Heaven and Eternity

by K'thardin

Standard Disclaimer:  If you don't know what these say by now, you probably 
never will, but here goes.  You will never win!  Muhuhahahahah!  Sorry.  
Anyway I don't own Tenchi Muyo!  I do own my characters!  There!  Oh, by the 
way; feel free to reprint this, just remember to credit me.

Authors Forward:  Last one was more of a gap filler than anything else.  I 
mean did you honestly think that the enemy element would pause their plans 
unless it suited them to do so?  Me either.  Anyway back to the main story 
line.  I know I haven't paid too much attention to Mihoshi (My apologies to 
her fans), but I hope to now rectify this situation...

Galaxy Police Dreams

"It's not the loud ones you have to worry about; it's the quiet ones who drink 
by themselves in the corner."
 -Those of us who know

<Opening Theme: Sweet Child O'Mine-G&R>

 "Special Agent Kiyone!"
 Kiyone's brow furrowed in annoyance.  Why do they always have to call 
when I'm busy.
 Lowering one of her hands she tapped her COM badge.  "This is Kiyone.  
Go ahead chief."
 "I need you to report to my ready room as soon as you are able."
 "Understood." she sighed as the transmission terminated.  Raising her 
arm again she continued holding the large computer terminal to the upper parts 
of the deck while the repair crews continued working on it.  Only thing was 
she was on the lower deck and it appeared nothing was holding it there.  Yet 
it was she that was holding it.
 "O.K!  We're done!  You can relax now!"  Relieved of that burden Kiyone 
could only sigh in relief.  She could do much more, but what she was doing was 
the equivalent to holding your arms in one position for hours at a time.  It 
was kind of painful after awhile.
 She paused for a moment to relax; then reluctantly she left the area on 
her way to the chief's ready room.
 She passed through many corridors and decks on her way there.  As always 
it amazed her they had finished as much construction of the new GP HQ station 
as they had.
 Too bad I wasn't here when Kain broke free.  I might have been able to 
do something about it with my new power.  An angry expression crossed her face 
momentarily when she thought about that.  That bastard had killed a lot of her 
friends.  There weren't many that survived his wrath.  Her only comfort was 
the assurance of the Juraians that he was very dead now.
 If only I could have gotten here sooner, she thought again.  It wasn't 
until recently that I found that my header into the ultra-energy matter had 
done more for me than sustain my life in the void of space.  She purposely did 
not dwell on HOW she had taken said dive into the fluid.  Still it was a 
miracle that she had survived at all; the odds were astronomical.
 Once she had discovered the power the ultra-energy matter had given her 
it had taken her two weeks to finally figure out how to travel in space 
without a ship, and another week to get back to here.  All in all; it had 
taken almost two and a half years.
 Now she was back.  She was almost instantly promoted (dulling her 
initial anger), but then she was put in charge of the heavy crews that worked 
with the big equipment.  After all her power made her ideal for the job, and 
it wasn't like there weren't others like her helping with the construction.  
Almost everyone of the GP that weren't presently on assignment, was busy 
helping construct this new station.  She honestly couldn't wait to get back 
into duty.  And it would be duty without Mihoshi!  Yes, God loves me!  she 
thought with a smile.
 So it was with a good mood that she entered the Chief's office.
 "Ah, Special Agent Kiyone." The chief greeted her as she walked inside.  
"Please have a seat."
 "What's this about Chief.  I hope this won't take too long; they need me 
back down in data storage."
 The chief smiled faintly, "You needn't worry about that.  I have someone 
else down there now."  Her eyebrow shot up in askance, "You are going on 
assignment."
 She smiled outright at this. "Where to and why?"
 "Patience.  It appears that there have been some very strange reports 
coming out of this system."  he tapped a few keys and an image of a star 
system appeared in front of them.
 "The Sol system?" she asked, "Isn't that in the Juraian protectorate?"
 "Yes.  However we already have a presence there, but with these new 
reports the Juraians and the Grand Marshall have decided we need something a 
little more there.  You with your excellent service record," she inclined her 
head at the complement, "And new...abilities...were considered the perfect 
choice."
 "So who is there already?" she asked.
 A wail of utter anguish rocked through the station.
 Well, thought Mihoshi's superior, sounds like Kiyone just got the bad 
news.

