Here it is, as promised. Last chance for comments.
Vacation Days
Epilogue
"Ohh, I can't wait to get to the beach."
"Yeah, me too." Tenchi said as he finished tying the cord of his
black-colored (and very baggy) swimming trunks. He double checked the cord.
With the way his luck had been going, the trunks would probably be too
loose and float off him once he hit the ocean or something. No way was he
taking any unnecessary chances, not with the way his vacation had gone so
far.
Mihoshi was nearly bouncing up and down in excitement. "It was nice of you
know who to repair my ship, wasn't it Tenchi?"
"Yes, it was." Tenchi was not enthusiastic about having to constantly refer
to the Juraian Security Directorate as 'you know who,' but they had
promised their silence on the matter, and Mihoshi insisted they not call
the Directorate by name, even in private.
After the successful meeting with General Shakari, he and Mihoshi had been
sworn to secrecy about what had happened. The general had assured Mihoshi
in particular that he would take care of informing the Galaxy Police about
the matter, and had promised to leave out any details concerning her part
in the affair. She was supposed to be on vacation, and if she had to file a
report on the matter, she would be forced to call an end to her vacation
and go through who knew how many debriefings. And it was not as though the
Directorate had not already thoroughly interrogated had and learned all the
needed to know; it would have been a waste of time. Mihoshi had felt bad
about not reporting to her superiors, but they had specifically given
orders that they did not want to hear from her while she was on vacation
and, she was ever the obedient officer. Besides, if you couldn't trust the
Juraian Security Directorate, who could you trust?
To help Mihoshi out, they had rebuilt her ship, leaving it in even better
shape than before the crash, even going so far as do Midasize it. Even
Yukinojo was placed into his new domicile without a problem, although
Shakari informed Mihoshi that they had purged the memory programs that had
information concerning Stargrave and the Yagdagron. They left a fake
diagnostic test that informed Yukinojo there had been a small malfunction
in his memory bank that had wiped out the events in the last few days and
that the problem had since been repaired. That had seemed to take care of
everything, as near as everyone could tell.
The two had landed on Aqua Regia without further incident, proving that
miracle could happen. Yukinojo was happy to shut down and go on his own
'vacation' at last. Accommodations proved no problem, despite arriving over
a week late from when they made their reservations. There was plenty of
room at the hotel Mihoshi had selected, a very nice choice with an elegant
interior and a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere (with little in the way of
screaming children, or screaming aliens, as the case might have been)
Mihoshi told him she had stayed at it before when she was younger, and that
it hadn't changed a bit since those days. After a hassle-free check in, the
pair went directly up to their room. The room itself was very ornate, with
tasteful ocean oriented decorations and everything seemingly in order.
There was the slight problem of the man at the front desk making a slight
mistake in giving them a room with only one king-sized bed instead of the
double that Tenchi had specifically asked for, but he was sure they could
have it changed. But it would be for after they had a chance to enjoy some
quality time at the beach. In a pinch, he could even sleep on the floor. It
was the right thing to do, after all. He and Mihoshi had already shared
enough body warmth, not that it had been a bad experience, not at all. She
had been pretty warm, and it wasn't as though she had tried to seduce him
(while she was awake) or anything. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they were
to share the same bed...
No, no. He didn't need to have any thoughts like that; they would just get
him into trouble. Although, it had been kind of nice waking up next to
someone. And there were other considerations. After he had feared Mihoshi
was dead, he somehow, in some imperceptible way, felt closer to her. A lot
closer. Actually, he now really, really wanted to spend some more time with
her, even though they had already spent over a week exclusively in each
other's company (not counting interrogators and people trying to kill
them). It was just that for some reason it didn't feel like enough time.
The whole matter was all very confusing to him.
"So how do I look?" Mihoshi spun around once in a circle to show off her
swimsuit.
The distraction's timing would have been perfect, save that the nature of
the distraction did little to ease Tenchi's thoughts. "Ah, very nice."
