Tenchi Muyo! is the property of Pioneer and AIC.
I've no intention of using this to garner profits of any
kind or type, so unless you like to take a poor man’s
computer away from him, please don't sue me!? Please?

       All other characters, depictions, places, and
theories that have been put into place are my own creation
and have no relevance to Tenchi Muyo in any way except in
the ways I've explained. These are my own thoughts and
imagination, and any relation to other stories that are not
my own are accidental.  Honest.

       My e-mail is kerrigan2001@attbi.com (or
Kerrigan_Kai@hotmail.com) for any and all feedback.  Please,
PLEASE SEND FEEDBACK OF ANY KIND!!! Thank you!  ^-^

All right, enough talk more action....


   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
           ~~~Tenchi Muyo:  The Web of Life~~~
    ~~~Part 2: Carrots and Hidden Skills (rev 4.0)~~~
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	The young man was dreaming.
	He dreamt of fields that stretched out as far as the
eye could see with huge trees, their purple and blue leaves
straining to touch the sky.  He hovered just over the
ground, looking at the reeds thrashing to and fro in time
to the wind.  He twirled in the air, contented with his
dream right now.  Looking out over the fields that he saw,
he viewed a great mansion at the edge of a mountain, with a
village several miles away from what the mansion grounds.
Greenhouses and storage facilities surrounded the mansion,
all of them being quite familiar.  Looking down at the hill
he started this journey on, he floated higher into the air,
letting the whole scene burn into his mind.  He didn’t want
to forget this place, no matter where he may go or wander.
This place was where he had been born.
	This place was home.
	The young man sniffed the air for a moment.  Feeling
his body being dragged back toward the ground, he realized
that he was waking out of his dream.  Saddened by the
anchoring feeling that he felt, the young man surrendered
to the sensations of nerves awakening and, after several
more moments of reorientation, finally opened his eyes.
	Sunlight poured into the room from a window above him,
and struck on the far wall.  As he looked around the room
he saw a bowl of water next to his head, with several
towels sitting next to it.  Lifting his head off of the
futon, he stared at the remaining portions of the room he
inhabited now.  A table was placed at the far wall, with
two chairs sitting on either side.  What caught his
attention was the red-headed girl floating on a red cushion,
with her back toward him.  Putting himself into a sitting
position the young man pulled the blanket fully around his
waist and began to study the room and the girl more closely.
He nearly jumped when the girl spoke.
	“It’s still processing?  Ah, well.  Guess he’s got
some anomalies that have to be double checked before the
final read-out can be presented.  Well, better get another
look at him while he’s still asleep.”  The cushion floated
backwards to the edge of the futon, and turned to have the
girl floating parallel to it.  The girl’s hair seemed to
defy gravity for the most part, which caught the young
man’s attention immensely.  Flowing from the back of her
head down to the floor, and trailing slightly behind, he
followed it with his eyes. She wore a uniform that hinted
at her schooling; however the markings on the shoulder were
unrecognizable to him.  The young man leaned in to get a
closer look at them when he realized that he was instead
staring right into the largest set of green eyes he’d ever
known.
	“Aaahh!” The girl blurted and jumped back, falling
off of her cushion onto the floor.  The young man reached
out to steady the girl before she fell, but a grid of red
interlocking strands of energy impeded his reach.
	“I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean to scare you.” the young
man blurted out, staring at the young girl with sorry grey
eyes.  The girl stood up slowly, rubbing her bottom with a
look of mild discomfort on her face.  Looking back at the
young man, she gave a hearty smile.
	“It’s no problem!  I was expecting you to be asleep
still.  I’m Washu, and I’m well known as the Greatest
Scientist in the Galaxy!  What’s your name?” the young
scientist asked.  The young man gave a toothy smile.
	“Do you think I could just call you Washu?  I don’t
think I could memorize all of that, to be honest.”  Ashe 
remarked, to which Washu gave him a near-scornful look.  
Completely taken off guard by his reply, she responded by 
giving him an amused smirk; he’s quite a character!
	“Most of my friends and family call me Little Washu,
but I'll consider letting you get by with calling me Washu 
for now.  You still haven’t told me your name, though.” 
The girl teased, and the young man blinked twice.  He gave 
her a smirk in return, and pulled his hair away from his 
eyes.
	“Ashe.  My name’s Ashe.”  He looked around the room
for a moment, and gave Washu a quizzical look.  “Where am I?”  
The girl scientist put her hands behind her back and smiled, 
too interested in the now awake young man to worry about 
bruises.
	“Well, you’re on the planet Earth, in the Sol
System.”  Washu replied.  He gave her a bemused look.
	“I’m sorry; I know the system, I meant what country 
I’m in.  Is this Japan?”  He looked around, his grey eyes 
wide with curiosity.  She took her turn to give a confused 
look and scratched her head.
	“Actually, yes it is Japan.  Obviously you’re not
simply human, so what planet are you from?  Do they have
the regenerating capabilities that you do?” Washu inquired,
grilling her new subject as quickly as she could.  The
young man shrugged absently and rubbed his eyes.
	“I’m from different places, to be honest.  It’s been
so long since I’ve ever had a consistent home I couldn’t 
tell you where I was first.  The longest I’ve ever stayed 
on a planet before Earth would’ve been,” the young man 
tapped a finger to his lips in thought, “Most likely,
Tetanius Prime.” Ashe replied.  Washu's eyes shot open at 
the name of Ashe's past home.
	“Tetanius Prime?  That planet hasn’t been inhabited
for about 4500 years!  You were there before?” she prodded.
The young man nodded and looked at the door for a moment.
	“Uh, yeah, but can I step off topic for a second?”
the wanderer requested.  Washu furrowed her brow and folded
her arms in stubbornness, as Ashe continued speaking, “I
was wondering who found me in whatever shape I was in.  I
have to thank them for helping me out of my predicament.”
