Blood Red Moon Eternity
	Chapter 11: Sorrows of the Mind

Disclaimers: All characters belong to their various 
Copyrights; Reinhart, Rosa, Cain, and Elayne belong to me.  
Alucard, Carrie, Sheann'a, Drathar, and Dracula belong to Konami.
Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Tsunami, Sasami, Yosho, Nobuyuki,
Washu, Mayuka, Ryo-Ohki, and Nobuyuki all belong to Pioneer/AIC.
Beyond my characters, I claim no rights to any of the characters,
beyond their use in this story. Comments, quips, insults, and death
threats will only be accepted at Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com
     Blood Red Moon: Eternity is set one year after the events
in Blood Red Moon: Resurrection.  Reinhart and Carrie have been 
married, and their daughter Elayne has been born.  Alucard and his
familiars have built a small cabin near the rest of the clan.  
Blood Red Moon: Eternity is the last in a three series story arc.

"Here we belong, fighting to survive in the war with the darkest 
power!" - Queen, Princes of the Universe 

*****

	Tokimi sat with her legs crossed, under her lilac tree.  Its 
blossoms had drooped just slightly, as though picking up on her 
mood.  Tired as she was, she gently reached out, and touched its 
trunk, passing just the tinniest bit of her power to it.  
Immediately, they perked back up.  She smiled just a trifle.  In 
twenty thousand years, none of her plants had ever died, save for 
the one D3 had stepped on long ago.  She would not allow for it.
	It had taken nearly all her energy to protect her garden when 
that... being had attacked.  A single strike, and she had been 
beaten, almost.  Stunning, its power... she was certain that it 
must have been born of the same Chaos that she and her Sisters had 
been born in.  How had Tsunami harnessed its power?  She frowned, 
knowing that she and her avatar would be on their way to capture 
her.  Weak as she was, she highly doubted that she would be able to 
stop them.
	“My... Queen?”  Tokimi blinked as Cain stepped through a 
portal not far from her.  She scowled as his foot crushed a 
delicate rose bud, but sublimated her anger, this time.  Now he 
would be of use to her.  It seemed she still had one last pawn to 
play, and she slowly rose and walked over to him, smiling sultrily.
	“Cain.  So you have returned to me after all.  I had thought 
you dead along with D3.”  He shook his head slowly, as she lightly 
touched his cheek.
	“No... They thought me dead, and left.  I... am sorry to have 
failed you, my love.”  She cupped his chin in the palm of her hand, 
and drew his face close to hers.  Each man had to be controlled in 
a different way; she had found Cain’s control to be quite... 
pleasant.
	“Do not worry.  You shall have a second chance, my dear.  I 
even have a gift to aid you,” she purred into his ear, before 
stepping back slightly.  She raised her hand, calling the sa-rokan 
sword from the tiny dimension she had hidden it within for safe 
keeping.  He blinked in surprise as it appeared in her hand, the 
dangerous metal safely scabbarded.  Her heart fluttered slightly at 
the nearness of the blade; one of the very few things that could 
kill her.
	“You... are too generous, my love,” he said slowly.  She drew 
close again, putting her arms about his neck.
	“You shall dispose of them?  They are coming here even now.  
Soon, they will arrive, and you must crush them for me.  You will 
do this for me, will you not?” she asked, voice husky and 
promising.  Faugh.  When she was done with this fool, she would 
drive him insane with lust before killing him and destroying the 
sa-rokan blade.  He slowly nodded.
	“Yes, my love.  I shall do as you ask.”  She smiled darkly 
and lightly kissed him, nibbling on his lower lip just hard enough 
to draw a bit of blood.
	“Good.”  She stepped back, beginning to offer the sword to 
him, and then paused.  “There is one other thing.  You must never 
unsheathe this within five feet of me.  I... do not like to be near 
bare blades.”  He nodded.
	“As you wish, my love.”  Tokimi smiled, and lay it to the 
side, as she loosened the belt of her robes.  She stepped toward 
him, her eyes inviting.  Yes.  She would destroy him, once his 
usefulness had run out; until then, he must be controlled.  As she 
pushed him to the ground, and kissed him again, she never noticed 
his hand close around the hilt, or the sudden gleam, the sudden, 
insane gleam that entered his eyes.

