-- Listar MIME Decryption --------------
-- Name   : RLREQU~1.TXT
-- Decoded: quoted-printable

Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Alpha
Requiem I
By Evil Dr. Tran


Disclaimer:


	The Characters you're about to read are created and owned by 
AIC/ Pioneer.  This fic written just for entertainment purposes 
and not for Moneymaking.


Author's Notes:


	  When you read this three part story line there will be 
events where most things are different.  Due to very limited 
information that's been so far released, this chapter will not in 
any way try to resolve the mystery between Tsunami, Washu and 
Tokimi.  Everything will fall into place as you read along.  Don't 
ask questions just yet, for now, enjoy. Once in awhile, we all 
need a little controversy to keep things fresh.  This time, 
negative reviews of this fic will be thoroughly ignored.  Love it 
or hate it, Ryoko's Love is still alive.   George Lucas pulled out 
the same technique 20 years ago by placing people in the middle of 
the action instead of the beginning.  He used virtually unknown 
characters and it made him lots of money. 


------------------------------------------------------------------


The Hunted


	On a faraway world named Jun, the jagged rock planet served  
its sole inhabitant's as a droid testing grounds.  Along the crag   
landscape, Ryoko carried an exhausted Tenchi cradled in her arms 
in flight. 

	"Damn." Ryoko muttered discontent to herself, she did not at 
all enjoy the sensation of being hunted like a pair of animals. 

	Tenchi begun to stir slightly. "Feel...so...tired..." Tenchi 
said under a struggled breath.

	Ryoko heard Tenchi's worn out voice which filled her with 
intense frustration, sadness and anger.  The pirate did her best 
to hold back the reservoir of tears.  "Don't worry Tenchi, we're 
almost close to finding a place to hide." 

	Up ahead, Ryoko noticed a wreckage of an old spacecraft.  
The pirate immediately decided to use the old wreck as a makeshift 
shelter.  She carried Tenchi into the broken hull of the 
spacecraft, she examined the craft and figured it to been on the 
planet for at least fifty years, judging by its rusted old 
appearance.  Ryoko leaned Tenchi against one of the ship's 
bulkheads, she gazed at Tenchi's battle-ridden face.  She 
looked around for a cloth or anything she can use to clean her 
beloved's face.  The ex-pirate ripped off the left sleeve from 
Tenchi's battle suit and wiped the battle debris off his face.  
After Ryoko swept the dirt off Tenchi's face, she sat down close 
to him, enveloped him between her arms and felt Tenchi's entire 
body shivering.  Ryoko then proceeded to wipe the sweat and dirt 
off her forehead.  

	After the moments of self cleaning, Ryoko felt an emotional 
shadow fell over her and tears welled up and distorted her vision.  
Immediately, she embraced Tenchi tighter in her arms and held him 
close to her heart.  The pirate cried silently as waves of sorrow, 
anger, and worries clutched her soul.  It all happened all so 
quickly...  

	"That bitch!!" Ryoko screamed out angrily as she embraced 
Tenchi even more firm.     

	<Why didn't Tenchi's Light Hawk wings appear when he was in 
danger?>  Ryoko thought inquisitive. <No, don't think about it 
right now, we're both still alive and we need rest.  That's most 
important, for the moment.>

	With a small flash from her energy blast, Ryoko started a 
small fire to keep herself and her loved one warm.  She leaned 
back against the cold rusted bulkhead and rested Tenchi's head 
across her lap.  The former space pirate closed her eyes and let 
her mind drift gradually, too tired too even mind the stinging 
pain sensed across her forehead.  

	For the first time since Tenchi and Ryoko agreed to rescue 
Washu from Onimaru's clutches, the ex-pirate can finally rest and 
regain her strength.  Instead of having Ryo-ohki bringing them 
straight to Washu, Onimaru saved the cabbit trouble and teleported 
Tenchi and Ryoko straight to Washu's captivity.  To Ryoko's 
relief, Washu was still ok but contained in a stasis crystal; that 
was the good news.  The bad news was that they were forced to flee 
from Onimaru's complex due to the fact that they were in the 
lion's den, from what little exchange from the brief meeting with 
Onimaru before she sent out the droids and activated the security 
lasers.  Onimaru's motives of kidnapping Washu is still a mystery, 
all she did was brag about on how she was successful to attain 
Washu and not Dr. Clay.  After being chased away from the complex, 
Tenchi and Ryoko had been both on the move for the past thirty 
eight hours evading and fighting numerous battle droids.

	"GOOOOOD MOOOORNING, in there!!!!"  Screamed a loud voice 
that shook Ryoko awake.

	Startled, Ryoko looked around rapidly, she looked down and 
saw that Tenchi was still unconscious.

	"Tenchi, wake up!"  Ryoko said loudly as she tried to nudge 
Tenchi from slumber.  No response from him.  

	"I said, Goood Morning !!" the voice yelled again.  

	Ryoko's mind quickly cleared from it's mental stupor and 
immediately recognized the loud assailant's voice.  Onimaru.

	The pirate gently placed Tenchi aside and stood up from the 
bulkhead.  As she walked out of the makeshift shelter, Ryoko 
immediately spotted Onimaru, sitting alone atop a floating chair 
in front of her.

	"Well, I see that you're awake."  The huntress chided.  "I 
hope you had a good night's rest.  Especially all alone with your 
dearly beloved, Terran-Juraian mutt."

	"Shove it, you lunatic."  Ryoko replied as coldly as she 
could.  Gleaming daggers into Onimaru's eyes.

	The red headed opponent narrowed her eyes and smirked. 
"Early morning crankiness, I see."

	"It was a bright and beautiful morning until you showed up." 

	The floating chair moved in closer until the point where 
Onimaru and Ryoko were face to face. "Is that so?"

	Ryoko narrowed her gold feral eyes and frowned.  No reply.

	Onimaru chuckled as she pulled away.  "I see.  You try to be 
resilient, Ryoko. Let me just put it plainly, that you and your 
Tenchi have demonstrated well in handling my drones..."

	"They were just stupid toys to play with.  Easy to break."  
Ryoko said as she crossed her arms and turned the other cheek.

	Ryoko waited for a response.  Suddenly, strong metal 
tendrils from Onimaru's chair, coiled around Ryoko's neck, arms 
and torso and pressed her against the ground.  The chair sped off 
dragging Ryoko through the desert grounds.  The gravel and sand 
was kicked into the air in Ryoko's wake.  Ryoko felt immense pain 
through all the scrapes and bumps from the harsh drudgery.  Ryoko 
struggled to free herself from the tendrils but then, she was 
immediately released; the ex-pirate painfully stood up and found 
that she was at least a half mile away from Tenchi.  Ryoko shot a 
killer's look at Onimaru.

	"You bitch!!  I'm gonna get you for doing that!"

