Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic][TM!][Revised]No Need For A Title - Yet ... Chapters 1-2
From: Jason Bates
Date: 1/24/2000, 12:59 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com


*** Disclaimer - I don't own any of these characters.  I wish I did,
but I don't.   This means that I stole them.  If you legitimately own
any of the characters used here, and want to sue me, go right ahead.  
I'll gladly give you my nickel.  I'm not making any money off of this, 
and I don't plan to. ***

For those of you who have never heard or seen Tenchi Muyo!, this, as 
with all fan fiction, may contain inadvertent spoilers, although I 
tried to keep them to a minimum.  If you absolutely don't want it 
ruined, I recommend you don't read this.

For those of you that can't guess, this is my first fic.  This is not 
however, my first work.  Any C&C, flames, advice, whatever would be 
greatly appreciated.  Included herein are the first two chapters of the 
work.  The revised tag is partially a misnomer - I rewrote portions of 
the first chapter to help improve readability, but I have not done 
anything to the storyline itself, nor added anymore exposition.  It is
still quite short; however, it is growing, albiet slowly.

For those of you who sent C&C the first time around, your help is 
greatly appreciated.  Quite a few of your suggestions found their way 
into my revision.  If you were hoping that this would include shedding 
some more light on the situation between Tenchi and the girls, I am 
afraid I have to disappoint you, and ask only that you have patience.  
I *WILL* get there, I promise!

This is based strictly upon the TM! OAV's continuality, excluding the 
movies or manga.  I will eventually include some of the characters from 
there, but they will all be introduced within the context of the story. 
The only one that even possibly needs explaining would be Nagi, but 
hey, just b/c Ryoko was Kagato's slave for 2000 years doesn't mean she 
didn't time to make an arch-rival.  And now, without further a-do, on 
with the fic.

Chapter One - No Need For Houseguests

Tenchi stood up and dusted himself off.  Watch your feet, he 
reflexively thought to himself.  The way his shoulder hurt, Tenchi 
thought his grandfather just might be right.  He couldn't remember the 
last time he'd simply fallen down the stairs like that (instead of 
tripping over something, like he usually did).  For some reason, his 
balance just felt wrong.

Below, he heard his father call out breakfast.  That too seemed somehow 
wrong.  "I'm coming!"  He hurried down the second flight of stairs, 
this time making sure of his footing.  Out of habit, he turned towards 
the storage closet, and somehow managed to wind up underneath all of 
its contents, before he finally placed what was different.

They're gone, he thought.  For some reason, life didn't seem as 
peaceful and pleasant as he had thought it would when the girls finally 
left.  Instead, he just felt alone.

The television still rambled on about Juraian politics; that was one 
thing that remained the same.  Washu had 'fixed' the set the first day 
she had arrived.  But everything else was gone.  He never could quite 
shake the feeling he had just woken up from some dream, trying to hold 
on as the last little bits slipped from his memory.

"Tenchi!"  His father called once again.  "Breakfast!"  Breakfast 
didn't seem right, either.  Some of the food was burned, and some not 
quite finished, and the seasoning just tasted off.  Not too mention the 
unmistakable taste of 'instant' food.  He started to ask Sasami what 
was wrong, then stopped himself when he realized who must have cooked 
the meal.

He hurried through the meal and grabbed his bag, glad for something to 
do to take his mind away from the emptyness of the house.  He almost 
looked forward to school these days.  Of course, his mind still found 
time to wander on the long trek down from the shrine to the bus.

Chibi was on the steps once again.  Unconciously, Tenchi quickened his 
pace.  The cat, or at least its ghost, had been there the first time he 
met Ryoko, and had been sitting right on those very steps watching when 
she left.  He remembered Ryoko floating there, waiting, when he had 
come home.  He could still see the half-concealed tear in the corner of 
her eye, the anger in her face, more emotion than she had ever shown.  
"Tenchi, give me my gems," she choked.  And then, she and Ryo-Ohki had 
just disappeared.

The bus arrived, and Tenchi returned to the present.  Memory can be a 
terrible thing, he thought.  Especially since it had been his fault she 
had left, although he still wasn't sure exactly why.  All Grandfather 
had said was "bonehead," but then he had refused to train him for a 
month, and now he was having to work twice as hard as usual to catch 
up.  That had been three months ago.

Aeka, Sasami, and Washu had left that same day, when Azusa had arrived 
the second time, and this time had taken them with him.  Why Funaho had 
asked Washu go as well was beyond him.  Mihoshi, of course, had been 
gone even longer, off on her patrols.  The last he had heard, she and 
her partner had been reassigned to some other part of the galaxy.  He 
almost felt sorry for whoever her partner was.

He was struggling to decide which event hurt the most when a familiar 
voice spoke to him.  "Man, you look beat.  Don't tell me you've been 
sleeping with mummies again."  This time, he didn't even bother to 
answer.  The clown took the hint and gave up, somewhat fearful of what 
had happened last time, especially since he had of course heard the 
rumors of who was responsible for the fire.

