepped back behind Ryoko. Ryoko once 
more dropped to a knee and lowered her head. Lady Jurai placed her 
hands on Ryoko's face and lifted her head until Ryoko was looking Lady 
Jurai directly in her eyes. Jurai's eyes were the same color as her 
hair. They flashed like perfect spheres of mercury.	 
	"The power the Crimson Light Hawk can destroy you. I am not 
referring to death. I am telling you it can destroy you utterly. Why 
would you risk your existence to wield my might." 
"I love Tenchi. I'll do anything to save him. Even if it means 
destroying myself." Ryoko admitted. The members of the court whispered 
to one another. Lady Jurai gazed into Ryoko's eyes as though she were 
searching for an answer.

*		*		*

Tenchi stood a few meters in front of Lady Saito. Lady Saito looked at 
Tenchi smugly. 
	"Did I do something to make you angry?" Lady Saito taunted. 
Tenchi reached out grabbed one of his wings and it transformed into the 
light hawk sword. Lady Saito reached out with both of her hands and 
formed two smaller light hawk swords. In a flash, the two closed the 
distance between one another. Their swords met with a flash of light 
and crackled as fiery sparks leaped from the opposing blades. Tenchi 
knocked both of Lady Saito's blades away and swung for her head. Lady 
Saito ducked and spun around behind Tenchi. Both of her blades came 
down towards Tenchi's shoulders. He heaved his sword above his head and 
blocked her attack. He jumped backwards and impacted the back of his 
head on Lady Saito's nose. She reeled back in pain. Lady Saito raised 
her hand to her face and wiped away a trickle of blood from her nose.
	"Does it hurt?" Tenchi taunted with a serious countenance.  Lady 
Saito became furious and charged Tenchi. Tenchi met her half way and 
punched her in the exact same place his head struck her. Fear flashed 
through Lady Saito for a moment before she regained composure. Tenchi 
charge once again. Her blades disappeared. Tenchi was determined not to 
be fooled by the same trick again. Lady Saito didn't move. The light 
hawk sword came down. Lady Saito reached up and caught the blade with 
her bare hand. Tenchi was in shock. He twisted and tried to pry his 
sword loose with no success. Lady Saito smiled. She pulled the blade 
from Tenchi's hand then landed a ferocious right to Tenchi's face. He 
slid across the floor and stopped in the middle of the room. The one 
punch Lady Saito threw almost knocked him out. Tenchi's eyesight was 
coming back into focus just before he was hit again. Lady Saito had 
pinned him against the floor and was bashing Tenchi senseless.
	"You stupid little man. Your miniscule powers don't even come 
close to matching mine." Lady Saito said as she continued to pummel 
Tenchi with lefts and rights. Tenchi was nearly unconscious when Lady 
Saito let up. She stood over Tenchi victoriously.
	"You fought valiantly, Tenchi. However, your time is up." Lady 
Saito stated. She pointed her open hand at Tenchi's head. Suddenly, the 
gem that was in her wrist sizzled then exploded. The small blast didn't 
hurt Lady Saito but it did make her wonder. She looked at her wrist 
where the gem used to be. 
	"I guess I drained the power of the gem and it expired. Little 
need for concern though. I can still feel the power the gem within me." 
Lady Saito commented
	"Where were we? Oh yes, this is where you.." Lady Saito was 
unable to finish. She was knocked through Miuki's hull and sped out 
into the blackness of space. 

