Hello, everyone.  I know, I know.  I told you there wouldn't be anymore
stories concerning the alternate dimension from "Empire," but when a
story pops into my head, it's impossible to get out until I start
writing it, so here we go again.  This is going to be a multipart work. 
I'll try to get it out promptly without making you wait too long, but
the fall semester is almost here, so it may be delayed from time to
time.
I'd like to thank "Seaver" for giving me the good, swift, kick in the
ass that got me started on this project.  Thanks Seaver.
Jeez, I keep forgetting to do the bloody disclaimer.  Okay, Tenchi Muyo
is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  I don't own these characters,
just the writing.
Now then, cue the lights, play the theme music, and....



The Bonds of Sisterhood, Part 1:  Ayeka's Loss

	Princess Ayeka of Jurai strolled down the forest path that led to the
Masaki home, deep in thought.  It was a familiar thought, one she had
been toying with for the last month, ever since Ryoko's double, the
Empress of Jurai, had returned to her dimension.  She considered what
had happened then.  For three days, she and Ryoko were forced to compete
with the best elements of themselves...along with each other.  The
Empress had all the wealth, beauty, and power of Ayeka along with
Ryoko's sense of fun and zest for life.  
	In short, it had been a total nightmare.
	Of course, Ayeka would've had to be a complete moron not to have
learned something from it.
	So, she had decided to...alter...her approach.  She decided to be a
little more casual.  She even began dressing the part, giving up her
traditional, formal kimono for a more simple sun dress.  It wasn't much,
but it was a start.
	She couldn't help feeling that she was losing.  There was something
about the way Tenchi had been acting around her since his trip to the
other dimension that gave Ayeka the impression that the decision was no
longer about Ryoko and Ayeka, but a choice between Ryoko and Ryoko.  If
she didn't do something soon, she feared she would lose him forever.
	She was considering ways to show Tenchi that she could be just as fun
as Ryoko (without compromising her dignity, of course,) when she heard
something rustling in the bushes behind her.  She turned quickly and
looked around.  She had just convinced herself that it was nothing when
someone emerged from the bushes on her right.  She turned and saw her
mirror image standing there.
	She was speechless.  Standing before her, wearing an even more formal
kimono than the one Ayeka usually wore, was another Ayeka.  The kimono
she wore was violet with a gold obi and trim.  Her headband was made of
very fine silver.  However, it was the smirk she was wearing that made
Ayeka extremely uncomfortable.
	"Hello, there," the mirror image told her.  Suddenly, power logs
appeared around the confused princess.
	"Wha...what is the meaning of this?!"  Ayeka began, but the logs began
to change.  They seemed to melt into thick strands of rope that attacked
the Jurain princess.  Within seconds, Ayeka was immobilized,  wrapped in
several layers of rope from head to foot.  The ropes covered her mouth,
muffling her screams.  At her mirror's command, the ropes lifted her two
feet into the air.  Ayeka looked down at her double, still shocked at
what was happening.  Her double looked up at her in pity.  
	"I'm sorry," she began.  "I genuinely am.  I know that this will hurt. 
I'm the only one who really knows that.  But you needn't worry.  I'll
take good care of her."
	<Care of her?!  What?!  What is she talking about?!>
	"Azaka!  Kamidake!"  The two guardians appeared on either side of
Ayeka.  She screamed, trying to get the guardians to obey her, but they
ignored her.  The double gave them their orders.  "Watch her until I am
ready to leave, but under no circumstances are you to harm her."
	"Yes Ma'am,"  the guardians replied in unison.
	Once again she looked up at Ayeka.  "I'm sorry," she said again, "But I
need her more than you do."  With that, she left, walking down the path
Ayeka herself had been taking.