	Onimaru floated away from Ryoko.  "Well then, if you're so 
confident about facing my 'toys', then you'll have no problem 
facing these." 

	The chair moved out of Ryoko's view, to her dismay a very 
large swarm of aerial droids were flying towards her and a small 
column of battle droids were sprinting towards her all with the 
obvious intention to kill.  The pirate gave out a quick estimate 
in numbers, at least two dozen.  Each of the individual machines 
were identical to each other, all with the basic hour-glass shape.  
In the air, the number of automatons that threatened her was only 
half a dozen.  

	Ryoko gazed up at Onimaru as she readied herself for battle.  
"You coward!!!  Why don't you fight me yourself instead sending 
out your damned pawns!!!"

	"Don't worry, I will.  Its just that now isn't the time for 
that."  Onimaru answered.  "I'll be watching, good luck."  She 
winked and floated off.

	Ryoko adjusted herself mentally for the upcoming battle, 
drew out her energy blade, and faced her surrounding opponents.  
The cyan warrior breathed in deep and hard to calm her nerves 
down, she closed her eyes briefly to give one quick prayer to the 
Kami.  With only one of her gems, this was going to take a 
miracle.

	Ryoko opened her eyes and stood in battle-ready stance.  
Moments before the first of her attackers arrived, Ryoko quickly 
thought of a strategy to even out the odds a little.  Ryoko 
crouched to the rock ground on her knees and hands, almost 
resembling a cat stalking its prey.  As Ryoko concentrated, she 
felt her only real gem glowing with increasing power, Ryoko was 
channeling energy from the ground.  Around the pirate, various 
eerie forms of spirits swirled in the air, convoluting into one 
massive form.  Ryoko knew that there two sides of creating the 
demon-ghost, it will most likely turn against her that was the 
only downside.  The major upside, was that the Demon-ghost will 
try to obliterate anything that appeared to be moving, which is 
what the pirate needs in order to overcome this ordeal.  The only 
disadvantage is...well...refer to Episode 4 of the OVA series.

	Meanwhile in mid-air, a short distance away, Onimaru sat in 
her chair, surprised and amused by Ryoko's ability to form a 
demon-ghost.  This was indeed going to be very interesting.  The 
female spectator watched as flares of red energy bolts destroyed a 
number of her battle drones.  Another malevolent smile appeared on 
the hunter scientist's face as she admired Ryoko's cunning use of 
the demon-ghost.  Suddenly, she felt the air stir around close to 
her and sensed a new but familiar presence.

	"What can I do for you, D3?"  Onimaru bemused. "About to 
show me my papers?"

	"If that is how you beings usually put it in this dimension, 
yes.  I have left the invasion fleet behind to keep the Juraian 
fleet and the Galaxy Police busy.  They are still not aware of my 
presence.  Both organizations now hold you responsible for the 
attack in Orion and Planet Jurai." 

	"Yes, I know.  Just as planned, you wanted total freedom of 
movement while I kept both governments busy."

	"Now our task fleet is crippled.  Hardly important enough to 
continue the diversionary invasion any longer.  We have achieved 
our objectives." 

	"Yep.  As planned, you and Tokimi are off the hook.  The 
Juraians and the Galaxy Police want me dead."  Onimaru chuckled.  
"And the best thing of all, throughout this whole ordeal, they're 
still not aware that the both of you exist.  Okay, Washu's ready 
for you in my lab.  Just push the shiny red button to get her out 
of that stasis crystal."

	"I gratify you for your loyal services to Lady Tokimi."

	"No problem.  Don't forget, to relay the growth generator to 
my ship.  I'm going to need that device of yours just in case."

	"Don't worry, I will never forget.  Keep in mind that it 
will only work once."  The old man said sternly.  "By the way, 
your job here in this part of the dimension is finished.  Why do 
you continue to interact with Ryoko as if she was your play 
thing?"

	The crimson haired villainous grinned.  "I don't really 
know, I  find pleasure in harming those that are less fortunate 
than I am.  My way of seeing what they're capable of, to see if I 
can out smart them and out fight them."

	The disguised Demi-god narrowed his eyes.  "I see...you are 
a hunter." 

	"If you put it that way, yes I am."  Onimaru confirmed, as 
she beamed happily.   

	"Are you even aware that you are putting yourself in danger 
if you stay on this planet any longer?"

	"Yes, I'm very aware and that's why it's so fun.  The more 
odds that are piled against me, the better." 

	After hearing out the Hunter/scientist, the human D3 looked 
nearly bewildered despite his stoic appearance.
	
	"As a hunter, you know that there is a cardinal rule about 
underestimating your prey." 

	After a few moments of waiting, no reply was heard from his 
attendee.  Much to the demigod's surprise, Onimaru didn't hear him 
out.  It was a case of in one ear and out the other.  He narrowed 
his eyes in annoyance of her unjustified arrogance.  D3 admitted 
that he himself was arrogant but only on the scale of physical and 
mental existence.  Her high nosed attitude deserved no respect and 
thus, it will all add up to nothing more than bad karma.   

	"I must depart now, I thank you again."

	"You're welcome."  Onimaru returned without turning around 
at all to acknowledge D3's presence.  In a flash, D3 departed 
Onimaru's side.  


Battle's Climax 


	On the outer rim of the galaxy, the final battle between 
Jurai and Tokimi's fleet is about to take place.  The Galaxy 
Police forces have commenced attacks on Tokimi's fleet while the 
Juraian and Galaxy Police battleships maintained their distance 
from the fight.  For several long minutes the Juraian fleet 
watched as the galaxy police unleashed wave after wave of attacks 
on the invaders, not avoiding the battle but waiting for their 
signal to attack.  The small fighters of the Galaxy Police 
attacked along side the Juraian fighters, annoying the enemy 
dreadnoughts and keeping the enemy fighters away from the Juraian 
and Galaxy Police battleships. 

	Finally, the signal to attack finally arrived, the once 
mighty flagship of Tokimi's Dominion fleet started to engulf 
itself in flames.  The Juraians and the Galaxy Police battleships 
opened fired and engaged the enemy.  
	
	Inside the burning inferno, Shoji carried a barely 
conscience Aeka to the escape pods while Mihoshi followed suit 
firing as they ran to keep their mechanical pursuers at bay.  Then 
the firing from their pursuers ceased but the two kept on running.  
Aeka opened her eyes and found that she was no longer a child, she 
was finally transformed back to her normal age.  Aeka gazed up and 
found that Shoji was still alright but she noticed something very 
wrong...

	"Shoji!  You're wounded, put me down!"  Aeka shouted.