Tenchi felt himself blush slightly. Mihoshi had chosen a considerably more
revealing outfit then Tenchi had. It was a pink two-piece bikini that,
while not as revealing as something Ryouko might have worn, was definitely
less conservative than a suit Aeka would have chosen. He also couldn't help
noticing that she filled the suit out VERY well. However, that particular
thought made him realize something was... missing.
"Of course!" Tenchi shouted in joy as he gave a tiny leap into the air. He
went over to a nearby table and proceeded to smack his head into it.
Several times.
"Ah, Tenchi, why are you slamming your head into the table?" Mihoshi asked
as she stared at him in confusion. "Did you leave something behind on
Earth? Don't feel bad. I know when I go on vacation I always forget to take
something along. I think it's that way for every race, except for the one's
that never take vacations, of course. Now, I happened to notice that this
time I forgot my sunglasses, but I wouldn't hit my head into a table
because of that, and you shouldn't either."
Tenchi smacked his head into it one more time before turning to Mihoshi,
his eyes almost filled with tears. "I can't believe it. The voice in my
head's gone."
"What voice?"
Tenchi was nearly delirious with joy. "Back on the planet, after our crash,
I kept hearing this voice in my head. A pretty raunchy one too. Sometimes
it would go away, but every time I hit my head, it would come back. But now
it's gone. The doctors must have made it go away. HAHA-"
Tenchi's laughter was interrupted as Mihoshi broke a chair over his head. A
metal one.
Tenchi moaned in pain, eventually lifting himself from the floor. He was
still holding his head in pain as he shot Mihoshi a look of
incomprehension, "What did you do that for?"
"Is the voice in your head back yet?"
"No."
Mihoshi picked up a second chair. "Don't worry. I'll try again."
"No! Stop!" Tenchi stepped backward and once he saw Mihoshi drawing back
the chair again for another swing.
Mihoshi kept it poised above her head. "How come?"
"That's my line," Tenchi retorted. "Why did you hit me in the head with a
chair?"
Mihoshi put the chair down and sat in it. "Well, since you said the voice
in your head went away, and that it would come back if you hit your head,
and you were smacking your head into the table, I assumed you wanted it to
come back. Since it didn't seem to be working, I decided to help you out."
"NO!" Tenchi grabbed Mihoshi by the shoulders and shook her slightly to
emphasize his point. "I was just making sure it was gone. I don't want it
back, ever."
"Okay, I won't hit you in the head again. But if you change your mind--"
"--you'll be the first person I go to," Tenchi assured her. The ringing in
his head had stopped. It must have been becoming sturdier form all of the
abuse he had taken over the last few months. It was time to get down to the
beach before something else, less repairable, went wrong. "Let's go. And
here." He handed her an extra pair of sunglasses. "I know what it's like to
forget things too."
The pair made their way down the stairs and through the crowded hotel lobby
and prepared to go out onto the beach. Tenchi was eager to get an up close
look at it. The only time he had a chance to examine the world was as they
were landing, and a mile high view of a beach did not exactly allow one to
get a good impression of it, other than it was large and had no visible oil
spills nearby.
The pair cut through the lobby and towards the back, catching sight of the
sunny exterior through the oceanside of the hotel. The two walked out the
back of the hotel and onto the edge of the beach adjoining it. At a glance,
it wasn't really all that different from Earth's style of beaches. There
was sand. There was an ocean (whose waters were clearer than anything on
Earth). There were beachgoers. There was an outdoor bar next to the hotel.
There was a swimming pool next to the hotel for those that didn't like to
swim in the ocean. Yes, everything was just like Earth, except for the
multiple-limbed aliens, the amorphous-blobbed aliens, the aliens with the
big heads, the aliens...
Mihoshi giggled and spun around in a little circle, holding her head up to
the skies as she basked in the warm aura of the sun. "Isn't this great,
Tenchi? There isn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature is just right. The
ocean is clear blue. There's only a light breeze, allowing us to enjoy the
brisk salty air--"
"--No one on the beach is wearing a bathing suit."
