Disclaimer: This is a speculatory and purely hypothetical interpretation 
as to what might happen in the time after the conclusion of the second 
_Tenchi Muyo!_ OVA, and has no direct relationship to Pioneer or AIC, 
who own all rights to the _TM!_ characters that appear in this story.  
I do not own the _Tenchi Muyo!_ characters, nor am I looking to make any
money off this fic, nor am I looking to get sued, seeing as I have no 
money.  However, I ask that no one use or post this fic or any portion 
of it without my permission.  This disclaimer is too long.

Pre-Note: This is my first fanfic.  However, I have experience in other 
areas of fiction writing, so bear with me.  Hopefully this first chapter
will be sufficient to get me an audience.  Also, if you have any 
recommendations, or you find something in this story to be completely 
lame (like the names of original characters, for instance), let me know.
A quick warning to the readers: this story will not take a straight 
forward approach to the deepening of Tenchi's relationships with his 
houseguests, but please don't be discouraged by this.  All's well that 
ends well, and nothing is over until the fat cabbit sings.

Tenchi Muyo!: Trials and Fears
by "Master Kodama" (master_kodama@yahoo.com)
Chapter 1: "Long Lost"

	Nobuyuki walked into the living room of the Masaki house, where 
Tenchi sat with Ayeka and Sasami watching TV and Ryoko lay napping 
nearby.  For once, the atmosphere was calm, and quiet at that, even with
Ryoko and Ayeka in the same room together with Tenchi.
	Tenchi noticed the glum expression on his father's face.  "What's 
up Dad?" he asked, a bit concerned.
	"Well, I've just finished paying the bills..." he began 
hesitantly, and then finished in a bit of a rush, "and we don't seem to 
have enough income to support all these people living in one house!"
	"Oh no!" cried Sasami.
	"What will we do?" Ayeka exclaimed.
	"Miya!" Ryo-ohki added.
	"Well, it looks like I'll just have to get an after-school job," 
Tenchi said, his own expression matching that of his father.
	"Would you do that Lord Tenchi...?  For us?" Ayeka asked with 
surprise and admiration in her eyes.
	"But Tenchi," said Tenchi's grandfather, who was now standing in 
the doorway beside Washu, "what about your training?"
	"Sorry, Grandpa," Tenchi replied apologetically.  "I guess I'll 
just have to skip sword practice for awhile, at least until we can 
figure out a better way to handle this problem.  I'll try to catch up 
on my shrine duties on the weekends...."
	"What about your studies, Tenchi?" Nobuyuki asked.  "This is one 
of your most important years in high school, and you want to get into a 
good college, don't you?"
	"I guess so..." Tenchi answered hesitantly, staring unseeingly at 
the babbling television screen.  What with five strange women arriving 
by different means from outer-space, Kagato attacking, and the whole 
Zero-Ryoko incident, not to mention the Royal Family of Jurai coming to 
the Masaki residence, along with the multitude of other complications, 
Tenchi had not really thought about his education recently <the author 
sincerely apologizes for that incredibly long sentence>.  Sure, he had 
kept up on his school work well enough, but, disregarding the fact that 
he was a possible heir to the throne of Jurai, Tenchi hadn't really 
decided what he wanted to do with his life beyond high school.  He 
realized, with a bit of a shock, that the school year was practically 
over; it had been months since that fateful day he had released Ryoko 
from her seven-hundred year imprisonment.
	"Maybe it's not really fair to ask Tenchi to interrupt his studies
and training for our sake," Ayeka murmured thoughtfully, in light of the
recent comments.
	Sasami jumped up eagerly, still clutching Ryo-ohki, as a wonderful
idea came to her.  "Hey, the girls could get jobs to help support the 
household!" she piped, speaking about herself and the other women 
residing in the Masaki house.  "After all, we're the reason there isn't 
enough money in the first place!"
	The girl's excitement had brought Tenchi back from his thoughts of
the future.  "But Sasami," he put in, "you work hard enough with all the
cooking and cleaning you do around the house.  Besides, you're not old 
enough to work."
	"Maybe, but Ayeka is," Sasami replied, not allowing Tenchi's 
remark to curb her enthusiasm.
	"Well, I suppose I could try to find work..." said Ayeka, sounding
somewhat less enthusiastic than her younger sibling.  As First Crown 
Princess of Jurai, Ayeka had had many royal duties and obligations but 
had never had to do any real work, in the usual sense of the word; the 
notion of going out into the city to find a job made her a bit nervous, 
if not a little frightened.
	"I would offer my assistance..." Washu started to explain, holding
a hand in the air beside her, palm upwards, as if using it to physically
support her statement.  "But I have so much scientific data to go over 
and experiments to run I don't have time for much else."
	"That's okay, we know how busy you are Washu," Sasami said.
	"I could work weekends," Tenchi realized with a glimmer of hope, 
but his hope faded at his next realization.  "But I have to work the 
fields on the weekends...."
	"That's right.  That, and be my little 'guinea pig,' " Washu said 
with delight,  leaning over the back of the sofa and pinching Tenchi's 
cheek.
	"Ow, Washu, cut that out!  I'm trying to be serious here."
	"Well, Mihoshi is out on patrol, so we certainly can't ask her," 
Ayeka mentioned.
	Ryoko, who was still lying on the floor, to all appearances, 
asleep, opened one eye and looked up at the pensive faces in the room.
	"All right," she said with a hint of exasperation, closing her 
eye.  "I'll do it.  I know you were all gonna force me into it sooner or
later."
	"We'd never force you into anything, Ryoko," Tenchi protested, 
looking down at where she lay with her hands behind her head, but he 
considered the idea anyway.
	Tenchi thought of the time a few days back when he had come home 
from school to discover a wall of the house missing, only to be tackled 
by an over-affectionate Ryoko complaining about how Ayeka had started it 
all and was trying to kill her.  And only that morning, Ryoko had come 
through the floor of his room and accosted him while he was still 
getting dressed.  While her fawning attacks on his person had become 
more subdued and less frequent after she had joined with Zero, Ryoko was 
not the best at handling the boredom she felt in Tenchi's absence and 
tended to pick fights.
	"Though come to think of it," he said, adding to his earlier 
statement.  "You getting a job does sound like a good idea."
	"Tenchi.  You're not saying that just because you want to get 
_rid_ of me, are you?" Ryoko asked him, floating up off the floor beside 
him and looking hurt.
	A huge sweat drop appeared at the back of Tenchi's head.  "Of 
course not!  I'm just surprised to see you volunteering, that's all!"
	"Really?"  Her eyes were pleading with him for the truth.
	Tenchi's expression softened.  "Really," he said, and he meant it.  
"I'm proud of you for offering to help out."
	Ryoko was deeply pleased by Tenchi's kind words and compliments, 
and she blushed slightly in the cheeks.  Although she tried to hide it, 
Ryoko had changed since she had merged with Zero, become more true to 
her feelings, and the change had probably been for the better.  "Oh, 
Tenchi!" Ryoko cried to cover up her blush, throwing her arms around 
Tenchi's neck and making him feel extremely uncomfortable.  Ryoko 
locked eyes with those of Ayeka sitting next to Tenchi on the sofa, and 
a negative energy almost seemed to crackle between them as they growled 
at each other.
	"Miss Ryoko, stop trying to strangle Lord Tenchi!" Ayeka barked at
her rival.
	"Oh, but he likes a little squeeze, Princess," Ryoko said in a 
silky smooth voice that was simultaneously compelling and menacing.  And
she did give Tenchi a little sqeeze, only "little" rarely applied to 
Ryoko.  Tenchi's face, already red from blushing, now deepened to a 
rosy-purple hue as he made noises characteristic of someone momentarily 
deprived of air.
	Before Ayeka could respond, her little sister jumped up 
energetically.  "Okay then!" Sasami declared breaking the tension in the
room with her own childish enthusiasm.  "I'll stay here and keep 
cooking, and Ayeka can help me in the kitchen, and Ryoko can work in 
town, Washu can do her experiments while grandfather tends the shrine, 
and Mihoshi can keep up her police work, and Ryo-ohki can help Tenchi in
the carrot fields!"
	"Miya!" Ryo-ohki agreed.  She like the idea very much.
	Sasami giggled.  It had been decided.

	"Jo's Fishing Dock" the sign on the building proclaimed.  The 
front was built to look like it was made out of old sea-worn wood, but 
Ryoko was pretty sure it was just a facade.  She looked at the small 
scrap of paper in her hand.  The address matched the one in the add, so 
this must have been the place.  It was a bit disappointing to Ryoko; she 
had hoped to work in someplace a little less... corny?
