At the dinner table later that evening, Tenchi set down his dish after
finishing his food. "That was great, Sasami-chan," he said, as he usually
did -- because it was always true.

"Thank you!" the princess replied happily. She dished up another serving
of unagi for him. "Have some more, Tenchi." 

"More?"

"When your father called to say he was going to be late again, and I told
him we were having unagi, he said to make sure you eat lots and lots of
it," said Sasami. "I didn't know it helped you sleep, though."

"I don't think it does," answered Tenchi. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Your father said so. He said you needed it for when you went to bed
tonight," the princess said, sounding puzzled.

Aeka smiled.

Tenchi didn't notice. He sighed and shook his head. "I really wish dad
would mind his own business. Unagi or not, I'm way too tired."

The smile disappeared from Aeka's lips.

Washuu frowned. "Why are you messing around with folklore when you've got
a genius in residence? I can put together something for you in five
minutes if you'd like," she offered. "High energy level, boosted
metabolism, increased endurance -- and it won't even taste bad."

It took Tenchi only a moment to decide that he didn't want to ingest
anything that came out of Washuu's lab. "Uh, Washuu-chan... thanks, but
no thanks."

"Suit yourself," said Washuu, shrugging.

"Are you going to eat your unagi, Tenchi?" asked Sasami.

"Yeah, I guess," replied Tenchi. "It's very good, Sasami-chan, but I'm
really not *that* hungry."

After dinner was finished, Sasami got up and started clearing the table.
Remembering what Tenchi had asked of her that morning, Ryoko got up as
well. "I'll help you with that, Sasami-chan," she said, as she began
gathering up the dishes. Then she looked down at Tenchi to see if he had
noticed.

He didn't seem to have.

Telling herself that clearing off the table would take a few minutes and
that Tenchi would be bound to notice eventually, Ryoko set about her
work, ferrying the dishes to the kitchen. On her last trip Tenchi smiled
at her, acknowledging her effort at pitching in with the chores at his
request. Ryoko smiled back and continued into the kitchen where Sasami
had already started washing the bowls and chopsticks.

"Would you like to help me wash the dishes again?" asked the princess.

Ryoko thought about it for a second, then decided that Tenchi would
probably want her to. She nodded and began drying the dishes that Sasami
had washed, hoping that meanwhile Tenchi would walk by and see her taking
such pains to please him. Disappointment mounted as he didn't do so, but
she made herself continue, just in case. Once the last piece was done,
and Tenchi hadn't shown up, Ryoko hurriedly floated out of the kitchen to
find him.

Washuu was sitting on the couch alone, sipping some tea.

Ryoko looked around. "Where's Tenchi?" she demanded.

"He went to bed," answered Washuu. "He looked really tired. He should
have taken me up on my offer."

Ryoko turned around and clenched her fists, rage rising inside her.
Tenchi was up in his room, alone with Aeka, and he hadn't even kissed
Ryoko goodnight! It wasn't Tenchi's fault if he was tired. It wasn't even
Aeka's fault. And that just made it worse. There was no one to imagine
herself unleashing her anger on, so it built up and up.

It was one more ache in her heart after a very long, painful day. It had
hurt almost from the moment she'd woken up, and now she was going to have
to go to sleep hurting and alone. She'd been forced to leave Tenchi's
side only to find Aeka not even awake yet, she'd had to spend nearly all
day without him, and almost the moment he'd gotten home he'd gone off
with Aeka. It hardly seemed like she'd spent any time with him at all. 

Ryoko tried to tell herself that Tenchi had at least kissed her, held
her, told her he'd missed her. And he obviously had. She'd managed to
make it through the day before with much less than that -- often without
even a smile. She tried to make herself be content with the affection
he'd shown her that day. It was many times more than what he'd given
during the three months when he'd been at best indifferent to her. She
replayed Tenchi's words in her head, his voice saying that he loved her.

But that was the worst thing of all. Before, being with Tenchi always
hurt a little. The knowledge that her love wasn't being returned and the
dread that it might never be were both painful things. But it wasn't like
that anymore. Now he loved her back. Ryoko loved Tenchi, Tenchi loved
Ryoko, and they had to be together, always, forever, every second of
every day. Anything that prevented that was an obstacle, an enemy, a
tormentor, to be broken, crushed, and destroyed.

