Well, I finally have some sort of potential input for my writing.  I guess I
should use it.  Before I throw this to the wolves in the hopes that I can
resurect this story into a better version, I better say that this is half of
a story I've been working on and off on for about half a year now.  Please
help me correct any OOC's and all that great stuff people nit pick about.
 I'm thinking of changing some of my minor characters somewhat, and other
ideas I can't go into becuse AOL's email leaves much to be desired.  Any
input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Achariyth

Tenchi-Muyo! Ryo-ohki:  Earth and Sky - Heavens
	by Achariyth

A word to the wise, TM!R: Earth and Sky is a fanfiction series inspired 
by the OAV series.  Although set sometime after OAV 13, Earth and Sky 
will probably be influenced elements of the TV series, Shin Tenchi, and 
Midsummer's Eve as well.

Tenchi and company are owned by AIC and distributed by Pioneer.  Fusion, 
_Starchaser's_ ship design, and the Fish are the property of David 
Feintuch.  Any other references to other authors' works are intentional, 
and do not belong to me.

Part One: 

	"Captain.  We are set to Defuse in ten minutes, sir."  a 
Lieutenant reported from his console on the bridge of _Starchaser_, 
scoutship for a ravenesque race that called itself Crebain.  
_Starchaser_ was the one of the first of the Crebain's newest class of 
interstellar exploration vessels and only the second to incorporate the 
new Fusion faster-than-light drive.  She set out from their home planet 
with the mission to explore nearby systems, and to establish contact 
with any sufficiently advanced culture.  After exploring each system, 
_Starchaser_ would release a Fusion probe to return to the home system.  
Four years and three systems later, her crew had yet to see the halfway 
point of their mission.
	The _Starchaser's_ Captain, a Crebain considerably larger in 
stature and darker in his jet black plumage than his crew, nodded in 
response.  He was trying not to let his crew see just how impatient he 
was to Defuse.  Eighteen months of the starlessness and tedium of Fusion 
had dampened his spirits, as well as those of his crew.  Now, just the 
thought of seeing stars again, made his pulse quicken with anticipation.
	Ordering all sections to Defusion stations, the Captain turned 
again to the simulscreen.  He wondered if this system had intelligent 
life.  The odds against that were rather high.  None of the nine systems 
explored by Crebain ships held a creature more advanced than boneless 
fish.  This new system would be the tenth, and of those ten, 
_Starchaser_ had scouted four.  Still, the possibility existed.  Maybe 
the culture would be sufficiently advanced  and benevolent enough to 
replace _Starchaser's_ cursedly slow Fusion drive with something more 
efficient.
	Slowly, the ship's chronometer ticked down to zero.  At zero, the 
Captain traced an arc on his control display and _Starchaser_ Defused.  
In an instant, she* stopped riding the N-wave she used to sail at faster 
then light speeds and reappeared in normal space somewhere between 
Jupiter and Saturn.  The only indication of _Starchaser's_ return to 
normal space that the crew could notice was the sudden reappearance of 
stars when one looked out a viewport.  After Defusion, the Captain 
scanned his status map of his ship.  Containing a two-dimensional 
rendering of _Starchaser_, the map relayed to the officer on the bridge 
the status of every section of the ship.  Although pleased with his 
crew's readiness, the Captain could not help but to wonder about the 
design of the ship.  _Starchaser_, unlike other Crebain ships, was 
designed around the specifications her Fusion drive mandated.  This 
resulted in a ship than looked like a stubby pencil with three foam 
disks attached roughly around the halfway point of said pencil.  
Compared to the more elegant avian lines of more typical Crebain ships, 
_Starchaser_ and her sisters were downright ugly.
	With Defusion accomplished, the Captain began barking orders to 
deploy sensor probes to scout the Sol system.  The crew scurried about, 
executing their Captain's orders as rapidly and efficiently as possible.  
It would be at least four hours until the sensor probes began relaying 
useful information about the system. 

*I'm using the American tradition of referring to ships as female 
throughout the series.  