       *

 The hostages were inside; and unless this was pulled off with extreme 
precision they would probably all die.
 Well that would not happen.  She and her partner were the best there was 
at what they did ('snickt' bub. Heh).
 It had been two weeks since they had heard any communication from the 
terrorists or their hostages; approximately 5,000 children and their 
caretakers in this galactic orphanage.  So the go ahead to storm the place had 
been given.
 Her eyes narrowed and jaw tightened behind her black mask.  Quickly she 
and her partner gave another once over of their equipment.  They could not 
fail at this.
 Looking at her partner; they passed a silent communication, a language 
built over many missions together.
 Are you ready Kiyone? she asked her black clad companion.
 Yes.  Are you ready Mihoshi?

 "Are you ready Mihoshi?"
 Slowly Mihoshi came awake and stared at the little girl who had woken 
her.
 "Ready?" she asked blankly.
 "To get up.  It's about ten now." Sasami said.
 "Oh right!" she exclaimed; trying to shake off the lingering bits of her 
dream.  What was she dreaming about again?  She couldn't remember.
 Slowly she stretched out causing her body to move in interesting ways.  
She yawned a little as well; causing her slight fangs to flash in the late 
morning light.
 Groggily she got up and got dressed in the room that had been recently 
constructed for her.  Idly she wondered what her chores would be today.  She 
would have to ask Tenchi; he always knew.  She smiled when she thought of him.  
He always made her smile.  He was probably the only one (besides her late 
partner) that had ever treated her nice because of herself.  Everyone else she 
knew was only trying to advance their positions by treating her nice.  After 
all, her grand father was the Grand Marshall of the GP.
 Then again he had been going through a lot here recently, and he had to 
tell them all to back off for awhile so he could get it together.  It kind of 
hurt, but she saw how brave and steadfast he always was, and so with her child 
like view on things, she had absolute faith he would figure it out.
 With that happy thought in mind she proceeded to the bathroom to take 
care of many early morning obligations.

      *

<Everybody Knows-Concrete Blonde>

 The atmospheric protection shield of the hangar bay lowered, and one 
lone solitary figure stepped out into the void, sans any protection from the 
rigors of space.  Which seemed to be no problem as she proceeded to walk 
(imagine it O.K.) through the void without much difficulty.  If one were to 
take a closer look one would see a very defeated being standing there.  Her 
shoulders were slumped over, her eyes were half closed and her expression was 
one of utter despair.  Yes, defeated would be a good word to use.
 The universe is out to get me and God hates me! Kiyone thought in 
despair.  She looked around the at the stars to get her bearing.  At least 
it'll take me a couple of days to get there.  Better savor them.
 Concentrating a 'hole' appeared in front of her.  With a dejected 
expression, her substance became a vaguely female looking greenish energy-like 
form and she entered the hyperspace portal; which closed after her.

      *

 Mihoshi couldn't find Tenchi anywhere.
 She had looked all over the house; even in Washuu's lab (though Washuu 
was gone at the moment).  She had looked at the Shrine, but all she found 
there was Katsuhito putting both Sasami and Ayeka through his rigorous 
training regime; she didn't really want to disturb that.  She had even looked 
at the baths, but all she found there was Ryouko drunk and asleep.
 Where else could he be?
 "Oh, I know, he might be at Cyraqs' cabin!" she exclaimed to no one in 
particular.  And with that strange Ryouga like ability to be anywhere; she was 
there.
 
