Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Aurora of Rainbow Fire ❯ A Prison of Glass ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The story arc Aurora of Rainbow Fire is part two of an
ongoing series called The Odd Man Out. All current parts can be
found at http://members.tripod.com/fanservicelimited/index.html




Aurora of Rainbow Fire chapter five: A Prison of Glass

A Tenchi Muyo TV series original-flavored-nonlemon-chapter-
of-a-lemon-comedy-series by Nugar.
Email the author at nugarthebarbarian@yahoo.com with any
comments.
All characters and situations copyright their creators,
Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and AiC and Pioneer and are
used without permission. This is a nonprofit work only.






"Ahhh..." Kiyone sighed, stretching out luxuriously on a
beach towel and enjoying the warm early summer rays that played
over her too-light-in-her-opinion skin. Naturally pale, Kiyone
liked to be tan and had been looking forward to the opportunity
to both quit her hated job and rid herself of the vitamin D
deficiency she was sure she had.

"Ahhh..." Mihoshi sighed, arching her back on her own beach
towel to work out the kinks in her arms and legs, enjoying the
warm sand beneath her, its heat driving the long winter's chill
from her in a way that no hot bath or warm heater had been able
to do. Her race had lived on a particularly warm, sunny planet,
leaving her with naturally dark skin and a tendency to nap in the
sun.

"Ahhh..." sighed their circle of young male admirers from a
short distance, enjoying the free show. Both of the girls were
in great shape and wearing two-piece bikinis, making the boys'
trip to the beach worthwhile.

"Whee!" Sasami exclaimed as she was lifted up by a medium
sized wave and carried up the beach. She hadn't been swimming in
a long time, and after she got used to the unusually high salt
content, she was having a blast running up and down the beach
during the last days they were spending on Earth.

Katsuhito and Nobuyuki sat quietly alert in twin lounge
chairs just up from them, enjoying the summer rays, the warm
sand, the view, and the last days their passel of girls were
spending with them.

It had been three days since Ryoko, Tenchi, and Ayeka had
left in Ryo-Ohki, and they still had three more days before the
other three would leave. Nobuyuki, never one to miss an
opportunity to girlwatch, had called in several days from his
vacation time and rented two hotel rooms overlooking a nice
stretch of beach. They would spend the remainder of their time
there.

It wasn't all sunshine and sea salt, though.

"At least put on a shirt?" Nobuyuki asked. Although
phrased as a statement, it was definitely a question.

"Nope," his father-in-law replied tersely.

"A towel?"

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Let me see... No."

Nobuyuki sighed and averted his sight, looking back to the
far more inviting scene with the girls. Hopefully, no one would
connect him with the skinny old man in a loose pair of Bermuda
shorts beside him, calmly sipping at a glass of lemonade.

Those knobby white knees were practically blinding! To say
nothing of the pallid chest and stomach. It made Nobuyuki
squeamish to even think about it.

Farther down the beach, Sasami stopped to examine yet
another bright white seashell that had somehow managed to avoid
being collected by the droves of beachcombers and other children
that regularly scoured the beach. Sasami wasn't the kind of girl
who liked to collect things, however, and she lay it back down
after a close scrutiny.

She flipped her long hair back over her shoulders for the
umpteenth time, grimacing as the wet hair clung to her swimsuit
and tugged at her head when she looked around, occasionally
watching the white seagulls dive from the blue sky and snatch
someone's snack off the ground. Their cries mingled with the low
murmur of countless people dotting the sand and the whistling
breeze blowing in from the sea. The crash of the waves on the
shore and the squeals of other children were much less common,
but still very much a part of the experience.

With a childish cry of delight, Sasami plunged into the
water once more, using all her swimming skills to fight the waves
and head into the deeper waters.

Farther out, several surfers could be seen on their
colorful boards, riding the waves in for as long as they could.

"Sasami! Don't go too far, okay?" yelled Nobuyuki
warningly, his words barely reaching her through the breeze.

"I won't!" she called back, waving with one hand before
striking out again.

"Ah, kids. I bet she gets over her head, though," Nobuyuki
sighed.

Kiyone, who had also been keeping an eye out, struggled to
sit her relaxed body up. "Don't worry, Mr. Masaki. I'll go swim
with her, just in case."

Mihoshi jumped to her feet with none of her partner's
reluctance. All thoughts of dozing fled her mind at the mention
of swimming, and she waved Kiyone back down. "Oh, no, you just
stay here. I want to go swim, too, so I'll do it." At her
partner's nod the curvaceous blonde bounded merrily toward the
sea, several of her admirers following discretely and the rest
being distracted by an even more curvaceous raven-haired girl up
the beach. She slipped into the pounding surf like a fish,
losing no time as she strove to catch up to Sasami.

Sasami, meanwhile, swam strongly through the slightly rough
waves using a variation on the overhand she'd been taught when
she was younger. The salty water stung her eyes and tasted foul,
but its fresh coolness felt great on her skin. She reached the
limit she had set for herself and stopped, treading water and
raising herself out of the water so she could look around,
particularly back up the beach where the others were.

Mihoshi was an excellent swimmer, and arrived at her
position quickly. "Hey, Sasami! Having fun?" She shook her
mass of sodden curls to get it out of her face, sending water
flying.

Sasami giggled. "Yep! Let's go out farther, okay?"

"Sure!"

The two continued their way out to sea, Sasami feeling much
bolder with an adult on hand. Mihoshi slowed her pace, staying
within ten feet of Sasami in case she ran into trouble. She
alternated between the backstroke and a curious dogpaddle that
kept her head up where she could watch the younger girl.

Sasami stopped again, looking back up the beach to the now
small figures of the others. "Wave to them, Mihoshi!" she
prompted, stretching her arm up high and following her own advice
before spluttering and pushing herself back above water.

The two men sitting in the beach chairs waved back, but it
was harder to tell with Kiyone.

Sasami spun around, looking out to the surfers. The waves
had calmed and now they were just sitting patiently astride their
boards, waiting for the next big one.

An unnatural sparkle between her and the surfers caught her
eye. It wasn't very much farther out, not compared to the
distance she'd already traveled, but she was starting to get
tired and the beach was looking more and more inviting.

Sasami kicked her legs, raising herself halfway out of the
water as she strained to see what it was. She was rewarded by
another flash, this time with a hint of other colors to it.

"Mihoshi, can you see what that is?" she asked, turning to
the older girl.

