C&C needed on this part, believe me.  Drop me a note if you even have a
vague idea of what can be added/changed to make this part better.  

Disclaimer goes here (Sailor Moon and Tenchi Muyo!).

Part 10

	Usagi stared out the train window at the countryside as it rushed past.
//What a way to spend a Saturday night,// she thought.  She sighed
deeply and snuggled into Mamouro's arm a little more.  
	Their closeness had a lot to do with Serenity and Endyminion, but there
was also something there between the younger two.  It was too early for
it to be anything definite, but they shared the memory of a love from
long ago, and that was a start.  
	Ami watched them impassively.  Her life had changed rather radically in
the last two days and she was still trying to sort out where she stood
on everything.  Complicating things even more, Usagi, or was it
Serenity? Anyway, Usagi hadn't been able to completely recover her
memories.  She still had bits and pieces missing, as did they all, but
her gaps were far more numerous.
	Currently, she was playing with the Mercury computer and grinning.
//The funny part is, if they had told be that this thing came with the
job, I would have volunteered,// she mused to herself.
	
***

	Haruka and Michiru, meanwhile, had finally found their way out of
Washuu's laboratory.  Just after dinner, too.  
	They drug themselves into the dining room just Sasami and Hotaru were
starting the clean up process.  Hotaru spotted them and giggled when she
saw the ravenous looks they were shooting at the remains of dinner. 
Sasami smiled and told them that they were welcome to what was left. 
Fortunately, a fair amount of food remained and they gleefully fell upon
them.  Yay, there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of noodle.  
	When they were finished, they offered to help Sasami clean up, but she
politely declined, saying that Hotaru had already offered to help. 
Instead, she suggested that they go find everyone and tell them that she
was going to cut up the rest of the watermelon they had started on the
day before.  
	Haruka and Michiru knew that they couldn't leave before they got a
chance to talk to Mercury again, and they certainly weren't going to
wander back into that sick funhouse that Washuu called a laboratory
looking for her, so they agreed.  To kill time, if nothing else.
	After they had left, Sasami and Hotaru finished clearing the table and
set about washing dishes.
	"So, those two are your friends?"
	"Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama?  Yes, they're nice."
	"Papa?  I thought your father was in Washuu's lab, and isn't he a bit
young?"
	Hotaru giggled.  She was a lot happier since she had woken up.  For
some odd reason, she didn't feel as alone as she had before, or as
weak.  In fact, she had even made a new friend.  Of course, Sasami
didn't know about her healing powers yet, but Hotaru was almost
convinced that she wouldn't care.  Almost.  
	"No, Haruka-papa isn't my real papa.  She... she... something I don't
remember."  Hotaru's cute little face wrinkled in an effort to recall
why she even knew Haruka's name, much less felt the urge to call him
"papa."
	"She?  Hmm... yeah, she did look sort of feminine.  But why did you
call her �papa' then?"
	Hotaru frowned.  "I can't remember.  I know but I don't know.  It's
strange."
	"Don't worry about it.  You'll think of it eventually.  Hey, why don't
you go take these bowls to Washuu and the others?  They haven't been out
of the lab all day, and I bet they're hungry."
	"Sure!" Hotaru scooped up the bowls and made off for the lab, her bad
mood totally defused.

***
	
	Tenchi, as it turned out, was busy tending his fields.  Ever since the
school had been destroyed, he had been finding himself with more and
more free time.  Not normally a bad thing, but being around the house
for such long periods of time wasn't good for his mental, and quite
possibly physical, health.  
	So he came out here, to the broad, skirtlike plateau about a third of
the way up the path to the Masaki shrine and gardened.  None of the
other members of the household objected, Ryo-okhi least of all.
	Most days he would come down early in the morning, but it had rained
today, so he'd decided to give the soil a little time to dry out and do
his work after dinner.  Right now, he was engaged in a healthy bout of
weeding.
	And thinking.  He had a lot to think about.  This Kiyone individual,
for one.
	She was cute and not from earth, that usually led to him attracting a
new admirer, though she didn't seem to be interested.  Yet.  Some small
part of him found that disappointing but was savagely beaten my the more
rational part of his brain.  
	She would almost definitely be living with them since she was here
because of Mihoshi.  Not that she seemed very happy to have found her. 
He'd thought about avoiding her, but it didn't prove necessary.  Neither
she nor Mihoshi had been seen all day. 
	//I just hope that they haven't killed each other,// he thought. 
	Then there was this Mercury lady.  She was... she was way too much like
Washuu for his tastes.  Well, not really like Washuu.  Sure, there was a
certain intense intelligence that she radiated, but it didn't come with
the dynamic feeling that Washuu gave off.  Mercury was much more
stable... colder.
	He shook his head.  If this Mercury woman did stay, she'd probably
spend all her time in Washuu's lab, far away from him.
	The others... well, the other group that had shown up the day before
hadn't been seen since entering Washuu's realm. 
	//I wonder if I should say a prayer for them?// he wondered.
	It was then that a voice snapped him out of his revere.  He looked up
from his work and spotted a rather large group of teenagers standing on
the pathway to the shrine.  One of the blond girls was waving to him and
was apparently the one who had called out.  
	He shouldered his hoe and went to greet the guests. //I'm beginning to
wonder if I shouldn't just post signs saying "Aliens take next left,
shrine worshipers go straight" or something.  I'd get more work done, at
least.//

