Ranma's Travels (A Ranma One Half / Multi crossover) By Ammadeau Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm World 3: Tenchi Muyo: Note: This begins sometime after 12 but before 13 of the OAV. Ranko groaned, sitting up and rubbing her sore head as she tried to take in her surroundings. She noticed that he clothes were ragged and torn, while she could feel that her body was covered in bruises. She was stiff as if she'd been sleeping on the ground for hours now, which was probably the case. What had happened? She remembered taking out the leader of those bad guys with a super-powered solar flare. The force must have knocked her into the ground and unconscious. But where was she? Ranko tried to stand up and failed, finding herself still too weak to even support her own weight. It was strange when the last thing she had felt was enough power to take on the world. She had never felt this drained before. Ranko ran her hands over her body to make sure she was all right and found herself basically sound until she came to a deep wound in her side. She involuntarily screamed in pain as she touched a bruise nearly the size of her hand. She sighed as she laid back down, really unable to tell how serious her injuries were but too weak to do anything about them. At least there wasn't any major bleeding, she thought, but wished Usagi was there to help heal her just the same. Ranko didn't know how long she was in a half-daze, in and out of consciousness, when she noticed an old man approach her. He was a tall and grey-haired with a deeply lined face. His clothes reminded her of Kuno's samurai garb, even carrying a bokken, combined with the robes of Rei's grandfather. He looked at her curiously behind frameless glasses that shone when they caught the light. Normally, Ranko hadn't anything to fear from old men. The only one that had ever given her trouble was Happosai and she doubted even he was a match for her now. But her current condition even Kuno could take her, easily. She struggled to stand, finding the best she could do was to get into a kneeling position, but even then she was have problems maintaining her balance. "Not to worry miss," the man said, seeing the pain she was in, "I don't mean you any harm. I heard a scream and came to see what was wrong." "What about the bokken then?" Ranko asked, finding her voice nearly as weak as her body. "Oh this?" he said with a smile, adjusting his glasses to take a closer look at the weapon he held, "It's only a practice sword I use to train my grandson. Worst I could give you is a few bruises and looks like you have so many already that you'd hardly notice. Still, if it offends you. . ." He turned and threw the bokken deep in the woods. Ranko found herself a little impressed on how far and effortlessly he threw it. He was certainly a lot stronger than he looked, not one to be underestimated. She tried to read his aura, but he was either completely normal or very good at shielding himself. "Now you are one bruised and battered young lady," he said as he peered closely at her, again adjusting his glasses, "You must have been in a pretty intense fight, but I know for a fact that no hooligans prowl these woods and you couldn't have come very far under your own power. So where did you come from and how exactly did you get here?" The first question was a lot more complicated than the old man could hope to realize. Originally come from? Just now? No, she couldn't tell this old man that her point of origin is another world entirely. As to how she got there, well she didn't have any idea at the moment and her head hurt too much to think of one. "Maybe you could tell me where I am first?" Ranko decided to say. It was clear that the old man found this response odd, but didn't say anything about it. "You are about a half hour by train to the west of Tokyo." Ranko blink-blinked. This was not the response that she had expected. Could see be back to her world of origin? "I'm from Nerima. Have you heard of it?" The old man nodded. "Of course, though that is some distance from here. It doesn't explain what happened to you or how you got here." Ranko looked uncomfortable. How was she supposed to explain that she was just in a fight on another world? This guy, who seems to be nice, would think that she was crazy. "I . . . fell off the train?" she said weakly. The old man looked highly dubious. "Well, whatever happened we should get you cleaned up and those bruises looked at. You seem to be fine, but it would be better to be sure." The old man moved to pick her up, but was stopped by Ranko's shout, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!!" He looked at her closely, his face only a foot away from hers. "It's clear to me that if you had the strength to move that you would have run away some time ago. I can not let you lie here when you may be seriously injured. So I am going to carry you back to the shrine where your wounds can be looked at." Due to her high speed recovery, Ranko was already feeling better by the time they reached the shrine, with the bruise on her side the only thing that was really bothering her, that and she was favoring her right leg. "May I use your phone?" she asked the old man sweetly, giving him one of her cute smiles. With her increased health, Ranko had felt some of her confidence return. The old man smiled in return and said, "By all means. I guess you weren't hurt as badly as I thought." as he watched her scamper across the room. In truth, he was curious about a person who appeared so suddenly in the middle of nowhere and recovered from injury that fast. When he had found her she looked in need of serious medical attention, but now she was healthier than some people were at their best. He wouldn't have been surprised if she were completely healed after a good night's sleep. Ranko's whole attitude changed after she hung up the phone; her shoulders slumped and the spring in her step was gone. The Tendo Dojo had been a wrong number and her mother's number (which he had memorized from the phone book for when he finally got up the nerve to call) was someone else entirely. She hadn't been gone all that long so that could only mean that he was on another world again and still far from home. She had even tried calling the senshi, but no luck there either. *Damn it,* Ranko thought, *all I want to do is go home.* "Some bad news?" the old man observed as he made tea. It was hard not to notice the change in the redhead's attitude. She sat down at the table and took a sip of the tea before her before saying anything. When she did speak, it was in a voice that was flat and with little emotion. "No one home, is all." The old man knew that something else was up, but avoided the issue by saying, "I think that some much delayed introductions are in order. I am Katsuhito Masaki, the priest of this Masaki shrine." After a few moments of silence, she said, "I'm Ranko Saotome and I'm the heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, or at least I used to be." "Oh and why the change?" Ranko looked vaguely embarrassed, realizing too late that she shouldn't have said that since it naturally lead to questions she wasn't ready to answer. "It's complicated," she finally said, shrugging her shoulders, "Let's just say a lot has happened to me recently and I'm not really sure who I am anymore." "Ahh," he replied wisely, sipping at his tea, "That is always a difficult answer, especially when things are not always as they seem." "Yes," she agreed, unsure of what else to say. Katsuhito seemed to be hinting at something, but to what she had no idea. Suddenly, the old priest spun around and shouted, "Who is it?" just before the door opened. Tenchi started to walk