"--No one on the beach is wearing a bathing suit. There's lots of food
vendors. There's..." It took a moment for the actual words to set it. Using
her impressive detective skills, Mihoshi examined the people in her
surroundings a little more clearly. "It looks like you're right about that,
Tenchi. That's odd. I distinctly remember wearing a bathing suit the last
time I was here."
"This particular section of Aqua Regia was converted into a nudist's beach,
Ma'am. It's that way on this entire island and the adjoining ones." One of
the waiters that worked the outdoor bar mentioned as he passed the pair.
Mihoshi appeared relieved. "Well that would explain it. I just knew
everyone was wearing clothing last time. Better get out of your suit,
Tenchi." Mihoshi began to undo the straps on her bikini top.
"Whaa?" was all Tenchi managed to get out as Mihoshi's top fell to the
ground. It took him a moment to collect himself, especially with the view
he was suddenly receiving. "Look, why don't we stay at one of the other
islands? One that has people wearing clothing."
It took a moment of stared confusion before Mihoshi gave Tenchi a wide
smile. "Oh, I understand."
"Thank goodness," Tenchi sighed.
"You don't have to worry about getting sunburned. I'll be happy to lotion
you up."
"That is not what I meant!" Tenchi shouted. He quieted back down once he
realized everyone was staring at him because of the outburst. "What I mean
is, I don't think I'm really comfortable with the idea of going out there
without a bathing suit."
"How come?" Mihoshi asked as she took off her bottoms.
"I'd feel kind of weird." Tenchi wondered exactly why Mihoshi had suddenly
seemed to have become as brazen as Ryouko tended to be.
"I don't know why you would," Mihoshi said without a hint of duplicity.
"Everyone else is naked too. That means being naked is normal. Now, if you
were the only one wearing a bathing suit when no one else was, then you'd
have a reason for feeling weird."
"Well, yes," Tenchi slowly admitted,
"So you should feel weird with a bathing suit on. Therefore if you take off
your bathing suit, you shouldn't feel weird."
"I guess." Tenchi started to become uneasy at the course the conversation
had suddenly taken. He was losing an argument with Mihoshi; that was not
supposed to happen. Perhaps the Directorate had done something to him he
was unaware of.
It felt like he was being set up, and Tenchi suddenly found himself wishing
he still had the voice in his head. It tended to be more savvy and would
probably have known what was about to happen. Of course, it would also have
been making all sorts of suggestive remarks about the attractive naked
female in front of him. Ohh, he was thinking of Mihoshi in terms of
attractiveness, not a good way to talk himself out of being on a beach,
naked with her. He tried to bring his thinking around back to the original
course it had been on, but Mihoshi's further prattle prevented that.
"And since everyone else is nude, it only makes sense you shouldn't mind it
either. Unless you have something to be embarrassed about."
That caught his attention. "I do not," Tenchi spluttered out.
Mihoshi continued on, as though she hadn't heard him. "Don't worry, if
you're embarrassed, then we can leave."
"I have nothing to be embarrassed about!"
"I'll go back in and check us out." Mihoshi started to head back into the
hotel.
"Look here!" Tenchi shouted as he dropped his trunks and held his arms wide
apart to show that he had absolutely nothing to hide.
All went quiet as everyone within the sound of his shout turned briefly
towards him.
Someone snickered.
Tenchi suddenly didn't feel quite as confident as he had a second ago.
Mihoshi turned, and smiled. It wasn't a lascivious leer, but one of simple
happiness. "Oh goody. We're going to stay." She grabbed his arm and the two
of them went out to the beach itself, making sure to bring their swimsuits
along, as well as grabbing a couple of beach towels that the hotel offered
at one of their booths along the beach.
