Ep 11 – Reunion

I finally decided to change this silly header. *snicker*  
Anyway, everybody knows the copyright information so I'll just 
forgo that.  The story is approaching the end.  I predict 
another 5 chapters, give or take 2, and that'll be it.  It's 
been a lot of fun writing this little saga (which is 
surprising, since I have a hard time writing a 6 page term 
paper!) and I hope you've enjoyed reading it too.  I MAY do a 
second series or continuation of the story, or I may not end 
this at all.  It all depends.  Send all hate mail / fan mail 
to russael@mediaone.net.

Notice!  New Website is going up for the Tenchi fans!  Come 
check it out at http://russael.cjb.net and sign the Guestbook, 
letting me know you were there.  The fanfic will also be 
posted there, as will it be on the TMFFA, AND on 
www.fanfiction.net.  

	The light of dawn began to grace the Imperial Palace of 
Jurai, and flooded the surrounding area in soft, yellow 
sunlight.  Morning dewdrops coated nearly every leaf of 
vegetation, the night insects silenced themselves for the 
upcoming day, and people all over the palace slowly woke from 
their evening of slumber.  Shades were drawn, windows were 
opened, and beds were made, as the morning slowly progressed.  
It didn't happen quite so quickly, however, in Ryoko and 
Tenchi's room.
	Nearly an hour after the sun came up and laid its super 
bright beam of light across their room, reflecting off of all 
the dust in the air, they continued to snooze peacefully, 
their arms wrapped around each other, with Ryoko's head on 
Tenchi's chest, listening to his heartbeat.  Their covers were 
strewn about the bed, a testament to their night of ravenous 
passion and pleasure, and also a testament to the reason for 
their continued slumber.
	Several Jurian birds landed outside of their window on a 
nearby tree, and began to sing amongst themselves.  Their 
songs were considerably different from the typical chirping of 
native Earth birds, and instead, were long, warbling calls of 
a melodious nature. 
	Ryoko took in a deep breath and unconsciously stretched 
herself out beside Tenchi, and slowly opened her golden, 
kittenish eyes.  She smiled and pulled herself a little closer 
to her lover, happily to burn away every moment of time with 
him, just laying there in bed with the sounds of nature just 
outside their window.  She listened to his soft, rhythmic 
breathing, and she smiled with satisfaction, knowing that he 
fell asleep filled with contented pleasure from the night 
before.
	"Mmmm… Ryoko…" Tenchi muttered softly, a smile forming 
on his lips.
	She looked up into his face with her own showing nothing 
but love and devotion, and she realized that he was still 
sleeping.  Closing her eyes, she stifled the urge to crush him 
in an embrace, and instead, decided to wait to see what else 
he'd say in his dream.
	Unfortunately, their peaceful repose was interrupted by 
a light knocking on the door and Sasami's voice on the other 
side of it.
	"Are you guys awake yet?" she asked quietly, lightly 
tapping on the door once more.
	Ryoko phased into existence in front of the entrance, no 
longer nude, but now clothed in her pink and blue dress.  She 
opened the door, revealing Sasami and a maid at the other 
side.  "Yeah, I'm awake, but Tenchi is still asleep.  What's 
going on, Sasami?" she asked, stepping outside and closing the 
door behind her.
	"Oh!  I'm sorry.  This is the time the maids go into all 
the rooms and clean them.  But you can have her come back 
later if you want to sleep a little longer."  Sasami looked up 
at Ryoko with her pink eyes and smiled.  The maid standing 
behind her narrowed her emerald eyes slightly, but remained 
silent.  Oddly enough, her maids' uniform resembled Ryoko's 
old maid uniform from so long ago.
	It was always like Sasami to consider everyone's 
feelings before she gave an order.  "You won't have to do 
that, Sasami.  Just give us a couple minutes to get ourselves 
ready and we'll vacate the premises," Ryoko said, patting the 
little princess on the head and giving her a sly smile.
	"Okay.  Just leave the door open once you leave so 
she'll know it's okay to go in there to clean.  Oh, and 
breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.  I hope you're good 
and hungry!" she said, excitedly.  "If you think the meals I 
prepare are huge, wait till you see what they'll have for us!"
	Ryoko laughed.  "Yes, your highness.  We will join you 
shortly.  Same room as last night?"
	"Yup," she giggled.
	"Alright.  See you in a few minutes," she said, re-
entering her room and closing the door behind her, turning 
back toward the bed.  Tenchi still dozed peacefully, oblivious 
to the intrusion.
	Floating up into the air, she hovered over to their bed 
and she watched Tenchi for a few moments more, thinking he 
looked so cute and cuddly, like a teddy bear, curled up under 
the remaining blankets that managed to stay on the bed.  She 
smiled to herself and floated directly over top of him, only a 
few inches above him.  She stared into his face and smiled 
contentedly, knowing that she never had to worry about losing 
him to some other woman, and that he was her treasure, to be 
joyously plundered whenever she felt like it.
	Quietly letting out a blissful sigh, she bent down and 
kissed Tenchi on the lips.  "Time to wake up, lover," she 
whispered into his ear.
	Tenchi didn't move and his breathing remained unchanged.
	She smiled broadly, since she was very proud of the fact 
that she had worn him out the previous night.  Undaunted, she 
pressed her lips to his once more and held the kiss for a few 
moments, until Tenchi's body slowly shifted positions and she 
felt him try to take in a deep breath of air.  Backing off a 
moment and allowing him to finally breathe again, she watched 
his eyes slowly open themselves and a large smile crease his 
lips.
	Without warning, Tenchi reached up and grabbed Ryoko, 
pulling her down to him with a shriek of pleasant surprise, as 
he kissed her passionately, letting out a soft moan of 
unmistakable bliss.  He backed off a moment later.
	"Good morning, Ryoko."  Tenchi smiled in satisfaction.
	Ryoko giggled.  "Hi, sleepyhead.  Did you have a good 
night's rest?"
	Tenchi slowly nodded.  "Yeah."  He hugged Ryoko once 
more and kissed her on the cheek.  "What a night.  What time 
is it anyway?"
	The space pirate smiled and returned his kisses.  "It's 
an hour past dawn.  Sasami was just here, and she told me that 
breakfast will be served shortly, plus the maids want to get 
in here to clean the room."
	His eyes widened slightly.  "Oh.  Well, I guess we 
better get going then."  He made an attempt to get up, but 
Ryoko had lain down on top of him.  Instead of getting up, she 
continued to lie there, grinning, as he made another vain 
attempt to sit up.  Smiling up at her, he gave her another 
kiss.  "Can I get up now?"
	"Oh, I don't know.  We still have a few minutes to 
spare, Tenchi," she whispered seductively, winking at him.
	Tenchi smiled, but shook his head.  "Come on, Ryoko.  
I'm hungry, and I'm sure the maid is getting impatient.  
Besides, we're going to be spending the whole day together."  
He thought a moment.  "Actually, our entire vacation will be 
spent together."
	Ryoko's face went to feigned hurt.  "Aw, please, 
Tenchi?" she whined.  "Just a quickie before we go?"
	Tenchi couldn't help but laugh.  "Ryoko!  You're being 
spoiled.  Let's go get some breakfast.  Please?  We'll have 
all of tonight to do as we please."
	"Oh, but that's so far away!" she pouted.  She kissed 
him once more.
	Even though he wouldn't admit it, Ryoko's little pouting 
act was starting to turn him on, but he decided it would be 
better to wait until tonight.  "Now Ryoko.  Be reasonable, 
okay?  I'm sure you're hungry too."
	"No, not really," she answered.
	Tenchi chuckled quietly.  "I guess I'll have to find 
some other motivation," he said, bringing his arms up to her 
sides.  He began tickling her, under her arms and down her 
sides as she yelped in glee and started laughing.  "Coochie 
coochie coo!" he said, intensifying the motions of his hands 
and laughing along with her.  She squirmed fitfully and 
finally her will gave out as she floated up off of him, 
putting some distance between his hands and her body as she 
worked off the ticklish feeling and calmed down.
	Seizing the moment, Tenchi quickly sat up and covered 
his waist with the blanket.  He reached down to the floor and 
picked up his underclothes and speedily put them on, managing 
to do it all under the covers.  Standing up, he looked around 
for his suitcase.
	Ryoko floated down from her position above the bed and 
wrapped her arms around Tenchi, nipping him in the neck and 
kissing him in the same spot.  "You big meanie," she cooed, 
and then giggled.  "I've never been tickled like that before."
	Tenchi looked over his shoulder into her smiling face 
and gave his own satisfied grin.  "Where are our bags?  I 
don't see them."
	"I think they're in the closet over there," she said, 
pointing to a door on the far side of the room.  "But I think 
the maids already unpacked our stuff for us and put it into 
the dresser."
	"Oh!  Okay.  Well, that makes it nice."  He made his way 
over to the dresser with Ryoko still clinging to him as she 
floated a few inches above the floor.  Opening a couple of the 
drawers, he found they were empty.  "Hmmm… guess not," he 
said, scratching his head.  Changing his focus over to the 
closet, he opened the door to reveal a closetful of Jurian 
robes, all his size, with a note attached to one of them.
	"Please wear these clothes, prince.  It would make us 
very happy," Tenchi said, reading the note aloud.  Ryoko 
frowned at it.
	"Why do you have to wear these silly robes?  I brought 
along most of the clothes we bought together at the mall a 
couple weeks ago."
	Tenchi shrugged his shoulders.  "I don't know.  But we 
are on Jurai, so I guess we should go with the flow and wear 
typical Jurian clothing, or we'd stick out of the crowd.  I 
don't think I'd like being stared at because of the clothing 
I'm wearing."
	"I guess you're right.  But you'll probably be stared at 
anyway, since you are the prince," she said, causing Tenchi to 
cringe slightly.  She reached into the closet and pulled out a 
set of clothes.  The primary color was beige, and it had many 
extra features on it, in various colors.  "I think this would 
look nice on you, Tenchi."
	"Okay, I'll wear that one," he replied, taking the 
hanger out of Ryoko's hand.  He carefully removed the garments 
from the hanger and laid them out on the bed.  Stopping 
himself for a moment, he turned his head toward Ryoko.  "Can 
you let go of me now so I can get dressed?" he asked, 
grinning.  "It would be pretty hard for both of us to fit in 
these robes."
	Ryoko squeezed him tightly and kissed him on the cheek, 
then released him and floated Indian style in the air.

	A few short minutes later, Tenchi finished dressing, and 
they both left their room to go to the breakfast table.  Upon 
entering the dining room, they could see everybody already 
seated around the table, except Russ was absent.  Everybody 
turned their attention to Tenchi and Ryoko when they entered, 
and a chorus of, "Good morning," and "Hello," were said.  They 
took the same two chairs they had the night before and sat 
down.  Asuza simply glared at the two, but managed a nod in 
their direction.
	"You guys look very well rested.  I assume everything 
went okay last night?" Misaki asked from her position at the 
head of the table.
	"Absolutely," Tenchi answered, sharing a knowing glance 
back at Ryoko.  Aeka looked at the two and did her best not to 
be jealous.  Not because she wasn't with Tenchi, but because 
she didn't have a relationship at all.
	"Well, that's good.  You made it just in time.  The 
cooks are just about finished with our meal."  Misaki turned 
toward the kitchen door just as it opened, and a bunch of 
servants entered carrying large trays, each crammed with 
heaping plates of food.  The smells that followed them were 
unmistakably pleasant and mouthwatering, and caused nearly 
everyone at the table to begin salivating in anticipation.
	"Wait a minute.  Where's Russ?" Aeka asked, noticing the 
empty chair next to Azaka.  She frowned.  "Is he still 
sleeping?"
	"I don't know, Aeka.  I knocked on his door but there 
was no answer," Sasami told Aeka as a plate was set down in 
front of her.  "I didn't want to disturb him if he was 
sleeping."
	"Why don't you go see if he wants to join us?" Misaki 
asked.
	Aeka was already getting up from the table.  "I was just 
on my way to do that.  I'll be back in a few moments.  Don't 
wait for me."
	"Don't trouble yourself.  I'll send a servant to go see 
what's going on," Asuza told her, gesturing with his hand for 
her to take her seat.
	"I'd rather do it myself, if it's all the same to you, 
father," Aeka responded indignantly.
	His eyebrow arched ever so slightly.  "Don't bother.  
I'll send a servant.  Sit down," he ordered.
	"But father…"
	"Sit down!"
	Her mouth hung open for a moment in stunned silence, but 
she reluctantly complied.  Misaki glared at her husband and 
was about to object when Asuza ordered one of the servants to 
go fetch Russ.  Deciding not to pursue the issue any further, 
Misaki turned her attention back to Aeka, who was now picking 
at her food.
	"Don't worry, honey.  It really doesn't matter if you go 
get him or one of the servants does.  Either way, they'll 
bring him here."
	Aeka didn't answer, but continued to pick at the food 
that was placed in front of her.  Everybody else at the table 
didn't say anything, but kept quiet and watched the tirade in 
silence.
	Several minutes later the servant returned and whispered 
something in the Emperor's ear, causing him to frown a little 
more than usual.
	Aeka looked up from her meal.  "Didn't she find him?"
	Asuza shook his head.  "No.  He's not in his room.  She 
looked around a little for him but didn't find him.  She 
doesn't know where he went."
	Fear gripped Aeka for just a moment, but she told 
herself she was being silly, and that he didn't actually leave 
the planet.  However, as she continued eating, that feeling 
continued to nag at the back of her consciousness.  What 
bugged her even more was the fact that she didn't even know 
WHY he suddenly vanished.  It was strange.  She decided that 
when they find him later, that she'd ask him about it.  But if 
she did that, wouldn't he get upset over it?  Why should he 
have to answer to anybody?  It isn't like she's married to him 
or something where he'd have to answer for everything that he 
does.
	Funaho and Misaki both noticed Aeka's fretfulness and 
the fact that she probably has just lost her appetite.  They 
both watched her pick at her food and continually shift 
positions in her chair.  Asuza ignored her, but Sasami 
watched, concerned for her sister.  Finally, Misaki broke the 
silence.
	"Go find him, Aeka, if it'll make you feel better," she 
ordered.  Asuza glanced up and looked daggers at his daughter, 
and then at Misaki.
	Aeka jumped in surprise, and then hung her head in 
shame.  "I'm sorry, mother.  I'm being rude and selfish."  She 
began to eat with much more gusto, but remained silent.

