continued from part 8


	A few seconds later Ryoko came flying into the room with the cabbit 
clutched in her hand and Sasami following behind.  "Ok, let's get going!  
I can't wait to get to the shops.  Let's go Rose," she said as she 
grabbed my arm. 

	"Ack," I cried as I almost lost my balance.  I looked to the side and 
saw that she had also nabbed Jared and was dragging us towards the front 
of the house.  

	Once outside she stopped us a few hundred feet from the house and then 
threw Ryo-Ohki into the air.  With a sharp "Meow"-ing cry the small 
cabbit made its transformation into a spaceship.

	"Let's get going.  Rose, bring Ayeka," ordered Ryoko, dropping me and 
picking up Sasami in my place.

	And before I could say anything in reply Ryoko was flying up towards the 
jeweled bottom of her craft.  Sighing I turned to Ayeka, and stared at 
her for a minute.  Now this princess was so proper I had no idea where I 
should pick her up.  Grabbing her under the arms would be a little 
uncomfortable, and I don't think my grip would be that stable.  I also 
didn't see her doing the whole piggy-back thing.  Well, I punched through 
a wall, I should be able to lift Ayeka....I hope.  Finally decided, I 
walked up to her and bent a bit to catch her under the knees, and lifted. 
 As I had hoped there wasn't a problem and I so I levitated myself up a 
foot or two before beginning my ascent to Ryo-Ohki. 

	Phasing through the jeweled bottom into the control room, I noticed 
Ryoko already seated at the controls and Jared was standing near one of 
the windows looking out toward the lake.  Sasami didn't seem to be doing 
anything in particular. When I had fully cleared the floor I let Ayeka 
down and went over to Ryoko.

	"So how long will it take us to get to the shopping district?"

	"Well it probably won't be much faster than when we went out the last 
time, so about a half an hour.  Can't have people noticing Ryo-Ohki.  
People won't be able to see her, but I don't want to attract any 
attention to us."

	"I'm surprised a uncivilized person such as yourself would understand 
the need for subtlety," Ayeka interjected.

	"And just what is that supposed to mean hime-chan?" Ryoko demanded.

	"With the way you hang over Tenchi-sama all the time it seemed beyond 
your capabilities.  Ohohohohohoh"

	"Why, you....."

	Rolling my eyes at the squabble I turned to see what I could do to 
occupy my time until we reached our destination.  I had the strange 
feeling that Ayeka and Ryoko would be fighting the whole way there, and I 
didn't want to get in the middle of it.

	The window seemed to be the best diversion, as the control was too near 
to Ryoko and Ayeka to be safe.  Unfortunately, that was also where Jared 
was.  Perhaps this was a good thing though.  He seemed to know more than 
I when it came to the people here.  Maybe I could get some more 
information about this "Jurai" they kept talking about, and how so many 
people from space could be living here.  Of course it would also be a 
good time to learn where he came from.

	That decided I walked over to Jared and watched the scenery fly by. It 
suddenly occured to me that although I had decided to get information 
from him... I had a hard time coming up with an ice-breaking opening.

	He spoke before I could. "I wish there were a monitor or something in 
here. But the only information access seems to be through the main 
controls."

	"Why should that matter?" I asked him.

	He gave a small shrug, unconsciously holding a kind of military �parade 
rest' sort of pose. Not only did it look a little odd with his Hawaiian 
outfit it also put me off slightly.

	"I feel a little vulnerable not knowing much about my situation," he 
confessed.

	I felt a little rocked back on my heels. HE didn't feel like he knew 
anything!?!

	At length, feeling the pause was getting too great, I finally turned 
towards Jared and asked, "So how did you get here in the first place?  I 
mean, I know you ended up in Washu's vat, but where were you before here?"

	He turned to me with a smile that was kinda kind and sorta self-mocking 
but not really easily readable. It was a nice kind of not-dangerous 
smile, though.

	"Fourth generation Californian, born and raised. I had ancestors fight 
in the revolution against England, am descended from both sides of the 
famous Hatfield-McCoy feud, by legal technicality could be considered a 
full-blooded Sioux indian, and am a former nerd and mall rat. You?"

	His eyes twinkled. I'd never actually seen eyes do that before.

	"So you're from California.  That's interesting.  What's it like over 
there?  Did you learn Japanese there, or was it shoved into your head 
like it was mine when you woke up earlier?"