 Five minutes before.
 Ryuken was rooting through his brother's fridge looking for something in 
particular.
 "Ah ha!  Found you!" Rising from his bent position, he examined the 
object of his search.  A twelve ounce can of Mountain Dew.  Beverage of the 
gods.  Cracking it open; he inhaled it's heady aroma before finally slamming a 
drink from it.  Gotta hand it to you, bro; he thought, this world does have 
some good stuff here.
 Turning (kicking the fridge door closed behind him) he proceeded back 
into his brother's living room/den/crash pad/you get the idea, and sat down 
heavily on one of his couches.  Setting the dew down on the table in front of 
him he picked up the book he had been reading, one of this world's holy texts 
(The Christian Bible in case you were wondering; he really considered it 
strange how some things seemed to be universal), and proceeded from the 
chapter he had left off; while musing on how utterly cool life had been 
recently.
 Well let's see, our 20,000-year plan to destroy our empire worked very 
successfully.  In around ten years the entire ruling class will be 
annihilated; allowing our people to rebuild into something else.
 My own son has taken off to parts unknown with that space pirate Minagi.  
He chuckled a little.  Not even an hour out of the Empire and already he picks 
up a girl AND something else to do.  Hope you're having fun son.  You've 
definitely earned it.
 Dad and Washuu disappeared almost the day they were reunited.  A wry 
expression crossed his face.  God, I hope they haven't killed each other.  
It's been almost two months.  Then again; I just hope they find some kind of 
peace with each other, even if they find they don't belong together anymore.  
They still need that.
 As for me; for the first time in almost 20,000 years, I can relax for 
awhile without having to worry about getting fried by some assassin's psycho 
blast.
 Life is good.
 "Excuse me."
 "Gaaaahhhh!" he yelled.  Once he realized who he had his sword pointed 
at he relaxed.  "Please don't startle me like that."  How the hell does she do 
that?  I didn't even hear her enter, he thought as he sent his sword back to 
subspace.
 For some reason being nearly decapitated didn't bother her.  "Do you 
know where Tenchi is?" she asked in her innocently cheery way.
 Ryuken frowned in puzzlement.  This woman was an enigma to him.  Besides 
being unbearably attractive; she had a very strange outlook on life, almost 
like a child.  Yet at times she seemed to have flashes of near brilliance, 
that just as quickly went away to be replaced by this innocence.  He found her 
to be a mystery, and if there was one thing he couldn't bear was an unsolved 
mystery.  
 So for the past couple of months he had been trying to crack the mystery 
of her.  Questioning her had only led to his conclusion that she had 'holes' 
in her memory for some reason.  Wondering about that he had looked to other 
sources.
 His brother had been no help.  When asked he just got real quiet and 
said he didn't want to talk about it.  Probing certain databases had been just 
as useless.  The Ranger wouldn't cooperate, and Washuu's computers had an 
encryption lock so convoluted it would take him decades to crack; unless he 
knew the password.
 Oh well guess I'll have to keep trying with her.  I hope it's nothing 
bad.  And if it is...well he didn't want to consider what he would do then.
 "Not exactly.  Cyraqs took Tenchi with him into deep space this morning; 
they'll be gone for quite awhile; maybe a few months.  Why?" he asked.
 "Oh, I just needed to know what I was supposed to be doing today for my 
chores is all."  then she got distraught, "But now what am I going to do?"
 "Hold on."  He thought about that for a minute.  Oh yeah, Tenchi did 
give me a sheet of paper (a rather primitive means of information transfer, 
but effective) giving a list of things that would need to be taken care of.  
Pulling said piece of paper out of the pocket in his jeans, he opened it and 
proceeded to scan it's contents.
 One line read 'Mihoshi's chores'.  This must be it.
 "Says here you're supposed to clean the yard today."
 She brightened considerably.  Tenchi would not be disappointed when he 
got back!  "Oh thank you!" she yelled.
 "You want some help?" he asked.  Perhaps I can figure it out today.
 "Sure!" she replied.

