Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Tenchi Muyo, nor will I ever. 
Please don't sue me, I have no money! All of the characters from the Tenchi 
Muyo Series are owned by Pioneer.

This is not the beginning, but it is a beginning. As time passes and new 
people move into and out of the lives of people, there are always new 
beginnings.

Trials and Errors

Chapter 1: A New Beginning


Tenchi woke up with a start. He could feel the cold sweat hanging from his 
t-shirt and body, and it sent a shiver down his spine. He took in his 
surroundings, here he was, in his room, a far cry from where he had been in 
his sleep. He looked around, and saw Ryoko looking at him, almost worried, 
but curious at the same time. She was kneeling at the foot of his bed, which 
confused Tenchi, he was used to her being no more than six inches away from 
his face whenever he woke up, and it was quite pleasant too. There were far 
worse things to wake up to than the smiling face of Ryoko.
"Good morning Ryoko, how are you today?" He asked simply.
"Good morning Tenchi dear!" Came the daily reply "Are you okay? You looked 
like you were having a nightmare..." She asked, looking at Tenchi in a 
concerned manner. Tenchi sometimes forgot that Ryoko was unable to mask her 
emotions at all. Her honey coloured eyes always gave away how she was 
feeling. Tenchi looked at her.
"I had a troubled dream, Ryoko, nothing serious, I'm sure it was something I 
ate!" Tenchi replied in an offhand way. He wasn't very good at hiding his 
emotions either, and the look Ryoko gave him showed that she didn't quite 
believe him.
"Let me get dressed and then we can go have breakfast, okay Ryoko?" He 
asked, trying to change the subject.
"Sure thing Tenchi!" Ryoko replied, and stood there, looking at him 
expectantly.
"Could you please wait outside whilst I dress, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked.
"You didn't say that Tenchi!! How about you let me watch this time, and when 
I want to get changed, I'll let you watch?" She asked archly, a mischievious 
smile playing on her lips. Tenchi flushed immediatly, and in a silent though 
cursed himself for setting himself up for that response.
"Outside please, Ryoko" Tenchi repeated, half looking at the door. Ryoko 
looked a little disappointed, and half pouted as she walked towards the 
door.
"Well, at least think about it Tenchi, you never know, you might like it. I 
know I would!!" she said as she left his room, and closed his door with a 
little laugh.
Tenchi allowed himself a smile, but got dressed quickly. The events in his 
dream were still playing in his mind, and he couldn't allow himself to dwell 
on anything else as he dressed. His thoughts strayed to the descision he was 
going to have to make soon regarding Ryoko and Ayeka, but not for long. He 
was still too young, and still had too much to do. "You're just not ready 
yet!" He muttered to himself. He had heard that in his dream quite a lot, 
and it troubled him hearing himself saying it. He finished getting dressed, 
but decided that he would visit the onsen later on that day. He still felt a 
little bit dirty from sweating that much in his sleep. He walked silently 
out of his room, and looked around. Ryoko wasn't around. That was pretty 
unusual for her, as she would normally pounce on him every chance she got. 
He started to walk downstairs, and about half way down noticed Sasami 
sticking her head round the corner.
"Good Morning Tenchi!! You slept quite late today!! Your breakfast is on the 
table!" Sasami said, smiling all the while. Tenchi smiled back and thanked 
her as he wandered towards the table. It was unusually quiet for breakfast, 
without any of his 'extended' family around. He sat there and listened to 
figure out where they could be. His listening returned only silence, and 
this worried Tenchi. Silence usually ment that there was something going on 
that he wasn't supposed to find out about, and he wasn't really in the mood 
for any suprises. Tenchi ate his breakfast and looked over to the clock on 
the wall. It was eleven o'clock. Tenchi looked at the clock for several 
seconds before he realised what time it was. Eleven? Tenchi almost ran out 
of the door, realising that he was very late for his Grandfather's training 
that day. Tenchi broke out into a run the minute he left his house, hurrying 
towards the shrine where his Grandfather would be waiting for him. Tenchi 
silently cursed himself again, knowing that his Grandfather would have 
several tasks for him because of his lateness. He reached the shrine in a 
few minutes and stopped to catch his breath quickly before he entered the 
holy place that he kept clean in order to take it over one day. He looked 
inside to see his Grandfather sat on a cushion with his wooden bokken sat in 
front of him. Tenchi was about to start apologising when his Grandfather 
looked at him.