					*	*	*

	Somewhere inside the regional Galaxy Police Headquarters closest 
to the Sol system, a sensor technician's display flashed red.  
Automatically, the tech queried the computer for the cause of the alarm.
	"Commander, an unknown ship has entered the Sol System."
	The Commander, a member of the leonid species that seemed to make 
up a good portion of the Galaxy Police personnel, pondered the new 
development.  "What is the ship's name and registry?"
	"The ship does not appear to have standard Galactic transponders, 
sir.  I'll check to see if the ship's design is in our computers."
	The Commander nodded in approval.  He enjoyed working with his 
staff, especially since they acted on their own initiative, not waiting 
to be ordered to do a task.
	"How long will that take, Ms. Nimue?"
	"An hour or so, sir," the tech replied.  "But it looks like a new 
class of ship.  Could be space pirates, smugglers, or a new 
interstellar-capable species."
	"Keep me posted on this ship.  If it so much as moves a laser 
turent, I want to know.  Move a Sentry satellite closer to provide us 
more information.  Hopefully it's a new species and not a band of space 
pirates."

					*	*	*

	"Oh, Kiyone!" an eternally cheerful voice sang out somewhere 
behind Detective First Class Kiyone Makibi.  Kiyone grimaced, as she 
usually did when her partner called for her.
	"Yes, Mihoshi?" she replied, resigned to her fate.  Detective 
First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu was like a little child at times, and like 
any little child, she often wanted to buy stuff, visit places, and do 
things that Kiyone would rather not deal with.  Unfortunately for her 
partner, she also could talk Kiyone into doing almost anything, no 
matter how hard Kiyone resisted.  It did not matter that Kiyone tended 
to enjoy herself on Mihoshi's outings, she still held a sense of 
foreboding whenever Mihoshi called.
	Kiyone was the newest of a series of alien women who had, through 
one way or another, taken up residence at the Masaki house.  Having been 
repartnered to Mihoshi in an attempt to increase patrols in the Sol 
system in response to the increased activity in the area due to Kagato 
and Dr. Clay's successive violations of the non-combat zone surrounding 
Earth.  Since Earth was still regarded as a Juraian colony, whether its 
people knew it or not, the Galaxy Police, who technically did not have 
jurisdiction over the area, had difficulty in sending Kiyone to Earth.  
Only after Emperor Azusa had realized that his daughters would have 
better protection did he allow the Galaxy Police to assign a sole 
"advisor" to assist (i.e. baby-sit) the sole existing Galaxy Police 
advisor in sovereign Juraian space (i.e. Mihoshi).  Kiyone was chosen 
partially because she was the best of the younger generation of Galaxy 
Police, as well as Mihoshi's last partner.  Mihoshi's grandfather chose 
Kiyone personally because he wanted someone he could trust to keep his 
granddaughter safe.  Many detectives would have given their eyeteeth to 
be assigned to the Sol System, but Kiyone felt slighted.  She perceived 
her assignment as a backwater system that dead-ended her career, feeling 
that she would be forgotten when promotions or reassignments were handed 
out.  Needless to say, this did not help her fiery temper at all.
	"Can we go to the karoke bar again?" Mihoshi asked innocently.  
Karoke had become something of an obsession with the blonde policewoman.
	"No, we've already gone twice this week."  Tenchi's father, 
Nobiyuki Masaki, made an excellent living as an architect.  Considering 
that he had to support his father, his son, himself, six alien women, 
and one voracious cabbit, Nobiyuki was fortunate to have such a high 
paying job.  With all those mouths to feed, the family budget was 
strained at best.  Converting all the Masaki fields into carrot fields 
to feed the carrot-obsessed Ryo-ohki helped somewhat, but there was not 
much room for impulse buys, a specialty of Mihoshi's.  Kiyone did not 
want to be a burden to the Masakis', so she was considering working part 
time to help out.  After all, Galaxy Police credits just do not convert 
into yen, dollars, francs, or anything else on Earth.  At one time, she 
had also thought about moving into a small apartment, but at part time 
wages, she would be hard pressed to make ends meet.
	"Please," Mihoshi begged, smiling and doing her best to get Kiyone 
to cave in.
	Kiyone was about to respond in her typically angry fashion, when 
she heard a commotion out in the backyard.
	"Ryoko, get off of me!"
	"Miss Ryoko, get away from Tenchi this instant!  I demand it!"
	"Make me, Ayeka.  Besides, if you haven't noticed this by now, 
Princess, this isn't Jurai.  You can demand all you want, but I don't 
have to do anything," came Ryoko's reply.  Then two voices resumed 
shouting at each other, each trying to best their rival for Tenchi's 
affection.
	Kiyone sighed again.  Ryoko and Ayeka were fighting over Tenchi.  
Literally.  For the third time today.  Kiyone often wondered why Tenchi 
put up with the constant bickering and fighting of two powerful and very 
possessive women.  She did not understand why he did not choose someone 
and be done.  Mihoshi and Kiyone winced as an explosion further 
shattered the illusion of peace in the home.  Kiyone silently prayed 
that something wrong had happened in Washu's lab, instead of Ayeka and 
Ryoko's argument escalating into blows.  Then again, if he chose one of 
the girls, Kiyone had a suspicion the slighted rival, especially if it 
was Ayeka, would try to obliterate her rival for Tenchi's affections, 
and possibly even Tenchi if she was not careful.  And woe to the Earth 
girl who might steal Tenchi's heart.  Ryoko and Ayeka would tear her to 
pieces.  Ultimately, it did not matter to Kiyone who won the "Great 
Tenchi Sweepstakes," just as long as the incessant fighting stopped.  
Having no desire to intervene in the present argument, Kiyone felt a 
sudden urge for karoke.  And, since Mihoshi took her role as a 
peacekeeper a bit too seriously, Kiyone had mere seconds before Mihoshi 
would try unsuccessfully to break up the fight.
	"All right, Mihoshi.  Let's go."  Karoke is the lesser of two 
evils, Kiyone thought.
	"Yeah!"  Mihoshi cheered enthusiastically.  "Gee, Kiyone, usually 
you put up more of a fight.  Are you feeling well?"
	"Yes.  I just want some-" Kiyone was interrupted by another 
explosion, bigger than the last.  "peace and quiet for once."
	"They do fight a lot."
	"Yes, they do."
	"Maybe we should stop them."
	Kiyone turned, grabbed Mihoshi's arm.  "Come on, Mihoshi.  Let's 
go!"  She rushed out of the house, while Mihoshi tried frantically to 
catch up with her partner.