Washu nodded and waved her floating laptop from where it
hovered at the table to her side, and began to type in the
information she had gleaned from their conversation.
	“His name is Tenchi Masaki.  He’s the young man who
found you after you crash landed near his family’s Shinto
shrine in the woods nearby.  He had a couple of friends and
I assist in bringing you back here to make sure your
injuries weren’t too severe.  After you regenerated your
wounds, however, he wanted to simply offer some courtesy
and provide you with a roof to cover you for the night.”
Washu stated matter-of-factly, obviously annoyed with having
her questioning interrupted.  Ashe nodded, and stretched  
out as best he could considering the force-field that was 
keeping him on the futon.
	“Would you be so kind as to bring him here, so that I
can thank him personally?”  Ashe requested, trying his best
to keep the conversation going.  “And I’m sorry that I stopped 
your questioning. I hope that we can talk later on, and I’ll 
answer any questions that you have then, okay?” he finished. 
Washu gave him a sidelong glance, and smiled quietly.
	“That’ll work fine.  You know, I’m a little amazed at
your intelligence.  You truly are more than what you seem
to be.”  The scientist remarked, pulling a chuckle out of 
Ashe. The wanderer stopped and scratched his head for a moment. 
	“I try.” Ashe replied, and Washu eyed him fully for a
moment, which made Ashe feel strangely comfortable. 
	“True, and succeeded fairly well, might I add.  But
looking the way you are, I’d figure you’ll want some
clothes to get into before talking to Tenchi.  You’re not
exactly well dressed, you know.”  Washu noted, waving a hand
absently in the wanderer's direction.  Ashe looked down at 
himself and blushed mildly, realizing that he had nothing 
else to cover himself except for the blanket currently
around his waist.  Washu laughed aloud for a moment, and
reached her hand into a portal that had opened up next to
her.  Washu began to pull out a large metallic briefcase, and 
proceeded to punch in several things on the touchpad mounted 
on its side.  Setting the briefcase down next to her, she 
whisked away her floating laptop and knelt down on the floor. 
Picking up the force-field orb, she de-activated it and threw 
the orb into the portal that she had gotten the briefcase from,
which closed immediately afterward.
	“Okay, everything’s set.  I’ve deactivated the force-
field, and I picked out some clothes for you.  I hope you
like them.”  Washu pulled back her shirt sleeve to reveal a
slim metal band, complete with several buttons around her
wrist.  Pushing one of the buttons, she peered into the
miniature view-screen that had sprung into sight for
several seconds.  She tapped her chin in thought for a moment,
and then began to walk toward the door.
	“Hmm, Sasami most likely has breakfast done.  Get
dressed, please, and I’ll wait for you outside the door.  
Considering your state, you're most likely very hungry," Washu 
explained, smiling at the wanderer.  Ashe put himself in a 
kneeling position, scratching his head at the strangeness of 
the situation, “And you're lucky to have the best chef in 
the galaxy preparing your breakfast.  See ya there!”  
	With that, the scientist shut the door to leave Ashe
alone in the room.  The wanderer shrugged his shoulders and
stood up slowly, holding the blanket around his waist.
Walking over toward the briefcase, he popped open the
latches to view his new outfit.  He whistled, and looked
back at the door.
	“Black and emerald green.  How’d she know?” With an
absent shrug, Ashe dropped the blanket on the floor and
began changing into his new outfit.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	“Alright, everyone, breakfast is officially served!
Dig in when you’re ready!”  Sasami spoke, watching as the
family sat down to eat.  Ryoko and Ayeka were already at
each other’s throats, fussing over who got to have more egg
rolls; though Sasami thought it more because Ryoko kept
Ayeka up with her snoring. Tenchi and his father were
discussing the young man’s chores and duties for the day
while his father went off to work, and Mihoshi was making
her best attempt at keeping the argument between Ayeka and
Ryoko from getting too far. Ryo-Ohki sat next to the
kitchen door wailing for her breakfast as well.  The
younger princess placed a carrot in front of the meowing
cabbit and finally sat down to enjoy breakfast herself,
when the topic between father and son changed to last
night’s rescue.
	“So the person you had rescued was a man, eh,
Tenchi?” Nobuyuki remarked.  Tenchi nodded in affirmation
to his father between bites of egg roll.  “Ah, well,
that’s too bad.  Might’ve been interesting around here had
it been a girl.”  Ryoko and Ayeka snorted disdainfully,
giving Tenchi’s father a threatening stare.  Nobuyuki
drew a sharp breath and held up his hands in defense.
	“It was just a joke, ladies.  I’m just trying to make
conversation at the table, okay?”  The girls rolled their
eyes, and resumed their own heated discussion.  Tenchi gave 
the girls a quick glance and then looked back at his father, 
who let out a sigh of relief.
	“You asked for that one, Pop.”  Tenchi whispered, 
and his father nodded in silent agreement.  The opening and 
closing of a door above brought the attention of the family 
toward the stairs.  Washu quickly hopped down the stairs 
and stopped at the foot of them, looking toward the group 
with a giant smile on her face.
	“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news.  The good
news is our guest is awake and alive, and his name is Ashe.
The bad news is I could not get any additional information
on him other than his name, and the fact that he’s been on
this planet for some time.”  Footsteps were heard before
anyone could ask questions, and Washu looked up at the head
of the stairs.
	“This ought to be good.”  Ryoko whispered flatly to
Ayeka, as they caught a glimpse of Ashe as he made his way
downstairs.  What everyone saw caught their attention
immediately.