      *

 A 'hole' appeared right outside the Earth's atmosphere, and a being of 
green energy flew out of it.
 Well I'm here, she thought in resignation.  Now to find Mihoshi.  
Nooooo! she cried as she flew down (dodging the occasional satellite) to the 
Japanese islands.
 She wasn't really paying too much attention to where she landed, 
otherwise she probably would have landed closer to the house.
 As she landed she shifted her form back to the more humanoid one and 
looked at her little microcomputer on her wrist. Instantly a holomap of the 
area appeared an a little blinking dot appeared to the north of a little red 
dot that denoted her position.
 "Well Mihoshi looks like I can't get away from you even now." she said 
in despair.  I am going to enjoy yelling at you for the next few days though.
 "Did you say something about a Mihoshi miss?"  An older looking man said 
stepping from the trees.
 "Ah...yes, I did." she said recovering from being startled, "Do you know 
her?"
 "Yes.  I can take you to her if you wish." he said.
 "Thanks."
 He smiled at her half-hearted thanks, obviously (due to her uniform) she 
knew what a ditz Mihoshi was, and was not looking forward to her meeting.
 "You are welcome.  By the way, my name is Misaki Katsuhito" he extended 
a hand.
 "Kiyone." she said simply taking it.
 His expression turned quizzical. "If you are who I think you are; aren't 
you supposed to be dead?"
 "God was not so kind to me." she sighed miserably as they started 
walking.