					*	*	*

	"Stop it!  Both of you, stop fighting!"  Tenchi shouted angrily at 
Ayeka and Ryoko.  It astonished and infuriated him how frequently Ryoko 
and Ayeka fought over him.  It also surprised him how many girls began 
to like him ever since he awakened Ryoko.  He knew Ryoko, Ayeka, 
Tsunami, Washu, and Mihoshi all liked him.  Sasami had a schoolgirl 
crush on him, and now that he was not home schooled anymore, he noticed 
that some of his female classmates were friendlier than usual.  All this 
attention surprised Tenchi.  After all, he did not consider himself a 
Don Juan, Casanova, or a Ranma Saotome.
	"Sorry, Tenchi,"  Ayeka apologized, turning away from Ryoko.
	"We didn't mean to upset you, Tenchi," Ryoko replied contritely.  
If it had been anyone else besides Tenchi asking her to stop fighting, 
Ryoko at best would have ignored the request.  At worst, well, what kind 
of casket is used for a person who has just been disintegrated?  
	Tenchi was grateful for the momentary peace and quiet   However, 
the odds of it lasting more than a moment were very slim.  The two 
rivals would probably fight over who started the argument.  True to 
form, Ayeka rightly accused Ryoko of being the instigator of the latest 
argument, provoking a new round of fighting.  Tenchi could only sigh in 
response.  He sometimes wondered why the gods subjected him to this.  If 
he asked, Tenchi believe the answer would be either "It amuses us," or 
"Because you anger me."  He walked away from Ryoko and Ayeka, knowing he 
was unable to defuse the time bomb of their argument.
	"I think I'll go check on Sasami," he thought as he walked towards 
the house.  Princess Sasami Masaki Jurai was the younger sister of 
Princess Ayeka, and also Tsunami, the "goddess"/Protector of Jurai.  
While on Jurai, Sasami was mortally injured as a result of a fall inside 
Jurai's Royal Garden.  Tsunami merged with Sasami, saving the young 
princess' life.  Tenchi knew that Sasami had a crush on him.  Sometimes 
he wondered if Tsunami liked him because Sasami did or vice versa.  It 
was also unknown how much of Sasami's personality was Tsunami's or her 
own.  Anyways, it would not be proper to ask Sasami any of these 
questions, and Tenchi was very proper.
	Tenchi reached out to open the door when it opened abruptly.  
Kiyone rushed through the door, inadvertently knocking Tenchi down to 
ground.  Kiyone stopped running to see if Tenchi was okay before 
resuming her three kilometer dash.  Mihoshi, on the other hand, tripped 
and fell onto Tenchi, landing in such a way that Ryoko would have given 
all her gems to switch places with Mihoshi.  Kiyone groaned, fighting a 
futile battle against her anger.  Mihoshi could be so clumsy sometimes.  
Relieved for once that Ryoko and Ayeka were occupied, Kiyone tried to 
separate Mihoshi and Tenchi, before a problem ensued.  Ryoko and Ayeka 
fought each other like cats and dogs, but if another girl threatened to 
steal Tenchi from them, the two would turn on the rival, as Tsunami had 
found out.  If either saw Mihoshi now, life would be... complicated... 
for everyone involved.
	Tenchi was trying his best not to blush.  "Mihoshi, are you all 