in and say, "Grandpa, I've come for sword pract. . .ice?" That was when he noticed the red-haired girl looking up at him curiously from behind a cup of tea. At first he dismissed her as Washu in her adult form, but another glance showed that for one thing this girl had a hell of a lot less hair than Washu, bright blue eyes, and was wearing torn and bloody clothing that barely concealed her rather prominent female assets. Tenchi managed to turn away and face his grandfather to avoid a nosebleed. He could feel his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Ah, it's you Tenchi," the old man said and smiled, and then turned to the young woman across from him, "This is my grandson Tenchi Masaki. Tenchi, this is Miss Ranko Saotome." "Uhh, . . . hi," Tenchi managed to say, keeping his eyes on a space right above her head. Ranko wondered why this guy was acting so strange, and then realized that she was a stranger, dressed in what was little more than rags. She had completely forgotten about her state of dress since Katsuhito hadn't reacted to it. Ranko also realized that she was stuck in this reality for now with no way to get back, so pushed all of her problems behind a door and locked it, deciding to deal with this reality as things went along and minimize her worry. "Pleased to meet you," she finally replied, drawing from the manners that Miz had drummed into her. All of that water priestess training was useful after all. Tenchi continued to look nervous, but before he could say anything, his grandfather spoke again. "Miss Saotome has recently been through some sort of ordeal and I was just about to suggest that she use our onsen to freshen up. Perhaps even one of the girls could loan her some clothes." Ranko raised her eyebrow at the 'one of the girls' remark. If they were his daughters and granddaughters she doubted that he would have said it quite that way. Tenchi didn't look at all like the type to have a harem. Too meek for one thing. Maybe it was like Makoto from El Hazard, he wasn't all that bold, but boy did he have female problems. Of course it was something that Ranko herself was familiar with, though all of those problems were behind her now. Tenchi weighed his generally kind and helpful nature against his common sense. It was quite a distance to another house and this girl definitely needed a bath and a change of clothes, but he also knew that introducing a new girl into the already unstable mix of his household was just asking for trouble. Still, even if this girl couldn't defend herself, Tenchi still carried the master key in such a situation, and knew that even Ryoko would back away from that. "Sure, Aeka will probably have something that she could wear, but don't you think I should call them first grandpa?" Ranko knew some sort of silent communication was passing from grandfather and grandson by the looks they exchanged, but couldn't understand it. Why would Tenchi need to call his own house and warn them she was coming? "I don't think you'll need to do that. After all, this is hardly the first time a visitor has dropped in unexpectedly." And suddenly Katsuhito burst into laughter at some private joke that Ranko didn't get and made Tenchi look embarrassed. Tenchi scratched his head, wondering when exactly his grandfather was going to stop embarrassing him, especially in front of women. "Um... okay, just follow me." As Ranko followed him to the door, he couldn't help noticing how battered she looked. "Are you okay to walk Saotome-san? If not, I could . . . um . . . carry you. . ." then he looked down, embarrassed again, but recovered quickly, "What I mean is there are a lot of steps to down to the house and I don't want you to stumble." "I'll be fine," Ranko said confidently, after all how many stairs could there be? And why does this Tenchi remind me of Ryoga all of the sudden? When they left the shrine Ranko found out just how many steps there were. It was a lot more than she had expected. Ryoko was on the roof of the Masaki home, enjoying the sun, when she spied Tenchi come down the stairs of the shrine helping a red-haired woman. 'Did mom go adult and get hit with one of her own experiments again? Then why the heck was she up at the shrine?' Ryoko narrowed her eyes and saw that the girl wasn't Washu after all but a stranger that was holding on to her Tenchi. This needed to be investigated. Ranko hadn't want to freak out this boy by floating down the stairs, but thought she was already better enough to take them on foot. She found out the hard way that she wasn't as recovered as she thought, stumbling into what could have been a nasty fall if Tenchi hadn't caught her. Of course, she would have flown before she had hit, but Tenchi had no way of knowing that and with the desire to not freak him out, she let him guide her down the rest of the way. He seemed strained enough as it was. Tenchi was so nervous that he was sweating, from fear and worry. He knew helping Ranko down the stairs was the right thing to do, since it was obvious she would never make it on his own, but he still felt a little guilty on how good it was to hold her arm and have her lean on him for support. It wasn't like one of Ryoko's choking hugs which made him feel more uncomfortable, both by physical and emotional pressure than anything else. Or Aeka hanging onto him like he was a piece of royal property. This was nice; he could find no other word to describe it. There wasn't any pressure, just the slight contact of Ranko's warm and soft body against his, touching in a friendly and perhaps a little intimate matter. The fear came from his knowledge that there was no way this moment could last and it would probably end in the worse possible way. Things just had the habit of happening to him like that. Ryoko was practically fuming when she appeared right before the pair. Tenchi had to resist the instinct to let go of Ranko, knowing she could fall again. "Who is this woman, Tenchi?" the former space pirate asked, the note of accusation clear in her voice. Tenchi verbally stumbled around to collect his thoughts, so Ryoko spun on the girl in question. "And you! How dare you flirt with my Tenchi!?" Ranko blinked at the strange, cyan-haired woman who had come out of nowhere. 'She must move pretty fast.' On instinct, she read her aura and found it to be like nothing she had seen before, but unusual and powerful. This was not a woman to be taken lightly. Ranko was also a little puzzled by the accusation. It should be obvious to anyone she was only leaning on Tenchi for support. She wondered what to say, since this was a dangerous woman to set off and she looked ready to explode. Before Ryoko could do anything, however, Tenchi recovered his wits and said to her, "This is just Saotome-san, Ryoko. Grandpa found her in the woods and invited her to use our onsen to get cleaned up. I was only helping her down the stairs." "Hmph," Ryoko stated and turned to Ranko, "I know your kind, you're all alike. Playing the weak little woman, trying to ensnare my Tenchi. First it was Aeka, then Mihoshi, and now you!" By this time Ryoko's shouting had attracted the attention of the first princess of the Jurai royal family. To Aeka, Ryoko shouting and 'my Tenchi' added up to a bad thing and soon she was quickly only a short distance from the others. Her first instinct, after seeing a young girl leaning on Tenchi-sama, was to side with Ryoko for a change, but when she looked closely at the girl, she noticed something familiar about her, as if she were someone she had seen in a dream. Then she took in the state of the girl's clothes and bearing and could tell she had been in a fight, or some sort of accident. "What are you trying to do Ryoko!?" she shouted as she marched up to the three of them. She knew this girl needed to be saved from that monster woman. Ryoko spun around with a smile on her face that was devoid of humor. "Oh it's the princess, the other weak little girl who uses her lies to snare my Tenchi." And then her voice was tearful, "Fine, just forget about me and have your fun!" Ryoko floated back to the house, with Tenchi trailing behind, trying to explain that it wasn't like that. Aeka sniffed in anger and that manipulative woman and Tenchi's aversion to causing anyone emotional harm. With a final muttered curse thrown in the direction of the demon, Aeka turned to the red head with a reassuring smile and said, "Hello and welcome to the Masaki home. I am Aeka and I dear say you look in the need of a good soak. Well, we have an excellent onsen here that should clean you right up." Ranko smiled, grateful for the promised bath since she was starting to feel really dirty, and being saved from that crazy cyan- haired woman. *Who flew away?