	Shoji obliged to what the princess insisted.  As soon as she 
was placed on the floor all three continued on their escape.  
Through the corner of her eye, Aeka briefly saw the pained 
expression on Shoji's face but he quickly changed it.  She passed 
a quick glance at one of his sides and saw that blood is exposed 
through the cloth of  Shoji's battle Suit. As they finally reached 
the Escape pods, Aeka looked out through one of the ship's 
portholes and saw that the Juraian battleships have initiated 
their attacks.  A look of disbelief formed on her face, Shoji and 
Mihoshi ran up to Aeka and saw the expression on the princess.  

	"What's the matter, Aeka?"  Asked, Mihoshi.

	"Our battleships, their Light-hawk wings has not formed 
yet!" 

	"WHAT?!?"  Shoji yelled.  "That's not possible! I've already 
deprogrammed Onimaru's jamming between Tsunami and the space 
trees!"

	For a moment, Shoji thought of the reason for the set back, 
then the thought came to him.

	"It might've been due to Onimaru's Zero units." Shoji stated 
grimly.  "They probably reactivated the jamming device."

	Mihoshi walked over to one of the pods and started the 
launch code sequence.  The ship began to jolt violently due to the 
various explosions.  Aeka walked towards the pod and noticed that 
Shoji was not walking behind her.  The princess quickly turned 
around and saw what she was dreading the most; Shoji was turning 
back towards the Ship's bridge.  

	Aeka quickly grabbed Shoji's arm and held on tight.  "W-
where are you going?!?"  Aeka yelled, doing her best to hold her 
tears back.

	"I have to go back and make sure the jamming device is put 
out, permanently!  All of the Universe is depending on this!"

	"Let me go with you!!  You're wounded, you can't do it all 
by yourself!"

	"NO! You have to go, it's too risky!  It's not safe here, 
you'll be killed and you are Jurai's first crown!"

	"No! I will not go!"

	Shoji grabbed Aeka's shoulders.  "YOU CAN'T STAY WITH ME!  
Your safety must be is most import-!!!"  Shoji was interrupted by 
a sharp pain that coursed through his body and held his side.  He 
held out his hand and saw that it was covered with blood.  

	Aeka quickly calmed and tried to look firm. "Shoji, you are 
just too wounded! I must help you!  I order it."

	Shoji was silent by Aeka's order.  A long  silent moment 
passed, he straightened up and gazed at Aeka.  "I'm sorry Princess 
Aeka but the answer is no.  This is one issue I can disobey your 
direct order."

	Stunned by Shoji's first ever insubordination, Aeka lost all 
hope and tears begun to burst out. "Y-you can't!"

	"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."  Shoji apologized. 

	Immediately, Shoji pushed Aeka into the escape pod and 
quickly gave a glance at Mihoshi.  "W-what?! NO! PLEASE DON'T, 
SHOJI!!!!" Aeka begged.  Mihoshi understood and grabbed onto Aeka 
and held her tight. 

	Without a response, Shoji closed the pod door on Aeka, and 
ran off towards the bridge.  Aeka managed to escape Mihoshi's 
grasp and crawled towards the pod doors.  Mihoshi immediately 
launched the probe.  Aeka banged wildly at the pod doors, 
screaming Shoji's name repeatedly.

	"I'm so sorry, Aeka."  Mihoshi said quietly as she watched 
Aeka in her most vulnerable state.  The escape pod reached space 
and headed back towards the Battleship Tsunami.  Aeka's cries 
gradually quieted down and she watched as the ship that contained 
Shoji continued to shrink in view.

	Shoji ran towards the bridge, enduring the pain in his side.  
As he sprinted down the walkway, he heard several sounds coming 
from the rubble.  He stopped in his tracks to see what or who made 
the sounds.  Under the rubble that in front of Shoji, Onimaru's 
last battle droid appeared with the objective to prevent or kill 
Shoji from returning to the bridge.  The mech drone had an hour 
glass-like figure, the bottom half was the repulse lift to keep it 
off ground and the upper portion had many mechanical arms, each 
with different types of weapons.  the drone's head was diamond-
shaped and it had a piercing red Cyclops eye.  The machine moved 
back away from Shoji to block the entryway that led to the bridge.  
Shoji activated his energy blade and charged the fierce looking 
drone.  

	As soon as the Battle drone identified Shoji's attack 
maneuvers, it opened fire on him.  Fortunately, he had already 
anticipated the attack and he skidded to the side to avoid the 
barrage of searing lasers.  Shoji reached the side of the drone 
and gave out a battle cry.  He sliced two of the mechanical arms 
in half, jumped on top of the battle drone, and barrel flipped in 
mid-flight to avoid oncoming fire.  Shoji dropped a smoke bomb as 
he reached the floor.  The smoke was released as he landed in 
front of the behemoth, within a split second, he turned around and 
charged up his inner energy.  As he charged, he felt a solid pain 
swell up from his side due to his inner channeling. The drone 
tried regain order within the confusion, it finally found Shoji 
but another three its arms was destroyed by Shoji's energy blast.  

	Shoji tried to charge forward but a surge of excruciating 
pain coursed throughout the side of his body.  The knight hugged 
himself with one arm trying to regain his focus and dull the pain 
a little.  As he concentrated, he can taste the faint salty taste 
of blood.  Suddenly, three probes launched from the battle drone 
rammed into his side and slammed the noble against the bulkheads.  
Shoji held back the urge to scream despite the overwhelming flood 
of pain that bombarded his senses.


Back to Planet Jun


	Ryoko tried to keep away as much distance between her and 
the chaotic apparition while at the same time dodging fire from 
the machines.  Ryoko teleported from one point to the other, 
slicing and dicing at the battle drones.  A short distance away 
from the pirate, her demon-ghost gave out a fierce roar as it 
swung it's powerful arms at the ground based mechs.  As Ryoko and 
the ghost destroyed bot after bot, various pieces of debris and 
shrapnel rained to ground. 

	Meanwhile, Tenchi slowly regained his senses and felt his 
mind gradually crawling out of the cloud of sleep.  Tenchi was 
suddenly startled by a figure who stood in front of him.  As the 
prince's vision cleared, he immediately recognized the man. 

	"W-what do you want?" Tenchi asked groggily. 

	"I am here to help.  This will assist you in your rescue."

	The tall man walked over to Tenchi and handed the prince his 
Tenchi-ken which contained the rest of Ryoko's gems.

	"What do you mean rescue?" Tenchi asked.  The prince 
suddenly realized that Ryoko was missing.  "Where's Ryoko!?"

	"She is currently in a predicament devised by an 'ex-
employee'.

	"Why are you doing this?  After causing all that conflict 
with Jurai and the Galaxy Police?  What is it all for?"

	"Apprehending Washu was our main objective this is a matter 
that is far beyond your comprehension."

	"Even if it costs innocent lives?!?" Tenchi yelled out, 
obviously disgusted. 