right?" he asked, genuinely concerned.  He also tried to sit up, hoping 
Mihoshi would get the subtle hint.
	Mihoshi just nodded, sitting up and, more importantly for her long 
term health, off  of Tenchi.  Normally she could talk to Tenchi, but 
there were times when she was unsure of her true feelings for him.  
Whenever this happened, she just couldn't speak without blushing and 
getting embarrassed.  No matter how hard Kiyone tried, she still could 
not get Mihoshi to talk coherently about her feelings for Tenchi.
	"Come on, Mihoshi!  We'll be late!"  Kiyone hinted, glaring at 
Mihoshi impatiently.  Then, turning to Tenchi: "Oh, I'm sorry about 
this," she apologized, as she helped her partner and the youngest Masaki 
back to their feet.
	"That's okay, Kiyone," Tenchi responded cordially.
	"We'll be back for dinner.  Bye!"  Kiyone said hurriedly, pulling 
Mihoshi behind her as she started running again.
	"Way, Kiyone!  Slow down!  Please!"  Mihoshi panted.
	"Okay.  Have fun!"  Tenchi called after the rapidly disappearing 
two Galaxy Policewomen.  "That's strange," he whispered to himself.  
"Usually its Mihoshi pulling Kiyone everywhere."  He shrugged.  "Go 
figure."  He walked inside his house.
	"Good evening, Tenchi," Sasami greeted him between giggles.  She 
tasted the dish she had been preparing for supper.  It would seem 
unusual to have the youngest girl in the household be responsible for 
cooking meals for the Masaki's, especially since Washu, Mihoshi, Kiyone, 
and Nobiyuki all could do a respectable job at cooking.  However, Sasami 
was the household's best cook, and she had assumed the role before the 
other girls had arrived on Earth.  Somebody had to cook since Ayeka and 
Ryoko could barely hold their own (in more ways than one) against Akane 
Tendo's cooking and Nobiyuki often was needed at the office.  Besides, 
Sasami did not mind at all.  "Dinner, won't be ready for awhile."
	"Smells good, Sasami.  Would you like some help?"
	Sasami smiled at Tenchi's compliment.  "No, not right now."  
Sasami saw movement out of the corner of her eye.  She turned her head, 
and found a humanoid Ryo-ohki climbing onto the table in attempt to 
reach one of the carrots Sasami would use to make supper.  "No, Ryo-
ohki!  You'll ruin your supper!"
	Ryo-ohki, surprised by Sasami's outburst, lost her balance and 
tumbled, reverting to cabbit form in the process.  She miya-ed in 
disappointment, then looked up at Tenchi with sorrowful eyes.
	"Not this time, Ryo-ohki.  Maybe after dinner," Tenchi responded.
	The cabbit sighed, and scurried off towards the carrot fields.
	"Well, if you don't need my help, I'll be in my room studying."
	"Okay, Tenchi."
	Tenchi left the kitchen to go to his room, stopping to tip-toe 
quietly past the door of Washu's lab.  He did not feel up to one of 
Washu's little "tests" that usually left him stripped down to his boxers 
and at Washu's mercy.  One time she even asked for a sperm sample.  Now 
Tenchi did not know much about such tests, but he was pretty sure the 
nurses that collected the samples did not collect them using hands-on 
assistance.  Walking upstairs, he breathed a sigh of relief.  Then he 
entered his room to finish the night's homework. 

