Subject: [FFML][Tenchi] Why Me? Part 8a
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 23:03:27 EST
From: GnsmthRaly@aol.com
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Finally, the next chapter is done.  sorry to those people who were expecting
this before.   hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer:  Tenchi and the others are the property of youmex, etc... i
don't
own them, don't plan to make any money off of them, so please don't sue me.

Why Me?
Part 8
by Rose and Jared

        Jared stopped in his tracks. "Uh, did somebody say that I was
Ryoko's
brother?"

        Yosho released his hold on the young man, patting him on the
shoulder.
"That's right. Perhaps Washu would like to explain that to you."

        Attention tracked over to the little genius.

        Washu started out of the reverie that events had placed most of us
in,
smiling and trying to take it all in stride. "Oh, it was nothing really.
I'd just charged a clone chamber with protoplasm based on a genetic
template grown from one of my ovum. It was simple really. Then Mihoshi
somehow dropped you into the tank and the plasm bonded with you,
overwriting your own genetic material. The same sort of thing happened
with your other sister, Rose."

        Jared's eyes searched out the one face he couldn't identify. I waved
meekly at him, chewing with a piece of pizza in my other hand.

        [Right, mental note to self: Subject Rose, copy visual pattern into
memory. Identity: Sister. Personality traits unknown, but she likes
pizza.]

        He gave a confident wave back, accompanied by a sort of 'is this
insane
or what?' sort of a grin.

        "Aaaaackkk! My Word!! How did THIS happen!?" Washu's scream at her
terminal put a stop to the general migration back to the house that had
begun, and once again she was the center of attention.

        "What is it, Washu-chan?" Jared and Ayeka echoed in a kind of errie
unison. They looked at each other and he shrugged.

        Washu ceased typing at her at her terminal to look up at him,
scowling.
"First of all, let's get this straight right from the start. I want you
to call me Okaa-chan! Secondly, it appears that my genetic sample was not
the only one in the tank with you. My computer's still working on it, but
you do *not* have as pure a template as either of your two sisters. My
DNA processor is still trying to work out what the contaminant might be.
That's strange. I usually keep my lab sterile against just this sort of
need. What kind of organic thing might have gotten in there?"

        Tenchi was rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, you know, I kinda hate
to
bring this up. But Mihoshi was the one in there with him last night,
right?"

        A chorus of nods.

        Tenchi blushed, closing his eyes while he relayed something he found
*really* uncomfortable. "And wasn't she chewing on potato chips? When she
was in there, I mean. You did find a pile of them next to the cloning
machine."

        Faces written with horror surrounded Jared, who seemed lost in
thought.
After a moment he confessed. "Why do I have this sudden urge to sing a
Gene Kelly song about kissing a gal from Idaho? Something about the land
where potatoes grow."

        "You mean it doesn't bother you?" Sasami asked.

        "Being half-spud?" He asked. "Nah. My body works, it does all the
right
things. Why should I care what what went into making it? After all," he
took Sasami by the shoulder, beginning once more to head into the house.
"If I start doing something like sprouting leaves or *really* weird stuff
then Washu can just toss me back into the tank. She rewrote my whole code
once, why not again? Um..."

        He paused, looking over at Washu, most of his audience remaining
stunned
at his reaction to this. "Mom? I'd hate to pick up any horrible,
degenerative conditions from this. You know, mental breakdown or anything
like that? I'd hate to lose my mind or something you couldn't fix
easily." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm, if I lost my mind,
would I even know it? It's not like vegetables sit around thinking about
how they're not thinking. Does perceived reality even exist without
thought? Then again, I'd be a burden on everyone else and that's to be
avoided."

        Jared and Sasami wandered into the kitchen. Yosho followed with a
contemplative smirk on his lips.

        Everyone else remained frozen, a variety of shocked and strange
expressions on their faces. Ryoko was the first to recover.

        "Man, is he ever weird! He's okay with being a potato?"

        "Eh," Ayeka grunted, still motionless. "You certainly have a strange
brother, Ryoko."

        Washu began tapping her chin. "Hmm, I wonder what happened to him to
make him so adaptable?"

        The Tenchi household soon gathered around the dining room table.
Sasami
was helping Jared serve up the pizza, garlic bread, and fruit salad he'd
had made as an early lunch.

        He'd planned enough for a crowd. Cooking for a group was his default
mode. Though he suspected he'd underestimated, which was why they were
supplementing with regular Japanese food.

        Ayeka soon fell to being the strained hostess. "Well, Jared, why
don't
you tell us something about yourself?"

        Jared cleared his head, sighed heavily, and asked. "Oy, where do I
begin?"

        Everybody burst out talking at once.

        "What was..."

        "Tell us..."

        "How did..."

        Yosho was calmly sipping his tea. Unable to discern from the barrage
of
questions, Jared followed his example with a sip from his dewing glass of
milk.

        "Great pizza." Rose hefted a slice. He smiled back at her, nodding.

        "Jared," Ayeka began. "How is it that you know us? And what about
that
loss you mentioned?" She was avoiding the other subject.

        Everybody seemed to agree that was an okay place to start. Jared
thought
how best to break the news. Tell them they were a TV show? No, best to
modify it to be something a little more believable. The reality he'd
*last* been in gave him an idea.

        "I've been given the standard material, but never got a formal
briefing.
I saw some videos and read some summaries on all of you. Nothing special.
It was *not* something I'd ever been expecting to use."

        There. He'd gotten away without lying.

        "Briefing?" Several people repeated, in various states of alarm.

        "Hey? What? I don't get it." Tenchi complained. "What material? You
don't mean *dad's* videos, do you? I mean, who'd want to prepare a
briefing on us? What do we have that could interest anyone?"