*		*		*

Washu's head snapped up. She could have sworn she heard Ryoko's voice 
through her psychic link. She looked back to where she placed Ryoko on 
Ryo-Ohki's deck. Ryoko wasn't there. Washu's eyes widened as she 
franticly looked around. She was no where to be found.
	"Where's Ryoko!" Washu shouted. Ayeka and Lord Katsuhito looked 
around and saw the same thing Washu did. Ryoko was nowhere to be found. 
	"Don't worry Washu." A familiar voice spoke from above. The 
threesome looked up to see Ryoko carrying Tenchi. She was clad in a 
skintight suit. It resembled the same design as her other battle suit, 
only this one was completely red. Ryoko looked like she was chrome 
plated from the neck down, except the chrome was ruby tinted. Her eyes 
were calm and her gaze was comforting as she looked to Washu. 
	"Are you alright Ryoko?" Washu asked. Ryoko floated to the deck 
and placed Tenchi on the ground without replying.
	"He is hurt but he will live." Ryoko said before she 
dematerialized.
	"Ryoko, wait." Ayeka called after her. 
	"Hold your horses, Ayeka. Ryoko knows what she is doing." Washu 
said.
	"How do you know that?" Ayeka asked.
	"I don't know." Washu said.
	"You don't know?!" Ayeka repeated.
	"I have this gut feeling that was how she was suppose to be but I 
don't know how she got that way. I certainly didn't do that." Washu 
said.
	"What are you talking about? You aren't making any since." Ayeka 
stammered. Washu smiled.
	"Don't worry about it. Just look after Tenchi." Washu finished.

*		*		*

Ryoko materialized in front of Lady Saito. She didn't have any kind of 
expression on her face. Ryoko appeared indifferent to everything that 
was going on around her. 
	"You surprise me. I thought I did you in for sure." Lady Saito 
stated.
	"You did do me in. Now I'm back." Ryoko said.
	"Is that so? I think I'm going to have to make sure you don't 
find your way back this time." Lady Saito commented. 
	"I will come back as many times as it takes to save Tenchi." 
Ryoko said.
	"Enough. I think it's time I showed you what you are up against." 
Lady Saito said. She brought her hands down to her sides in fists. She 
closed her eyes and concentrated. Her face tensed and Ryoko could feel 
the power emanating from her. Five wings lit the area just in front of 
Lady Saito. Ryoko didn't show any change.
	"What are you going to do against five wings of the light hawk?" 
Lady Saito boasted.
	"Those are not wings of the light hawk." Ryoko said with a smile.
	"No?" Lady Saito said in disbelief. 
	"No, Those are merely plumes from the wings." Ryoko's face now 
tensed as she concentrated. The gold iris in her eyes disappeared 
leaving only the glowing whites. Huge, crimson, angelic wings sprang 
from Ryoko's back. Each wing was composed of hundreds of plumes.
	"These are the wings of the light hawk." Ryoko said. Lady Saito 
couldn't understand what she was looking at. 	
	"Those can't be." Lady Saito started.
	"Yes they can." Ryoko replied.
	"IT CAN'T BE!!!" Lady Saito yelled as she flew at Ryoko. She 
swung her swords franticly but she was unable to even touch Ryoko. 
Ryoko ducked and dodged every last one of Lady Saito's attacks. Lady 
Saito became impatient and launched a massive ball of energy at Ryoko. 
Ryoko brought one of her wings in front of her and batted the blast 
away with ease. 
"You can't beat me so easily." Lady Saito said. 
"No but I will beat you." Ryoko said. She reached down with both 
her hands and removed two plumes from her wings. The plumes turned into 
two slender light hawk swords. The two ladies stood at the ready. Lady 
Saito attacked. Ryoko deflected Lady Saito's attack have way through 
her delivery. Ryoko brought her other blade down towards Saito's leg. 
Lady Saito flew out of the way.
"I felt the heat from that one." Lady Saito said with a smile. 
She actually enjoyed the challenge. To be honest, so did Ryoko. 
"I bet you did." Ryoko smiled.
"You weren't fast enough though." Lady Saito spouted. Ryoko's 
look became mischievous. 
"I wasn't?" Ryoko replied. Both of Lady Saito's foot wear drifted 
away from her feet. Lady Saito became angry which is what Ryoko wanted. 
She need to defeat Lady Saito at her strongest so she wouldn't have to 
kill her. Lady Saito attacked furiously. Ryoko was impressed. If she 
were in her normal state, she would have no chance against The Jurai 
noble. Ryoko knew it was time to bring this fight to an end. Just as 
Lady Saito thought she had the upper hand, Ryoko couter attacked and 
shattered both of Lady Saito's light hawk swords. Lady Saito stared in 
wonder. She knew there was no way that she could win. Her plumes 
vanished and she just stood in place. Ryoko drifted up to her. She 
looked at Lady Saito and saw the she was starting to weep. Ryoko felt 
something not right behind her. She turned to see the some of the Jurai 
ships sparking and swelling. Ryoko quickly dashed among the ships. She 
ripped and sliced them with her wings until only a few ships remained. 
Ryoko was breathing hard. She knew that the power in Lady Saito was 
corrupt as well. That meant she had to die. For some strange reason, 
Ryoko didn't want to kill her. She had caused her some of the worst 
pain she had ever experienced, yet she was compelled to be lenient. 
	"All I ever wanted to do was go home." Lady Saito said.
	"I know." Ryoko replied.
	"You do?" Lady Saito asked. 
	"Of coarse I do. Granted, I only found out a short while ago. Why 
do you think I didn't kill you." Ryoko said.
	"What happens now?" Lady Saito asked. Ryoko crossed her arms and 
closed her eyes.
	"The power of Jurai that is inside you has already been 
corrupted. It is only a matter of time before it destroys you and a 
large part of the galaxy if we don't act now." Ryoko said.
	"I'm sorry. I didn't want to cause anyone harm. I know I can't 
make up for what I did." Lady Saito said.
	"Oh yes you can and yes you will. Don't think just because the 
end has come that you are just going to get off scott free." Ryoko 
said.
	"I'm not?" Lady Saito Asked.
	"Not by a long shot. All of your ancestors are waiting for you 
and some of them aren't too pleased. It isn't going to be nice for a 
while but they will eventually forgive you. They have to. They are 
family." Ryoko explained.
	"I understand. I don't want to be alone anymore." Lady Saito 
cried.
	"Your entire family is waiting for you. I know. I've been there." 
Ryoko confirmed.
	"Please take me to them." Lady Saito pleaded. Ryoko reached out 
to Katsume and held her in a warm embrace. The two were engulfed in 
light then vanished.