	The Demi-god did not even give any regard to Tenchi's 
remark.  D3 simply started to make his exit by slowly vanishing 
into thin air causing a slight gust in the air. " As far as I am 
concerned.  Onimaru's the real cause of all the trouble, I and 
Lady Tokimi are just establishing the means to complete our 
objective.  By handing you what you need, I hope that you don't 
think of us as totally heartless.  I wish you luck."	

	Tenchi was silent after a few moments as he contemplated 
this enigmatic revelation.  Disturbed by the fact that EVERYBODY 
was just a pawn to Tokimi's real intentions.  The prince shook off 
the notion, he quickly hopped on to his feet and ran towards the 
sounds of a far off skirmish.

	Ryoko's demon-ghost fought the ground based drones with 
ease.  Each of the machines' fired their lasers at the apparition 
but the ghost was unscathed.  Most of the robots that had the 
misfortune of confronting the specter, ended up becoming a huge 
pile of scrap heap.  Ryoko held herself well in battle as she 
looped around her last pair of aerial attackers and then rolled 
around and destroyed them with her energy shot.  Suddenly, a 
barrage of fire came from below her, Ryoko re-energized her red 
blade and sped towards the source of the volley.  The remaining 
ground-type battle mechs fired wildly at the speeding demon 
caller, every shot missed her as she phased in out of physical 
planes.  Ryoko zipped through the last of the drones with her 
sword; she whipped her blade from side to side after each drone 
she passed.  After flying through the mechanized squad, Ryoko flew 
straight up to the air, turned around and saw that the squad she 
attacked were all in pieces.  

	The pirate suddenly felt very uneasy despite her victory.  
Ryoko did a quick scan of the ravaged area, searching side to side 
for Onimaru.  

	Without warning, a searing-hot sensation flashed across her 
back, the cyan-haired fighter yelped in pain.  Her blade 
disappeared from her hand as she fell towards the earth.  Ryoko 
impacted the ground hard front-first to prevent from landing on 
her lacerated back.  The pirate propped her torso on her hands, 
turned around to see that Onimaru was floating in mid-air armed 
with a shadow blade.  Suddenly, Ryoko heard a close, loud roar 
emanating from across the field in front of her.  She faced 
forward to find that the Demon-ghost she created was running 
towards her, coming in for the kill.  Ryoko quickly ignored the 
pained sensations coming from her back and hopped into flight 
barely escaping the claws of the angry spirit.  

	As the pirate pulled out of harm's way, Ryoko gasped as she 
realized a horrible discovery.  Her healing ability was not 
kicking in to get reduce the pain and rid the laceration on her 
back.  Ryoko shot a bewildered look at Onimaru.

	"YOU! What did you to me?!?"

	The hunter took notice of her prey's mixture of anger and 
fear.  Onimaru smiled triumphantly. "My shadow blade has rendered 
your healing abilities to nil.  Let us see how well you can fare 
against me.  But first, I don't want any distractions."

	Onimaru switched her attentions toward Ryoko's chaotic 
demon-ghost.  She held her hand up, aimed, and shot out a huge 
blast of shadow energy at the apparition.  The dark energy 
projection blanketed the evil spirit, nullifying it from 
existence.  The huntress turned her attentions back to Ryoko.  

	"Okay, demon caller." Onimaru grimaced with a hunger for 
blood in her eyes. "Ready or not, here I come!!!"    

	Ryoko did not at all respond to her opponent's overconfident 
jive.  She breathed in a lung full of air to hold back the pain 
registering from down along her backside.  The pirate closed her 
eyes, to regain her concentration.  In a fraction of a second, 
Ryoko formed another energy blade in her hands and took in the 
best defensive position for aerial combat. 

	Onimaru sped and collided in to Ryoko at a near-blinding 
speed, fronting each other face-to-face.  Their blades made a 
cross while Ryoko was pushed across the air by her opponent's 
charge.  Ryoko could feel her antagonist's frightful glare. The 
huntress suddenly whipped around the pirate and managed to place a 
metallic lasso around her.  Ryoko found herself restrained by a 
strong rope as Onimaru pulled away.  Onimaru laughed as she pulled 
Ryoko further up the air and then suddenly whipping the pirate 
downwards.  The pirate side-landed hard against the ground.  The 
forceful impact pushed Ryoko into a slight daze as pain emanated 
throughout the left side of her body.  Ryoko coughed under the 
dust.

	"Did that feel good?  How about another one?  Good, ok!"  
Onimaru, exclaimed happily as she pulled Ryoko up into air and 
then suddenly pulled her back to the ground with the metallic 
whip.  "I intend to pound you into the ground until you turn in to 
a bag of crushed bones!"

	After hearing her opponent's latest intentions, Ryoko 
allowed herself to be pulled back into the air.  At the very last 
moment, before Onimaru was able to slam the pirate back into the 
ground, Ryoko straightened the front half of her cyan mane and 
shot a barrage of hair needles into Onimaru's arms and face.  The 
result caused the huntress to scream in pain.  Ryoko broke free of 
Onimaru's restraint and charged up her energy.  Before Onimaru was 
able to shake off Ryoko's hair needles off her arms and face,  an 
energy discharge impacted her body.  The villain fell to the 
ground.

	To prevent the Huntress from reacting any further, Ryoko 
immediately took the opportunity and charged her opponent.  The 
pirate reached the grounded mad lady and swung her sword.  
Unfortunately, Onimaru was able to raise her forcefield in time to 
deflect Ryoko's attack.  The pirate pulled away as she gazed at 
the huntress's face and saw that her opponent's face has 
transformed.  Onimaru's skin has turned darker and her eyes were 
glowing demonically green.  

	"What the hell are you?"  Ryoko asked, trying not show any 
hint of intimidation even though she was.

	"In all my years, I have never let anyone go as far as 
touching my face during battle.  Let alone cheap needles." Onimaru 
growled.

	"With a face like yours who wouldn't?" Ryoko added with 
clear satisfaction.

	"I'm through playing with you.  I'll show you for defacing 
me."

	"What the?!?"  Ryoko, questioned.  Bewildered by a sudden 
formation of a dark tornado formulating around her.  Ryoko found 
herself encapsulated within the shadowy vortex.

	Onimaru stood outside the whirlwind, she held out her hand 
and balled her hand into a fist.  The man-sized twister began to 
shrink and close in on Ryoko.  Throughout the ordeal, Ryoko felt 
the violent air, a sensation of a thousand razors cutting her face 
and through out her body.  The dark vortex dissipated and Ryoko 
felt Onimaru's punch into her lower torso.  Ryoko found herself 
held up in the air by her opponent, her mind struggling to crawl 
out of its haze.

	 Tenchi finally arrived the battle field, to his horror, he 
saw Ryoko in Onimaru's grasp.  His beloved pirate was not looking 
well, Ryoko's battle suit contained numerous cuts and her face was 
dripping with blood.  To even further Tenchi's anxiety for Ryoko's 
life, he saw the laceration on his loved one that went across her 
back.  