A stream of bubbles was her only answer, as Mihoshi had
chosen that moment to dive beneath the waves.

Sasami shrugged and prepared to head back to shore, but
again she saw it, this time closer but still an unknown object.
She just had to know what it was. Sighing and mustering her
strength, she kicked in its direction.

"Sasami! Come back! You're too far out!" Nobuyuki
bellowed, drawing the attention of everyone on the beach, but not
Sasami, as she was too far out to hear.

Sasami turned at the sound of a splash, looking back in
time to see Mihoshi surface with a gasp. "Mihoshi!" she called.

"Huh? Hey! You shouldn't go out so far," chided the other
girl. "Come on, let's go back." She beckoned the princess with
one hand, clearly about to go that way herself.

"Wait, I saw something just a little farther out. I want
to see what it is," she protested.

Mihoshi stopped, indecision on her features. "I don't
know, you look tired."

Sasami was tired, the waves making her use more effort than
normal swimming. "I'll be okay, and I'll go in as soon as I find
out what it is," wheedled the princess. Without waiting for an
answer, she quickly turned and swam on, masking any protests by
splashing in an excessively noisy manner.

Mihoshi shrugged and followed, far from the limits of her
own strength and endurance.

Sasami continued on, occasionally raising out of the water
to get another look. Each time she could see a sparkle, but
never could she see what it was. She had half convinced herself
that it was just an old glass bottle thoughtlessly tossed into
the ocean, but she hadn't come this far to give up now.

"Sasami! We should go back now!" Mihoshi called, pointing
ahead when she looked back. "Big wave coming up!"

"Oh, no!" she cried, looking up as the surfers finally
found their ride in. The sparkly object forgotten, she turned
and swam in with all her might, fearful of the pounding the big
wave would give her.

Mihoshi reached her quickly, grabbing on with one arm so
they wouldn't get separated. "Take a deep breath!" she
commanded, filling her lungs with air after the statement.

Sasami breathed in as deep as she could, preparing for the
worst as the sea swelled beneath them, carrying them up inside
the curl.

Mihoshi resisted the urge to whoop as they slid down,
knowing she'd need that air later. They bodysurfed for a moment,
then the wave crested and curled in on itself, sending them
tumbling end over end before they emerged gasping on the other
side.

They both fought for air after the wild ride, tired by
their efforts, and Mihoshi stretched her hand high and waved to
show they were all right.

"Are you okay, Sasami?" Mihoshi asked, concerned. She had
an arm under Sasami's arms and was holding her head above water.

"Pbtth! Ick!" she replied, spitting out water and wiping
at her eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay." Suddenly she batted at her neck
as something smooth brushed underneath her chin. The object came
into view as she pushed it away; a smooth sphere of glass, about
the size of a golf ball, with irregular projections on opposite
ends floating on the sea. The sunlight caught it just right to
send a flash of amber-hued light into Sasami's squinted eyes as
she snatched it out of the water quickly. "Hey! I found it!"
she cried, clutching her prize.

"Great! Now let's hurry back to shore." Sasami agreed
wholeheartedly, and Mihoshi helped support her as they both
paddled in.

If the trip out was long, the trip in was even worse, as
they swam hard to outrun the next big wave gathering out beyond
where they had been.

Kiyone met the exhausted pair at the shore, standing chest
deep in the water and waiting anxiously for their arrival.
Mihoshi was struggling by that point, and Sasami had long since
given up and allowed herself to simply be towed in, devoting all
her remaining effort to keeping hold of her hard earned prize.

"You shouldn't have gone out so far!" she admonished as
they got within reach, allowing her to dig her toes into the sand
and pull them both in. "Mihoshi, you should have known better!"

"Sorry," she gasped, staggering out of the water.

"Don't be mad at her, it was my fault," Sasami replied,
supported by Kiyone's strong arms. "I saw something out there
and I just had to see what it was."

"And did you?" Nobuyuki asked in his best warm fatherly
voice, having arrived to help. He scooped up the little princess
and simply carried her back up the beach, allowing Kiyone to
assist her partner, who was already getting her breath back.

"Yep!" she chirped happily, holding up the amber glass
bauble for him to see.

"Ooh, that is quite a treasure you've got there. Why don't
you ask Grandfather about it? I'm sure he knows what it is." He
carried her over and sat her on the foot of his lounge chair
before resuming his own seat.

Mihoshi and Kiyone were just behind them, and Mihoshi lay
down on her towel gratefully. The distance hadn't been all that
great, but she had been swimming awfully hard to outrun the waves
and Sasami had slowed her down.

Kiyone sat more easily, assuming a cross-legged position on
the sand.

"Have fun?" Katsuhito asked mildly.

"Yeah, but I'm tired now," Sasami replied. "But I found
something. Mr. Masaki said that you would know what this was,"
she said, holding out her find.

Katsuhito accepted it carefully, turning it over in his
hands. "Ahh..." he said appreciatively. "You don't see these
much anymore."

"What is it?" Sasami asked eagerly.

"This," he replied, holding it up by one of the protrusions
and letting it dangle so it would catch the sun, "is a
fisherman's float. They used to be quite common and cheap, for
all their beauty. Fishermen would use them for their lines and
nets, and sometimes they would break free or get dropped
overboard and float around on the waves for a while until they
were washed up on the beach and someone found them. Glass is
more expensive than the styrofoam and plastic they use now and
most have been found, so they're getting quite rare. I haven't
seen one for years; you're quite lucky to have found this one.
Be careful, they break very easily." He handed the amber sphere
back to her, where she cradled it gently in both hands.

"Wow... I've never seen anything like this before," she
said reverently. "I'll put it somewhere safe when we get back to
the room."

Nobuyuki yawned widely. "Speaking of rooms, why don't we
head back now? Sasami can put the float away, and we can all
shower and go get something to eat. How about it, are you girls
hungry?"

Mihoshi's stomach growled loudly, making everyone else
laugh and causing her to blush. "Well, swimming is hard work!
It makes you hungry, you know."

They grabbed their towels and chairs and went back to the
hotel, intending to come back later in the evening.


****************


Sasami awoke, gasping and clutching at the sheets. It took
her a moment to calm down, her view of the rather ordinary hotel
room reassuring her that she was on vacation and not... Wherever
she had been.

She looked around at the room silently, rubbing the sleep
from her eyes and noting Kiyone curled up asleep on the other
side of the bed. She pulled her white nightgown straighter,
disliking the way it had bound around her tightly.