***

	"He looks like my old sempai," Makoto whispered to Minako, who giggled.
	"He is kind of cute, I bet he'll be gorgeous in a couple years,
though," Minako replied.  They stopped talking when he looked up from
his work in response to Usagi's greeting.
	He picked up whatever farm instrument he had been using and made his
way over to them, almost reluctantly.  
	"Hello.  Can I help you?" he asked.  For some strange reason, a his
voice seemed to carry a note of resignation.  Almost as if he was
expecting them to kill him.
	They were saved from answering when someone called out "Tenchi!" from
farther up the path.
	"Ahh... That's me, why don't you all come along up to the house for
some tea."  They nodded agreement and followed him up the stairs a short
ways before encountering Haruka and Michiru.  
	"Tenchi, Sasami said that she's going to..." Haruka trailed off as she
spotted the people following him.  "Well, I'm glad you guys finally
decided to show up."
	This brought a few giggles, but Usagi looked at her sternly.  "Some of
us can't just forget about school to go traipsing off into the
mountains."  When Haruka's face had reached the appropriate level of
shock, anger, and confusion, Usagi let herself go and giggled along with
the rest of them.  
	After a couple seconds of Haruka's older mind kicking her younger self
around a bit and giving her a speech on relaxing more, she broke into a
smile, too.
	"Anyway, there's probably enough watermelon for everyone if she cuts
really small pieces."  She spared a look at Usagi.  "REALLY small
pieces."

***

	"...but would that kind of reaction lead to the effect that we
witnessed?  I mean, this isn't just a couple of lesser dimensions that
we're talking about here, these are whole world threads.  I mean just
look at-"
	"No, the model works fine.  The distance between the threads is what
makes it work so well..." Washuu paused and looked over as a monitor
flickered to life.  "Hello!  Looks like we have more visitors."
	Mercury looked over at the screen.  "Oh, I was wondering when they'd
show up.  Shall I go and bring them in here?"
	"Yeah, I haven't had this many guena pi... I mean, patients in a long
time."
	Mercury just shook her head and went to greet her friends.  It
certainly was a good thing that she'd arrived.  Some of the
"improvements" that Washuu had decided to add to the Senshis' new bodies
would NOT have been well received.

***

	The Senshi hadn't even finished removing their shoes before Mercury
stepped into the hallway.  
	Haruka and Michiru had already know that she was here and didn't share
in the shock and confusion that the others were experiencing.  "Oh,
yeah, and Mercury's here," Haruka said as matter of factly as she could
manage.
	Usagi turned a mild glare her way before starting to launch questions
at Mercury.
	Mercury, for her part, held up a hand to stop her.  "We'll talk later. 
Right now, Ms. Washuu needs to run tests so that we can get everything
started."  She gestured toward the opened door.  "Right this way."
	The others choked down their protests and filed into through the door. 
Everyone except Tenchi, who knew that he wasn't included and had already
wandered into the kitchen, Ami, who Mercury had pulled aside, and Haruka
and Michiru, who weren't going back in there if they didn't specifically
have to.
	Mercury looked at Haruka and Michiru.  "Oh, you two should go on in,
too.  Your bodies are ready."

***

	Ami sipped her tea slowly, trying to draw reassurance from the warm
liquid.  "So... You're me?"  She lowered her cup and gave Lady Mercury a
steady look. //Well, at least I grow up pretty,// she thought.  
	"Yes, in a manner of speaking.  Though not really... well, that
explanation will have to wait for a while, I still don't understand it
entirely."
	Ami tried to figure out what she was talking about but failed.  "Umm..
Is that a yes?"
	"Yes.  Well, sort of.  I'm a you that you could be."
	"Alright, I can handle that," Ami said.
	Mercury smiled.  "So, I hear that you want to be a doctor."
	"Yes," Ami replied, deciding to play along.  "I've always dreamed about
being able to help people.  Like my mother."
	"Of course.  How about other areas of study?"
	"Well, I have a decent knowledge of history and I can read English
fairly well."
	"Hmm... have you ever considered getting some outside tutoring?  I
mean, learning things that aren't in your schools curriculum."
	"Certainly.  But most tutors are rather specific and I don't like to be
tied down so much in what I learn." 
	"I understand.  What if I knew of someone who could teach you a lot
about everything?  Would you be interested in learning from her?"
	"Her?  I take it you are referring to yourself."
	"Yes, indeed.  There's no way that I'd try to get you to study under
Washuu.  She's brilliant, but she's not quite safe to be around, if you
know what I mean."

***

	In another part of the house, a part that wasn't even on the same plane
of existence, screams of horror could be heard.  The kind of horror that
comes from specially designed medical instruments that are always cold
to the touch.  REAL horror.

END

Okay, this chapter is no where near as good as previous parts.  There
are several reasons for this, the biggest of which being that there are
just too many **** people in each scene for me to write it well.  I know
that I gloss over a LOT of stuff, but that's because I'm very
uncomfortable with this section and want to get it over with as fast as
possible.  Also, I'm having real trouble envisioning how these meetings
should go.  I scrapped five separate versions of the Tenchi meets Inner
Senshi scenes before I settled on the one that's in here.  The Mercury
intro was only slightly easier.

There is only one main scene that I really have to put into this arc
then I can do a bit of wrap up and get the cast back to a manageable
number.  There are more than 25 characters running around in this right
now, and I'm sure that a couple of them got lost.

Anyway, this is the first chapter that I'm out and out asking for C&C
on.  I need you to tell me which parts just don't work and why and what
parts I need to add.  This chapter isn't writing itself, and I don't
seem to be able to pull it together, so what do YOU think?  
-- 
Tim Williams
http://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia/ 

"This time, we're leaving nothing to the imagination.  We tried that
last time, and, in our opinion, it didn't work." -- Henry Rollins,
"Driveby Shooting"