Copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson, All existing Tenchi characters are copyright 
Pioneer AIC. The character Ryeka is copyright 2002 by Steve Robinson (me)


Disclaimer - Look, it's a fan fic, so don't get bent out of shape. I thought up 
this idea a while ago, so I'm unabashedly pirating the Tenchi universe and 
bending it to my own nefarious purposes. I haven't read the millions of lines of 
existing a fan fic, so I can't say for sure that no one else has written this 
story line, but if so, well great minds and all that. I am sure that if Pioneer 
and company refrains from suing me, so should you. Besides, I wouldn't be 
listening anyways, la la la.... 

This fic is posted in its entirety at http://www.viciousbunny.net/

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Thicker than Blood
Chapter 11

"Aunt Ayeka, thank goodness it's you! You must hurry up and help us get Mommy 
and Daddy back. Order your soldiers to let them go, they'll have to listen to 
you..."

Kiyone shushed Ryeka. From the communications monitor, Ayeka smiled at the 
youthful innocence and belief in the power of adults to save the world.

"Unfortunately, my dear these particular soldiers aren't paying very much 
attention to me. But don't worry, we will rescue your mother and father, I 
promise you."

Ayeka spoke to Kiyone next. "Ryo-ohki and I are going to find Tsunami and bring 
her back to help. I am transmitting you the latest data I have gathered on the 
strength of the Juraian fleet at Earth, along with details of my plan. When the 
time comes, you may have to attack them, alone, until we arrive."

Kiyone looked down at her data pad and nodded. "I have received the information, 
Empress. Would you like to say hello to Mihoshi and Noboyuki? They are here with 
us?"

Ayeka nodded. "Of course, patch me through. I'll speak to you again soon."

"Goodbye, Empress," Ryeka said as Kiyone transferred the call to the station 
quarters where Mihoshi and Noboyuki were staying. Kiyone then transferred the 
newly received data to Kaji's data pad and he examined it. 

"Good plan," he said, nodding approvingly.

"That's why she is the Empress," Kiyone agreed.

"Still," Kaji pointed out, "this could all be an elaborate ruse to snare Tsunami 
and cement her power as the unquestioned ruler of Jurai."

Kiyone groaned. "Kaji, I thought you were the brightest detective in the whole 
Galaxy Police. Do you honestly believe that she could be behind this?"

Kaji shook his head waved the data pad. "Not after seeing this data. It's too 
good. Still, it is interesting how it only takes a little adversity to begin to 
doubt those we trust, hmm?"

"Yes, and sad," Kiyone nodded. Ryeka reclined in her lap, folding Kiyone's arms 
around her. 

"But, clearly," Kaji continued, "it is unlikely that Tomokon mounted this 
operation all by himself. I'll grant that he may have the tactical prowess to 
plan the capture of the Ambassador and his wife. But that doesn't explain how he 
was able to produce the crystallizing gel."

"I may have a suggestion there," Kiyone offered. "After the destruction of both 
Sozja and Clay's vessel, the Jurai military impounded the wreckage, refusing to 
permit any outsiders to examine it. It is possible that they were able to 
recover some data or a sample from the debris that gave them some idea of how to 
fabricate the crystal."

Kaji thought that over. "It's possible. However, if that were true and it was 
only the Jurai military, it is unlikely that the Empress would be bringing in 
such a heavy hitter as Sasami." 

He tapped the data pad.

"Cleary she also believes there is someone else behind this."

"Well, we have a day or so to figure it out. Lets go get something to eat."

Ryeka bounced up and led the way to Noboyuki's quarters. Mihoshi was just laying 
out dinner. Noboyuki was in the kitchen putting the final touches on the food. 
Over the years, with a little help from Mihoshi and occasionally Sasami, he had 
actually become a descent cook. Dinner was laid out, and it was quite a spread.

"Nothing like a good meal to raise your spirits, eh?" Noboyuki said. "Ayeka 
explained that we were going back to Earth soon, so I wanted to make sure we had 
one last good meal together before you all got so busy. I know that I don't have 
super powers, and I never have been very useful on your little adventures, but I 
want you to know that I will do anything you need to help get my son and 
daughter-in-law back."

He took off his glasses and blew his nose noisily.

Mihoshi took him by the arm and made him sit at the head of the table. 