Kiyone stirred, twitching repeatedly and mumbling something
too faint to hear. Her eyes were troubled, and her hands seemed
to be clutched around some imaginary adversary's neck.

Sasami shook her head and looked over to the other bed,
where Mihoshi was asleep. The ditzy GP officer was sprawled out,
her head toward the foot of the bed and one leg dangling from the
side wrapped in sheets. Her face was visible in the dim
moonlight streaming through the large sliding glass doors at one
end of the room, her mouth moving slightly as she breathed. That
and Sasami's heartbeat seemed to be the only sounds in the room.

Or maybe not. Sasami strained her ears, trying to catch
the faint sound she thought she had been hearing while she
recovered from her nightmare.

Was that...

Singing?

She cupped her hands around her ears and turned her head
back and forth, but couldn't hear it anymore.

Maybe it was someone outside?

Sasami eased herself out of the bed, taking care not to
wake Kiyone. Soundlessly, she crept on bare feet to the room's
door, gingerly turning the lever and opening the door a crack.

The hall was softly lit by yellow bulbs, the carpeting
covering the floors and the spongy wallpaper muted the echoes
produced by the faraway hum of an ice machine. No, no singing
was coming from there, at least not now.

Sasami ducked back into the room, blinking to readjust her
eyes to the dimmer light. A small travel suitcase lay open on
the table, and she walked over to it. Inside was a carefully
wadded up shirt, and inside that was the glass float she had
found earlier that day. She removed it carefully, leaving the
shirt laying half out of the suitcase as she held it up to the
light. It gleamed dully, its warm colors reduced to shades of
grey in the moonlight.

She looked around again, thinking of her dream. What it
had been she couldn't say, but she had been having it every night
for the past week and a half. Ayeka didn't know, and even Ryoko
had never woken up when Sasami had cried herself awake, vainly
reaching for something.

Not that last part, though. Gasping for breath, water
closing in, held away from everyone by...

She couldn't remember. It was probably just a fear of
drowning brought on by the earlier swim.

Ayeka had told her that if you named a fear, you could
conquer it. Tenchi's Grandfather had said something similar,
although it had taken her longer to figure that out from the koan
he had quoted.

Sasami sighed, looking out the window at the few fluffy
clouds hanging in the night sky, speeding out to sea on the wind.
They were dark patches in a black, starry sky, but the moon gave
them light halos, adding definition and depth.

Maybe fresh air would do her good. She closed her hand
around the glass, feeling it warm to her touch, and opened the
locks to the balcony doors. She winced as they clicked loudly in
the silence, but slid the doors open wide enough to accommodate
her small body.

Whistling wind filled her ears, and she quickly closed the
doors behind her before it woke her chaperones up. The wind was
chilly, odd since it was blowing from the land out to sea,
heavily laden with the smell of cars and factories, dirt and
plants, all the smells of land. She wondered what it would be
like to be on a ship out on the ocean. Would she still be able
to smell, to taste the land? Or would the salt spray be the only
thing in her nose?

A sudden chill swept over her with the speed of the wind,
making her pull her nightgown around herself tighter. There were
scary things out there, dangerous to little girls. She'd best
stay on land, where it was safer.

Sasami smiled at the idea, placing her hands on the railing
and looking out to sea. She had sailed the vast gulfs between
the stars for as long as she could remember, and had been doing
it alone for several years now. Earth's dark waters held no
terrors for her. Dangers, sure, if she wasn't careful. But she
already knew that there were worse to be found elsewhere, and she
had no intention of being careless. That much had been drilled
into her over and over again.

Oddly, she felt astonished at her thoughts. She wondered
why.

Again, she heard something just at the edge of her hearing,
the voice of another young girl like herself, a voice that seemed
not to be affected by the whispering of the wind, or perhaps it
was borne on it.

o/~ A pretty thing will shine and gleam,
to better catch their eye.
So close, so near, or so it will seem,
They may claim it if they try.
And though their friends may shout and scream,
No matter how they cry,
The child is lost into a dream,
And pulled down from the sky.o/~

Sasami listened raptly, gradually getting better at hearing
the words. She hummed along softly, something which the singer
seemed to appreciate.

o/~I watch it pass,
from within the glass,
A tool of the oni's spell.
Young girls so brave,
hit by a wave,
and drowned in its swell...o/~

"But I didn't drown," Sasami protested, although to who she
didn't know. "See, I'm right here. Mihoshi saved me."

"Yes, I'm glad. That really throws my song off, doesn't
it?" the words asked faintly, full of hope and happiness. The
voice giggled, and perhaps there was a hint of a sharp sound,
like two hands clapping together.

"But where are you? Who are you?" Sasami looked around,
especially at the other balconies around her.

"My name is Miko Oshira, and as for me, hold the float up
to the moonlight."

Sasami did as she was bade, peering through the translucent
glass.

The float was as empty as it was when she first looked
through it. But there was something, something faint, almost
like it was engraved on the inside of the glass since she felt
nothing when she ran one fingertip across it.

It was a picture, she decided, and after much scrutiny she
could make out that it was a picture of a girl, sitting on the
ground with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped
around them. Then, as she watched, one of the arms moved,
reaching up and waving at her!

Sasami was not startled. Surprised, yes, but she'd seen
stranger things before. Still, somehow the glass slipped from
her fingers and fell toward the hard tile floor of the balcony.

She held her breath as it hit, fearing that it would
shatter into a thousand tiny splinters of glass, but the float
merely bounced twice. She breathed easier after that, and
crouched to pick it back up again.

An errant gust of wind hit it, spinning it wildly and
sending it rolling toward a gap in the railing. It was quick,
but she snatched it back before it took the plunge.

"Oh no you don't," she muttered, holding it in both hands.
She glanced up as a cloud covered the moon, briefly removing what
little light she had.

"Thank you," the girl in the glass said. "For a moment
there I was afraid that I'd never see you again."

"It slipped," she admitted. "I'll be more careful from now
on. How did you get inside that float?"

The engraving of the girl sighed, although Sasami wasn't
holding it up to the light to see. "A long time ago, how long I
don't remember, I was a young girl like you, living with my
parents in Kochi. My Dad fished and my Mom sold the catch. I
liked to go out on the boat with my father, and he would let me.
I didn't have any brothers and sisters and he didn't have any
help, so he would let me help him fish if the weather was good."
She paused, and Sasami thought she might be crying silently.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," Sasami
said comfortingly.