	Ryoko sighed and went in.  The interior was surprisingly well 
furnished, although it was almost completely empty since it was nowhere 
near dinner or lunch time.  A sign nearby said "Please wait to be 
seated."  An upper-middle-class family sushi-joint, she guessed.  She 
walked up to the front desk, behind which sat a dumpy man in his 
thirties with an unpleasant upturned nose that put Ryoko in mind of a 
pig.
	"Can I help you?" he asked her as she approached.
	"Yeah, I'm here for the waitressing job," she told him.
	"Follow me," he said over his shoulder as he turned and walked to 
a back room.  "I'll take you to the manager."
	The back room turned out to be the kitchen, where the cooking 
staff was working, mostly cleaning dishes at the moment, with so few 
customers.  The fat man presented her to a tall, stocky, strong looking, 
fiftyish man, with dark, short-cropped hair.  The skin at the far 
corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled congenially.
	"I'm Captain Jokaro.  Call me Jo, or Captain, or both.  This is my 
place," he said, wiping his hands on an apron.  "What can I do for you?"
	"I'm here about the job," Ryoko replied, handing him the cut-out 
add from the newspaper.
	Jokaro took the paper and glanced at it briefly, stuffing it in a 
pocket of his trousers.  He already knew what it said.  His congenial 
manner disappeared and he was all business.
	"Do you have any qualifications?" he questioned, sounding 
surprisingly sophisticated for someone who called himself "Captain Jo."
	"None other than what you can see," she said.  The middle-aged man 
eyed her a moment, and Ryoko reluctantly tolerated his inspection.
	"Hmm, you look like you might have the right stuff," he said, a 
hand on his chin, but changed his tune a second later.  "What makes you 
think I'd hire you without any credentials?"
	Ryoko's temper flared up, but she managed to suppress it with the 
thought that what she was doing was for Tenchi's sake.
	"I learn fast, and I'm quick enough to handle the job."
	Jokaro nodded to the fat man.  Acting much faster than his flab 
suggested he could, the man grabbed a mug from a nearby shelf and 
chucked it at her.  Ryoko caught it in one hand before her without 
flinching or even thinking.  She gave a confused look to the fat man and 
Jokaro, and then the mug in her hand.  She could see the words "Captain 
Jo's!" written on the side.
	Jokaro laughed a full deep laugh, his thumbs stuck in the 
waste band of his large apron.  "Haha, she's got the stuff alright," he 
boomed.  He leaned forward and grinned at her.  "You're hired!  When can 
you start?"
	"Well... now, I guess," Ryoko answered, a bit dazed by her luck.  
She'd landed a job on her first try.  She handed the mug back to the 
outstretched hand of the pig-nosed man, who grinned.
	"Good!" Jokaro was bellowing, and he gave her a hearty slap on the 
back that caught Ryoko off her guard and she nearly stumbled.  In spite 
of herself, Ryoko found herself liking the large, boisterous man.  "Let 
me introduce you to the other waiters."
	Because of the lull in business, the two waiters present were 
leaning in a corner of the kitchen chatting.  Jokaro introduced one of 
them to her.  He was a pale, skinny guy, with long fidgety fingers and 
big round, staring eyes.  His name meant "Squid," and Ryoko smirked at 
the resemblance.  The other proved a bit more intriguing.  He was pretty 
tall, a bit taller than Ryoko, which put him at six feet or nearly, and 
was fairly handsome.  He had the strangest hair that was dark, almost 
black at the roots, and faded to a dark brown-red at the tips.  The 
transition of colors was gradual enough that Ryoko knew it had to be 
natural.  His hair was long on top and combed almost straight back so 
that it fell in curving (but not wavy) locks, around his ears and the 
back of his neck.  For an instant, he put her in mind of someone she'd 
seen or met before, but then the moment was gone and she mentally shook 
the notion off.
	"...and this is Sting Ray," the Captain was finishing, gesturing 
with a hand to the second man with the odd hair, who, Ryoko noted, 
looked about twenty three, rough estimate.
	"'Sting Ray'...?"  Ryoko raised an eyebrow.  Her English was bad, 
but she understood the reference.  "Oh, please...."
	"Ray," he said, and smiled a somewhat sarcastic, toothless smile.
	"Ryoko," Ryoko stated back.  She turned to Jokaro and demanded of 
him, "Ok, what's with all the fishy references?  Let me guess, you're 
Hootie and he's the Blowfish?"  She glanced from Captain Jo to the 
chubby man standing beside him in turn, a slight smirk on her face.  
They both grinned.
	"I told you," the Captain said, smiling broadly.  "I'm Captain 
Jo," he jerked a thumb at himself, "and that's Taru," he pointed to the 
fat man.  "He's my assistant.  Middle-management.  He runs the front 
desk most of the time."
	Ryoko smiled inwardly.  She could work here.  While not incredibly
interesting or exciting, the atmosphere seemed pleasant enough; 
tolerable at the least.  She would work here, for Tenchi's sake, and 
because he would appreciate her for it.

	Ryoko discovered that she enjoyed working her job.  Not only was 
she surprisingly good at it, which made it much more enjoyable, but the 
pay was fair and the tips were good.  Tenchi thanked her often, and 
seemed to genuinely appreciate her contribution.  Even Ayeka had 
grudgingly admitted that she was certainly doing her part in helping 
with their financial problems.
	Ryoko almost blushed just at the thought of Tenchi's gratitude 
towards her.  She paused beside the order pick-up counter, leaning 
against the wall with a contented sigh.  She found that, ever since she 
had joined with Zero, she enjoyed pleasing Tenchi more than almost 
anything she could think of.  The old Ryoko might have liked it just as 
much, but then, the old Ryoko never would have tried it, or wouldn't 
have admitted to herself that she enjoyed it.  Pleasing others had not 
been very prevalent in her old personality.  She was still Ryoko, but 
she felt... changed.  There was another dimension to her now, a 
dimension she found she liked.
	"Order for table three!" a voice was calling.  Ryoko snapped out 
of her trance.
	"Wha... that's me!" she rushed to grab the tray, but someone else 
lifted it before she reached it.
	"Don't sweat it, babe, I'll get it for you," Sting Ray said, 
winking at her.  He hastened off through the swinging door with the 
tray.
	"Hey!" Ryoko shouted after him.  "You're just trying to take my 
tips!"  But the young waiter didn't hear her, or wasn't listening.  
Ryoko ground her teeth.  She could readily believe the latter.
	That was the only problem with working at this place, the 
environment seemed to have gone a bit sour.  While it initially appeared 
fine, Ryoko had grown weary of it.  Taru and Squid were both boring, the 
other waitresses who worked their only wanted to talk about fashion and 
guys (particularly Sting Ray, whom they vowed was "so cute"), and Sting 
Ray had become somewhat of Ryoko's personal pain in the ass.
	A little while later, Ryoko was taking her break in the 
unnofficial "break corner," of the kitchen, brooding simply because she 
was in a foul mood.  Her temper did not improve when Sting Ray decided 
to join her.
	"Hey, how's it goin', Ryoko?" he asked her with a suggestive 
smile.
	"I can't figure out why people call you Sting Ray... you're more 
like an eel," she said with contempt and a sour expression.
	"Oooh, the Sting Ray got stung!" commented Taru, who was 
restocking a supply closet nearby, with a smile.
	Leaning back against the wall, Sting Ray made a show of 
inspecting the ceiling.  "My name's Ray, and Sting Ray's just what they 
started calling me when I started working here," he replied, 
disregarding her tone and implication.  Then he grinned, "Maybe after we 
get off work we can go someplace and I can show you my 'Heat Ray?'  
Whadaya say?"
	Ryoko managed to keep her cool by thinking about Tenchi.  "I told 
you," she said, "I'm already pledged to someone else."
	"Oh yeah?" he answered, sounding mildly intrigued by the notion.  
"If that's so, what's his name then?"
	Ryoko let out a sigh of exasperation.  "His name is Tenchi, if you 
must know."
	"Tenchi, eh?" Sting Ray smirked.  "Sounds like a real push-over to 
me."
	Ryoko was out of her chair and at him in the blink of an eye.  
"Hey!" she snapped.  "Watch it, buddy!  He could take you any day!"
	Sting Ray's smirk remained.  "Is that so...?"