The lecture that day was uneventful.  The physics teacher had spent 
most of the class lecturing over the impossibilities of interstellar 
travel.  Of course, the irony was totally lost on Tenchi, who merely 
groaned, as yet another event reminded him of the girls.  Eventually, 
he just resigned himself to his sorrow, and did his best not to notice 
the rest of the world around him until class let out.

Coming home didn't seem to help anything either.  Reflexively, he 
grabbed the broom standing outside the house, and began to sweep the 
steps again.  It would have been Aeka's turn to sweep today, and 
Ryoko's turn to clean the house, and Sasami cooking as usual, and Washu 
with bathroom duty, he remembered.  Of course, Washu would have 
concocted some scheme to get out of it, probably involving a nurse's 
costume and a guinea pig, and Mihoshi would have forgotten that she 
needed to do anything at all, and fallen asleep on the porch again.

"Tenchi!  Are you pretending to be a statue?"  Masaki Katsuhito called 
from inside the shrine.  "You still have work to do."

Startled, Tenchi started sweeping the steps again.  "Yes, Grandfather."

"Well, while you're not doing anything, Tenchi, you might as well come 
take a look at this," his father said, sliding open the door.  Tenchi 
could here noise coming from the television as he walked inside.  It 
sounded like the Juraian news channel.

"... have been captured today."  The image of a bored broadcaster from 
some vaguely humanoid race was on the screen, trying to appear as if he 
was not in fact reading from his notes.  "The two pirates were 
apprehended while attempting to break through the Juraian planetary 
defenses.  As of this time, it is unknown what the pair were after, but 
it is believed that it was in response to the recent return of the 
princess Aeka after her seven hundred year absence.  Ryoko ..."

Tenchi yelped.  "Grandfather!  Wha, what happened?"

"Tenchi, your missing the best part!"  His father muttered, admiring 
the green haired policewoman who was leading the pair off.  "Oh, my 
wife in heaven ..."  The camera caught a close up of the policewoman's 
chest, as her partner tripped over herself and flung her at the 
cameraman.

"Boneheads,"  Tenchi remarked, at the way both of his relatives were 
glued to the screen.

"Hush, boy.  You don't want to miss anything, do you?"  Katsuhito said.

On the screen, the broadcaster had reappeared.  "The Juraian council 
has scheduled a private hearing for the two most wanted criminals next 
week.  Their spokesperson announced that they wanted this matter 
solved, and that justice be dealt with as quickly as possible.  
Furthermore, in light of the newest crimes, the Juraian council has 
revoked the statue of limitations for Ryoko's previous offenses, and 
say they will be trying them as well."

Chapter Two - No Need For Confrontations

"What do you mean, we're going?"  Tenchi asked his grandfather.

"Tenchi, you are a prince of Jurai.  It is your duty to attend every 
meeting of the Juraian council."  Light glinted off the front of 
Katsuhito's square-framed glasses, like it usually did when he 
lectured.

"That never stopped you from running away," Tenchi said, suddenly 
leery.  His grandfather had never once mentioned returning to Jurai, 
and avoided talk of Juraian politics like the plague.  "Besides, how 
are we going to get there?"

"Tenchi.  You do not think me as unresourceful as that.  We shall take 
Ryo-oh."

"We're going to do what?"  Nobiyuki blurted out.

"Aeka and Washu left Ryo-oh in my care, in case we ever needed to 
return to Jurai.  So, we shall take Ryo-oh."  With that, Katsuhito 
grabbed the master key from him, and summoned the tree-ship from the 
pocket of subspace Washu had left it in.  The tiny tree, and the unit 
Washu had prepared, shimmered slightly, and transformed into the ship 
that had been destroyed so many months ago.

***

Tenchi's enthusiasm towards the trip, and seeing the girls again, died 
almost as soon as it had started.  It had taken them only a day to get 
to Jurai, but now they had to spend three times that long going through 
all of the formal introductions and greetings, before they were ever 
even allowed to land at the palace.

Funaho had been the first one to arrive, this time without Misaki, for 
which Tenchi was silently thankful.  "Hello, mother."  Katsuhito said 
as she came aboard.

"So.  You finally decided come visit me, Yosho?"  Tenchi thought his 
grandfather looked paler than he had ever seen him before.

"E-hem."  Katsuhito cleared his throat.  "I thought now would be a good 
time to introduce Tenchi to his family.  It is important that the boy 
learn politics, with the council meeting coming up."

"Yosho."  Funaho frowned.

"Yes, mother?"  Katsuhito yelped.

"Your disguise, Yosho?"

"Disguise?"  Tenchi managed to blurt out, before he saw his very pale 
looking grandfather become a very pale looking thirty-year-old, and 
decided that lying face first on the floor was the appropriate manner 
to watch this conversation.

"E-hem.  So, mother, what is the news of the council?"  Katsuhito said, 
fixing his mother a cup of tea, oblivious to his unconcious son-in-law 
and grandson.

"Your father has taken the news hard, as usual.  Your return is 
something of a scandal."

"So the council is still as prejudiced as always."