"Good day Tenchi, you are very late. Would you be able to explain why?" The 
old man looked at him, his gaze penetrating and very wise.
"I, uh, that is.... I had a nightmare, and slept late because of it. I am 
very sorry, and will take whatever punishment you give me because of my 
lateness." Tenchi said apologetically, bowing to his Grandfather.
Katzuhiro looked at hime for a moment, and then spoke. "Tenchi, please sit 
down." Tenchi pulled a cushion over and sat opposite his Grandfather, 
looking at him.
"I will not punish you today, Tenchi. I know the look of someone who is 
troubled by his dreams, and Ryoko told me earlier that you looked like you 
were dying in your bed. She seemed very worried about it for some reason." 
The old man said, leaving it hanging in the air. tenchi was about to thank 
his Grandfather for not making him do the chores, when he was interrupted
"You do realise that you will have to make your descision on that subject 
soon Tenchi. It can not wait forever. Neither girl will be around that long, 
and neither will you, for that matter." Tenchi didn't want to tackle this 
problem right now. He had a lot to think about. He decided to leave his 
thouhgts alone until he was in the onsen. He was always able to concentrate 
a little better when he was relaxing, and he needed to feel relaxed soon, 
his back was beginning to feel very tense and cramped. He looked at his 
grandfather, and although he didn't want to talk about choosing between 
Ryoko and Ayeka, he answered him.
"Grandad, I'm not ready yet....." He stopped hiself, feeling a momentary 
chill at saying that again. His Grandfather looked at him intently, and then 
spoke to him.
"I think that you should consider your dilemma Tenchi, it would appear to be 
causing you some distress." He said simply. Tenchi was thankful that his 
Grandfather didn't make him go further into his problem. As he got up to 
leave, his Grandfather looked up and said.
"I almost forgot, you have some mail, but it was sent to the shrine 
directly. It's just beside the door." Tenchi looked around and saw the 
letter sat on a low table near the door. He picked up the letter and looked 
it over as he left. It seemed perfectly normal, but he normally recieved 
mail directly to the house. He started walking back towards the house, and 
the onsen. He really needed a bath right now, needed to clear his head of 
all the thoughts flying around inside his head. He opened the letter, and 
pulled out a single sheet of paper. As he looked at it, he stopped dead. He 
had to read it two or three times before he could believe what was written. 
When he aknowledged the words, his hands started to shake. "Dreams are more 
than they seem. Are you ready?" it said simply. tenchi looked around him 
quickly, but there was no-one nearby, except the birds in the trees. He 
looked back to the letter. The words were still there, still presenting him 
with a message that he wasn't sure he could understand. He looked at the 
bottom of the page and saw a small pouch attached to the paper. He took off 
the package and opened it, his curiosity overriding his fear. Inside was a 
small amulet with a silver necklace attached to it. The amulet was in the 
shape of the lighhawk wings, the power that Tenchi could only touch when he 
was enveloped in a determination that was almost unhuman. He looked at the 
gold and silver amulet in his palm for a moment, and found himself muttering 
"not yet, not just yet...." to himself. He put the amulet back in the pouch 
and put the pouch, letter and all in his back pocket and removed the matter 
from his mind until he was able to get into the onsen. He looked around, and 
finally noticed that it was a wonderful day. He hadn't been able to 
appreciate it on his journey out from his house, he was too busy worrying 
about the fact that he had slept in. He started to walk back to the house 
more slowly, enjoying the day as he wandered down the path that led to his 
house. As he passed a small grove of cherry trees, he stopped to admire the 
beautiful Sakura petals in full bloom on the branches. His wandering eyes 
finally picked up on Ryoko sitting along one the branches. Tenchi looked 
straight into her eyes, and saw a curiosity there, amongst other things. 