	Sasami hummed  the theme song from her favorite TV show as she cooked. 
Ayeka should be home any minute, and it looked as if she would be right
on time for lunch.  Tenchi was at the shrine with Grandfather, while
Ryoko was in the lab with Washu.  Mihoshi was reading a comic book in
the living room, oblivious to the world.  She heard the door open and
close.  Ayeka must be home.  She wiped her hands on a towel and went to
the living room to find Ayeka there, dressed very formally.
	"Ayeka, you're just in time,"  Sasami told her.  She raised an eyebrow
at Ayeka's clothing.
	Ayeka stood there, staring at her.  "Sa...Sasami?"
	Sasami blinked.  "Ayeka?  Are you okay?"
	Ayeka rushed forward and embraced her.  "I'm fine, now, Sasami. 
Everything's going to be fine, now."  Sasami was confused, but returned
the hug.  Her sister must be in one of her moods.  
	Ayeka broke the embrace and wiped a tear from her cheek.  "Sasami, I
have good news.  We're going home."
	"Home?!"
	"Yes, just the two of us."
	"But, Ayeka...why?  Has something happened?  I want to stay here!"
	Ayeka seemed to falter for a moment, but recovered quickly. 
"We're...we're just going for a visit, Sasami.  We'll be back in a few
weeks.  Don't you want to see our family again?"
	Sasami thought about it.  It *had* been awhile since they last saw
Jurai.  She smiled.  "Is Tenchi coming?"
	"Er...no.  He has responsibilities here.  It's just the two of us."
	"Oh," Sasami said.  She wondered if maybe something had happened
between Ayeka and Tenchi.  "Did you two have a fight?"  she asked.  "I'm
sure whatever it was, Tenchi didn't mean it!"
	Ayeka took the opening and ran with it.  "Yes, Sasami, we had a fight. 
I just need to go back to Jurai for a little while, and I need my sister
to talk to.  Please, come with me, Sasami.  Please!"
	Sasami saw the desperation in her eyes.  Whatever it was, it was
important to Ayeka.  "Okay, Ayeka," she said with just a touch of defeat
in her voice.  "When do we leave?"
	"Right now."
	"Right now?!"
	"Yes, the ship's waiting for us."
	<Ship?  What ship?>  "But...but what about Tenchi and the others?"
	Mihoshi, who had been listening up until now, spoke for the first
time.  "Go on ahead," she said cheerily.  "I'll tell them where you've
gone."
	"Thanks, Mihoshi," Sasami said with a hint of disappointment.  She had
been looking for a way out.  Now Mihoshi had deprived her of it.
	Mihoshi waved it off.  "Don't mention it.  Sisters should be there for
one another.  You just have a nice trip, okay?"
	"Thanks."  This time it was with more enthusiasm.
	"Yes," Ayeka said, somewhat stiffly, "Thank you.  Now, come along,
Sasami."
	Sasami took her sister's hand as Ayeka led her outside.

	Ayeka screamed, struggled, and kicked, but to no avail.  The ropes had
her tight, and the forcefield the guardians surrounded her with kept her
suspended in the air, keeping her from even crawling after her double. 
Then, suddenly, without warning, the guardians and the ropes all
disappeared.  Ayeka fell to the ground with a thud.  She lifted herself
up off the ground and started running towards the house.  There was only
one "she" her double could've meant.
	<Sasami!  Hang on!>

	Mihoshi turned the page on her comic book and giggled.  "Oh, isn't
Keiichi ever going to learn?"  she thought out loud.  Suddenly, the door
burst open and in ran Ayeka.  "Oh, Ayeka.  Back so soon?  How was your
trip?"
	Ayeka grabbed Mihoshi by the collar and pulled her up until she was eye
to eye with the dense detective.  "Where is she?!"
	"Who?"
	"Me!"
	Mihoshi blinked.  "You're there."
	Ayeka growled.  "No!  I mean the other me!  Was she here?!  Where's
Sasami?!"
	Mihoshi blinked again in confusion.  "She went to Jurai with you. 
What?  Did you miss your ride?"
	Ayeka's eyes went wide.  "You...you mean they're gone?"
	"Well they're obviously not *gone*,"  Mihoshi commented.  Ayeka sighed
in relief.  "I mean, you're right here.  By the way, where's Sasami?"
	Ayeka screamed and threw the detective to the ground.  Mihoshi watched
in puzzlement as Ayeka fell to her knees and began to cry.