	Breakfast passed without much conversation from anybody.  
Once they were finished, they complimented the chefs and made 
a hasty exit from the dining hall.  Aeka caught sight of 
Tenchi and Ryoko leaving the room and she decided to catch up 
to them.
	"So Ryoko, what would you like to do today?  We've 
basically got an open slate," Tenchi said, casually walking 
next to her, his robes flowing freely behind him.
	"I have no idea where to begin, actually.  Is there 
anywhere you'd like to see?" Ryoko asked, turning toward him 
and stopping.
	Tenchi stopped and remained thoughtful.  "Well, you've 
been to Jurai more than I have, and I don't have any idea what 
to do or where to go.  I was hoping you'd have some ideas."
	Ryoko shook her head slowly.  "No.  But you've been to 
Jurai as well.  Are you sure there isn't anything you want to 
see again?"
	Tenchi shrugged his shoulders.  He then chuckled.  
"Well, let's go that way and see where it leads us," he 
announced, pointing down one of the hallways.
	"That goes to the Royal Library," Aeka said, finally 
having caught up with them.
	Ryoko and Tenchi both turned toward her and watched her 
with concern.
	Aeka let out a sigh.  "Would you mind if I joined you?  
I can show you around the palace if you would like.  Sasami 
and Ryo-Ohki went off with Mother, Grandfather and Nobuyuki 
went off with Lady Funaho, Father went to the throne room, 
Azaka and Kamidake went off somewhere, Kiyone and Mihoshi went 
off together, and Washu went to the Science Academy for the 
day.  I'm stuck with nobody to do anything with, unless I want 
to get tortured by Mother, which currently doesn't appeal to 
me."
	Ryoko and Tenchi both looked at each other and nodded 
their heads.  "Sure.  We'd be happy to have you join us.  Who 
better to give us a tour than the Princess herself?" Ryoko 
said, smiling in a pleasant way.
	"Well, let's go to the library then.  Maybe there will 
be something there that would interest you," Aeka suggested.  
"There is probably a million books there, if not more, 
covering nearly every subject you could possibly think of."
	"Sounds interesting.  Would you please show us the way?" 
Tenchi asked.
	Aeka smiled and nodded her head.  "It's right over 
here," she said, gesturing with her hand and slowly making her 
way over to the library.  Tenchi and Ryoko both followed.
	"Sorry about Russ not showing up for breakfast, Aeka.  
If I knew where he went I would've told you," Tenchi said, 
quietly.
	Aeka tensed slightly, but she seemed to shake it off a 
moment later.  "It's okay.  He probably got up early or 
something and decided to tour the planet by himself or 
something.  That's what he's used to."
	"Yeah, but still, he should've at least graced us with 
is presence at the table for breakfast.  It was awfully rude 
of him," Ryoko responded.  "I know I'd be upset if Tenchi 
didn't show up at the table, and he'd be upset if I didn't 
arrive."
	Aeka shook her head.  "But it's different for you two."  
She sighed regretfully.  "I'm burdening you with my troubles.  
Come on, let's forget about that for now and try to enjoy 
ourselves, okay?  That would make me happy."
	"Yeah.  Okay, Aeka.  I'm sorry," Tenchi said meekly, 
putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a reassuring 
squeeze.  Ryoko felt a slight pang of jealousy, but she 
brushed it off immediately.  Instead, she nodded her head 
toward Aeka and smiled.
	They had reached the library and Tenchi pushed open the 
doors, gesturing for the girls to enter first.  Once they 
entered, both Ryoko and Tenchi stood, flabbergasted, at the 
sheer number of books.  When Aeka had said there were probably 
a million books, she was vastly understating the truth.  
Bookshelves reached all the way to the ceiling, which were 
nearly thirty feet high.  Rows upon rows of ceiling high 
bookshelves lined the floor, and every single shelf had no 
room left to fit another book on it.  The size of the room 
dwarfed that of the dining hall, and several rows of tables 
were placed throughout the room, surrounded by plain wood 
chairs, several of which were occupied by some of the Science 
Academy students.  The sight was truly breathtaking.
	"Oh my god," Tenchi stuttered out.  Ryoko had a similar 
reaction.
	Aeka turned toward them and giggled softly.  "This is 
the second largest library on Jurai.  It's actually pretty 
small by some of the other ones I've seen."
	Ryoko and Tenchi both facefaulted.  "You've GOT to be 
kidding us," they both said in unison.
	Aeka shook her head and smiled.  "Well, go find 
yourselves something to read.  I'm going to go over here to 
the romance novels to browse.  I'll join you at one of the 
tables.  It'll give us something to do for the next couple 
hours or so."
	"Okay, that sounds good," Ryoko said, floating up into 
the air a few inches and grinning seductively.  "Tenchi?  What 
are you going to look for?"
	"I don't know.  Where's the science fiction section?  I 
may find something entertaining there," Tenchi asked.
	"It's over there, I think," she answered, pointing to an 
aisle between two rows of bookshelves.  "It has been a long 
time since I've been here last."
	"Thanks, Aeka.  I'm sure I'll find something anyway," he 
said quietly, making his way over to the shelves.
	"What about you, Ryoko?  Anything in particular you're 
looking for?" Aeka asked politely.
	The space pirate froze for a moment and blushed.  
"Thanks, but I can find it myself.  If I don't find what I'm 
looking for, I'll find it in the card catalog," she said, 
smiling.
	"I could easily tell you were most of the books are.  It 
would be much faster," Aeka said, pressing the point.
	"It's okay.  Go find yourself a book to read.  I'll be 
fine," Ryoko insisted.
	"Well, okay.  If you need help, just ask me," Aeka 
offered.
	"Thanks."  Ryoko floated away and phased through a wall 
of books.  Aeka shook her head, turning toward the romance 
novels and began to hunt down one of her old favorites.
	A few short minutes later, Tenchi sat down at a table 
near one of the outside windows.  He opened the book to the 
prologue and started reading when Aeka joined him, sitting 
down in an adjacent chair, a copy of Lone Eagle in her hand.
	"What do you have there, Tenchi?" she asked, not quite 
being able to see the cover of his book.
	"Jurassic Park.  It's strange though.  What is Earth 
based literature doing here on Jurai?"  Tenchi looked 
confused, but Aeka smiled.
	"Even though most people don't know it, we do have 
people that go to more… primitive planets, and we collect tons 
of literature.  Washu has done wonders for us when it comes to 
Earth text."
	"Oh," he said, not quite buying into the explanation, 
but he had no grounds to dismiss it either.  "Well, what do 
you have?"
	"It's also an Earth novel, called the Lone Eagle.  It's 
a romance novel.  I've read it once before and really enjoyed 
it."
	Tenchi chuckled softly.  "Maybe you should've tried 
Heart of a Warrior.  It's a science fiction romance novel.  I 
heard it was pretty good."
	Aeka thought a moment.  "I haven't heard of that one.  
What's it about?"
	"I don't know.  I've never read it myself.  Honestly, I 
don't care for romance novels.  I enjoy science fiction, 
fantasy, and some mystery novels too.  However, I also have to 
read these boring books that grandpa assigns me," he grumbled.
	"I've seen those.  There's some interesting stuff in 
them," she said.
	Ryoko teleported near Tenchi with a rather large, thick 
book in her hand.  "Hi," she greeted them, causing both of 
them to flinch in surprise.
	"Hi there.  What did you get?" Aeka asked, leaning 
forward a bit to catch a glimpse of the cover.  Her eyes 
widened in shock when she read the title.
	Ryoko blushed slightly.  "It's for me and Tenchi.  I 
thought it would be neat to try some new things out."
	Tenchi also looked at the cover.  "A thousand and one 
ways to pleasure your man?" he said aloud.
	Two of the science academy students that were quietly 
studying nearby looked up in astonishment, and then started 
snickering.  Ryoko shot them both a glare that promised death 
if they continued, and they silenced themselves quickly.  She 
took the chair next to Tenchi and sat down.
	"Yes, that's the name.  I think it would be kind of neat 
to try some of these new positions," said Ryoko, matter of 
factly.
	Tenchi groaned to himself and put his head in his hands.  
Aeka did the same.
	"What's the big deal?  Doing the same thing night after 
night gets boring," Ryoko explained, confused by their 
reactions.
	They both groaned again and suddenly became very 
interested in their books.  Ryoko shrugged her shoulders and 
started reading.