"No... No, it's alright. I've just never told this to
anyone before. You're the first person I've talked to in I don't
know how long." The voice seemed to be stronger now, warming up
from long disuse, or possibly just because Miko was getting used
to speaking this way. "I was out fishing with him one day. It
was beautiful; the waves were small, the sky was clear, and the
wind was warm. We had been running lines all day, and we went
back to check the nets. Dad never had any trouble pulling the
nets in by himself, no matter how heavy they were with fish. But
this day, there was something BIG in the nets. It pulled down so
hard he couldn't even get it to the surface. I tried to help
him, but it started pulling back harder." She spoke faster now,
the words coming in a rush. "The boat almost tipped over, so
Daddy let go. I did too, but my hand was caught in the net. It
pulled me in." There was a faint sob. "It was dark underwater,
but I could see a monster swim up to me."

"A monster?" Sasami asked in a high voice, her body
shivering, but not from the cool breeze.

"An oni, I think," Miko replied. "At least it looked like
what I'd always been told oni look like, although I've never
heard of one living in the sea."

"An oni?" Sasami asked again. "What is an oni?"

"It's a big monster. This one was kind of dark green, and
it had horns on its head and big, clawed hands."

Sasami nodded, although she privately groused at such a
vague description. She knew of several species that could be
described like that.

"Anyway, it grabbed me as I was drowning and magically put
me in this float." Her tone turned from remembered fear to
sadness. "I floated back to the surface, but I couldn't do
anything in here. I could see my dad, though. I watched him
until I floated away. I screamed and screamed at him, but he
couldn't hear me." Miko paused. "Ever since then, I've been
trapped in this float. There's some kind of spell on it that
makes girls like me want to get it, but it never gets very close
to shore. And every time one of them tries, they drown."

"Except me," Sasami reminded softly.

"Except you," Miko agreed.

"That's so sad." Sasami held the glass bauble close, the
best form of hug she could offer.

"It's okay. The hard part is watching people drown like I
did."

"Don't you want out?"

"Un huh, I sure do. But I don't know how. I'm trapped."

Sasami inspected the glass critically. "What if I broke
the float? Wouldn't that let you go?"

"It might. Would you please try it?"

Sasami nodded, then looked around. "Umm..."

"You could try stepping on me, if you were wearing shoes.
Or you could use a rock."

Sasami nodded. "I don't have my shoes on right now, but I
can get them." She glanced down at her feet, wishing she had put
her shoes on first. The balcony floor was cold.

"No, it's okay. I want to talk to you for a while first.
What's your name?"

Sasami blushed and stifled a yawn. "Oh, I'm very sorry.
I'm Sasami of Jurai, but I'm going by Masaki for right now."

"Why?"

"Because very few people have ever heard of Jurai here, and
Ayeka says we mustn't call attention to ourselves. We're not
really supposed to be here, but no one has said we couldn't
stay."

"I've never heard of Jurai, either," Miko admitted. "Is it
in Japan?"

Sasami shook her head, and for the first time felt a little
silly talking to empty air. "No, Jurai is a long, long way from
here, orbiting around a star so far away we can't even see it
anymore."

"Around a star? Orbiting?" Miko asked, her voice full of
confusion.

Sasami felt bad. Her own education had focused in many
ways on the spaceways, and she tended to forget that Earth people
were planetbound. "I come from an empire in the stars," she
answered more plainly, without bragging. "I'm the second
princess."

"Really?" Miko asked very politely, believing her
implicitly with the confidence only a ghost can have. "I know
you don't feel like everyone else I've been close to. There is
something different about you, but I didn't know what it was."

"I came to Earth looking for my sister, and found her
staying with the Masaki family near the city of Tokyo. Her ship
had been hurt, so we were going to leave on mine, but there was
an accident and my ship was destroyed, too. We stayed for
months, and she fell in love with Tenchi Masaki. She, Tenchi,
and Ryoko, another friend, went back to Jurai several days ago,
and I'm leaving pretty soon." Now it was Sasami that tried to
keep the sadness out of her voice. "This the last few days of my
time here on Earth." Her voice wavered. "I'm going to miss it."

"Forgive me for asking, but how are you going back if your
ship was broken?" Miko asked deferentially.

Sasami shook herself. "Mihoshi and Kiyone are acting as my
guardians. Mihoshi was the blonde girl who saved me when I swam
out to get you. Kiyone is her partner, and still has her
spaceship. I'm traveling with them."

"Mihoshi was very brave and strong," Miko said approvingly.
"If it hadn't been for her, you would have drowned."

Sasami nodded seriously, momentarily forgetting how tired
she was. "I know, it was scary. But Mihoshi always succeeds,
and Kiyone is just as good." A sudden chill gust whipped her
thin nightgown around her, and she shivered.

"It's very late at night," Miko reminded gently. "Why
don't you go back to sleep? We can talk in the morning."

"Can we?" Sasami asked. "I didn't hear you say anything
earlier."

"I don't think it matters. Now that I know how, I think I
can talk to you anytime. I wonder if others can hear me?"

Sasami considered that, realizing that she wasn't actually
listening to Miko with her ears. "I don't know... But we'll
see," she assured the ghost, then yawned. "And I think you're
right. I'll talk to you again in the morning, okay?"

"Okay! Sleep tight!"

Sasami slid the door back as quietly as possible and
stepped inside right as the curtains flapped for the first time.
After getting used to the chilly, whistling wind outside, the
room seemed supernaturally quiet, making her glance around warily
at the shadows as she carefully replaced the amber float back in
its padded box. After all, there _were_ ghosts about, and if
Miko was to be believed, which Sasami did, there were things much
worse than ghosts lurking about for unwary little girls.

Mihoshi snerked loudly through her nose, breaking the
silence and nearly making Sasami giggle. Kiyone rolled over and
buried her head under the pillow in a move that was as
unconscious as it was ingrained.

Sasami smiled. With guardians like this, who could worry
about monsters? She climbed back between the sheets smoothly, so
as not to wake Kiyone. And as she drifted off to a dreamless
sleep, she heard a faint whisper on the edge of her mind.

"Good night, Princess from the stars."


****************


Sasami woke up quickly that morning, stirred from her sleep
by the sounds of people moving about in the room. She glanced at
the drawn back blinds and sliding glass door as she sat up,
rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning, Sasami," Mihoshi said cheerily as she pulled
a pair of shorts on over her bikini. "Sorry I woke you up, I was
trying to be quiet."