	The wanderer wore an emerald green mandarin collar
shirt, long-sleeved and untucked, which covered his denim
pants.  Black, and with a thin emerald green strip running
up each leg, the jeans hung somewhat loosely to his legs.
His white hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, with
his bangs hanging over his ash-grey eyes.  As Ashe made his
way down the steps, he tinkered with one of the collars,
which had red crabs embroidered on the edges of it; very
small red crabs also decorated each of the cuffs on his
shirt. His black boots had emerald green laces to finish
the whole outfit. In short, Ashe was rather nicely dressed,
thanks to Washu, and all of the other girls seemd to like 
the way he looked. Ryoko and Ayeka both had saucers for eyes, and
Sasami grinned ear to ear. 
	“Whoa,” was all that Mihoshi could breathe. 
	Ashe paused at the foot of the stairs, and stopped 
fidgeting with his collar to realize where he was finally.
	“Oh! Um, hello! My name’s Ashe and, uh, I would like
to thank whoever was the person who found me last night.  I
sincerely appreciate it, and would like to repay that
person.  I believe it was Tenchi, right?” Ashe asked, scratching
his head as he tried to remember his rescuer's name.  Tenchi 
swallowed a half chewed bite of egg roll, and stood up quickly. 
	“Yeah, uh, that would be me.”  Tenchi spoke, not quite 
sure what to make of his new guest.  Ashe’s eyes stopped on
the young man as he stood up. He walked up quickly to Tenchi 
and gave a big smile to the young man, who smiled
back nervously.	 “Thank you so much!  You don’t know how much I owe
you for that!  Oh, yeah!  About my debt…”  
	“There’s no debt to pay.  I did it out of respect and
kindness, I don’t expect any payment.” Tenchi responded, giving him 
a look of surprise, and waved the thought away. Ashe, however,
wasn’t going to walk away without repaying the young man
somehow.
	“All right then, a question for you.  What do you do
in terms of chores or required tasks for the household?”
Tenchi took a step back for a moment.
	“Me?  I tend to the carrot fields so that Ryo-Ohki
can eat, help Grandpa clean and maintain the temple grounds,
go to school when it’s in session, and help keep the house
in working or...der.”  Tenchi stopped talking as soon as he
realized where the conversation was going.  However, it was
too late.
	“Then it’s settled.  I’ll take care of all
maintenance work, including the carrot fields that you must 
tend to for… hmmm… does about two weeks sound alright with 
you?” the wanderer asked, giving the Masaki boy a small 
‘Let me help’ look on his face.  Tenchi scratched his head, 
not really knowing how to respond to the offer that he was 
given.
	“Hold on there.  These are my responsibilities, and I
can’t just shirk them off on someone who doesn’t even know
what to do!”  Ashe smiled, and nodded his head in agreement.
He cocked his head to the side and held up his hands
parallel to his shoulders.
	“I can learn what I must as I go, and I’m sure that
you can show me what I
don’t understand.”  Tenchi opened his mouth to speak, but
Ashe stopped him before the words came.
       ”I understand that these are your responsibilities.
However, you took one of my responsibilities, namely my own
life, into your hands when you did not need to.  I feel
that I need to repay you, by lifting the burden of some of
your responsibilities off of your shoulders.  It’s nowhere
near what I feel that I actually owe you, Tenchi, but it’s
a start.  Will you please let me do this for you?"  Tenchi
let out an exasperated sigh, and gave the wanderer a long
and thoughtful look.  Before the young Masaki could utter a
response to Ashe’s question Ryoko jumped out of her seat,
her eyes bugging out of their sockets.  Squealing with
delight, she grabbed Tenchi’s free arm and wound it
alongside her own.
       “Ha!  Now you can’t back out of our agreement,
Tenchi!  You’re going on that date with me and Ayeka now,
no matter what!” she exclaimed, hugging Tenchi’s arm to her
chest.  Ayeka gave a smile from across the table to Tenchi,
stood up and walked over to Tenchi’s other side.
       “Thank you, Ashe.  I’m quite sure that Tenchi
wouldn’t mind having some actual time off away from his
chores and responsibilities?” The princess replied.  Ayeka
and Ryoko both eyed the young Masaki, whose eyes had grown to
huge proportions. He sighed, and let his head droop in
defeat.
       “Sure, Ashe, you can take over my chores as payment
or whatever you choose to call it.  But if I want to take
them back at any given time, I reserve that right.  Is that
fair?”  Ashe grinned, and held out his hand.  Tenchi
reluctantly put out his own hand, and the two young men
shook on the agreement.
       The rest of breakfast was rather lighthearted after
Tenchi agreed to Ashe’s proposal.  Ayeka and Ryoko began
arguing over what dresses the other girl should wear on
their date with Tenchi, and Ashe was given Nobuyuki’s chair
after he had dismissed himself to go to work.  Sasami and
Washu had been paying the new guest loads of attention,
eager to know everything about the wanderer.
       “You had said that you lived on Tetanius Prime
before, correct?” Washu asked, picking up a small piece of
egg roll with her chopsticks.  Ashe nodded in affirmation
between mouthfuls of breakfast, and gulped down a swig of
milk before answering.
       “Wow!  This food is amazing!  Whoever made this
should be cooking for royalty!”  Ashe exclaimed, which made
Sasami blush slightly.  The wanderer stopped and thought
quietly for a moment. “Yeah, I did.  It was a long time ago,
and I had left it long before the planet was decimated.
I’ll admit, though, it was sad; nearly the whole planet
annihilated in under a month.  The people that were left
had to evacuate considering that life couldn’t survive
there anymore.”  Ryoko’s face went pale and expressionless
at the mention of Ashe’s past home; while Ashe and the two
other girls kept talking, Ayeka gave the pirate a concerned
look. 
       “Ryoko, are you okay?  Ryoko?”  Ayeka questioned.