* "I'm Ranko, it's nice to meet you. Just point me in the direction of the onsen. I don't want to cause you any further trouble." "Oh, it's no trouble at all," Aeka insisted and saw Ranko stumble when she started to walk again. Aeka took a closer look at what she had thought had been mud to realize it was actually blood. "Oh my, you're hurt! Here, let me help you." And with that she put her arm around Ranko, allowing the girl to lean on her for support. "I don't want to be a burden to you," Ranko told her, feeling more than a little embarrassed. Leaning on a guy had been one thing, at heart Ranko was still a guy even though she couldn't become one anymore, but it was another thing to holding onto this girl so closely. Ranko was thankful that Aeka was too concerned in leading the way to see how Ranko was blushing. Aeka didn't know why, since she had only known her for a few moments, but she felt a strange kinship with this girl. As if she were a long lost sister who had finally found her way home. It was a silly notion, after all Sasami was her only sister, and yet it was a thought that wouldn't leave her easily. Washu looked up from her screens as Tenchi's grandfather entered her lab. "Lord Katsuhito," she announced. "Just the man I wanted to see." "Oh really? And what did you want to see me about?" "I monitored a strange energy reaction near the vicinity of your shrine. Very similar in fact to the pattern Ryo-oki makes when she teleports people. I was wondering if you happened to know anything about it. More of your relatives visiting perhaps?" "No, nothing like that," Katsuhito said, but the thought that the girl had looked familiar somehow wouldn't leave him. *Now where have I seen hair that shade of red before?* "I found a girl in the woods who I know couldn't have walked there on her own, at least in her condition. She claimed to be from Nerima and fell from the train, but I have my doubts. She was also quite a mess, looking like she had seen a major battle recently . . ." "And you came to me to see if I could find out anything about her?" Washu finished his sentence. Katsuhito nodded. "Well, for one thing the starting point of the teleport didn't come from this planet or I would have been able to detect its origin. I could have come from high orbit, but more likely it was even further away than that. Each race that has this teleportation technology has a specific pattern for their devices and this pattern is like none that I have ever seen before. Most likely she's an alien from a race that I'm not too familiar with, but then I was imprisoned for five thousand years and haven't caught up on everything yet. More I can't say right now, but if you bring her by my lab . . ." Ranko soaked in the furo with a contented sigh, resting her head back as she let the tension flow out of her body. Normally, she'd be self conscious being naked around strangers, but somehow she felt relaxed around Aeka, as if she were someone she'd known for years. Besides, the bath just felt too good to worry about her modesty, not that she had ever had much concern in that area anyway. It was the lack of modesty in others that always made her nervous, especially a certain purple-haired amazon. Still, if Ranko could have seen Shampoo at that moment, she would have welcomed her with open arms, as long as she wasn't a cat at the time. "I think your clothes are a loss," Aeka declared from where she knelt, looking over the garments. She could already tell that this girl was a tomboy from the fact that she wore man's clothes, even going as far as to wear boxers. *Why hadn't her mother raised her properly?* Aeka sensed that the girl's father was to blame for his daughter's boyish attire and manners. No man could be trusted to raise a girl properly. "My sister Sasami might be able to save the pants, but the shirt is hopeless." Ranko felt a little sad about that. She'd been wearing her favorite outfit, black pants and red Chinese style shirt, but then she was surprised it had lasted as long as it had. Life hadn't been easy for her, no matter what dimension she ended up in. "It's all I have to wear with me." "Well, there's no way I can let you wear these things again, not at least until they've been laundered." Aeka turned to look over the girl's body who was lying in one of the pools, her eyes shut. It was really surprising how very similar it looked to the one she saw in the mirror every morning, minus the bruises and a larger bust that made Aeka feel a tinge of envy. They were nearly the same height, and their faces bore some resemblance to each other. "And I can't let you go undressed. I'll just have to loan you some of my clothes. We're about the same height so it should fit you well." Even though her eyes were closed, Ranko could sense Aeka's eyes on her and was uncomfortable with her scrutiny. "Thanks, I'd really appreciate it." Though inwardly she was uncomfortable with the idea. Aeka seemed the type to only go in for the most feminine of attire, which Ranko still wasn't comfortable with. Training with Miz in that outfit of hers had been pure hell. It had got her used to women's clothes somewhat, but she still avoided dresses and panties unless they were absolutely needed. Having seen the state of Ranko's clothes in bringing her to the onsen, Aeka had the sense to bring an extra set with her. She could see that she was right about Ranko as she looked over the kimono with distaste and the underclothes with resignation. At least she tried them on without protest, though it was obvious she was uncomfortable in them. Aeka ran her hands through Ranko's hair to find it a mess of knots. *I can not let her go back into the house with hair like this,* Aeka thought. *Ryoko and Washu may be able to get away with it, but it would be improper for a true lady to be such a mess.