	"Mom?  I'm hungry.  When's lunch?"
	Misaki looked down at her daughter and smiled.  "Lunch 
will be served in a few short moments.  We will go to the 
dining hall.  Everybody should be there already."
	"Yes!" she exclaimed, hopping up and down on her feet.  
Misaki laughed and pulled her close, giving her another bone 
crushing hug.  They both stood up from the couch in the Royal 
Family's living quarters and made their way out into the 
bustling hallway.
	"I'm so happy you all came back to see us!  It was such 
a nice surprise!"
	"Yes mother.  You've told us that a million times 
already," Sasami said, rolling her eyes.  "I'm happy I came 
home too.  It's been a long time since we've seen each other 
last.  But what have you been doing this whole time?  I've 
talked about everything I've done, but you never told me 
anything about what you've done for the past year."  She 
looked up into Misaki's amethyst eyes and grinned.
	Turning thoughtful, she placed both her hands in front 
of herself and casually folded them together.  "Well, really, 
there hasn't been a whole lot happening, except recently for 
the Startica festival.  It always gets busy here in the palace 
during this time of year."  Not finding her new posture 
comfortable, she placed an arm around Sasami's shoulders as 
they continued walking.  "Auntie Funaho finally finished 
remodeling the Great Hall here in the palace.  It turned out 
really nice."
	She paused, suddenly at a loss for words.  Everything 
that she came up with that could potentially be discussed was 
shot down, figuring that they'd be of no interest to a little 
girl.  The merging of another kingdom into Jurai was 
dismissed, as was the arrest of a petty thief who managed to 
break into the palace.  However, one thought occurred to her 
that Sasami would find interesting.
	Sasami watched her mother as she warred with various 
thoughts, and she hugged her, smiling the whole time.  "It's 
okay, mom.  You can tell me anything you like."
	Looking down and smiling at the thoughtfulness of her 
daughter, she decided on something funny that happened 
recently.  "You should've seen your father about a month ago.  
He did one of the craziest things to one particular group of 
people that I never thought he'd do."
	The little princess smiled.  "What'd he do?"
	"I shouldn't tell you, since it would embarrass your 
father," Misaki teased.
	Sasami's eyes sparkled and begged at the same time.  
"Aww, please mom?  What did father do that could be so 
embarrassing?"
	Misaki started chuckling softly as she recalled the 
event in detail.  "It was so silly.  You know how we must 
always behave regal and proper, right?  Well, one night at the 
dinner table, while your father had a mouthful of wine, 
someone told a really funny joke, and he actually found it 
funny.  So funny, as a matter of fact, that he wound up 
spitting his wine all over the table."
	"Oh my gosh!  Did he really?"  Sasami giggled and tried 
to picture the event in her mind.
	"Yes, but that's not all.  You see, our guests were 
actually small children, but they were of royalty, just like 
you.  Everybody was more or less intoxicated, and things got a 
little more interesting as the evening progressed.  One of the 
kids decided to start flicking little bits of food at your 
father when he wasn't looking.  Needless to say, after about 
four tries of trying to catch the culprit, he flung a small 
amount of food at three of the kids."  Misaki started 
laughing.  "Unfortunately for him, they all fought back, and 
we had a massive food fight on our hands.  We pasted the 
entire dining hall with what was left of our dinner.  All 
twenty of our guests got involved, and your father had a 
blast, as did we."  The empress took in a deep breath and 
calmed down a bit.  "I felt sorry for the cleaning ladies once 
we had finished.  The entire hall was a mess, and we were 
too."
	"Ohhh Mooooom!  You got into a food fight?  How 
immature," Sasami retorted, giggling.  "Of course, you're not 
the only one who's been in a food fight."
	"Sasami!  What did you do?" Misaki asked sternly.  "You 
know better than that," she scolded, and then broke out 
laughing.
	"It was all Russ's doing.  I played a little prank on 
him to wake him up, and afterwards when we started eating, he 
started flinging rice grains at me.  Well, I couldn't let him 
get away with that, so I returned the favor.  Ryoko started 
laughing at him, and he flung a few grains at her.  She didn't 
take too kindly to that and she pelted him with rice grains, 
and I managed to nail him too.  Then Tenchi started laughing 
at us, so Ryoko, Russ, and myself all pelted him with rice."
	"I see I'm going to have to have a little talk with my 
disobedient daughter," said Misaki, looking down at the little 
princess with an evil gleam in her eye.
	"But I'm not done yet.  Aeka got mad at us and called 
all of us immature.  She then dumped an entire bowl of rice 
over Russ's head."
	Misaki's eyes widened in shock.  "My little Aeka did 
that?  Seriously?"
	Sasami giggled.  "Yes.  Then everything just went crazy 
from there.  It was a lot of fun, even though it took a little 
while to clean it all up.  We hadn't seen Aeka smile like that 
for a long time."
	"What do you mean?" the empress asked, now concerned.
	Giving her mother a worried look, she decided to tell 
her the truth, but first, a promise.  "Mom?  Please don't 
repeat any of this to Aeka, or lead on that you know about it, 
okay?"
	"Cross my heart.  I won't say a word, Sasami."  Misaki 
stopped and pulled her daughter in front of her, looking her 
directly in the eyes.  "What's going on?"
	"Aeka has been depressed for a long time… almost a year.  
Tenchi had gone missing for a very long time, and everybody 
spent every waking moment searching for him.  When Ryoko and 
Aeka finally did find him, he couldn't remember them.  But to 
make a long story short, Tenchi was in a different dimension 
that was adjacent to our own.  So close, in fact, that it 
partially overlapped ours," she described, sounding like 
Washu.  "However, Aeka realized that Tenchi really only 
responded to Ryoko, and during the final moments of that 
dimension's collapse, Aeka made the choice to give up Tenchi 
to Ryoko, to save him."
	Misaki gasped and looked into her daughters face in 
total bewilderment.  "Sasami… I had no idea.  What else 
happened?"  She knew there was a reason for Aeka's persistence 
for getting Russ involved in a relationship with her!!  Aeka 
had given up the one she loved to save him.  That's her 
daughter!  That was the most unselfish act that anybody has 
ever done, and it was her daughter that did it.  Her heart 
swelled with pride, but also with heartbreak.
	The little princess's face became downcast and sad.  
"That's basically all that happened.  Aeka stopped pursing 
Tenchi after that incident.  She gave him up to save him.  I 
can't imagine the pain she felt from a decision such as that."  
Sasami sniffled, becoming sadder.  "I feel so bad for Aeka, 
because I know how much she loved Tenchi."
	Wrapping her arms around her daughter, she gave her a 
warm, caring hug.  "I understand a little better now.  Why 
didn't you guys ever tell me about this?"
	Allowing herself to be held, Sasami embraced her mother 
in return.  "We decided to not tell anybody about it.  Aeka 
doesn't want anybody feeling pity for her.  She's so strong."  
She buried her face in her mother's robes, doing her best to 
keep from crying.  All the people in the hallway did their 
best not to draw attention to what was going on between the 
two members of the Royal Family.
	"But Aeka isn't depressed anymore, is she?" Misaki 
asked, very concerned for Aeka.
	Sasami leaned back a little and sniffled, and then dried 
her eyes with the back of her sleeve.  "Not since Russ came to 
live with us.  She thinks he's a lot like Tenchi, but he's so 
different too.  He's not as serious, but he's just as caring 
and compassionate as Tenchi.  I think that's why she likes 
him."
	"That's what she says."  Misaki's stomach croaked 
loudly, as if demanding an audience with the dinner table.  
"Oh my.  Lets get something to eat," she said, smiling and 
chuckling softly.
	Sasami smiled and sniffled once more.  "I'm hungry too.  
What's going to be for lunch?" she asked, standing up and 
taking her mother's hand as they continued their short trek to 
the table.
	"I'm not entirely sure.  It's probably the usual stuff.  
You know how your father is," she said, rolling her eyes.  
"It's almost the same thing every day.  I don't know why he 
doesn't get tired of it!"
	Giggling softly, Sasami and her mother both made it to 
the dining hall a few short moments later.  Several people 
were already there, sitting in their usual seats.  Kiyone and 
Mihoshi were already there, as was Washu, Funaho, Yosho, 
Nobuyuki, Azaka, Kamidake, and Asuza.  Ryo-Ohki phased through 
the kitchen door with a carrot in her mouth, being chased down 
by one of the chefs.  He grumbled quietly to himself and 
returned to the kitchen upon Ryo-Ohki's escape.
	"Hi honey," Misaki greeted Asuza, taking her seat.  "How 
did everything go today so far?  You did get all the 
assimilation requests finished, right?"
	Asuza nodded his head once.  "Yes, dear.  Everything is 
going smoothly today, for once.  Not a single trouble spot.  
Yet."
	"Well, that's good to hear.  Did anything else come up?"
	"Not yet.  I still have to finish off a loan request 
from the Galaxy Police, and that should be it for a while, 
unless something else comes in."  He frowned slightly and 
growled something incoherent.
	"What did the Galaxy Police need a loan for?" Misaki 
asked, confused.  "I don't remember anything about it being on 
the agenda for today."
	"We need the money to help fund a new spynet hardware 
device we're constructing.  That's about all I can say about 
it for now," Kiyone explained.  "It will allow us to 
infiltrate gangster hideouts from a different location by a 
remote controlled device.  It makes it a lot safer when we go 
in to take prisoners."
	"Yeah!  And it would've sucked the Galaxy Police's 
checkbook dry if…" Mihoshi started to say when Kiyone got in 
her face.
	"You always say too much about financial difficulties!  
Leave it be!"
	"Sorry, Kiyone.  I didn't mean anything.  It's just that 
we seem to be the best at talking about financial 
difficulties!" Mihoshi said happily.
	Kiyone groaned in disgust and shook her head.  Misaki 
giggled to herself and turned toward her sister.  "What about 
you, Funaho?  What did you do today?"
	"I showed Yosho around the Great Hall.  He likes the way 
it was redone," she said, looking over at her son and giving 
him a hard stare.
	"It's pink," Yosho said, shrugging his shoulders.
	"Yes, it's pink!  What's wrong with pink?"  Funaho 
glared at him.
	"Nothing, mother.  Nothing at all," he said nervously.  
He looked across the table at Sasami who was giggling.  He 
began to perspire lightly.
	"That's what I thought.  You don't like all the hard 
work I put into remodeling it, do you?" Funaho said, looking 
down the table and frowning.
	"No!  I mean, yes!  I mean…  I didn't say that," Yosho 
said quickly.  "It's just fine.  As long as you're happy, 
that's all that counts."
	"But YOU don't like it, do you?" she answered, staring 
into his eyes.
	"Yes, I like it."
	"I think you're just being polite," she answered, 
turning her nose up at him.
	Yosho looked quite perturbed as his son started quietly 
snickering next to him.  He glared at him, promising a good 
thrashing if he kept it up.  Nobuyuki did manage to stop 
snickering, but he couldn't help but smile.  It wasn't often 
that he saw his father get bent out of shape and he had to 
treasure the moment.
	Ryoko, Tenchi, and Aeka all entered the room, all smiles 
and quietly chattering amongst themselves.  Misaki turned 
toward the new arrivals and smiled, happy that Aeka seemed to 
be having a good time.
	"My little Aeka!" she greeted her daughter.  "Where were 
you?  What did you three do today?"
	"We went to the library and read a few books," Aeka 
explained, pulling up her chair on Funaho's side of the table.  
"We really didn't have anything to do, so we read the entire 
time."
	"What did you read?"
	"I read that one novel that I love," she answered, a 
blissful, faraway look on her face.  "It's amazing how some of 
those are based on true stories."
	"I see.  What about you, Tenchi?  Did you find anything 
interesting?" Misaki inquired.
	"I read Jurassic Park.  I saw the movie, but never read 
the book.  I think the book was better," he said.  "It had 
more detail."
	"I've never read it or seen the movie," she said, 
thoughtfully.  "Well, what about you, Ryoko?"
	All three of them suddenly tensed and their brows beaded 
with sweat.  Misaki noticed it and started laughing.  "Let me 
guess," she said, a knowing look on her face.  "It's of a 
personal nature."
	Ryoko let out a sigh.  "Yeah, sort of like that."
	"It's okay," she responded with a sly smile and sharing 
a glance with Funaho.  Even though she didn't know the title, 
and she'd never admit do doing so, she too had read most of 
the literature that was similar to what Ryoko had read.  
Funaho had read most of it as well, and they both had a pretty 
good guess at what it was about.
	Aeka looked around the table once again.  "Don't tell me 
Russ isn't going to show up for lunch either!"
	Once again, the seat between Mihoshi and Azaka was 
vacant.  Aeka clenched her fists together and stared hard at 
the empty chair, as if willing him to materialize in it.
	"Don't worry, Aeka.  He's probably just not hungry is 
all," Ryoko said, trying to calm her down.  "Remember what he 
told us?"
	"Yes, but every time we did get him to sit down to eat 
something, he ate everything!  We didn't even have any 
leftovers for later if one of us got hungry," she fumed.  "I 
don't get it.  Where could he be?"
	Tenchi sat there quietly and contemplated the idea for a 
moment.  "You know, Aeka," he began.  "I'm almost certain he's 
off training somewhere, and he doesn't want to be disturbed.  
I'll bet that's it."
	Aeka and Ryoko both fell silent.  "You know," Aeka 
began.  "I think you're right.  It makes sense, anyway.  He's 
got to be off somewhere doing his thing."
	"Doing what thing?" Misaki asked, curious.
	"He trains every day.  He has a very strenuous exercise 
routine that he does on a daily basis.  But frankly, I don't 
know how he can get into any better shape than he is in 
already!  Half the clothes we tried to get him to wear 
wouldn't fit over his arms!"  Aeka frowned and mumbled to 
herself, something about Russ being pigheaded and a barbarian.  
Asuza ignored everything that had to do with Russ and he 
turned his attention to Yosho, preparing to discuss his 
absence from Jurai.
	"What does he do to exercise?  How long does he train?" 
Misaki continued.
	"He trains for almost every waking moment!  He basically 
takes a break to eat or use the bathroom, and then he goes at 
it again," Aeka explained.  "Washu made him a gravity enhancer 
to give him a more effective workout.  He does almost all the 
normal exercise routine stuff under extreme gravity."
	At that moment, the kitchen doors opened and the 
servants entered with the food, in much the same manner as the 
dinner from last night and the breakfast from this morning.  
Once again, everybody smiled and waited with eager 
anticipation for the upcoming meal.

	Lunch passed without incident, and attendance from Russ.  
And once again, everybody filed out of the dining hall 
hastily, but this time eager to find other things to do.  
Misaki caught up with Aeka and decided to spend a little bit 
of time with her.  Sasami and Ryo-Ohki tagged along as well.  
Azaka and Kamidake went to the training room, Ryoko and Tenchi 
left the palace to tour the outdoors, Yosho, Funaho, Asuza, 
Nobuyuki, and Washu all went off together, and Kiyone and 
Mihoshi took off on their own once again.
	Time seemed to kick into overdrive and fly by, until it 
was almost dinnertime.  Aeka, her mother, and Sasami with Ryo-
Ohki all went shopping together, and they bought themselves a 
huge mass of new clothes.  Not so much as bought as was simply 
took home, since the store owners refused to charge anybody 
from the Royal Family, but nevertheless, it was a fun trip for 
the four.
	They got to talk about various things, mainly about the 
life Aeka and Sasami were enjoying back on Earth.  Aeka talked 
about her improved friendship with the Space Pirate Ryoko, 
about her flower garden outside the house, and about the 
various things she did with her brother.  She explained some 
of the earth customs that were a bit different than the events 
that occurred on Jurai, but she never mentioned the detail 
that she had been depressed for so long.
	One thing led to another until the subject about Russ 
came up again.  Aeka bristled at the fact that he missed two 
meals already, and she had no idea where he went.  However, 
Misaki decided to help Aeka go find him, and the first place 
she figured they should look is the training room.  Azaka and 
Kamidake should be there as well, and if Russ wasn't there, 
they could at least all go to dinner together.

	After dropping off their new stuff, the foursome made 
their way to the royal training room, where Azaka and Kamidake 
should've been training their warriors and noblemen in the 
ways of combat.  However, when they got there, they found the 
person they were looking for.
	Russ stood on one side of the mat, and Azaka stood on 
the other, and they were both dressed for fighting.  Azaka was 
in his combat robes, and Russ was in his green karate gi, 
poised for battle.  The crowd around both individuals was very 
large, but Misaki pressed her way to the front, followed by 
Aeka, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki.  She could hear Azaka saying 
something to Russ, and the room quieted down to listen.
	"Are you ready to begin, Russ?  I've been waiting for an 
opportunity to spar with you," Azaka said, loosing up his 
shoulders a bit and assuming a defensive stance.
	"I'm ready when you are.  Don't hold back," Russ 
responded, taking up a new stance.
	"I think you're misjudging how strong we really are," he 
responded, drawing a soft "Oooh" from the audience.  Russ just 
smirked and indicated with his hand to bring it on.  "Wait, 
aren't you going to choose a weapon?"
	"No.  I fight mainly hand to hand.  There isn't a weapon 
strong enough for me to use.  I keep breaking them," Russ 
explained.  "But feel free to use your staff."
	Azaka looked at the blue orb on the end of his weapon 
and decided to use the staff, despite the nagging feeling that 
it would be unfair.  "Are you sure?  It may be a little 
unfair."
	"Hmmm… unfair.  You're right," he said, looking around 
the room.  He lifted his arm and pointed at Kamidake.  "Go 
join your partner.  That will make it a little more fair."
	Both Azaka and Kamidake looked at him, bewilderment and 
surprise creasing their expressions.  Russ maintained a poker 
face and nodded his head.  Misaki's eyes widened slightly, 
wondering what he was really capable of.  She figured that it 
would be a very interesting match.  Everybody sat down to 
watch.
	Kamidake hesitated, and didn't move from his position.  
"What are you waiting for?  Go join him.  I'm serious," Russ 
told him.
	Both knights shrugged their shoulders and he moved next 
to Azaka, doing a little warm up exercise to get himself ready 
for the match.  "Are you ready to begin now?" Azaka asked, his 
anticipation getting the better of him.
	Russ looked at both of them and scratched his head.  
"Computer, give me three hundred times Earth normal gravity."
	A soft beeping emanated from the device on his arm as a 
crushing weight settled down on him over a span of ten 
seconds.  The floor beneath him bowed slightly and a bunch of 
cracking noises came from under his feet.  Nodding his head 
from side to side, growing accustomed to the enhanced gravity, 
he took up his original poise and nodded his head.  "Now, I'm 
ready."