	<Why isn't her healing ability working?!?> Tenchi asked 
wildly to himself.

	Suddenly, Tenchi started to hear audible screeching noises 
coming from above.  The prince gazed up into the sky and found 
that the source of the screeching sounds were coming from 
projectiles heading towards the surface.  The projectiles looked 
like missiles of various shapes and sizes, each with a smoky tail 
caused by the friction of zipping through the atmosphere.  In 
other words, Tenchi quickly identified them as being meteorites. 

	Ryoko coughed as Onimaru held her in the air, the pirate 
could taste the salty blood in her mouth.  "What are you waiting 
for?  Aren't you going to kill me?"

	"Not yet.  Look over there, my dear Ryoko, isn't that your 
beloved prince?"

	The pirate looked over across the field to find that Tenchi 
was running towards them to rescue her.  She clearly saw that 
Tenchi was now in his Juraian battle suit and armed with Tenchi-
ken.  Then Ryoko shot a threatening glance at Onimaru.

	"If you hurt him in any way, I swear, I'm going to kill 
you!" 

	Onimaru chuckled.  "Don't worry, I won't..., but they will."  
The huntress pointed towards the cloudy skies above them.

	"The hell do you mean?  What the!!!"  Ryoko yelled out as 
she saw a small meteorite impacted the ground next to Tenchi.  The 
explosion of the rock's impact caused the prince to fly into the 
air.  The prince landed on the earth hard.  To the pirate's 
horror, Tenchi did not squirm or move after his hard impact to the 
floor.

	The cyan warrior's feral eyes turned even more fierce.  
Ryoko charged up her remaining gem's energy,  aimed her palms at 
her enemy and fired a bolt of energy into Onimaru's chest.  The 
captor released Ryoko.  The pirate immediately flew towards 
Tenchi's side.  

	"TEEENCHIII!!!!!"  Ryoko screamed as she jetted towards her 
loved one.

	Onimaru fell back as Ryoko escaped her grasp.  The energy 
bolt she received to the chest by the pirate did not at all do any 
harm.  The Huntress smiled hellishly and watched as her prey flew 
off.

	"Go ahead, Ryoko!" Onimaru yelled out. "Fly to him!  Can you 
avoid being hit by the incoming meteor shower?!"

	As Ryoko flew she ignored her opponent's remarks, her mind 
was too focused on praying whether Tenchi was alright or not.  
Tears welled up in her eyes when she reached him.  The prince was 
laying on his side, Ryoko could not see his face from her 
position.  The pirate finally reached her beloved, Ryoko gently 
held Tenchi in her arms and looked at him.  She thanked the Kami 
that he was not armed.  Then Ryoko noticed three familiar marks on 
Tenchi's forehead, they were the signs of the light-hawk.  
Suddenly, her surroundings became even more chaotic as numerous 
explosions occurred caused by the meteor showers.  Then Ryoko 
spotted a flying rock falling towards her and the prince.  
Immediately, Ryoko turned around in front of Tenchi to shield him 
from the imminent explosion.  The meteor impacted the ground in 
front of the protective pirate.  The energy of the explosion 
pushed the two across the field.  The heat, debris, and sheer 
force of the explosion slammed against Ryoko's lacerated back.  
The two landed hard on the ground.  Ryoko still had Tenchi in her 
arms, a surge of intense pain welled up through out her body.  

	Ryoko screamed in agony, she nearly lost consciousness.  The 
emblem on Tenchi's forehead started to glow.  At the sound of 
Ryoko's painful screams, the prince regained his senses, he can 
sense the power of the light hawk wings struggling to be 
activated.  All he needed was more focus.  Tenchi looked to his 
side and saw Ryoko on her arms, her face was showed signs of 
internal struggle, and her body trembled under intense pain.  

	"R-Ryoko?"  Tenchi muttered.  The pirate did not respond at 
all due to the pain.  Suddenly, the prince heard a woman laughing 
from the chaos of the meteor shower.  Through the smoke and 
blazing fires he could see Onimaru's silhouette walking towards 
him and Ryoko.  Tenchi still had the Tenchi-ken in hand, he 
regained his train of thought and pointed the hilt of the blade 
towards Ryoko.  

	"Ryoko,  focus your thoughts on these gems!"  

	The pirate started to focus and concentrate on her two 
remaining gems.


Turning Point


	A few clicks away, Aeka immediately felt more uneasy when 
she felt a presence calling out to her.  The escape pod was near 
approaching the landing docks of Tsunami.  Mihoshi looked over to 
Aeka and noticed that the princess was in her battle suit.

	"A-Aeka!?!" Mihoshi asked nervously.  "W-what do you think 
you're doing?"

	"I'm going to back to Shoji."  Aeka said quickly without a 
hint of hesitation. 

	Mihoshi moved forward to Aeka and held the princess's arm.  
"You can't!!  It's too dangerous!"

	"I don't care." Aeka said stoically. The she repelled 
Mihoshi's arm away with her force field and surrounded herself 
within the barrier.  Aeka opened the pod doors, flew out into the 
vacuums of space.  Mihoshi watched helplessly as Aeka exited the 
pod, immediately, Mihoshi closed the pod doors to return back to 
the Tsunami.  

	Using, her natural Juraian power and training, Aeka 
channeled all her rage and passions into flying back to Shoji's 
side as soon as possible.  Like a red-purple shooting star, Aeka 
shot through the battle field of space.

	Meanwhile, four more launched probes were on top of Shoji, 
pain and anger continued to boil within the struggling knight.  
Under the attacks of blows and punches, Shoji closed his eyes and 
focused his mind.  After several moments,  the Knight repelled the 
probes off of him with the remainder of his force field.  The 
wounded knight struggled to his feet, picked up his energy blade 
and charged.  He neared towards the closest probe and chopped off 
it's stubby mechanical arm.  Shoji terminated the unit with 
another slice of the blade.  Then, two of the remaining probes 
confronted Shoji with a new attack.  One of the Units tethered an 
energy whip around Shoji's neck, strangling him while the other 
shot lasers at him. 

	Sensation after new sensation of pain wreaked havoc through 
out the knight's body.  Shoji fought the temptation to throw up, 
he gritted his teeth and tried for one risky maneuver.  He shot 
his energy blade at the whip wielding drone's probe unit and 
destroyed the monstrosity.  The whip that strangled him dissipated 
and he painfully ran towards his dormant blade while the other 
probe shot at him.