"Stop that at once, you old phony," she scolded him. "You always have been just 
as important to our adventures as I have."

"That is an absolutely accurate statement," Kiyone chimed in, trying to keep a 
straight face. "And we'll need you on this mission, too. Yagami will need some 
special repairs over the next day or so. Your engineering skills will be 
needed."

"Me?" Noboyuki asked, "I know nothing of space ships. I build buildings."

"Nonsense, you build worlds. The same skills you use for planning and building 
cities will let you plan and install the systems on Yagami. I need your 
organizational skills more than your engineering skills. Mihoshi can liaison to 
the Galaxy Police to get whatever personnel you need. I have put my needs on 
this data pad."

Kiyone handed the pad across the table to Noboyuki.

"It is just another project like any other. While publicly the GP can't get 
involved, privately, they have made certain, ah, resources available to us. 
Please see that they get installed."

Noboyuki studied the data pad. "Hmmm, yes, I see. Yes this I can do. I will not 
fail you, Kiyone."

"Me neither," Mihoshi said, voice steady with no trace of her usual 
airheadedness. "You can rely on us."

For once, Kiyone showed no signs of a twitch in her eye.

"Good, then lets eat."



Far from Galaxy Police headquarters, Tomokon paced in front of Ryoko's crystal. 
She refused to look at him, keeping her eyes locked on Tenchi who hung mere 
meters away. 

"Soon this will all be over," Tomokon was saying. "We have word from those in 
the Royal palace who are loyal to us that the Empress has departed for parts 
unknown. I expect that she has gone to fetch her sister, Tsunami. When they 
return, you may live to see the dawn of a new age, and the destruction of the 
Royal House of Jurai!"

"So we are bait for Tsunami, is that all?" Ryoko said absently, still not 
looking at Tomokon. "Hell, she's a personal friend of mine. All you had to do 
was ask and I would have invited her to come. We could have kicked your butt 
together."

Tomokon laughed humorlessly. "Yes, that is probably true, but one by one, you 
are no match for us."

Ryoko looked down at Tomokon for the first time. 

"You are seriously deluded if you think you are any kind of match for Tsunami, 
you imbecile."

She flashed a blast from her hands, willing it to hit Tomokon. Tomokon didn't 
even blink. After the crystal stopped glowing he touched it.

"You must really hate me. That was a very powerful blast. I think you added a 
whole inch to your prison. But don't worry about me, I won't have to fight 
Tsunami at all. My 'master' as you call her only requires me to bring Tsunami 
out of hiding. Once that has been achieved, she will reveal herself as the new 
Goddess of the Universe."

Ryoko gasped. "Tokimi! You are in league with Tokimi! You idiot! Don't you know 
that she despises lower life forms? Why do you think Tsunami banished her all 
those years ago? It was to protect miserable sods like yourself from her wrath!"

"For your information," Tomokon continued, calmly, "Tsunami didn't banish her. 
It was Tsunami and Washu. The details are scarce and her Ladyship hasn't deigned 
to fill me in, but I am certain that it took a combined effort between Washu and 
Tsunami to banish Lady Tokimi to another dimension. Now that we have 
incapacitated Washu, Tsunami alone will be no match for Tokimi."

Tomokon put his hand on the transducer.

"By the way, we have no desire to harm your little brat. That is why we didn't 
blast her out of the sky when she ran away and left you here. You better pray 
that your stray cat Ryo-ohki has enough sense to keep her far from what is 
coming. Otherwise she will suffer the same fate as you."

Tomokon ripped the transducer off of the crystal. He stood for a moment, 
savoring his power over Ryoko. Then he marched out of the cell.

Ryoko looked back over at Tenchi, who was looking at her. She shouted and tried 
to tell Tenchi what she had learned. He just wasn't getting it. Frustrated, 
Ryoko screamed and blasted against her prison again and again.

Suddenly, Washu was standing beside Tenchi, pulling on his clothes, telling him 
something. Tenchi stood back and formed the Lighthawk sword. He slashed at the 
wall of his crystal. Ryoko wanted to tell him it was useless. Each time he 
struck the crystal grew thicker.

Then, Ryoko figured it out. The crystal grew thicker on the outside, not the 
inside. She began blasting again, pouring her energy into the crystal. Tenchi 
hacked away with the Lighthawk Sword. Periodically, each had to stop and rest. 
Fortunately, Tomokon saw no point in placing guards inside the hold, so they 
were never interrupted. 