        Jared found himself smirking. Raising his eyes he began to playfully
list. "Well, let's see. We've got one former Galaxy's Most Wanted space
pirate, the granddaughter of the Head of Galaxy Police, the universe's
greatest scientific genius, and practically the entire succession to the
Juraian Empire all under one roof. Who *wouldn't* care? Is there a power
group you guys have somehow left out? If so, I'm sure you can fix that."

        Lots of eyes met lots of other eyes. Alarm, surprise, and
apprehension
were all evident. Rose was staring around herself with the greatest
alarm. Who *WERE* these people? And why was it she kept learning about
them in dribs and drabs here and there? What *other* surprises were there
for her?

        Ryoko grabbed for the front of Jared's ruined shirt front. Since a
large
hunk came off she elected for merely screaming in his face instead of
hauling him around by the fabric. "Hey! Who *ARE* you, huh? And what
gives you the right to know so much about us anyway?"

        If he'd not watched so much of the show he'd have scurried back and
hidden somewhere. If he'd not spent the last several months or more in
continual fights to increase and train in martial arts skills he might've
done it anyway. As it was, he knew enough about her weaknesses and had
the courage to act on them.

        He kissed her lightly on the forehead, then blinked innocently at
her.
Ryoko's growl and gathering of an energy ball was more or less predicted,
so he wrapped her in a hug and leaned into her with childish trust.

        "I love you, Ryoko. You're my best sister ever."

        His own brand of warfare. Her mental processes froze and refused to
restart. As he continued to hold her, Jared decided that it was probably
the first time anyone had shown any kind of affection for Ryoko.

        She needed love too badly to be able to refuse any, as he'd hoped.

        Jared had more than his share of flaws, and part of that was a
certain
childishness about lots of things. But the flip side of that was that he
was still like a child in many useful ways. Ways like adapting to change
and loving people by default rather than design.

        Which had its uses. Like this display was FAR more successful
because he
could throw genuine feeling into it.

        Others could treat love like a prescription medicine and measure it
by
the eye-dropper full. He far preferred to treat it like water and ladle
it out by the bucket. And this was certainly a case of the more you use
the more you have.

        He addressed the others, who had frozen for this display. "The facts
in
the summary were mostly appearance, name, and what amounts to a very
brief outline on each of you." He continued to hold Ryoko, growing more
comfortable as she failed to resist. "A few lines each devoted to
personality, domestic ability, and combat potential."

        "So why did you run away from us?" Sasami inquired, sounding hurt.

        Jared's smile had grown. "Because a line can say a lot." He motioned
his
head to indicate Washu. "Her combat potential is listed as ŒDeadly. You'd
never know what hit you, even if she explained it.' Ryoko here is listed
similarly as ŒExtreme, with powers surpassing those of a small starship.'
And as cuddly as she's turning out to be, having her teleport into my
face all angry was enough to turn surprise into flight. I am sorry. None
of you are bad people."

        He glanced around himself and asked a question, figuring it was his
turn. "Um, so how did I get here? The last I remember I was dying as my
enemy ripped my body to shreds."

        Washu blinked, then chuckled at the praise and watched with apparent
glee Ryoko's continuing helpless state as Jared held her. "I can answer
that. Mihoshi was interfering with my experiment!"

        This was not a phrase to inspire confidence. Not coming from
Washu.She
went on to state."There was an accident with my cloning machine. While I
was preparing a batch of protoplasm to create Ryoko a sister, this person
fell into it." She indicated Rose. "Her cell structure was completely
overwritten by my own genetic pattern. Then I was trying to restore her
to her original form and body when Mihoshi started playing around with my
Dimension Tuner. Next morning we found you in the chamber where my new
batch of protoplasm used to be. I'm still going to have trouble with
restoring Rose-chan, though, as I don't have a sample of her original
body."

        Washu smiled proudly and took a drink.

        Jared had watched *FAR* too much of the series. He spoke without
thinking. "What about her astral pattern?"

        Washu sprayed her drink all over the far wall. "WHAT?!!" She settled
and
became a great deal more wary. "There was no deviation. Even her quantum
space was reset to parameters. Why did you ask about that?"

        Ayeka and the rest were watching this like a tennis match, their
heads
tracking back and forth as they followed the conversation.

        Jared shrugged. "No reason. It only occured to me that her template
might have varied, and it would have supplied a line of approach, that's
all. So her overdimension, psycho-layer and parallel patterns are all
normal as well?"

        He felt like he was cheating, grabbing lines from the series like
that.

        Washu thought about it, chopsticks poised to grab the next morsel.
"Well, maybe there is something..." Her unseen computer pinged at her and
the redheaded scientist brought forth her holographic keyboard, grabbing
a piece of pizza in her chopsticks while she did so.

        "So am I from good, Idaho stock?" Jared inquired, trying to cover
the
fact that he *was* afraid. At the same time Ryoko's eyes suddenly turned
shimmering and liquid. With a mixture of misery and hope on her face,
almost disbelieving her own actions, she raised her arms and began to hug
Jared back.

        When he failed to drop her or do anything else mean she closed her
eyes
and wept, clinging to him tightly. He rocked her gently, cooing softly.

        Washu chewed. "Uh uh. No." Slurp, chomp, smack. "Nope!" She
announced
clearly, face shining. "I can't believe it! I am such a GENIUS!!!"

        Tenchi blinked. "What? What is it, Washu?"

        "According to these results, Jared's genetic structure was *not*
contaminated by a potato chip."

        The redheaded boy leaned his head against Ryoko's and sighed heavily
with his relief, continuing to rock her.

        "Well, what was it then?" Noboyuki asked, curious.

        Washu was looking far too proud to grin evilly. "This is *WONDERFUL*
I
can't believe this has happened. It only goes to show that I'm the
*GREATEST!*" She came down off her triumphant rush and announced. "Jared
has two mothers. The other sample was a lock of hair."