*****

	Tenchi hugged Rosa as she appeared on the bridge of the 
Shukuen, followed by Ayeka, Alucard, Carrie and Elayne, and 
Reinhart.  Ryo-Ohki appeared a moment later, miyaed weakly, and 
then collapsed.  He couldn’t blame her - she really had taken a 
beating.  Tsunami picked her up, and scratched her between the 
ears; the cabbit perked up slightly, and Tsunami smiled, producing 
a carrot from one of the sleeves of her robes.
	“If I had of known that I would be usurped by my own nephew, 
I wouldn’t have been away for so long,” said Ayeka dryly, after 
hugging him.  Tenchi grimaced at her.
	“As soon as I find some clothing that your mother and Funaho 
left intact, you can have the royal robes and the throne back.”  
She smiled suddenly.
	“Oh, I don’t know, now that I think about it, a vacation 
sounds rather nice right about now, and since they’ve already gone 
to the bother of making you Emperor...”  Tenchi sighed, and shook 
his head.
	“Later.  First, we need to find out if this really is over or 
not.”  Ayeka nodded, expression firming.
	“I intend to join you in that.  I have a score to settle with 
‘Lady’ Tokimi,” she growled.  Alucard frowned.
	“I must go with as well.  I have sworn to see you back to 
earth in safety.  It would not do to have you injured at this 
point.”  Ayeka blinked at that; everybody did.  Ryoko shook her 
head.
	“The only people that aren’t going are Misaki, Funaho, Yosho, 
Carrie, and Elayne.”  After a moments pause, she frowned.  “And 
Reinhart, Rosa, and Mayuka.”  They opened their mouths to protest; 
Ryoko frowned, and they closed their mouths again.  Tenchi grinned; 
she did know how to convince the kids to listen.  Shaking his head, 
he looked at Washu.
	“Can you tell us anything about where we’re going?”  She 
shook her head.
	“There is some sort of interference.  My scans won’t 
penetrate it.”  Tenchi frowned, and looked at Tsunami.
	“I can not be sure, but if she were to save any part of her 
ship, it would be her garden.  That is what she treasures most.”  
He nodded.
	“Alright.  Everybody ready?”  Yosho frowned, and then reached 
into his pocket.
	“Tenchi...  Perhaps I have merely become a crazy old man-” 
Ryoko snorted at that, and he frowned at her before continuing, 
“But... I think that you may want to hold onto these.”  He pulled 
out his hand, and Tenchi blinked.  It was an old, rusty pair of 
keys.  He caught them as his grandfather tossed them over, and then 
blinked again as he recognized them.
	“The keys to Ryoko’s cave, grandfather?”  Yosho shrugged.
	“Indulge an old man his fancy.  It couldn’t hurt, could it?”  
Tenchi sighed, and tucked them into one of the pockets of his 
armor.
	“I suppose in a way, they’re sort of a good luck charm.  
After all, they released a demoness, and ended up getting all of us 
into all sorts of trouble, didn’t they?”  Ryoko grinned.  “Let’s 
get going.  I highly doubt her highness enjoys being kept waiting.”

*****

	Tenchi blinked in surprise as they materialized in the middle 
of a lush garden.  It looked like Tsunami had been right; Tokimi 
had saved the surprisingly beautiful gardens from destruction by 
the Light Hawk.  He looked to his sides, and frowned.
	“Don’t step on anything.  No sense asking for trouble before 
we have to.”  They all nodded, and Tenchi paused to grin slightly.  
How long had it been since they were last together like this, 
united as a family in a battle against... whatever happened to be 
after them at the time.  It was almost a little nostalgic.  Shaking 
his head, he unhooked Tenchi-ken from his belt, and powered the 
blade.  He could have just made his own force blade, he supposed, 
but he found that even now, he still felt more comfortable fighting 
and practicing with the ancient key than with any of his other 
powers.
	“This is creepy...  It’s too quiet.  There should at least be 
the sound of some insects to pollinate the flowers or something.”  
Ayeka chuckled.
	“We all know you can’t stand piece and quiet.”
	“Not all of us love trees as much as you do.”
	“And just what is that supposed to mean, Miss Ryoko?”
	“Can it, both of you.  Do you want her to know that we’re 
coming?” asked Tenchi, looking back at them.  They blinked, and 
blushed.  Tenchi sighed.  Almost exactly like old times.  It was 
probably just as well that Mihoshi wasn’t with them.
	“I am minded of my father’s arboretum.  I would advise you 
watch for any movement, and attack first.  Questions can come 
later,” said Alucard softly.  Tenchi gave him a wry look.  Ryoko 
was right, though.  Things were too quiet, as though nothing but 
the plants lived.  Yet he could still feel it here... the change.  