	"Ah," he seemed to consider that for a moment. "Well, it wasn't exactly 
shoved into my head *here*, but I didn't learn it in California. This 
isn't my first universe hop, you see. I get the impression that once you 
start this sort of thing it tends to become a part of your life. You're 
actually lucky. This is a good place, with good people. There are worlds 
I'm aware of that are mostly death and violence. Even the last place I 
was at had some things that would suck your brain out through a ...."

	"Ah," he could see how unsettling I found that line of conversation.

	He grinned again charmingly and changed tack. "There were warriors both 
good and bad, more good than bad, and lots of things to do. It was also a 
*very* good idea to learn martial arts to a surreal degree. I had good 
teachers there, too."

	He put both his arms behind his head and laced his fingers, looking up 
at the blank ceiling before turning his eyes back on me. "Anyway, I 
picked up Japanese on my arrival there. Previously, my only connection to 
Tokyo came from when a relative of mine bombed it in the second world 
war."

	My head kept spinning for approximately a minute. Most of that stuff I 
shoved aside to be dealt with later, but I noticed that he kept bringing 
family up.

	"So did you leave any family behind?  I know I miss mine."

	Again that smile. "I have a mother whom I love very much, a gaggle of 
brothers with varying interests and skills, no sisters, and a very evil 
gentleman whom I refuse to acknowledge as my father."

	Jared frowned a bit at that. "Come to think of it, in my *last* universe 
I was adopted by the family I came in contact with. And though the 
pompus, self-centered idiot who served as my father there would've sold 
my future for a crust of bread, and I believe engaged me to someone over 
half a potroast, he was actually *fun* and a good influence compared to 
my original."

	He grinned. "Come to think of it, I'm actually rather fond of the old 
fool."

	Jared's eyes pivoted over to track me. "So Rose, you've been asking me 
all these questions but you haven't said anything about yourself.  Where 
are YOU from?"

	Okay, reality here, Calm yourself, Rose. It can't be as bad as all that 
and he's probably exagerrating for effect... I hope he is, anyway.

	I took a deep breath and let the pep talk I was giving myself take 
effect. This �brother' of mine wasn't easy to get used to. But... well, 
at least he hasn't hurt me or attacked me or anything. He was actually 
helpful in a weird way.

	"Well, I was going to college in Philadelphia.  Then I got sucked here 
for some strange reason.  Washu keeps telling me she's looking for a way 
for me to get home, I hope she finds one soon."

	"How exactly did you get here anyway?  You seem like your from my 
dimension... or one very similar to it."

	"I just picked up a ring someone had lost and put it on.  I was going to 
give it in to the office, but I figured I'd forget where I put it so I 
slipped it on my finger.  At least that way I wouldn't lose it," I 
sighed, "But of course that's where I made my mistake.  I tried to take 
it off, but it seemed attached to my finger.  I twisted and turned it, 
and I must have done something to it because the next thing I knew I was 
flying through space and landed in Washu's lab."

	"Speaking of which, you kinda look like Washu...and Ryoko for that 
matter.  You know, the hair color and the cat eyes."

	I turned to look out the window again, and replied, "Yeah, well when I 
landed in Washu's lab I landed right in the middle of her experiment to 
make Ryoko a sister.  How I look now, and my powers are the result of 
that.  Is how you look now how you always looked?  I know Tenchi's gene's 
got thrown in the mix with you."

	He looked in a reflective surface so he could see, quickly checking 
himself over.

	"Physical structure's about the same, probably trimmer, though I don't 
mind. Normally my hair would frizz like anything at this length 
(medium-ish), but I don't know if the smoothing effect was from here or 
my *last* universe where I kept getting spells dumped on me."

	Jared looked back and forth from my spiky hair to Ryoko's. "My guess 
would be it's a holdover from my last one. Anyway, from what I remember 
my eyes didn't used to change color with my mood and my hair wasn't 
bright blue. But I think that about covers it."

	I looked at him. "That's right, when we first saw you in that tank your 
hair was dark red, wasn't it? Hey, waitaminute!" I frowned. "How do you 
*know* your eyes change color?"

	As he looked at me his eyes went from grass-green to purplish blue. He 
cocked his head indicating the reflective wall of Ryo-Ohki's passenger 
chamber. "I watched them change. They used to be hazel and would swing a 
bit anyway, too little to notice really. But seeing them go from red to 
gold to green was a bit of a jump from that."

	"Hey, at least they aren't cat-slitted, buddy." I half-growled.

	"You said you missed your family, who's waiting at home for you?" Jared 
queried.

	I thought about objecting, but let him have the change in subject. I 
shrugged and answered.