* "How about I help you with your hair?" Aeka asked her. She and Sasami often did each other's hair and Aeka found it to be a relaxing experience for the both of them. "I don't want it styled or nothing." Ranko said, trying to hide the shiver that had run through her as Aeka ran her hands through her hair. "Oh no, I was only going to bring it back into a simple ponytail while I work out all of the knots and snags. I don't believe in elaborate hairstyles myself." "I guess it's okay then," Ranko relented, seeing that Aeka really wanted to do her hair for some reason and she didn't feel right in disappointing a person who had been so nice to her so far. Here she was a stranger and Aeka had helped her to take a bath and lent her a set of clothes to wear, even though they weren't something that she normally would have chosen. Aeka hummed as she ran her brush through Ranko's hair, finding the feel of it was much like her own and being a little envious of its beautiful bright red color. "What was that?" "What was what, Ranko?" Aeka asked with some surprise at how startled Ranko had just acted. Was someone in the onsen with them? She looked around, half expecting Tenchi's father trying to peep on them, but they were alone. "That song that you were humming." "Oh that, I don't know what its called. It was just something my mother used to hum around the palace when she was being domestic. Why do you ask?" Ranko began to relax again. "It sounded a little familiar. Wait a minute, did you say palace?" "Yes, the Jurai royal palace. My mother is a queen and so I am a princess of Jurai." Aeka felt too at ease with Ranko to lie. It would be too much like lying to Sasami. "I've never heard of any place called Jurai on Earth." "That is because it is not on Earth. Jurai is a planet in another solar system far from here. And that is where I am from for I am an alien." Aeka expected Ranko to be startled, revolted, or simply not believe her. What she didn't expect was almost immediate acceptance. "Oh," Ranko said, "That sort of explains Ryoko flying like that, she must be an alien too." "Yes she is," Aeka replied, "I must say Ranko that you're taking the fact that an alien is doing your hair much easier than I had expected." "Oh, its just I've known some aliens before." Technically, everyone not from her home dimension was an alien, though Ranko was really thinking of the people of El-Hazard who lived on a planet other than Earth. Bugrom and the Phantom Tribe were definite aliens in her book. Sasami heard someone coming in and guessed it to be her sister with the stranger she had mentioned. Sasami rushed to the door to see Aeka and . . . Aeka!? She blinked and realized that it wasn't a second Aeka but a girl who looked a lot like her, especially being dressed in similar outfits. The redhead's hair was even done the way Aeka wore hers, though it was much shorter. Sasami knew that if the second girl had died her hair purple and grown it longer it would be hard to tell which was which and she was Aeka's sister, someone she had known for over seven hundred years! "Sister, is she a cousin of ours?" Sasami asked Aeka, looking up at Ranko, who looked down at her with a confused expression. Tenchi had told her of them having a guest, but nothing else. He seemed embarrassed about something, but then he was usually was like that. Aeka looked surprised. "Cousin? Where ever did you get that notion?" "But you look so much alike!" Sasami insisted. Aeka and Ranko turned to each other and blinked, then looked back at Sasami. Sasami grumbled and grabbed both of their sleeves, dragging them over to the hallway mirror. "See? Look!" Aeka looked and could at least see what her sister was talking about. With the way she was dressed and the way Aeka had done her hair Ranko did look a lot like her, and she knew that even without the kimono there was a strong resemblance. Aeka told her sister that it was just a coincidence, but inside she wasn't so sure. She had said that she had known aliens, but the name Jurai hadn't been familiar to her. Could she be descended from Yosho? It was possible. Nobuyuki breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped into the Masaki home, early for once. He'd put in so much overtime on the firm's current project to get it done on time, only to have the date extended due to delays in getting the proper permits. All he wanted was to relax in his house full of lovely ladies, read a little manga, and have some dinner prepared by the expert hands of Sasami. *Yes, that would be heaven.* In the living room, he was surprised to find Aeka and Sasami talking with a stranger. It was a girl, dressed in a similar kimono to Aeka. She also seemed to resemble the two princesses, though appeared to be somewhat younger than Aeka, with bright blue eyes and firey red hair. "Well, well, well," Nobuyuki said to them as he approached Aeka and the new girl sitting on the couch. "What do we have here? Aeka, you should have told me that another sister of yours would be visiting. We could have given her a proper welcome." Aeka was a little too surprised to answer. Ranko only stared and wondered who this person was. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said, now addressing Ranko. "My name is Nobuyuki Masaki, I'm Tenchi's father and also designed this house. Please stay here as long as you like. Another pretty lady around the house is always welcome." Ranko found Nobuyuki entirely too goofy to get angry at what he said. Besides, she did need a place to stay. It was best not to offend the host. "I'm Ranko, thank you for being so hospitable." "It's no problem at all," Nobuyuki insisted. "Anything for Aeka and Sasami's sister." Aeka finally spoke up. "Mr. Masaki, there's been some misunderstanding. Ranko here is not our sister. Grandfather found her wandering in the woods and offered her the use of our onsen to freshen up. She's only wearing Jurai clothes because hers were almost in peices." Nobuyuki put his hand to his chin in thought, and then smiled broadly. "Sister or not, more pretty ladies are always welcome at the Masaki house! Hahaha!" Ranko started to feel just a little bit worried about her new host. Why couldn’t she meet some sane people just for once? "Now that that's all settled," Nobuyuki declared, looking around the room. "Sasami, what time is dinner?" The princess in question glanced up at the clock. "Not for another hour, at least." "All right, I'm going to relax in my study. Just come get me when dinner is ready." "Of course, Mr. Masaki," Aeka told him. Nobuyuki nodded and turned to speak to Ranko again. "And it was a pleasure meeting you, Ranko. I hope you plan on staying on for a long time to come." "The pleasure is all mine," Ranko replied uneasily. "I'm back," Mihoshi announced from the doorway. "Can somebody give me a hand with these groceries? They're heavy!" Mihoshi, being the only one besides Nobuyuki in the house with a driver's lisence, had been sent out by Sasami to pick up some fresh ingredients for that night's dinner. Mihoshi was all too eager to help, especially when it meant she got out of having to do the laundry. "Welcome home, Mihoshi," Sasami said as she came down the hall, leading a strange red-haired girl dressed in a Jurai kimono. Both of the girls helped her with the groceries, bringing them to the kitchen. Mihoshi noticed that the new girl tried to take almost all the bags herself. "Mihoshi, this is--" Sasami started to introduce Ranko, but Mihoshi cut her off. "Another memeber of the Jurai royal family has dropped by? Wow, this is great! Pretty soon they'll be more royalty here than on Jurai. Do you think they'd move the seat of government then? Though it would be hard ruling from several light years away . . ." Sasami put down the groceries and turned to face the babbling police detective, noticing that her monologue was directed at Ranko, who was slowly inching away from Mihoshi. Ranko already had her back to the counter and was looking around for avanues of escape. "Mihoshi!" Sasami shouted. "Yes?" Mihoshi replied immediately, cutting off her monologue and turning to face Sasami. "This is Ranko. She is a new guest, but she isn't a member of the Jurai royal family." "Oh, really?" Mihoshi said with some surprise, before turning towards Ranko. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Mihoshi, first class detective in the Galaxy Police." "Nice to meet you too," Ranko said somewhat tentively. Such open cheerfulness still made her uneasy, even after spending time with the Sailor Senshi. It was just a little too overwhelming for her to deal with. "Oh, I just remembered," Sasami said as she started to get ready to make dinner. "Ranko is going to be staying in your room, Mihoshi." "That's the best!" Mihoshi enthused, giving the startled Ranko a hug. "We're going to be roomies!" Ranko, locked in the grip of a girl who obviously didn't know her own strength, started to wonder if staying here was a good idea after all. Ryoko sat on the roof and fumed. Tenchi had explained to her that Ranko was just a guest who had needed help getting down the stairs, but Ryoko knew better than to believe that. She could sense the power of this newcomer. Not at her level, but still not someone who needed any help with stairs. It was one of the things that she both loved and hated about Tenchi; he was entirely too trusting. He had befriended her, the evil demon, even after frightening and trying to kill him, though she really hadn't been trying. But then he had to go and do the same for Aeka, Mihoshi, and now this new girl Ranko. Ryoko knew that this Ranko had to be up to no good. People just don't appear in the middle of the woods like that. She could, but then again she was not a normal person. The girl had power, there was no doubt of that, and to Ryoko that meant trouble, but Tenchi was too trusting to see that. Ryoko sighed. For the moment, there was nothing she could do. Any action against Ranko risked turning Tenchi against her, which was something she would not do. She'd just have to watch and wait, saving Tenchi just before this new girl could do him harm. Ryoko smiled. *He might even thank me.* Washu was up late in her darkened lab, studying the displays on her screen over and over, looking for some fault but finding none. It clearly stated at least part of the Ranko girl's ancestry, but something that from what she knew was impossible. There was sound of her door opening and she was about to tell whoever it was to bug her later when she saw who it was. "Working late again, Washu," Katsuhito said. "Ah, Lord Katsuhito, I was about to call you." "Oh? And why is this?" "Tell me, did Masaki have any other children besides Aeka and Sasami?" He was taken off guard by the question. He had come to ask about the girl Ranko. "No," he started to say at first and then thought about it for a while. "Now that you mention it, I remember a girl around the palace when I was very young that was a year or two older than myself. But then she vanished and for some reason was never even mentioned again. I can't even remember her name but she could very well have been my half-sister. Why do you ask?" "Well, as you probably have already suspected Ranko's similarity to Aeka is more than just a coincidence. I've gone over her genetic profile and found her to be one half human, one fourth something I can't identify, and one fourth Jurai, descended from Masaki." "Are you sure of this Washu? She couldn't be descended from someone else or be something unnatural, like a clone?" "Nope, I've checked and double checked. There's something funny about the unidentified part that I can't put my finger on, but the Jurai and human part of her DNA is absolutely clear: she is Masaki's great-granddaughter." Katsuhito scratched his chin in thought. "You know, now that I think about it there was something about Ranko that struck me as oddly familiar when I saw her and I think it might be her unnaturally bright red hair. I think the little girl in the palace had hair of exactly the same shade. I wondered whatever happened to her and why she wasn't ever mentioned again." "I can think of one person who could answer those questions." "Who?" "Your mother, Funaho. She is the minister of information after all and she was around the palace at the time as well. If Masaki did have another daughter, she would know all about it, especially why it was covered up." "For someone whose been away for five thousand years, you seem to know a lot about the Jurai royal family." "As I told you before, I've been trying to catch up and being surrounded by Jurai royalty, I decided it would be best to bone up on you." Tenchi was tending one of the many carrot patches, but his mind was elsewhere. One would think that he'd be used to strange girls appearing out of nowhere and coming to live with him, but despite all that had happened to him, at heart Tenchi was just a normal teenager who really just wanted a normal life. He didn't regret the way that his life had ended up and would have been much lonelier now if he hadn't released Ryoko. He'd hate it if one of the girls had to leave, never to come back, but at the same time he wished that everyone acted a little more normal. Ryo-oki stealthily approached the carrot patch, or as she liked to think of it, the cabbit patch, in hopes of making away with something to munch on. Tenchi was apparently lost in thought, so he didn't notice when she was only inches away from a basket filled with carrots. Ryo-oki reached for one of the orange-colored treats, but froze when Tenchi began to speak. "Ranko seems like the other girls and yet so different at the same time. She's polite and pretty like miss Aeka, yet has this strength about her that reminds me of Ryoko. At the same time though, she's not like either of them. For one thing, she doesn't have the power to blow up the house. I doubt she has any intergalatic rivals out to get her. I don’t think she's a normal girl, yet she seems more normal than any of the girls staying here. Maybe she . . ." Ryo-oki quickly snatched up a carrot and ran off. If there was someone new around, she'd have to see them herself. Ryo-oki always liked to make new friends. "Yosho, my this is a surprise," Funaho announced to her son on the screen, in his disguise of an old man. They were still in the process of sifting through Mihoshi's rather lengthy report, but some facts had become clear from the beginning. "Seven hundred years without a word and then you call me out of the blue like this. You didn't even contact me after Kagato had attacked Earth. I had to read about it in Mihoshi's report." "Mother, did Aeka have an older sister?" "Why would you ask such a thing?" The tone in her voice gave away the answer though. "I have dim memories of my childhood spent with a red- haired girl a few years older than me. She seemed important. Then one day she vanished and was never mentioned again. I now wonder what had happened to her. Was she Masaki's daughter?" It was a long time before Funaho answered. The pain was evident in her voice. "Yes, she was. Her name was Sae and she was Masaki's first born and the center of her life. Sae was a bright and cheery child, much like Sasami, and seemed to have a curiosity that could never be sated. Then tragedy struck. A ship that she had been traveling on with her uncle was completely destroyed, leaving no survivors. Masaki was broken for a long time and even the mention of Sae could send her into a storm of weeping. Azuza declared that Sae would never be mentioned again and I think it was one of the hardest things he had to do, for he also loved her dearly. We all did. But why did you feel this was so important that to break your silence?" Yosho proceeded to tell her about Ranko, including Washu's analysis of her DNA. He had never witnessed his mother being so surprised before. Actually, he'd never seen her betray any hint of surprise previously, so this must truly have been a shock. "I supposed we will have to speed up the process of going over Mihoshi's report because I know when I tell her this that there will be no way anyone could stop Masaki from seeing her great- granddaughter. Expect to hear from us soon, Yosho." The old priest nodded, resigned to his fate. Masaki wondered what was so urgent that Funaho had