It has been at least one Earth year since that day in that Other World that they defeated Kain. They were all living happily at the Masaki home. Everyone was perfectly happy. "Goodness me, Ryoko. You're going to eat all that? My, my. I'm afraid you're going to gain a little weight from that lot," Ayeka said airily. Ryoko completely ignored her and began eating chips. Ayeka got up to go outside, followed by Ryoko. "Hey, princess," Ryoko called, "you sure you don't want any of this?" Ayeka sniffed and didn't answer. She began walking towards the shrine to visit Yosho. Ryoko flew up to bother Ayeka but stopped. She sensed something, somebody, moving around in the trees. Ryoko left Ayeka and flew into the forest to investigate. Ryoko could sense someone watching her. She flew around silently to see if the unseen adversary would slip up. She saw a glint of metal and heard someone running up towards the shrine. "Stop!" roared Ryoko. She flew as fast as she could towards the shrine. Ryoko burst out of the foliage, sweat forming on her face. She arrived at the shrine just as Ayeka began calling for Yosho. Ryoko saw a dark shadow come up behind Ayeka when she turned around and put her hands on her hips. Ryoko saw the shadow pull a glinting sword from its back. "Ayeka, move!" Ryoko bellowed. "Why should I Ryo-" Ayeka stopped with a look of painful shock on her face. Ryoko saw with horror a bloodstained sword that seemed to grow out of the Jurai princess's middle. She staggered forward, her face frozen into an expression of agony. Ryoko heard a cruel, hollow laugh. "If you're smart, you'll stay away from Jurai!" the shadow snarled in grim satisfaction as it teleported away. Ryoko zoomed to Ayeka and picked her up, mumbling words of support to the princess. She teleported to Washu's lab. "Washu! It's all right, Ayeka. Washu!" Ryoko gave Ayeka an encouraging look. Ayeka was beginning to become pale and was breathing shallowly. Blood was soaking Ryoko's arms as she bellowed for the scientist. A door appeared out of mid air and Washu stepped out, scolding her daughter. "Ryoko, do you have to-" "Washu, Ayeka needs help badly! Hurry!" Ryoko cried, cutting Washu off. Washu was horrified. "Good god, what happened?" Washu asked softly. "Put her on the table." Washu tapped something into her computer and a table appeared with a tray of many complicated instruments. Ryoko placed Ayeka on it and ripped the kimono off Ayeka's bloody middle. Washu gasped when she saw the slit in Ayeka's stomach. Washu began grabbing instruments from the tray. She picked up what looked like a thin camera tube and turned to Ayeka. "This might hurt, okay?" Washu told the now quivering Ayeka. The princess nodded, her eyes staring at the endless ceiling. Washu slowly inserted the camera into the cut. Ayeka shrieked in pain as Washu removed it. Ayeka was gasping when Sasami walked in cheerfully, whistling. "Washu, I brought you rice-" the little princess stopped abruptly. "Washu, what're you doing to my sister?" "Ayeka was stabbed by someone at the shrine!" Ryoko said quickly, beads of sweat rolling down her face as Sasami ran to Ayeka. "Ayeka, Ayeka, you'll be okay, right?" Sasami asked Ayeka, holding her big sister's left hand. "Of course, Sasami-unh," Ayeka groaned as Washu removed another dripping instrument. Ayeka turned to Ryoko and smiled weakly. "Ryoko, you'll t-take care of S-Sasami, won't you...?" Ayeka trailed off as Washu removed a pair of tweezers and a probe. "No! Don't talk like that, Ayeka." Ryoko stopped, noticing that Ayeka had become very still. "Ayeka?" Ayeka did not answer. "No! No, no, no, no!" Ryoko wailed. She hugged Ayeka, sobbing. Sasami sniffed loudly and began crying. "But, I-just finished-" Washu tried to say, a tear rolling down her cheek. Ryoko ignored her and continued howling. Washu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Come, Sasami," she said as calm as she possible. "We must tell the others." Washu walked out of the lab, squeezing Sasami's hand as Sasami squeezed hers. The little princess was shaking violently, tears streaming down her cheeks. They left Ryoko to let her embrace the friend she finally recognized. Washu had told everyone what had happened. Tenchi went into a stupor; he would not respond to anything. Nobiyuki sat under the cherry tree, like when Ryoko and Tenchi died that last year, and drank sake once more. Sasami shut herself in her room, crying nearly every waking moment. Washu stayed out of her lab for at least a day. Yosho was preparing a ceremony for Ayeka; Mihoshi and Kiyone left to tell Jurai's Royal Family. When Tenchi finally snapped out of his daze, he went down to Washu's