It was so strong that the universe should have been squealing with 
the strain of it.
	“There are plants her from over ten thousand dimensions.  
Never growing, never giving seed, never withering, never dying.  
Never living.  Tokimi will not allow them to exist as they should, 
trapping them at their peak of beauty so that they may please her,” 
said Tsunami.
	“She enjoys her control, doesn’t she?  I remember noticing 
that when she appeared to gloat on Jurai.”  Tsunami nodded to 
Ayeka’s words.
	“Tokimi believes that nothing may truly exist unless it is 
ordered and controlled.”  Ryoko shook her head.
	“Sounds like she and Kagato should have compared notes,” she 
said, and then stopped abruptly, frowning.  “Somebody is here.”  
Tsunami stepped forward, frowning.
	“Show yourself, Sister.”  Silvery laughter chimed through the 
air.
	“Come now Tsunami, you don’t expect me to reveal myself that 
easily, do you?”  Beside him, Alucard looked at Sheann’a.  She 
grinned, and stretched out a small hand.
	“Come, the true light, burn away the mind’s mist.”  A sphere 
of light appeared in her hand, and floated away from her.  Flying 
ahead of them, it suddenly brightened, and then disappeared in a 
flash.  As the last of its light faded away, the garden before them 
flickered, and faded into a small clearing.  In the center of the 
small clearing stood a tall lilac tree, and next to it a stern 
faced yet beautiful young woman with hazel hair.  Her expression 
was surprised, yet Tenchi’s eyes were drawn to the man behind her.
	Cain stood, looking down so that his face was hidden from 
sight.  When he had first seen the man, as he had kidnapped Ayeka 
and Elayne, he hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that he had 
seen the man before.  He wasn’t sure where, but he was certain...  
He blinked in surprise as he noticed that held in Cain’s hand was 
Alucard’s sword.  Though sheathed, he knew somehow that the ancient 
blade had been repaired.  Tokimi smoothed away the surprise, and 
smiled slightly.
	“Impressive, for one so small.”  Sheann’a, sitting on 
Alucard’s shoulder, nodded.
	“Yeah, sometimes I amaze even myself, but a yearling would 
have seen through that illusion.  Who ever trained you needs to 
take another look at the basics.”  Tokimi’s eyes flared 
momentarily, and then cooled back to calmness.
	“You’re beaten, Lady Tokimi.  Give yourself up,” said Tenchi.  
She looked at him coolly.
	“I have not lost yet, avatar.  Even now, the Thieves Guild 
should be finishing off the last of your Alliance fleet.”  Tenchi 
glanced at Washu, and she grinned.
	“Oh, is that why Sagami sent us a message saying that with 
the help of Mihoshi and the Galaxy Police, they had decimated both 
your forces and the Guild?”  Tokimi blinked.
	“There is no reason to continue this, Sister.  You have been 
beaten.  Stop, now, while you still may,” said Tsunami, almost 
pleadingly.  Tokimi smiled slowly, and behind her, Cain slowly 
unsheathed the blade, face still turned to the ground.  Tenchi 
heard Alucard hiss as he saw that the blade was indeed whole again.
	“A final move, Sisters.  Cain.  Eliminate them.”
	“Yes, my queen.”  Tenchi gasped as Cain suddenly looked up at 
them.  Gone was the slightly blank look that he’d had when he’d 
kidnapped Ayeka and Elayne.  Replacing it was a wild eyed... 
insanity.  His eyes were almost terrifyingly intense, his lips 
twisted by an evil-looking sneer.  He heard Sheann’a gasp and saw 
Alucard draw his own sword.  All three goddesses gasped as they saw 
that it was a match for Cain’s sword, Tsunami and Washu both moving 
back from him with fear open on their faces.  Before Tenchi had the 
chance to wonder why they were so afraid of his sword, Cain slowly 
smiled, raising his blade.  
	“I shall begin with... you.”  Tokimi’s smug expression 
abruptly changed to one of shock, as she looked down to see the end 
of the sword.  Cain drove through her, a foot and a half of red 
stained metal blooming from between her breasts.  She blinked in 
surprise as Tsunami and Washu gasped in shock, looking back up at 
them.  Cain smiled coldly, and set his head on her shoulders, as 
she coughed, blood splattering on her lips.