	Ryoko struggled to keep her temper.  She closed her eyes and 
clenched her fists, making an annoyed noise through her teeth.  She 
managed to calm herself, and opened her eyes again.
	"Do you smoke?" she said in non-sequiter without looking at him.
	"No..." Sting Ray replied, a bit puzzled.
	"Good.  Then leave me alone.  I'm going outside for a cigarette."
	"You don't smoke either," he said with a straight face, but Ryoko 
ignored him and went out the back door that led into an empty alley and 
stood there fuming.
	A few moments later she heard the door open and shut again behind 
her, and a voice said.  "Pick you up at eight then?  Or do you want me 
to kick the crap out of that Tenchi guy first?"
	That did it.  Ryoko had had enough; she snapped.
	Rounding on Sting Ray with fists at the ready, Ryoko cried, "If 
you want to hurt Tenchi you'll have to get through ME first!"
	There was an odd look of satisfaction on the man's face, as if he 
had been purposely provoking her and had gotten the desired result.  
Why he would want to do this, Ryoko didn't know and at the moment didn't 
care either.  He stepped towards her confidently.
	And narrowly dodged her fist as he leapt with unusual agility to 
his left and she grazed his chest.  He dodged out into the more open 
area of the alleyway.  Ryoko snarled and lunged at him again.
	"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" he exclaimed, nimbly avoiding two more 
punches.  "We've barely just met, it's not time for our first fight 
yet!"
	"Shut up!" she cried, aiming a spinning kick towards his head.  
Sting Ray executed a one-handed backwards handspring with a twist and 
landed on his feet, avoiding the dangerous blow.  Ryoko was too angry to
be surprised.  "Whadayou know anyway!" she spat.
	"Quite a bit," Sting Ray confessed, and his confidence burned her 
up.  "I've been around a few years longer than you, and I've seen alot 
in that time."
	"Ha!" she cried, dropping all pretense and floating up off the 
ground.  "That's what you think!  I'm more than a hundred times older 
than I look!"  Ryoko gathered up a globe of red energy in her hands and 
shot it off towards Sting Ray.
	Looking surprised, Sting Ray back flipped out of the way as the 
ground where he had been an instant before exploded in a shower of 
broken asfault.  He landed in a crouch, his head bowed and hidden from 
view.  Raising his head slightly, slowly, his eyes seemed to literally 
flash as he looked up and met Ryoko's gaze.
	"So am I," he said.  Raising his right hand from where it rested 
on the ground, he put it forth, palm forward, a blue ball of energy grew 
before it.  Closing his hand and grasping it in a fist, the energy 
elongated into a blue energy sword that was nearly identical to Ryoko's.
	Now it was Ryoko who was surprised.  Sting Ray leapt up with a 
yell, slashing downward at her.  She was so shocked she barely dodged 
the attack.  Ryoko fell back, losing ground, but steadily blocking and 
dodging the young (or not so young?) man's envigored attacks.
	He made a downward swipe at her, but Ryoko sidestepped him and he 
moved past her far enough so that she had an open shot at his back.  Her 
emotions flared as she swung her sword at the back of her assailants 
neck, but, as though he had eyes in the back of his head, he ducked her 
attack and she spun around so that they were now facing the same 
direction, side by side.
	Acting with incredible swiftness and taking the initiative, Sting 
Ray swung his energy sword at her unprotected midsection.  But Ryoko 
hadn't spent thirteen-hundred years as a space pirate without learning a 
few combat skills.  Curving her body into the shape of a "U," Ryoko spun 
forward, flipping around the blade so that it past harmlessly by her 
body.
	Landing somewhat ungracefully in a sitting position, Ryoko 
discovered the blue energy blade at her throat.  She looked up into the 
grim face of a man that could not have been the same Sting Ray who had 
so annoyed her, and yet he was.
	"So, the infamous space-pirate Ryoko," he said, his voice sounding
somehow different.  "At last.  I've been looking for you for a long 
time...."
	"Who are you!  What do you want!" she tried to shout, but her 
voice just couldn't achieve the necessary volume for some reason.
	"I told you," he said calmly in a matter-of-fact tone.  "My name 
is Ray.  As for what I want...."
	The blue blade retracted into Ray's hand and disappeared.  "I was 
wondering if you could do me a favor."
	"A favor?" Ryoko was totally confounded.  "What favor?  What are 
you talking about?"
	"Tell me..." Ray said, his face an unreadable mask, his voice 
inquisitive.  "Do you know where I might find the great scientist 
Washu?"

	Washu was busy in her lab as usual.  She worked away diligently 
and happily, humming absently to herself, her long hair falling about 
her shoulders in plentiful red waves but never seeming to get in her 
way.  A knock came at the door.
	"Come in," she called cheerfully, holding a thin vile of greenish 
liquid up to the light to inspect it.  Usually, Washu didn't like to be 
disturbed during her work, but today she was in a particularly good 
mood.  Besides, she had been working without a break for quite awhile 
and would have appreciated an interruption right about then.
	The door opened behind her and someone entered, shutting it after 
them.  After a short moment, Washu turned to see Ryoko, standing next to
a tall young man with smiling blue eyes and striking red-and-brown hair.
	A look of puzzlement came over Washu's face, but it quickly turned
to one of surprise and shock.  She dropped the vile on the floor where 
it broke apart, spilling out green liquid that quickly ate a hole in the
metal surface.
	"Doran..." she whispered to herself, uncertainly.  She seemed to 
look closer, and her green eyes widened visibly as she gasped, and cried
out, "Riuroshi...?"
	Ray smiled.  "Hello.  You certainly look younger than I expected."  
His voice seemed full of emotion, barely held in check.
	Washu's eyes began to cloud with unshed tears.  She ran forward 
and embraced him with a cry of, "'Roshi, my little Riuroshi!" her cry 
sounding almost like a sob.
	Ray hugged her back, tears welling up in his own eyes.  "It seems 
like I've been searching forever...."
	Ryoko was quite confused and disconcerted by their actions.  She 
couldn't remember ever having seen Washu cry, and Ray, both the Ray who 
had pissed her off royally and this suddenly very different one who had 
defeated her in combat, didn't seem like the kind of guy to shed idle 
tears either.
	"Uh... Washu, what's going on here?  You two obviously seem to 
know each other, but...?"
	Washu pulled back from cluthing onto Ray and looked up at him.  
He stood a good foot taller than her, at least.
	"You didn't tell her?" she asked him, her eyes still moist with 
joyful tears.
	Ray shook his head.
	Washu turned to Ryoko.  "You brought him here without 
clarification about why he was looking for me?  That's dangerous.  What 
if he'd turned out to be an enemy?"
	Ryoko shrugged.  "Not my concern.  Incidentally, he did swear he 
had only good intentions.
	"Plus..." she added, narrowing her eyes, "I figured that if he 
started any trouble I'd be all to happy to kill the lousy bastard!"
	"Fat chance!" Ray laughed with a good natured grin at Ryoko's 
serious statement, while Washu looked indignant.
	"Ryoko, really, how can you say that about your own brother?" she 
asked, sounding offended.
	"Brother!?" a surprised Ray and shocked Ryoko exclaimed in unison.
	"Yes," Washu replied.  She stepped back, presenting Ray with an 
outstretched hand.  "Ryoko, meet your long lost brother, Riuroshi 
Kumanai.  Riu, meet your sister, Ryoko... Ryoko Hakubi, I guess."
	Ryoko was too stunned to speak.  Ray -- or Riuroshi -- studied her
with thoughtful eyes.
	"My sister... I always thought she was just your creation," he 
said in a quiet, pensive tone.
	"She is.  I used my own ovum to create her, so she is as much my 
daughter as you are my son."
	"Riuroshi...?" Ryoko managed to say, finally.  "Strange name...."
	Ray/Riuroshi shrugged, "That's why I tell people to call me Ray."
	"What?" Washu protested.  "I just like 'Ri'... Ryoko, Ryo-ohki."
	Ryoko was silent once again.  As he studied her, she studied 
Riuroshi in return.  So this was Washu's child who had been taken from 
her all those thousands of years ago?  He was a lot older than he 
looked; older than Ryoko herself, no doubt.  Well even if he was Washu's
son, and thus Ryoko's brother, it didn't really change any thing in her 
eyes.  Even if her "mother," who wasn't much of that, disapproved of the
notion, Ryoko was prepared to deal with him harshly if he did anything 
disreputable.