insisted that they meet privately as soon as possible. She was going over preperations for their eventual departure to Earth. Mihoshi's report was still being gone over, but it had been clear near the beginning that a trip to Earth would be absolutely needed. Not that Masaki was complaining, she was eager to see her daughters again. She had been away from them for far too long. "Greetings, sister," Funaho said as Masaki entered the room. It was one of their many sitting rooms where they often chatted with other royalty. They were the only ones present this time, with tea already laid out, but not yet poured. "Greetings," Masaki replied as she took the seat opposite of her co-wife. "What news do you have that our husband is not here to share with?" "I have already told Azuza about this as I waited for you to come. He agreed that I alone should be the one to tell you this while he made certain preperations." "What is it?" Masaki said with some nervousness. Was one of them dying? Even among people as long lived as them, death was not an unheard of occurance. Funaho smiled to ease the worry of her co-wife. "Nothing is wrong, I assure you. Actually, I have some great news." "What?" "We have located Sae's granddaughter." "Sae?" Masaki said in shock as memories, locked away for so many years, rose to the surface. She didn't even notice when tears began to fall from her eyes or when Funaho held her in a comforting hug. "But I thought... " "And so did we all, but I just received a call from our son Yosho who has just discovered a child which he has certain proof is your great-granddaughter." Having known each other for so long, Funaho could tell exactly what Masaki was thinking just by her expression. "Don't worry. Our husband is getting everything ready for us now. We'll be at the Earth as soon as possible." Ranko decided to go out and go through a few katas to clear her mind. Things were strange in this new world, at least stranger than she was used to. She was now living with a group that was mostly aliens, one which looked enough like her to be her sister. Ranko almost stopped her kata when she remembered someone making a similar remark about her and her mother when Nodoka had first come to the Tendo dojo. *This time it has to be a coincidence, it has to be! Aeka's an alien and I'm from a whole other dimension! There's no way we can be related!* Ryo-oki was bringing home a carrot in her mouth that she managed to snatch away from Tenchi, when she spotted the red- haired girl out before the lake, moving to the flow of the water. This had to be the new girl that Tenchi had been talking about. Ryo-oki decided to introduce herself. "Meow!" Ryoko was stirred from her half-doze by the sudden shout of "CCCCCCAAAAAAATTTTT!!!!!!" It was so loud that she fell from her perch on the support beams. *What the heck is going on?* She teleported out to the front of the house and immediately started to laugh so hard that tears came to her eyes. She watched as the red-haired floozy ran in panic all around the lake, with Ryo-oki is close pursuit. That the obvious tomboy should be afraid of a cute little cabbit was too funny for words. Ryoko wasn't the only one alerted by the shout. Aeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi joined her outside. "Ranko's really athletic. I've never seen anyone run so fast before. She must excercise like this all the time." Aeka and Sasami sweat-dropped. "I do not believe that she is running like that purely for exercise, Mishoshi," Aeka told her. "Don't you hear her shouting?" "Oh, that? I thought it was part of her style. You know, that's she's all syched into running. Am I wrong?" Neither Aeka nor Sasami knew quite how to answer that. "Meow, meow, meow!" Ryo-oki enthused. What a fun game her new friend had come up with. Running all over the place, taking sharp turns, hiding in the bushes. Ryo-oki had to really think in order to keep up. It was like hide and go seek, only better. Yosho had an anouncement during dinner. "Now, many of us, myself included, have noticed some similarities between princess Aeka and our new guest Ranko. Washu has discovered that these similarities are more than just coincidence." "So she's a long-lost daughter of yours, old man," Ryoko commented. "No," Yosho said, laughing at the acusation. "This has little to do with me, actually." "But how is that possible?" Aeka asked him. "Our parents had no other children besides the three of us and neither Sasami or I have had any ourselves." "That was what I had thought once as well, but it appears our parents have been keeping secrets from us. Aeka, you had an older sister. Her name was Sae and supposedly she died before you were born. She was forgotten in order to save your mother from unending grief." Aeka and Sasami were shocked by this relevation. Royko asked, "What do you mean by 'supposedly'?" "Washu has determined that without a doubt, Ranko is Sae's granddaughter." "But that's impossible!" Ranko shouted immediately. "Why is it, Ranko?" Mihoshi asked. "Because ..." Ranko started to answer and then stopped herself. Could she tell these people that she was originally from another demension? She knew that she couldn't tell them that she really was a boy, not after the onsen. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her answer. "Because it's just impossible!" Ranko threw up her hands in despair. She couldn't bring herself to say that she was from another demension entirely while staring at the hopeful faces of Aeka and Sasami, both of who had already gone out of their way to make her feel comfortable. The truth would smash their joy, but Ranko didn't like the idea of living a lie either. "There aren't many things in this world that are truly impossible, Ranko," Washu told her. "Believe me, I should know." Ranko was a little startled by this little girl with a grown-up tone. "And you are?" "That's right, we haven't met yet!" Washu replied in her 'cute' voice. "I am Washu, the greatest scientest in the universe! But call me Washu-chan, okay?" "All right," Ranko said slowly. She was used to strange things and even stranger people, but this house was even testing her limits. "While it may seem to you highly improbable that your grandmother was actually an alien, the DNA evidence confirms it to be true. Sae was your grandmother." "I suppose I have a neice now," Aeka, sitting next to Ranko, said and smiled as she turned to face her. "Neice?" Ranko said a little puzzled. "You look like you're only a few years older than I am, how can I be you neice?" Ryoko snorted. "That should be grand-neice, or perhaps great, great grand-neice? After all, that old bag is over seven hundred years old." "Huh?" Ranko said, confused. The oldest person she knew was Cologne, who sometimes claimed to be upwards of three hundred years and had more wrinkles than a prune. Ryoko was trying to say that Aeka, who looked to be about as old as Kasumi, was actually more than twice that? Aeka sniffed distainfully as he regarded the former space pirate. "I'll have you know that seven hundred years is still regarded as being quite young on Jurai. Besides, who are you to talk? You're a two thousand year-old mummy. It's no surprise that you've started to lose your . . . how should I say it? Well, we can't all stay young forever. Ohohoho!" "What are you trying to say?!" Ryoko asked between clenched teeth as she stood up and glared at the first princess of Jurai. "I think she's trying to say," Washu added in, "that your breasts are sagging." "SAGGING?!" Ryoko shouted at her mother. She was surprised when Washu patted her affectionately on the head and said in an almost-whisper. "Don't worry, Ryoko dear. Just come into my lab and we can take