        Jared's head shot up and his face drained of all color. "Mihoshi?"
He
squeaked, terrified.

        Rose found it quite instructive that he found being related to the
blond
so much more terrible than being half vegetable or Ryoko almost killing
him.

        Said blond spouted perkily. "Wow! So this means we're related,
right?"

        "Nope!" Washu crowed. "I can't *believe* it, there's no other
scientist
in the UNIVERSE who could have done it! We may even have to thank you,
Mihoshi." She calmed down and addressed her new son directly. "Jared, in
addition to my own genetic material you have the perfect template of a
royal Juraian. I don't even know how it happened. Isn't it wonderful? The
other sample was from Tenchi's mother!"

        The Most Massive Facefaulting of All Time, ensued. The floor got
damaged.

        Tenchi got up screaming. "What do you mean!?! Washu! You've *GOT* to
be
kidding. I don't have a brother!"

        "I've got *two* sons now?" Noboyuki wondered.

        "A...Achika is my mother?"

        "Hmm," Yosho was scratching his chin. "I guess that means that I
have
*two* grandsons now."

        "We..." Ayeka was completely pale. "We are related by blood, he and
I?"

        "Wow!" Sasami cheered. "I think this is exciting."

        "Meow!"

        Ryoko stiffened from where she was still holding Jared. Raising her
head, she shouted to Ayeka over his shoulder. "Hey! What are you talking
about!? This is MY brother! There's no way I'm letting you have any part
of him!"

                                *       *       *       *

        When I had first seen Jared in the lab I was almost relieved.  Now I
had
someone else who would feel as out of place and uncomfortable as I was.  A
comrade in arms so to say.  Everyone here was nice, I liked everyone a
lot...well, Mihoshi did take some getting used to, and Ayeka and Ryoko
were
dangerous to be around for long amounts of time, but everyone was
likeable.

        After hearing the way Jared talked about everyone as if he knew them
I
was
beginning to feel depressed again.  The one person with whom I could have
talked about feeling out of place turned out to not only know the Masaki
household, but he was even ok with the possibility of being half potato.

        Finishing my pizza, I looked over to Ryoko and Jared again.  It had
surprised
me how easily Ryoko had let Jared hold her.  I had thought her to be the
most
prickly of people I had ever met.  She seemed to enjoy fighting with me
almost
as much as she enjoyed chasing after Tenchi.

        "...There's no way I'm letting you have any part of him!" Ryoko
screamed.

        Ryoko yelling.  This was nothing new.  But, yelling to Ayeka that
she
didn't
want Jared to have any part of the princess was strange.  Only a few
minutes
ago she had been yelling how she didn't need any more family dumped on
her.

        Walking up to Ryoko I asked, "Hey Ryoko, what's the big deal?  I
mean
just a
few minutes ago you were protesting this guy's newly attained status of
brother, and now you're yelling that you want to keep him?"

        This stopped her raging in its tracks.  Blinking a few times she put
her
hands on her hips and said, "It's simple really.  If he has to be my
brother,
I don't want Hime-chan to have anything to do with her.  I don't want to
be
related to that high and mighty witch in any way."

        "Bakemono!!!!  How dare you say that to me!  A royal princess of
Jurai!!"

        Jurai??  This was getting complicated.  I vaguely remembered
something
about
it from the time Ryoko and I had our talk in Washu's lab, but details were
escaping me.

        I sighed and said, "Ayeka, you're not helping."

        It was at that point that I noticed that her face had turned quite
an
interesting shade of purple.  Somehow I knew I'd be getting it later, but
maybe I could hide out long enough somewhere else that it will blow over.

        Turning back to Ryoko I started to explain.  "Ryoko, being related
to
you, I
in turn am related to him.  He is related to Washu, and now he's related
to
Tenchi.  Just think, now you're related to Tenchi in a weird backhanded
sort
of way..."

        I stopped in mid thought.  Wait...if Jared is related to Tenchi
through a
lock of his mother's hair, and Ryoko's screaming at Ayeka that she doesn't
want her arch-rival for Tenchi's affection having any part of 'Hime-chan',
that means that Tenchi is related to Ayeka.  If Tenchi is related to
Ayeka,
then why...  Uh-oh, best not go there.  I don't want to know, I don't
care,
let's not continue with that thought.

        Sudden pain burst in my head as Ryoko rapped me on the head.

        "Ite....what was that for?"

        "Where did you go off to?"  she asked with a raised eyebrow.

        "I don't want to go back to that thought.  There are some things I'd
rather
not know."

        That statement earned me a puzzled look, but I ignored it.

        "You know what Ryoko, go back to fighting with Ayeka." I commented
as I
went
over to Jared.

        A quick glance and a shrug later, Ryoko was off in Ayeka's direction
to
let
off a little steam.

        Jared seemed distracted by observing the rest of the household, and
was
watching Tenchi get upset and shout at Washu. I got Jared's attention by
a quick cough and then by tapping on his arm when that didn't work.

        He refocused on me.

        "So, looks like you know everyone here. What did they tell you about
me?"

        He shot me a conciliatory or apologetic glance. "There wasn't a
profile
on you."

        "Ahh," Yosho interrupted. "This is your other sister. Her name is
Rose."

        Jared blinked and asked a ridiculous question. "Are we close?"

        I gave Jared a look that said, "What are you kidding me?"

        Closing my eyes slowly and opening again I gave an answer. "And why
in
the
world would we be close?"

        Jared winced and tried to hide his hurt at the remark. My eyes were
closed so I didn't see it.

        He gestured grandly as my eyes reopened. "Why, because of our
wonderful
and excellent history together, of course!" He leaned on the table and
sighed. "Ah, the memories."

        This guy had to be joking, and I guess my face gave him that
message.
Rolling my eyes I asked him. "Are you making that up to be funny or are
you as wacko as you're acting?"