	"*Queen* Ayeka?"  Ryoko asked.  "You think *she* might've took Sasami?"
	Tenchi nodded.  Only half an hour had passed since Mihoshi had run up
the steps to the Masaki shrine and told him what had happened.  Now,
they were all in the living room, discussing their options.  "It
certainly sounds like her from Ayeka's description of how she was
dressed."
	Ayeka, sitting  on the couch, holding Ryo-Ohki in her lap, wiped a tear
away.  "But why?  Why would she take Sasami?"
	Tenchi felt a wave of guilt wash over him.  Since his return, he had
omitted the part of Sasami's death during his brief trip to the parallel
dimension.  It seemed that now, they were paying for that error in
judgement.  
	He was about to tell them, when voice from nowhere spoke up.
	"Because there is no Sasami in her dimension."
	They all turned to find Tsunami standing in the doorway that separated
the living room with the kitchen.
	"Ms. Tsunami,"  Tenchi breathed.
	Tsunami stepped forward and faced the group.  In the past year, she had
shown up only a handful of times.  This was the first time she had ever
shown up at the Masaki home.
	Ryoko had a question for her.  "What?  You mean she was never born?"
	"No," Tsunami said, looking at Tenchi.  "I mean she died."
	The others followed her gaze.  "Tenchi?"  Ayeka asked.
	Tenchi took a deep breath before beginning.  "Before Ryoko rescued me,
Tsunami was going to help me by going ahead of the fleet and asking the
ruling council of Jurai to investigate my story.  Somewhere along the
way, Kagato's ships ambushed her and...and she was killed."
	They stared at him wide eyed.  Ayeka whispered a question at him.  "Why
didn't you tell me?"
	He winced at the accusatory tone.  "Because I didn't think it would be
a good idea for Sasami to know that she had died *again.*  *I* could
barely handle it at the time, and I didn't want to think how it might
affect her."
	"It would've done no good, regardless," Tsunami told her pointedly.  
	"Ms. Tsunami," Tenchi asked, "How did you know about that?"
	Tsunami sighed.  "Just as there are other Tenchi's and Ryoko's and
Ayeka's in the multiverse, so are there other Tsunami's.  The difference
is, I am more in tune to the conditions of my doubles than you are."
	"What do you mean, 'in tune?'"  Ryoko asked.
	"We are all rudimentally connected to our doubles.  For instance, have
you ever had a sudden chill run up your back for no apparent reason?" 
At their nods, she continued, "That is a sign that one of your doubles
has died."
	That made Tenchi pause.  He tried to remember all the times someone
had, "walked over his grave," in his life and he had simply shrugged it
off.  To think that each  was a Tenchi Masaki dying...It was
frightening.
	"But you are more aware of your doubles?"  Washu asked.
	Tsunami blinked as if she thought the question coming from Washu was
absurd.  "Well, yes.  That's because there is only one of me."
	"One of..."  Tenchi began, only to be cut off by Ayeka.
	"ENOUGH!  I'm sure this is all very interesting, but how does it GET
SASAMI BACK??!!"
	"She's right," Ryoko said,  "We haven't got the luxury of time."  He
turned to their resident scientific genius.  "Washu?"
	Washu scratched her head.  "Well, I *have* been working on a
dimensional gate of my own, and I did make it a point to get the
temporal coordinates from the Empress during her visit.  I can get us
there, but where do we want to be when we do?"
	"Huh?"  Ryoko asked.
	"I mean we can't just show up on Jurai.  The Queen would probably
anticipate it."
	"We'll go to an Imperial world,"  Tenchi said.  "Ryoko will help us."
	Washu "hmm'ed" in thought.  "I could rig my gate to link with my
double's gate in the other dimension.  I'll have to modify it, though."
	"How long?"  Ayeka asked.
	"Three hours."
	"Three hours?"  Ayeka repeated sadly.  "That's what?  Three days in
that other dimension?  Who knows what's happening to Sasami?!"
	Washu regarded the princess with sympathy.  "I'm sorry Ayeka, it'll
take three hours to rig the gate.  I can't do better than that."
	"I wouldn't worry yet,"  Tsunami said.  "I don't believe your double
means Sasami any harm."
	Tenchi walked over and sat down next to her.  "Don't worry Ayeka," he
told her.  "We'll get her back.  I promise we will."
	Ayeka looked up at him with tears in her eyes.  Then she broke down,
burying her face in Tenchi's shirt and crying her eyes out.  Tenchi
reached his arm around her and held her as she wept.
	Ryoko flinched, but a quick look from Washu made her freeze.  <Let it
go,> the look seemed to say.  Ryoko sat back down in her chair.  Washu
stood up and made for her lab.  She had work to do.