Destroyed.

With a snarl of fury, Ryoko smashed her fist through the nearest wall.

Washuu looked up and shook her head as Sasami ran into the room to see
what had caused the noise. She got there just in time to see Ryoko
pulling her hand out of a newly-formed hole, the pirate's eyes shut tight
as she took deep breaths to calm herself down. "What happened, Ryoko?"
Sasami asked.

Ryoko took one long, deep breath, exhaled, then opened her eyes and
laughed self-consciously. "I, uh, slipped, Sasami-chan. I slipped. Sorry
if I scared you."

Sasami stared at the damage and frowned sadly. "Tenchi'll have to fix
this."

"That's right," agreed Washuu, who had gotten up and walked over. She
glanced from the hole to Ryoko and back again. "Looks like he has his
work cut out for him."

Ryoko sighed, realizing the trouble she'd caused Tenchi and remembering
how upset he got whenever she damaged his house. "I'll... I'll find a way
to fix it, OK?" She looked sadly at the results of her outburst. "I'll
think of something."

Sasami nodded, satisfied with Ryoko's intent, and headed back into the
kitchen to finish putting the dishes away.

"Slipped, huh?" asked Washuu skeptically.

Ryoko hung her head. "Um, Washuu-chan... greatest scientific genius in
the universe, can I ask you a fav..."

"I'll fix it," interrupted Washuu. "Just be more polite next time you
visit my lab. And don't make a habit of this. OK?"

Ryoko nodded. "Thanks."

"Be glad I'm in a helpful mood today," said Washuu, as her spectral
computer appeared in front of her hands.

It wasn't long before the damage had been repaired, good as new. "Better,
in fact," Washuu had commented. For a while, Ryoko tried to take comfort
in Washuu and Sasami's company while the three of them sat on the couch
and watched TV. It did some good, but not very much. Eventually Washuu
bade them goodnight and went down to her lab to work, leaving the two
girls by themselves.

Noticing the time, Sasami turned to Ryoko. "You're not going to make me
go to bed, right?" she asked hopefully.

Ryoko shook her head and managed to smile. "I've never followed any silly
rules, Sasami-chan, and I'm not going to make someone else do it, either.
Let me know when you're sleepy. We'll go to bed then."

Sasami bounced happily on the couch a few times, then flipped the
channels to see if anything caught her interest. Not finding anything
familiar, she stopped on Fuji TV in time to catch the opening credits of
a show called Long Vacation.

Ryoko tried to summon up interest as the story of a piano player and his
romantic entanglements played out, but found that she couldn't tear her
mind off of Tenchi's absence. More than once she almost gave in to the
urge to fly off and mope alone, but decided not to. Sasami's presence was
at least *some* comfort. Ryoko smiled faintly as the princess sat
watching the TV, savoring every minute of being awake past her bedtime.

Finally, the credits started to roll, and a woman's voice began singing
the closing theme.

     Silence fills my room
     I'm so all alone
     I dream of you
     Lying here next to me.

     I wanna hold you in my arms 
     Underneath the stars
     Feel the wind blowing thru your hair
     Your hand in mine...

Ryoko closed her eyes and tensed. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Sasami-
chan," she said.

"But where are you going?" asked Sasami, turning her head.

Ryoko wasn't there.

Outside under the open sky, Ryoko floated onto the torii astride the path
to the shrine, and lay down, looking up at the stars and feeling very
alone. Then her eye caught the light shining from the vicinity of the
shrine, and she remembered what she'd wanted to ask Katsuhito. Deciding
to risk a negative answer rather than delay asking, she flew off to make
her request.

Katsuhito, however, wasn't inside. Instead, he was also outdoors, looking
up at the stars.

Ryoko touched down in front of him.

"Ah, Ryoko. Kon ban wa," greeted the old man, glancing at her for a
moment before returning his gaze to the sky.

"Kon ban wa, ojiisama," replied Ryoko, kneeling and bowing to him.

Katsuhito's eyebrows went up for a moment.

Ryoko kept her eyes lowered. "There is something I want to ask of you,
ojiisama," she said humbly.

"I see. Go on."

"Could I practice swordfighting with you, like Tenchi does?"

"I'm not a kendo instructor," chuckled Katsuhito. "I only train Tenchi
because he's my grandson. It's a family style, you might say."