lab, pulling the struggling scientist with him. "Come ON, Washu. I'm worried about Ryoko!" Tenchi said firmly, half leading, half dragging Washu down to her lab. Ryoko had fallen asleep on the cold floor of Washu's lab, clutching Ayeka's cold wrist. Tenchi tried to wake her by prodding her shoulder, but Ryoko gave a tremendous sob and continued sleeping. The prince sighed as he sat down next to Ryoko and began shaking the sleeping pirate Ryoko opened one eye, sniffling. "Ryoko, let go of Ayeka," Washu said, trying to wrench Ryoko's grip from Ayeka's pale wrist. "No," choked Ryoko. "She's my friend...don't let her leave..." Tenchi felt pity for Ryoko, whose eyes had dark lines under them. "Please, Ryoko, it's over. Ayeka is dead," Tenchi said softly. He felt his chest tighten as he struggled to keep his voice at a normal level. Ryoko sat up and began weeping. Tenchi tried to soothe Ryoko as Washu pulled a little mallet out of her pocket. Tenchi shook his head sharply as Washu raised her mallet to knock Ryoko out. "No! Ayeka...Ayeka...no...don't..." Ryoko kept repeating Ayeka's name, oblivious to Tenchi's attempts to calm her. Tenchi sighed heavily and slapped Ryoko's face. Ryoko stopped abruptly and touched her cheek. "Ow," she choked. "Sorry," Tenchi apologized hastily, "but you need to understand what happened. Ayeka is dead," he paused when Ryoko shook her head, "and nothing right now will bring her back. Grandpa's waiting at the shrine. We should go now." Ryoko got up slowly and picked Ayeka up, never letting go of her wrist. She teleported to the shrine, leaving Tenchi and Washu alone. "You know, they were probably best friends, even though they fought a LOT," Washu remarked suddenly. Tenchi nodded, admiring the scientist for her perceptiveness. Washu continued. "Poor Ryoko. I'm going to enhance Ryo-oh-ki so we can plot our revenge, right, Tenchi?" Tenchi smiled and nodded as he headed for the door. Washu had shut herself in her lab with Ryo-oh-ki. Tenchi could hear agonized howls from the cabbit as he saw bright blue flashing coming from the lab. Ayeka's parents had arrived with Mihoshi and Kiyone. Misaki was howling loudly, causing Azusa and Funaho to be quite uncomfortable. Misaki had a similar reaction as Ryoko; she would not let go of her daughter. "Oh my little Ayeka!" cried Misaki. "Oh, my...Ayeka..." "There is a rebel group on Jurai. They call themselves the shadows of Jurai," Funaho explained, Tenchi and the others listening intently. Washu had finished with Ryo-oh-ki and was slowly massaging the aching cabbit's back. Funaho continued. "They reject the current family of Jurai and want to establish their own rulers. The first act they have done is kill all of the close friends and allies of Jurai, such as the emperor of Nandei and the Royal Wood sculptor Nomori Takebe." Tenchi gasped, as this was the father of Asahi Takebe, a friend of theirs. They have also tried, of course, to kill Azusa, Misaki, and me. I'm guessing they gave up on us for the time being and went after Ayeka. I'm afraid that Sasami is in grave danger." Funaho sobbed, but caught herself and stopped. She sighed instead. Suddenly, something flitted past the window. Only Sasami seemed to notice. She looked out the window, apprehensive. As she turned around, a dark shadow appeared behind her, unsheathing a glinting sword. Tenchi noticed and gave a roar of fury. "Nooo!" There was a tremendous flash of light and an explosion. When their eyes adjusted, they saw a man sprawled on the floor with the Juraian guard uniform and a sword a few feet away. Tenchi's shimmering, blue robe had appeared again, as did his Jurai mark on his forehead. Everyone was staring at Tenchi, awed. "Thank goodness that Tsunami is watching us," he muttered. He vaguely thought of tying the Juraian up. A rope appeared above him out of nowhere and fell to his shoulders. "What?" muttered Tenchi. He remembered that he had powers and shrugged. "Washu, please help me tie up this guy." Washu nodded and sat the unconscious man up while Tenchi tied him up tightly, giving the last knot a forceful jerk. "Washu, you can question him. I don't think I know what to ask." Washu giggled and nodded mischievously. Washu began slapping the Juraian's face, much to the amusement of the others. The man regained consciousness and began struggling at once. Washu slapped him again, causing him to stop and scowl furiously. He caught sight of the king and queens of Jurai and swelled with irrepressible anger. "Ooh! Let me go! Let me at them! Kill them! What are you waiting for? Yow!" Washu slapped him promptly. "Shut up!" she said harshly, in a manner that they had never seen before. "Speak