"Good morning," she replied, noticing that Kiyone was still
asleep. "It's early to be going out, isn't it?" The first glow
of sunlight was just lighting up the horizon they had such a good
view of.

Mihoshi nodded and pulled on a light t-shirt. "A little,"
she admitted. "I'm going for an early swim. Do you want to go?"

Sasami considered it, and the events of the night before
flooded into her mind. "No, but thanks," she replied, sliding
out of bed and walking over to the box with her new treasure, or
friend, depending on how you looked at it. "Will you be back in
time for breakfast?"

Mihoshi nodded. "I shouldn't be gone more than half an
hour, and it'll be at least that long before everyone feels like
waking up." She picked up her beach towel from the day before
and waved at Sasami.

"Be careful," she warned, placing her hand over the cool
glass nestled in the padding. "There are things in the water you
don't want to meet. Enjoy your swim, and don't be too long."

"I will, and I'll be back soon." Mihoshi left the room.

Sasami quickly pulled the float out and held it up to the
light. Sure enough, the faint etching of a girl could be seen
within. "Miko?" she asked quietly.

"I am here," replied the young girl's soft voice in her
mind. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you. Let's go back on the balcony and
watch the sun rise."

"Okay, if you want to," Miko replied.

Sasami quickly stepped out. There would be time enough to
dress later.

"So, what are the stars like?" Miko asked quickly, hungry
for any news of the outside world, even if it wasn't hers.

Sasami shrugged, then smiled and stopped a giggle. "Big
and hot," she said truthfully.

"Big?" Miko asked.

"And hot," Sasami agreed with a straight face. "Actually,
most of them are just like your sun, but they come in all
different sizes. There are two thousand and sixty-three planets
and settled planetoids in the Juraian Empire, orbiting three
hundred and twelve suns. But people only live on four hundred
planets and three hundred planetoids, and a lot of us live in the
Forest Ring, which isn't really a planet."

"What is it, then?"

"It's a huge ring of space trees around a really small sun,
which orbits around another, bigger sun. It's a really neat
place, and was our first colony."

"Space trees?" Miko asked, not really understanding how all
this could be.

"Really really really big trees that live in space and can
fly. My ship was a small one."

Miko was silent for a few moments, then asked, "Why do you
live in trees? Why don't you build houses?"

Sasami seemed confused herself. "Why not? We like trees.
They shelter us, feed us, protect us, supply us with our
powers... Trees are great," she enthused. "We didn't have
anything until we found the first space trees and the spirit they
had. Now we're the most powerful empire in the galaxy, and
Emperor Kashi is the most powerful being in it. The trees give
him their power, and he can smash whole worlds by himself if he
needs to."

"Power?" Miko asked again helplessly.

Sasami held a finger to her lips for a moment, then ahhed.
"It's like the ki your warriors use, only more powerful. In a
few years I'll be able to use it, too. My sister already can,
but I don't know if I'll ever be as powerful as she is. She's
really strong."

"Oh... I... See. Your world must be really different
from ours."

Sasami shook her head. "No, not really. The Forest Ring
looks different, but everywhere else looks pretty much the same.
We can do things you can't, but we still have things that are the
same. Gardens, parks, buildings, markets... Earth is just about
like here. We even speak the same language."

"Really?" Miko asked, amazed. "You already knew Japanese?"

Sasami nodded. "Except we just call it Juraian. Earth was
one of our colonies a long time ago, but there was a big war and
we had to leave. Some of our people stayed, though, and that's
why we have the same language."

"So why haven't you all came back?"

"Because it was decided to see how you would do on your
own. Earth is a 'Natural Evolution Preserve' and no one is
allowed to come here. My sister and I, and the rest of our
friends, aren't really supposed to be here, but it's okay as long
as we don't tell everyone."

"So you weren't supposed to tell me?" Miko asked.

"It's okay. Tenchi and his family know. You've just got
to promise not to tell anyone, okay?" Sasami smiled at the
float.

"It's a promise."

They sat in silence for a while, watching as the very edge
of the sun peeked above the horizon. The waves were light, only
cresting into white froth as the climbed the beach, even now
dotted with towels and umbrellas. Sasami scanned for Mihoshi,
but didn't see her. The wind blew in from the sea, smelling of
cool salt water.

"Everything has changed since I was last on land," Miko
commented sadly.

"How so?"

"Back then, all we had were sailing ships and rowboats.
Now I see all kinds of ships going back and forth, and big things
flying through the air that remind me of kites. I see a lot of
those, even more that I used to see ships."

"Airplanes," Sasami said, nodding. "Earth people ride in
them because they're faster than ships."

"Things sure have changed. Even the buildings don't look
like they used to."

"My sister said that it is because Earth is going through a
period of rapid change right now. It's not like back home for
me. People may change, but the forests never do."

"I think I'd like to see your world," Miko said. "Really,
I think I'd like to see anything besides more of the ocean. I've
seen enough of that."

"Well, that's okay. I'll take you with me, if you want me
to. It's no trouble." Sasami smiled at the idea. She'd missed
having a friend her age, give or take a century.

"That'd be great!" Miko replied enthusiastically, then fell
abruptly silent.

"Is there something wrong?" Sasami asked. "You're acting
strangely."

"I just don't know what to make of all this," the ghost
girl admitted sadly. "More has happened to me today that it has
in so long, I don't know what to think."

"Would you like me to leave you alone again for a while?"
Sasami asked. "I like to be alone sometimes to think about how I
feel. We're all going to breakfast, anyway."

"No, no, it's okay," Miko assured her. "I want to go with
you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Her light voice was strong and full of
conviction. "I thought about everything a lot last night, and I
think I'd like to just kind of ride around with you for a while,
before you actually introduce me. I don't know if I could deal
with a lot of questions right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Sasami apologized hastily. "I didn't mean
to bother you!"

"No, you're not bothering me at all, honest. But grownups
can be so..."

Sasami nodded. "That I know well. Okay, then. I'll just
put you in my pocket. Can you still see out if you're covered,
or what?"

"Yes, that'll be fine. I really don't know how I see, just
that I do."

"Okay," Sasami agreed readily. "Well, it's getting close
to breakfast time, and Mihoshi should be back any minute now, so
I need to get dressed."

"I'll be quiet in front of everyone."