        Hopefully that would calm him down to where he could tell me
something
useful about this place. He seemed to know everybody.

        Jared winced again in pain.

        File Update: Rose. Opening gesture responded to by an attack.
Initate
Avoidance Proceedures, pending reviewal.

        I could almost see his features close me off, the warm and open look
he'd been wearing darkening completely into a blank shell. It stunned me.
He inclined his head toward me in a slight yet formal nod, no longer even
the same person as before.

        "As you wish. No, of course we wouldn't be close. I can see my
error.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a pressing concern dealing with my
wardrobe, or lack thereof, that I really should be devoting my attention
to."

        Then he left, pausing briefly to collect a denim waist pouch from
Washu,
quickly checking it for his wallet, then he was out the front door.

        I stood there blinking. He'd take being a potato, face death with a
grimace while leaping into it, hug Ryoko at peril to his life and in
spite of all reason, and wouldn't even talk to me?

        What was with him?

                                *       *       *       *

        Jared wandered out the front gates and, when they were closed,
leaned
upon them and sighed heavily.

        Ouch.

        File Review: Tenchi household, as expected (well, or as *not*
expected.
He'd never thought he'd wind up here, of all places). Dealt well with
insanity, accepted him just fine from appearances.

        Exception: Rose. Guarded person with shields and defenses dealing
with
liking anyone, pretty much standard from his homeworld. No exceptions,
blame or otherwise, to be assigned her.

        He sighed again. But nearly exactly the kind of person he avoided as
soon as he'd had them identified.

        Jared's rules were very simple. He accepted anyone who would, in
turn,
accept him. And to avoid being unreasonable, he tended to accept them
first.

        He pretty much trusted people by default, until they gave him a
reason
not to. Rose reminded him of *far* too many women back home. People whom
he'd had to deal with, who kept their emotions guarded and close. And he
had no clue how to get along with them.

        Verbal sparring just wasn't his thing. Accept him or keep your
distance.

        The problem was he tended to speak from the heart. When he'd asked
if
they were close if she'd responded even jokingly with 'Yes, we tell each
other everything' he would have accepted that and acted in accordance
with it.  Strange but true.

        But she'd very clearly given an answer that translated easily as
ŒNo.'
Or, the way his mind perceived it, ŒWe are not close.' Or, more fully
translated, as ŒWe don't get along.'

        So he acted in accordance with that data, just as he would have the
other way.

        Standing away from the gates, he looked to either side at the wide
wooden posts. "Azaka, Kamidake, my name is Jared. Due to an incident
involving Washu's lab I am now Achika's son. Anyone inside will probably
be able to tell you this or confirm it. Will there be any problem with
letting me back inside once I'm done shopping?"

        The two wooden pillars turned to regard him.

        "I do not foresee such a problem." This from the red-symboled one.

        The blue added in a much deeper voice. "Our own scans are able to
confirm that you belong to the royal family of Jurai."

        Nodding his thanks, he looked away, groaning when he saw the long
and
windy road down to catch a bus. He'd nearly forgotten that Noboyuki
complained about the commuting. Two hours to town, was it? No, two hours
to the man's job.

        But seeing as how he had no idea where the shops were that increased
the time, not lessened it.

        Catching a couple of explosions out in the wood, an idea came to his
mind. Ryoko was mobile as anything, but Ayeka couldn't move around that
much. With his ability to leap between trees he soon caught up with the
fighting pair.

        These two could ignore pleas to stop fighting from the people they
valued most in the world, and didn't seem to notice when innocent
bystanders got caught in their explosions.

        So, he did the least predictable thing.

                                *       *       *       *

        Jared staggered out into the middle of the battlefield, belting out
lyrics and waving a pretend mug. "Oompah-pah, oompah-pah, that's how it
goes!" Stagger right. Oompah-pah, oompah-pah, everyone knows!" Stagger
left.

        He waved his pretend mug high, crossing his feet and weaving. "They
all
suppose what they want to suppose! When you sing Oompah-pah!"

        The gamble here being based off the observation that things *had*
interrupted their fights before. Kagato, for example. Mihoshi for
another. Even Sasami did it once when she walked past the two ignoring
them. Anything sufficiently strange or unusual or threatening COULD break
the two of them out of their momentum long enough to kill a fight out of
sheer surprise.

        He staggered blindly into the way of what he'd knew would be an
energy blast (since they'd hit bystanders before he knew they didn't use lethal
output with each other) when getting hit failed to happen.

        He opened his eyes. Ayeka and Ryoko were staring at him. He smiled,
bowing slightly. Now to patch up some of the respect he'd lost. "Forgive
the interruption, but I didn't know of another way to capture your
attention. Aunt Ayeka, might I borrow my beloved and much adored sister
for a jaunt into town?"

        "Uh." Ayeka's brain kept trying to switch gears and found that it
didn't
have a setting to deal with this problem. There were too many conflicting
issues that wanted dealing with at once. Being termed aunt, his openly
expressed love for Ryoko, and most especially his behavior earlier, and
then just now...

        Hmm, he considered. Better get approval before Ryoko got bored
waiting
for her and rushed off just to tick Ayeka off. Jared did his best to
subtly adopt the posture and mannerisms he'd seen Ayeka use, going for
one of her emotional buttons.

        He bowed slightly, hands on thighs. "It would hardly be appropriate
for
a member of the noble house of Jurai, however new to the role he may be,
to wear nothing but rags. Now would it?"

        Ayeka did something too ladylike to be called sputtering in
confusion.

        "Hey!" Ryoko shouted, floating up close with a fierce expression.
"What did she do that you're now being all cosy with her?"

        Jared fed her his best soft expression. Since she'd returned his hug
with genuine feeling he really did care about her. His feelings were that
mercurial. Thinking about it only briefly, he hugged her again at the
brief risk of personal harm.