	She remembered his earlier threat to harm Tenchi, and her dislike 
for the man renewed.  Considering his subsequent attitude and, to all 
appearances, personality change, Ryoko wasn't sure if Ray had been 
bluffing or not, but if he even so much as thought about following up 
on it....  Yes, she was definitely prepared to deal with him.  Ryoko 
figured he'd gotten lucky; he'd beaten her once, caught her off her 
guard, but would not be so fortunate a second time.

	Tenchi whistled idly as he walked down the steps leading from the 
Masaki shrine to his house, his wooden sword, or bokken, casually 
resting on one shoulder.  Stopping before the door, Tenchi inhaled a 
deep breath of mountain air, surveying the dimming sky as the last rays 
of sunlight painted shades of orange and violet upon the clouds.  
Sliding the door aside, he entered the house.
	"I'm home!" he called out.  No one answered, and he heard only a 
"miya" from the kitchen along with the vague noises of Sasami at work.  
No Ryoko appeared to accost him upon his entrance.  For a moment, Tenchi 
was puzzled, if a bit relieved, then he remembered that it was Thursday, 
and Ryoko would be working through the evening.  At least that would 
mean no serious damage would be likely to befall the house that evening.
Unless of course, Mihoshi crashed and leveled the place again....
	Tenchi stepped into the hall and headed for the stairs and his 
room.  After that last bout of sword practice with his grandfather, he 
felt sweaty and needed to change his shirt before dinner.  Before he 
reached the stairway, the closet door that, due to a miracle of 
dimensional physics, led to Washu's laboratory opened in front of him 
and Ryoko entered the hall in front of him.
	"Oh, hello Ryoko," he greeted her.  "You're home early.  Isn't it 
your evening shift today?"
	Ryoko, who hadn't seen Tenchi at first, looked over at him and 
her eyes widened at his question.  "I'll get fired!  I forgot, I've been 
on a smoking break for over half an hour!"
	"But you don't smoke," Tenchi said, but she had disappeared.
	"I wonder what that was about...?" Tenchi wondered aloud, and 
Ryoko suddenly appeared before he could wonder any further.
	Giving him a quick hug and peck on the cheek, she said, "Bye 
Tenchi!" and was gone again.
	"Hmph," an unfamiliar voice came from the closet doorway.  Tenchi 
looked over to see a tall young man standing in the doorway, a hint of a
sarcastic smile upon his lips.  "She left me behind.  Now I'M gonna get 
fired!"
	"Don't worry about it," Washu said, stepping out from behind him.  
"Now you can spend the rest of the evening with me."  She smiled, and 
it seemed to Tenchi almost lovingly.
	"Who are you?" Tenchi asked, puzzling over why this stranger with 
oddly colored hair should be standing in the entrance to Washu's lab.
	"He's Riuroshi," Washu answered for the young man.  "He's my 
son."  She often appeared to answer questions not directed to her, only 
this response was unusually simple and lacking bizarre scientific terms.
	"Wow," Tenchi said, "this is your long lost son?  The one who was 
taken away from you when you were young?  I'm glad to see you've found 
each other."  Tenchi extended a hand and the man shook it.  "It's nice 
to meet you Riuroshi.  My name's Tenchi Masaki."
	"A pleasure," Riuroshi replied.  "And call me Ray, Tenchi."
	"All right.  Ray it is then."  Tenchi stepped back and surveyed 
the young man.  "You look much younger than I would have thought," but 
then Tenchi considered Washu's youthful form despite her twenty-
thousand years of age, "but I suppose that's to be expected.  Runs in 
the family?"
	"Yep," Ray replied.  He looked Tenchi up and down a moment, a 
hand on his chin.  "To speak for myself, you look different than I 
expected... simpler, maybe... kinder...?"
	"How did you know what to expect in the first place?"
	"Ryoko mentioned you," Ray said, and then smiled.  "She also 
claimed you could easily take me in a fight."
	"Don't let his humble appearance deceive you," Washu warned her 
son.  "He possesses a great power that no other human can match, I 
assure you."
	Ray was surprised, if not a bit skeptical.  His eyebrows lifted.  
"Really?  What power might that be?"
	"The power of Jurai!" his mother divulged excitedly.  "He can 
summon the Wings of the Light Hawk!"
	"Incredible!" Ray murmured, looking back at Tenchi.  He rubbed 
the back of his head, a bit embarrassed by the awe in Ray's expression.
	"Well, I can only conjure three blades, really, and I've only done
it twice so far..." he said, modestly.
	Sasami appeared in the hallway.  "Tenchi, dinner's ready.  Can you 
tell Washu -- oh, hello," she said to Ray.
	"Hello," Ray said, "I'm Riuroshi, Washu's son."
	"Nice to meet you, Mister Riuroshi," Sasami said, favoring him 
with a energetic bow.  "I'm Sasami."
	"Nice to meet you too.  Please, call me Ray, Sasami."
	"Okay.  Now, come to dinner everyone.  You too, Ray.  There's 
enough for everybody!"
	Jokingly, Ray offered Sasami his right arm in a courtly fashion, 
and Washu his left.  The three of them made their way to the dining 
area, laughing and talking merrily.  Tenchi watched them walk off and 
listened to their happy voices even after they were out of sight.  He 
stood around in the hallway for a moment longer, looking around at 
nothing in particular.  Leaning his back against the door to Washu's 
lab, Tenchi sighed and looked down, kicking at an imaginary pebble on 
the carpet.  He reached up and touched the place on his cheek where 
Ryoko's lips had brushed briefly.  What were his feelings towards her 
exactly?  How did they differ from his feelings for Ayeka...?
	Tenchi let out another sigh, this one of resignation.  He didn't 
know.  How could he know?  He was only seventeen; what did he, Tenchi 
Masaki, know about love?
	*What do I know about love?*
	*Enough, if you have two beautiful girls after you.*
	*That's not very helpful.  I'm trying to be reasonable here not 
egotistical.*
	*Just a thought.*
	*Hey, who asked you anyway?*
	*You did.*
	*I did?  That was dumb; what do you know about love?*
	*You just asked that....  I'm you, remember?*
	Tenchi sighed.  "Sometimes I wish I'd just shut up and leave me 
alone."  But for that, he'd have to shut reality up too.
	Pushing these useless thoughts of futility from his mind, Tenchi 
stood and walked up the stairs to change out of his sweaty shirt before 
dinner, hoping to forget his worries in joining in the conversation of 
that evening's repast.

	Tenchi enjoyed the cheerful conversation at the dinner table, 
though he remained subdued himself and ate in relative silence, 
thoughtful despite his attempt to shrug off his worry.  With Ryoko away 
at her job, there was none of the usual squabbling between her and 
Ayeka.  It was certainly a relief to finally eat in peace.
	He summoned the image of Ryoko to his mind, reminiscing.  He saw 
her smiling, laughing, teasing... crying.
	*Ryoko...* Tenchi thought, resting his head on the palm of his 
hand, his elbow leaning on the table.  *Why must your emotions cause me 
so much trouble?*  He cared about her, and would never wish her gone, 
but the havoc she wreaked on his house, and not to mention on Tenchi's 
own peace of mind and emotions....
	Yet in the past month or so, since she had merged with Zero, Ryoko
had gone from suggestive flirtation and lavishing herself upon him, to a
more affectionate, caring attitude that hinted at feelings that were 
more... true.  Were her emotions towards him really that deep?  Perhaps 
he was wrong to think of her emotions as causing him trouble.
	"What are you think about, Lord Tenchi?" asked Ayeka  who had also
been surprisingly quiet.  The first time Ryoko had had an evening shift,
the princess had seemed overjoyed, but today her mood seemed almost to 
reflect that of Tenchi's own.
	A large bead of sweat materialized on the back of Tenchi's head 
at her question.
	"Uh... nothing, really," he fibbed nervously.  "Why do you ask?"
	"Oh, I don't know.  I was just concerned; you looked... worried 
about something," she said softly, while regular conversation around the 
rest of the table continued.
	"Well, I'm just in a worrying mood I guess," he replied serious, 
realizing this was the case.
	Ayeka smiled at him.  "Cheer up, Tenchi.  If there's no reason for 
you to be upset, then stop worrying and just enjoy yourself."
	He was cheered by her kind words.  "Thanks, Ayeka," he said, 
smiling back.  "You're right.  There's no use in worrying about 
nothing."