Ryoko floated down and flashed a smile at Tenchi. "How are you feeling now 
Tenchi? I told your Grandfather that you had a bad dream, and were going to 
be late." She stated on the way down, landing gracefully on her feet without 
a sound.
"Thanks Ryoko, I thought he was going to skin me alive back then! You didn't 
have to say that I was dying though, that's a bit excessive." He replied 
smiling back at her. He looked around for a second thoughtfully, and then 
asked,
"Have you seen the rest of the family Ryoko? I haven't seen them at all this 
morning!"
"Uh, I think that they are down by the lake Tenchi. They wanted to enjoy the 
day, so Sasami put together a picnic. How about we use this opportunity to 
go for a little walk Tenchi? We could find a nice quite spot, and have a 
little picnic of our own! I don't have any food, but I wouldn't mind 
devouring you!" She looked at him, the same smile playing on her lips since 
earlier in the morning. Tenchi felt a little uncomfortable with her looking 
at him like that. It just seemed that she was imagining some seriously 
graphic things when she looked at him like that, and he knew that he was 
involved in them, seriously involved. He looked around quickly again, partly 
to avoid that gaze that made him blush, but he couldn't help it. His cheeks 
felt very hot, and he could almost see himself turning red where he stood. 
Ryoko looked at him and laughed, A genuinely pleased laugh, and a very nice 
musical sound, almost like a purr. Tenchi looked helplessly at her for a 
second, unable to act in the wake of that laugh. She looked about and said 
to him.
"Tenchi, you know that I would love you to choose me, more than anything 
else in the universe. I want to be with you, but I want you to be with me 
too. I'm going to stop trying to influence your feelings for a while. It's 
against my nature I know, but Washu said that if I kept fighting over you, 
you could be scared off. I don't want that." Tenchi stood on the spot, 
almost dumbfounded by what Ryoko had just said. This coming from a beautiful 
alien that had destroyed his house several times in order to gain his 
affections? He looked at Ryoko, and saw her emotions in her eyes. She looked 
very sincere and very vunerable at this point. Tenchi could tell that she 
was having a great deal of difficulty saying this, and decided not to 
interrupt. Ryoko took his hand in hers, and looked up at those brown eyes 
which she fell in love with years ago. She looked deeply for a moment, and 
then said one of the hardest things that she would ever say.
"I understand if you are not ready yet, Tenchi. I will wait for you until 
you are." She saw Tenchi flinch as she said it, and he looked at her deeply 
for a moment. He looked like he was haunted by something, something deep and 
painful, but he smiled, a happy smile, and said simply said "Thank you 
Ryoko, that means a great deal to me." he took her hand in both of his, and 
kissed her gently on the forehead.
She looked up him, her heart in her eyes, and whispered "choose soon, my 
Tenchi...." and then phased out. Tenchi looked around the cherry grove. 
Ryoko had certainly left quickly, maybe saying that to him was the hardest 
thing that she had ever done. Tenchi's thoughts dwelled on the problem of 
Ryoko and Aeka once more as he made it to the bottom of the path. He 
wandered into the house and grabbed a towel, already thinking about the hot 
water waiting for him in the onsen, and made his way out to the bath. He 
stepped in, emitting an audible sigh of releif as the hot water seeped into 
him, relaxing him, and allowing him to be one with himself for a while. He 
put his back on the edge of the tub, and closed his eyes.
Tenchi was surrounded by darkness. not so much darkness as an absence of 
light. It seemed to go on forever, vast, limitless, but at the same time 
very close to him. Almost touching him. He could feel himself breaking into 
that cold sweat which he awoken to earlier. He looked around frantic, trying 
to make sense out of this place. As he was looking, he felt his skin begin 
to crawl, as if something was looking at him. An echo slowly passed over 
him, becoming louder. He could feel the origin of the echo, close, yet very 
far away. The echo built in sound, and suddenly stopped. Tenchi looked 
around, suddenly feeling very scared and alone.