	"Well I have my mom, dad, and younger brother.  I usually talk to one of 
my parent's every night.  I wonder what's happening back home."

	"Don't worry.  I'm sure Washu will come up with something."

	"Yeah.....hey....this looks familiar."  
	
	I glanced back at Ryoko and saw that she was engaged in a staring 
contest with Ayeka.  You could almost see the sparks fly....wait...you 
could see the sparks fly.  

	"Hey Ryoko," I shouted, "Where are you taking us? We're going to fly 
right past the shopping district."

	That got both of their attention and Ryoko hastily began to give 
Ryo-Ohki directions on where to wait.

	"Ok, appearing out of the blue in public is a no-no.  So where are we 
going to make our entrance?"  I asked Ryoko.

	"You see that alley between the bakery and the clothes store over there? 
Teleport down there and no one will give you a second glance when you 
walk out onto the street,"  Jared replied.

	"Good thinking, Jared.  See you down there, Rose,"  Ryoko said, and then 
proceeded to grab him and Sasami and wink out of existance.

	"I guess that leaves you and me Ayeka-san.  Shall we go?"  I asked while 
walking towards the purple-haired girl.

	Ayeka extended her hand, I took it, then closed my eyes and envisioned 
myself standing in the alley that Jared had pointed out.  A second later 
the sounds of the street filtered into my ears, and I saw that Ryoko and 
Jared were waiting for the two of us at the entrance to the alley while 
the littlest princess was hurriedly cuddling up to a newly shrunken 
Ryo-Ohki.

	Jared stopped our procession while reaching into his waist pouch and 
removing a black leather wallet.

	"Okay, plan for battle. Rose, you and I can hardly exchange clothes, so 
I'm thinking we split up at least briefly. Here's two hundred thousand 
yen for your purchases. Since Ayeka and Ryoko haven't said they needed 
anything they can have ten thousand each for curio shopping, and seeing 
as how Sasami is the lifeblood of the household she'll know what they 
need at home better than anyone. Here's fifty grand. Sasami? Can we have 
the address for where we are to have things delivered?"

	I held the money uncertainly in my hand, not sure of whether to stick it 
greedily in my pocket or return some of it. Two hundred thousand sounded 
like an awful lot.

	"Jared," I asked. "How can you afford this?"

	My unfathomable brother returned the wallet to his pouch. "It's roughly 
two thousand American, and you can expect prices to be about twice as 
much as you'd imagine just at a rough guess. Considering that you're 
rebuilding most of the trappings of a life: clothes, toothbrush, 
hairbrush and accessories, shoes, and on, and on, it really isn't much. 
It will, however, do for *one* trip. If you need more just go ahead and 
holler. Um, actually, finding each other could be something of a problem. 
This place is crowded."

	He took out a pretty but not ostentatious locket and slipped the chain 
over his head, then passed out little flat disks about the size of coins.

	"I just put on a remote tracking unit. You'll be able to find me with 
these. They're activated by body heat, and are meant to be held in the 
palm of the hand like so." He demonstrated a magician's trick of holding 
the hand perfectly relaxed while hiding a coin at its center without the 
fingers even touching it. He waved the hand about upside down without the 
disk falling out, then he grinned.

	"But it's okay if you just hold it between thumb and forefinger. Don't 
lose it. So long as it's warm it should point to me, showing both 
direction and distance. Use them to link up with me when you need more 
money, or when we're ready to get out of here. Just to avoid blowing the 
secret try not to be obvious when you're using them, okay? Let's meet in 
an hour just to check bases and see if we need to remain longer."

	"My," Ayeka said, accepting a unit. "You certainly are useful, Lord 
Jared."

	I scowled. "You still haven't answered my question, Jared. Where did you 
get all this stuff? How can you afford this? I thought you were just 
snatched from your home like I was."

	He patted the waist pouch at his side. "The Standard Light Urban 
Survival Pack; Never leave your home universe without it. And as for 
money; Don't worry. I don't really understand how they get it to me, but 
I haven't reached the end of my expense account yet. And supplies for my 
support group is just about as approved an item as I can think of."

	"That doesn't really help." I growled.

	He shrugged happily, content with himself. It was clear that was all the 
explanation I'd be getting.

	We made our way out and down the street, and it seemed that everyone 
seemed to be watching us emerge.  I wondered what could be attracting the 
attention, then I realized that as a group we did make quite a sight.

	Ryoko and Ayeka's clothing although conservative was quite colorful, 
plus Jared's improvised MuuMuu (at least i think that's what it's 
called).  Oh well,  that's what we were shopping for right?  Decent 
clothes.