Tenchi noted that about eighty percent of the inhabitants of the beach were
humanoids of about the same general appearance as an Earthling. He also
noticed that, unlike most of the beach-oriented shows he had seen on
television and at the movies, many of the inhabitants of the beaches of
Aqua Regia were not the sort he would have chosen to view without clothing.
Certainly very few of them compared with either his own, fit body and
Mihoshi's rather well endowed one. His pride swelled slightly.
So did other things.
Tenchi shifted his towel in front of him. No sense in Mihoshi, or anyone
else, getting any ideas that he was perverted or something.
As his initial wave of indignation passed, Tenchi's usually reserved
demeanor began to reassert itself, allowing parts of his anatomy to calm
down. Here he was, walking right next to an attractive, naked girl that he
knew really well. Maybe he was making a mistake.
No. Suddenly he realized that, well, he was being something of an
indecisive weenie. Harsh words, but, there was something about this whole
situation that made him want to act more... mature, at least when it came
to the opposite sex. Perhaps it had to do with how close to death he, and
especially, Mihoshi had come. Perhaps it had to do with that part of his
subconscious that had come to the fore from the concussion. As much as
Tenchi was loath to admit, it had been right about a number of things.
No! Not the latent bi-sexual tendencies (he hoped), but rather in his usual
habit of avoiding any serious thoughts that concerned dealing with members
of the opposite sex in a mature manner. Okay, seeing other men, or at least
aliens that were comparable to him, made him realize he might not have been
the 'biggest' man around, but he wasn't that bad either. It was normal to
actually go out on dates, have girlfriends, and other things that ordinary
guys around him did. It was true he had never had a real girlfriend, had
never been on a date actually, but maybe it was about time he tried to do
those normal things. Admittedly, he didn't want to hurt any of the girls'
feelings, but none of them acted like they were going to give up on their
own any time soon. That meant either continuing to semi-lead them on in the
hope that matters would work themselves out, or making some sort of
decision. Perhaps it was time to stop wasting everyone's time and actually
make a choice. Yes, just thinking about it made him realize that, as
difficult as it might be on him and the others, it was probably the right
thing to do.
The two began to pick out a spot, well away from most of the other
beachgoers, to lie out in the sun. Tenchi thought since they had some
measure of privacy, now was the time o speak his mind. He cleared his
throat to catch his companion's attention. "Mihoshi, it wouldn't be fair to
Aeka and Ryouko if I didn't spend any time alone with them before I made
any sort of important decisions, so I'm going to have to go off alone with
each of them too. But if I was forced to choose someone right now, I have
to admit, it would probably be you."
Mihoshi looked at him blankly. "What are you talking about, Tenchi?"
An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. She would force him to spell it out.
"Look, what I'm trying to say is that I can now admit that I really enjoy
spending time with you, and I know I like you a lot. An awful lot. I'm not
sure, but I think it might even be lo..."
Tenchi trailed off as a high-pitched whistling began to fill the air. An
all-too familiar whistling. Tenchi knew exactly what it meant without
having to look up. Instead, he leveled his stare towards Mihoshi. "Hmm.
Since you're right here in front of me, that means you're not the one
that's plummeting out of control from the skies."
"Yep." Mihoshi confirmed. "There was an evil mirror universe version of me
that accidentally ended up in our universe once, but I outsmarted her and
sent her back forever. There's no way it could be her. Besides, she used to
brag about never having crashed her spaceship."
The whistling grew louder.
Tenchi nodded in understanding. "In light of what I was about to say, that
means it can only be one, or two people."
Mihoshi looked up to the sky. "Say, isn't that-"
"I should imagine so," Tenchi said without bothering to look up. Judging
from the pitch of the whistling, the ship would be crashing in three...
two... one.
*CRASH*
"Zero." Tenchi looked to the large space ship that had chosen to crash in
an empty stretch of the beach within fifty feet of Tenchi and Mihoshi. A
door opened from within the middle of a set of black protrusions, and two
women fell out of the ship before it shrunk down to the form of a cabbit.