Together, they reentered the stillness of the room.
Mihoshi still wasn't back yet, and Kiyone was a motionless lump
under the blanket. Sasami gently put Miko's glass sphere back in
the padded box, rubbing it lightly with one finger before she
turned away.

"Good morning, Sasami. Were you watching the sunrise?"

Sasami jumped slightly. "Kiyone?"

The lump stirred. "Yes, I'm awake. Just lying here.
Where's Mihoshi?"

"She went for a swim," Sasami explained. "She should be
back any minute now."

"Any hour now," Kiyone agreed, only mildly sarcastic.

It didn't take an hour, but it did take another fifteen
minutes for Mihoshi to knock on the door and be let in. Tenchi's
father and grandfather had already called to see if the girls
were up, and were watching TV in their room while they waited for
the girls to get ready. Both dressed simply, Kiyone in slacks
and a button down blouse with a jacket thrown over it, and Sasami
in a similar outfit. She covertly slipped the amber glass sphere
containing Miko's spirit into her jacket pocket while Kiyone was
in the bathroom and Mihoshi was picking out clothes to match her
partner.

It didn't take long for Mihoshi to clean up, and soon they
were all settling in at a table in the nice hotel restaurant on
the bottom floor.

Miko used her ghostly senses to explore the room as best
she could, eavesdropping on conversations and looking at everyone
in a way that surely would have earned a spanking had her mother
been present to see such bad manners.

"Sasami?" she whispered as quietly as she could in Sasami's
mind. "What are you looking at?"

Sasami blinked, nearly putting down her menu. Taking the
ghost's question literally, she raised the laminated paper to
obscure her face and whispered, "The menu. I'm trying to decide
what to eat."

"You can read?" Miko asked, astonished.

"Umm, yes," Sasami replied, more than a little confused.
Everyone she knew could read.

"Oh, yes, you're a princess."

Sasami mentally shrugged and decided to ignore it,
returning her attention to the menu.

"What's that?" Miko asked again. "That flat yellow thing."

"An omelet," Sasami replied.

"You want an omelet, Sasami?" Nobuyuki asked.

Sasami blushed, realizing she'd been speaking too loudly.
"Um, yes, thank you. With peppers, please."

"Sorry," Miko replied quietly.

"It's okay, Sasami whispered back, very, very quietly.

"It's just that I don't know what anything is," she
continued.

"Did you say something, Sasami?" Mihoshi asked.

Sasami lay her menu down and coughed politely into her
napkin. "Um, no, Mihoshi."

"Oh, okay."

Sasami wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

Soon the waitress came over to take their orders, which
Nobuyuki gave her. She quickly left to get their drinks.

"So, girls, are you going to go swimming again today? Or
do you have something else in mind?" Katsuhito asked.

Kiyone looked at Mihoshi. "Swimming?"

"Swimming," Mihoshi replied. She turned to Sasami.
"Swimming?"

Sasami shrugged. "Swimming."

"Swimming," they all chorused together after turning to the
two men.

Katsuhito turned to his son-in-law. "I guess they're going
swimming."

"Swimming it is," he agreed.

Just then, the waitress returned with a big tray of drinks
balanced in her right hand and proceeded to sit them in front of
everyone. Sasami got a glass of water and cup of hot tea, and
everyone else received coffee.

At one point the waitress had to squeeze between Sasami's
and Kiyone's chair to set a cup down in front of Nobuyuki. As
she did so, she brushed against the loose jacket where it hung
down the side of Sasami's chair, and the little float slipped out
of the shallow pocket. It bounced twice on the floor before the
waitress, unaware, kicked it across the floor.

"Is anyone sunburned?" Kiyone asked, feeling her own slight
scorch tingle. "I know I had a little trouble sleeping last
night."

Nobuyuki nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, I got a little more
sun than was good for me, too. But you should really see
Grandfather's legs." He chuckled. "They aren't white anymore."

Katsuhito shifted uncomfortably. "Mmm, yes, it has been
some time since I've worn shorts on such a sunny day."

Nobuyuki chuckled again. "You see? I told you that you
needed to cover your legs, but did you listen?" He made as if to
jab at the old man's legs, but soon found his wrist twisted in a
grip of iron.

"Don't. Push it." Katsuhito's glasses glinted in the
fluorescent light.

"Right... Right..." He pulled his hand back and massaged
it gently.

"Umm, I'll be right back, okay?" Mihoshi said, standing up.
"Which way is the restroom?"

"I think I saw a sign that way, around the corner," Kiyone
replied, making shooing motions in that direction.

"Thanks!" Mihoshi pushed her chair back and hurried away.

Mihoshi glanced this way and that as she walked, looking at
all the other morning diners. Families were quite common, and
she didn't spot even a single person dining alone. Suddenly, a
soft tink sound grabbed her attention and drew it to the floor.

There, spinning madly, was an amber glass fishing float
exactly like the one Sasami had found the day before.

"Well, I wonder who this belongs to?" she murmured aloud as
she quickly picked it up and examined it. It certainly looked
just like Sasami's, but maybe they all looked like that. She
decided to ask the nearby diners of any of them had dropped it.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am," she began hesitantly as she
approached the nearest table and held up the float. "Did any of
you drop this? I found it on the floor just now." She received
several silent headshakes. "Sorry to trouble you," she replied
politely.

Mihoshi checked several more tables with much the same
results, although several certainly acted like they wished it was
theirs. Then her pressing need reasserted itself and she hurried
on to the restroom. Finders keepers, and possession is nine-
tenths of the law and all that. She slipped it in her own jacket
pocket, intending to show it to everyone at her table when she
got back.

In the restroom, once her business had been taken care of,
Mihoshi stood back up and readjusted her clothes. The toilet, a
newer model, automatically started flushing. Just as she
fastened her pants she heard a high clink of something hitting
porcelain behind her. She turned quickly to see the float hit
the whirlpool with a splash and quickly spiral to the center.

"Oh, no!" Mihoshi cried. At first she was tempted to
ignore it for the moment. After all, weren't floats supposed to
float?

In rude defiance of all laws of relative density, the float
dropped beneath the surface. With a speed of reflex that she
only demonstrated in life or death situations, or when playing
video games, Mihoshi went to her knees as her hand plunged into
the toilet, actually going in the very large outlet hole before
she was able to recapture the errant float. Giving a sigh of
relief, she put her other hand against the side of the stall to
steady herself before she stood.