      *

 Now this was a very ineffective means of removing dirt from the area, 
Ryuken thought.  No matter how much you sweep, there will still be some dirt 
left.  It's almost like some of the chores we used to do at the temple (Kwi 
Chang Kain type flashback shows a young Ryuken and Cyraqs scrubbing temple 
floors on their hands and knees).  He smiled at the memory.  Yeah those were 
some fun times.
 "So how did you beat the mad scientist?" he asked Mihoshi.  Yes she's 
telling him that story as they work.
 She, for her part, was happy to tell him all about her last adventure 
with her late (I wouldn't quite say that) partner Kiyone.
 She was really beginning to like Ryuken.  He for some reason had been 
very curious about her and let her talk to him all she wanted.  And he was 
never condescending towards her (even Tenchi occasionally treated her like a 
girl younger than Sasami).  He was very patient and always had time to explain 
things to her when she asked about them.  Though at times she felt his eyes on 
her in a way she couldn't quite understand, but for some reason it sent a 
shiver of...something up her spine.  It confused her somewhat, even though she 
did find she enjoyed the feeling.
 Presently he was looking at her like that.  If you were wondering the 
look was one of restrained desire.  He really liked her, something he had 
never felt before; not even with his two previous wives.  He frowned when he 
remembered them.  No he did not love them, but they didn't deserve to be 
killed by our family's enemies like that.  He rubbed his throat at that 
memory.  In one of those attacks he had taken a cut across the neck; putting 
him out of the fight.  He was fortunate to have survived, but he was unable to 
protect his wife.  Now he had a scar and a messed up voice to remind him of 
the incident.
 Then he realized that she was still talking, and he chided himself for 
not paying attention.  She hadn't noticed; obliviously telling the rest of her 
story, but now he was giving her his full attention.
 Until he noticed Yoshou walking up to the yard with a woman that matched 
the exact description of Mihoshi's partner.
 "Well here she is Kiyone." Katsuhito stated as they came upon Mihoshi 
and Ryuken.
 Kiyone?! he exclaimed to himself.  Did she survive?  He looked over at 
Mihoshi who had turned ghost white.  Yep, apparently so.  Then he noticed the 
Kiyone's face as it went from a slightly downcast expression to one of utter 
rage.  He also watched as a green light spring up around her.
 "Oh shit." he said to himself quietly, and began to ready himself for 
what was about to happen.
 Kiyone was expecting to yell at Mihoshi.  That much she deserved.  Maybe 
even beat the crap out of her.  Definitely deserved that.  But even she was 
surprised at the massive anger that overtook her, and she couldn't control 
what happened next.
 Ryuken quickly interposed himself between the two throwing up a 
psychokinetic barrier that stopped her energy blast.  Damn, he thought, that 
lady is tough.  He was barely able to deflect the shots she sent at Mihoshi, 
into deep space.  And he wasn't sure how long he could hold it.
 "Yoshou..." he didn't need to say anything else.  Yoshou had already 
engaged Kiyone in combat.  Though it was more like Yoshou wrapping himself in 
his near light-hawk wing shield as he held her back.
 "Calm down Kiyone, I don't think this is a very good way to solve any of 
your problems with Mihoshi do you?"  she said nothing, and continued to try to 
kill Mihoshi who was still behind a shield of Ryuken's power.
 Even her power had it's limits, and after traveling in space for the 
past few days and ineffectively throwing power blasts against both of their 
shields, she finally she reached hers.  The green glow around her vanished, 
but she still looked at Mihoshi in a towering rage.  Katsuhito continued 
holding her until she finally got some control over herself.
 "Perhaps we should go some place and talk sensibly about this?"  Yoshou 
suggested.
 She nodded her head in reply.  What did I just try to do? she wondered 
in disbelief.
 "Come.  The shrine would be a perfect place." he pulled Kiyone to her 
feet, and motioned for her to follow.  Ryuken and Mihoshi followed; at a 
reasonable distance.
 Mihoshi couldn't believe it.  Her friend, whom she thought dead, was 
alive.  Alive!  But her first act when they were reunited was to try to kill 
her.  Why?  Just seeing her brought back so many memories; some of which she 
couldn't even place.  It was all so confusing, she didn't know how to make 
sense of it.
 Ryuken gathered her to his side; putting his arm protectively around 
her.  She gratefully leaned into him as he guided them toward the shrine.  She 
noticed that he still had his shield up, and he looked like he didn't have 
much intention of lowering it.
 For some reason she felt absolutely safe.
 They eventually reached the shrine, and were ushered in by Yoshou who 
sat them down.  Ryuken and Mihoshi facing Kiyone and himself.  He made them 
some tea before they began.
 "Now let's talk about this.  I have always heard great things about you 
Kiyone from Mihoshi here.  Why did you attack her?" he asked taking a sip of 
his tea.
 "Kiyone..." Mihoshi pleaded quietly.
 Kiyone's face grew dark again.  "You shut up!  You damn near killed me!  
In fact I should be dead, but noooo!  I have to live just to come back to 
YOU!"  She was breathing heavy (why I don't know), and doing the green aura 
thing again.  Then she noticed her partner's really scared expression.  Scared 
of her.  Well she should be goddamnit! a part of her said.
 "It cannot be as bad as you claim, can it?" Yoshou asked.
 "It wasn't always this bad.  But GODDAMNIT WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LET IT 
GET THIS BAD YOU FUCKING BITCH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
 "Please do not take the lords name in vain here." he said (Yes I know, 
don't even give me a lecture on the differences in religion.).
 "Sorry." she said looking up.  After, she looked over at her partner in 
rage.  She noticed that she had almost crawled inside of the tall man holding 
her.  Then she looked at him.  His steely gaze calmed her somewhat.  He did 
care for her and it was quite obvious she would have to go through him to get 
to her.  Seeing as how he actually deflected her power that could be fatal for 
her.  Not that she really cared, but it would probably kill a few uninvolved 
people too, and that she did care about.
 "What did you mean by that?"  Yoshou asked.
 She looked at her partner again.  "Why don't you tell them Mihoshi?" she 
asked bitterly.
 "Tell them what?" she quavered.
 "Oh I think you know.  Better yet, why don't we show them."  Before any 
of them could react she reached out with her power, but not to attack.  This 
was to connect.