	Misaki's eyes grew larger.  "What did he just do, Aeka?"
	"That's the gravity enhancer I was telling you about.  
He weighs three hundred times more than he really should right 
now," she explained.  "But I still think Azaka and Kamidake 
are at a disadvantage.  I hope he controls himself and doesn't 
hurt them."
	Now the empress looked at Aeka with horror.  "What!?  
How strong is he?" she said in an exasperated whisper.
	"Far stronger than anybody I've ever seen in my life," 
she said, looking into her mother's eyes.  "I've seen what he 
is capable of, or at least according to him, a small taste of 
it."
	"How can anybody have that much energy and be able to 
hide it all?" she said, amazed.
	"I don't know, but he does it.  The frightening thing is 
he says that there are others who are more powerful than him."
	"Wow.  Well, it's looks like they're ready to begin.  
Let's see what he can do," she said, watching in eager 
anticipation.

	"Whenever you're ready, you guys.  Just say the word and 
we'll begin," Russ said, not having moved an inch, staring 
between the two knights.
	"If you insist.  We'll begin right now!" Kamidake 
shouted, sprinting forward and swinging his staff around his 
body.  The instant he got in range, he swung his staff at 
Russ's midsection, whistling through the air with incredible 
force and speed of the strike, but it passed through him, as 
if he were a ghost.  He looked at Russ in surprise, and then 
quickly tried backhanding him in the head, which also passed 
right through.  After making several vain attempts to kick, 
punch, or hit him with the staff and freehand, he jumped back 
a few paces and stared at his opponent.
	Russ grinned in response.  "You missed," he taunted.
	"Oh my god, he's fast!" Kamidake said to himself.  "He 
wasn't fooling when he said we'd be at a disadvantage!  And he 
isn't even warmed up!"  He steeled himself up a bit more, 
sweat beading on his forehead and trickling down the back of 
his neck in miniature rivers.  Azaka had much the same 
reaction.  "You try him, Azaka," he said, turning around and 
looking at his counterpart, then backing off a few more paces.
	"You may be fast, but lets see you dodge this!" he 
shouted, the blue orb on his staff glowing with radiant energy 
as he charged up his power, the energy roaring around him in a 
bluish white aura.  He launched it at Russ when the blast was 
ready, resembling the wave he used when he fought against 
Ketta, the black knight, and it sailed toward him, forcing air 
out of the way and sizzling with the incredible Jurai energy.
	Russ simply placed a hand out in front of him and the 
blast slammed into it with a thunderous explosion, then 
dissipated.  He returned his hand to his side and he smiled.  
Azaka and Kamidake both looked at him with fear in their eyes 
and hearts.  What did they just get themselves into?
	"Come on, guys.  I'm not even warmed up yet.  I promise 
I won't seriously injure either of you," he informed them, 
still having not moved from his original position.

	Misaki couldn't help but stare at Russ with her jaw 
hanging slightly open.  However, she wasn't the only one that 
had that same look on her face.  Nearly everybody who saw what 
just transpired was sweating profusely, even though they 
hadn't done anything.
	"That blast would've vaporized any normal man, but it 
didn't even scorch Russ's hand!  What is he made of anyway?" 
Misaki asked herself, fretting slightly at the knight's 
inability to do any damage to him whatsoever.
	Misaki was well aware of her own abilities, and she 
could easily take both Azaka and Kamidake if she wanted, but 
she had never met anybody else who could do the same, and look 
so cool and calm about it too.  It was frightening.  After 
Azaka and Kamidake finished their sparring match, she'd step 
up to the ring and give him a try as well.  She wanted to find 
out how well she measured up to him.
	Aeka watched him quietly, a very slight smile creasing 
her lips.  It was strange to see him be so considerate in the 
middle of a fight, even though it was only a sparring match.  
He knew how much energy to use to keep from injuring others, 
but most people she knew of would take great pride in causing 
pain and suffering to others.
	The little blue haired princess watched the short 
scuffle in awe and wonder, curious as to how he could move so 
fast.  It was the neatest thing she's ever seen.  It was like 
watching a video game as a live performance.  Several two 
player fighting games came to mind, and she giggled to herself 
at her ability to continually beat Azaka at his favorite one.  
She turned her attention back to the trio as they began to 
have a second go at it.

	Azaka and Kamidake both stood side by side, facing what 
seemed to be an invincible opponent, and they knew it would be 
very difficult to defeat him.  Most likely impossible, but 
they weren't at full power and neither was he, so it was 
anybody's guess as to who was the most powerful and skilled 
warrior between the three.  They both looked into Russ's eyes 
and couldn't find a single weakness in his front.  They turned 
toward each other and nodded together, an unspoken attack 
pattern agreed on between the two.  Without warning, they 
attacked.
	Russ remained in his position and watched them both 
streak toward him, both yelling their battlecry and swinging 
their weapons around in a predictable pattern.  As they both 
reached him, they swung their staffs at two different targets.  
Azaka aimed for Russ's head, and Kamidake went for his 
midsection.  The staffs howled through the air as they raced 
toward their targets.  But just before they made contact, they 
stopped instantly with loud clangs.  Both their faces went to 
utter surprise as Russ had used his forearms to block each 
swing.  Both staffs remained in contact with each arm and 
Russ's face was still a mask of concentration, his gaze 
fixated in a single direction.
	Quickly withdrawing the weapons, they quickly spun them 
around their bodies and made a second attempt to strike him in 
random positions.  However, Russ's arms blocked each attempt.  
What made it frustrating is that they never even saw his arms 
move.  They just appeared in their positions without so much 
as a blur of motion.
	Jumping back once more, Azaka and Kamidake went into a 
hacking frenzy, trying to hit Russ somewhere on his body.  The 
speed they both exhibited was remarkable, but it was nowhere 
near enough to break through Russ's impenetrable defenses.  
The staffs swung through the air, whistling with extreme force 
and power, but each time his arms blocked their offense 
easily.  To the crowd, the staffs were nothing but 
unintelligible blurs of white mass swinging through the air.
	Finally, after about two solid minutes of trying to hit 
their opponent with the staffs, they jumped back a few feet 
and glared at him.
	"Aren't you even going to go on the offensive!?  You've 
done nothing but stand there!" Kamidake yelled, clearly 
flustered.
	"He's right.  You've never even moved an inch!  What's 
the deal?" Azaka growled, annoyed and frustrated.  "Don't you 
think we can't handle ourselves?"
	Russ sighed.  "That's not it.  Your moves are 
predictable.  You guys work in patterns."
	"What!?  What are you talking about?" Kamidake said, 
still trying to catch his breath.
	"I mean is you work in a pattern.  You have a set number 
of steps," he began to explain, bringing his hands up and 
showing quotation marks when he said the word, 'steps.'  "That 
you guys follow.  Once you begin one move, you follow it up 
with another one.  Now, against someone who doesn't know your 
fighting style or technique, it could be very effective.  But 
what do you do against someone who knows exactly what you're 
going to do on the very first swing?  I put almost no effort 
at all into blocking your shots because I knew exactly where 
each one of them were going to end up!"
	Azaka and Kamidake looked at each other in realization.  
"You mean you knew exactly what we were going to do?" Azaka 
asked.
	"That's right.  But now, you have absolutely no idea 
what I'm going to do now, do you?" he said, pointing at the 
two knights.  "You don't, for two reasons.  One.  You haven't 
seen me fight before.  Two.  When I do fight, I don't use 
patterns.  I fight with random blows, so even if you DID see 
me fight before, I never do the same thing twice, unless I 
find it effective against my opponent.  But then I change it 
again to something different."  Russ took in a deep breath and 
sighed.  "I'll demonstrate.  I'll go much slower than I would 
normally go, so you can see how much more effective a random, 
chaotic fighting style can be.  The only thing I base myself 
on is a rhythm."
	An uncharacteristic silence fell over the audience as 
they listened to his wisdom.  Azaka and Kamidake also listened 
to what he had to say, and they exchanged knowing glances.  
"We can fight randomly too, Russ.  We didn't know you knew our 
style of fighting."
	"I don't, but based on your first couple of attacks, I 
figured it out in a hurry, since it is similar to another 
style of fighting.  Frankly, I found it quite simple.  No 
offense intended, though," he said quickly, noticing a couple 
wrathful scowls from the audience and one from Kamidake.
	"Our style of fighting has been one of the very best for 
thousands of years.  It's NOT a simple style, and it takes 
many years of practice and patience to learn it," Kamidake 
argued, mildly offended.
	"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to make you upset, but you 
just told me that this same pattern has been used for 
thousands of years, right?  Don't you think others have 
learned that technique during that time period?  Several 
thousand years is a VERY long time."
	Kamidake's aggressive posture wilted and he frowned 
thoughtfully.  "I suppose you're right.  But only the Jurians 
know of this fighting style and technique.  We don't train 
outsiders."
	"You don't have to.  If someone survives a battle with 
one of you, don't you think he's going to retain the knowledge 
of his fight and then use it against you, or perhaps train 
others in the same style of combat?" Russ questioned, pressing 
his point.
	"I understand what you mean, Russ.  What do you suggest 
we do?" Azaka asked, genuinely interested.  Kamidake remained 
a little more skeptical.
	"I'd tell you randomness, but that isn't really a style 
at all.  About the only thing I could tell you to do is invent 
new techniques.  If you fight against someone, do not lose, or 
he'll retain the knowledge of your battle and possibly return 
to use it against you.  If something like that does occur, you 
invent a new technique to take its place.  That's about as 
close to random as you can get," Russ told them.
	"Well, show us what you can do, Russ," Azaka challenged, 
taking up a defensive posture.
	"Okay.  What about you, Kamidake?  Two on one, or should 
I just spar with Azaka here?" Russ asked, nodding his head 
from side to side to work out a kink in his neck.
	"I'll just observe and see what you two do."  The red 
knight walked off the mat and stood at the edge with his arms 
folded over his chest, his staff resting on the floor and 
being held up by one of his hands.
	"Begin," Azaka ordered, tensing up his whole body in 
preparation for a massive charge from Russ.
	"Okay," came the answer.
	Russ slowly began walking over to him, his face not 
showing any emotion or any indication of what his intentions 
were.  It was the perfect poker face.  His footsteps thumped 
across the mat in a steady rhythm and the floorboards under 
his feet cracked and snapped from the extreme weight.
	Azaka's face was also contorted into concentration, 
however, he couldn't figure out why Russ was taking his time 
approaching him.  It was very unusual to do something like 
that.  Perhaps he was going to charge when he got a few paces 
closer.  Perspiration drenched his robes from the stress of 
waiting for a surprise lunge, which never came.  
	Finally standing directly in front of the blue knight, 
Russ stared down into his eyes, almost as if trying to read 
his thoughts.  Then, without warning, Russ made his first 
move, and attacked Azaka.  Bringing his left leg up, he 
snapped his foot toward Azaka's side, level with his ribs.  
Speedily, he brought his arm in front of the blow and blocked 
it, pain lancing through his arm from the force of the blow 
and causing a small bruise.  Russ withdrew his leg, raised it 
higher, and snapped it forward again, aiming for the side of 
Azaka's head.
	He never saw it coming.  The blow connected and Azaka 
stumbled away, more from surprise and shock than from actual 
pain.  Staring at Russ, he quickly mounted his own offense and 
charged his opponent, swinging his staff at Russ's midsection.  
Russ quickly blocked it, grabbed the staff in his hand, and 
buried his left fist into Azaka's stomach, forcing all the air 
out of him and causing him to drop to one knee.  Quickly 
capitalizing on the situation, Russ brought his arm down in 
one swift stroke toward the back of Azaka's neck.
	Everybody gasped in horror as they expected to see a 
deadly blow, but it never came.  Russ stopped his hand just 
above his neck, and then gently brought his hand down to rest 
on his target.
	"You're dead," he announced in triumph.  "You should've 
been able to block all of those blows.  What happened?"
	Azaka wheezed a few moments as he started to catch his 
breath again.  "You're too fast," he said simply.  "There's no 
way I can block shots that move that fast."
	"You were moving faster when you two attacked me.  I was 
moving slower in comparison with what you're capable of," he 
answered, frowning.
	"He's right, Azaka.  He was moving pretty slowly," 
Kamidake interjected from the side.  "However, I never 
expected him to pull blows like he did.  I would've gone 
flying as well."
	"It was only three blows.  Of course, if I pull those 
three blows again, you'll know exactly how to block them, now 
won't you?"
	"Yes.  I see your point."  Azaka stood up, clutching his 
stomach and rubbing his sore arm.  "But you're not going to do 
those same three moves again, are you?"
	"It depends.  I don't know.  That's the key of random 
fighting.  You have no idea if I'm going to pull those same 
three moves again or not.  If I do it again and you block it, 
chances are I won't do it again.  But then again, I may throw 
that combo in if I think you're not expecting it.  I don't 
even know what I'm going to do.  It's all spur the moment type 
stuff."
	"Well, ready for a second go?" Azaka invited.  "Just 
spar.  I'd like to see how I measure up."
	"Use your full power, okay?  I don't know if you guys 
get enough challenges around here to use your power to the 
extreme, but I'll be a sufficient opponent," Russ grinned.  He 
couldn't help but brag about his power from time to time.
	Azaka looked at him, then smiled and nodded his head.  
"Kamidake?  Hold onto my staff for me, will you?  I'm going 
this one hand to hand."
	"Are you sure?" Kamidake asked, concerned.
	"Yeah."  He tossed his staff to his friend and Kamidake 
caught it easily.  "Ready?" he asked, turning toward Russ 
again.
	"Yup.  Let's go."