Unfortunately, she accidentally put her hand directly on
the large button marked 'bidet'. And to think, she'd always
wondered what that word meant.

A gentle, but surprisingly strong jet of water arched up
from a jet in the back and hit her right in the face, soaking not
only that, but her hair and the front of her clothes.

"Ewwwww!" she spluttered loudly as she stood back up with
the float in hand, a grimace of disgust on her face. She'd
definitely need to wash herself off before she went back to the
table.


Back at the breakfast table, their food had already been
served and everyone was digging in heartily. Several comments
about Mihoshi's absence were made, but they didn't let that stop
them.

Mihoshi finally arrived, her jacket thrown over her left
arm. "I'm back," she replied somberly.

Nobuyuki and Katsuhito were the only two in position to
actually see her when she walked up. Both paused in mid-chew,
looks of astonishment plastered on their faces.

Kiyone didn't notice their expressions. "What happened?"
she asked, turning around. "Did you fall in?" And then she got
a good look of Mihoshi's wet, clingy blouse and jacket, and her
sodden curls. A single drop of water fell off and splatted on
the floor.

"Oh, my," Sasami said quietly, getting a look for herself.

Nobuyuki snickered, once.

"I was going to the bathroom," she began as she awkwardly
draped her jacket over the back of her chair, "and I found this
float on the floor, just like Sasami's." She opened her hand to
show them.

Sasami gasped in astonishment and quickly checked her
pocket. Upon finding it empty, she quickly reached for the
float, and Mihoshi let her have it.

"Well, I asked around and no one claimed it, so I was going to
bring it back here, but it fell in the toilet, and, well..."

Suddenly, Sasami wished she hadn't been so quick to take it
back from Mihoshi. "Eww!"

"That's what I said!" Mihoshi said reasonably.

Kiyone smiled through her own revulsion at the face Sasami
was making as she held it between two fingers and wiped at it
with her napkin. "I certainly hope you washed it."

"Well of COURSE I washed it," Mihoshi replied indignantly.

Sasami gave a sigh of relief, then carefully tucked it away
in a more secure pocket in her pants. "Thank you, Mihoshi, it is
the one I found. I didn't know it had fallen out of my pocket."

"Why did you bring it to breakfast?" Tenchi's grandfather
asked. "I think it would be safer in your room."

Sasami shrugged nervously. "Um, I don't know, I just
thought it'd be a good idea...?" She willed him to believe it,
and not ask any more awkward questions. "I'll be sure and leave
it up there from now on."

"That's good. I'd hate to see that little treasure get
broken."

"Me, too," Sasami agreed fervently. She started to pick up
her fork again, then stopped and reconsidered.

"Going to go wash your hands first?" Nobuyuki inquired
innocently.

"Umm, yes." And she did.


****************


"Well, it looks like we're all going swimming again,"
Sasami noted quietly to her pocket as she picked through her
remaining swimwear in their room.

"I know," replied the ghost girl, "I was still there when
everyone was talking about it. It was right after that when the
serving lady brushed you and knocked the float out of your
pocket. I tried to call to you, but you didn't seem to hear."

Sasami stopped and stared into space. "That's strange, I
never heard you."

"That's what I thought. I don't know why you couldn't."

Sasami hmmed as she finally decided on a two-piece in
green.

"I don't want to go back to the beach with you," Miko said
suddenly.

"Hmm? Why?" Sasami asked.

"Because I'm scared. You might lose me again, and I'd end
up back in the ocean. I don't want to be lost in the sea again.
Never ever again." Miko's voice sounded frightened and lost.

"That's okay," Sasami replied a little too loudly, quick to
reassure her friend. "I'm not going to lose you again, but you
can stay here if you want to."

"I'd like that."

"I'll put your float back in that box, and I'll be back
here before we go to dinner. You'll have plenty of time to
think." Sasami did as she was saying, carefully placing the
bubble of amber glass back in the soft tissue padding and
covering it.

"Thank you," came the reply, soft and sweet as a whisper on
the wind.

Miko watched in complete silence as Mihoshi and Kiyone came
back into the room from wherever they had gone, presumably the
older men's room from the things they mentioned. Mihoshi, whom
Miko privately felt was too silly, even though she made an
excellent bodyguard, was being chewed out by Kiyone over
something she'd done or not done, it was hard to tell. They kept
using words Miko didn't know, and she just couldn't follow the
conversation. It appeared to be about the clothes Mihoshi was
wearing that had gotten soiled.

Miko watched as the yellow haired woman started sniffling,
then actually crying. The ancient little girl was amazed. She'd
never seen a grown woman cry before. Then again, Mihoshi seemed
to be special in a lot of ways. She'd certainly never seen a
woman with that color hair before. Or that fast. Miko was still
amazed that Mihoshi had caught her float.

Kiyone finally relented, and even apologized after she was
admonished by the princess Sasami. Miko liked Kiyone for some
reason she couldn't describe. Kiyone was almost everything Miko
thought she would expect from a lady in waiting, or a guard to a
princess. Once Miko got used to the idea that Kiyone seemed to
be a leader, she found herself admiring the strange woman from
another world. She was tall, beautiful, smart, and utterly
confident. Miko wished she could grow up to be like that.

Miko wished she could grow up at all.

"Goodbye, Miko, I'll see you again at the end of the day,"
Sasami whispered quickly as she passed the table Miko rested on.
As she did so, the moment's distraction caused her to put her
feet wrong and stumble, hitting the edge of the table with her
side and giving it a strong jolt. Shaking her head at her own
clumsiness, Sasami quickly ran to the door where Kiyone was
waiting to lock it behind them.

The table was small and narrow, for there wasn't much space
in the room, but it had four legs on each corner and was stable
enough that it didn't rock much when the princess brushed it.
The small cardboard box sitting on it couldn't have fallen off.
It shouldn't have slid all the way to the edge of the table where
it could totter back and forth. There was no way it could have
fallen off.

But it did.

Miko saw it all happen from the outside, which was more or
less how she perceived herself. The glass sphere was far too
small for her to really fit inside, but it anchored her to the
spot, wherever it might be.

So when the box fell those few long feet towards the floor,
Miko knew it. When the box chanced to land on one corner and
bounce, Miko saw it. Miko watched in horror as the movement
jarred the float out of the box and sent it flying on a short arc
through the air, where it bounced and rolled on the carpet. Miko
was more terrified than she'd been in nearly a hundred years,
even more scared than when she was nearly flushed down the
strange toilet earlier that day, when the short glass protrusions
at the top and bottom caught the carpet and kicked it on a new
course to stop in the center of the open area of the room.