only when spoken to!" The Juraian cowered under the scientist's piercing glare. Washu grinned with satisfaction. "Good. Now, did you kill Princess Ayeka?" she asked slowly. The man nodded with grim satisfaction. "Yes! And proud of it!" he retorted, spitting on Washu's red face. Washu punched the Juraian in pure fury. "Why?" she roared, her eyes flaring. The Juraian grinned insolently. "I hate this family of Jurai! They're all bumbling fools! You will find that many of my Shadows, under the command of my partner, have destroyed this place you call Earth. You cannot see it, for we left this place in peace so we can properly destroy you all!" he said. He turned to Sasami, who was white with fear. "Princess Sasami, I WILL have you life!" Washu lost her temper. Quick as lightning, she whipped the mallet out of her pocket and cracked it in half on the man's skull. He groaned and slumped forward. "Misaki, Funaho, Azusa...you should all stay here. We can protect you here," Washu said, her face slowly going from a reddish color to pale. Tenchi had taken his Light Hawk sword out and was clutching until his knuckles were white. The Emperor and his wives nodded morosely. "I'll be in my lab if you need me." Ayeka's death had an odd effect on Ryoko. She rarely smiled and Tenchi couldn't help noticing that she seemed to have lost much interest in seducing him. Also, to make things even more odd, she wasn't sleeping on her futon or on her favorite rafter at all anymore. A few days after they captured the Juraian, Tenchi was getting a drink of water at around eleven o'clock. He heard Ryoko open and shut the front door. He was worried about his friend, so he decided to follow her, leaving his full glass. He found no one in the shadowy yard. "Darn. Where'd she go?" Tenchi muttered. He heard a soft scraping noise behind him and wheeled around. Ryoko, apparently, had jumped from the roof of the house and was pointing her sword straight at Tenchi. Tenchi, startled by what Ryoko was doing, did not retaliate in time. He moved to the right just as Ryoko thrust her sword forward. It cut through Tenchi's left arm as if it were butter. The Prince gasped in pain. "Ryoko, what're you doing?" he said loudly, wincing as Ryoko withdrew her sword. "Tenchi! I thought you were-I thought you were another Shadow," she sputtered. "I don't want to lose any more friends." Tenchi started. Was this Ryoko, who was talking this way? "Come on, let's take you to Washu before you lose any more blood. Come on." Ryoko took Tenchi's good arm and teleported from the yard. They both reappeared in Washu's lab, where the pink-haired scientist was cleaning the dried blood off a metal table. She was very absorbed in her task and did not notice the two behind her. "Washu!" Ryoko said suddenly. Washu started and looked up. "Washu, please, fix Tenchi. I hurt him, and I don't want him to die." "Why? What happened to him?" She gasped when she caught sight of Tenchi's arm, which was bleeding profoundly, blood dripping to the floor. Tenchi swayed and was immediately supported by Ryoko. "Here. Put him on the table. I'll take care of him. He'll live," Washu said with an odd expression on her face. Ryoko did not notice and nodded. She teleported away as Washu turned to Tenchi. "Tenchi, is Ryoko acting weird or what?" she asked Tenchi as she rolled his left sleeve up, allowing her to work on his arm. Tenchi winced and replied. "I know. She told me 'I don't want to lose anymore friends.' I'm worried about her, Washu." Washu nodded as she wiped the blood from his arm, leaving it glistening with water. Before any more blood could drip, she wrapped the wound with a thick layer of cloth after applying a generous amount of antiseptic. Tenchi's muscle twitched as she did all of this. "Thank you, Washu," Tenchi said, bowing to the genius. Washu blushed. "Well, no worries. Come back in the morning so I can change that bandage." Ryoko reappeared at the shrine. She passed through the door of Yosho's office without a sound. Ayeka was lying peacefully in the middle of the room on a thin, white mattress. Misaki was sleeping soundly a few feet away from Ayeka, dark lines under her eyes. The space pirate floated over to Ayeka, her face expressing a deep longing. She landed softly nest to the princess and stroke Ayeka's soft, violet hair. Unnatural calmness and beauty seemed to radiate from Ayeka's pale body. Quite suddenly, Ryoko burst into tears. The pirate went on like this for about half an hour until she heard a sound in the shadows behind Misaki. She saw a familiar glint and sensed something moving about. Since her eyes were accustomed to extreme darkness, she saw a shadow