	Shoji reached his blade as he began to pull the blade from 
the body of the destroyed probe, the Cyclops drone appeared and 
shot a charged bolt of laser at the knight.  The laser exploded in 
front of Shoji and kept him away from his weapon.  He was on his 
back, his vision blurry, the only thing he felt was pain which 
told him that he was still alive.  Shoji coughed up blood and as 
he gradually regained his vision.  The last two probes were 
jetting straight towards him.  Shoji turned over to his side and 
quickly leaned upwards.  The probe units were closing on Shoji as 
he regained his footing and got into a ready stance.  He breathed 
hard and deep, suddenly, a wave pain surged through him and he 
fell forward and landing on his knees.  At the very last moment, 
the probes were swept off by an unseen projectile and destroyed.  
Not caring whatever happened to the droids, the knight lost all 
his remaining strength due to overwhelming pain and fell back flat 
on his back. 

	Aeka made it in time to destroy the last probes before they 
reached Shoji.  As the machines exploded, Aeka turned around and 
saw the battle drone looming towards her.  Aeka narrowed her 
amethyst eyes and tapped into the Juraian energy pool.  The 
princess held her hands up and released a brilliant beam of light.  
The Jurai beam sliced the battle drone and obliterated it.  Aeka 
looked around for the Guardian Knight.  What she saw next, hit her 
straight to the heart.   

	The site of Shoji's battered body shook Aeka.  "Shoji!!" 
Aeka screamed as she ran towards him.  The princess reached his 
side and kneeled close to him.  

	"No..."  Shoji whispered.

	"What, Shoji, what?"  Aeka asked her eyes welling up, her 
nose almost running.

	"You...deactivate...the...the..."

	Aeka quickly understood.  She stood up and looked down at 
him.  "I'll.."  Aeka struggled.  "I'll be back, Shoji."

	As she turned towards the bridge's entryway, she saw that 
under the battle ravaged face of the knight, laid a very slight 
smile.  Aeka used her limited abilities of flight and shot towards 
the bridge.  She reached the bridge and headed straight towards 
the terminal that activated the jamming device.  In the middle of 
the room, the huge view screen showed the progress of battle, at 
the moment, the good guys were about to fallback. 

	Aeka switched the jamming off and immediately, the Flagship 
Tsunami began to glow brightly.  On the view screen, Tsunami 
glowed, several bright rays of astral light shot from the 
battleship and into the other Juraian Ships activating each ships' 
space trees.  All the Juraian ships began to form their individual 
light-hawk wings.


Onimaru


	"What's this?!?"  Onimaru ceased her demented laughter as 
soon as the alarm on her wrist signaled that her Light Hawk 
inhibitor was offline.  "This can't be happening!"

	<Oh yes it is!> A buried conscious deep within her mind 
spoke with great approval. <You deserve this!  You deserve this oh 
so very badly!>  

	"Shut up!" Onimaru ordered shutting out the second mind.  
The scales of glory has tipped away from her favor and rapidly 
approaching Ryoko's side.  She looked over to Ryoko and saw that 
the pirate's body had become luminous.  Kicking herself for being 
overconfident, the Huntress did her most to let assess the reality 
of the situation.  "Looks like I'll be going down hill from here." 

	The huntress flipped open her wrist to reveal a small 
computer panel and activated D3's growth generation device.  She 
proceeded to key in all the essential algorithms to insure that 
there WILL be a Plan B. 

	A few hundred feet away, Tenchi felt a familiar yet powerful 
feeling returned from inside his body.  He knew and recognized 
immediately that his ability to form the Light Hawk Wings had 
finally returned.     
 

To Love One's Loss


	"Tsunami's power is finally released."  Aeka stated as she 
watched Tokimi's false legacy began to crumble.  

	Aeka sprinted back to Shoji's side.  She reached the knight 
and held him close.  Aeka placed her left cheek against his 
forehead.  A tear rolled down her cheek and landed Shoji's on 
closed eyelids.  

	"Shoji?" Aeka called out.

	No response.  Aeka checked his wrist and chest, there's no 
pulse and he isn't even breathing.  The knight was silent.

	"I'm..."  Aeka said and wept. "I'm so sorry I couldn't be 
here any sooner..." 

	Aeka wept hard and silent as she held the noble knight in 
her arms.

	"I never had the chance to say thank you..." Aeka said 
regretfully.  "And...and..."

	Aeka was interrupted by a peculiar sound coming from under 
Shoji's battle garment.  She focused in on the melodious sound and 
listened hard.  She reached into the garment's pocket and took out 
a small music box.  The music it played was sweet and simplistic.  
Aeka always loved it.  The music box use to be Aeka's until she 
gave it to Shoji as token of their friendship and love.


Ryoko's Duel


	Upon receiving the gems on her wrists and neck, the 
severe wounds that covered Ryoko's body were instantly healed.  
The pirate's golden eyes were suddenly replaced by glowing crimson 
orbs.  The gem on the base of Ryoko's neck started to illuminate.  
Several brilliant beams of light formed around Ryoko into an 
incoherent mass, slowly becoming light hawk wings.  

	Tenchi noticed the bewildered look on Onimaru's face and 
couldn't help but smile.  The prince then looked over to Ryoko, 
her eyes were glowing red but not in a menacing way, Tenchi 
spotted that her wounds had healed completely, and he marveled at 
her brilliant light hawk wings.  The pirate resembled an angel.  
She had four feather-like wings outstretched along her back and a 
pair from her neck.  Tenchi figured the wings on her neck were 
probably for defensive purposes. The once cloudy gray skies parted 
away above their heads and gave sight to the emerald bright sky 
above.  The meteor shower had long stopped since Ryoko's wings 
appeared, either that or merely diverted.   

	After the transformation, Ryoko felt the rush of renewing 
energy coursing throughout her body.  A feeling she barely 
remembered from her days as Kagato's pawn.  Only this time, the 
ex-pirate isn't a pawn to any bloodthirsty maniac, she is in 
control of her own destiny and she will let nothing interfere with 
that right.  Especially some demented harpy who is hell bent on 
starting up a feud.

	Tenchi sensed a rejuvenation throughout his body as 
Light Hawk Wings formed.  The Prince held out his hands to 
touch the pair of LH Wings, ready to do their function.  
The rush of transformation turned his Juraian battle suit into a 
gleaming white uniform.     

	Feeling the power course through her body Ryoko channeled 
all her strength and all of her anger and hatred into an immense 
ball of extreme crimson energy.  Ryoko aimed at her opponent and 
hurled the focused projection at Onimaru.

	Onimaru was thrown backwards and into the air by the blast. 
In mid air, her vision was returned and Onimaru saw Ryoko 
pilling towards her.  The huntress barely had enough time to raise 
any semblance of a shield from Ryoko's onslaught.

	The enhanced pirate saw her opponent's weakness from her 
attack.  Ryoko re-directed one of her light hawk wings into the 
form of a glowing white scimitar-like sword.  A blood curling 
battle cry sounded off as she wildly swung the sword in an arc. 
Ryoko attempted to slash through Onimaru's shoulder but it was 
blocked by her target's shadow blade.

	"I see your friends succeeded in disabling my device.  No 
matter, perhaps we can have a proper duel now... still 
the outcome will be the same..." Onimaru said apathetically "Your 
slow demise!"                          