*		*		*

"Look at this mess. I swear you are the most reckless man I 
know." Lady Masaki hissed.
"Me? What did I do?" The king replied.
"This all could have been avoided if you would have let Katsume 
come home." Lady Masaki scolded.
"She tried to over throw Jurai and take over the galaxy!" The 
king said incredulously.
"You have an excuse for everything, don't you? You know good and 
well she couldn't have overthrown Jurai. After reading the report, you 
knew she wasn't at fault for Ryoko's unchallenged attack on the 
palace!" Lady Masaki continued.
"She does have a point." Lady Funaho added. 
"You too?!" The king backpedaled. 
"This is useless. Talking to you is like trying to talk to a 
brick wall." Lady Masaki complained. 
"Now just wait one minute!" The king objected.
"Come on Funaho. You know if we don't clean this mess up, no one 
will." Lady Masaki said as she walked off the bridge with Lady Funaho 
in trail.
"But I'm not..I'm.Oh what's the use." The king finally conceded.

*		*		*

	"Where did she go?" Ayeka asked.
	"I can't say." Washu said.
	"I thought you were suppose to know everything." Ayeka cursed.
	"I do. I just can't tell you where she went." Washu said. 
	"Why not?" Ayeka asked as she began to lose patients.
	"Because you didn't say the magic words." Washu teased.
	"Please, Washu, Where did she go?" Ayeka asked.
	"Call me,' Little Washu." Washu demanded.
	"Please, Little Washu, where did Ryoko go?" Ayeka asked at wits 
end.
	"Please isn't the magic word." Washu said. Ayeka stormed off to 
the far side of the bridge and sat in a huff. Washu smiled.
	"Why are you being like that to her Little Washu?" Tenchi asked.
	"Firstly, because Ryoko isn't around to do it, someone has to 
pickup the slack. Secondly, because it has been a while since Ayeka has 
had a chance to argue with someone about anything. She needs to fight. 
It's like a pressure relief system." Washu explained.
	"Do you really know where Ryoko is?" Tenchi asked again.
	"Yes." Washu stated.
	"Well where is she?" Tenchi asked.
	"Don't worry Tenchi. She's back in my lab, safe and sound in the 
bed I prepared for her." Washu explained. Tenchi smiled as he sat down 
on the deck. He stretched and yawned at the same time. He went from 
genuine concern to complete exhaustion in only a few seconds. 
	"Now that you know Ryoko is safe, you can finally relax, eh 
Tenchi." Washu thought to herself.
	"You poor confused boy. You didn't even try and you won Ryoko's 
heart. She has been killing herself to win yours ever since the day you 
freed her from that cave. I wonder how long it will be before both of 
you find out that she won your heart a long time ago." Washu thought as 
she walked to the window. 