	“Thanks for helping me out, love, and for giving me back 
Father’s sword.  But I have more important things to do than fight 
your wars.  Now you’ve given me the last thing that I need to 
finally destroy the Pendulum.  Good bye now - oh, yes.  Rest 
assured that I enjoyed our partnership as much as you.”  He stepped 
back, the blood-covered sword disappearing backwards as he pulled 
it out, smiling evilly.
	Tokimi stood there for a moment, staring at the quickly 
growing red stain on her robes, and then looked back up at them in 
open-mouthed shock.
	“But...  he was under... my control...”  She coughed, and 
reached out toward Tsunami and Washu.  “Sister...”  Her eyes 
dimmed, and Lady Tokimi toppled forward.  Cain laughed.
	“Poor girl, you must be tired!  Why not sleep for a bit?”  
Tenchi scowled at him.
	“Why?”  Cain looked at him, abruptly stopping his laughter.
	“Take of a virgin goddess her blood and essence, and so take 
her power.  Poor Tokimi... she never knew that she was aiding me as 
much as she was helping herself.”  He frowned, and then looked at 
them.  “You should be thanking me!  After all, I’ve killed the one 
that wanted to destroy your entire universe!”  Tenchi frowned.
	“She didn’t have to die.  We could have found a way to 
contain her.”  Cain laughed.
	“Faugh!  How could you have beaten Dracula?  And speaking of 
which, I have to return to Romania, and finish what I have begun.  
So good bye now!  We’ll not have the pleasure of meeting again!”  
He laughed, and waved his hand.  A portal appeared, as a powerful 
wind rose up in the garden.  Trees, shrubs and flowers alike were 
blasted by the gale, many of the less sturdy ones ripped apart.  
Tenchi scowled, and as Cain stepped into the portal, leapt for the 
man.  Cain disappeared into it; Tenchi sailed through just before 
it snapped shut.
	“Tenchi!” was the last thing he heard before it closed.  He 
felt himself falling; colors swirled around him in crazed patterns.  
Ahead of him, Cain scowled.
	“What do you think you’re doing?  I have no care for what 
happens to your world, fool.”
	“I didn’t stop your grandfather just to let you destroy that 
world.”  Cain laughed.
	“You were never supposed to be there at all!  The Pendulum 
summoned you, pulled you away from where you belonged.  Why would 
you wish to stop me?  It has caused you pain just as it has caused 
me pain!”
	“You have caused me pain.  You tried to kill two of my 
children, and took Elayne from Reinhart and Carrie.  For that, I 
would follow you to Hell and back to stop you.”  Cain laughed 
again.
	“Very well!  I would have allowed you to live, though you 
forced me to waste time in achieving my destiny, but as you wish to 
continue troubling me, I shall eliminate you entirely!”  Laughing, 
he opened a second portal, and dropped through it.  As it started 
to close, Tenchi flung his power at it, blocking it from shutting.
	“Not so fast, Cain,” he growled, as he flashed through the 
portal.  He found himself flying over a green forest; he blinked in 
surprise as he recognized Funa-oh, Yosho’s tree.  The thought came 
at the same time that he felt Ryoko’s presence.  But it was 
strange... weak, as if he was sensing simply a faded image of her.  
Tenchi frowned.  He was on Earth, but this wasn’t the Earth that he 
knew.
	Frowning, he looked around, and then saw, far below, three 
people.  Cain was no where to be seen, but one of those had to be 
his father, because they were on a path that only those in his 
family knew about.  They looked like they were just taking a walk.  
Frowning again, Tenchi dropped down, aiming to land out of sight, 
but nearby them.
	Landing, Tenchi crept up to the edge of the path, keeping 
silent.  Slowly, he peeked out, to look and see who was there.  To 
his surprise, it wasn’t his father, as he had first thought.  Yosho 
walked beside a young lady, who in turn held the hand of a young 
child.  Tenchi blinked in shock.  He was looking at himself.  
Abruptly, his mind made the obvious connection; why Ryoko’s link 
seemed so weak, what Cain had meant by destroying him entirely.  
Who the woman was.
	“Mother...” he breathed.  Now, Tenchi remembered, running as 
hard as he could almost fifty five years before, when a man had 
appeared, laughing madly.  Shaking off the memory, he stepped out 
of hiding, Tenchi-ken’s blade disappearing as he did so that he 
wouldn’t frighten them.  Yosho blinked in surprise; he had to 
recognize that Tenchi wore Juraian armor, if not who he was, but 
his mother gasped and pulled his younger self to her.
	“Listen, you have to run, now!” he said quickly, looking 
around for any sign of Cain. Yosho stepped in front of them, 
producing a bokken from somewhere.