"The time draws close Tenchi Masaki, hope of Jurai. Are you ready?" A voice 
said from the expanse of darkness around him.
"Ready for what?" Tenchi replied."What is it that you want me to do? Why me? 
Can't I live out the rest of my life in relative peace?" He almost shouted 
at the surrounding shadow. He was angry now, angry that whatever this was, 
it was intruding himself on his dreams, when he should be peaceful.
"Sadly not, hope of Jurai." The echoy voice continued "What you ave 
percieved as an ending was only the beginning. You must be ready when the 
time comes. I will show you what will happen if you are not." Tenchi almost 
screamed. He remembered this part of his dream vividly, and never wanted to 
see it again. His heart despaired as the darkness around him started to take 
shape. He was suddenly in the throne room of a very large building. He 
didn't recognise it at all. He looked around and everything was the same as 
the last time he looked on it. He saw Ryoko lying at his feet, dead. He 
looked into her eyes, suddenly emotionless and wanted to scream. He looked 
around further and saw the bodies of the rest of his family lying in 
crumpled heaps around him. The looks of pain on their faces were almost too 
much to bear, tenchi could make out Kiyone and Mihoshi, both in their 
Galactic Police uniforms lying face down, a small distance away from him. 
They looked like they had been shot, and neither were moving. Tenchi looked 
the other way and saw Ayeka and Sasami holding each other to the other side 
of him. They were both very still, and very pale. Tenchi chocked back a sob. 
They weren't dead, they couldn't be. Tenchi once again looked at his feet, 
once again into the dead eyes of Ryoko. The sob that he was trying to hold 
back escaped, and Tenchi dropped to the floor. Why? Why would this happen? 
Who would do something like this? Why would anyone want to hurt these 
people. Tenchi couldn't stop looking into Ryoko's eyes, looking for an 
emotion, any emotion. There were none. Tenchi knelt there, sobbing at what 
may come. As the vision faded away into the darkness, Tenchi became angry, 
very angry. He was not going to let this happen to his friends, no way. He 
loved and cared for them too much.
"Why do you torture me?" He screamed into the void. "Why do you show me 
this? What must I be ready for? And when will I be ready?" In the moment 
that he saw the second vision, Tenchi resolved that he would protect his 
friends, by any means that he could. If that involved being ready for 
something, then so be it. there was a silence from the void. Tenchi closed 
his eyes and tried to make himself wake up. This was a dream, just a dream. 
Whay couldn't he wake up?
"Your time will come, hope of Jurai. I will send you the sign that your time 
has come, for now wear my gift to you and be content. You have a special 
family, and the ending I have shown is not all that can be. I will come to 
you again when you are ready." The echo of the void slowly faded, and Tenchi 
sat in a heap, in the middle of the darkness.
Ayeka was in a sullen mood Today. She had not seen Tenchi all morning. That 
always put her a little out of sorts, because she always enjoyed her time 
with Lord Tenchi. That is why she knew that in her heart that she would be 
the one to marry him. She loved him, and once she could show hime that he 
loved her too, everything would be fine. She looked around the lake, trying 
to see if Lord Tenchi would be coming around soon. She had left him a note 
on the table saying that they were having a picnic. She would have to teach 
him to be more prompt once they were back on Jurai. It's very improper to be 
late, especially when it's the first crown princess of Jurai! But no matter, 
he would be here soon, and she would forgive him almost as soon as he sat 
down and apologised.