					*	*	*

	"You've got two incoming, Echo-3.  The green-haired model and the 
ditz," Echo-6 radioed.
	Mihai Tamarov, also known as Echo-3, grinned wryly.  "Affirmative, 
Echo-6.  Try to keep it down, though.  I'm sure they head your last 
message, over."
	"Shut up you two and do your jobs,"  Echo-Leader admonished in a 
gruff voice.
	"Yes sir!" came the stereo response.
	Mihai settled down behind the bush he had picked as his post.  
This was the seventh stakeout he had participated in ever since he 
joined the United Nations Commission for the Search for Extraterrestrial 
Life on Earth, known in bureaucrat-ese as "Unsettled."  Mihai had always 
thought that name sounded more like a digestive problem than a proper 
name for a secret service.  Even "Men in Black" sounded better, as the 
more roguish operatives of the Commission called themselves after the 
American movie had been released.  It just seemed fitting.  Unsettled's 
stated mission was to find any alien creatures who might have taken up 
residence on Earth, and register them, after the aliens paid a fee.  The 
fee usually was paid in technology, knowledge, or service.  Any creature 
unwilling to pay the fee was escorted off planet, usually under the 
threat of annihilation.  Sure, the Commission used strong arm tactics 
and violated many human rights in achieving their objectives, but where 
could the aliens take their complaints to? 
	Mihai heard rustling.  Crouching down low, he was able to see the 
two alphas, Unsettled radio slang for aliens, running frantically on a 
nearby path.  The green haired one was pulling the blonde (in 
personality as well as color).  A half-minute later, they disappeared 
from view.  Mihai radioed to the next person in the surveillance network 
setup around the Masaki property.  An idle part of his mind wondered 
what the green-haired one was like, once a person got to know her.  Then 
he shook his head.  That would not be professional of him, and could 
quite well get him killed if he ever had to fight her.  At least Mihai 
could take solace in the fact that this mission had gone better than the 
others he had worked on lately.  There had been a half dozen false 
alarms, such as the Nerima district, and the Tomobiki fiasco had soured 
Echo Sqaud's morale.  It had taken a month for the last of the squad to 
recover from wounds due to electrocution.  Mihai twitched slightly in 
remembrance of that failed encounter as he prayed that this would not be 
a repeat performance.  One of the alphas was known to hurl energy blasts 
when she was angered.  But if things went well, there would be 
promotions, generous bonus pay, and at least six alphas from which 
Unsettled could glean technology from.
	"Tamarov, pull back.  Now!" the squad leader growled urgently on 
the radio.
	Mihai's eyes widened.  His commanding officer never used last 
names except in an emergency, such as being discovered by a target.  
Swearing in Romanian under his breath, he bid a stealthy, but hasty, 
retreat from his position alongside the road.
	"What did I do now?" he wondered silently.
	From a location unseen by Mihai, but visible to his commanding 
officer, Ryo-ohki sat, watching the Romanian move out of view.  She 
miya-ed softly, then scampered off in search of a carrot to eat.