	“Who are you?” he asked.  Tenchi raised the hand holding 
Tenchi-ken, making sure that he saw the gems in his wrists too.  
Yosho’s eyes widened in shock.
	“There is no time to explain.  Please, you have to trust 
me...” This was already different from what he remembered; Cain had 
simply appeared, and his grandfather had sent him and his mother 
running to the cave with the keys - the keys!  He reached into his 
pocket, and pulled the keys that Yosho had given to him before they 
had left for Tokimi’s garden.  “You’ll be safe there.”  His mother 
looked at him, frowning.
	“Who are you?”  Yosho turned to her, shaking his head.
	“No, he’s right.  You must run, Achika, run with Tenchi as 
fast as you can to the cave!”  She blinked at him in surprise.
	“But father!”  Tenchi stepped forward, handing her the keys.
	“Please.  I will answer - huh?” A flicker of movement behind 
her caught his eye; he pushed her aside and Alucard’s sword 
whistled through the space her head had just been in.  She gasped 
in surprise as he raised his hand and flung several fireballs in 
the direction it had come from.  He was rewarded with a surprised 
shout, and Cain stumbled out, scowling and rubbing his shoulder.
	“You try my patience, Tenchi!” he growled.  Achika stared at 
him; Tenchi brought up his own sword.
	“Go!  The cave!  Now!”  He gave her a push in that direction, 
and she dashed away, pulling his younger self along with her.  Cain 
moved to block her, but Tenchi teleported before him, slashing at 
him with Tenchi-ken.  Cain blocked the strike by crossing his arms 
and forming a shield.  He kicked out hard, but Tenchi jumped back 
to avoid it.
	“Ha!  You can’t stop me so easily!”  Tenchi scowled.
	“If you kill me here, then Tokimi will never have resurrected 
you, and so you could never have killed me - you won’t have 
existed.  The paradox would rip apart the entire multi-verse, not 
just our worlds!”  Cain laughed.
	“Who cares?  I win either way!  An end to the pain one way is 
the same as another.”  He raised a hand and threw a fireball at 
Tenchi; he blocked it on his sword and then charged in, attacking.  
Cain ducked, blocked, and avoided his attacks in any way he could, 
countering with punches, kicks and fireballs.
	For a moment, Tenchi considered switching to the Light Hawk 
Sword.  There was no way even one such as Cain could block that.  
Then suddenly he realized that he didn’t dare.  If he used it to 
kill Cain, it would absorb a piece of him just as it had absorbed a 
piece of Kagato, Yuzuha, and Dracula.  He had destroyed the piece 
of Kagato a year before, but knew that he didn’t dare take the 
chance that Cain might take control of him before he could destroy 
the piece within him.  Their power combined, nothing could stop 
them.
	Tenchi swung his sword out, and Cain leapt away, laughing, 
but his laughter abruptly changed to a scream as a flash of silver 
traced down his arm, leaving a long, bloody gash.  Tenchi blinked 
in surprise to see Yosho, holding Alucard’s sword, the tip stained 
red.  Cain scowled at him.
	“Who invited you anyway, old man?” he asked, flinging a 
volley of fireballs at him.  Yosho leapt straight up and over the 
attack.
	“I do not take it lightly when my family is attacked without 
reason, especially my daughter and grandson,” he replied calmly.  
Cain laughed.
	“Is that so?  I have plenty of reasons to attack them!  I’ll 
be glad to share them with your rotting corpse.”  They looked at 
each other, and charged Cain.  Tenchi abruptly realized that while 
he defended against Tenchi’s attacks, Cain seemed truly afraid of 
that ancient blade Yosho held.  He was going out of his way to 
avoid it, even taking wounds from Tenchi’s sword if it meant not 
taking one from Alucard’s sword.  Something that he had said 
earlier stuck out in his mind - take a virgin goddess’s blood and 
essence, take her power.  The sword had killed Tokimi...
	Abruptly, Tenchi understood that when Cain had killed Tokimi, 
not only had he taken her power, but her weakness too, and that 
weakness was the sword, or rather, the metal that it was made of.  
All three of the goddess had been afraid of that metal - he 
realized that it was because it must be the only thing that could 
truly kill them.  Tenchi looked at Cain.  The wounds that he made 
with Tenchi-ken sealed up fairly quickly, but the cut that Yosho 
had made still bled freely.  Tenchi smiled grimly.  That was the 
key.  
