Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo and the characters of that show are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. This fanfic is in no way a challenge to the copyrights and/or trademarks owned by those companies. The only thing the author has any claim to is the characters and writing which he himself composes. I am not making any money off this so please don't sue me. This story takes place in the OVA universe, shortly after episode 13. Italics denote a character's thoughts, while flashbacks will be (hopefully) clearly noted. Line breaks signify a scene change. Comments, critiques, and praise are all much appreciated as I then know people actually read this. All comments can all be sent to Majingotenks0@hotmail.com Warnings: As always read at your own discretion. Possible OOC although I try to be as true as I can. Shadow Of The Kutan Episode 5: Back On Earth Sareno tumbled through the portal into his lab, landing heavily on his stomach as the door behind him winked out of existence and it's molecules dispersed forever, it's connection severed permanently. The emergency portal he had constructed aboard the Soja II operated sufficiently enough to shield him from the explosion of the stardrive, although the shockwave which preceded the blast made his trip rather uncomfortable. He groaned softly before realizing that although he had multiple fractures in his ribs and probably had internal injuries as well, which if not treated, would prematurely end his life in a few hours, he was alive still and his plan had worked. He wished that he could contact the Ryo-oki and tell everyone, but he figured that he only had a few minutes of consciousness left before he fell unconscious, which would lead to his death. He slowly struggled to his feet, every step an infinite amount of pain before reaching the medical tube he had set up in case of this occurring. He set it on automatic and entered it, not bothering to take off his clothing. He would sleep...yes. Sleep and then when he woke up he would tell them everything................and darkness overtook him. _______________ The Ryo-oki landed and everyone was teleported out in silence. Not much was spoken during the trip back despite the fact that all felt they had something to say. Washu walked out ahead of everyone else towards the Masaki home. "Little-Washu! Wait a sec!" Tenchi called out after her, fearing for her safety and not knowing if he should comfort her or not. Washu composed herself into a shadow of her former self before asserting, "No Tenchi I'm fine, but thank you for asking. I have some work to catch up on maybe you'll stop by so I can finally examine you for a bit." Although her words were playful, her tone was not. Ryoko, hugged Tenchi despite the dirty look Aeka gave her, "Tenchi do you think we should do something?" "I don't know Ryoko, but perhaps we should leave her alone for a while. I mean, how would you deal with it if you lost someone you knew for thousands of years?" Although her mental connection to her "mother" was tenuous at best for her and currently completely blocked, Ryoko whispered to herself as she looked helplessly at the door to Washu's lab, "I think she loved him." She tried to picture how she would feel if it had been Tenchi, but the thought was to painful to even think of. Before Aeka could say anything to Ryoko, Sasami hugged her, crying "This is awful Aeka! Washu's so sad and Sareno's gone!" Aeka looked down on her sister, "It's ok Sasami. At least no one else was killed. It was a noble sacrifice that Mr. Kadreth did. I'm sure many would be proud of his actions..." she looked down at her sister again before realizing the meaning of her statement...."no that's stupid. No one should have died. Washu must feel terrible. Sasami's right, this is horrible." Yosho stood in silence, remembering an earlier conversation: "I always believe in having multiple contingency plans in case something goes wrong. That way, it leaves my options open to achieve the best result." "Is death an option?" "It's always there, but usually it's not a preferred method as if you fail, you will never get another chance. If you try something else, you still have a chance of rectifying it later. Odds are not important as they can always be worked around if you think in four dimensions or more." Yosho wondered, "Four dimensions?....hmmm...I wonder what he was referring to? Sareno was a specialist in the field of utilizing and manipulating the region he and Washu referred to as sub space. Perhaps he was giving a little more insight into his plans than he let on...." Yosho started, realizing the implications of his train of thought, before smiling, "I think Washu will find a surprise for her in her lab." Everyone turned towards him, `WHAT?" they said in unison. Yosho just smiled, looking at the house as Tenchi grumbled, "How come he always knows everything I don't?" He was rewarded by a "thwack" as a bokken struck him on the back of the head. When he looked up, he saw his grandfather still standing where he had been a few feet away, smiling at him without any apparent weapon, "It's because I pay attention. Now let's go home." Washu walked into her lab, and sat at her usual spot in front of a window overlooking a beautiful sunset before summoning her holo-computer. "Well at least I can get back to work without interruption." She began to type before pausing. She hit a few more keys before summoning a picture of the area the battle had taken place. She looked at the screen before tears began to fall again. Sobbing softly she didn't notice the hand that crept onto her shoulder. Her crying stopped as she tried to compose herself into her "professional attitude", "Please go away Tenchi. I think I want to be alone for a little while." "I don't know why you're so upset.....I mean it was only a ship. We can build another." Washu's eyes widened as she froze in her seat, recognizing the voice. She turned to face the speaker but no one was there. She shook her head, "Get a hold of yourself Washu. You're hallucinating now." Turning back to her computer, she saw, standing in front of her, was a tired Sareno. "Hi. I was in the neighborhood again and just thought I'd stop by to say.....off!" Washu embraced him, holding him tightly as if she thought