					*	*	*

	Washu scanned the link data Ryo-ohki had acquired for her today.  
Filtering the information past Ryoko's link with Ryo-ohki had been 
difficult, but rewarding,.  Washu, using Ryo-ohki as her "camera", had 
been spying on the intruders since she had first discovered them about 
three days ago.  It was a welcome distraction from her most frustrating 
project, the trigger to Tenchi's conscious control over the Light Hawk 
Wings.  She knew that placing Tenchi in mortal danger allowed him to use 
the Wings, almost if there was a force whose sole goal was preserving 
Tenchi's life.  However, there must be a way for him to generate the 
Light Hawk Wings on command.  The seemingly contradicting data 
frustrated and baffled the supergenius, something she did not handle 
well.  Therefore, she was almost relieved when the Unsettled scout team 
began their reconnaissance of the Masaki house.
	"What is this?"  the self-proclaimed greatest mind in the galaxy 
thought out loud.  She saw Kiyone and Mihoshi running along a path, 
while a camouflaged and hooded figure watched silently.  Then the figure 
retreated hastily.
	"Wonder why he did that?"  she mused silently.  "Well, at least he 
isn't following Kiyone and Bubblehead.  Still, I guess I should warn 
them soon."  By this point, only Washu and Yosho knew of the intruders.  
Until Washu knew more about why they were here, Yosho had decided not to 
cause Tenchi and the others to worry needlessly, preventing Ryoko from 
taking out her frustrations on the intruders as well.  At the same time, 
Washu had began preparing traps similar to the one currently installed 
on Tenchi's door.
	"His retreat indicates military training.  Hmm. I doubt the Self 
Defense Force makes house calls,"  Washu dictated to her computer.  
Typing away on her holocomputer, she accessed the UN's computer network.  
Noting certain sections were either encrypted or restricted, she loosed 
her special hacking programs to break the electronic seals.  Five 
minutes later, the United Nations most secure files had been breached.  
The five linked planets that comprised Washu's lab held an astonishing 
amount of computing power, more that enough to breach any security 
system.  However, since much of the United Nation's files were 
encrypted, Washu would still have a hard time sifting the files for 
relevant information.
	It had to happen sometime.  Washu was only surprised that it had 
not happened earlier.  After all, Earth was rather xenophobic in nature.  
Popular shows like _Independence Day_, _Alien_, _X-Files_, _Macross_, 
and _War of the Worlds_ seemed instruct all Terrans, as some Earth 
writers had dubbed their race, not to trust anyone from another world 
since the intruder was more than likely to try to take over the planet, 
slaughtering many humans in the process.  Washu snickered derisively at 
that thought.  These silly humans would have been enslaved within a year 
if Washu wanted.  All she had to do was create an army of Ryoko clones.  
However, after Kagato had captured and controlled Ryoko, Washu had sworn 
she would never make another Ryoko.  The destruction one unit could 
cause was enormous.  That and Ryoko could be so ill-tempered at times.  
Washu loved science, learning, and the joy of creation, not power.  Oh 
well, yet another idea that will never happen.  
	When Washu had joined the Masaki household, she quickly realized 
that sooner or later someone would figure out that most of the household 
were not Terran.  The remote location helps negate Ryoko's energy 
barrages and the stream of spacecraft that the house always seemed to 
attract.  Everyone's humanoid bodies helped camouflage their alien 
origin, even if most of the girls, with the exception of Mihoshi, had 
Technicolor hair.  Sooner or later, their secret would be out, filling 
the area around the Masaki household with gawking tourists, paparazzi, 
_Enquirer_ journalists, scientists, and other less scrupulous persons.  
The relative peace of Tenchi and his family and friends would be 
shattered forever.  Fortunately, this was just conjecture, up to now.  
Instead of paparazzi lurking around the house, there were trained 
paramilitary personnel, increasing the gravity of the situation 
exponentially.  If it had been paparazzi, Washu would have let Ryoko 
deal with them.  Earth would have fewer paparazzi and Ryoko would be 
more cheerful, making the universe a happier, much safer place in the 
process.  But fry a few troops, and the hills would be swarmed by 
vengeful and well-armed comrades of the fallen.  Sometimes Washu wished 
she could have the innocence and countenance of Mihoshi.  A few seconds 
after that thought, she would reprimand herself for drinking too much 
sake.
	"Oh, well. Time to tell Yosho today's news," she said after 
implementing a text search program.  She then left her lab, beginning 
the long walk to the shrine.