        "Ryoko, there is nothing in the world that Ayeka could do to make me
stop loving you. Is that okay? I just wanted her permission because if
the two of you kept fighting all day I wouldn't be able to let you take
me to the mall." He began stroking her hair. "Sasami is her sister and is
nice to you, is it okay if I be nice to Ayeka too? It would be only fair.
I won't ever stop caring for you."

        Mmmm, she *did* give nice hugs.

        Ryoko now had dewy, kittenish eyes that he'd not seen on her since
Ayeka's mom had hugged the snot out of her on a case of mistaken
identity. Which hadn't happened yet, now that he thought about it.

        Jared was not the only one to be thinking of Ayeka's mother, the
princess was also. To her the comparison was inescapable, and a rather
close one at that. With that observation, a very great deal of floating
uncertainty suddenly coalesced into a near perfect resolution for her. He
*was* of the royal family. She was certain of it. Whatever sort of
accident had happened with Washu was immaterial, it didn't matter. The
royal Juraian template had never before been faked, and she didn't
believe it could be now. That would mean it had to have been honestly
achieved, and there was only one way to do that. That would make this man
family, and he was already acting far too much like her own mother for
there *not* to be a family relation.

        With that realization she had certain duties of her own to adjust
to.

        Ayeka calmly clasped her hands before her skirts. "Why yes, Lord
Jared. I'm glad that you realize that. We can't have you dressing in rags. That
would not provide a proper image of the house that you now represent. I
shall be ready shortly."

        That got a heavy reaction from Ryoko. "Hey, where are *you* going?"

        Ayeka paused in her trip back to the house "Why, I am going with
you, of course. We can't have a space pirate picking out clothes for a royal
prince of Jurai."

        Jared groaned. He released Ryoko and bowed. "Forgive me, Ayeka. But
if you must insist on baiting my sister, whom I love, then I should better
go catch my bus, as you two will be far too occupied with fighting each
other for either of you to spend time with me."

        Ryoko actually cocked her head and waited for Ayeka's response.

        Ayeka moaned behind her upraised sleeve, but gave in, bowing. "Gomen
nasai, Lord Jared. I will be ready shortly."

        Jared and Ryoko both raised eyebrows and watched her go.

        Nothing so simple would forge a lasting truce between them. In fact
it
would probably fall apart when they were shopping. But saying it would at
least *get* them to the mall. Given half an opportunity he could at least
get one outfit.

        A badly shredded leg on his pants gave away and fell down around his
foot. He looked at it, then up at Ryoko.

        "Lets go find a few yards of printed cloth. It looks like I'll be
dressing Hawaiian until we can buy something."

        "Hawaiian?" Ryoko blinked.

        He smiled and explained as they loped (or in one case floated) back
into the house. "A big, colorful cloth wrapped around your middle."

        "You mean like what all the tourists are known for when they go to
Florida or some other suitably warm place?"

        Hearing the comment from the new voice all both sets of eyes turned
to see Rose standing a small distance away as they entered the big living
area.

        Frowning slightly, Jared did a handspring off of the railing on the
stairs and flipped up to the second story balcony. From there he replied,
"Yeah, I guess so."

        Rose spent a second blinking up at him, then shook herself.

        "Anyway, the reason I came out was that I heard you're planning a
jaunt into town.  Now seeing as that I only have two pairs of jeans, a pair of
sneakers, and two shirts to mix and match with those, I'd like to come
along," Rose explained.

        Jared wasn't sure what to do.  He still wasn't sure as to what Rose
felt
towards him.  Her annoyance towards him before hadn't made him feel
anymore confident, and he had no references to go on like he had on the
others here.  Besides, the avoidance protocols were still in force.
However, before he could reply Ryoko spoke up.

        "Hey that's a great idea!  I remember now, it was Hime-chan and
Sasami
that did the shopping for you before.  And you're old clothes are a loss.
 Hah, let me just go get Ryo-Ohki and Sasami."

        "And I need to get my cloth." Jared nodded. In the back of his mind
his
relationship program was popping up to notify him that Rose was listed as
ŒSister' and family always deserved a second chance.

        Just as Ryoko left in search of the cabbit and young girl, Ayeka
made her reappearance.  She rushed into the room and immediately demanded,
"Where is that demon?  I hurry up to get ready and then when I am ready
she disappears.  But then again what else could I expect from an
uncivilized monster like her."

        "She went off to get Sasami and Ryo-ohki," I replied.

        "Oh, hello Rose, are you going to come with us also?  That's a good
idea you know you really should have more than just two changes of clothes.
It's not fitting that a person should wear the same thing all the time.
We should have thought of it earlier, but I suppose with all the
excitement recently we haven't had the chance."

        Nodding my agreement I turned towards the doorway to see if Ryoko
was coming. I caught a glimpse of Jared's confused face as I made my turn,
but decided explanations could wait.  Besides, he hadn't seemed all that
excited to talk to me, and I didn't want to push myself on him the minute
he returned.

        I blinked my eyes. He'd been gone for, what, forty seconds? And he
was already changed? I watched as he twined flowers into a quick anklet and
bracelet. He seemed to be going barefoot and already had an orchid tucked
in his hair behind one ear.

        I felt like asking him why he'd go so deeply in costume but decided
it wasn't worth it.

        A few seconds later Ryoko came flying into the room with the cabbit 
clutched in her hand and Sasami following behind.  "Ok, let's get going!  
I can't wait to get to the shops.  Let's go Rose," she said as she 
grabbed my arm. 

        "Ack," I cried as I almost lost my balance.  I looked to the side and 
saw that she had also nabbed Jared and was dragging us towards the front 
of the house.  

        Once outside she stopped us a few hundred feet from the house and then 
threw Ryo-Ohki into the air.  With a sharp "Meow"-ing cry the small 
cabbit made its transformation into a spaceship.