Tenchi gave Ryoko a concerned stare.
       “Ryoko?”  Tenchi asked, his gaze quickly snapping
the space pirate out of her strange mood. She smiled weakly
at both Tenchi and Ayeka, and quickly bit off a piece of
egg roll.
     “Of course I’m fine! Hahahaha! What would make you
think I’m not okay?”  Ryoko gave an overly boisterous laugh
and scratched her head with one hand, which caught the
attention of the rest of the group at the table.  Realizing
that she had everyone looking at her, Ryoko quickly looked
around the room and stopped her gaze at the clock on the
far wall.
     “Oh, gosh, look at the time! I guess I’d better be
getting to work on sweeping the outside porch area, since
that’s what was asked of me. Yeah, that’s it.”  With that,
the pirate stood up and quickly bolted for the kitchen door,
phasing through it without a second thought.  Ashe stopped
chewing on his egg roll to watch Ryoko, and looked back at
Sasami and Washu.
      “Does she do that all the time?”  Ashe inquired.
Washu gave him a serious look in response.
      “Which one; phasing through doors, or acting strange
in front of people she doesn’t know?” Washu asked.
      “Both,” Ashe had answered.
      “Yes to the first, and it’s one of two things when
she meets new people; act extremely shy, or attempt to blow
their heads off of their shoulders.” An angry feminine
voice echoed through the kitchen door after Washu finished
talking.
      “I heard that!”

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	A tall, elderly man stood in front of a closet door,
gently rapping on it to request entry.  His small, square
glasses did little to hide the wisdom and gentleness in his
faintly red eyes.  His dress and style of hair was that of
a Shinto priest, and this one in particular was not always
known for his patience.  He knocked much louder the second
time.
	“All right, all right come in for crying out loud!”
The priest chuckled to himself and straightened his posture.
	“Thank you, Professor.”  He opened the door to the
closet, and stepped through into Washu’s arboretum area of 
her laboratory.  Trees of a thousand kinds were sprawling 
out before him, with paved walkways winding around each of 
them, giving the effect of a haphazard web he was walking 
upon.  Blinking lights on each side of the walkway lit up 
sequentially with a slight red glow, faintly highlighting 
the path out of the arboretum. 
	“Follow the lights out please, and Washu will be
waiting for you at her control center, Lord Katsuhito.”
The priest nodded his agreement, and followed the now 
apparent path to Washu.  After several minutes, Katsuhito 
stepped out onto one of the few static places in Washu’s 
lab; her control center.  With the exceptions to the 
arboretum and control center, Washu’s other labs were always 
transforming and reconfiguring themselves to provide the 
scientist with almost limitless reusability.  The priest 
stopped himself behind Washu, who was busily punching in 
research data she had gleaned from another experiment into 
one of the control center’s floating keypads.  She wore a 
scientist’s smock that covered her science academy uniform, 
already dirtied by some of the experiments she had done 
earlier in the day.  When she turned to face Katsuhito, he 
noticed that Washu also wore the angriest look he’d ever 
seen on her young face.
	“What’s got your goat, little Washu?” Katsuhito
remarked coolly.  Washu glared up at him from her floating
keypad, which made the priest raise an eyebrow.  She sighed,
and dropped her hands away from the keypad.
	“I’m sorry, Katsuhito.  I didn’t mean to take it out
on you.  Ryoko, however…”  The elderly priest raised both
eyebrows in surprise; one didn’t get to find out about
Washu and Ryoko’s relationship very often.
	“Oh?  What has Ryoko done now?”  The priest dropped
himself into a kneeling position beside the young scientist.
She sighed a second time, and went back to typing in the
data she had stopped doing earlier.
	“Nothing, unless you count coming up to me after
breakfast was finished and blatantly accusing me of
drooling over Ashe.  I’m a scientist, not a schoolgirl; I
know what I’m doing when I’m around him,” she growled.
Katsuhito nodded in understanding.  She kept typing in more
information, nearly pounding in the keys as she continued
talking.  “I mean, who’s she to talk about drooling?
Tenchi would most likely be swimming in lakes of it
considering the way that she and Ayeka fawn over the boy.
Ryoko even hangs on him, even after Tenchi has
asked for time alone."  Katsuhito chuckled at the memories
of Ryoko’s first months at the Masaki home.
	“If Ryoko didn’t do that, she wouldn’t be who she
is,” he said. Washu gave Katsuhito a quick look of bemused
understanding, and began typing again.
	“You didn’t come into my lab to ask how my day went,
Katsuhito, so how about we skip the rest of the small talk
and get to the point?”  Washu stated, never moving her eyes
off of the keypad as she punched in more data.  Katsuhito
shrugged, and looked out over the balcony at the rest of
the arboretum.
	“I came to ask you about your thoughts on our new
guest.  However, it seems that you’ve already explained
yourself rather well.”  The elder priest remarked, shooting
a grin at Washu.  She turned to look at Katsuhito in
surprise.
	“Oh really, and what would that be?”
	“I don’t remember you getting so uptight over the way
you interact with people.  Maybe Ryoko’s perspective of the
way you look at our guest isn’t so overrated after all.”  
Washu eyed Katsuhito for a moment, and put her face stubbornly 
into one of the view-screens she had been studying earlier. 
	“Whatever.”  A red beacon started to blink on one of
the nearby floating screens, which quickly caught the
attention of both Washu and Katsuhito.
	“That’s strange.  The scanners say that there’s a
huge surge of energy being built up nearby, but it’s having
trouble identifying exactly what that energy signature is.”