"I can't believe how much power that stinking ship had," Ryouko said as she
was barely able to raise her fatigued form out of the pile of sand she had
collapsed into.
"And that it called upon reinforcements." Aeka was barely able to rise to
her feet as well. "How many of those ships did we destroy?"
"Four of the big ones, about a dozen of the ones half its size, and close
to twenty five of the ones that were about the size of Ryo-Ohki." Ryouko
tallied. "And now we got to crash, I mean land, and let Ryo-Ohki rest up.
And I need some rest too."
Aeka held a the back of her hand to her head in distress, as dramatically
as a princess should, just as she had been taught. "It's simply not fair.
Why must we be delayed on our holy and righteous quest? Why must we be
forced to go through the fire and swords of the enemies who seek to prevent
us from saving the one noble soul who has touched me in the way no other
could?"
"Except for Yosho," Ryouko said.
"Yes, except for Yo-" Aeka cut off abruptly and scowled at Ryouko. "No!
That's not true! I did not harbor those feelings for my brother! What I
felt for him was the affection a little girl has, one that could not
understand what love truly is. It is only now, that I have blossomed into a
delicate woman in the flower of her youth, that I understand what true love
means. And now, you repulsive demoness, you've made me lose my place."
"Saving the one noble soul who has touched me in the way no other could."
"Thank you, Lord Tenchi." Aeka cleared her throat. "Yes. As I was saying.
Saving the one noble soul who has touched me in the way no other could. For
without him, I should wither..."
Aeka froze, her eyes becoming as wide as saucers. Ryouko matched her as her
eyes bugged out as well.
"You mean," Ryouko began.
"We've finally found you, Lord Tenchi." Aeka began to cry as she found
herself before Tenchi once again. "You have no idea what we went through to
rescue you from Mihoshi."
"Rescue?" Tenchi and Mihoshi said together as they stared at Aeka, then at
each other quizzically.
"Yeah," Ryouko said as she began to hover in mid-air. "We know she nabbed
you when everyone else was looking the other way. And we took it upon
ourselves to rescue you from her devious, I mean, witless, clutches. Say,
you're not quite as big as I thought you'd be."
Aeka looked at Ryouko curiously, then realized what she was referring to.
"Oh, I don't know. I never imagined Lord Tenchi would be all that big. But
as Mother has always said, it's the measure of a man's heart that matters,
not the size of his..." Aeka's eyes widened. "Lord Tenchi, why are you and
Mihoshi naked?"
Ryouko didn't bother asking as she easily put two and two together. Veins
began popping out on her forehead, making a rather interesting maplike
design. "YOU ROTTEN JERKS!" An energy sword formed in her hand as her eyes
turned blood red. She floated towards Tenchi. "So, you two have been doing
the horizontal mambo while leaving me out in the cold!" She waved the sword
menacingly as she flew toward Tenchi, focusing her attention on him. She
stopped when she was no more than two feet away. "I bet you think I'm going
to cut you in half for toying with my heart then discarding me like a piece
of useless garbage! Well, guess what!" She held the sword high above her
head.
"You're wrong." And with that the sword disappeared and she fell to the
ground, crying. Ryouko sobbed, "I'm better than that. If you wanna choose
Mihoshi over me, then that's all there is to it. I can handle that. I'm a
big girl. I won't kill you or anything. I'll be just like I am now, except
for destroying any Galaxy Police ships that tick me off from now on."
"And I shall bow out gracefully as well," Aeka sobbed. "I won't have either
of you branded traitors to the Empire or executed or any such thing,
because I'm a true princess, and I'm better than that too." As Aeka
finished her pronouncement, she noted one other interesting fact. "Is it
just me, or is everyone else on this beach naked too?"
Ryouko stopped crying and looked at the crowd that had gathered around
them. "You know, I think you're right. That must mean--"
"It's a nudists beach," Tenchi finished for her.