	Tenchi liked Ayeka.  He liked her a lot, but just how much, he 
couldn't truthfully say.  She was very different from Ryoko.  Kinder, 
much quieter, and deeper he supposed, but seemingly reserved and less 
willing to show her emotions, though quick to anger when Ryoko was 
concerned.  She always tried so hard to act the proper princess -- 
sometimes unconsciously; it had been conditioned into her since 
childhood -- that she sometimes lost sight of the truth, and found it 
hard to express herself without violating the dictates of etiquette and 
propriety.  Ayeka was often even more of a mystery to Tenchi than Ryoko 
was, her emotions hidden behind a princessly veil.
	Shaking off his melancholy, Tenchi resolved again to follow the 
plan of action to which he had previously adhered: not to make any 
decisions involving, or even think too much about, his relationships 
with Ayeka and Ryoko.  The excited conversation sparked by Ray's arrival
had not yet ended, and Tenchi gladly surrendered himself to the friendly
atmosphere to forget his cares, if only for the meantime....

	It was quite late when Ryoko returned to the Masaki residence.  
She materialized outside, looking down at the now dark and silent house.  
Her boss had been intensely but quietly angry at her disappearance, and 
had made her work even later than she normally had to, forcing her to 
help with cleaning and closing up as punishment.  Though it seemed 
harsh, she had had to deal with it or risk losing her job, which 
probably paid better than any other one she could find on such short 
notice.  Besides, she was good at it.
	Ryoko disappeared and reappeared hovering in the air outside a 
darkened window of the house.  Inside, Tenchi sat at his desk, a small 
lamp illuminating a book that lay open before him.  After a moment that 
Ryoko wished could have been so much longer, Tenchi leaned back in his 
chair, seeming to sigh.  Leaning over and switching off the desk light, 
he stood and yawned.  He didn't notice Ryoko outside as he climbed into 
bed and soon fell asleep.  Part of Ryoko wished he had seen her, had 
met her longing gaze, but another part of her knew seeing her there 
would have just freaked him out, further jeopardizing any chance she had
of ever truly reaching him.
	Ryoko watched him for a moment, his breathing even and steady.  
She phased through the wall, feeling a little guilty about sneaking into 
his room while he was asleep.  But the old Ryoko in her was enough to 
make her ignore that guilt.  For another short while, she simply watched 
Tenchi sleep, feeling a contented smile come over her as her fatigue and 
frustration was veritably washed away just by the sight of him.
	She approached the desk where he had been reading.  Looking down 
at the still open book, she saw that it was a just a school textbook, 
but something caught her attention at the bottom of the page.  She 
looked and saw a sketched pair of feline-like eyes staring back at her.  
Her eyes, and there were tears in them.  She felt emotion well up in 
her, and her eyes came to match those in the drawing.  She looked at the 
right corner of the page.  A series of random curving, convoluted 
doodle-lines circled and illuminated two words, "Ryoko" and "Ayeka."  
There seemed to be confusion, and even frustration embodied in the 
squiggling strokes surrounding the two names.  A single tear fell onto 
the page, blurring and obscuring the word "Ryoko."
	Ryoko wiped her cheek off and sighed, looking over to where Tenchi 
still lay peacefully, and smiled again.  Gazing out the window, Ryoko 
suddenly teleported to a nearby hill, and sat down, looking up at the 
lonely moon hanging in the sky, bright with a multitude of stars that 
one could only see this far outside the city.
	"I am lonely like the moon... you are far away as the earth..." 
Ryoko sang softly to herself.
	"Ryoko?" a voice whispered from behind her.  She looked back, 
startled, and saw Ray standing a short distance away.
	"What do you want?" she demanded, quickly turning away and wiping 
her moist eyes.  "Leave me alone."
	"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Ryoko," he said, still speaking in 
a fairly quiet tone, "but I just wanted to apologize."
	"Apologize?" she asked, turning back to him in surprise.
	"Yes... for, you know... pushing your buttons like I did."  He 
sighed, looking sad.  "At first I tried to be friendly... you know, get 
on your good side, but that failed miserably... I don't have much 
experience in the area.  I thought the only way to find out if you 
really were the space-pirate Ryoko was to get some reaction out of you 
that would prove it....  I was thinking of you as a construct, not a 
person, or a sister.  I'm sorry."
	He didn't meet her eyes.  Ryoko sat, loosely holding her knees 
towards her chest, and didn't know what to say.
	"I suppose you can't really forgive me too easily for all that 
crap I talked, though," he said with a sarcastic tone to his voice and 
a wry smile on his face into the resulting silence, which he had 
misinterpreted as negative rather than stunned.
	"I accept," Ryoko said, surprising herself as much as Ray.
	"You...?" Ray asked, and then shook his head slightly, trying to 
compose himself.  "What?"
	"I accept your apology," she said, sticking to her earlier 
statement, despite her own surprise at the admission.  "It must be the 
Zero in me talking, but you seemed... sincere."
	Ray grinned in relief, and sat down beside her on the small hill.  
"So... how was work?  Did Jo peg you for taking such a long break?"
	"Yeah," she sighed.  "But I don't mind so much."
	"Hmph.  Wish I could say the same.  I'll probably get fired if I 
show up tomorrow."
	"Oh, that's right, you had to work late too!" Ryoko exclaimed.  
"I'm sorry I left you high and dry here.  I completely forgot."
	Ray shrugged.  "I don't mind.  I got to spend the evening with my 
mother...."
	Ryoko rolled her eyes.  "Oh yeah?  Why aren't you spending more 
time with 'dear mother' now?  Discover how incredibly annoying and 
aggravating she is?"
	"No, she's everything I could hope for, in a mother," Ray replied, 
smiling vaguely.
	"You've got to be kidding!"  Ryoko's eyes were wide and she stared 
at Ray in disbelief.
	He shook his head, leaning his chin on a fist, his expression 
slightly distant, the hint of a smile on his lips.  "No, really.  She's 
kind and caring... affectionate, witty... immensely intelligent and 
knowledgeable, but that I expected."
	Ryoko's expression slowly changed to a grin; he was surely joking.  
"You're full of shit...."
	He looked at her and shook his head again.  Ryoko's grin 
disappeared, and she gazed back into his eyes, wondering.
	"But... she's always so... Washu!"
	Ray broke out in laughter at her statement.  She couldn't help 
smiling a bit herself when she realized the ridiculousness of her own 
words.
	"Washu always frustrates me so much.  Nothing she does makes any 
sense to me, and she's always... teasing me," Ryoko said after Ray's 
laughter had subsided to a low chuckle, looking up at the stars.  "And 
the way she messes with my Tenchi!" she said, slamming a fist into her 
open palm.  "Arg!  That just burns me up!"
	"Mothers almost always annoy their daughters," Ray explained.  
"It doesn't mean they do it on purpose... or that they don't love you."
	"Oh please," Ryoko said, brushing off his implication.  "Washu 
only cares about me as her machine."
	"Is that what Zero tells you?" Ray asked cryptically.  "If she 
didn't care about you, why would she have wished you to discover your 
true feelings through Zero?  And why would she always be asking you to 
call her 'Mom'?  She has a connection with you stronger than just a 
creator-creation bond, or even a mother-daughter bond... she knows how 
you feel."
	"So she told you all about Zero?" Ryoko said.  "Anyhow, she only 
tells me to call her 'Mom' to annoy me."
	"You still don't get it.  Washu lost me and my father thousands 
of years ago, and she's been looking for someone who can help her to 
relive that love ever since.  As her daughter, she loved you 
unconditionally, though she was unable to express it because of her 
loss."
	Ryoko smiled at the thought.  "You're full of shit..." she 
whispered, but her heart wasn't in it.
	The two siblings sat in silence for some time, gazing up at the 
stars, each with their own private thoughts.
	"So what brings you here now, after so long?" Ryoko asked, 
breaking the long pause.
	Ray sighed slightly.  "Well, our mother, really.  It seems like 
I've been searching for her all my life.  I found out about you just a 
thousand years ago or so, and so I came looking for you to see if you 
could give me any answers.  I was overjoyed when I discovered that she 
was on this planet also...."
	"What took you so long?" Ryoko said with a chuckle.  "To find me, 
I mean.  I've been here for the past seven hundred years."
	Now it was Ray who chuckled.  "I was in a Galactic high security 
prison," he replied simply.
	"In jail?  Why were you in jail?" Ryoko asked, surprised.  Then 
she grinned, "Or more importantly, why'd you get caught."
	Ray snorted at her second remark.  "Well, the first time I got 
arrested for breaking into the Science Academy's records, since they 
wouldn't tell me where our mother had gone, only that she wasn't there 
anymore.  When I learned she had been taken captive by Kagato, and never 
heard from again, I lost hope for a time, and practically let myself get 
taken off to jail.