Washu remarked, calling the view-screen over to her to
analyze the data more closely.  Katsuhito stood up and took
a position over the girl genius’s shoulder to watch the
goings on with better detail.  Washu brought up several
larger view-screens to check up on the residents of the
Masaki household.  Tenchi was at the bottom steps of the
temple, currently talking with Ayeka and Ryoko about Ashe
and the date they were going on later that evening. Mihoshi
was in the kitchen eating an apple, and Sasami and Ryo-Ohki
could be seen chasing butterflies on the pier in front of the
house.
	“That leaves us with our new friend.  Where is he?”
Katsuhito asked, keenly interested in what the family’s new
guest was capable of.  Washu was already ahead of him, and
homed in on Ashe’s position.
	“I’ve already recorded Ashe’s bio-energy signature,
so finding him is as easy as one, two, and three!” Washu
spoke, pushing in several buttons.  A small map of the
current countryside grew to enormous size in front of the
two as they watched, and zoomed in on the areas directly
surrounding the Masaki house and shrine, and then one last
time on the carrot fields at the farthest end of the
property.  A bird’s eye view of the field that Ashe was
working in was brought into focus, and both adults watched
with fascination and surprise as Ashe worked.  Or rather as
best they could watch, considering the fact that a blur was
all that they saw.  It was all Washu could do to even blink
at the amount of energy he used.
	Zipping this way and that in the field, moving
surprisingly fast and efficient, Ashe worked with a
tireless enthusiasm.  The only times that one could make
out Ashe clearly was when he stood still long enough to
wipe the sweat off of his brow or to pick up various
objects at the edge of the field.  In the laboratory, his
two spectators kept watching with amazement.  In the course
of several short minutes, the entire field was completely
tilled and planted.  Katsuhito whistled coolly as he
watched the young man sit down and relax for a moment.
	“Well, our guest has some very potent skills.  I
wonder if he’s a capable fighter as well,” Katsuhito
remarked, tilting his head as he watched the young wanderer
go about tilling and planting the next carrot field,
“Though it now comes to if we should tell the rest of the
family about the extent of Ashe’s powers.”  Washu punched
in some more information, never taking her eyes off of the
screen.  She let her finger hover over the communications
button when she suddenly thought about her earlier
conversation with Ryoko.  Worried about the scene that
would no doubt result, she turned instead to face Katsuhito
who was still regarding the wanderer on the view-screen.
	“Katsuhito, I know this is going to sound odd, but
can we keep this information between us for now, please?
I’m not quite sure what Ryoko will do with the information. 
If she finds out about what we know, it’ll take weeks to 
clean out the blood.  Executing the man when all he’s done, 
by himself no less, is plant TWO whole fields in under an 
hour doesn’t sound like a proper thank-you,” Washu 
explained.  Katsuhito raised an eyebrow at the young 
scientist, and regarded her with a critical eye.
	“I will consider it.  However, for reasons of safety,
I will be the one to gauge his skills.  If he is a threat
in any way, I want to know how any of us would fare against
him,” Katsuhito responded, as the view-screen winked out of
sight.  Washu typed in the last of her information and
stood up to stretch out her tense muscles.  She gave a
thankful smile as the closet portal faded into view at the
edge of the control center.  Katsuhito looked over his
shoulder toward the portal, and back at Washu.
	“About your memories, Washu, I must ask.  Ryoko told
me that you know about him, but you don’t know how.  I find
that hard to believe,” the priest explained, “That you of
all people can’t seem to remember someone who obviously
means a great deal to you.”  The scientist sighed heavily,
and motioned Katsuhito to walk with her toward the portal.
	“If you don’t already know, I can’t remember anything
further into my past than roughly 20,000 years.  If I try
to push further back than that in my mind, I draw blanks.
That alone is driving me nuts; especially after that
bastard Dr. Clay had kidnapped Ryoko and nearly succeeded
with me.  Ever since, however, I’ve been getting strange
flashbacks; like time-worn movies of places I’ve been, when
I don’t remember being there any other time in my life. Or
people I’ve seen, when no-one matches their description in
any of the galactic records.”  Katsuhito slowed his pace,
and looked down at Washu.
	“But you recognized Ashe,” the priest noted.
	“And that fact alone is what bothers me.  All of my
other flashbacks were hazy and barely understandable.  When
I first looked at Ashe, however, it was like,” Washu
scratched her head, looking for the words. “Like a waking
dream, vivid and in living color.”  Washu returned the look
at Katsuhito.
	“Do you think that Ashe is the key to unlocking the
meaning of these memories of yours?” the priest questioned
as they ended their walk in front of the portal.  Washu
gave the priest one last glance, and then stared at the
door for several moments.
	“I don’t simply think he is.  I know he is.” Washu
stated, and Katsuhito bowed deeply to the young scientist.
He opened the door, and quickly looked back through at
Washu as she began her walk back toward the control center.
	“On that note, I thank you for hearing me out.  The
family should expect you at the dinner table, then?”
Katsuhito asked, and Washu gave a quick glance to the
priest as she walked.
	“Probably, considering I’m most likely going to miss
lunch to do further research.  I still need to ask our
young friend Ashe several more questions, so catching him
at dinner would be best.” she replied. He gave a giant
smile at Washu as she sat down on her cushion.
	“Should I bring a mop and bucket for the drool as
well?”  The priest saw the blush clearly from where he
stood at the door, and watched Washu push several buttons
on a completely different keypad.  Without blinking
Katsuhito quickly pulled his head back and shut the door
before a large statue of a fat panda landed, attempting to
make a new home on the priest’s head.  Washu held her head,
shaking it in silent laughter as both the portal and the
statue faded into nothingness. 