	Elsewhere, Tenchi and Ryoko were casually walking 
through the local city, stopping at nearly every store to 
window shop.  Tenchi didn't mind and contented himself with 
just being beside Ryoko the whole time.  He never realized how 
beautiful she appeared and how in love with her he really was 
until two weeks ago, when Russ arrived on Earth.  Still not 
being able to figure out why he made love that night, he 
distracted himself when Ryoko stopped in front of a candy 
store, and he lost his train of thought.
	"Oooh, I haven't had that kind of candy in a long time!  
Tenchi?  Can we go inside?" Ryoko begged, tugging on his arm 
and pointing to a box of a very weird looking candy.  It was 
covered in what looked like glitter and it resembled the shape 
of gumdrops.
	Tenchi smiled and nodded his head.  "Okay.  What is 
that, anyway?"
	Ryoko smiled and giggled like a little girl.  "It's 
really good.  Come on!  Let's get it.  We can share it too."
	"We're going to spoil our dinner, Ryoko," he said, 
seriously.  But he softened up again and took Ryoko's hand.  
"But I guess one snack never hurt anybody."
	Ryoko led him inside and made her way to one of the bulk 
candy bins, where she grabbed a plastic bag and immediately 
began filling it with the candy she wanted.  A few moments 
later, she finished and tied the bag closed, but barely.  She 
filled it to the point where you couldn't fill it anymore.
	"Are you sure you have enough candy there, Ryoko?" 
Tenchi asked, shaking his head in amusement.
	"It's my favorite and I haven't had it in years.  I need 
to feed my craving."  Ryoko handed Tenchi the bag and he took 
at closer look at the contents.
	"What does this stuff taste like?" he asked, scrunching 
his nose.  "It doesn't look all that appetizing.  The sparkle 
things look like glitter."
	"That stuff is sugar," she explained while opening up 
another bin and filling a second bag with a different candy.  
"But don't worry, you'll like it."
	"Ryoko!  What are you doing?" he asked, annoyed, eyeing 
the second bag.  "I thought we were just getting one bag of 
candy!  And besides, you filled this thing up to almost 
bursting."
	"This is for later," she said, smiling seductively.  
"We'll eat this when we go to bed tonight."  She floated over 
and put her arm around Tenchi, then whispered into his ear.  
"This candy has a neat little effect on the people who eat it.  
You'll see what it is, tonight."  She blew into his ear 
causing him to break out in goosebumps.
	"Hey, come on.  Don't do that here!  People are 
staring!" Tenchi hissed, pushing her off of him a little.  
"Just act normally, okay?"
	Her face looked like she was going to cry.  Hanging her 
head in shame, she quietly floated beside him, guilt all over 
her visage.  Tying up the last bag of candy, she silently 
floated over to the counter and set the candy down.
	Tenchi shook his head and wondered why she took 
everything to extremes.  He set down the bag of candy that he 
was carrying and reached for his wallet under the mass of 
robes.  "I'm sorry, Ryoko.  I didn't mean to hurt your 
feelings.  It's just that it embarrasses me.  I'm not used to 
that."
	"I know, Tenchi.  But I've always done what I want, and 
flirting with you in public is fun and it makes me feel good.  
I wish it didn't embarrass you like you say it does.  I want 
everybody to know how much I love you."
	Now Tenchi felt guilty.  Curling his arm around her 
waist, he pulled her closer and kissed her on the cheek.  "I 
love you too, but doing that kind of thing in public isn't 
very good.  Holding hands and little kisses are fine, but 
nothing more than that, okay?"
	"Okay."
	The young store clerk approached the counter with a 
smile.  "Good evening, sir.  Is this all for today?" he asked, 
lifting up the two bags and setting them down on a scale.
	"Yes.  How much will that be?" Tenchi asked, opening his 
wallet and thumbing through the various bills.
	"Let's see," he said, tallying up the price on the 
register.  He looked back at Tenchi and stared at him for a 
moment.  "Hey, aren't you Prince Tenchi?"
	Closing his eyes and letting out a quiet groan, he shook 
his head.  "I'm just Tenchi.  How much does that come to?"
	The clerk looked at him in bewilderment.  Here he was, 
standing face to face with the crown prince of Jurai.  It felt 
to be such an honor just to be in his presence.  The sound of 
Tenchi clearing his throat snapped him out of his trance.
	"I'm sorry, your highness.  That was rude of me.  Take 
the candy with our compliments," he said, bowing humbly.
	"Not again," he groaned.  "I'll pay for the candy like 
everybody else does.  I'm not the prince of Jurai, okay?"
	The young clerk trembled slightly.  "I cannot, your 
highness.  Please, take the candy with our compliments, and 
have a very pleasant evening."  Everybody in the store stopped 
and stared at Tenchi, in awe that they were in his company and 
didn't even know it.
	Tenchi was about to argue the point further when Ryoko 
put a hand on his shoulder.  "Just do as he says.  They want 
you to take the candy, so do it," she whispered, drawing a 
glare from Tenchi.  "Everybody sees you as the prince here.  
But you're my treasure, and you're all mine."  She kissed his 
cheek and squeezed him tighter.  "Come on, Tenchi.  Let's 
enjoy ourselves and the candy together, okay?"
	Sighing in defeat, he bowed to the clerk.  "Thank you 
very much.  I appreciate it."  He picked up both bags of candy 
and led Ryoko out of the store, with the clerk and everybody 
else staring after him.  "I guess I have to get used to that 
here or something."  He grinned sheepishly at the floating 
space pirate next to him.  "So, where do you want to go eat it 
at?"
	"I saw a bench outside of the palace in the garden.  Why 
don't we go over there?"
	"Okay.  I guess we can do that," he said, smiling at 
her.  "It's a nice day with warm weather and the scenery is 
beautiful."
	"WHAT scenery, Tenchi?" she said, floating closer to him 
and taking his hand, winking at him.
	"Oh, I don't know," he teased.  "That tree over there 
has a very nice figure."
	Ryoko grabbed him in both arms and started crushing him.  
"What did you say, Tenchi?" she whispered into his ear, 
squeezing him even tighter.
	"I said you're very beautiful, Ryoko!" he managed to 
choke out.  He took in a huge breath of air when Ryoko 
released him.
	"That's better."  She hugged him much more gently and 
kissed his cheek.  Without warning, she teleported the both of 
them to the garden bench, which thankfully wasn't occupied, 
and let go of Tenchi.
	Looking around with utter surprise and confusion, he 
realized what just happened.  "I wish you'd warn me before 
doing that, okay?"
	Ryoko appeared confused, but nodded her head.  "Sure 
Tenchi.  But now," she said, sitting down and pulling the 
prince down next to her.  "Time to indulge this candy!"

	"It sure has been a long time since we've been to Jurai.  
It's amazing how much everything has remained the same," 
Kiyone said, making her way around a different area of the 
city.  She stopped in front of a store that sold various 
Jurian clothing and checked out a black lace dress that was on 
display in the window.  It was made of silk and had plenty of 
room in the cups, and did not have shoulder straps.  It almost 
shined like a well-polished spaceship.
	"You said it, Kiyone.  I remember most of these stores 
down this street," Mihoshi said, who was walking slowly next 
to her partner.  She noticed Kiyone's gaze fixated on the 
dress in the window.  "That's a really pretty dress.  Why 
don't you get it for yourself?"  Mihoshi smiled and pressed 
her face to the window to drown out the reflection from the 
nearby shops.
	Kiyone sighed to herself and shook her head.  "There's 
no way I could afford this.  I have more important things to 
worry about, like paying the rent on our apartment."  Her head 
drooped slightly and the smile melted off of her lips.
	"Come on, Kiyone.  You deserve something nice after all 
that you do.  Don't worry so much about the money," she urged, 
smiling even wider.
	"I have to worry about the money because nobody else 
does.  And if we can't afford the payments on the apartment, 
we'll lose it and they'll kick us out," Kiyone mumbled 
unhappily.
	Mihoshi's eyes sparkled.  "Come on inside and let's take 
a closer look at it," she giggled, pulling on her partner's 
arm and nearly dragging her to the entrance.  "Maybe they have 
it on sale or something."
	"Come on, Mihoshi!  Even if it WAS on sale there is 
still no way I could afford it.  We're already in the red this 
month."  Kiyone began resisting Mihoshi's enthusiasm but she 
had no real will in it.  Finally allowing herself to be 
dragged in, she sighed in defeat.
	A well-dressed entrepreneur approached both Galaxy 
Police officers almost immediately.  "Good evening, ladies.  
Is there anything I can do for you today?" he asked with a 
smile and offering his hand.
	Mihoshi immediately took his hand and shook.  "I'm 
Mihoshi and this is my partner, Kiyone.  We were looking at 
that black dress in the window.  How much is it?  Kiyone was 
interested in it."
	The man turned around and approached the display.  "This 
dress here?"
	"Yes!  That's the one!" she giggled happily.
	"Let's see.  The price on this dress is normally a 
hundred, forty thousand yen, but we've got a half-off sale 
today, so it's marked down to seventy thousand yen.  A very 
good buy," he added.
	"See, Kiyone!  It is on sale.  Let's get it for you.  We 
can manage the money somehow."
	Her partner shook her head.  "Sorry, Mihoshi.  Like I 
said, we're already in the red this month and there is no way 
I could afford that, even with it being on sale."  She turned 
toward the salesman.  "I'm sorry to trouble you, sir."
	He looked at both of them and thought of the names 
again.  Suddenly, it clicked.  These two individuals were the 
galaxy police officers that assisted the princess against the 
imposter Yosho!  He had heard about the many amazing things 
that they all had done together and all the hardships they 
endured.  Wanting to meet them both for some time, he realized 
that the wish had come true.  Here they were, standing in 
front of him.
	Also, an announcement made by the empress of Jurai, 
Funaho, made earlier today had entered his memory too.  She 
had ordered that everything be given to them, and the bill 
sent to the emperor.  However, do it all discretely.  He 
couldn't help but smile.
	"Ladies?  I've always wanted to meet you two.  It gives 
me great pleasure and honor to finally be able to do so."  He 
bowed humbly.  "Kiyone?  Do you want this dress?"
	"I'm sorry sir, but we can't afford it," she answered, 
hanging her head and looking away.  Why did everything have to 
revolve around MONEY?
	"Oh, that's no problem," he announced, preparing to 
remove the dress from the display.  "We would be honored if 
you would accept the dress with our appreciation, free of 
charge."
	Kiyone's jaw dropped straight through the floor as she 
nearly fainted.  Staring blankly at him, Mihoshi broke the 
deafening silence.
	"Yay!  See?  Everything worked out, just like I said!" 
she giggled, clapping her hands together.  "Yes, we'll take 
the dress.  Thank you very much, sir!"
	"Mihoshi!  We can't accept that!  We'd get in serious 
trouble with our superiors for accepting thanks for doing a 
job!" Kiyone said, thinking of a few officers who had accepted 
tokens of gratitude and who were demoted because of it.
	Realizing he was about to lose a sale, he clerk 
interrupted her.  "It's not free.  The empress ordered that 
everything that you choose be billed to them.  We're still 
getting our money, so don't be concerned over it."
	"That's just as bad!" Kiyone retorted.
	"Come on," Mihoshi begged.  "Treat yourself to something 
nice and stop putting duty above all else.  It's obvious that 
Jurai is in debited to you and they want to repay it with 
thanks."
	"But the Galaxy Police regulations…"
	"Don't worry about them.  I'm sure the empress would 
explain it if they asked," Mihoshi interrupted sternly.  
"We're getting this dress.  End of story."  She then smiled 
and giggled.
	Staring at her partner in shock, she couldn't think of a 
comeback.  It was so uncharacteristic of her to take charge of 
ANYTHING!  Watching the clerk remove the dress very carefully 
and fold it up, she silently followed him to the counter, duty 
screaming at her to refuse the offering.  But strangely, she 
finally decided to turn her nose up at duty and allow Jurai to 
offer her a little token of thanks.
	"Is there anything you'd like, ma'am?" he asked, turning 
toward Mihoshi.  "We have a very large variety of dresses that 
would look very pretty on you."
	"Oh, nothing for me, thanks," she answered cheerily.
	"You forced me to get something.  Seems only fair that 
you get something too," Kiyone informed her.  "Let's see what 
they've got.  You may find something you like."
	"But I have no reason to get one.  I've got plenty of 
clothes…"
	"Shut up, Mihoshi," she growled.  "Sir?  Could you 
recommend something for my partner here?"
	"Hmmm," he said, approaching the two.  He casually 
walked in a full circle around her, admiring her figure and 
her facial features, paying particular attention to her eye 
color.  "I think a dress similar to yours, but in a light blue 
that matches her eyes would look the best.  Except with maybe 
more sparkle.  Yeah, I think that would look good."  He nodded 
his head confidently.  "Let me see if I have something in 
stock.  Come with me," he said, making his way deeper into the 
store.
	The two GP followed him to a rack that had various full-
length dresses and he browsed the selection.  A few moments 
later, he withdrew a dress that was a perfect match for 
Mihoshi's eyes.  It glittered and sparkled, as if it were 
covered in thousands of tiny little mirrors.  Mihoshi gasped 
and carefully took the dress from his hands, pressing it to 
herself and turning toward her partner.
	"What do you think, Kiyone?  Would I look good in this 
dress?"
	Kiyone smiled and nodded.  "I think that would look 
great on you.  Go try it on.  I want to see you in it."
	"The dressing rooms are right over here, ma'am," the 
salesman said, gesturing to an area nearby.  "We also do 
alterations while you wait.  If something doesn't fit quite 
right, we'll fix it so that it does.  Why don't you go try 
your dress on as well, ma'am?" he asked, looking at Kiyone.
	"Okay," she said, smiling and blushing slightly.  "I've 
never worn anything like that before.  I'm curious myself as 
to how I'll look in it."
	"I'll be right back.  I left it on the counter."
	He hurried off and returned a moment later with the 
dress, and showed Kiyone to the dressing room.  A few minutes 
later, they exited the rooms at the same time and turned 
toward each other, both of them admiring the other.
	"Wow!  Kiyone!  You look so good!" Mihoshi squealed.  
"What about me?"
	Kiyone blushed and looked down to the floor shyly.  "You 
look great as well, Mihoshi.  That dress really goes good with 
your eyes."
	They each turned toward a wall of full-length mirrors, 
and began to admire themselves.  Kiyone carefully tugged on a 
few spots of the dress, trying different postures and feeling 
the dress flow around her legs while Mihoshi smiled at 
herself, then stood next to her partner, leaning against her 
and seeing how they looked as a pair.
	The clerk caught himself staring at the two of them, and 
feeling a little flushed and turned on.  "You look absolutely 
fabulous!  Those dresses almost seem to have been created just 
for you two ladies.  Even I'm very impressed with how well you 
look in them."
	They both turned toward him and continued to blush.  He 
approached Kiyone and circled her, pulling at certain points 
on the dress and testing the overall fit.  A moment later, he 
gave the same treatment to Mihoshi.
	"Well, I must say, they fit nearly perfectly.  It is 
very rare when that happens.  But it's always convenient when 
it does," he laughed.  "Well, change back and we'll box those 
up for you so you can take them home."
	"Thanks again, sir," Kiyone said, re-entering the 
dressing room.  Mihoshi did the same and they emerged a few 
moments later, dressed in their casual Japanese style 
clothing.  They followed the man to the counter and waited 
patiently as he carefully folded each dress and placed them in 
white crepe paper, then placed them both in large boxes, 
sealing them with tape.  He then smiled and handed the boxes 
over with a humble bow.
	"Thank you for allowing me the privilege to wait on you.  
Enjoy the dresses and have a nice evening.  You'll be the envy 
of the palace with those dresses."
	They each bowed back in return.  "Thank you, sir.  We 
appreciate the trouble."
	"No trouble at all," he said with a laugh.  "I've always 
wanted to meet you two and I am honored to have helped you 
today."
	Both girls smiled and bowed once more, then departed the 
store.
	"I still feel funny about taking a dress and not paying 
for it, especially one that is as expensive as this one," 
Kiyone mussed.
	"Stop your worrying.  Galaxy Police won't even hear 
about it.  I'm sure a lot more people accept little tokens of 
gratitude without them knowing all the time," Mihoshi said, 
rolling her eyes.  "Nothing to worry about, except the fact 
dinner will be served in a little while."
	"Oh my gosh!  I lost track of the time while we were in 
there!  We should get going," said Kiyone, increasing her 
speed and making her way to the palace.  Mihoshi easily kept 
pace beside her partner.