care of that right away. I can even bring you up a whole cup size if you want to!" Aeka laughed again. Ryoko turned to her with a nasty grin. "What are you laughing at? Probably the only reason you don't notice that you're sagging is that there's so little to sag. Make sure you always dress feminely little princess, or you might be mistaken for a boy!" Aeka immediately shot out of her seat and demanded, "What did you say, Ryoko?!" Ryoko's smiled widened. "You heard me, little _prince_ Aeka." Aeka spoke in a low tone as tiny logs started to materialize in the room. "I've had just all that I can stand from you, Ryoko. Only a disgusting creature such as yourself would try to ruin a moment such as this." "Now, miss Aeka, please try to calm down," Tenchi finally spoke up, after realizing both the damage this could cause to the house and the fact that no one else was trying to stop it. "I'm sure Ryoko didn't mean anything by it. She was joking around." Tenchi laughed a little nervously and then stopped when he realized no one was laughing with him. Both Aeka and Ryoko looked deadly serious. "Tenchi is right, Ryoko," said Mihoshi, who was sitting next to the former space pirate. "We should all calm down and talk this out rationally, or at least wait until everyone has finished eating." As a GP officer, it was her duty to settle such disputes peacefully. Besides, she wanted more pickles and she needed Ryoko to pass them to her. "Yeah, right," Ryoko replied. "Like Aeka ever listens to anything she doesn't want to hear." "You're a fine one to talk, Ryoko!" Ryoko smiled and vanished, only to reappear with her arms around Tenchi, who was still startled no matter how many times she had done so in the past. Ranko blinked, and then she blinked some more. She was absolutely sure Ryoko hadn't moved, at least in the normal sense. She had known some fast people, but no one could be that fast. She had guessed Ryoko to be an alien after seeing her fly away after their first meeting. Ranko could also sense something powerful about the woman, but to disappear and reappear like that made her wonder the extent of the cyan-haired woman's powers. Then there was also Aeka. She had made tiny floating logs appear like some sort of magic trick. The things looked harmless to Ranko, but she was sure by the way that Tenchi reacted that they were a lot more dangerous than they appeared to be. "I'll listen to anything Tenchi has to say," Ryoko practically purred. "Tenchi, isn't it about time you told that flat-chested princess just what you thought of her? Once she's gone, we can be all alone together. Wouldn't that be just great?" "What do you think you're doing? Release Lord Tenchi immediately!" Aeka demaned. "Oh, but Tenchi likes to feel my arms wrapped around him, with something you distinctly lack pressing into his back..." Ranko was starting to get a severe case of deja vu. She had been stuck in the same situation that Tenchi was now in dozens of times. The only difference was instead of just breaking down a wall or two, these two girls seemed capable of destroying the whole house. Noticing the desperate expression on Tenchi's face and knowing that she had wished for anyone or anything to save her at a time like this, Ranko immediately took pity on him and decided to try and help him out of it. Ranko suddenly stood and pointed out the window. "Look! It's a flying saucer!" As everyone except Katsuhito turned to look at what she was talking about, Ranko dashed over to Tenchi, pulled him from Ryoko's arms, threw the still-stunned boy over her back, and ran out of the house. Tenchi came back to reality, only to realize that he was being carried. Most people would be shocked, Tenchi just wondered what Ryoko was up to now. That is until he was hit in the face with a pony-tail of red hair. Definitely not Ryoko, he realized, but why was Ranko carrying him like this? Noticing that they were somewhere in the woods around the shrine, Tenchi asked the first thing that occured to him. "Where are we going?" "I have no idea," Ranko replied between breaths. She liked a good workout like any serious martial artist, but this was getting ridiculous. First that cat-like creature chasing her around and now this. "Hopefully, somewhere that Ryoko can't find us." Tenchi was more than a little startled to hear that. Ryoko sometimes 'kiddnapped' him so they could be alone. Could Ranko's reason be the same? That she wanted be alone with him? "I can't believe I fell for that trick again!" Ryoko shouted. "Of course a creature of your intellgence would fall for a simple ruse," Aeka told her. "I was never fooled for a moment." "So why did you crane your neck to look out the window?" Washu asked. Aeka laughed a bit nervously. "I was simply going along with it." "That girl stole Tenchi right from under us and you're laughing about it?" Ryoko nearly shouted. "I think protecting Tenchi from you is something to laugh about." "Ranko's protecting him against you as well, princess. Or haven't you noticed?" "I have complete faith in Ranko. She would never do anything with Tenchi. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going for a walk." "Yeah, right," Ryoko said and vanished. "I still can't see anything," Mihoshi announced. She had been able to get a better view from the window since Ryoko left. "Here, use this," Washu said, handing the detective a specially designed telescope. "Mihoshi, I think Ranko was only joking," Sasami said, a little worried that the blonde GP officer seemed to believe anything someone told her. Mihoshi didn't seem to hear her, as she was staring intently out at the sky using Washu's telescope. "Wow! Ranko must have really sharp eyes to see that space craft from so far away." Washu face-faulted. "You mean there really is a flying saucer out there?!" She had just given the telescope to Mihoshi in order to keep her busy (and out of her lab) for a while longer. "Yep," the blonde detective replied, still staring out at the stars. "It's a really big ship too and it looks sort of familar." "Give me that!" Washu shouted and snatched the telescope from Mihoshi's hands. She scanned the sky with it, at first seeing nothing and thinking that Mihoshi had confused an asteriod with a ship or something. Then she saw it. "This could be bad." Ranko was careful to control her breathing as she ran through the woods, craning her neck all around in search of possible hiding places. This was much easier to do now that Tenchi was moving on his own, though she was a bit irritated that she had to slow down in order for him to keep up. She was even more irritated over the fact that she couldn't fly, since the only way to do that safely was to go above the forest and Ryoko would surely spot them then. "What are you looking for?" Tenchi asked between breaths. He had thought all of his training sessions with grandpa had given him some endurance, but this girl was putting him so shame. She practically bounced through the forest while he had to struggle to follow. Ranko looked back at him and felt a brief flicker of anger. She had taken sympathy in a guy stuck in a familiar situation, forgetting for the moment that the girls involved made Shampoo and Akane look about as dangerous as Kasumi in comparison. "A place for us to hide until your girlfriends cool down," was Ranko's sharp reply. Tenchi once again felt acute embarrisment over the situation he had found himself in. "I didn't ask for any of this, you know," he shot back, even though he knew that despite all the trouble they caused, he didn't want to go back to the days before aliens started dropping by. "At least you got a choice," Ranko returned. "I was stuck with three fiancees." "You're engaged to three