	"But I escaped," he said, forming a small ball of blue energy in 
his right hand.  "Nobody would have guessed what I had inherited from 
my mother's self-altered genome."
	He looked a the glowing globe and watched it fade and disappear.  
"That, and the fact that my father was of Juraian noble blood, give me 
this power."
	Ryoko was surprised to learn that her brother was of Juraian 
noble descent, but did not interrupt him.
	"The second time," he continued.  "I did something desperate and 
probably stupid.  I broke into the GP Headquarters criminal records to 
get information on Kagato.  It was there that I discovered that Kagato 
had taken control of you.  I knew from the Science Academy files that he 
hadn't really created you himself.  Kagato had not been seen for a long 
time, so I decided to come after you, and see what I could find out."
	Ray sighed again.  "But, I was captured, and this time there was 
no sympathy for me.  My old family rejected me, horrified by my actions, 
burning my tree and the source of my extended life, erasing my name from
the family."
	He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them up and looked up 
again at the sky.  "The judicial system was not without its irony.  I 
was sentenced to a thousand years high security imprisonment, though it 
was known that with my Juraian tree destroyed I would never live to see 
the end of it."  He smiled ever so slightly to himself.  "The second 
irony was that, to the surprise of everyone, most of all myself, I did 
not die.  I simply continued to live.  Without my tree to support me, I 
still lived, relatively unchanged, for the one thousand year sentence 
and was grudgingly released at the end of my term."
	He paused for a long time.  Ryoko did not speak, sensing he was 
not finished with his story.
	He wasn't.  "When I got out, it wasn't long before I tracked you 
here."  He smiled at her, "If I'd arrived any earlier I might have 
found you still locked away in that cave....  Why did Yosho let you out 
anyway?  Did he become soft in his old age or something?"
	Ryoko smiled back and shook her head.  "He didn't.  Tenchi did, 
and I'm very grateful for it."  She looked back towards the house and 
Tenchi's dark window.  "...very grateful."
	"I'll say.  I didn't fall head over heals for the first girl I saw 
after getting out of the can, and I was in for three-hundred years 
longer than you!"
	Ryoko turned swiftly back to him, her indignation rising.  She saw
him grinning at her, ear to ear, and he immediately burst out laughing 
fell over onto his back.  Ryoko tried to frown, but his laughter was 
contagious and she had trouble even keeping a straight face.  "What's so 
funny anyway, huh?"
	"I'm sorry... your face... just priceless!" Ray replied brokenly 
through his chuckling.
	Ray rolled back up into a sitting position, looking off to the 
house with Ryoko.  "Tenchi is a very lucky guy to have someone like you.  
He must care about you very much."
	Ryoko didn't answer.  Ray noticed a small drop of water fall and 
splash on the grass.  It wasn't raining; there wasn't a cloud in the 
sky on this beautiful spring night.
	"Ryoko...?" he began.  "What's the matter."
	She wiped away a second tear with her finger and sniffed.  "It's 
nothing... I'm just... happy that you finally found what you've been 
looking for."
	"It's Ayeka, isn't it," he said in what was more a statement than 
a question.
	She didn't look at him.  She punched the ground in anger.  
"_Don't_ say that name...."
	Ray complied, and said nothing.
	"How did you know?" Ryoko asked him, after a pause.  Her eyes were 
still focused on the ground in front of her.  "Is it that obvious?"
	He shrugged.  "A lucky guess?  I grew up around Juraian nobility.  
I could tell she had feelings for Tenchi by the way she acted around him 
at dinner; she acted like they were betrothed."
	"Damn that woman!" Ryoko swore.  "She thinks just because she's a 
princess and I'm just a space-pirate she can have whatever she wants!"
	Ryoko raised her head, her eyes full of angry tears.  "Well she 
won't get my Tenchi!"
	Ray smiled at her fraternally, and surprised her by saying, "Silly
little Ryoko.  I really do feel like your big brother right now, you 
know."
	"Wha...?" Ryoko looked at him, confused.
	"What makes you think your emotions are any stronger or purer than 
that princess's?  I admit to little experience in the realm of love, but 
how can you dismiss another's feelings simply because they aren't your 
own?"
	Anger flared up in Ryoko.  "Yeah, well like you said, whadayou 
know."
	Ray shook his head, and stood to leave.  "Only Tenchi can make 
the final decision, and you can't decide for him, neither of you.  
Hopefully things will work out for the best, but in the meantime, try 
showing him just how much you do care about him, and explore the true 
depth of your own feelings."
	"And just how am I supposed to do that?" she snapped at him.
	"I don't know, but I've heard that if you truly love someone, the 
only thing you desire in a relationship is for them to be happy.  It's 
probably all just idealistic speculation, but it's all I can tell you," 
and with that, he walked off into the night, leaving Ryoko to mull over 
his words.  She looked up at the Milky Way that stretched out above her.  
Now, it was just her and the moon and stars, left to their lonely 
thoughts.

	Another person was awake late that night, restless with 
thoughtfulness and worry.  Ayeka sat in her room, slowly combing out her
long purple tresses in front of the mirror.  She had been sitting there 
regarding her reflection for the past several hours, her thoughts 
unknowingly running along parallel lines to those of Ryoko's.  How did 
Tenchi really feel about her?  He had seemed so quiet that evening at 
dinner, at least for awhile.  What could he have been thinking about?
	Ayeka glanced over at Sasami, asleep with a content expression on 
her face.  At least someone had no worries to keep her up late into the 
nighttime hours.
	Yet Sasami did have her worries.  She floated through a dreamy 
darkness, but it was far less than peaceful.  There was something after 
her, searching with hungry and vengeful eyes.  She saw the image of a 
woman like no other she had ever seen, a cruel expression on her face, a 
face which floated above her shoulders as if disconnected from the rest 
of her body.  Without knowing why, Sasami was horrified by the sight of 
her.  "Tokimi..." she whimpered in her sleep, too softly to be 
overheard.  The images of Washu, and then of Tsunami entered her mind, 
and she was comforted by the all-encompassing warmth of Tsunami's 
presence within her.  The peaceful expression returned to her features 
and her mind drifted off to kinder dreams of greener pastures.

	Tenchi was fervently practicing his swordplay skills.  Since the 
end of the school term, and the start of summer vacation, he had been 
throwing himself into his shrine duties, particularly sword practice, 
more and more.  This was more due to a need for distraction rather than 
any particular desire or unusual religious fervor.  Because with the 
end of school had also come the increasing awareness of his own confused
feelings.
	*AYEKA, RYOKO -- RYOKO, AYEKA!* he thought forcefully, mentally 
reciting one of the two names every time his bokken made contact with 
the small log that swung from a rope above him, venting his frustration.
	Repeatedly he sent the wooden target spinning away from him as he 
hopped nimbly across the tops of numerous blunt stakes that had been 
driven into the ground solely for this purpose.  Each time the sound of 
wood striking wood sounded, a bit of Tenchi's frustration was calmed.
	*Why do they pull me every which-way?  I'll split in half before 
they're satisfied.*  Sometimes, when he found himself fed up with the 
whole thing, Tenchi considered just telling them to both leave him 
alone.  But he knew he couldn't do that because he really did care about 
them, both of them; his own kindness was a curse.  Some girls said they 
liked sensitive guys, but then that was exactly his problem.  Maybe none
of this would have come about in the first place if he wasn't such a 
goddamn nice guy all the time.
	*Nice guys finish last, but I'm just running out of track to run 
down.  Soon it's gonna catch up to me.  What am I running from anyway?  
A decision?  The truth?  F~ck the truth!*
	Tenchi leapt high in the air, and with one final, double-handed 
stroke, brought his practice sword down so hard on the target that the 
cord it was attached to snapped and it hit the ground hard.  He landed 
with both his feet on different stakes, his stance staggered with one 
foot forward and one back.  He realized that he was panting for breath.
	"Very good Tenchi.  I've never seen you go on for that long," his 
grandfather said, but then frowned slightly.  "But you let your emotions
take control of you, and that can be very dangerous."
	"How did you know?" Tenchi panted.
	"Well, I could see it in your eyes.  The eyes are a reflection of 
the soul, you know," he said in a scholarly manner, and then smiled.  
"Plus, with the look you had on your face one would think you wanted to 
kill the practice target."  He looked to where it lay on the ground, 
trailing a segment of broken rope.  "And you succeeded."