he would disappear again and fade away like so many others had in her life. Sareno winced as his still bruised ribs hadn't completely healed, but he returned the hug anyway. He was surprised when Washu didn't break away and yell at him for not communicating the Ryo-oki, but he was even more taken aback when she whispered, "Don't leave me......ever again. It's hard to find students who aren't afraid of me or insane." As Sareno began to laugh at her joke on his earlier jest, for the second time that day, Washu began to cry again, although for a different reason. _______________ A few days later, Tenchi finally encountered Sareno alone, outside. It was late into the night and Sareno sat on a hill, gazing at the stars. The young man sat down next to the young- looking scientist. Sareno didn't look up at the newcomer, but held out a cup of warm sake which Tenchi refused, "He escaped you know. I know the blast reached into sub-space, but as I was thrown into the portal, before it closed, I heard him say that he'd be back." Tenchi looked at him, amazed, "You believe him? Nothing could have survived that." Sareno looked down at the ground and softly whispered, "I did." Tenchi smiled, "Yeah, but you had a portal you knew you could duck into." "I know, but he probably was thinking the same thing when he first stepped on board. He must have known that I had fail-safes and that I would never let him take the ship or me if I could help it," Sareno paused, taking a sip of his drink before continuing, "He'll be back." Tenchi looked up at the stars, "Yeah, but we'll be expecting him." Shocked, Kadreth looked over, "You can't be serious. You actually thought I was going to stay and endanger you all again?" Tenchi looked over at him, "It's ok," laughing, "this stuff happens all the time." Smiling, Sareno agreed, "Yes I suppose it does." Tenchi stood up, "Well I gotta get back to the house before the girls notice I'm gone and snuck out or something." "Tenchi?" "Yeah?" "Thank you....for everything." "No problem." Sareno turned his head to watch Tenchi head down the hill. Looking back at the stars he contemplated the last few weeks. He never would have expected that Tyrolan would have ambushed him on his way to find Washu, nor did he expect the warlord to find him so quickly, especially after his transport ship was completely destroyed. The Kutan were obviously far more resourceful than he had initially suspected, which made them far more dangerous. He would have to be ready for anything. He needed to get this over with before the next semester began if he could help it. Sareno stood and began walking down the hill back towards the sub-space lab and the special genius that resided in there. _______________ Tenchi began walking back, when suddenly he felt as if he wasn't alone. "Hi Ryoko. What are you doing up so late?" Ryoko appeared behind Tenchi, floating a foot off the ground, "I couldn't sleep, so I went down to see if there were any household chores to be done." Tenchi looked over incredulously before Ryoko started laughing, "Just kidding Tenchi". "I thought so." Tenchi sighed cynically. She sighed and landed next to him, walking at his pace, "The stars are certainly beautiful tonight." Tenchi looked up, "Yeah. I guess they are." "Tenchi?" "Hmm?" "I know I seem..." she paused, searching for the right word, "overbearing at times, but do you think......?" Tenchi stopped and looked up at the sky, softly grasping her hand. "I think the stars are beautiful Ryoko." She former pirate smiled softly as she looked upwards with him. _______________ Washu watched the potential development on her computer screen, laughing, "Well at least Little-Ryoko is finally learning something from her mom." "And what would that be?" Startled, Washu nearly jumped out of her seat, "Stop sneaking up on me like that Kadreth!" Sareno laughed, "After all this time it's good to know I can still get you every time." Washu continued to stare at her screen, grinning evilly, "Well not every time." Even though her face was not visible, Sareno sensed something in her tone which worried him. Suddenly he felt the wind knocked out of him as a set of metal bands trapped his arms and legs against a vertical examining table. He attempted to shift out of the restraint, but found himself unable to. Washu stood and slowly walked over towards the trapped scientist, "Oh stop struggling. You promised to be my new guinea pig for a while remember?" Sareno's face turned white, "What? Let me go! I'm going to get you for this Washu!" Washu laughed insanely as she approached him, "Maybe later." Sareno tried to think of a way out, but having used these tables before, he knew the only way out was a password, as the restraints blocked all other powers, allowing the examination of various races. The table rotated and the male scientist found himself upside-down. Washu bent down to bring herself level with his face. Sareno found that he couldn't think properly and remember the emergency password as Washu's lips found his. _______________ End Episode 5 _______________ Shadow Of The Kutan Epilogue On a distant planet, a dark figure sat, contemplating recent events. The loss of the Soja II was a definate setback, but the war was not lost yet. The two princesses of Jurai were on Earth away from the Jurai military. This fact could quickly become a greater assest than any warship in his conquest of Jurai and his revenge on the royal household. Oh yes. The unjustly disgraced and forgotten general will have his vengence yet. _______________ End Epilogue _______________ Author's Notes: So the first installment is finally done. I'm really flattered that you finished it. I think that after the end you can see that the Ryoko/Aeka competition and the jurai royalty themes may come into play in the next section. (I told all of you Aeka and Ryoko fans to hold on) Actually the main three (Tenchi, Ryoko, Aeka) will be the large focus of the next installment, although Washu, Sareno, Yosho, Mihoshi, Sasami, everyone's favorite cabbit, and of course Noboyuki will be present. Suggestions, comments? Even though I'm not the best writer, this will be continued simply because I like to do it. The more emails I get, however, the faster I will complete it though. Later all. -Calico Zero Majingotenks0@hotmail.com