Leaping back, Tenchi dropped the sword, letting it fall to 
the ground.  Yosho stared at him in surprise, but followed suit, 
put on the defensive as Cain flung several fireballs at him.  The 
madman looked at him, frowning.
	“Giving up, Tenchi?” He shook his head.
	“No.  Just trying a new trick.”  Energy to material 
conversion.  That was the power that allowed him to turn the Light 
Hawk Wings into the Light Hawk Armor, Sword, and Shield.  He 
summoned his energy blade, and then concentrated on it.  Cain 
frowned, as the red blade flickered once, twice, and then suddenly 
morphed into a duplicate of Ryuu-ken.  Tenchi started to sweat; it 
took much more concentration to hold this sword in focus than any 
other.
	“Do you think to worry me with simple illusion?” asked Cain.  
Tenchi grimaced.
	“Let’s see.”  Growling, he charged Cain, leaping and 
somersaulting over him and slashing down at him in mid air.  Cain 
dove to the side, and gasped in pain as Yosho drove the point of 
his sword into his shoulder.  Growling, he opened his hand and 
launched a fireball point blank into Yosho’s stomach.  He flew 
away, and smacked into a tree.  Groaning, he shook his head, and 
slowly tried to climb to his feet.  Tenchi landed, slashing 
sideways, and Cain leapt backwards, laughing.
	“One down, one to go!”  Tenchi frowned, and then danced away 
as Cain launched a volley of blasts at him.  His foot caught under 
a root half turned up by their fight; gasping, he teleported away 
just before more fireballs smashed into the ground where he had 
been.  
	As he reappeared, he realized that he no longer held the 
duplicate sword.  He tried regaining the concentration for it, but 
Cain hammered him with a volley of fireballs.  Tenchi staggered 
backwards, dizzied.  Cain charged him, his fists glowing with 
power, laughing madly.
	“You’re mine!”
	“Tenchi!”  Tenchi recovered just enough to see Alucard’s 
sword flying to him hilt forward.  Reacting on instinct, he spun, 
catching the ancient sword and slashing as hard as he could.  He 
felt a sudden resistance to the attack, and then that disappeared.  
As he completed the revolution, stopping to face Cain, he smiled 
grimly.
	“It’s over.”  Cain stood their a moment, staring at him in 
surprise, and then slowly smiled.
	“Well met.  I can see why she feared you.”  Abruptly, the 
insane light left his eyes, and his head toppled from his 
shoulders.  Blood fountained from exposed arteries, and then the 
body too fell to the ground.  Tenchi lowered the sword, and raised 
his hand.
	“This time, I’m not leaving anything for anybody to 
resurrect.”  Drawing power from the gems until he thought that he 
would burst with it, Tenchi centered his thoughts on the corpse, 
and pictured it melting away, erased it from existence completely.  
The corpse shimmered, and then vanished.  “Never again.”
	“Are you really Tenchi?” asked Yosho, limping over to stand 
near him.  He looked at him.
	“I think so.  Sometimes, I have troubles remembering just 
exactly who I am, but with the help of my family, I never really 
forget.  Just lose sight.”  Yosho nodded.  
	“I won’t ask where you’re from, or what happened.  There is 
too much of a chance something may be said to throw off what was 
meant to be.”  Tenchi nodded, as Yosho slowly moved to go to 
Ryoko’s cave.  He laughed roughly.
	“I wish... that I could go with you to tell them it’s safe.  
I... haven’t seen her in a long time.”  Yosho blinked at him in 
surprise.
	“You could, if you wanted to.  I am sure that fate would not 
begrudge you an hour.”  Tenchi shook his head
	“No.  No chances to mess things up.  Good-bye, Grandfather.”  
Tenchi turned, and picked up Tenchi-ken.  He had an idea of how to 
get back, but first, he had to do something.  Tenchi teleported to 
the spot where he had given Alucard Ryuu-ken, and then walked a 
short distance away, to where a tall rock stood.  He looked at the 
rose sword.
	“I return you to your slumber.”  Raising the sword above his 
head, he drove it deeply into the stone, phasing it through the 
rock.  When it was totally hidden, save for the rosebud on the tip 
of the hilt, he let it go, and withdrew his hand.  Standing back, 
he smiled slightly.  A rose to mark the sleep of Tokimi, who had 
held such flowers so beautiful.  Teleporting again, Tenchi appeared 
before Funa-oh.  He slowly raised Tenchi-ken.
	“Tsunami.”  The key glowed brightly, and suddenly a doorway 
of light appeared.  He smiled slightly, and stepped through.