rise up behind the sleeping queen. Ryoko gave an infuriated roar and threw a ball of energy at the shadow. There was an explosion, but, oddly enough, Misaki did not wake. She only gave a sob and turned over. Ryoko sighed in relief and went to see what it was. It was another Shadow with a sword in his hand, but dead. Ryoko shrugged and went back over to Ayeka. She let a single tear roll down her cheek before curling up and sleeping. Yosho slid the door open slowly, wondering what was making the noise. He saw the dead Shadow and Ryoko sleeping quietly next to her friend. He nodded wisely and turned to leave. "I'm worried about Ryoko," he thought aloud. What? He sensed something moving around unseen in the shadows. "So," he said. "You are all THIS dishonorable that you go to kill people when their back is turned?" He gave a mighty yell and pulled a wooden katana out of his robe, breaking it over the head of a Shadow as she tried slashing down on his shoulder. She passed out immediately. Yosho threw the other half of the katana to the ground and picked up the sword from the Shadow. Shadows were beginning to appear among the trees, their eyes glinting with hatred. So, Yosho thought to himself, this is my fate! "Come then! Fight me if that is your intent! Cowards!" Yosho said loudly as his anger rose. "It is inevitable that I will not defeat you all, but I can try to take as many of you with me as possible!" A tall Shadow, apparently the leader, walked up and spoke, his white teeth glinting as he grinned evilly. "All right, then. I was going to fight you and let you beg for your life, Yosho, but I like this better." He stepped back as his fighters formed a circle around Tenchi's grandfather. He grinned. "Attack!" Swarms of Juraians gathered around Yosho, unsheathing their swords gleefully. Yosho gave a roar of fury and threw himself at the grinning Juraians, his own people. He slashed and thrust, cutting down warriors with the speed and agility only a trained fighter could use. Many fell to Yosho's dripping blade as he dodged and blocked the attacks from the Shadows. The battle became more intense as more skilled warriors took the places of the fallen ones. Still, Yosho continued hacking at the scores of Shadows piling around him. He could feel himself slowing down from strain and felt the weak slashes and thrusts of the Shadows finally hurting. Yosho saw the leader was standing away from the mˆl‚e, pale and quivering. He felt a sword embed itself in the middle of his back. Regardless of this, he put on a great spurt of energy and ran towards the leader, bowling over Shadows as he blazed a path through the horde. The leader squeaked when he spotted Yosho and tried to move into a stance, but seemed petrified. Yosho felt his energy draining away, so he mustered up all his strength and sent his bloodstained sword through the leader's belly, causing him to howl in agony and topple backwards as Yosho fell forward. The fighting spirit from the Shadows disappeared at once. They all whispered to each other and nodded as they teleported away. Yosho smiled and managed to drag himself over to the shrine stairs. Tenchi and Ryoko will complete the task, he thought as he reached the stairs. Funaho was walking up the steps to visit Yosho and spotted him drag himself over. She gasped and sprinted up the stairs. "Yosho! Yosho, oh my dear Yosho, what happened?" she whispered as Yosho changed into his true appearance. There was a high-pitched sound that came from the lake as Funaho cradled her only son's head. "Yosho...your tree, it's crying for you," she said, stroking his forehead. Yosho smiled weakly. "Yes," Yosho choked and coughed. "Funaho will die. Please, mother, avenge...Ayeka..." Yosho's eyes closed as he smiled at his mother. Funaho's eyes widened. "Yosho?" She shook her son. "Yosho!" Funaho sobbed and began crying. "Yosho...my Yosho...." She managed to drag Yosho over to his office. She put him next to Ayeka and said a short prayer. "I'm-I'm proud of you-Yosho." Tenchi woke with a start. His dream was awful. He dreamt that his grandfather had engaged in a fateful battle with a horde of Shadows at the shrine. Tenchi bit his lip. A vision, he thought, probably from Tsunami! "We have to do SOMETHING!" ~~~~~ Hi! Yeah, yeah, all my stories are dark, but I resort to writing when I'm IN a dark mood, all right? I don't know if you people think if it's as good as the other ones that I've done. Aw, I'm afraid of someone suing me that I'm going to put a disclaimer. EVEN though I hate having to put one... Disclaimer: I am completely knowledgeable that these characters are not mine and that they belong fully to Pioneer and AIC.