        "Let's get going.  Rose, bring Ayeka," ordered Ryoko, dropping me and 
picking up Sasami in my place.

        And before I could say anything in reply Ryoko was flying up towards the 
jeweled bottom of her craft.  Sighing I turned to Ayeka, and stared at 
her for a minute.  Now this princess was so proper I had no idea where I 
should pick her up.  Grabbing her under the arms would be a little 
uncomfortable, and I don't think my grip would be that stable.  I also 
didn't see her doing the whole piggy-back thing.  Well, I punched through 
a wall, I should be able to lift Ayeka....I hope.  Finally decided, I 
walked up to her and bent a bit to catch her under the knees, and lifted. 
 As I had hoped there wasn't a problem and I so I levitated myself up a 
foot or two before beginning my ascent to Ryo-Ohki. 

        Phasing through the jeweled bottom into the control room, I noticed 
Ryoko already seated at the controls and Jared was standing near one of 
the windows looking out toward the lake.  Sasami didn't seem to be doing 
anything in particular. When I had fully cleared the floor I let Ayeka 
down and went over to Ryoko.

        "So how long will it take us to get to the shopping district?"

        "Well it probably won't be much faster than when we went out the last 
time, so about a half an hour.  Can't have people noticing Ryo-Ohki.  
People won't be able to see her, but I don't want to attract any 
attention to us."

        "I'm surprised a uncivilized person such as yourself would understand 
the need for subtlety," Ayeka interjected.

        "And just what is that supposed to mean hime-chan?" Ryoko demanded.

        "With the way you hang over Tenchi-sama all the time it seemed beyond 
your capabilities.  Ohohohohohoh"

        "Why, you....."

        Rolling my eyes at the squabble I turned to see what I could do to 
occupy my time until we reached our destination.  I had the strange 
feeling that Ayeka and Ryoko would be fighting the whole way there, and I 
didn't want to get in the middle of it.

        The window seemed to be the best diversion, as the control was too near 
to Ryoko and Ayeka to be safe.  Unfortunately, that was also where Jared 
was.  Perhaps this was a good thing though.  He seemed to know more than 
I when it came to the people here.  Maybe I could get some more 
information about this "Jurai" they kept talking about, and how so many 
people from space could be living here.  Of course it would also be a 
good time to learn where he came from.

        That decided I walked over to Jared and watched the scenery fly by. It 
suddenly occured to me that although I had decided to get information 
from him... I had a hard time coming up with an ice-breaking opening.

        He spoke before I could. "I wish there were a monitor or something in 
here. But the only information access seems to be through the main 
controls."

        "Why should that matter?" I asked him.

        He gave a small shrug, unconsciously holding a kind of military Œparade 
rest' sort of pose. Not only did it look a little odd with his Hawaiian 
outfit it also put me off slightly.

        "I feel a little vulnerable not knowing much about my situation," he 
confessed.

        I felt a little rocked back on my heels. HE didn't feel like he knew 
anything!?!

        At length, feeling the pause was getting too great, I finally turned 
towards Jared and asked, "So how did you get here in the first place?  I 
mean, I know you ended up in Washu's vat, but where were you before here?"

        He turned to me with a smile that was kinda kind and sorta self-mocking 
but not really easily readable. It was a nice kind of not-dangerous 
smile, though.

        "Fourth generation Californian, born and raised. I had ancestors fight 
in the revolution against England, am descended from both sides of the 
famous Hatfield-McCoy feud, by legal technicality could be considered a 
full-blooded Sioux indian, and am a former nerd and mall rat. You?"

        His eyes twinkled. I'd never actually seen eyes do that before.

        "So you're from California.  That's interesting.  What's it like over 
there?  Did you learn Japanese there, or was it shoved into your head 
like it was mine when you woke up earlier?"

        "Ah," he seemed to consider that for a moment. "Well, it wasn't exactly 
shoved into my head *here*, but I didn't learn it in California. This 
isn't my first universe hop, you see. I get the impression that once you 
start this sort of thing it tends to become a part of your life. You're 
actually lucky. This is a good place, with good people. There are worlds 
I'm aware of that are mostly death and violence. Even the last place I 
was at had some things that would suck your brain out through a ...."

        "Ah," he could see how unsettling I found that line of conversation.

        He grinned again charmingly and changed tack. "There were warriors both 
good and bad, more good than bad, and lots of things to do. It was also a 
*very* good idea to learn martial arts to a surreal degree. I had good 
teachers there, too."

        He put both his arms behind his head and laced his fingers, looking up 
at the blank ceiling before turning his eyes back on me. "Anyway, I 
picked up Japanese on my arrival there. Previously, my only connection to 
Tokyo came from when a relative of mine bombed it in the second world 
war."

        My head kept spinning for approximately a minute. Most of that stuff I 
shoved aside to be dealt with later, but I noticed that he kept bringing 
family up.

        "So did you leave any family behind?  I know I miss mine."

        Again that smile. "I have a mother whom I love very much, a gaggle of 
brothers with varying interests and skills, no sisters, and a very evil 
gentleman whom I refuse to acknowledge as my father."

        Jared frowned a bit at that. "Come to think of it, in my *last* universe 
I was adopted by the family I came in contact with. And though the 
pompus, self-centered idiot who served as my father there would've sold 
my future for a crust of bread, and I believe engaged me to someone over 
half a potroast, he was actually *fun* and a good influence compared to 
my original."

        He grinned. "Come to think of it, I'm actually rather fond of the old 
fool."

        Jared's eyes pivoted over to track me. "So Rose, you've been asking me 
all these questions but you haven't said anything about yourself.  Where 
are YOU from?"

        Okay, reality here, Calm yourself, Rose. It can't be as bad as all that 
and he's probably exagerrating for effect... I hope he is, anyway.