	The huntress fired an energy bolt into Ryoko's midriff.  The 
blast was easily absorbed through the light hawk wings.  Onimaru 
frowned with growing frustration.

	"You have a lot of power than originally I gave you credit 
for, PIRATE!" Onimaru spat. "Perhaps your weakness is your 
fondness of that feeble Juraian prince you adore so much! Isn't 
young love sweet, unfortunately, it will be short lived!" she 
cackled as a black energy blast amassed in Onimaru's hands pointed 
towards Tenchi below.

	"Leave Tenchi out of this you bitch!" Ryoko screamed as she 
threw herself in front of Onimaru's hands, barely catching all the 
blast in the four of her light hawk wings. Suddenly, the upper two 
wings to the side of Ryoko's neck unfurled and gripped Onimaru by 
the shoulders. Ryoko Dazed from the impact erratically shot 
upwards and into Jun's upper atmosphere, 

<Hopefully Tenchi will be out of this lunatic's energy blasts, and 
I can get on with this, fighter to fighter.>  Thought, Ryoko. 

	After regained her senses by the sudden change of 
atmosphere (Or lack of), Onimaru noticed the week link in Ryoko's 
defenses.  She charged up an energy blast and aimed it directly at 
the bright red gem in Ryoko's neck. Upon impact the gem released a 
blinding white flash.

	Ryoko screamed and let her embrace of Onimaru go. Feeling 
the intense pain of the energy back flash through her system Ryoko 
realized the dark energy of Onimaru's attack flow through her 
body.  Onimaru clutched her head in agony, the psychic 
feedback from the attack was her only chance of winning.  In 
excruciating pain, Ryoko focused the last of her energy reserves 
into a triple light hawk-edged lance.  The pirate quickly and 
swiftly thrusted the weapon through Onimaru's heart.

	Onimaru's scream would have made a banshee proud; it was 
like a million blackboards being scratched in unison.  A thick 
black vapor escaped from Onimaru's eye sockets and mouth, leaving 
a gray husk that was Onimaru's body hanging lifeless on the tip of 
Ryoko's lance.  The pirate jerked the lance free of Onimaru's 
body.  The blade exited Onimaru's body.  In the cold void of 
space, the shell started to dissolve into a fine gray dust. Ryoko 
felt a blanket of exhaustion slowly crept through out her body. 
Ryoko decided to head back to the surface of Jun and search for 
Tenchi.


	Meanwhile, back on the surface of Jun,  Tenchi destroyed a 
few more drones which insisted on not staying dead from the 
previous battle.

	"Who's next?" Tenchi challenged at the immense pile of scrap 
strewn across the desert in front of him. The prince wiped the 
sweat from his forehead. 

<Well I guess not then.> Tenchi thought, <I hope Ryoko's 
alright.  Where are you?>, Almost as if to answer, a blinding 
white flash appeared in the sky above. 

	"Tenchi!!" Ryoko shouted as she descended towards the 
planet surface.

The pirate spotted a pile of metal objects with smoke 
pouring from them. Ryoko then headed towards the decimated battle 
drones in hope of finding Tenchi.

	Tenchi felt a prickle on the back of his neck.  The prince 
spun around, ready to confront more drones, only to find Ryoko 
encased in her light hawk wings speeding towards him.

	Stopping not much further than a foot away from Tenchi. 
Ryoko threw her arms around Tenchi and embraced him in a killer 
hug, one that Masaki would be proud of.  For a well deserved 
untracked time,  The couple savored each others' warmth and 
security.  Ryoko finally released Tenchi when she heard the 
familiar mewing of her partner Ryo-ohki through the re-established 
mental link. 


	Meanwhile, in the vacuum of space, a familiar cloud of gray 
dust floated serving as a cold memorial to Onimaru's death. 
Suddenly, out of subspace, a ship appeared alongside the dust 
cloud. A hatch opened and a little drone appeared, it collected a 
sample of the dust with a metal cap at both ends, and flew back 
into the craft.  The device promptly turned around, and re-entered 
subspace.

	The Spaceship Ryo-ohki now hovered above Tenchi and Ryoko 
ready to pick the both of them up.  Tenchi looked over to Ryoko 
and noticed that her Light Hawk wings were dissipating.   The 
pirate's legs started to wobble as the wings disappeared.  Tenchi 
quickly took notice of Ryoko's escalating fatigue.  

	"Ryoko? Are you alright?"  Tenchi asked with concern.
  
	Ryoko shook her head negatively and started to falter on her 
stand.  "I'm so tired..."  Ryoko started to close her eyes.  Which 
signaled Tenchi to immediately scoop the pirate into his arms.  
And so he did, the pirate was cradled in the Prince's arms.  Ryo-
ohki's transport beam, teleported the two on to the cabbit ship's 
bridge.

	"Miya? miya?"  The ship asked with great concern.

	"Its alright, Ryo-ohki."  Tenchi assured the pet spaceship.  
"We're both ok.  Please, take us home."  

	Tenchi sat down at the command console chair with Ryoko in 
his arms.  He looked down at his sleeping beauty and smiled.  The 
prince felt hot tears gathering in his eyes.  He welcomed the long 
deserved sensation of relief, the weight of the universe was 
lifted off from his shoulders.  The Masaki have survived the long 
crisis along with his love.  Tenchi gazed at Ryoko and took notice 
of her new battle scars.  The sight of them made the prince uneasy 
and sad.  The scars were poignant testimonies for the space 
pirates struggle.   Ryoko went through hell and back trying to 
stay alive as long as possible.  If it weren't for the success of 
Aeka's part, the both of them wouldn't have survived.  Tenchi held 
Ryoko closer to his thumping heart.  He prayed to the Kami and 
thanked them for her survival and resilience. 

	"Tenchi..."  Ryoko whispered in her sleep.  

	Ryoko's voice was barely audible to the young Masaki but he 
was able to figure out what the pirate said.  Tenchi gently 
brushed Ryoko's bangs aside and softly planted a kiss on her 
forehead.  He leaned against the command chair and relaxed.  He 
closed his eyes and heard Ryoko's soft rhythmic breathing. His 
mind drifted off to sleep intent on finding Ryoko's astral in his 
relaxing dreamscape, not intending to wake up until they reached 
earth.  Home sweet home.   


Departure


	The once mighty flagship of Tokimi's fleet is now a ghost 
ship.  Two lone individuals were still onboard, a lifeless Shoji 
laid cradled in Aeka's arms, his face was finally dry from the 
moisture of the Princess's tears.  An hour had passed since the 
battle had drawn to a close.  The remnants of what was a mighty 
invasion fleet had fled.  Through the view screen,  Aeka solemnly 
watched as all the allied ships moved around the battlefield each 
craft had their search lights on, seeking out the princess.  
Suddenly, the amethyst-haired princess heard footsteps coming 
towards her from the hallway.