"I know, ojiisama. Please, though. It would mean a lot to me."

Katsuhito smiled. "You know, when I said it was a family style, there's
something you might have said in reply. Not that I'd necessarily have
said yes, or no."

Ryoko shook her head. "Tenchi doesn't think he's ready for that yet,
ojiisama. I know I've been pushy with him before, but I'm trying my best
not to be, now. I really am."

"Very interesting," said Katsuhito. "I suppose I could make an exception,
but I'd like to know why you want to do this. Is it to protect Tenchi?"

"That's one reason, but not the main one."

"I'm glad to hear that. I suppose it may not seem so, but he has
potential, and I don't want him becoming lax. Now, what's the main
reason?"

Ryoko hesitated. "I'd rather not say, ojiisama."

"And I'd rather you did," replied Katsuhito.

"I... may have to fight to stay at his side, someday, ojiisama. That's
why," said Ryoko. She halted for a few moments, waiting. "Is that a...
good enough reason for you?"

"Fight to stay at his side? You mean, against Aeka-hime?" asked
Katsuhito.

"No, ojiisama. Tenchi asked us not to fight, so we aren't. But other
people may come to take me away from him, and I have to be able to stop
them." Ryoko's voice shook for a moment, and her fists clenched as she
remained bowed. "I *have* to."

Long, tense moments passed in silence as Ryoko waited.

"I see. Alright, we can start tomorrow," said Katsuhito finally.

Ryoko's eyes widened, and she pressed her face down against the ground.
"Domo arigato gozaimasu, ojiisama!"

"You're welcome."

"Ojiisama... one more thing," said Ryoko.

"Yes?"

"Please don't tell Tenchi about this."


Katsuhito smiled again. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. I've managed to
keep a few little secrets from him, from time to time." He turned and
walked back to the shrine office as Ryoko got up, feeling a little better
now that one of the heavy weights she'd been bearing had been lifted from
her shoulders.

Sometime later and a few miles away, Kiyone stared at the ceiling and
grumbled in quiet annoyance. Mihoshi was *still* crying, and the sound of
it was keeping Kiyone awake. The only consolation was that, at the rate
Mihoshi was going, eventually she'd shed so many tears that she'd pass
out due to dehydration.

But Kiyone didn't quite have the heart to come straight out and tell
Mihoshi to shut up. Besides, she'd seen this coming for a while. Even
though she'd entertained the occasional thought of getting her partner
and Tenchi together as a means of ridding herself of Mihoshi, she'd known
that it probably wouldn't work. Some inexorable cosmic force always
seemed to ensure that Kiyone remained tied to Mihoshi forever, "until
court-martial do us part."

And probably not even then.

Kiyone sighed and rolled onto her side. "Mihoshi, I know you're upset,
but you should get some sleep. It's our first day on the job at Azumi
Heavy Industries tomorrow, and we need to get there early to make a good
impression."

Mihoshi sniffled. "I'm sorry, Kiyone. But it hurts so *much*."

"You should have expected it, though. They live with him, and we live
here. And we've got two jobs, sometimes three, to go to, while they can
stay home with him whenever he's there. Out of sight, out of mind. It's
that simple."

"But that doesn't make it hurt less," wailed Mihoshi. "He was different,
Kiyone. *Different*." She sobbed into her pillow. "Special."

For the thousandth time, Kiyone wondered what it was that seemed to draw
every female in the universe except her to Tenchi Masaki. "There are lots
of guys, Mihoshi."

"But Tenchi was *nice*," said Mihoshi bleakly. "Nice for real. He
wouldn't have taken advantage of me. I wouldn't have been just someone to
sleep with to him."

Kiyone silently nodded. Mihoshi was blessed with a pretty face, shapely
figure, friendly disposition, more affectionate impulses than she knew
what to do with... and cursed with a blind, trusting nature when it came
to others' intentions. The combination was tailor-made to attract the
worst kind of men. More than once Kiyone had watched Mihoshi take almost
a month to realize that someone's promise to call her later was never
going to be kept. 

Looking over at her partner, Kiyone couldn't help but feel a certain
amount of regretful sympathy. It would have been good for Mihoshi to find
someone who would treat her as something besides a chance for an
energetic one-night stand, and the non-professional part of Kiyone would
have been very happy for her.