 The environment shifted, hazy.  Vague impressions seemed to dance around 
them.  Them?  Yoshou couldn't see them exactly, yet he knew the rest of the 
group was there.  Where are we? Yoshou asked.
 Inside Mihoshi's mind.  Kiyone replied.
 Why have you brought us here?
 Kiyone looked at the man who continued to protectively hold Mihoshi.  
Even here he continued to do that.  Because I want you to see exactly why I 
hate her.  And love her as if she were my sister.  This person in front of you 
is not Mihoshi.
 What do you mean?  Yoshou asked again.
 Watch.

 The hostages were inside; and unless this was pulled off with extreme 
precision they would probably all die.
 Well that would not happen.  She and her partner were the best there was 
at what they did.
 It had been two weeks since they had heard any communication from the 
terrorists or their hostages; approximately 5,000 children and their 
caretakers in this galactic orphanage.  So the go ahead to storm the place had 
been given.
 Her eyes narrowed and jaw tightened behind her black mask.  Quickly she 
and her partner gave another once over of their equipment.  They could not 
fail at this.
 Looking at her partner; they passed a silent communication, a language 
built over many missions together.
 Are you ready Kiyone? she asked her black clad companion.
 Yes.  Are you ready Mihoshi?

 No!  Please don't make me see this again! Mihoshi wailed.
 Why not? Kiyone laughed a little sadistically. After all this is where 
it all started.

 They penetrated the orphanage with relative ease.  Taking out the guards 
was no problem.  They had a time window of about thirty minutes.  That was the 
time these bastards had to report back before their absence would be 
investigated.  This would be no problem, Mihoshi thought.
 Their job was simple; avoid detection, kill any perps who saw them, take 
out the command element.  Others would be busy taking out the other's now.  
Problem:  the command element was composed of about thirty people located near 
a significant amount of the hostages.  They would have to move quickly.  So 
quickly they wouldn't know what hit them.  She smiled behind her mask.  This 
would be a true test of her skills, and those bastards would regret ever 
thinking of doing this.  It didn't matter to her why, just that they needed 
taken down.

 She was always the cold steely one, you know.  She was flawless in 
precision and execution.  I always admired that about her.  Deep down though 
she had a soft side, a tender side, and you could tell whenever we saved 
people.  How she smiled, you could tell it made her feel good to help people.
 Ryuken heard her.  And he heard Mihoshi as she silently sobbed into his 
shirt.  He had a pretty good idea where this was going.  No wonder Cyraqs 
didn't want to talk about it.  He considers himself a protector of the 
universe, and yet even he can't be everywhere and do everything.

 They attacked from above.  Taking out the lights first; they dropped 
down and with the practiced ease of many years of this; they mowed through the 
ranks of terrorist command staff.
 Kiyone finished off her last one, knowing her partner had entered the 
adjacent room; and had probably already dealt with those that remained.  It 
was the room where they had identified around a couple of hundred hostages 
were all of them children and around 15 terrorists.
 After a moment instincts let her know it was safe to bring some light 
into the room, and she did so.  She turned to go toward the adjacent room; 
only to find her partner coming out; a stricken look on her face.

 Substituted my memories for that one, and now you will see what she saw.

 Mihoshi entered the room; her kind could see quite well in the dark and 
it was a good bet some of these guys could too.  So she wasted no time in 
dispatching them with her throwing darts.  They got off a few rounds, but 
nothing that was anywhere near her.  A few had tried using the children as 
shields, but they too were easily dealt with.
 It was over in about ten seconds.  She finally looked around and saw...

 PLEASE NO MORE! Mihoshi yelled.