					*	*	*

	"Thank you very much, Kumashiro-san," Tenchi said before he hung 
up his phone.  He had recently re-enrolled in a nearby public school.  
Since he was having some difficulty completing his homework, he had 
called a classmate, one Sakuya Kumashiro, for help.  Two hours later, 
the two of them had spent more time chatting than discussing their 
homework.  Tenchi looked at his clock and sighed.  Sakuya had helped 
somewhat, but now he had to hurry and finish his homework before 
someone, probably Ryoko, interrupted him.
	"Back to work," he thought aloud, as he sat down at his desk.  He 
picked up his pencil and read the first problem.  But before he could 
start writing, he heard a knock on his door.
	"I'm never going to get this done,"  he groaned, as tears of 
frustration flowed.  Regaining his composure, he called out, "What is 
it?"
	The door opened, and Ayeka stuck her head into the room.  "Tenchi, 
dinner is ready," Ayeka answered pleasantly.
	"Thank you, Miss Ayeka."  Tenchi stood up and walked with Ayeka 
downstairs to the dinner table.  He sat down next to a jealous Ryoko, 
who glared at Ayeka.
	Giggling as she spoke, Sasami greeted Tenchi and Ayeka, bidding 
them to eat.  Kiyone and Mihoshi were devouring Sasami's latest meal, a 
Juraian pasta served with a chicken Caesar salad.  Lately, Sasami had 
begun to experiment with European recipes in addition to the Juraian and 
Japanese dishes she had already learned.  She was anxiously awaiting her 
mother's next visit so she could share some of her favorite Earth 
dishes.  Washu and Yosho, in direct contrast to the Galaxy Policewomen, 
just picked at their meal haphazardly.  They seemed to be preoccupied 
with something.  This struck Tenchi as odd, for his grandfather and 
Washu were two of the most confident and unflappable people he had ever 
met, under most situations.  This did not bode well.  Tenchi made a 
mental note to ask Washu about what was bothering her.  The meal 
proceeded quietly, as Yosho and Washu's discomfort settled upon everyone 
present.  Even Ayeka and Ryoko were silent, although this did not 
prevent them from glaring at each other.  Ayeka was upset that Ryoko sat 
so close to Tenchi.  Then again, if Ryoko was within two feet of Tenchi, 
Ayeka grew jealous. 
	"Thank you, Sasami.  Dinner was excellent," Tenchi praised Sasami, 
in an effort to break the unusual silence lingering around the table.
	Sasami smiled, basking in Tenchi's praise.  Part of the reason she 
worked so hard in the kitchen was to please Tenchi.  If he left, chances 
were that the other girls diet would suffer as a result.  The others 
echoed Tenchi's sentiment, grateful to have something to talk about.  
The meal ended soon afterwards, and everyone dispersed.  Tenchi walked 
upstairs to attempt to finish his homework before Ryoko decided poke her 
head in his room.  Silently, he gave thanks that Ryoko had not overheard 
his conversation with Sakuya.

End of part 1