        I took a deep breath and let the pep talk I was giving myself take 
effect. This Œbrother' of mine wasn't easy to get used to. But... well, 
at least he hasn't hurt me or attacked me or anything. He was actually 
helpful in a weird way.

        "Well, I was going to college in Philadelphia.  Then I got sucked here 
for some strange reason.  Washu keeps telling me she's looking for a way 
for me to get home, I hope she finds one soon."

        "How exactly did you get here anyway?  You seem like your from my 
dimension... or one very similar to it."

        "I just picked up a ring someone had lost and put it on.  I was going to 
give it in to the office, but I figured I'd forget where I put it so I 
slipped it on my finger.  At least that way I wouldn't lose it," I 
sighed, "But of course that's where I made my mistake.  I tried to take 
it off, but it seemed attached to my finger.  I twisted and turned it, 
and I must have done something to it because the next thing I knew I was 
flying through space and landed in Washu's lab."

        "Speaking of which, you kinda look like Washu...and Ryoko for that 
matter.  You know, the hair color and the cat eyes."

        I turned to look out the window again, and replied, "Yeah, well when I 
landed in Washu's lab I landed right in the middle of her experiment to 
make Ryoko a sister.  How I look now, and my powers are the result of 
that.  Is how you look now how you always looked?  I know Tenchi's gene's 
got thrown in the mix with you."

        He looked in a reflective surface so he could see, quickly checking 
himself over.

        "Physical structure's about the same, probably trimmer, though I don't 
mind. Normally my hair would frizz like anything at this length 
(medium-ish), but I don't know if the smoothing effect was from here or 
my *last* universe where I kept getting spells dumped on me."

        Jared looked back and forth from my spiky hair to Ryoko's. "My guess 
would be it's a holdover from my last one. Anyway, from what I remember 
my eyes didn't used to change color with my mood and my hair wasn't 
bright blue. But I think that about covers it."

        I looked at him. "That's right, when we first saw you in that tank your 
hair was dark red, wasn't it? Hey, waitaminute!" I frowned. "How do you 
*know* your eyes change color?"

        As he looked at me his eyes went from grass-green to purplish blue. He 
cocked his head indicating the reflective wall of Ryo-Ohki's passenger 
chamber. "I watched them change. They used to be hazel and would swing a 
bit anyway, too little to notice really. But seeing them go from red to 
gold to green was a bit of a jump from that."

        "Hey, at least they aren't cat-slitted, buddy." I half-growled.

        "You said you missed your family, who's waiting at home for you?" Jared 
queried.

        I thought about objecting, but let him have the change in subject. I 
shrugged and answered.

        "Well I have my mom, dad, and younger brother.  I usually talk to one of 
my parent's every night.  I wonder what's happening back home."

        "Don't worry.  I'm sure Washu will come up with something."

        "Yeah.....hey....this looks familiar."  
        
        I glanced back at Ryoko and saw that she was engaged in a staring 
contest with Ayeka.  You could almost see the sparks fly....wait...you 
could see the sparks fly.  

        "Hey Ryoko," I shouted, "Where are you taking us? We're going to fly 
right past the shopping district."

        That got both of their attention and Ryoko hastily began to give 
Ryo-Ohki directions on where to wait.

        "Ok, appearing out of the blue in public is a no-no.  So where are we 
going to make our entrance?"  I asked Ryoko.

        "You see that alley between the bakery and the clothes store over there? 
Teleport down there and no one will give you a second glance when you 
walk out onto the street,"  Jared replied.

        "Good thinking, Jared.  See you down there, Rose,"  Ryoko said, and then 
proceeded to grab him and Sasami and wink out of existance.

        "I guess that leaves you and me Ayeka-san.  Shall we go?"  I asked while 
walking towards the purple-haired girl.

        Ayeka extended her hand, I took it, then closed my eyes and envisioned 
myself standing in the alley that Jared had pointed out.  A second later 
the sounds of the street filtered into my ears, and I saw that Ryoko and 
Jared were waiting for the two of us at the entrance to the alley while 
the littlest princess was hurriedly cuddling up to a newly shrunken 
Ryo-Ohki.

        Jared stopped our procession while reaching into his waist pouch and 
removing a black leather wallet.

        "Okay, plan for battle. Rose, you and I can hardly exchange clothes, so 
I'm thinking we split up at least briefly. Here's two hundred thousand 
yen for your purchases. Since Ayeka and Ryoko haven't said they needed 
anything they can have ten thousand each for curio shopping, and seeing 
as how Sasami is the lifeblood of the household she'll know what they 
need at home better than anyone. Here's fifty grand. Sasami? Can we have 
the address for where we are to have things delivered?"

        I held the money uncertainly in my hand, not sure of whether to stick it 
greedily in my pocket or return some of it. Two hundred thousand sounded 
like an awful lot.

        "Jared," I asked. "How can you afford this?"

        My unfathomable brother returned the wallet to his pouch. "It's roughly 
two thousand American, and you can expect prices to be about twice as 
much as you'd imagine just at a rough guess. Considering that you're 
rebuilding most of the trappings of a life: clothes, toothbrush, 
hairbrush and accessories, shoes, and on, and on, it really isn't much. 
It will, however, do for *one* trip. If you need more just go ahead and 
holler. Um, actually, finding each other could be something of a problem. 
This place is crowded."

        He took out a pretty but not ostentatious locket and slipped the chain 
over his head, then passed out little flat disks about the size of coins.

        "I just put on a remote tracking unit. You'll be able to find me with 
these. They're activated by body heat, and are meant to be held in the 
palm of the hand like so." He demonstrated a magician's trick of holding 
the hand perfectly relaxed while hiding a coin at its center without the 
fingers even touching it. He waved the hand about upside down without the 
disk falling out, then he grinned.