	Azaka and Kamidake both stumbled off of the training 
mat, battered and bruised, their egos deflated to almost non-
existence.  Never, in their entire lives, have they been so 
easily defeated by anyone not of the Royal Family.  Misaki 
walked next to them, also roughed up considerably, her own ego 
tucked between her legs as she limped away with the two 
knights.  Russ remained on the mat, a slight grin creasing his 
expression, his clothing slightly damp from perspiration from 
the enhanced gravity and extreme exercise.
	Most everybody in the room stared at him in awe, trying 
to figure out how in the world he could've defeated not one, 
not two, but all three of the competitors so easily.  And they 
were the strongest people they've ever seen.  Several people 
were sweating in fear while others just shook their heads in 
utter amazement at the feats of enormous strength and speed 
that the spiky haired one possessed.  And he didn't even look 
warmed up, AND he was under an enormous amount of gravity.
	The floor was shattered in several places where Russ 
jumped into the air and landed again while dodging leg sweeps.  
Several people on the maintenance crew realized that they had 
their work cut out for them this time.  Fortunately, since 
Russ threw no ki blasts and blocked all the ones that were 
thrown at him, the amount of damage that was averted was 
staggering.
	While the trio walked off the stage to take a breather, 
another man came up on the mat who was well built and 
muscular, but was a tad shorter than Russ.  He casually walked 
up behind the Saiyan and smacked him on the back of his head.  
Everybody gasped in horror, but the man continued smiling as 
Russ rolled his eyes and grinned.
	"That you, Tom?" he asked, not even turning around.
	"Dammit, how do you know it's always me, huh?" he 
laughed, walking around Russ and standing in front of him.
	"You're the only one who whacks me on the back of the 
head like that.  Plus I can't detect you since you have no 
ki."
	"Maybe I should kick you in the crotch then.  Then you 
wouldn't know it was me," he said, snickering.
	"And once I got back up, you'd cease to exist," Russ 
warned, also grinning.  "But anyway, what's up?  How'd you 
know I was here?"
	"Duh.  All you ever do is train, so I figured the first 
place to look would be in a training room."
	Aeka bristled slightly, even though it wasn't meant to 
make fun of her for fretting all that time looking for him.  
She looked at her mother who sat down next to her once again 
and rubbed her sore arm.
	"So, you want to train a little more?  You can fight ME 
now," Tom challenged, producing a weapon from under his shirt.
	Russ laughed.  "Here we go again."  He turned toward a 
man who was standing nearby.  "Hey you there, sir.  May I 
borrow your staff?"
	He looked at him incredulously and shakily nodded his 
head.  "Sure."  Tossing the staff to Russ, he caught it easily 
and swung it around a couple times.
	"I wish I could form my own energy sword or staff.  
Having to use these physical weapons suck," he complained to 
himself.  
	Misaki overheard his complaint.  She couldn't believe 
that he couldn't form an energy sword out of his ki.  A man, 
who was capable of defeating everybody on the planet of Jurai, 
couldn't master one of the simplest techniques of forming an 
energy weapon.  Smiling slightly in satisfaction that she 
could teach him something that he didn't know pleased her 
immensely.  Before Russ left the planet, she made it a point 
to teach him how to do just that.
	Tom swung his weapon around a few times and smiled at 
Russ.  "Time for a little showboating."
	Russ laughed and shook his head.  "You and those 
nunchucks.  I swear, one of these days you're going to bust 
yourself in the head or something stupid."
	Swinging the weapon once more, Tom speedily began 
whipping them all around his body at incredible speed, the 
nunchucks whistling through the air.  He began making karate 
sound effects, causing Russ to start laughing even harder.  
However, everybody else who was watching him fell silent, 
quietly watching him perform with a weapon that they have 
never seen before.  The weapon flew all around his waist, 
around his legs, over his shoulders and alternated from hand 
to hand.
	After about a minute of fast and furious showboating, 
Tom held his weapon out in front of him, ready for combat.
	Russ grinned.  "You're better than I remember.  But now, 
it's my turn," he said, swing the staff a couple of times, 
then began spinning it at an insane rate, as he speedily 
whipped the staff through the air, making it appear only as a 
blur to the audience.  He spun it all around his body, 
however, he kept himself silent, and the only sound in the 
room was the staff soaring through the air.
	He went for the same amount of time that Tom did and 
held the staff in his hand, ready for combat.  "I've got a 
better idea.  Do you remember the November song by Mythos?"
	Tom nodded his head.  "Yeah."  He thought a moment more 
then cringed.  "Don't tell me you want to do that… thing."
	"Oh, quit complaining.  Everybody who has seen it has 
liked it.  I don't understand why you don't like doing it."
	Falling silent, he couldn't think of a suitable retort 
and he folded his arms over his chest, frowning.  Russ walked 
off the mat to the corner he was originally training at, 
picked up his stereo system, and returned to the padded area.
	"I'm glad I brought this thing with me," he said, 
setting it down on the edge away from the crowd.  "Let's see… 
Mythos… Mythos… Ahhh, here it is."  Selecting the song he was 
looking for, he turned toward Tom.  "Put those things away and 
grab a staff, pinhead."
	"Shut up.  I'm going."  Pointing to the guard who was 
standing nearby, he politely asked for the staff, which the 
man gave him.  He thanked him then returned to the center of 
the mat, where Russ was patiently waiting.
	"You ready?" asked Russ, grinning widely.
	Tom swung the staff a couple times and stood it on end.  
"I hate this," he grumbled.  "Yeah, I'm ready."
	"Good."  He quickly pressed play on the stereo and 
turned the volume up quite loudly, but not uncomfortably loud, 
and he took up his position.
	The music began to play, fading in slowly, as Russ and 
Tom began to rock back and forth to the rhythm.  

	"What's he doing?" Misaki asked, rubbing a bruise on her 
leg.
	"I have no idea.  This is the first time I've seen 
whatever it is he's about to do," Aeka answered.  She watched 
him in wonder, curious as to what he had in mind.
	As the music continued to play, it went into full force 
a few moments later.  Both Russ and Tom moved at exactly the 
same time, perfectly synchronized to the music's rhythm, as 
they slowly spun the staffs and performed martial arts in slow 
motion.
	Aeka gasped.  "It's a dance," she whispered in wonder.  
Now that was something she has never seen anybody do before, 
and definitely didn't expect Russ to have a talent for.  
Contemplating the fact that she hadn't danced in years, it 
brought back fond memories of the many dances in the ballroom 
at the palace.  She thought of the very first dance she had, 
with a young prince of a neighboring star system.  Neither of 
them were any good at it, but it was fun.  Everybody applauded 
her valiant attempt at it.
	Watching Russ perform his dance pleased her, and she 
noticed that she had something else in common with him.  
Imagining what could be her first dance with him, she sighed 
in regret, knowing that he'd probably never want to do 
something like that.  However, she'd never know unless she 
asked.
	"Wow!  I had no idea he could dance too," whispered 
Sasami to her sister.  "The music is really neat too.  So calm 
and peaceful."
	Aeka nodded and continued to watch both Russ and Tom 
perform the routine flawlessly, keeping in perfect time.  The 
music was calming and relaxing, but it went very well with the 
dance.  "Yeah.  I like the music too."
	Sasami giggled, noting the direction of Aeka's stare and 
her partially open mouth.  She turned toward her mother and 
looked up at her eyes, which were also locked on Russ.  
Giggling even harder, she poked her mom in the side.  "What do 
you think, mom?  Isn't that neat?"
	Misaki barely acknowledged her daughter, as she was 
completely caught up in the dance.  "Yes dear," she managed to 
mutter out, never letting her eyes wander from the pair.
	The song drew to a close, and they both ended by keeping 
one knee on the mat with the staff laid on the floor, as they 
both appeared to bow when the song ended.
	Deathly silence greeted their ears as they both 
cautiously looked up from their position, their foreheads 
beading with perspiration.  They both got to their feet and 
looked at each other in confusion, as they both glanced around 
the room at the many faces, most of which carried the same, 
awestruck expression.
	Standing up, Misaki flew over to Russ and grabbed him in 
a bone-crushing hug.  "That was BEAUTIFUL!  Please teach me 
that dance!" she begged.
	Letting out a massive sigh of relief, he scratched 
behind his head.  "Uh… I suppose I could do that.  It 
shouldn't take too long to write down the steps and show you 
how to do it."
	A woman from the audience piped up.  "Would you mind 
teaching those of us who would also like to learn that?  I 
think that would impress my husband a great deal."
	Russ looked around the room at the many faces that 
basically pleaded with him to instruct them.  "I think I can 
manage that.  But I'm not sure if I have enough time.  We only 
arrived for the Startica festival and then we intended on 
heading home, since some of the people who came with us have 
things to do back on Earth."
	"Hey Russ, I'll be taking off for a bit.  I'm going to 
tour the city for a while.  I'll catch you later, alright?" 
Tom said, retrieving his nunchucks and tossing the staff to 
the guard.
	Misaki turned toward him.  "No.  You're coming with us 
to the dining room.  Dinner will be served shortly, and I'd 
like you to join us.  I assume you're Russ's friend?"
	"Yes ma'am.  Who are you?"
	"My name is Misaki, and I'm one of the empresses of 
Jurai," she said flatly.  "And I won't take no for an answer."
	Tom's jaw dropped slightly, but he nodded his head.  
"Okay.  I don't have a problem with that.  I ate a few hours 
ago so I'm not all that hungry, though."
	"So what.  You can keep me company," Russ said, 
grinning.  "Introduce yourself to her, silly."
	Tom smacked his head and approached her.  "I'm sorry.  
My name is Tom Franklin.  It's a pleasure to meet you, your 
highness."  He bowed graciously and stood up straight.
	Russ cleared his throat.  "He's also the captain of the 
starship that brought all of us here so quickly," he added.
	Misaki's eyes lit up and she crushed him in one of her 
famous hugs.  "So YOU'RE the other man who made all of this 
possible.  Thank you so much for bringing my daughters home 
for Startica!  I really appreciate it."
	"No trouble at all," he managed to choke out, turning 
blue from lack of oxygen.  She released him a few moments 
later.
	"Well, let's get to the dining hall.  I'm starving, 
especially after that workout!  Azaka, Kamidake!  You will 
join us as well," she insisted.
	"Yes ma'am," they answered in unison.
	"Come on, Tom," Misaki ordered, gesturing for him to 
follow her.  "We're all going to the dining hall and are going 
to eat dinner together."