	“Friends.  Go figure.” She stifled a humorous sigh,
and went back to watching and recording Ashe’s power
readings on a view-screen she had spawned.  Suddenly she
sat straight up in her cushion, transfixed on information
that displayed itself on screen, although the data held no
interest; she was more focused on the flashback that went
trailblazing through her mind’s eye.  The scientist’s
breathing came in ragged gasps as she felt memories flood
over her like a broken dam’s water over an unsuspecting
riverbank.  Washu let herself become caught up in the wave,
hoping that anything she could glean from it would help her
understand what was going on.  As the unnerving sensations
faded, the images began to meld and make a clearer picture.
	Washu found herself standing on a small hill,
surrounded by reeds of varying lengths and widths.
Thrashing and whistling around, she watched trees that
stretched miles into the sky with their purple and blue
leaves dancing and swaying in tune to the wind that moved
them.  She whirled in place, attempting to figure out what
planet she was on, and where she could possibly be.
	“The planet’s name is Far Eden.  Or rather, it was.
It’s a planet that’s not on any of the galactic star-charts;
mainly, because it’s been annihilated.”  The scientist
whirled around in place, a distinct chill of eerie
recognition as she realized whose voice it was.  Washu
gasped as she got a look at the opposite side of the hill,
where the sound came from.
	The scientist immediately recognized the face as her
own, but she was clothed in dress that was completely
foreign.  Billowing red sleeves flowed in open defiance of
the wind, and her red hair was pulled up and back in a near
divine formality.  A gold band was wrapped almost lovingly
around her neck, as well as several more circling at spaced
intervals around her hair, defying gravity as if the
concept were null and void.  The elder Washu’s sleek black
and red dress clung tightly to her bosom, waist, and hips
adding to the overall effect of surrealism.  The younger
Washu simply gawked at herself; she never thought of
wearing something like that.  At least, she didn’t admit to
it openly.
	“You’re me, aren’t you?” The younger Washu remarked,
folding her arms in open stubbornness.  The elder Washu
cackled, and smiled a toothy grin.  She began to hover in
place, and slowly moved toward the younger Washu.
	“Ha! I’m still as sharp as a whip, thankfully.  Yes,
I’m you.  And you’re me, whichever line of reasoning you
prefer to use.  In all honesty, however, I’m more a mental
image of what you really are.  You left this portion of
yourself,” the elder Washu stopped several inches away from
the younger and put a thumb to her chest to emphasize
herself, “Within your mind so that one day, when you felt
you had finally understood what you felt you needed to
understand, you would have a way to come back to yourself.”
The younger Washu scratched her head in apparent confusion,
and pointed at herself.
	“Okay. Let me get this straight; I’ve locked myself
away in my own head, and you’re the aspect of me that’ll
help wake the rest of my memories up?” The younger Washu
pointed a finger at her elder self in a questioning tone.
“I want all of my memories back, and I want them now.”  
The elder Washu gave her a look of amusement.
	“Access denied.” The elder Washu stated flatly.
        “What?” The child genius replied, furrowing her brow 
from misunderstanding herself a second time.
        “I’m also what most mortals would call a mental block;
until your own mind believes that you can handle what you
would learn, you aren’t getting anything out of me.  Or
you’re not getting it out of yourself, to phrase it more
accurately.  Besides, all of your memories are locked away
in things you’ve given great value.” The elder Washu
explained.  Giving a weary smile, the elder Washu turned to
walk away from the girl genius.  The younger Washu clenched
her hands in frustration, trying to make sense of what had
just happened. 
	 “There are three things that you valued, and still
value, above everything else in this world, before your
fated decision.” The elder Washu explained, holding out one 
hand parallel to the younger.  Floating barely above her 
outstretched hand were three red gems, circling and twisting 
around each other in perfect harmony.
        “You mean the gems.”  The younger Washu whispered,
staring at the three crimson orbs in amazement.  The elder
gave her one last glance before looking back at the gems
again.
        “What about Ashe?”  The elder form’s eyes began to
shimmer with moisture, and she blinked twice.  She turned
to face the younger Washu with a fond gleam in her eyes,
the gems radiating a heavy red now.
	“Okay, here’s a hint, then.  All of your memories are
locked away in these little gems; they also represent the
same three things I mentioned earlier.  One is to
understand the universe; the second, to understand why
mortals do what they do; the last, to understand your own
heart.”  Each of the orbs gave a faintly reddish-pink glow,
lighting up one by one in response to the elder Washu’s
words as she spoke, until all three pulsed brightly.  The
younger Washu gave a confused look at her elder self, which
quickly turned to panic as the imaginary world around her
began to fade and melt away.  The elder turned back to face
the younger, and put a faint smile on her lips.
	“Stick with Ashe and Tenchi!  You’ll get your answers
when the time comes, I promise!  In the end,” the elder
Washu quietly spoke, yet the younger Washu felt them as if
she were whispering them to herself, “You’ll have what
you’ve always wanted.”  As the laboratory faded back into
perspective, the child genius began to hurriedly type in
the information she had learned, eager to piece together
this little puzzle that had presented itself.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Dinner at the Masaki household was different this
evening than most other nights.  Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ayeka
had all gone on their date for the evening, telling
everyone that they most likely will eat at a restaurant and
not to prepare any meals for them.  The kitchen area was
well stocked with herbs and spices from around the galaxy,
with cooking utensils from Earth and a hundred other worlds.
Neat, organized, completely stocked with everything a chef
could wish for, and just the way that Sasami liked it.
Wearing her chef’s apron and having her hair pulled back,
the younger Jurai princess had already gotten well into
making dinner. The young chef set down some onions and
began cutting them, thinking about how her family had
changed so much in the course of several short months.  The
scent of onion had snuck its way into Sasami’s eyes, and
she began to get teary.  Stopping for a moment, she had
reached to her left for a towel and promptly snatched it
away from its holder.