Finally, after nine hours of expending energy, the two crystals had grown 
together, forming a tenuous bridge. One or two more blasts solidified the 
connection. It was done and Tenchi dropped to his knees. Ryoko would have as 
well, except for the fact that she was held tight by the crystal. She could no 
longer see Tenchi clearly, for the crystal had grown so thick that it diffracted 
the light crazily bending it to and from all directions. But...

"Tenchi! Tenchi, my love! Can you hear me?" Ryoko shouted. 

The response was immediate.

"Yes, I can hear you, can you hear me?"

Tenchi's voice came through faintly, somewhat tinny. The crystal seemed to 
absorb the lower frequencies and resonated more with the higher ones, but it was 
Tenchi's voice. Ryoko was surprised to find herself crying. She sobbed and told 
Tenchi everything that had happened to her, that Ryo-ohki and Ryeka had been 
there and fought their way out. Tenchi related his side of the story that Ryo-
ohki had taken Ryeka off of Senzo and presumably to safety. 

"Ryeka is alright?" Ryoko begged. "You are sure she got away?"

"Last I saw her she was taken aboard Ryo-ohki and blasting through the ceiling 
into deep space.  I am sure there would have been a lot more damage if Tomokon 
had tried to stop her."

"Good old Ryo-ohki," Ryoko murmured. Then she remembered.

"Washu! Tomokon is working for Tokimi!"

"Tokimi!" Tenchi and Washu both gasped the name at the same time.

"So," Washu thought aloud, "this is it. Tokimi is finally about to return to our 
universe. Based on Clay and Tomokon's actions, I think it is safe to say she 
hasn't changed much."

Tenchi stroked his mustache. "I remember that Lady Tokimi was somehow involved 
with Dr. Clay's attempt to capture you, but you never said much else about her."

"That's because I didn't remember back then. However, after Sasami-Tsunami 
settled down, I asked her about it. Apparently, Tsunami, Tokimi and I are 
sisters. How about that!"

Washu settled back down to a sitting position on the floor. Ryoko pressed her 
ear to the crystal, straining to catch every word. 

"I don't have the whole story, but apparently, Tsunami and I somehow pushed 
Tokimi away to another universe or dimension or something. Tsunami would only 
say that it was because Tomiki was out to destroy all of the lower life forms in 
this universe. By the way, Tenchi, that means you."

Ryoko was a few steps behind the conversation. "Sisters? You mean Sasami is my 
Aunt? That's weird. She only told me that Tokimi hated lower life forms. 
Considered them pollution."

"Stay with me, oh daughter of mine. For millennia, Tsunami wondered what had 
happened to Tokimi. Sooner or later, she might find her way back to our universe 
and she was likely to be very pissed. She must be getting closer. Dr. Clay had 
to travel quite far out into space to be able to contact her. But it seems the 
plan was the same then as it is now. Use Ryoko to capture me, then lure in 
Tsunami."

Washu smacked her fist into her palm. "Of course! That what Tomokon meant when 
he said it takes a thief to catch a thief. It takes a goddess to catch a 
goddess. Tomokon isn't going after Tsunami, Tokimi is. Tomokon is merely luring 
her into place and keeping us out of the fight so we can't help Tsunami."

Tenchi was instantly concerned. "Can Tsunami defeat Tokimi?"

"Definitely not," Washu said. "Not in her present state. Joined with Sasami, she 
is even weaker. I am not even sure that together we could beat her, even if I 
was free. Of course, Tokimi might have been weakened, too, by the displacement, 
so Tsunami might have a chance. Wow, how exciting!"

"Errrrgh, ahhhhhh!" Ryoko snarled. "Washu! How could you be so blas, at a time 
like this? We're in real trouble. Stop kidding around and get us out of here!"

"Can't do it, kiddo." Washu rapped her knuckles against the crystal. "This stuff 
is blocking all trans-dimensional activity. That's why you can't phase through 
it or teleport out of it. It's also blocking my access to my computer console. 
We are stuck. It's up to the others now."

 

Yagami crouched in the space station dock. No longer surrounded by twenty or so 
mechanics, technicians and armorers, the aging police cruiser may have felt a 
little lonely. Or perhaps it may have been unable to sleep. Tomorrow was the day 
Yagami departed for a rendezvous with fate. Perhaps the old spaceship was eager 
for one more battle.