"Hey, Ayeka!" Mihoshi suddenly called from her spot on the large sheet they 
had brough with their picnic basket
"Wha, I, um, Yes Mihoshi?" Ayeka replied turning suddenly to see Mihoshi 
looking at her. She always found Mihoshi could look very serious when she 
tried, but most of the time, she just looked, well, very blonde. "Could you 
pass me the soy sauce please?" Mihoshi asked, smiling at the princess. Ayeka 
found the sauce and passed it to Mihoshi. It looked like she was on her 
second helping already, which was actually very restrained for the Galaxy 
police officer. Mihoshi was sat beside Kiyone, who was looking around in a 
suspecting manner. Ayeka couldn't help herself when she asked.
"What are you looking for Kiyone?"
"Hmm..... Not sure your highness, but I'm almost certain I saw Tenchi over 
by that cherry grove. Sorry, I must have imagined it. It appears quite empty 
now." Kiyone smiled, and looked at Mihoshi, who was busy trying to tell her 
about the latest episode of her soaps. Ayeka looked over at the cherry grove 
on the other side of the lake. It looked very quiet and peaceful, like the 
kind of place that you would want to be if you needed a moment to think to 
yourself. Ayeka frowned. Tenchi, by the cherry grove? He may have had a 
moment to himself whilst deciding to marry her. She considered this before 
turning back to her sandwich. As she absently nibbled her sandwich, she 
noticed something blurring accross the river. It only took her a moment to 
figure out that it was Ryoko. Ryoko.... That demon.... That beast who stood 
between her and her Lord Tenchi. She scowled and turned away as Ryoko 
reached her and sat down absent mindedly beside Kiyone. Ayeka looked at her 
for a moment, she looked like she had been crying. Ayeka considered this for 
a moment, and then finally asked.
"Miss Ryoko, are you okay?" Ayeka actually felt concerned when Ryoko just 
nodded, and looked at the floor.
"Ryoko, are you okay? Would you like a sandwich?" Sasami asked, smiling and 
handing Ryoko a plate loaded with sandwiches. Ryoko managed a weak smile at 
Sasami's plate of sandwiches, and looked away towards the cherry grove. 
Ayeka wondered what had taken plae there, but decided it was improper to ask 
right now. She could question Lod Tenchi about the matter later, anything 
that got Ryoko this upset was bound to invole Tenchi. Her quiet 
contemplation was shattered by a loud scream. Ryoko looked towards the house 
and vanished. Ayeka was running, closely followed by anyone that could keep 
up.
As Ryoko phased into the area surrounding the onsen, she could see Tenchi. 
He was at the bottom of the onsen. He looked very still. Ryoko looked at him 
for a few seconds before realising that he wasn't moving. She grabbed him 
from the bottom of the tub, and quickly pulled him out. He wan't breathing. 
He wasn't moving. She looked at his still body, terrified by the scene 
placed in front of her. Suddenly she remembered a program she had seen on 
Earth TV when one of her soaps had been cancelled. Without thinking, she 
opened tenchi's mouth and placed her lips against his. She breathed into 
Tenchi's lungs, passing the air from her to him. He coughed and started 
coughing up water. Ryoko held his head as he emptied the woter from his 
lungs. Ryoko could quite clearly hear Ayeka and the rest of the gang come 
running towards the onsen. She phased herself and Tenchi into his room. 
Tenchi was beginning to recover his wits, and he
looked up into her eyes. A tear escaped, and she looked at him for a second.
"You big JERK!" She almost screamed at him, as she heard the front door 
slammed open, and the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Ayeka lunged 
through the door screaming "Where is my Lord Tenchi?!?!" and stopped as soon 
as she saw the scene.
"What have you done?" The princess demanded
"Nothing Ayeka, I found him in the bottom of the onsen. He wasn't breathing. 
I had to do something." Ryoko replied, looking at Tenchi's eyes. His eyes, 
which had always been filled with a stern resolve, a maturity beyond his 
years, suddenly looked up at her very weakly.
"Grandfather....... Bring him...... Here." Tenchi managed to whisper to 
Ryoko. Ryoko phased outof sight. Ayeka looked at Tenchi, suddenly realising 
what had happened.
"My Lord Tenchi....." She began. Tenchi looked up at her, trying to put a 
brave face on things.