"I know, Mihoshi," she said, laying her hand on her partner's shoulder.
"I'm sorry it turned out like this." 

"It's not right," sobbed Mihoshi. "It isn't!"

Kiyone sighed. "Life isn't always fair, Mihoshi."

"I still remember that night when I met him," continued Mihoshi, her sobs
a little quieter. "Ryoko said she was going to *cook* me, and when she
chased us and I couldn't get away, Tenchi protected me, even though he
saw he couldn't beat her."

"You've got to get over it. You can't let this interfere with your
duties."

"I know. We're Galaxy Police officers," said Mihoshi, sniffling and
somehow managing to smile slightly. "Danger is our business."

"Just don't keep me awake, OK?" said Kiyone. "And get some sleep," she
added, lying back down on her futon.

After a while, Mihoshi spoke in a quiet voice, breaking the dark silence.
"Kiyone?"

"What *now*?"

"Do you think it could ever be like it was before?" asked Mihoshi meekly.

The silence seemed to press in closer around the room as Mihoshi waited
for an answer. Just when it seemed one wasn't forthcoming, Kiyone's voice
spoke softly. "I don't know, Mihoshi," she said. "I just don't know."

Suddenly, a loud beeping sound cut the night.

"Not an alert at this hour," muttered Kiyone, hurriedly getting out of
bed. She grabbed her wrist unit from its resting place atop her folded
uniform and checked the details of the call. Her eyes widened. It wasn't
the make-work that comprised most cases in the backwater Sol system.
"Pursuit in progress. We're being called to assist!"

Mihoshi bounced upright, and as she turned the lights on Kiyone could see
the sadness on her partner's face starting to fade away. "All criminals,
beware!" warned Mihoshi with her usual cheerful enthusiasm. "First-class
Detectives Kiyone and Mihoshi are on their way!" Kiyone smiled slightly
and suited up as quickly as she could.

Mihoshi had her uniform on well before Kiyone did.

Minutes later, Yagami soared up through the Earth's atmosphere as Kiyone
and Mihoshi watched the information on the alert flashing on their
viewscreens. The primary display showed a starmap labeled with green
Galactic Standard identifiers over which the computer automatically
superimposed the local nomenclature in blue. In this case, "local" meant
"Earth", even though it would be many years before it would be necessary
to coordinate between Earth's law enforcement agencies and the GP.

Near a star captioned in green as "431/252/008/A" and in blue as "51
Pegasi", a red blip was rapidly closing the short forty-four light year
distance between it and the dot marked "Sol, Restricted." Behind the red
blip followed two white ones that were slowly losing ground.

"Looks like we finally get to see some action," said Kiyone. "It's up to
us to handle the intercept."

"What did they steal at 431/252/008/A?" asked Mihoshi.

Kiyone shook her head. "You haven't been memorizing the regional star
charts, have you, Mihoshi?" she sighed.

Mihoshi smiled. "I've been *trying* to. But all those little dots are so
confusing sometimes!"

"There's nothing *at* that star to steal. But it's got a gas giant in a
very close orbit. It's a really good hiding place. All a pirate or
smuggler has to do is pull in on the dark side of the planet where its
mass shields them from the star's heat, power down, and we lose them in
the all the radiation unless we're really close up."

"Oh," said Mihoshi, apparently understanding at least some of it. "But
not this time?"

Kiyone grinned. "This time, they got a surprise. HQ finally followed
through on my suggestion to put permanent monitoring satellites in
stationary orbit over the planet's night side." She shook her head. "I
came up with that idea back at the Academy. I can't *believe* it took
them this long to actually do it!"

"Oh, you know how the people at headquarters are," said Mihoshi. "They
don't know what it's like to be in the field, fighting for justice!"
Mihoshi's face beamed as she sat in her chair and pointed ahead, her
voice full of joyous enthusiasm. "Let's go!"

Kiyone nodded and smiled slightly. "You said it, Mihoshi." She lightly
touched some controls, and Yagami leapt out of orbit and streaked out of
the Sol system to carry out its mission.

Untold light years across space, the first rays of dawn shone on an open
plain on planet Jurai. A tall, imposing figure stood amongst the gently-
waving grasses and wildflowers, casting a long, dark shadow across the
ground amidst the low-slanting beams of the rising sun. The figure's eyes
gazed proud and steadfast at the tree-ship sitting in the middle of the
field. As he watched Sakura-oh and waited for his daughter Amaiko to take
the ship into the sky, Torakami tried to let the sight of one child's
accomplishment assuage the sorrow of the death of another.