Mihoshi wasn't. She had worked tirelessly through the previous night and the 
following day along side her husband, tweaking, tuning and perfecting Yagami. 
She never remembered being as focused or maintaining Yagami as carefully while 
she had been a Galaxy Police detective. She truly had never felt as certain and 
complete before as when she worked along side Noboyuki. Dear Noboyuki, who never 
yelled at her, never rolled his eyes, never called her an idiot. 

Mihoshi quietly got out of bed and stood in front of the mirror, regarding 
herself in the dim light. She was older, though she didn't look it, and wiser, 
though she never showed it. She had joined Galaxy Police years ago to satisfy 
family honor. Her grandfather had been a Marshal, a very high-ranking member of 
the Galaxy Police, and since she had no brothers or sisters it had fallen to 
Mihoshi to live up to the family name.

She had tried, really tried. She had even had a few successes, even before 
meeting Kiyone. But, every day she stood in Kiyone's shadow was a day she that 
felt useless and out of place. Maybe that was why she had never hurried back to 
Galaxy police after crashing on Earth, or why she had done everything she could 
to make sure that she and Kiyone were stationed there. The humans on Earth were 
so ... normal, Mihoshi fit in so well. 

Mihoshi certainly adored Kiyone. Despite their rocky relationship, they had been 
partners and had braved life and death together more times that Mihoshi could 
count. But, when Noboyuki had proposed and offered her a way out of that crazy 
life, Mihoshi took it and never looked back. And, she never had any regrets. She 
had since then served millions of people better with her natural caring and 
compassion, traits that had often impeded her police work. Most of all, she lit 
up the life of a single lonely person, Noboyuki. Mihoshi firmly believed that if 
you made just one other person happy, you had lived up to your fullest 
potential. All of the other good deeds you did were just bonuses.

Mihoshi wrapped a robe around herself and left the guest quarters and the softly 
snoring Noboyuki. She needed to find Kiyone.



Kiyone was in her quarters, sipping a cup of tea and double-checking the reports 
of the work on Yagami when Mihoshi walked in.

"Hey, Mihoshi," Kiyone smiled. They almost never got a chance to be together 
alone anymore. "I was just reviewing yours and Noboyuki's work on Yagami. It's 
perfect. You got every request done to perfection. Thank you."

"I'm glad, Kiyone," Mihoshi sat down on the sofa with Kiyone, who poured a cup 
of tea for her. "I - I want to talk to you about something."

Kiyone handed Mihoshi the teacup and settled back into the sofa. "Fire away."

Mihoshi sipped her tea and seemed to choose her words carefully.

"I have decided that Noboyuki and I won't be coming with you tomorrow when you 
leave."

"Oh?" Kiyone asked. "I ... uh ... Mihoshi, if this is because I always used to 
yell at you and called you dingbat, I want to say I'm sorry. I should have said 
it years ago. I was young and more than a little cocky. The truth is you were 
always one of my best friends. Sure, you really got on my nerves sometimes, but 
I have missed you these last few years. It makes me sad that I don't have a 
partner anymore."

"Oh, Kiyone, that's not it. And, I'll always be your partner, whenever and 
wherever you need me. No, it's about what each of us is meant to do. I have 
learned over the last twenty years with Noboyuki that I have a purpose, but it 
is to build, not destroy. That is why I was never a good detective in a fight. 
That is why I wouldn't be any good to you this time. Fixing Yagami, that is how 
I could serve you. Not firing a weapon."

Kiyone reached out and grasped Mihoshi's hand. "You aren't an idiot. I was the 
idiot for not seeing your true abilities before. It was so obvious. All those 
years at Misaki's, you were always at your best when you were helping others, 
never while you were forced into battle. Thank you, again. The work you did on 
Yagami is invaluable."

Mihoshi stood and put the teacup on the tray. Then, she leaned over and gave 
Kiyone a warm hug. Without another word, she left as quietly as she had come.



Ryeka stared out of the large port window in her room off of Kiyone's quarters. 
She was kneeling on the wide windowsill, concentrating, trying to sense her 
parents somewhere out there. She felt nothing and it made her feel lonely. She 
had never been so alone before. Always, her mother or her father had been there. 
Never once had they left her with a sitter or with relatives to go out alone.