	In spite of Jared's warning we didn't split up immediately. We stopped 
in front of one women's clothing store that Ayeka seemed taken with.  But 
the only thing in there was formal wear.  As beautiful as I thought the 
clothes were I don't think they would have lasted a day at the Masaki 
household.  Not that I'm the type to wear it anyway, but we left Ayeka to 
look to her heart's content. 

	That might have split the group up, but right next door Jared found a 
shop with a name I didn't recognize. He dove in past a wall of what 
looked like suits of armor and wooden weapons and came out looking 
enormously pleased with himself. Ryoko and I had just stood around 
letting Sasami get all googly-eyed over a new cooking set in the next 
shop over and then Ayeka rejoined us, complaining about the surly 
salesperson.

	A little further down the road we came to some modern clothing stores 
which Jared and I browsed looking for the kind of clothes we wanted.

	Ayeka kept steering Jared towards the most conservative of the clothes, 
intent on having a member of the royal family dressed as such. Not 
wearing something so mundane as jeans or a t-shirt.  Surprisingly, Jared 
seemed not to mind. However, when it came down to it he refused almost 
everything she offered on the basis of being too restrictive or not of a 
suitable fabric. The ability to move freely was something he insisted on, 
and I could understand his arguments about durability.

	I almost had to laugh when I saw him slip a short stack of light colored 
jeans and plain t-shirts into the stack of his purchases. In fact I did 
laugh, and when Ayeka saw what I was looking at Jared had to quickly 
reassure her that he'd intended to have them modified.

	I on the other hand had to fight quite heatedly with Ryoko.  Her idea of 
a dress came closer to my idea of body paint, and her tastes leaned 
toward the more daring of the clothes offered.  I walked out of the store 
with a few more shirts, and another pair of jeans.

	From there we all split up and spent the rest of the hour in serious 
shopping. Toward the end I was getting gladder and gladder that Jared had 
suggested that we get most of our packages delivered. Even the few items 
I was carrying had begun to become quite a load.

	It was getting close to lunch time when we all got back together and 
decided to get something to eat before going back.  The shopping had been 
fun, and thankfully mostly free of Ryoko and Ayeka's bickering.  Which, 
mostly likely, had to do with the fact they were in a very public place 
and couldn't even see each other most of the time.

	As we sat down to a leisurely lunch of okinomiyaki Ayeka asked something 
that had been puzzling me.

	"Lord Jared, haven't you found anything? Why are you still wearing that 
cloth?"

	He shrugged. "This is only for a little while longer. I've sent all my 
clothes purchases through a specialty shop or two for changes."

	"Oh! Tailoring!" Ayeka said approvingly. "But what styles did you ask 
for. Are you sure they'll be appropriate?"

	Jared grinned with his chopsticks poised. "I believe so, Aunt Ayeka. I 
used the Juraian Knight as my template." He anticipated Ryoko's reaction 
with a private wink and the added. "After all, don't they do alot of 
fighting?"

	We finished quickly and were soon ready to go home.  So we wandered back 
to the alley we appeared in, and teleported back into Ryo-Ohki. It was 
just when we'd got inside that I managed to say something really stupid.

	Trying to get something to ease my earlier suspicions I turned and asked 
Jared once we'd gotten inside. "So, I'm getting confused. Aren't you 
related to Ayeka because you're related to Tenchi? If that's so why are 
she and Ryoko fighting over him?"

	It was then that I learned Jared's mouth could sometimes run away with 
his head. He said. "It doesn't matter, really. According to my 
information neither one gets him. You'd never believe who..."

	It could see his mind reaching down to strangle his vocal chords as a 
brittle, hostile silence suddenly sprang up aboard the ship.

	"Who what, Jared?" The princess and Ryoko asked as an almost eerie (and 
certainly dangerous) chorus.

	I could see this person drawing himself together for strength. He faced 
both with a manner that said he'd be honest even if it pained him. "My 
dear relatives. I was given to understand, from a source I have yet to 
see seriously wrong, that Tenchi will shortly fall in love with someone 
who loves him, yet is not one of the two of you. But as I have said: I 
have not studied the material in detail. Gomen nasai."

	He bowed to both of them. "I have seen that source make a non-critical 
mistake. That would suggest it was not infallible."

	For his part Jared was doing his best to convey body language that would 
show him as an ally forced to bear unhappy news, thinking they'd be least 
likely to blast him if he made it clear he'd assist them if they asked it.

end part 8