"Ayeka, you're okay....." He said, after breathing for a few seconds. "And 
everyone else. I'm very glad." Tenchi's eyes rolled to the back of his head, 
and he lay very still on his bed. Ryoko returned a few minutes later with 
Tenchi's Grandfather, bith looking very worried. Ryoko had tears in her 
eyes, and Katzuhiro looked around the room quickly, his expression grave.
"I need to be alone with him. Please leave us." As he said this, he placed a 
small bag down beside Tenchi's bed, and started to remove several small 
packages. The Girls looked at each other, and Ryoko finally spoke.
"Would you please let us know when Tenchi is okay... Please?" She asked in a 
very small voice. Katzuhiro looked over to her.
"I will tell you as soon as he is okay, I promise, but I need to be alone 
with him for now." He looked at the ladies as they silently left the room.
Tenchi was still in the void. He had never really left. He vaguely 
remembered seeing his grandfather, and Ryoko, but he couldn't be sure. He 
sat there, in the darkness, trying to control his fear. The echo wan't 
around, but he could still feel something, looking at him, there, in the 
darkness. He sat there, quietly for a while, before he could think of 
anything to say.
"Why have you chosen me?" He threw the question into the darkness. He hoped 
that he would not be answered, that this really was some insane dream, that 
he would wake up and that this would be a long forgotten memory. He wasn't 
really expecting an answer.
"Hope of Jurai. It is not I who have chosen you, but yourself." The answer 
echoed through Tenchi's mind like a hammer hitting an anvil.
"What? I have chosen myself? What are you talking about? How could I choose 
myself for something I know nothing about?!" He replied.
"That in itself is a merit, hope of Jurai. If you were to know about this, 
you would never be ready for your appointed task." The echo answered to him, 
bouncing almost silently around him.
"If I don't know about it, how will I be able to complete this task?" Tenchi 
demanded. He was tired of being lead around. He wanted the truth, and he was 
determined to know it. He could feel something tugging at the outer edges of 
his concience, something very close, yet eluding him somehow. He tried to 
push his mind to it, hoping that he could understand that the feeling around 
him.
"It is not yet time Tenchi Masaki. When the time comes, you will know. I can 
advise you once only on this. Train your body, and train your soul. You will 
endure pain such as you have never seen before...." Tenchi grimaced, and 
shouted at the shadow.
"Like what? Like seeing everyone I love dead around me?! I can't deal with 
that, I would be destroyed in the second that happened. I love every one of 
thos people. To see them die would be the death of my own soul."
"Then be safe in the knowledge that you will not see it happen if you fail, 
hope of Jurai. For you will die minutes before them. I will show you for the 
last time before you are ready." The voice echoed around his mind. The 
darkness began to swirl around him, taking form as it had before. This time 
Tenchi was stood in the middle of the throne room, sword in hand, facing a 
single man. His face was shadowed, and he could only see his eyes. they 
burned with a dark green fire. They contained nothing but hatred. Tenchi 
suddenly noticed that he was holding the Tenci-ken, the mystical sword that 
his Jurian background allowed him to wield. The stranger with the burning 
eyes held a similar sword, but the blade was curved, almost like a cruel 
smile. It seemed to suck the light out of the air around it, leaving a 
visible darkness behind it's ominous trail. Tenchi looked around, and could 
see all of his 'family' clustered nearby. They all looked very scared. 
Tenchi looked back at the shadowed man. He was suddenly very close. Tenchi 
froze, as he felt the sword pierce his skin, between his third and forth 
rib. He gasped, even as the light around him turned to darkness.
"This is all that I can tell you, Tenchi masaki. Train. Train well, learn 
where you were from, and know what you want to do. For only then, are you 
ready." Tenchi stopped gasping as he realised that the sword was no longer 
in his hand or between his ribs. He looked around, almost dumbfounded.
"Very well. I will train. I will not let this happen, do you hear me? I WILL 
NOT LET THEM DIE!" He hurled his challenge to the void. There was no answer.

End Chapter 1