Ryeka realized suddenly that she was almost ten years old. She had lost track of 
the Earth date while she had been flying around on Yagami, but it could only be 
about a week before her birthday. Silently, she made a premature birthday wish 
to have her whole family together again. 

Then, grimly she stared at her hand.  Almost without effort, an orange ball of 
energy appeared there, glowing angrily in the dimly lit bedroom. She would see 
to it that her wish came true, just as she would see to it that those 
responsible for her pain paid dearly for it.



Ryo-ohki drifted in space. They had arrived at the coordinates Ayeka had given, 
but Tsunami wasn't there. Ayeka didn't seem worried though. Ryo-ohki trusted her 
judgment, trusted her completely. Ayeka had been there when Ryo-ohki had been 
going through the equivalent of her terrible teenage years when she had gained 
intelligence and humanoid form after merging with the amorphic life form called 
the Masses.

It had been terrible when Tenchi married Ryoko. Ryo-ohki felt both jilted by 
Tenchi and betrayed by Ryoko. It had been worse when she realized that Tenchi 
had always only thought of her as an animal anyway.  Later, after the 
Tsunami/Sasami incident, Ryo-ohki again felt abandoned when Sasami decided to 
withdraw into obscurity. Ryo-ohki had desperately tried to go with her, but 
Sasami gently refused, insisting that Ryo-ohki stay on Jurai and continue her 
development as a sentient being. 

Ryo-ohki's salvation had come from quarter least expected. Empress Ayeka, 
perhaps feeling a little left behind as well, adopted Ryo-ohki as heir to her 
personal wealth. Though not eligible for ascendancy to the throne, Ryo-ohki 
nonetheless benefited from the best Royal education and training.  A few years 
back, at a 'graduation' party, the Empress had pronounced by decree that Ryo-
ohki was a free and independent being, putting to rest some rumblings in the 
military community that she be used as a weapon. The whole gang had been there 
when Ayeka asked Ryo-ohki what she wanted to do with her newfound freedom. 

For the first time in her life, Ryo-ohki was challenged to decide her own 
future. It took only a moment to decide. 

"I want only to serve you, Empress," had been her immediate answer. 

Ayeka seemed to be overcome for a moment. Few had guessed how deeply she had 
become attached to the being she once pretended to dislike.

"Well, so be it." Ayeka replied, tears brimming in her eyes like a proud parent. 

>From that day on, Ryo-ohki remained one of the Empress's closest confidants. 
She received more specialized, sometimes secret training. Rarely seen in public, 
Ryo-ohki nevertheless performed many tasks and chores behind the scenes that 
would have been politically impossible to do out in the open. In this way, Ryo-
ohki had become virtually the second most powerful person on Jurai.

"Empress, I am getting a reading. Something is appearing from trans-dimensional 
space."

Reality seemed to split apart and long, brilliantly white spines appeared, 
sliding out of the holes into real space. The enormous, proud form of the 
spaceship Tsunami ripped in and out of reality as is slowed and came to a stop 
in front of Ryo-ohki. The view screen blurred, the switched to the inside of the 
giant vessel.

A tall young woman, with perfectly chiseled face and long ice blue flowing hair 
bowed.

"Sister, it has been quite a while hasn't it." Sasami, or rather the physical 
manifestation of Tsunami-Sasami smiled warmly.

"Dear Sasami, I have missed you terribly." Ayeka replied. "I wish we saw more of 
each other when there wasn't some emergency or other to distract us."

Sasami opened her arms, long silken robes rippling as she did so. "Well, we have 
some time now. Won't you both come over and have some dinner together with us. 
We can talk about your plan, or whatever you want."

Ryo-ohki was already moving forward, phasing through Tsunami's hull, 
transforming as she went. 



Tenchi leaned against the crystal and closed his eyes. He imagined that he could 
hear Ryoko breathing on the other side, although it probably was impossible. The 
crystal barely conducted their voices when they shouted. She was sleeping 
though, exhausted from their efforts the day before. She also was growing weak 
from lack of food. Tenchi himself hadn't eaten in days, though it hadn't started 
to show yet. Washu was curled up sleeping on the base of their crystal sphere. 