Funaho took a sip of tea, glancing out upon the deck of Ryo-oh.  "It is 
so nice of you to come visit.  I am sure Misaki and the girls will be 
delighted that Tenchi is here."

"And Ryoko?"

Funaho frowned a little at this, and lowered her cup.  "Yosho.  More 
tea?"

***

After three days, Tenchi was wishing he was back on Earth, and had 
never even heard of the shrine.  He had received a cold shoulder from 
almost everyone he was introduced to, and had experienced open 
hostility from two of them.  Afterward, he discovered that Azusa had 
chosen them to be Aeka's suitors, and thusly, were claimants to the 
crown.

Finally, however, a shuttle had been prepared to take them down to the 
palace.  Briefly, Tenchi had caught a glimpse at the space around him, 
as he waited for the shuttle.  The sky was quite literally ablaze with 
pinpoints of light, and the way the majority of it moved told him there 
were more ships out there than stars.

A glance at the surface, towards the palace, told him much the same 
thing, and also gave him some indication as to why they had called a 
shuttle, rather than try to land Ryo-oh.

"The Juraian fleet, Tenchi.  The strongest force in the galaxy.  Now do 
you see why you needed to come?"  A voice behind him spoke.  Turning, 
Tenchi saw his grandfather, light glinting off his glasses, once again 
appearing old.

"I thought it was to learn politics, grandfather.  Not to stare at a 
bunch of stupid ships."

"Hush, boy!"  His grandfather scowled, then boarded the shuttle.  It 
was, they discovered, fully automated, powered by one of the many 
branches of the royal trees, but still manned by servants.  Katsuhito, 
however, merely shooed them away when they came to attend him, and 
instead, chose to stand by the viewport.  After a few moments of 
scowling, Tenchi joined him.

"These ships are newer than the last time I was here.  The royal trees 
must have grown."

"Jeez, grandpa, how'd'ya figure that one out?"

Katsuhito's retort was cut short when the shuttle passed a tiny ship, 
barely larger than the shuttle itself, that seemed strangely familiar. 
It was made of wood, like all of the other ships in the area, yet 
wasn't shaped like anything one would associate with Jurai.  Instead, 
it looked rather like Ryo-Ohki.  The shuttle passed around behind the 
ship, and Tenchi thought he saw the words 'greatest genius in the 
universe' carved into the hull.  He shook his head in shock, and the 
words disappeared.

The trip to the surface took less than half an hour, although it seemed 
like much more.  They saw the great palace long before they arrived; 
the great trees of Jurai were easily the largest things on the planet, 
towering well over any of the other buildings.  The palace itself was 
built into and around the base of the largest of the trees, surrounded 
by a great garden.  Beyond that, the world-city that was the heart of 
the galaxy sprawled out in every direction.

Tenchi was vaguely annoyed when he saw a ship with the logo of one of 
the major news networks flying just behind the shuttle, and several 
more vying with it for the choicest filming spot.  Before long, 
however, the shuttle entered the area of the palace, and the newscraft 
veered away, leaving them to land in relative peace.

Misaki and the girls stood by the landing strip, waiting.  Tenchi 
hazarded a glance at Aeka as he climbed out of the ship, but her scowl 
made him wish he hadn't.  Not even Sasami seemed cheerful to see him.

Azusa walked out of the palace, attended by Funaho and the rest of the 
royal guard, to greet them.  A quick look at his face told Tenchi he 
wasn't happy to see them either.  Once again, Tenchi wondered why his 
grandfather had brought them.  Only Funaho seemed pleased, but that was 
just in contrast with the dark moods around her; her face was almost 
expressionless.

"Yosho."  Azusa acknowledged, then hesitated.  Finally, his scowl 
deepening further, he added "Tenchi.  Welcome to Jurai."  His glance at 
Funaho as he turned back towards the palace spoke volumes, and Tenchi 
thought he saw his grandfather actually grinning, however fleeting the 
expression was.

"So, Lord Tenchi.  You've come for your monster woman, I see."  Aeka 
said, as soon as Azusa was out of earshot.

"Well, I couldn't just leave her," Tenchi blurted, looking stricken.  
"Aeka -"

"How DARE you address me so easily!"

"Aeka!  At least he came!  See, I told you he'd come!"  Sasami turned, 
pleading.

"Hmph.  I have no intention of letting that - that thing - speak to me 
in such a way.  I am NOT a woman of such morals."

"But, Aeka, he didn't even do anything this time!  Don't you even want 
to give him a chance?"

By now, Tenchi was busy trying to find a way around his grandfather and 
back into the shuttle that was currently flying off towards the 
spaceport.

"Hmph.  Very well.  Lord Tenchi, the servants will attend you to your 
quarters.  I trust you will have a pleasant stay."  With that, Aeka 
turned around, and stalked off into the palace.  Sasami, looking 
frustrated, and Misaki, still glowering at Tenchi, turned and followed.

"Come now, Tenchi," Katsuhito said, "there is much work to be done.  
The council meets in three days, and you must be ready.  You do not 
expect to attend as you are now, do you?"


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