	Following the empress out of the training arena, Aeka, 
Sasami, Ryo-Ohki, Russ, Azaka, Kamidake, and Tom formed a 
group behind her and idly chatted the entire way to the hall.  
The living quarters were on the way, so Russ quickly dropped 
his stereo off in his room and rejoined the group, just as 
they reached the dining room.  Once again, everybody took 
their usual seats, except Azaka and Kamidake sat side by side, 
Russ and Tom sat opposite of them.  All of them remained in 
their training clothes, and neglected to take a shower once 
they were finished sparring.  Nobuyuki, Washu, Funaho, Asuza 
and Yosho were already at the table.
	Misaki sat down next to her husband who stared at her in 
utter shock and surprise.  Here was his wife, regal queen of 
Jurai, and she looked like the barbarian sitting at the end of 
the table!  What on Jurai happened to her?  He noticed the 
appearance of the two knights as well, who also looked pretty 
banged up.
	"What happened to you?" Funaho asked, eyeing Asuza, and 
curious herself.
	"We had a little sparring match with Aeka's boyfriend.  
He's really strong and fast," she explained, smiling.
	Russ was in the process of taking a drink of water that 
he poured for himself from one of the available pitchers, and 
he nearly spat it all over the table when he heard Misaki say 
that.  He blushed furiously and tried to subdue his coughing, 
but not being very successful.  Tom just laughed and slapped 
him on the back, which caused him to go into another violent 
fit of coughing.  Azaka and Kamidake both enjoyed his 
embarrassment and surprise.
	Asuza looked knives at Russ, who was just now 
recovering.  "Explain your actions!  How dare you spar with my 
wife!"
	Misaki snapped her gaze at her husband and let out a 
menacing snarl.  "I can spar with whomever I want.  I chose to 
spar with him.  End of story."
	Asuza ignored her.  "Well?  I'm waiting!"
	"What's the problem?  We sparred.  I didn't hurt her, 
but only roughed her up a bit," Russ said coldly, matching the 
emperor's glare.
	"That's no excuse, scum!  You do not spar with royalty!" 
he shouted.
	Russ's eyebrow twitched slightly at the insult and he 
growled something to himself.  "Then tell your wife that.  I 
was on the mat and she challenged me.  What was I supposed to 
do?"
	"Refuse the challenge and walk away.  Even the lowly 
peasants understand that here," he shot back.
	Misaki rose from her chair and got right in Asuza's 
face, her gaze promising a very painful whipping for later if 
he didn't stop his tirade.  Funaho also rose from her chair 
and uncharacteristically matched Misaki's motions.
	"You will stop insulting him.  He is our guest, and you 
will treat him accordingly," Funaho said, keeping her voice 
low and menacing.
	Eyeing both of his wives and the disapproving stares 
from everybody seated at the table, he let out an exasperated 
sigh and folded his arms over his chest, sitting back in his 
chair.  Satisfied that they subdued him, Misaki and Funaho 
both sat down and smiled, as if nothing had happened.
	Tenchi, Ryoko, Kiyone, and Mihoshi all chose that moment 
to join the group, and they took up their usual seats.
	"Hi.  Where did you two run off to?" Aeka asked, smiling 
at the two and pretending to ignore her father's silent rage.
	"We toured part of the city.  There is a lot of neat 
stuff here that is considerably different in comparison to 
Earth," Tenchi told her.  "It's such a wonderful planet."
	"Yes.  It has a different kind of beauty than what we 
see on Earth."  Aeka looked at the two of them a little more 
closely and started giggling.
	"What's so funny, Aeka?" Ryoko asked, confused.
	"You two were eating something, weren't you?  You both 
have a ring of candy around your lips," Aeka told them, 
giggling and shaking her head.  "I hope you didn't spoil your 
dinner appetite."
	Both of them blushed slightly.  "We're still hungry.  
Don't worry about that.  But I am confused about why nobody 
will let me pay for anything," Tenchi mussed.
	Misaki smiled.  "That's because you're the prince of 
Jurai, silly.  We get the same treatment whenever we leave the 
palace."
	"But I'm not the prince!  I'm just a…"
	Misaki interrupted him.  "Nonsense.  You are the true 
prince of Jurai, and you proved it when you defeated Kagato.  
Now, no more of that rubbish," she ordered, sternly.
	Ryoko sighed and noted that she'd have to live with the 
fact that he really is the prince.  But still, him being of 
royalty seemed so… surreal.  He didn't act regal or anything 
of the sort.  But that was why she loved him.  He was so 
simple and kind, and that's all that mattered to her.

	At the other end of the table, Russ was conversing with 
Tom, when their topic of discussion wandered onto anime.  They 
both had the same love for animated material, but strangely, 
they both preferred dubbed versions in their native language 
of English.
	"Hey Russ, have you ever seen Saber Marionette J 
before?" Tom asked, curious if that was something that Russ 
HADN'T seen.
	"Actually, no.  What's it like?"
	Tom nearly fell out of his chair.  "Wow.  An anime 
you've never watched.  Amazing."
	Russ rolled his eyes.  "Cut out the sarcasm and tell me 
about it, butthead."
	"Okay, okay.  It's really cool.  To explain it in a 
nutshell, there is this kid who is one of six survivors of a 
colony ship that had blown up in outer space.  The drop ship 
managed to make it down to the planet, but only the six 
survived.  All males too, with no way of getting any outside 
help.  They expanded their numbers by cloning and genetic 
alteration," Tom explained, watching Russ's face become more 
and more interested.  "Later, they managed to expand their 
numbers, but they still weren't able to create any women.  In 
place of them, they made these things called Marionettes, or 
robotic women to do their bidding.  But anyway, the kid 
somehow managed to wake up three very special Marionettes with 
something called Maiden Circuits, which gives them emotions.  
Not only that, but the fight scenes are really neat.  They 
remind me of how you fight, meaning they do it really fast and 
action packed.  A little later in the story, an evil tyrant, 
Faust, emerges and tries to start a war with Japoness, and it 
winds up that Otaru and his girls have to go stop him.  Oh 
yeah, even though the girls are robotic, all three of them 
fall in love with Otaru, and they fight for his affections a 
lot."
	Russ nodded his head.  "This sounds really cool.  Do you 
have the DVDs on the ship or anything so I can watch it?"
	"Unfortunately, we've only got the first two volumes.  I 
have been unable to get the third volume as of yet.  The first 
nine episodes are completely off the wall and funny, but the 
next eight episodes, or the second volume, have a few 
depressing and emotional scenes.  It's really good.  And the 
soundtrack absolutely kicks ass," Tom said, watching his 
friend's excitement grow.
	"I have to see it.  Once we're done with dinner, I'm 
going to your ship to borrow the videos to watch them 
tonight," Russ said, smiling.
	"Oh, you won't have to do that," he said, producing two 
DVD cases from a pocket in his jacket.  "Here they are.  The 
girl on the front of volume one here is named Lime, and the 
one on the second case here is named Cherry.  You'll learn 
about them and meet them in the first five episodes.  There is 
a third Marionette named Bloodberry, too."  He lowered his 
voice and leaned closer to Russ.  "But frankly, if I had to 
compare them to people we know, Lime would be a perfect 
Mihoshi, Cherry would be a perfect combination of Aeka and 
Sasami, and Bloodberry would make a perfect replica of Ryoko."
	Russ raised his eyebrows considerably.  "You're 
kidding."
	"No.  I'm serious.  It's almost as if those characters 
were modeled after everybody in this room."
	"Wait.  How do you know what Aeka, Sasami, Ryoko, and 
Mihoshi act like?  You've only seen them for about 15 minutes 
total onboard the ship!"
	"Just because I'm not with you, doesn't mean I'm not 
keeping an eye on you," Tom said, slyly.
	Russ clenched his fists under the table.  "You were 
spying on us the whole time?  Haven't you ever heard of 
PRIVACY?" he hissed.
	"Don't worry.  There are cameras and stuff in the game 
room, and that's where I noticed how everybody behaved.  I 
didn't look in on you when you were sleeping or anything.  I'm 
not that perverted," Tom said, suppressing a laugh.  
	Russ sighed.  "Well, okay.  I can't wait to see these 
episodes.  And I'm going to want the soundtrack too."
	Tom produced a CD from his coat pocket and handed it 
over.  "Done and done," he said, grinning.
	"Awesome.  You come prepared for everything, don't you?"
	"You bet.  But we better put this conversation on hold.  
Most everybody is staring at us."
	Both Tom and Russ looked up from their discussion and 
noticed that indeed, most everybody was watching them in 
interest.  Feeling their faces redden, they smiled sheepishly 
and began to mind their own business.
	"That sounds like a really neat anime.  I want to see it 
too," Misaki said, clasping her hands together and smiling.
	"Me too," Sasami added.  Ryo-Ohki meowed a couple times, 
indicating that she wanted to see it too.
	"Me three," Aeka said.
	Tenchi, Ryoko, Azaka, Kamidake, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and 
Nobuyuki all agreed as well.
	"I had no idea you guys liked animated stuff," Tom said, 
boldly joining in the conversation.  "We've got many others if 
you're interested.  But that will have to wait for later, 
because here comes dinner."
	The kitchen door was held open by one of the servants as 
many more filed through, each holding large trays piled high 
with delicious food.  Napkins were laid out over laps and the 
sound of clattering silverware greeted everybody's ears as the 
food was given out to everybody.
	Tom stared at all the food, barely able to keep from 
drooling.  "Wow!  All of this is prepared fresh?  I haven't 
had food like this in a long time.  Everything we've eaten has 
been replicated."
	"It's all fresh.  I guarantee you won't leave here 
hungry," Russ said, grinning and trying to keep himself from 
drooling as well.
	"Alright.  Let's dig in!" Tom announced, and beginning 
to eat with gusto.  "Mmmm!  This stuff is AWESOME!  I haven't 
tasted food this good in a long time."
	Funaho smiled.  "I'm glad you like it.  Eat as much as 
you want," she invited.
	"Thank you," he said, immediately shoving another piece 
of fish into his mouth and washing it down with red wine.
	Russ groaned.  "You're going to get drunk.  I can see it 
already."
	"Big deal.  Everybody here, except for Sasami and you, 
is drinking a little wine."
	"Oh, shut up."  Russ began eating at his usual pace, 
which meant his dinner plate was scraped clean in ten seconds.  
He let out a quiet, but very deep belch, and he did his best 
to conceal it.  Nevertheless, it was loud enough to raise 
chuckles around the entire table.
	"Yum," Russ said, rubbing his stomach.  "I'm ready for 
seconds!"
	Now everybody laughed out loud, except for Asuza, who 
ignored him completely.  Everybody ate most of the food in 
relative silence until Tom thought of something.
	"Hey Russ?" he began
	The Saiyan turned toward him with a mouthful of noodles.  
"Hmmm?"
	"I'm assuming you remember Era, the musical group?"
	He nodded yes.
	"Would you like to do a live performance of it here on 
Jurai?  You know, during the Startica festival?  I think that 
would be really cool.  And a lot of people on the ship want to 
do it too," Tom said.
	"Really?  I suppose we could do that.  But where would 
we do it?  It's not like we can just throw a concert together 
in five minutes.  We'd have to practice and stuff.  Besides, I 
want to play the drums this time," Russ added, grinning.
	"That's no problem.  We just recently came out with a 
portable holographic technology that will allow us to do 
whatever we want.  We can make a stage in a couple seconds and 
all the instruments would be holographic, unless we made real 
ones."
	"Interesting.  Well, what album would we do?  The first 
one or the second one?" Russ asked, taking another piece of 
tofu and swallowing it whole.
	"Most of the second and a couple from the first.  The 
more… peppy tracks.  The ones we both like the most."
	"I don't know about this.  I'll have to think about it.  
When do you want to practice, and where would we practice?"
	Everybody was listening to the two discuss their plans, 
but Misaki and Funaho both became very interested.  However, 
it was Funaho who answered first.
	"You could practice in our auditorium, and do the actual 
concert there too, if you'd like," Funaho offered.  "It's 
really large and can seat a lot of people.  How much were you 
going to charge to let people in?"
	Russ and Tom both facefaulted, then laughed.  "We don't 
charge for anything we do.  We like to do these things because 
we enjoy them, not to make money.  Onboard the ship, there is 
no money, and we have no use for it either," Tom explained, 
causing the empress to look at them in mild shock.
	"No money?  Why?"
	"As I said before, we don't need it.  Our ship is self-
sustaining, but if we see something new that we'd like, we 
simply trade technology for it."
	A world without money seemed almost impossible, but it 
also seemed like paradise if they managed to make it work.  
Apparently, they had.
	"Well, I'm interested to hear what you guys are going to 
play.  When shall you practice?"
	"We could do it tonight.  I had brought my portable 
projector with me so we can begin soon after dinner.  I'll 
just have to contact my ship and tell the people to come down 
here.  No problem."
	Funaho nodded.  "Okay.  Don't hesitate to ask us if you 
need anything else."
	"Thanks."