 ...and saw most of the children here were dead.  In some of the most 
horrible ways imaginable (I won't write about it, suffice it to say they were 
in great pain before they died).  That was not all, the surviving ones were 
beaten, raped, and...she couldn't do anything to help some of them as their 
lives ebbed away.
 "This is Mihoshi." she spoke into her wrist.  "Mission accomplished.  
Send a massive medical unit here we have...Dear god we have..."
 "We know.  The others have reported similar findings.  Do what you can 
'till the medics get there."
 Breaking comms and turning off her emotions she went to go get her 
partner.

 We saved who we could, but after that Mihoshi kept her emotions off.  
She wouldn't talk about it wouldn't let her feelings out about it.  Not even 
to me; TO ME HER OWN PARTNER AND BEST FRIEND! Kiyone yelled in the realm of 
Mihoshi's mind.
 I was fucked up for a few months, but I spent many hours with counseling 
staff, and eventually got my balance back.  Kiyone turned in the direction of 
her partner.  But you wouldn't talk.  Why couldn't you even share your pain 
with me?

 She had been burying herself in her work; trying to keep herself numb.  
Kiyone her partner and best friend couldn't seem to do anything for her.  So 
when came the day of Mihoshi's collapse, Kiyone was not surprised.
 It took her months before they finally got her back to working status.  
But when she returned, it was a new Mihoshi who greeted her friend.  No longer 
was she Mihoshi the ultrafantastic special agent.  She had reverted to a kind 
of child hood innocence, never to return to her former glory.
 "What did you do to her?" Kiyone raged at one of the doctors.
 "What we could." he replied unperturbed.  "She was almost completely 
catatonic.  It has taken us quite sometime to get her back to at least 
speaking to us."
 She clenched her fists at her sides in frustration, because there was 
nothing she could really do about it.
 "Oh by the way," the doctor started as he turned away, "One of the 
things we had to do to bring her back was place a strong suggestion in her 
subconscious to enable her to keep her memories."
 "What would that be?"
 "The ribbon in her hair.  Make sure it's never taken off.  Otherwise 
she'll forget everything."
 Kiyone closed her eyes.  Great; just great, she thought to herself.

 And it was that Mihoshi that got us demoted.  That Mihoshi who got us 
nearly killed more times than I can count.  And it was that Mihoshi who 
'tripped' tossing me into the ultra-energy matter.  And you left me there, 
thinking I was dead, even though it was you who almost killed me.
 So tightly was Ryuken holding her, her reply of "I'm so sorry Kiyone." 
was barely heard.
 He had seen shit like this happen in his empire a lot.  It always left 
him with a new scar on his soul when he did see it.  It was fortunate those 
bastards were dead now, or he would have dedicated his life to hunting them 
down and killing them in the worst ways imaginable.
 Yeah, I know you are.  Kiyone said sadly.  But why...couldn't...you... 
she couldn't hold back tears of her own.
 Rushing to Mihoshi she embraced her, and, turning from Ryuken, Mihoshi 
held her as well.

 Ryuken shook his head as they returned to reality.  That was one cooool 
trip!  Then he noticed that the two girls were in each other's arms crying 
freely.  Both he and Yoshou didn't say a word as they both left them alone 
there.
 They both stood outside the shrine in silence.  I mean, what could be 
said about what they had just witnessed?  After a time the two of them 
emerged.  Both looking like hell warmed over, and both looking more alive than 
they had ever been.
 Mihoshi walked up to Ryuken and looked at him.  There was still Mihoshi 
the innocent there, but now there was also the Mihoshi of before there.  It 
would be interesting, he thought, to see what she would become now.
 "You, me, we need to talk." she said simply.  Taking his hand the two of 
them vanished.
 "Oh is that how she does it." Yoshou commented.
 "Yes, it always irritated me when she did that.  Scared the daylights 
out of me."  Kiyone said smiling.  Looks like she finally found a guy for her.  
Too bad I can't be so fortunate.  "I need to thank you for what you did."
 "None are necessary.  She is my friend, and you are hers.  That now 
makes you mine."  She laughed a little at that, but it was a laugh of 
happiness.  "Come back in the shrine.  I still have some tea left.  We can sit 
and talk for awhile.  You look like you could use a ready ear."
 Kiyone looked at the older man gratefully.  "Thank you, I think I'd like 
that."