*		*		*

"Well, we are pretty useless." Kiyone pouted.
"It's not your fault, Kiyone." Mihoshi said as she ate some 
snacks from a bag in her hand.
"I know it's not my fault! It's your fault!" Kiyone yelled back.
"I didn't mean to." Mihoshi tried to defend herself. 
"You always never mean to. Maybe you should try screwing up on 
purpose so we can actually make some head way." Kiyone said.
"The reverse thrust button looks just like the forward thrust 
button. I just got confused in all the excitement." Mihoshi pleaded.
"Mihoshi, we were supposed to get out of Miuki's way. Not jump 
right in front of it!" Kiyone yelled. 
"I'm sorry, Kiyone." Mihoshi cried again.
"Never mind. At least we are still alive." Kiyone said trying to 
look on the brighter side.
"How long do you think it's going to be before they get us out of 
here?" Mihoshi asked. 
"Who knows? The fight could still be going on." Kiyone said.
"I don't hear anything." Mihoshi said.
"Mihoshi, sound doesn't travel all that well in space." Kiyone 
said.
"Oh yeah." Mihoshi remembered.
"At least we got trapped in the food locker. We won't have to 
worry about starving. I stocked a week's worth of food in here before 
we left. That should be plenty of time for us to get rescued." Kiyone 
said with pride.
"Uhmm, then I guess you can have what's left in this bag." 
Mihoshi offered.
"Why is that?" Kiyone asked.
"Because I ate the rest." Mihoshi said as she cowered back.
"YOU WHAT?" Kiyone screamed.
"HOW CAN YOU EAT A WEEK'S WORTH OF FOOD IN A FEW HOURS?"
	Kiyone raged.
"I was hungry." Mihoshi explained.
"Keep it down ladies. I can hear you two from all the way out 
here." Washu's voice sounded.
"Washu? Where are you?" Kiyone asked. Before Kiyone received a 
response, the two galaxy police detectives were transported aboard Ryo-
Ohki.
"What happened, Washu?" Kiyone asked.
"It was a costly battle but our side won. Lady Saito was defeated 
and we are headed back to earth." Washu explained. 
"I take it you got the gem back." Kiyone said.
"No, I didn't as a matter of fact." Washu said with a smile.
"I don't understand." Kiyone admitted.
"I'll explain everything on the way home." Washu stated.