	Tenchi looked at the short, stout piece of wood that once hung 
from a tree branch above, as if just realizing what he'd done.  "Oh, 
oops... sorry, Grandpa.  I'll fix it later."
	Yosho nodded.  "Hmm, yes, later.  Now we will proceed with a 
simple routine."
	Tenchi complied and took the appropriate position for the routine 
his grandfather chose.  His mind focused entirely on the task before 
him, he was able to forget about the two people who kept returning to 
his mind, now that he had no school or evil geniuses or alien royals to 
deal with.  He surrendered himself to the movements of the swordplay 
routine, absorbed completely, until the very last step and stroke were 
enacted.
	When he was finished, Tenchi looked down at the ground and 
revelled for a moment in the clearness of thought he felt.  He noticed 
that someone was clapping, in a slow and deliberate but steady and 
sincere rhythm.  Tenchi raised his head and saw Ray standing nearby, 
smiling and cheerful as usual.  For reasons Tenchi could not imagine, 
the man had retained a good humor despite having gone through losing his 
mother as an infant, being denied finding her, and spending over a 
thousand years in a high security prison facility.  It was more than a 
little bit admirable.
	Ray walked over to them.  "That was excellent.  Prince Yosho's 
reputation I know, of course, but Tenchi, you display a mastery of 
Juraian blade techniques as well.  Your grandfather has certainly taught 
you well."
	"Uh... thanks, Ray.  But haven't you seen us practicing before?  
We're up here all the time."
	"Actually, I haven't," he replied.  "Huh, imagine that... been 
here nearly a month already.  I knew you practiced up here, but I just 
never got around to satisfying my curiosity on the matter."
	"Well, since you're here, why don't you join us?" Yosho offered.  
"Tenchi could use a little variety in his sparring partners, I think.  
Besides, I'm getting to old to keep up with the lad."
	"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Grandpa," Tenchi interjected, "you 
always beat me."  He turned back to Ray.  "Still, I'd appreciate the 
change.  What do you say, Ray?  Wanna try me on for size?"  Tenchi 
grinned congenially.
	Ray grinned back, looking down his nose at his somewhat shorter 
prospective opponent, jokingly.  "In a contest of size, I win hands 
down.  Let's try a friendly sparring match."
	Yosho tossed Ray a wooden sparring sword, which he caught deftly 
in his left hand and transferred to his right.  The two combatants took 
up their positions.
	"Alright, Tenchi.  Now, I don't want you to hold back on me just 
'cause I'm a few thousand years older...."
	Tenchi shared Ray's smirk, but said nothing.  Mentally and 
physically, he prepared himself.  He did not plan on underestimating a 
man who had been raised by Juraian nobility and spent several thousand 
years on the "wrong" side of the law.
	After a minute of gazing motionlessly into each others unreadable 
faces, the two opponents silently charged each other, meeting in a 
flurry of motion with a series of resounding clacks as they both struck, 
parried, and were blocked in turn.
	Separating for an instant, the two swiftyly circled each other, 
and then Tenchi charged in and the combat, almost to fast to see, 
continued.  Tenchi struck, but Ray riposted, his fierce grin in stark 
contrast to Tenchi's own stoicly calm but determined expression.  Tenchi 
dodged back and to the right, avoiding the thrust, then swinging his own 
bokken at Ray's now unprotected left side.  Too the young man's 
surprise, Ray leaned to his right, jumping and tucking in his legs and 
pulling his sword in towards him, flipping sideways out of the way.  
Stepping lightly and looking as natural as an expert dancer in his 
element, Ray took up a defensive stance.  Tenchi's expression hardened, 
determined.  He would go all-out now.
	Once again, Tenchi charged, this time with a short, sharp yell.  
Ray swung at him, but just as Tenchi reached his opponent, he leapt 
straight up into the air and flipped over the taller man.  For a moment 
Ray's expression was stunned, but his confident smile soon returned, 
admiring Tenchi's move.
	As Tenchi landed, he let out another yell and swung at Ray's back.  
There was a loud crack as Ray effortlessly blocked the boy's blow over 
his shoulder without even turning around.  Tenchi was shocked, but 
quickly regained his composure as Ray spun and made a slash at Tenchi's 
legs, which he easily jumped over.
	And so the fight continued.  And continued, neither one gaining 
the upper hand.  The duel, full of impressively executed strikes and 
even more impressive near-misses and dodges, worked it's way gradually 
down to the front of the Masaki shrine.  An audience began to gather 
around them.  Tenchi paid them no heed, but Ray smiled at their 
presence, somehow keeping his mind on fighting and managing to make a 
witty comment on their jeers and cheers at the same time.  To Tenchi, it
seemed miraculous.  And even more miraculous was the fact that with that 
amazing control, Ray hadn't defeated him yet.
	The two combatants broke apart for a moment.  Sweat trickled from 
Tenchi's brow as a few of the audience's calls filtered into him through
his shield of concentration.
	"Go Tenchi!" Ayeka was calling.
	"Woohoo!  Get him Tenchi, you can do it!" shouted Ryoko.
	"Give it up, both of you!  My Riuroshi is obviously winning!" 
Washu told them and then turned back to the two fighters and boomed in 
a voice that was louder than her diminutive frame hinted at, "KICK HIS 
ASS, RIU!"
	"Well at least someone's on my side!"  Ray smirked at his mother's 
enthusiasm, but did not let it distract him, he met eyes with Tenchi.
	"Alright!" Tenchi cried out.  "What's your game, Ray?  You're just 
messing with me.  You told me not to hold back, so I don't want you to 
either!"
	Ray stood in ready silence for a moment, then smiled again, and 
nodded once, emphatically.  He charged, and Tenchi just barely blocked 
his attack in time.  He immediately struck again, and Tenchi dodged, but 
it was like trying to dodge a bullet.  After that, the fight was over 
fairly quickly, as Tenchi soon found the blurringly fast blade come to a 
sudden halt above his left shoulder.
	His face remained shocked, almost fearful for a moment, and then 
he smiled, and Ray's blank expression changed to join his.
	"You win," Tenchi said.  "I admit you are the superior swordsman, 
by far."
	"Your discipline and skill are incredible, especially at your 
age," Ray replied.  "But I've had a few years more practice.  I doubt I 
could match your grandfather in a duel however; he was once acclaimed as 
the one of finest swordsman on Jurai, before he left."
	Ryoko and Ayeka both rushed up to Tenchi.
	"Oh, Tenchi, you were wonderful!"
	"Fabulous!  Absolutely!"
	"Hey, hey, but I didn't even win!" he protested.  They ignored his 
admission and continued to compliment him.
	"Oh, that's okay!"
	"Yes, you were still great!"
	"Are you tired?  Do you need any help?"
	"Let ME Tenchi!"
	They both reached out to take one of his arms and in the process 
bumped into each other.  Their eyes met angrily and the conversation 
immediately changed its venue.
	"Hey!"
	"Miss Ryoko, what do you think you are doing!"
	"The same thing you are, princess, trying to score points with my 
Tenchi!"
	"YOUR Tenchi?  How absurd!  I am simply concerned for Lord T -- !"
	A wooden sword was suddenly inserted vertically into the 
altercation, cutting off their eye contact as it was placed in between 
the arguing women.  They both stared at the wooden blade in confusion.  
Looking from Ayeka to Ryoko and then thrusting its handle towards the 
second, Tenchi left the bokken with them and walked past them both 
without a word.
	For a moment the two stood in perplexed silence, then Ryoko said, 
"Hey!  Look, Tenchi gave ME his sword!"  She flaunted the wooden 
practice blade before Ayeka like a trophy.
	"Hmph," Ayeka said, turning away contemptuous.  "Tenchi simply 
recognizes you as a monster only suitable for simple labor and servant 
work."
	"You're just jealous cause it means that I'm his 'maid of honor' 
now!"
	"More like his caddy!" the princess snapped.
	Ryoko turned bright red.  "WHAT!?" she exploded.
	"You two are ridiculous!" Ray cut in suddenly, approaching them 
and hoping to halt -- or at least stall -- any destructive brawling that 
might break out.  "First you both root for Tenchi, and then when the 
fight is over you immediately race to see who can be the first to 
congratulate Tenchi on his spectacular loss!"  He couldn't help but 
chuckle, "My own sister cheering against me!  The shame!"  He turned to 
Ayeka and grinned at her.  To everyone's surprise, Ray and Ayeka had 
struck up quite a friendship, which was rooted in their common past: 
they were both born into Juraian noble families and subsequently 
rebelled against their families' wishes.