	Washu spent an hour making the proper calculations.  All that was left
now was for the computer to input them into the gate and initiate a
subspace link with the gate she knew existed on the other side.  That
would take about two hours.  She sat back in her chair and closed her
eyes.  
	They shot open a second later.  She turned quickly in her chair to see
Tsunami standing behind her.  "Something I can do for you, Tsunami?"
	"Yes,"  Tsunami said in that harmonious voice of her's, "You can take
me with you."
	That made Washu pause.  "Er...Tsunami, the gate only works on physical
forms.  Astral forms won't go through the gate, and your physical form
is a little too big to fit through it."  This was an understatement. 
The spaceship tree that made up Tsunami's physical self was larger than
most buildings.
	Tsunami seemed to consider this.  Though Washu wasn't aware of it,
Tsunami valued her opinion and judgement.  The astral form of the blue
haired goddess looked into a nearby tank filled with small, round, brown
creatures.  She turned back to Washu.  "Then can you create an alternate
form for me?"
	"Huh?"
	"Using the Mass?  Can you create a body for me, something to house my
consciousness that *can* fit through the gate?"
	"In two hours?!"
	"Yes, in two hours.  Can you do it?"
	"Tsunami, I..."
	"Please, Washu."  Tsunami was pleading with her now.  "It was my lapse
that made Sasami's abduction possible.  I did not realize anything was
wrong until it was too late.  I have a responsibility to protect her. 
Please, Washu.  *Please.*"
	Washu mulled it over.  "Tsunami, I can make a body for you.  I can even
transfer your consciousness into it.  All that inside two hours, but..."
	"But?"
	Washu stepped in front of her and looked her directly in the eye.  "But
I can't transfer any of your powers.  You'll be just as human as Tenchi,
but you won't even have the Light Hawk Wings he has to protect you. 
You'll be defenseless."
	Tsunami stared down at her.  "But it *can* be done?"
	Washu nodded.
	"Then please help me, Washu."