different guys?" Tenchi was so surprised that he nearly stopped running. Ranko nearly smacked herself in the head for forgetting her current gender. She should have learned by now being stuck like that for a while now. "Something like that. Doesn't matter now. We should be concentrating on a place to hide before we both get killed." "I don't think Ryoko or Aeka would actually kill anyone," Tenchi replied, though he wasn't completely sure. Both had come pretty close to killing him in the past. "But I think I know a place that we can hide. If we follow the path to the right it'll lead to a cave." "Mihoshi, give me your watch," Washu asked the GP detective, who was currently helping herself to the leftover pickles. Sasami and Ryo-oki were using the telescope to look at the stars, Nobuyuki was in his study, and Katsuhito had gone back the shrine. Mihoshi swallowed a pickle and said, "It's a little past 6:30." "I know what time it is!" Washu shouted, finding her usually large store of patience nearly exhausted at the moment. "Just give me you watch!" "All right, you don't have to shout," Mihoshi replied with a pout as she took it off and handed it to Washu. Washu shook it, tapped it, and held it up to her ear. Then she took out a monocole and studied it closely. "Ah ha! As I suspected, it's not working properly." She quickly opened up the back of the watch and fiddled around with small metal tools. All of the sudden, the front began to flash and emit a alarm. "Oh my, what's happening now?" Mihoshi asked Washu as she studied the watch. Washu handed the watch back to Mihoshi. "Why don't you go back to your ship and find out?" "Right, I'll leave now. First class detective Mihoshi is on duty!" Pulling her control cube out of her hair, she began to turn it's sides until she was suddenly changed from casual clothes to her GP uniform. "One thing before you go, Mihoshi," Washu told her. "It's vitally important that you tell us what's happening as soon as you find out. You go that?" "Sure, no problem." Mihoshi adjusted her control cube again and dissappeared. Right after there was the sound of splash out in the lake. Washu put her hand to her head. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" The cave was dark, but sitting just inside of the entrance warded off some of the chill of the night, while the full moon provided enough illumantion to make out vague shapes. It was also a good vantage point to see into the forest without actually being seen, though Ranko had to wonder how sharp Ryoko's cat- like eyes were. "So what is the deal with you and them?" Ranko asked suddenly, her eyes still studying the forest intently. Tenchi was startled at first. "Well, it's sort of a long story. A strange one too." Ranko shrugged. "We've got time. Besides, can't be any stranger than my life." "Well, okay," Tenchi said with an almost sigh and started to explain. "Actually, this is the cave where it all started. I first met Ryoko here. I thought that she was a demon an ancestor of mine had sealed up here seven hundred years ago, that's what my grandfather told me at least. It turns out that she was really a space pirate and my ancestor Yosho was actually an alien from Jurai. I freed Ryoko from this cave against my grandfather's wishes. At least I thought so at the time. Now I'm not so sure." "Jurai," Ranma repeated thoughtfully. "That's where Aeka and Sasami are originally from, isn't it?" Tenchi nodded, then blushed slightly in embarrisment to realize that Ranko couldn't see it even if she had been looking in his direction. "Yes, Aeka came here looking for her brother Yosho. She was supposed to marry him a long time ago, but he never came back. Sasami went with her." "She was going to marry her own brother?" Ranko asked with some surprise. "Half-brother, actually. From what I know relationships are done differently on Jurai. The emperor has two wives, for instance." Ranko tried to imagine what it would be like to marry both Akane and Shampoo, then had to shake her head to get rid of the nightmare it conjured up. It would be hell, pure and simple. "Something wrong?" Tenchi asked her with some concern. "No, nothing," Ranko said quickly, and then changed the subject. "Okay, that explains how they got here, but what are they still doing here?" "Well, to make a long story short, Ryoko and Aeka had a sort of disagreement and crashed their spaceships. Ryoko's ship, Ryo-oki was able to reproduce herself, but they both seem reluctant to leave Earth." "Probably because she's so attached to you, but then so is Aeka." "I know," Tenchi replied, blushing faintly. "I just don't understand it. They're both so... I don't know, them. Unique and powerful and special, while I'm just a normal guy. I have no idea why they'd be interested in someone like me." Ranko shook her head and said with a small chuckle, "Women, who can hope to understand them?" "But you're a woman too, Ranko," Tenchi pointed out, feeling slightly confused. "Yep, and I still don't understand them," Ranko said quickly, and decided it was time to change the subject yet again. "Okay, that explains Ryoko and Aeka, but what about the rest?" "Well, Sasami likes staying here with her sister and the rest of us, especially Ryo-oki, which is a good thing to because she's the only one of us who can cook well. Mihoshi literally fell out of the sky one day when her spaceship crashed because of some monster that Ryoko had called up. Washu had been the prisoner of this alien wanted criminal named Kagato, but Mihoshi freed her, apparently accidently. "They all could leave if they really wanted to, but for some reason they choose to stay here with me, my father, and my grand- father. Sometimes they cause trouble and sometimes I think the house is way too crowded, but I know I'd still miss anyone of them if they were gone." Ranko said nothing for some time. Tenchi thought he saw a tear fall from her cheek, relfecting the moonlight, but he couldn't be certain. "You would miss them, trust me on that," she said finally. "No matter how crazy they act or how annoying they sometimes are, you'd miss everyone of them if you never got to see them again." Tenchi didn't know how to respond to that, but he got the feeling that Ranko was speaking from personal experience. "All right, I think it's time that we headed back," Ranko said, standing up suddenly. "Your girlfriends should have cooled off by now." Tenchi started to say something, but then shook his head slightly and replied, "Yes, let's go." Aeka walked along the paths of the forest she was familiar with, lantern held in one hand. She was definitely not out looking for Tenchi and Ranko, she told herself, just trying to keep Ryoko from causing any trouble. "Oh, who am I kidding?" she muttered to herself. Ryoko had successfully caused a small seed of doubt to grow in her. Tenchi was a fine man, she knew, but she wasn't blind to his faults or the faults of all men. Aeka knew Ranko was a pretty girl, much prettier than herself as she saw in the bath. She was envious of her bueaty, much like that of her sister's future self. And Tenchi was so kind to Ranko... Aeka shook her head. "No, best not to think about it." It was a cold night, the chill only starting to penetrate Aeka's current haze. She stopped to realize she was now before the shack that she had spent part of a day with Tenchi waiting for the rain to stop, so many days ago. Smiling slightly, she went inside. It was only a small matter for her to start a fire as she had seen Tenchi do, and make herself comfortable. Aeka was feeling a bit tired and had decided it might be best if she rested here for a little while before continuing looking. Lost in pleasant memories of the past, she fell asleep.