*		*		*

Ryoko slowly opened her eyes. She looked over to the side of the bed 
and saw Tenchi asleep in a chair next to her. She reached up and put 
her hand on his cheek. He smiled. She smiled in turn. 
	"Rise and shine sleepy head." Washu spouted. Ryoko quickly 
removed her hand from Tenchi's face and sat up. Tenchi's eyes opened as 
he turned to look at Ryoko.
	"Washu? Where am I? What happened?" Ryoko asked.
	"You don't remember?" Washu asked
	"Remember what?" Ryoko asked
	"Never mind." Washu said.
	"Did that airhead Ayeka give me a strike?" Ryoko asked with a 
little agitation.
	"A what?" Washu asked.
	"Hello. Baseball remember. A strike is when you try to hit the 
batter with ball before she gets a chance to hit it back at you." Ryoko 
explained in detail.
	"That's not how it goes." Tenchi clarified.
	"I know you are trying to cover up for her Tenchi. You always 
take her side." Ryoko accused. 
	"No Ryoko. She didn't. Don't worry about that and try to focus on 
getting better." Tenchi said.
	"Ryoko threw off her covers and examined her body. She felt 
bandages on her head and pulled them off.
	"Other than being a little tired, I feel fine." Ryoko yawned. 
Washu and Tenchi's eyes bulged.
	"Is something wrong?" Ryoko asked.
	"No. Nothing is wrong." Washu blurted. Kiyone, Mihoshi, Ayeka, 
Sasami and Ryo-Ohki, Lord Katsuhito and Noboyuki walked into the lab.
	"Hey, we thought we heard your voice." Noboyuki offered.
	"Did you hit me with on of those balls, Ayeka?" Ryoko growled.
	"What?" Ayeka asked with genuine confusion.
	"Tell me the truth, Sasami. Did she?" Ryoko asked.
	"Ryoko.." Sasami started. Ayeka quickly put her hand over 
Sasami's mouth.
	"That's right Ryoko. I drilled you right in your empty head. It 
sounded as hollow as a bass drum when it hit. I didn't even throw it 
that hard. Your head must be softer than I though." Ayeka attacked.
	"Why you!" Ryoko stood up in bed. Everyone could see that all of 
her wounds had heeled. They all took a step back. 
	"Ryoko, you are ok." Mihoshi said surprised.
	"Of coarse I'm ok. It's going to take more than a leather ball to 
put me down for long." Ryoko boasted.
	"I hope you are feeling better Ryoko but I think I've heard 
enough." Lord Katsuhito said as he walked out of the room.
	"I guess the prospect of a little peace and quiet is gone now 
that Ryoko is up." Ayeka said as she walked out of the room.
	"Here you go, Ryoko. I made this especially for you.  I know it's 
you favorite." Sasami said as she placed a tray of food next to Ryoko's 
bed. Ryoko forgot that she was angry and remembered how hungry she was.
	"Wow, thank you Sasami. I guess there may be hope for Jurai's 
royal family after all." Ryoko said as she started to chow down. 
	"You're welcome. I have to get back to the kitchen and start on 
dinner. I'll have more of your favorites ready for tonight." Sasami 
chimed as she ran out of the room.
	"What a darling little girl." Ryoko said happily. Tenchi stood 
next to Ryoko. Ryoko wiped her mouth on her sleeve then she looked to 
Tenchi. There was still some food stuck to Ryoko's face. Tenchi reached 
down and gently brushed it of. The hair on the back of Ryoko's neck 
stood up.
	"I'm glad you are doing so well. I was worried about you." Tenchi 
admitted. Ryoko reached up and put her hands on Tenchi's shoulders. 
Tenchi looked a little uncomfortable. She stood right in front of him 
and pressed her body against his. Tenchi looked really uncomfortable 
now. Ryoko slowly brought her lips towards Tenchi's. She stopped about 
an inch away from him and opened her eyes. She saw Tenchi was ready to 
run. She smiled and then backed away. Tenchi relaxed and took a step 
back. Ryoko crossed her arms and gazed at Tenchi with a smile. Tenchi 
started towards the door but he never took his eyes off of Ryoko. She 
followed him with her eyes. Tenchi walked right into the door jam and 
hit his head.
	"Be careful." Ryoko advised still smiling. Tenchi rubbed his head 
and smiled back as he walked out the door. Ryoko stood looking at the 
door Tenchi just walked out of. A loud thud could be heard just outside 
the door followed by the sound of someone scurrying to his feet. Ryoko 
smiled again.
	"Isn't he the cutest." Ryoko thought out loud. Washu coughed with 
her fist over her mouth. Ryoko's smile vanished and her eyes cut to 
Washu. 
	"I know you are still there Washu. Just say something. Jeez." 
Ryoko said.
	"I was just looking at your read out and it looks like you are 
back to one hundred percent. I'm still having trouble downloading your 
memories from the last few days but I think that will come with time." 
Washu explained.
	"Maybe you should just keep your nose out of my business, Mom." 
Ryoko said sarcastically. Washu brought her hands to her face with fake 
surprise.
	"You called me 'Mom." Washu spouted with glee. 
	"I can think of dozens of other things I want to call you right 
now." Ryoko said. Washu slapped Ryoko hard on the backside.
	"Respect your elders." Washu instructed. Ryoko quickly turned 
with her fists balled. Washu stood and didn't shift her position in the 
slightest.
	"You need some fresh air. Be out of my lab in the next five 
minutes." Washu said as she walked out the lab door. Ryoko unballed her 
fist and looked around the lab to make sure she was alone. She examined 
her wrists and saw that she still possessed the two gems. She then 
reached up and removed the third from her left earring. She held it in 
front of her and remembered.
	"And the third gem represents the power of the firstborn son of 
Jurai." Ryoko repeated.
	"Who is the son?"

THE END

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