	Two hours later, the rest of the group gathered in Washu's lab.  The
large steel loop that made up the gate loomed in front of them.  Tenchi
looked determined, his jaw set, the Tenchi-ken clipped to his belt. 
Ryoko was also wearing a fateful look.  She was going to rescue Sasami,
even if she had to kill Ayeka's double to do it.  Despite what the
others might think, that idea was distasteful to Ryoko, but certainly
plausible.  Ryo-Ohki sat on her shoulder.  For once, the expression on
the cabbit's face was not pleasant.  Ryoko wouldn't want to be Queen
Ayeka when Ryo-Ohki caught up with her.  Ayeka had stopped crying some
time ago, and was ready to rescue her sister at any cost.  Even Mihoshi
could be seen checking the safety on her Galaxy Police sidearm.
	Washu stood in front of them.  "All right, listen up, everyone!"  They
all paid close attention.  "I've managed to link the gate here in my lab
with what I hope is the gate in my double's lab either on board the Soja
or whereever she's been keeping it.  Still, be ready for anything.  It's
only been a month here, but close to two years have passed in the Empire
since the Empress' visit.  Be on guard."
	 They all nodded.  Suddenly, a crab-shaped alarm clock on one of
Washu's terminals began to beep and clap its claws together.  She looked
at it and smiled.  "Good, it's done."
	"What's done?"  Ayeka asked.
	"An old friend of Sasami's is coming with us," she told them.  She
ignored their puzzled looks and walked over to a terminal next to a
large black cylinder.  She entered a few commands, and the sheathe
surrounding the cylinder rose into the ceiling, revealing a nude Tsunami
floating in a column of water surrounded by a force field.  She didn't
appear to be awake.  Tenchi felt a nosebleed coming on, but fought it
down.  This wasn't the time.  Ryoko growled in annoyance when she
noticed that Tenchi was noticing Tsunami.  Ayeka was still too busy
thinking about Sasami to notice.
	Washu hit a key on the terminal, and the force field vanished, spilling
hundreds of gallons of water all over the floor.  Tsunami's body fell to
the ground with a thud.  Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ayeka rushed to her.  Washu
produced a robe and stepped forward just as  Tsunami began to come
around.  She lifted her head  and suddenly vomitted up a gallon of water
her lungs and stomach had been hiding away.  She coughed violently for a
few minutes, then allowed Washu to cover her in the robe.
	Washu helped the goddess up.  Tsunami's hand went to her head and she
moaned.  "Owwww, my head.  Is it *supposed* to hurt this much?"
	"It'll only hurt for a few minutes while your mind gets accustomed to
its new brain."  While Tsunami stood there and suffered, Washu did a
quick examination, looking Tsunami's new body up and down.  "Well, it
*looks* all right.  I just wish I had more time to work on it to be
sure.  How do you feel now?"
	Tsunami nodded slowly.  "A little better."
	"Good.  I've got some clothes for you over here."  She led Tsunami over
to a more private part of her lab.  Looking over her shoulder at Tenchi,
she grinned  wickedly.  "No peeking!"
	This time, nothing could stop the nosebleed.  Ryoko and Ayeka frowned
at him, but didn't say anything.
	As Tsunami dressed in the shirt and slacks Washu had provided, Washu
asked her one last time, "Are you sure you want to do this, Tsunami? 
You don't have any of your powers, and your face is going to immediately
recognizable whereever you go."
	"So is Tenchi's, so is Ayeka's for that matter.  And Ryoko's, and
Mihoshi's, and yours as well.  Why should I be any different?"
	Washu sighed.  "All right.  But I know you're hiding something from
me."  Tsunami tensed up.  "Just make sure that whatever it is doesn't
compromise us, all right?"
	"I would never do anything to put you in danger," she assured the pink
haired genius.  She turned and presented herself to Washu.  "Is this
adequate?"
	Washu "hmm'ed."  "It'll do.  Come on, the others are waiting."
	Finally ready to depart.  Washu raised her hands and summoned her
holo-top.  She entered a few commands into the computer and started a
countdown.  "One...two...ready....steady................GO!"
	Nothing happened.
	Ryoko blinked.  "Well, what the hell..."  Suddenly the gate came to
life in an explosion of green light which nearly knocked them all off
their feet.  
	From behind her holo-top, Washu chuckled.  "Gotcha!"
	Tenchi stepped forward and regarded the gate for a moment.  Then,
without a word, he stepped through it, disappearing in a flash of green
light.  Ryoko and Ayeka followed a second later with no hesitation,
Tsunami right on their heels.  Mihoshi cringed at the gate and began to
whimper. 
	"Washu, are you sure this thing is safe?"
	"Mihoshi, would I send you through a gate that *wasn't* safe?"
	Mihoshi promptly began to cry.
	"All right, 'ya big baby, let's go!"  Washu grabbed Mihoshi by the ear
and dragged the whimpering detective through the gate.  A few seconds
later, the gate collapsed behind them.
	There was no turning back.


	....To Be Continued.


Author's Notes:
Well, that was part one of, "The Bonds of Sisterhood."  Whadya think? 
This is going to end up being a long story.  I can already feel it. 
It's going to be long because I intend for it to have a little of
everything:  Good guys, bad guys, goddesses, mortals, fights, romance,
reunions, new characters, old characters, and the occasional shameless
plug for other series I like.
Well, I hope you enjoyed it.  Part two should be done soon.  Thank you
for reading it.

Send all comments to:
Thomas "009" Doscher
doscher009@hotmail.com