Songs of a Despairing Warrior
                                         Episode Four:Reality Awaits
                                                 By Locke Gilderthorn

"Wake up...wake up, dear. Come on, wake up." The voice beckoned. It
soothed his shattered and broken nerves. His eyes cracked open.
Florescent lights momentarily blinded him as he looked upward. His head
moved on its own, he saw a woman in a nurse's uniform, her dark hair
cropped up in a bun. She was in her early twenties by what he could see.

"Good, you're awake," She said in Japanese. He was an American, he
remembered; backpacking accross Japan and...That was all.

"Where am I?" He asked.
"Osaka General." the nurse replied. "You took quite a hit."
"What?" The boy said.
"Oh, you don't remember? You were hit my a moving van, and almost went
out on us like a light. The other boy who comes here waiting on you is
very concerned." She said with genuine suprise. The young man laying
down blinked at her.
"Who is this other you're talking about?" he queried further.
"I don't know, he never said his name, but he also sometimes comes with
as many as eight other people at a time to see you, and see how you are
doing. It's my guess that this boy very much cares for you, along with
his family." She said.
"I want to see him."

Thay rolled him out to the lobby in a wheelchair after coming down in an
elevator and going through various corridors. There were ten of them,
eleven altogether including a rabbit like creature. A majority of teh
group was women and one little girl, and only three were men. The women
had various shades of hair; cyan, violet, light blue, blonde,
greenish-black, purplish-crimson, and a golden blonde with brown
highlights: she was most beautiful. One of the women, the one with
purple braids smiled at him as he was wheeled into the front of the
hospital. The other boy, the one about his age walked up to the american
boy and his nurse and said "Hi, my name is Tenchi." and extended his
hand. "You're Eric, I saved you."
"And you have my thanks." Eric replied, bowing his head slightly. Tenchi
bowed back. the golden blonde headed girl walk up to and knelt next to
Eric. She kissed him. Sweetly, like a bird's song, she whispered into
his ear.
"I hope you are safe and well, my Eric." She said. He fogged up, but
remembered her, too.
"I hope you're okay, too, Jaiiko." He replied, talking her in his arms,
hugging her.

They all walked home, all twelve, including the rabbit. Almost near the
shrine, Kastuhito, Tenchi's grandfather, stopped and motioned for Eric.
The ancient Juraian prince handed him something.
"You dropped this, Darius." He said, leting a demure smile creep into
his face, Eric remain solemn.
"It wasn't a dream, was it?" he asked without leting his eyes stray from
Yosho's.
"It was not."
"Abomination is dead then?"
Yosho nodded. Eric reached for his ancient weapon, the Gaia-ken, and
activated it with his Jurai energy, its crimson energy blade humming
with life, its red and black and tan hilt comfortably smooth in his
palm. He saluted to Yosho, and his wings sprouted again, Jaiiko hugging
his waist. Yosho bowed to Darius, Gaurdian of Life as he and Jaiiko
disappeared forever from the Earth's terrain.

Post-fic Author's Note:This is my first finished Tenchi fic, so try not
to flame me too bad, okay? Thanks; send comment to Locke at
beergood49@metallica.com
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