	"Aeka!  I have finally found you!"  

	"M-mother?" 

	The lady queen embraced Aeka in a mother's embrace. "I 
thought I would never be able find you!!  And you're back to 
normal!!!  You're not a child anymore!! I am so relieved!!!  Let's 
go back to the-"  Misaki suddenly cut herself off as she noticed 
her daughter's guardian peacefully cradled in Aeka's arms.  

	"Is..."  Misaki struggled to speak. "Is he dead?"

	Aeka looked down sadly at Shoji and quietly nodded.

	"I am so sorry Aeka.  I did not realize..."  The queen 
trailed off. 

	"Its alright, mother."  Aeka assured sadly.

	For several silent moments Misaki watched as her daughter 
held on to Shoji as if not wanting to leave his side.  The long 
haired royal placed her hand on Aeka's shoulders.	

	"Come Aeka, we must leave.  The shuttle is waiting for us, 
we have to go back to Jurai."

	"I..., I do not want to." 

	"Do you love him?"

	Suddenly, Aeka held Shoji closer and tighter.  The elder 
princess began to tremble and cry.  Misaki moved in closer to her 
daughter and held the princess in her arms.

	"I was so close!  It is unfair!"  Aeka cried sadly.

	"I know, I understand how you feel about him-"

	"No mother!  You don't understand!" The princess 
interrupted.

	"Understand what?"

	"I didn't get a chance to say the words to him."

	Misaki thought for a moment on what Aeka meant.  She 
contemplated and realized what Aeka really meant. 

	"I'm so sorry things did not turn out the way they should 
be."

	Aeka was still silent, quietly finding out a way to crawl 
out of her dark mood.  

	"Come, Aeka. Let's go home.  You will feel much better once 
you are back on Jurai."

	"Yes,...I need Jurai, but I just can't leave him here.  I'm 
reluctant to leave."  Aeka said sadly as she caressed Shoji's 
tranquil face.  "Will father try to arrange my marriage, once I 
return?"

	"I am not sure."  Misaki replied honestly.

	"If he does, I refuse to go back."

	"Now, I don't think you should worry about that.  Your 
father is not TOTALLY careless of your feelings.  Don't worry, my 
dear Aeka.  I'll tell him not to do such a thing.  The royal 
family can do fine without requiring your marriage."

	Aeka's face finally lit up and hugged her mother with a 
strongly.  "Thank you mother."

	"My pleasure, Aeka.  I will always support you no matter 
what.  Now lets go, our shuttle is waiting for us at the landing 
docks."

	Aeka gently placed Shoji onto the deck where she stood.  The 
princess looked down at her former guardian, a sad look on her 
face. "Once I leave, he will be all alone here."  

	"I will leave for the shuttle and give you a minute alone 
with him."  

	"Thank you mother."

	Misaki left for the landing docks where the shuttle stood on 
stand-by.  Aeka kneeled down next to Shoji and clasped her hands 
together.  The princess did a silent prayer for Shoji's safe 
journey.  After her prayer, Aeka reached into Shoji's uniform 
pocket and took out the tiny music box.  She wound up the spring 
fully and the melody started to play.  The purple haired princess, 
took off her royal headband, placed it over Shoji's heart, and 
crossed his arms over her royal head band.  Aeka wiped a sad tear 
from her eye and she slowly walked back to the shuttle.  Then, 
after having paced down a few steps, Aeka heard a harmonious sound 
coming from where Shoji laid.  Not knowing what to do, the 
princess quickly decided to run back and check on Shoji's body.  
She thought about the past time Shoji had spent watching over Aeka 
when she was turned into a mere child by Onimaru.  Throughout the 
terrible quest for the ailment's cure, Aeka had to ride on Shoji's 
back in order to prevent her from falling back far behind.  The 
course of the journey, gave Shoji and Aeka more time bond.  So 
close, and yet, not able to fully explore the possibility.

	Aeka finally reached Shoji's location and was shocked to 
find that in her former guardian's place laid nothing.


Sasami and Tsunami can now relax


	On the bridge of the Tsunami, Sasami is awaken from her 
dream-like state and sighs in relief.  From what she had 
witnessed, Tsunami and Washu was able to negotiate a treaty of 
sorts with Tokimi.  During the negotiations, there was a lot of 
talk about Tenchi and Ryoko's potential ability to tip the scales 
of balance within the universe.  The level of conversation was 
beyond Sasami's comprehension but there are hints of new factors 
that has yet to reveal themselves.  The unknown factors will 
,undoubtedly, forever change the standing government powers of the 
Universe forever.  The thought of which is most disturbing to 
Sasami.  Whether it being for the best or the worse remains to be 
seen.  For now, peace is at hand and there is plenty of time to 
prepare.

	"I understand my role now, Tsunami."  Sasami said and smiled 
as she felt hints of Tsunami's power flowing through out her body 
and soul.  Nearby, in the bridge pool, Shoji's body slowly 
regenerates with the glowing power of Tsunami's essence. 

	
	
To be continued in Requiem II: Air...



Ending Song:


THE DAY AFTER THE REVOLUTION
Song written and performed by PULP
You can find this song on their 'This is Hardcore' album.


The dust has settled, replaced all the bulbs in all the lights.
I guess I'll get no sleep, tonight.
A Revolution happened.
Oh sorry, you haven't heard?
We are the children of the new world.

If you're quiet you can watch if you like.
They say the future's beginning tonight!	
Whole empires will crumble!
Civilizations will fall!
Lie on the bed, hear the sound of it all.

No anger, no guilt and no sorrow: 
It sounds unlikely, I know, but tomorrow	
You will wake up to find that your whole life has changed!
Although nothing looks different,
A revolution took place!

I love the way you do it,
I love the way you put them on.
You know the answers but you get it wrong. (just to confuse 
things)
Why did it seem so difficult to realize a simple truth?
The revolution begins and ends with you.

Now all the breakdowns and nightmares look small.
Now we decided not to die after all!
Because the meek shall inherit absolutely nothing at all!
If you could stop being so feeble you could have so much more.

The answer was here all the time you see.
Just how I missed it is a mystery to me!
I have waited and waited for this day to arrive!
The revolution was televised.
Now it's over bye-bye, it's over bye-bye... 


Author's notes:


	Is this chapter a wild ride or what?  Sorry if it's been 
such a while since anything worth reading was released by me.  But 
that'll change ^^,  you see the next two chapters are underway and 
both will be HUGE.  I'll get them out ASAP but with care.  

	I would like to give very special thanks to Charis Lesell, 
Shorin, K'thardin, Gensao, Lina Cutie, and Mag-chan for giving me 
input on this chapter.  I would also like to thank my editors, 
BCcrisis and Random. Thank you all for taking the time.