	“Hey!  I was using that.” A voice replied, a little
hurt.  Without turning to see who it was, Sasami handed
back the towel quietly.  She smiled and turned to face the
source of the voice; Ashe, whose face was dirty from the
work he had done in the field earlier in the day.  His
emerald green dress shirt had the sleeves tied around his
waist, and an emerald green athletic shirt he wore
currently was soaked with the sweat of a hard day’s work.
	“I’m sorry, Ashe.  I didn’t realize you were already
using the towel,” Sasami remarked, and scowled at his
appearance, “but you should take a bath before dinner.
You’re dirty and smelly from head to toe.”  Ashe gave
himself a quick once-over, and rolled his eyes.  He wrapped
the dirty towel around his neck and sighed.  Making his way
to the door to the living room, Ashe turned and waved to
the young princess.
	“Thank you for the towel, Sasami.  I’ll ask Mihoshi
where the bathing facilities are.” Ashe bowed slightly, and
pushed the door open.  “I didn’t mean to interrupt you
while you were cooking, so I’ll leave.  By the way,” Ashe
sniffed the air and looked at the stove, where several
different courses of food were busily cooking for the
evening’s dinner, “Dinner smells excellent.  I’m looking
forward to it!”  Sasami gave him a big smile, nodded and
went back to finishing the onions.  She grabbed some
carrots from the fridge and began to prepare them for
cutting when she stood up straight unexpectedly, as if
someone had entered the room.
	“Is that you, Tsunami?  Where are you?” the young
princess called aloud.
	“I am right beside you, Sasami.”  The princess turned
to look at the woman standing next to her right.  Her dress
was quite similar to the Jurai royal family’s garb, a
beautiful mixture of purples, blues, and reds; however, she
seemed to carry a divine look that poured out around her.
A white cloak draped over her shoulders, covered by exotic
trinkets and rare metals.  Her flowing blue hair was pulled
back into two long ponytails that barely touched the floor.
She leaned back against the countertop, eyeing the doorway
with a knowing eye.  Sasami gave the goddess a worried look, 
when Tsunami turned to face the younger princess and gave 
her a beaming smile.
	“I was worried that you wouldn’t show up.”  Sasami
whispered, and turned to face the goddess.
	“You know that I would never dream of leaving you
alone for long, little one.”  The goddess saw worry cross
over the chef princess’s bright eyes like rolling storm
clouds.
	“What is bothering you, Sasami?  You’re worried about
something, I can tell.”  Tsunami queried, giving the young
princess a worried and sympathetic expression.  Sasami
sighed deeply, and closed her eyes.
	“I’m worried about Ashe.  Except for Washu and me
everybody is suspicious of him.  It just doesn’t make any
sense about Tenchi; Ashe took care of the carrot fields so
that he could go on that date with Ryoko and Ayeka.  Ryoko
was completely against his staying here, though she didn't
mind him taking over Tenchi's chores.  Ayeka is suspicious 
of him, but is at least giving him the benefit of a doubt.  
Mihoshi can’t place him in any galactic police records, 
so at least he’s not a known criminal.  Nobuyuki is being 
wary but considerate, and Katsuhito is giving Ashe that 
look that he gives Tenchi when he botches up a training 
lesson,” The princess whispered, to which Tsunami placed a 
comforting hand on the girl’s shoulders.  Sasami sighed a 
second time, and opened her eyes to look up at Tsunami.  
The goddess furrowed her brow in confusion as the young 
princess gave a faint smile. 
       “At least Ashe isn’t one of the bad guys.”  The
goddess tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow
as she studied Sasami, guessing at the reasons for the
girl’s line of reasoning.
	“Don’t be so certain of that, Sasami.  You have no
idea about where this Ashe is from or who he is; and
criminals are still criminals, well known or otherwise.  To
say that this person is good hearted after knowing him for
as little as you have would be foolhardy.”  Sasami gave the
goddess a wondering look, and dropped her arms to her sides
in thought.  Tsunami raised an eyebrow a second time at the
young girl, already understanding where the conversation
was going.
	“Neither you or I had a nightmare of him, though.
Every time someone bad shows up, one of us gets a vision
about what’s going to happen.  I didn’t get one when Ashe
showed up, or even the day before.”  With that, the
princess went back to cutting her carrots. Tsunami simply
blinked at the girl’s logic, amazed at the amount of sense
that Sasami made.  The goddess took her turn to sigh; ever
since she gave up a part of herself to allow Sasami to stay
alive the princess had grown in maturity light years ahead
of her peers, but it came at a high price.  Whenever
Tsunami attempted to gain insights into the future, Sasami
had access to those same dreams; something that both of
them were surprised about and afraid of at the same time.
Tsunami oftentimes cursed herself for dragging an innocent
girl into her own visions; she worried that what simply
caught her off guard may outright terrify or threaten the
sanity of the young Sasami.  However, no matter what the
girl was forced to witness or endure, Sasami’s tireless
enthusiasm and perseverance always won out; several times
those very dreams that Sasami was forced to see aided both
herself and those around her to anticipate and ultimately
defeat forthcoming threats. And while it was true that
Tsunami had attempted to divine what Ashe’s arrival
heralded for the family, she hadn’t seen any good or evil
intent come from Ashe at all. Though she always weighed her
dreams with a grain of salt, she learned that through the
bonding that the two girls went through, Tsunami found
Sasami’s judgment of character at times to be far more
accurate than her own. 
	“Perhaps Sasami,” the goddess remarked with a hint of
sadness in her voice. “But remember, that sometimes the
brightest star is created out of the darkest matter.”
Sasami gave Tsunami a confused stare as she finished
putting all of the chopped carrots into the pot that was
cooking the other vegetables for the dinner that evening.
	“I don’t understand what you mean.” The young girl
stated simply. Tsunami patted her soul-bound friend on the
head in a friendly tease.