	"I know you like this Tenchi guy, but really..." Ray was saying to 
Ayeka, "what has he got that I don't?"  He puffed out his chest in a 
humorous attempt to make his slim but muscular frame appear more manly 
and dashing, barely withheld laughter written on his face.
	Ryoko leaned forward as if in anticipation, her eyes narrowing 
evilly.  "Everything..." she said with ill-begotten delight.
	Ray laughed and made a playful swipe at her.  "Well, you took that 
one for all it was worth!  Some sister you are."
	Sasami came running up the shrine steps carrying Ryo-ohki, both of
them looking flustered.  "You guys!  Dinner's getting cold!  Hurry up 
and come!"
	"Mya!"
	"Already?" Ryoko asked of no one in particular.  Ray looked up at 
the darkening sky, startled by how much time had passed since the 
sparing match had begun.  He hadn't even eaten lunch.  Ryoko 
disappeared, having obviously teleported directly back to the house.  
Ayeka muttered something derogatory about 'that monster-woman' and 
started heading for the steps.  She stopped halfway there and looked 
back over her shoulder.
	"Oh.  Ray, aren't you and Tenchi coming?" she asked him.
	Ray glanced over to where Tenchi sat on the steps in front of the 
shrine, head bowed and scratching at the dirt with his toe.  "You go 
ahead.  We'll catch up with you."  Ayeka smiled at him, gazed a worried 
moment at Tenchi, and then left.
	Washu waved at Ray from where she stood next to Yosho.  "Hiya, 
Little 'Roshi!  I knew you could take him!"
	Ray smiled at her, and said, "You two go to dinner.  We'll be 
along in a bit."  He glanced meaningfully in Tenchi's direction.  Yosho 
and Washu both nodded in understanding and made their way down the steps 
that led back to the house.
	Ray walked over and sat down next to Tenchi on the bottom step.
	"Good fight," he said.  Tenchi nodded silently, his head still 
down and his sandal making abstract patterns in the dust.
	"They're really bothering you aren't they.  Ayeka and Ryoko I 
mean."
	Tenchi sighed heavily and nodded.  He looked up at Ray.
	"It's not so much their actions that bother me, just their... 
conflict.  It's tearing me apart."  He looked very solemn.
	"Well, let's not worry about it right now.  Whatever is going to 
happen will happen.  That's fate for you."
	"Fate," Tenchi said thoughtfully, a hint of sarcasm entering his 
voice.  "I'm not sure I believe in fate."
	"Well, destiny then," Ray offered.  "Destiny's a bit easier to 
come to terms with, I think."
	Tenchi nodded, still pensive and a bit skeptical.
	"Let's go eat, before the food gets cold and Sasami gets really 
angry with us," Ray joked.  His joke didn't really have the desired 
effect, but Tenchi did agree that they should go.
	They walked down the steps in relative silence.
	"Don't let them get you down," Ray said, trying to bolster 
Tenchi's spirits.  "You're lucky to have two beautiful women fighting 
over you."
	"I wish I could share your carefree view on it, Ray," he replied.  
"I'm just afraid that their forcing me into making a choice that will 
end up with one or both of them getting really hurt.  I don't want that.  
I'm not even sure about my feelings as it is, but they end up confusing 
things even more.  It just gets so frustrating sometimes."
	Ray was surprised that Tenchi was telling him all this.  But then, 
the kid really did need someone to talk to.  "I can't help you there, 
Tenchi.  I could never choose between them myself, so I'm not surprised 
that you're having trouble.  They're both great girls."
	They walked on in silence for a while, until the peace was broken 
by a tremendous noise blasting from above them.  Both looked up and 
could not be more startled to see an unfamiliar ship, to all appearances 
constructed of wood, fly by over their heads and towards the lake.
	"A Jurai ship!" Tenchi exclaimed in awe and surprise.
	To his own further surprise Ray glimpsed the Kumanai family crest 
on the ships hull.  "That ship has the mark of my father's family!"  he 
shouted, pointing after the ship as it settled itself over the lake.
	They delayed for only an instant, then Ray yelled "Come on!" and 
he and Tenchi were bounding off down the steps, taking them by threes 
and fours.
	"Why would your family be here?" Tenchi asked him, puzzled, as 
they dashed for the Masaki house.
	"I don't know," Ray replied, seeming just as perplexed.  "My 
father died quite some time back, and the rest of the family I'm sure 
were all to willing to forget about my disgraceful memory."
	As they skid to a halt before the water's edge, Tenchi and Ray 
saw that Yosho was already there, looking up at the ship hovering above 
the lake, the Tenchi-ken clutched in one hand.
	"They're here for me!" Ray explained quickly, slightly out of 
breath.
	"No," the old man replied calmly, an unreadable frown creasing 
his brow.  "They are here for me."
	"For you?  But -- " Ray was interrupted as a beam of green light 
struck the ground before them and a man in Juraian dress stepped out.  
In addition to his Juraian robe that marked him as a minor noble, he 
wore an annoyingly self-confident expression.
	"Are you Katsuhito Masaki, once known as Yosho, First Crown 
Prince of Jurai?" the man asked in an officious tone.
	"I am," Yosho replied, his expression unchanging.
	"Good.  My master Lord Kumiro of the Kumanai has a matter of much 
importance to discuss with you....  If you'll please accompany me on my 
ship, I can take you directly to him."
	"Kumiro?  What does he want with Prince Yosho?" Ray interrupted, 
stepping forward.
	The Juraian functionary studied the young-seeming man impassively.
"Ah, I see old Doran's brat is here with you.  And alive at that.  What 
an unpleasant coincidence."  His tone turned contemptuous as he 
addressed Ray.  "Stay out of this, if you know what's good for you.  My 
business here is with Prince Yosho, not you."
	"If Kumiro has something he needs to discuss with me, he can come 
here and talk to me himself, instead of sending one of his useless 
dignitaries to fetch me," Yosho interrupted.
	The man's mouth twisted at the remark.  "You had better keep a 
civil tongue in your head, 'Your Highness.'  The Lord of the Kumanai 
resents traveling to remote and backwater planets like this.  He will 
be most displeased by your refusal."  With that, the man stepped back 
into the green light and disappeared.  Soon, the large ship followed 
suit and was quickly gone from sight.
	"Who was that guy?  He was weird," Mihoshi said from behind them, 
and they all turned to see the rest of the household standing there, 
wondering what the incident had been all about.  Mihoshi had just gotten 
back from assignment a few days ago.
	"So," Yosho said, looking back up at the sky and apparently 
refusing to answer any questions.  "You are of the Kumanai family, are 
you Riuroshi?"
	"Yes, sir," Ray replied, and added a sarcastic smirk.  "Raised and
shunned by the Kumanai."
	"Congratulations.  That makes you a close blood relative to the 
second worst enemy I've ever had," Yosho said unexpectedly.  "Kumiro 
Kumanai."
	*Kumiro, my long lost nemesis...* Yosho thought, his gaze still 
trained grimly on the sky, *I thought our conflict had ended.  What is 
it you want with me this time?*
	Ray's eyes were wide with disbelief.  "Second worst...?  Who... 
who, if I may be so bold, Your Highness... who is your FIRST worst 
enemy?"
	Yosho did not smile as he said calmly, "Myself."

To be continued... don't miss Chapter 2!
Author's Notes:  At last, it is complete: my first fanfic.  I realize 
there's a lot of narrative and interchange and not enough plot 
development in this, the first chapter, but I will hopefully remedy that
with the next.  Will I resolve the Tenchi-Ayeka-Ryoko triangle?  Of 
course.  Who doesn't?  However, it will be a long and winding journey 
for them, and all the rest of the characters.  No clear cut endings 
here!  I'm also determined not to make the mistake that some fanfic 
author's make in that I'm trying to develop the character relationships 
along with the main action of the story, instead of doing one and then 
the other.  I know this end-note is getting entirely too long, but I am 
planning to introduce a new female character (one of Tenchi's 
classmates) in the next chapter and would appreciate any name 
suggestions, seeing as I am fairly ignorant of good Japanese names.  As 
a general reminder, while I don't own any of the characters from any of 
the Tenchi series, I did create the characters of Riuroshi "Ray" 
Kumanai, Kumiro Kumanai, and this story, which is Copyright (c) 2000 by 
Master Kodama, so please don't plagiarize!
Comments and Concerns to: master_kodama@yahoo.com
or visit my website: http://master_kodama.tripod.com/