      *

 About a month and a half later Ryuken got a message that Cyraqs and 
Tenchi were about to return.
 So he proceeded to tell the others the good news.
 "They're coming back!  You hear that Ryo-ohki?  They're coming back!" 
Sasami shouted.
 "Coming back!  Tenchi and Cyraqs are coming back!"  Ryo-ohki yelled.
 Drakhenn said nothing, but he did smile in his way.
 "Cool!  You can finally meet these two Kiyone." Mihoshi told her.  About 
time, I was getting a little curious about them, Kiyone thought.
 "TENCHI!" Ryouko and Ayeka intoned together.
 Gonna be fun when they arrive.
 
 And so the collective cast waited in anticipation the following day 
outside the Misaki shrine.
 Not even making a sound the two of them appeared.
 Tenchi had changed a lot.  He had a look about him.  The look of someone 
who had just done the impossible and lived to tell about it.  That, and he was 
wearing sunglasses a lot like Cyraqs'.
 He looked at those assembled before him.  His grandfather looked at him 
proudly, and he smiled back.  I wonder if I should tell him I can see through 
the illusion now?  Naaaa.
 There was someone there he didn't recognize.  <I'm Kiyone.  What's up?> 
she asked him telepathically.
 <Not much.> he smiled.  <So I take it you are Mihoshi's partner she told 
us about?>  she smiled in reply. <Aren't you supposed to be dead?>
 <I get that a lot.  I'll tell you the story later.> she said putting an 
arm on Katsuhito for support.
 That surprised him, but it also made him chuckle when he thought about 
what Asahi might do if she saw that and was here.  Feel my pain grandpa, he 
thought evilly.
 His gaze moved to Mihoshi and Ryuken.  They were close; almost but not 
quite touching.  It also seemed to him that he was behaving a little 
protectively towards her.  Something had happened between those two obviously.  
Good for you Mihoshi.  Thank you God!
 Then his gaze moved toward Ayeka and Ryouko (Sasami was hugging Cyraqs 
at the moment and Ryo-ohki was hugging him).
 They both wanted to come into his arms, but were stopping themselves.  
As they had promised they were still giving him space.  It was all he could do 
keep from rushing to them.  Not yet he told himself.  One last thing to do 
yet, then I can figure out you two.
 <Cyraqs-sensei?>
 <I'm not that to you anymore.>
 Tenchi smiled. <Yes, but you can still answer questions.>
 <True.>
 <Is it always this hard?>
 <Yes, but you learn to deal with it after awhile.>
 <Must suck after a few centuries.>
 <To put it mildly.>
 Suddenly both felt another presence enter the area, and both turned to 
see a spot of light descending toward their general area.
 As it landed it coalesced into the forms of Washuu and Hayes.  Finally 
back.  They were holding hands, and a ring was on Washuu's hand that was not 
there before.  Washuu was also in her adult form, and was smiling demurely.
 Hayes no longer looked like a burnt out husk of a man; he had regained 
his incredible power.  Though his hair was still as white as his eldest son's 
it was no longer faded and stringy, and he was clean shaven.  Not to mention 
had the happiest most shit-eating grin they had ever seen on someone.
 Cyraqs chuckled, then laughed, then laughed hard.  To be joined by 
Ryuken and Tenchi when they saw this.
 <Hey Cyraqs; why does stuff like this happen all at once?>
 <Got me Tenchi.  Got me.>

 <End Theme: Dreams-VanHalen>
 
 End 11

Afterward:  Can't really think of anything to say about this one.  Didn't go 
quite as I planned it would.  Oh well, happens sometimes.  I'm at 
kthardin@geocities.com