	Dinner passed with small bits of conversation from 
everybody, but no major roundtable discussions.  Russ and Tom 
continued to argue about anime, Azaka and Kamidake discussed 
their sparring match against Russ, Kiyone and Mihoshi talked 
about the two dresses they were given and how they were 
looking forward to tomorrow, and other conversations floated 
around the table.
	Once dinner was finished, dessert was served.  A 
delicious frozen treat native to Jurai was handed out, and was 
consumed almost as fast as the main course.  It was sweet like 
ice cream, but had a texture similar to cookie dough.
	The sun had already disappeared from view, and the night 
sounds began to play around the palace when everybody stood up 
from the table and proceeded to go do some nightly activities.  
However, everybody agreed that they should head to bed soon to 
get an early start on the next day.
	Startica promised a day filled with fun and joy, with 
many enjoyable activities.  Booths were being set up all along 
the main roads, filled with games to play and merchandise and 
prizes to win.
	In outer space around Jurai, hundreds of Jurai vessels 
converged on the planet almost all at once, doing their best 
to find stationary orbital parking places so the crew could go 
down to the planet and enjoy themselves.  Galaxy Police 
cruisers were everywhere directing traffic, doing their best 
to assist the Jurians in their dilemma.  It was a very busy 
time for the GP, and some of them loathed the duty shifts they 
pulled, since they knew how busy the space around Jurai got 
during the Startica festival.  Fortunately for Tom and his 
crew, they allowed the Star Destroyer to remain in its 
stationary orbit above the palace.  Some Jurians didn't like 
outsiders receiving such wonderful treatment, but they held 
their tongues and decided to just enjoy themselves rather than 
start a fight.  Some vessels hadn't come home for nearly six 
months.
	Back on the planet, ground crews were busily organizing 
parking places for the hundreds of expected shuttlecraft, and 
other areas for people to transport to en masse.  Galaxy 
Police officers and shuttles were stationed on the planet just 
for the Startica festival, to maintain the peace and make 
certain everybody had a nice and safe time.
	This year's turnout was expected to be the highest in 
history, and most everybody was busily preparing for it.  
Inside the palace, people were scurrying everywhere, preparing 
the royal ballroom for a massive party.  Extra cooks were 
brought in to prepare the massive quantities of food that 
would be consumed, and people were setting up hundreds of 
tables and thousands of chairs to accommodate the masses.  
Several Jurian bands were brought in to provide music.
	However, even with the sheer number of people and the 
excitement that saturated the air, the setting up for the 
festival took only one evening.  Every person who walked by 
another in the hallway was met with a smile and a warm 
greeting, since everyone was happy to celebrate Startica once 
again.  It was truly a festive time of year.
	Russ took the DVDs and the soundtracks that he received 
at dinner and returned to his room to view them.  Sasami had 
noticed him sneaking off on his own and decided to follow him, 
unnoticed by everybody else, who were busily chatting amongst 
each other and discussing the potential activities for the 
next day.
	Pushing open his door and walking inside, he closed the 
door behind him and approached the huge TV.  Noticing that 
there wasn't a DVD player available, he silently groaned to 
himself and walked over to the stereo system that he brought 
with him.
	Fortunately, this all-in-one system did everything.  It 
played music CDs, DVDs, video CDs, and just about every type 
of disc media that existed on Earth, and also had video 
outputs among other remarkable features.  Grabbing some cables 
that he kept in a compartment behind the system, he quickly 
connected them to the TV, growing more excited by the minute.  
He turned the TV on and his stereo system, then popped in the 
first disc of the first volume of Saber Marionette J, and hit 
the play button, just as there was a light knock on the door.
	Quietly mumbling obscenities to himself for being 
interrupted, he intended to allow the disc to go through its 
previews while he opened the door.  Revealing the little blue 
haired princess on the other side, he raised his eyebrows in 
surprise, but smiled warmly.
	"Hi!  What's up?" he said cheerily, kneeling down to her 
height.
	"I saw you sneaking off and I wanted to see what you 
were doing," she said, honestly.
	"I was going to watch the DVDs that Tom gave me at 
dinner, and after that, listen to the soundtracks."  Russ 
returned to his feet.  "You want to come in or something?"
	"Yeah.  I'd like to watch it too.  Besides, I think 
watching stuff with more than one person is more fun, don't 
you?" she said, looking up at him in earnest.
	Russ grinned and nodded his head in agreement.  "Yeah.  
Okay, come on in.  Let's see if I have some pop or junk food 
in here so we can fully enjoy ourselves," he said, backing 
away from the door and allowing Sasami to enter the room.
	"I'll just send for a servant to bring us something.  
Will that be okay?"
	"Isn't there anything here in the room?  What about that 
little refrigerator over there?" he asked, walking over to the 
cooler and opening the door.  Cold air spewed from the box, 
but once the fog cleared, it revealed nothing but a large 
chunk of ice in the back.  Frowning, he closed the door and 
turned toward the princess.  "Well, send for a servant, I 
guess.  The icebox is empty.  I still find it odd to be waited 
on.  I'm used to getting everything myself."
	Sasami giggled.  "Just enjoy yourself and I'll take care 
of the servant," she said, pressing a button on the wall.  A 
moment later, a woman's voice came over the intercom system.
	"Hello.  Can I get you anything?" she asked, politely.
	"Yes.  Can you bring some popcorn, tea, and… just a 
moment," she said, turning toward Russ.  "What do you want?" 
she hissed quietly.
	"Oh… uh… um… do you have anything like soda or pop 
here?" he asked, finally.
	"Yeah.  What flavor?"
	"Um, lemon-lime or something equivalent."
	"Okay."  She proceeded to finish the order and then cut 
the comlink.  "She'll be here in a few moments."
	Suddenly noticing the silence from the TV, Russ turned 
toward it and noticed that the screen was blank and the DVD 
player was stopped.  "Uh oh," he muttered, pressing play on 
his system again.  Hearing the disc spin up, he stepped back a 
moment and watched it as it scanned the disc multiple times, 
then stopped again.
	"What's wrong?  Doesn't it work?" Sasami asked, watching 
him from a few feet away.
	"I don't get it," he said, pulling the disc back out of 
the stereo and examining the underside of it.  "Well, there 
aren't any scratches, so I don't understand what's going on."  
He set the disc back into the system and pressed play again.  
A few moments later, the copyright warnings came up on the TV 
and Russ sighed in relief.  "Let me guess," he mumbled, 
pulling out the second disc and examining it.  "Yup, I knew 
it.  These discs are the lousy ones encoded by a different 
company hired by Bandai."  He turned toward Sasami.  "These 
discs are picky about what player you put them in.  Some work 
just fine and some do what this thing does.  But it's working 
now so we shouldn't have any problems."
	Grabbing the remote, Russ hit the menu button and the 
system changed tracks to bring up the menu.  A theme began to 
play, which sounded really catchy to Russ and Sasami, and they 
looked at each other with grins.  Quickly grabbing a couple 
chairs that were in the corner of the room, he placed them 
both in the middle of the floor and invited Sasami to sit 
down.  He sat down a moment later.
	"Alrighty.  Let's see what we have here.  Setup menu," 
he mumbled, fumbling with the remote as the screen changed.  
"Japanese language.  Alright."  He frowned a moment.  "Funny 
how you Jurians all speak Japanese," he snickered.
	"You know, I never really thought about that.  Oh well," 
she giggled.
	"Yeah.  Okay, and PLAY!" he said, pressing the enter 
button with flare and starting the program.  Watching the 
opening credits play, Russ noted the music and the visuals, 
instantly liking what he saw and heard.  Sasami also watched 
the TV intently, almost not noticing when a knock on the door 
came and the call of "Room Service!" on the other side of it.
	Russ paused the video just as the credits were ending 
and opened the door, allowing the servant in.  He quickly set 
up a stack table and allowed her to set everything down on top 
of it, and then she left, leaving them to their animation.
	"Now, if there are no more interruptions," he said, 
glaring at the door, "Let's enjoy this!"
	"Yay!  The introduction was cool.  Let's see how the 
rest of it goes."
	"Yeah," he answered, turning up the volume to the stereo 
loud enough to hear it comfortably, and he set the remote down 
on the table, grabbing a handful of popcorn and his drink, 
sitting back in his chair to enjoy himself.

	Several hours later, long after dusk, the palace began 
to wind down and people began to head off to their rooms for a 
night of insomnia and restless sleep, due to the excitement of 
the Startica festival being just around the corner.  The 
Jurians were excited about exchanging gifts, which bared a 
resemblance to Christmas on Earth.  All the trees were 
decorated in lights and ornaments, with lace and garland 
draped over the branches.  Anybody from Earth would've 
expected it to BE Christmas.
	However, not everybody was fully into the spirit.  Back 
in her room with the lights out, the little red haired 
scientific genius continued to labor and toil over her phantom 
computer, setting up analyses and calculating equations that 
would've put Einstein to shame.
	Swiftly entering the final variables with a few 
keystrokes, she patiently waited for the computer to calculate 
the answer, preparing to use the result for another set of 
calculations that needed to be completed.  However, the next 
equation was expected to take the computer till morning to 
work out, so she prepared herself for slumber, tossing her 
science academy uniform onto the floor and slipping herself 
into a nightgown that was provided.
	Looking down at the fabric, she chuckled lightly as she 
tried to remember the last time she had actually slept in a 
bed, rather than falling asleep in mid-equation as she 
tirelessly worked in her laboratory back home.  She sat down 
on the edge of the bed, staring out her window at the 
thousands of tiny, multi-colored lights that lit up the trees.  
It has been a very long time since she had made her return to 
Jurai, except for the Kagato incident.
	A quiet beeping caused her to lose her train of thought 
as the computer had calculated the answer to her equation.  
Tapping a few more keys in sequence, she set the computer to 
begin its arduous task of determining and extrapolating ecto-
plasma chemical sequences.  A moment later, she banished the 
system back to subspace as she stood up and stretched, letting 
her tense muscles relax themselves after being outdoors all 
day.  Not getting any exercise because of sitting in front of 
the computer all day was starting to catch up to her.  But it 
was a beautiful day, thanks to the weather control system that 
was in use.
	Finally feeling sleep catch up to her, Washu tossed back 
the covers to the double bed and slid herself between the 
sheets, then pulled the comforter up to her neck.  She let out 
a soft sigh, staring at the ceiling, and then she rolled over 
onto her side, drawing herself into a fetal position.
	A single tear streamed down her face as she looked at 
the second half of the bed, which had a set of pillows next to 
her own.  Stretching her arm out to it, she softly caressed 
and padded the pillow, as if trying to tentatively feel 
something that was there long ago, almost as if it were a 
tangible thing.
	Sniffling quietly and brushing the wetness away from her 
face, she closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly, all alone 
as she had been for the last twenty thousand years.

	"Tenchiiiiii!  Come on!  I've been waiting all day for 
this and now you don't want to?" Ryoko complained, pinning 
Tenchi to the bed.  "I even remembered the candy we were 
supposed to eat tonight!"
	Tenchi groaned to himself, reminding himself that he did 
say that it would wait until nightfall, and it looked like 
he'd have to live up to it.  "I know, I know.  I'm just a 
little tired, that's all."
	"Ooohhhh," she cooed, kissing him and drawing circles on 
Tenchi's chest with her index finger.  "Why are you always so 
tired?  Don't you feel well?"
	"We've been busy all day.  I, unlike you, have to walk 
everywhere.  It takes a lot of energy to do that, especially 
with the distance we went today," he explained, then returning 
her kiss.  "It's fortunate that I'm in decent shape, or I'd be 
out like a light right now."
	Ryoko giggled, sliding her hand up and down his chest, 
under his shirt, feeling his washboard stomach.  "So you 
will?"
	Tenchi rolled his eyes, but smiled.  "Yeah, I guess we 
can.  But I'd like to go to sleep soon.  We're going to have 
the same type of day tomorrow as we did today, but probably 
more exhausting."
	Ryoko crushed him in a joyous hug then teleported to the 
dresser, where the bag of snack food sat.  She retrieved the 
bag and then teleported back to the bed, hovering a few inches 
above the covers.  Quickly undoing the twist tie, she tossed 
it onto the floor and opened the bag, the aroma of chocolate 
and something else rushing out of the bag.
	Giggling to herself in anticipation, she fished out a 
small chunk as Tenchi sat up, trying to get a closer look at 
the contents through the illumination from the window.
	"Open wide," Ryoko requested, holding the chocolate-like 
snack food under Tenchi's nose.  "This will get us in the 
mood," she whispered.
	The prince's eyes widened slightly as he opened his 
mouth and allowed Ryoko to feed him the snack.  Slowly mulling 
the piece in his mouth, he quietly sucked on it for a few 
moments, tasting the multitude of flavors coming from the 
piece.  It melted a few moments later and he swallowed it, 
licking his lips afterwards.
	"Mmmm.  Tastes like chocolate, but with something 
extra."  He licked his lips once more as Ryoko fished out 
another piece and held it out in front of him.  Tenchi looked 
at her skeptically for a moment, then opened his mouth once 
more, taking the candy and eating it.
	"Is it good?" she asked, taking a chunk and munching on 
it.
	He nodded his head.  "Yeah.  It does taste really good.  
I haven't had chocolate this good before.  It's so smooth and 
flavorful."  He stopped and thought a moment.  "Hey, what did 
you mean by this candy getting us in the mood?"
	Ryoko grinned slyly as she floated down to the bed next 
to him.  "It also acts as an aphrodisiac," she giggled.  "This 
really turns me on and gives me a lot of energy."
	Tenchi facefaulted.
	Ryoko giggled as she ate another chunk of the stuff.  
"Are you feeling it yet?"
	Even though he was already feeling a little warmed up, 
he figured he didn't need any help in that department.  
However, he wasn't sure if it was the candies making him feel 
that way or being in close proximity to the most beautiful 
space pirate he had ever laid eyes on.
	He shrugged his shoulders in response.  "Beats me," he 
said, kissing her with sticky lips.  "Maybe we should find 
out?"
	Ryoko set the candy down on the nightstand and pushed 
him down to the bed, preparing for another fun filled evening 
with Tenchi as she began showering him with kisses and hugging 
him close.

	Several hours later, and long after Sasami had fallen 
asleep, Russ had finished the first volume of Saber Marionette 
J.  Carefully removing the disc from his stereo and turning 
off all the gizmos, he returned the disc to its case, and then 
set it down on top of the TV.
	It had been quite an endeavor to keep from laughing out 
loud, since he didn't want to wake Sasami.  She had fallen 
asleep just after switching discs, so he carefully lifted her 
out of the chair and lay her down on his bed, and carefully 
tucked her in.  She looked so cute that he didn't have the 
heart to wake her so she could go to her own room.  Ryo-Ohki 
had entered his quarters a short while before Sasami dozed 
off, looking for some company and wanting to be near her best 
friend.  But now both of them were peacefully sleeping on 
Russ's bed, and he smiled, knowing that she tried her best to 
stay awake, but couldn't do it because of a very active day.
	Finding a spare futon in his closet, he laid it out on 
the floor and got out some spare covers, preparing to go to 
sleep for the night.  Not feeling very tired since he was 
still on a sugar high from the soda beverage that was served 
to him, he quickly moved the table and chairs back to the 
corner where he found them.
	Checking to make sure everything for his room was in 
order, he finally lay down on his bed, preparing for a night 
of sleepless insomnia, thanks to the excitement factor mixed 
with sugar.
	He lay there for a few moments, and one thing kept 
nagging him.  It was too quiet.  Tossing back his covers and 
heading over to his duffel bag, he opened it and took out a 
small desk fan.  Quietly setting it down on the stack table, 
he found a nearby outlet and plugged it in, then turned it on.  
After a few moments, it spun up, generating the white-noise 
sound that lulled him to sleep at night.
	Sighing in satisfaction, he lay back down and closed his 
eyes, doing his best to doze off so he would be well rested 
for the next day.