Out of the corner of his eye, Torakami caught a glimpse of two people
walking towards him. He turned to look at them, and nodded in
recognition.

One was a tall, statuesque woman just a little younger than Torakami
himself. Her robes were a mixture of black and iron grey, and her hair,
dark forest green, dangled in twin ponytails behind her head and hung
nearly to her feet as she strode towards him, her confident air of
command diminished only by the fact that she approached someone who
outranked her. The other, a lanky young man scarcely out of adolescence,
walked a respectful distance behind her, his long, loose blonde hair and
his pale green robes waving in the breeze, his eager gait betraying great
energy restrained with difficulty.

When they reached Torakami, the woman bowed and the man knelt. "Ohayo,
Torakami-dono," the two of them said.

Torakami inclined his head slightly. "Ohayo, Midoriyama-san, Kintarou-
san."

Kintarou got back to his feet and waited for Midoriyama to speak.

"We came as soon as we could, Torakami-dono. Our condolences at your
loss. I promise you, we will avenge him."

Torakami shook his head. "No. I appreciate your offer, but we must not
allow personal feelings to cloud our judgement. We serve Jurai, not
ourselves. Death, love, sorrow -- what are those, next to duty? Nothing!"

Midoriyama nodded. "As you say."

"As you're already here, though, I invite you to watch with me. Today is
my daughter's first flight. Stand beside me in the place of my son who is
with us only in spirit."

"You do us too much honor," said Midoriyama humbly.

"Nonsense!" replied Torakami. "You've fought at my side many more times
than is necessary for me to respect you. And your son there shows every
sign of following in your footsteps."

Midoriyama beamed with maternal pride, and Kintarou very nearly spoke out
of turn to thank Torakami, before catching himself. The older man
noticed, and decided that the boy had been forced to hold his tongue long
enough.

"So, how many of the universe's worst criminals breathe no more because
of your determination, Kintarou-san? A dozen?" asked Torakami,
deliberately using a lower number than the one he knew to be fact.

"I wouldn't presume to contradict you, Torakami-dono, but as you ask, the
number is fourteen," replied the young man.

"Excellent," said Torakami. "Very well done. Let them know that they
arouse Jurai's wrath at their mortal peril."

"It shall be done," said Kintarou proudly.

Across the field, Sakura-oh started to slowly rise from the ground.
Noticing this, Torakami drew his sword Haika-ken, ignited it, and held
its blazing yellow blade high in salute. "What is your sword's name,
Kintarou-san?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Kyokkou-ken, Torakami-dono," answered the boy. "Shall I... salute with
you?"

Torakami nodded. "Yes, of course. And your mother, though I have no need
to ask Tenrai-ken's name. I've seen it used often enough."

Midoriyama drew her weapon and raised it burning with deep-blue light,
while her son raised a pale yellow shining sword of his own. The three
blades hung steady in a gesture of respect as a ship of Jurai slipped the
bonds of gravity for the first time and rose up into the sky. Torakami
watched, his expression one of intense pride.

Back in the Sol system, in a bed in a house on the islands of Nippon on
planet Earth, Torakami's niece turned uneasily in her sleep. Aeka
shuddered and awoke, looking fearfully around the room. She glanced over
at the person sleeping next to her, and released her breath when she
confirmed that it was Tenchi. After a brief kiss, she huddled closer to
him and drifted off to sleep again.


Preview of Next Episode: No Need for Two Swords, Part 2

"I'm warning you, princess," growled Ryoko, her voice shaking. "You'd
better not be planning any of that royal Juraian bondage crap like you
pulled before. You got me?"

Fury flooded into Aeka's face, and at her sides her hands clenched. She
fought down the reflexive urge to strike out at Ryoko, and after a few
moments of utmost exertion she calmed down enough for words. "I will not
stand here and listen to you speak ill of what is deep beyond your
understanding," she declared coldly. "Nor will I tolerate your
insinuation that I would break my oath. Now, Ten-chan is waiting for me.
Get out of my way."

Ryoko glared at Aeka and deliberately didn't budge.