Warning: Praise may lead to subsequent work.

Prologue:  Sasami's Wish 
A Tenchi Muyo Fanfic by Tyson Roberts (nall@goldengate.net)

Disclaimer:	While no disclaimer actually protects me from anything, I
		would like to say that these characters are not mine, 
		and do I not claim any rights to them.


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"Tenchi-niichan!"
	There was no answer from the void.
"Tenchi-niichaaaaan!" the girl called again, more desperately.  
	Running frantically, she called out his name, wanting help desperately.
"Tenchi-nii-" the sound died in her throat as she screamed.  
"I can't breathe... help me!" the words more mouthed than spoken as she
fell to her knees, gasping for air.
	The girl fought weakly against the pain.  She could feel her lungs
burn, her head throb with each passing moment without the precious oxygen
she needed to live.  The desperation she felt was beyond reason, her heart
was pounding beyond it's limit, collapsing to the ground she spoke his name 
in silence.  
	Sasami woke up in her futon.  Ignoring her sister, she sat up 
immediately, wiping the tears from her eyes and went to the one place she 
knew she would feel truly safe. 

---

	Tenchi was flying.  His arms spread out, he reached for the
horizon as he effortlessly soared through the air.  The sky was blue as
far as the eyes could see.  In the distance, he could see two parallel
purple rings, reaching towards the ground. 
"This must be Jurai." he thought.  
	Looking down, he confirmed this by noting a huge forest.  Just
as the sky above, the forest stretched in all directions as far as the eye 
could see.  Tenchi was about to look elsewhere, but then, out of the corner of 
his eye, he noticed something interesting.  
	Ahead of him, the forest seemed to clear, forming a circle around
two trees in it's center.  The two trees were different than the others in 
several respects.  One tree was large and very old.  By the raw power it 
seemed to eminate, the tree could very well be the epitome of it's kind.  
The second, by contrast, was small, very thin and an infant by comparison.  
By the way thier roots intertwined, the trees seemed inseparable, almost as if 
thier lives were so entwined that one could not live without the other.  
	As Tenchi approached the pair of trees, he saw them begin to
change.  Almost inperceptable at first, the older tree's leaves began to
brown, and then fall from thier branches.  A moment later, all the leaves
were gone from it's branches.  The great tree, once exposed, began to whither
and gnarl at a rapid pace.  Before long, the branches began to fall off at
thier base, landing with great impact in the grass.  Then, Tenchi saw one of 
the largest limbs directly above the young tree snap, and with a great
crash, the branch came plunging down on top of the small tree, crushing
it beneath the immense weight.  The smaller tree, as young as it was, died 
with the old.  
	The larger tree, now shed of it's limbs, was nothing but a barren
trunk.  The life gone, there was nothing left in the clearing but a barren
stump, and the debris it left behind.  
	Tenchi felt a great sadness wash over him.  He didn't know why,
but there was reason for great despair at the demise of these trees. 
Lingering there for a moment, he heard something.  Behind him, there was a
gentle tapping.  Soon it became more, and then it was all around him. 
Looking down at the sound, he watched as the entire forest began to turn
dark shades of crimson and brown, and fall from thier limbs, which then in
turn fell.  The whole forest was dying, creating louder and louder raps on
the ground as they fell.  Tenchi grasped his head in terror of the event,
the sound became louder, louder...  
"Tenchi-niichan?" came a cry from the door. 
	In a cold sweat, Tenchi looked over to the door.  In his nearly
fevered state, he could make out a small figure near the door.  
"Tenchi-niichan?" she called again, sobbing.  
"Sasami!" he replied, recognizing her.  
	She was still crying weakly as she rushed up to and hugged him. 
"Tenchi-niichan, can I spend the night with you?" she asked him, almost
choaking on a sob as she did so.  
"Did you have a scary dream again?" he asked, holding her close as she
held a death-grip on him.
	The little princess merely nodded her head against his chest.  
"Alright, I'll let you sleep here." he said, trying to seem calm for her, 
despite the tremors he still felt from his own experience.  
"Thank you." was all she said, still squeezing.

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You know, when we join [both] hands	 |   Nall (nall@goldengate.net)
it's selfish to think of God.		 | 
But, he should explain to me		 | 
at least the reason for this misery.     | - "Hinageshi" (Red Poppy)
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