Nothing seemed to phase her. Tenchi guessed that when you knew that you were 
immortal and had lived for twenty thousand years, you prioritized things 
differently. Situations that others considered dire and life threatening merely 
seemed interesting to Washu. Tenchi wished he shared that point of view. Perhaps 
then, he wouldn't feel so unsettled. 

Tenchi pondered what Washu had told him about Lady Tokimi, a being so powerful 
that even Washu referred to her as a goddess. Tenchi looked to the wall beyond 
which slept his wife. Not very many years ago Ryoko would have been considered a 
goddess by the primitive peoples of Earth. Even his own ability to call upon the 
power of Jurai would probably have qualified him for a place in the ancient 
Greek pantheon. Tenchi had trouble conceptualizing the abilities of a being so 
powerful that it rated being called supernatural when compared to himself, Ryoko 
or even Washu.



Tomokon tossed and turned on his bed. He found it hard to sleep due to his 
anticipation of the coming showdown with Tsunami, and his eventual reward that 
would follow. He tried to force himself to dream of wealth and riches. He 
fantasized about himself surrounded by servants and subjects. However, as he 
neared sleep, he always lost site of the fantasy and his mind wandered to 
strange and bizarre thoughts: himself being ridiculed and despised, the demon 
Ryoko breaking free from her confinement and killing him, himself wearing a 
kimono and painting his toenails. 

Determined to dream an inspiring dream on the eve of his ascension to greatness, 
Tomokon would wake himself up and start his fantasy over again. He resolved to 
dream what he wanted to dream, or not sleep at all.



Ayeka reclined against the soft pillows on the bed that Sasami had made for her. 
Sasami herself was seated on the bed, wearing pajama's very similar to what she 
used to wear around the Masaki residence. The effect was supposed to make Ayeka 
feel that she was just one sister talking with another, and not as Empress of a 
powerful empire talking to that empire's patron goddess. The effect was only 
partially achieved.

 "Well, Sasami, that was a wonderful dinner. You haven't lost your touch, 
wandering around out here, that's for sure."

"Thank you. I don't get to cook as often as I would like." Sasami answered with 
a light smile. "Most of the time, I don't need to eat, anyway."

"Of course not." Ayeka smiled, but an awkward silence hung in the air.

"You want to talk about something else?" Sasami asked.

Ayeka nodded. "I ... I don't even really know how to articulate it, or if you 
will have the answer. Even after all these years, I have trouble seeing you as 
an all powerful multi-dimensional being and not as my dear little sister."

Sasami crawled across the bed and flopped down in the pillows next to Ayeka.

"I know. I love that about you, Ayeka. Hardly anyone else thinks of me as Sasami 
anymore. After the troubles, people that I used to know just sort of look at me 
and see something powerful and dangerous. But, I am still Sasami." Sasami 
frowned as if trying to convince herself. "I feel like Sasami."

"What about Tsunami?" Ayeka asked. "I have always wondered if you feel like two 
people sometimes."

Sasami shook her head. "Not anymore. During the ... merge as you call it ... I 
didn't know who I was. But, once I got my head together it felt like Tsunami was 
remembering me as memories of her own youth. Now, I feel like I have always been 
Sasami-Tsunami and never was two different people.  Does that make sense?"

Ayeka shrugged. "No, not really. I guess I should have talked with you sooner."

Now Sasami shrugged. "We're talking now aren't we? And hey, what is a mere 
twenty years to beings like us?"

Ayeka looked up, slightly startled. "What do you mean by that?"

"I ... nothing ... just, you know, you are already nearly a thousand. So what's 
twenty years?" Sasami changed her position and sat up to study Ayeka. "Is 
something like that bothering you, Ayeka?

Ayeka looked away for a second then back at Sasami. "Sasami, I have only seen 
you twice in the fifteen years since you merged with Tsunami. You look to me 
exactly like Tsunami. Do I look different to you?"

Sasami's smile faded and she took on a troubled expression. "I didn't want to 
say it, Ayeka, but yes. You look older."

Ayeka let out a sigh. "I thought so."

"But, not much, and it might just be the new hair style," Sasami went on 
quickly. "Plus, being Empress was bound to take its toll on you. Maybe it's 
nothing..."

Ayeka waved her off. Then she spoke.

"I am aging, Sasami. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me why."

"Why me?" Sasami asked.

"Because I suspect it has something to do with the Jurai power."