	“It simply means that everybody is going to have to
be careful about this new guest, that’s all.”  The princess
nodded and gave a huge smile to Tsunami, who gave a look
over her shoulder at the stove.  The pots and pans that
were all holding dinner for the evening were steaming,
giving every intention that dinner was ready.
	“You might want to finish dinner, little one; your
family is starving waiting for you to feed them.  And I
know I would rather starve than eat cooking that wasn’t
yours, Sasami.”  The young chef giggled happily, and gave a
bear hug to the surprised goddess.  Tsunami gave a slight
gasp; the goddess wasn’t used to this kind of attention,
but Sasami gave it to her no questions asked and no quarter
given.  Tsunami smiled; she wouldn’t have it any other way.
	“Thank you, Tsunami.  You really know how to make me
feel better.”  Sasami said, the words muffled by the
goddess’s dress.  Tsunami gave her a knowing smile and
returned the bear hug she was in the middle of receiving.
	“What are friends for?”

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Deep in the outer recesses of the galaxy, a lone ship
sat in the middle of an asteroid field.  From a distance,
the very thing looked to be huge; its body long and sleek,
with pocks and dents covering the dark grey techno-organic
skin of the ship.  From underneath, it had the impression
of a god’s hand reaching down from above.  Standing atop
the ship at the bow, a tall young man had his head bowed in
deep thought.  His pale white hair shimmered in an almost
eerily way as it reflected the light from the star that the
ship orbited, and his purple eyes hinted at a malevolent
intent that none of his peers dared to provoke.  Crossing
his arms over his chest the young man pulled his gaze from
the ship’s hull, out toward the asteroid field that
surrounded the ship and then further out, into the darkness
he called home.  As the cloaked figure kept his eyes on the
void a portion of the hull began to bulge and spike upward,
then peel back to reveal a tall slender female form
emerging from within the hull.  The woman’s small bust and
curvaceous body was clothed in a black bodysuit that was
covered in numerous thin silver stripes that curled around
her back and arms; her black hair was likewise striped in a
similar fashion.  Her silver cornea did nothing to hide the
thousand minute gears that spun and twirled in rhythm, and
the violet irises focused intently on her target.  She made
slow and measured steps along the hull toward the cloaked
man and adjusted her leather gloves as she made her way
along.  Taking her place directly beside the man’s right
side, the young man gave a sidelong glance at the guest
through slitted eyes.  The girl, although a head taller
than the man she stood beside, nodded her head in silent
agreement, and the two sank into the ship as the hull
pulled itself over the hover-pad the two stood on.  As the
duo sank further into the ship, air began to hiss and fill
the chamber, allowing sound to be heard within.  Several
more seconds passed again before either of the two spoke.
	“I trust that you know your mission.”  The young man
stated flatly, never moving from his position.  The tall
girl turned her head to face him, and nodded.
	“My mission is one of reconnaissance.  I am to
engage and ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of all
specified targets.  Any minor threats that may interfere
with my primary objective are to be eliminated with extreme
prejudice.  However, I am allowed to make retreat if the
capabilities of the specified targets are proven to be more
than my own.”  The hover-pad that carried the two stopped
at the bridge of the ship.  The bridge was huge; hundreds
of view-screens hovered over their respective control
panels, each displaying a myriad of information on planets,
current events, and various important persons.  The young
man, with the woman just behind, strode up one of several
archways to the central control node that jutted out over
the rest of the bridge area.  As the two entered the node,
a spherical view-screen enveloped it and brought up several
different star charts of galaxies both familiar and
completely unknown, and blacked out all outside light
sources.  The young man brought up a keypad, and brought up
several different pictures.
	“The area that you are to infiltrate is here,” the
young man remarked, bringing up a picture of a house
sitting peacefully alongside a lake and a shrine nestled on
top of a nearby mountain.  “The people that reside here are
some of the most powerful beings in the known galaxies, if
not the universe.  Caution is paramount; simply observe and
engage when the timing is right.  Failure to do so will
force us to escalate our plans prematurely; I do not do
things prematurely, understood?”  The young woman nodded
her head, and strode up to his side.
	“Who are the targets?” the woman had questioned, her
distinctively sultry voice hued itself with the faint
undertone of artificial replication.  Two pictures faded in
over the scenic photo; one was a black-haired pony tailed
young man, smiling happily with what seemed to be his family.
The other gave light to a beach scene, where a cyan haired
woman was attempting to pull the hair out of a violet
haired girl’s head, who was likewise trying for the same.
The black and white haired young woman raised an eyebrow
cynically at the second picture.
	“What an animalistic gesture,” she remarked and
crossed her arms, which invoked a snicker from the man
beside her.
	“Be that as it may, those three you see before you
are the greatest threat to this little symphony of ours.
Currently, none of them understand exactly what is in store
for them and I intend to keep it that way for as long as
possible.  Understood, Ersatzu?” The young girl nodded her
head slowly in affirmation, and made her way back toward
the archway out of the control node as the spherical view-
screen opened a doorway out.  The young man turned his
slightly to the side, and coughed faintly.  The tiger
striped beauty froze in mid-stride, and turned her head to
listen.
	“You may be an artificial, but you are more important
to my plan alive than dead.  Simply gather the appropriate
information and return; I do not wish for our enemies to
know anything other than what I want them to.”  She nodded
in agreement, and exited the control node leaving the young
man alone with the pictures and his own thoughts.  He
punched in several more commands, and expanded the black
haired boy’s photo to zoom in on his face alone.  He gave
the photo a look of expectancy, as if the young man was
looking forward to meeting the person in the photo.
	“Oh, what a tangled web they weave, when first they
choose not to believe.”  With that said, the young man began 
to pore over the data that came in from the view-screens that 
hovered nearby.


			End of Part 2