        "But it's okay if you just hold it between thumb and forefinger. Don't 
lose it. So long as it's warm it should point to me, showing both 
direction and distance. Use them to link up with me when you need more 
money, or when we're ready to get out of here. Just to avoid blowing the 
secret try not to be obvious when you're using them, okay? Let's meet in 
an hour just to check bases and see if we need to remain longer."

        "My," Ayeka said, accepting a unit. "You certainly are useful, Lord 
Jared."

        I scowled. "You still haven't answered my question, Jared. Where did you 
get all this stuff? How can you afford this? I thought you were just 
snatched from your home like I was."

        He patted the waist pouch at his side. "The Standard Light Urban 
Survival Pack; Never leave your home universe without it. And as for 
money; Don't worry. I don't really understand how they get it to me, but 
I haven't reached the end of my expense account yet. And supplies for my 
support group is just about as approved an item as I can think of."

        "That doesn't really help." I growled.

        He shrugged happily, content with himself. It was clear that was all the 
explanation I'd be getting.

        We made our way out and down the street, and it seemed that everyone 
seemed to be watching us emerge.  I wondered what could be attracting the 
attention, then I realized that as a group we did make quite a sight.

        Ryoko and Ayeka's clothing although conservative was quite colorful, 
plus Jared's improvised MuuMuu (at least i think that's what it's 
called).  Oh well,  that's what we were shopping for right?  Decent 
clothes.

        In spite of Jared's warning we didn't split up immediately. We stopped 
in front of one women's clothing store that Ayeka seemed taken with.  But 
the only thing in there was formal wear.  As beautiful as I thought the 
clothes were I don't think they would have lasted a day at the Masaki 
household.  Not that I'm the type to wear it anyway, but we left Ayeka to 
look to her heart's content. 

        That might have split the group up, but right next door Jared found a 
shop with a name I didn't recognize. He dove in past a wall of what 
looked like suits of armor and wooden weapons and came out looking 
enormously pleased with himself. Ryoko and I had just stood around 
letting Sasami get all googly-eyed over a new cooking set in the next 
shop over and then Ayeka rejoined us, complaining about the surly 
salesperson.

        A little further down the road we came to some modern clothing stores 
which Jared and I browsed looking for the kind of clothes we wanted.

        Ayeka kept steering Jared towards the most conservative of the clothes, 
intent on having a member of the royal family dressed as such. Not 
wearing something so mundane as jeans or a t-shirt.  Surprisingly, Jared 
seemed not to mind. However, when it came down to it he refused almost 
everything she offered on the basis of being too restrictive or not of a 
suitable fabric. The ability to move freely was something he insisted on, 
and I could understand his arguments about durability.

        I almost had to laugh when I saw him slip a short stack of light colored 
jeans and plain t-shirts into the stack of his purchases. In fact I did 
laugh, and when Ayeka saw what I was looking at Jared had to quickly 
reassure her that he'd intended to have them modified.

        I on the other hand had to fight quite heatedly with Ryoko.  Her idea of 
a dress came closer to my idea of body paint, and her tastes leaned 
toward the more daring of the clothes offered.  I walked out of the store 
with a few more shirts, and another pair of jeans.

        From there we all split up and spent the rest of the hour in serious 
shopping. Toward the end I was getting gladder and gladder that Jared had 
suggested that we get most of our packages delivered. Even the few items 
I was carrying had begun to become quite a load.

        It was getting close to lunch time when we all got back together and 
decided to get something to eat before going back.  The shopping had been 
fun, and thankfully mostly free of Ryoko and Ayeka's bickering.  Which, 
mostly likely, had to do with the fact they were in a very public place 
and couldn't even see each other most of the time.

        As we sat down to a leisurely lunch of okinomiyaki Ayeka asked something 
that had been puzzling me.

        "Lord Jared, haven't you found anything? Why are you still wearing that 
cloth?"

        He shrugged. "This is only for a little while longer. I've sent all my 
clothes purchases through a specialty shop or two for changes."

        "Oh! Tailoring!" Ayeka said approvingly. "But what styles did you ask 
for. Are you sure they'll be appropriate?"

        Jared grinned with his chopsticks poised. "I believe so, Aunt Ayeka. I 
used the Juraian Knight as my template." He anticipated Ryoko's reaction 
with a private wink and the added. "After all, don't they do alot of 
fighting?"

        We finished quickly and were soon ready to go home.  So we wandered back 
to the alley we appeared in, and teleported back into Ryo-Ohki. It was 
just when we'd got inside that I managed to say something really stupid.

        Trying to get something to ease my earlier suspicions I turned and asked 
Jared once we'd gotten inside. "So, I'm getting confused. Aren't you 
related to Ayeka because you're related to Tenchi? If that's so why are 
she and Ryoko fighting over him?"

        It was then that I learned Jared's mouth could sometimes run away with 
his head. He said. "It doesn't matter, really. According to my 
information neither one gets him. You'd never believe who..."

        It could see his mind reaching down to strangle his vocal chords as a 
brittle, hostile silence suddenly sprang up aboard the ship.

        "Who what, Jared?" The princess and Ryoko asked as an almost eerie (and 
certainly dangerous) chorus.

        I could see this person drawing himself together for strength. He faced 
both with a manner that said he'd be honest even if it pained him. "My 
dear relatives. I was given to understand, from a source I have yet to 
see seriously wrong, that Tenchi will shortly fall in love with someone 
who loves him, yet is not one of the two of you. But as I have said: I 
have not studied the material in detail. Gomen nasai."

        He bowed to both of them. "I have seen that source make a non-critical 
mistake. That would suggest it was not infallible."

        For his part Jared was doing his best to convey body language that would 
show him as an ally forced to bear unhappy news, thinking they'd be least 
likely to blast him if he made it clear he'd assist them if they asked it.

end part 8