Ayeka sat up and turned to face Sasami, her face very serious.

"Throughout our history, Juraian monarchs have periodically called upon great 
amounts of the Jurai power for one reason or another. You know this better than 
I, because you were there. Empress Henisaye while fighting against your friend 
Yugi, the Emperor who defeated Kain, as well as Tenchi's mother Achika, Yosho 
versus Ryoko, myself in the Bugrom war. And there are more. What do all these 
Juraians have in common besides their uses of the Jurai power?"

Sasami was looking down now, not meeting Ayeka's eyes. "I don't know, suppose 
you tell me?"

"They all suffered unusual lives and deaths following their use of the power. 
Henisaye abdicated just three years after defeating Yugi, claiming ill health. 
Both of the Juraians who defeated Kain died after very short lives. Yosho aged 
uncommonly fast after defeating Ryoko. He died at only 3800 years of age, even 
while living near a Jurai tree. And now, I am aging."

Ayeka reached out and pressed Sasami's hand between her own two hands.

"Sasami what does it mean? Am I going to die soon as well?"

Sasami shook her head. "I don't know. But you are correct in your observations. 
It is true that the Juraians you have mentions have suffered after using 
overwhelming amounts of the Jurai power. But it isn't the power that caused 
their declines. It was the decision to use it in the first place."

"Can you explain that?" Ayeka asked softly. 

Sasami looked up. "Each of you made a choice whether you knew it or not. You all 
made the decision to sacrifice your own lives for the sake of others. Making 
that decision out of love is the only way to truly access the full power of 
Jurai."

Ayeka stared her sister, trying to understand.

"So, you are saying that I chose to age? I don't remember making that choice."

Sasami smiled. "No, silly. As a Juraian, you were nearly immortal compared to 
just about every other race in the universe. Most beings with very long life 
spans fear death to a greater degree than others. However, that day that you 
stood between a single dying soldier and the Bugrom army, you were willing to 
through away your immortality to save just one life."

Ayeka nodded. "I guess I already knew that. And, to be honest, I don't mind 
knowing that I will die sooner than later. It means less time that I will have 
to live without the people I love."

Sasami crawled up and laid her head against Ayeka's shoulder.

"The candle that burns twice as brightly burns half as long," she said. "You, 
Yosho, Tenchi, all of us have burned very brightly."

"I am glad I didn't now this before we made our plans earlier this evening." 
Ayeka said. "I would willingly make this sacrifice again myself if I could, but 
I hate asking others to make a sacrifice that they don't even know about."

"That is why you are the Empress, Ayeka."

Ayeka put her arm around her sister. She thought of Ryo-ohki in the next 
stateroom, sleeping. She thought about Tenchi, Washu and Ryoko, wherever they 
were. She thought about all of her close friends. Which one might have to make 
the ultimate sacrifice? How many more times during her reign would she have to 
send people to their deaths to serve the greater good?



Darkness began to fade. A dim light was almost visible. The being clawed her way 
forward as she had done for thousands of years. Closer, closer, she could feel 
that she was almost there. She had been cast so far from home, banished into 
darkness deeper that death. But, she knew the way home. She could already extend 
parts of her consciousness back into her native universe, contacting slaves to 
prepare the way for her advent.

Tokimi struggled and pulled her way forward. Closer, closer to revenge on her 
sister goddesses for what they had done to her. Closer to remaking the universe 
after her own designs. She would sweep away most of the filthy little life forms 
that polluted the cosmos. She would return balance and perfection to the 
galaxies and star systems, so that planets could circle stars unencumbered by 
the bands of artificial satellites and spacecraft that subtly robbed them of 
their energy, robbed them of the perfect choreography of orbit and motion.

Oh, yes. She would set things right the way she had intended to before Tsunami 
and Washu had betrayed her so many years ago. The thought of Washu provoked 
Tokimi's rage even more. The insolent trickster was even more insulting that the 
self-righteous Tsunami. Washu hadn't even cared enough to take a stand for 
either Tsunami or Tokimi. She had simply cast a random binary equation, choosing 
sides with the result.  It irked Tokimi that she had been defeated simply by 
chance. It could just have easily been Tsunami who had been cast out. Well, a 
small part of her ego considered, this time it would be both Tsunami and Washu 
who spent millennia in exile.