"Oh." Ryouko said as her and Aeka's tears dried up instantly. Ryouko looked
at Tenchi, gained a sinister gleam in her eyes, then phased out of her
outfit. "I guess I'll just blend in with the rest of the environment," she
said as she flew up to Tenchi and wrapped her arms around him. She was
giving him a smile that showed off her fangs when she felt someone pinch
one of the hands curled around Tenchi's back. Ryouko gave a yelp and
released him.
"Sorry, I still need to put lotion on Tenchi," Mihoshi said.
Ryouko directed a scowl at Mihoshi, but her attention was diverted when
Aeka gasped, "This is not fair! I cannot be nude in public. I am of royal
blood. To be in naught but my own regal flesh before the masses is
unacceptable. It would be scandalous. It would be improper. It would be-"
"Aeka! What are you doing here?"
Aeka's jaw dropped until it nearly hit the ground. "MOTHER!"
All eyes turned to see that it was indeed Misaki who had spoken. And that
she was in the same state as everyone but Aeka.
Misaki was overwhelmed. "You should have let me know you were coming. I'd
have been happy to greet you when you arrived. I've missed you all so much.
Come here, Ryouko."
Before Ryouko could do anything she found herself torn away from Tenchi and
given a Misaki-sized hug, which in her unclothed state, meant having one's
face buried in an impressive set of cleavage.
"Let me go! People will think I'm a lezzie!"" Ryouko squirmed futily in
Misaki's grasp.
"Mother!" Aeka gasped in shock. "You cannot do this. There will be a
scandal."
"Now, now." Misaki released her hold on Ryouko and waved dismissively
towards her older daughter. "I might not be the young lass I was a nine
hundred years ago, but I think I'm still good-looking enough to get by
without anyone cringing back in fear. Look, no sag." She handled her
breasts briefly to demonstrate to her oldest daughter.
"THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Aeka roared.
"You need to relax, Aeka. You could learn something from Ryouko." Misaki
turned to the next person in line. "Hello, Tenchi." And proceeded to greet
him in her own unique fashion.
"I can't breathe," Tenchi gasped, thinking he preferred it when he had been
buried in Mihoshi's cleavage.
Mihoshi tapped Misaki on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but I still haven't
lotioned Tenchi up."
Misaki looked up. "Oh, I didn't mean to leave you out, Mihoshi." The
Empress made up for her oversight by hugging Mihoshi as well. There was no
telling how long the embrace would have gone, for Misaki caught sight of
the last member of the party at last.
"Little Ryo-Ohki!" Misaki abandoned Mihoshi and went over to the happily
'Miya'ing creature, who turned into her humanoid form and allowed herself
to be embraced by the Empress as well.
Tenchi sighed. Aeka appeared ready to faint from the whole situation as she
continued to insist that it wasn't proper for a member of the royal family
to appear naked before the public. Ryouko's full concentration was on
making sure to stay well out of Misaki's reach. It appeared the vacation
Tenchi had been looking forward to had come to end and the one he was going
to get was just beginning. He gave an apologetic look towards Mihoshi.
Mihoshi just smiled. "Oh well, vacationing with friends can be fun too."
At least she wasn't depressed, Tenchi thought. That kind of acceptance
deserved some kind of reward. "Come on, let's see if we can get a minute
alone and you can lotion me up."
And as they walked away, Tenchi had to wonder if the path he had seemed to
end up pointing towards was the one he was going to journey to the end
with.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yep. That's it. Felt better to end it like this than with a bang (no pun
intended). No, there's no plans for a sequel, though it is quite possible
I'll use some of the new characters (that survived) in another fic. Any
last questions and comments would be greatly appreciated, as always.
Including any summations of how the entire story worked and anything else
Thanks for reading. (BTW: Aqua Regia is really a mixture of nitric and
hydrochloric acids that dissolves gold or platinum. I thought that one was
kind of obvious. See, you learn something new every day ^_^)
D.B. Sommer