Miko was frightened because she knew what had made it
happen.

For the first time in several decades, Miko felt the oni's
dark presence. She knew it was still in the sea, hiding from
human eyes, away from human enterprise. It was a long way away,
still in the depths of the ocean, but she knew it was coming.
She could feel/see/taste its mind and spirit all around her, even
though she knew it was far away.

It was the oni that had made her slip despite careful
hands. The oni had caused her fall from the pocket of a
princess. And it was the oni's will that she should lay exposed
and vulnerable on the soft woven mat that covered the floor of
the guest room.

Miko sobbed softly in fear and pain, memories of all the
other times she had felt the oni's hatred and evil coming back
unbidden, or perhaps they were deliberately sent by the demon to
torment her.

She whimpered, but that was no defense.


"Are you okay, Daddy?" young Miko asked excitedly. "Is it
really big?"

"Yes, Miko-chan, it's very big," her Daddy gasped, grunting
with the effort as he hauled on the bunched up net with all his
might. "A big octopus maybe, or a shark." He smiled despite his
strain. "It's definitely not just tangled on the rocks."

"What about a dolphin, Daddy?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Oh, no, honey, a dolphin breathes air.
They drown in fishermen's nets." Just then the net sagged and
jerked, pulling his mighty arms straight. "Nnnngh!" he grunted
and pulled again on the net, getting enough slack he was able to
quickly let go with one hand and transfer his grip farther up the
net. "This good luck! This catch will feed all of us with
enough left over to sell!" The net jerked again, slowly pulling
their boat around towards the open ocean, away from the small bay
they were in. "If it doesn't get away," he added grimly.

Miko nodded, eyes wide. She loved her Daddy, he was so big
and strong. She would help him land this fish for her Mommy.

She scooted behind her father as he worked, wrapping her
hands in the weave and pulling behind him with all her small
strength. "I'll help you, Daddy. We'll get this fish in."

Her Daddy had just laughed and pulled in another three
feet.

Having scooted to the far side of the wide-bottomed boat
and run out of room, Miko let go and slid closer to get another
grip. But the net wouldn't let go of her. In her youthful zeal,
she had buried her hands in the loose weave and twisted it around
her wrists. Now, tightened by her pulls, the fibers cut into her
skin and wouldn't give her enough space to pull free.

"Daddy?" she asked calmly, a little bit embarrassed. "I'm
caught."

He looked around and saw her struggling to free her hands.
He frowned. "Miko-chan, that's dangerous, men have been pulled
into the sea when they've been caught in their own nets. Hurry
and get my knife. Just cut the net."

Miko tried, but she couldn't pick up the knife and wield it
to cut free. "I can't, Daddy," she replied, a note of fear in
her voice. She'd heard those same stories, that the fish of the
ocean sometimes used the same nets to pull in men.

"Damn it, girl," her Daddy had said, fear making him harsh.
"Whatever it is on the other end of this net is so strong it can
nearly pull me in, and you've gotten yourself tangled in the
net!"

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" she said, crying. "I didn't mean to!"

Her Daddy calmed himself down. "I know, honey, I know.
You were just helping me. Watch, I'll get my knife and cut
through the net myself."

"Okay." She trusted in her Daddy.

Miko's father pulled fiercely on the net, pulling in even
more slack, which he promptly kneeled on. Then he quickly let go
with one hand and grabbed his knife. Once, twice, and again he
slashed at the net, intending to sever it in two rather than take
the time to actually free his daughter.

Unfortunately, the net was his best. The cord was woven
and twisted from the strongest fibers he could get, and it was
proof even against the rough scales of a shark. A man's haul of
fish could be tangled in the net, and it still would not break.
His dull knife only cut a few strands with each stroke.

Perhaps sensing that his attention was elsewhere, whatever
it was under the water picked that moment to struggle back with
all of its might. The net tore through his fingers in a rush,
despite the fact he held on so tightly he lost the ends of his
fingers. Her Daddy jerked the knife away as Miko was pulled into
him, knocking him away into the side of the boat.

Miko disappeared into the water with a shriek, and the rest
of the net, tangled in her legs, was brought with her.

She thrashed and fought as she was pulled down into the
dark water, and her mad rush slowed. Miko floated in place,
straining for the surface. She could see the net billowing
around her, and far above her head was the surface of the water,
the boat holding her father making a strange shape on the
rippling surface.

And then she saw it, swimming for her.


Miko cried out in silence, for there was no one to hear
her. It had been awful. She had drowned as the oni reached for
her, slipping into blackness. She feared she would be eaten, but
she woke up soon after, floating on the surface.

She could see her Daddy, even. Miko called to him,
screaming for all she was worth. Her Daddy was crying as he
rowed the boat around the bay and out to sea. She was only a few
dozen yards from him, screaming for him to save her, but he
didn't hear. He didn't see her, bobbing there on the waves.

Miko screamed far beyond anything she'd ever been able to
do while alive, well past the point she'd have been coughing with
a raw throat, but he didn't hear.

Her Daddy, whom she loved with all her heart, had rowed out
to sea and left her to float on the waves.

She'd noticed the oni, then, and her not-breath caught in
her throat. It hung motionless below her, watching her with its
huge, bulbous eyes so yellow. She thought she saw it smile
before it slowly sank out of sight.

It had visited her many times that year, and the next, and
the next. Miko had nearly gone insane from loneliness, floating
on the sea, but something within her made her not notice the
boredom, nor the rising and setting of the sun. Time passed, but
Miko only noticed it when something new and strange happened,
like the first time she saw a ship, the first time she saw a ship
without sails, the first time she saw one of the big flying
things, an airplane. And the first time she watched another
little girl die, drowning after she'd swam far out to see to get
the beautiful sparkly thing floating on the ocean.

That little girl, her name Miko didn't know, had struggled
and cried and fought the pull of the ocean until she was less
than five feet from Miko's prison when her panic-stricken face
sank beneath the surface, one hand still reaching out for the
glass, so strong was the compulsion.

Miko hadn't quite recovered from that.

The oni had revisited her, silently praising her work,
letting her know that it couldn't have lured that girl to her
doom without Miko's help.

She had railed at the evil beast, but it had merely swam
away, leaving the foul taste of cruel satisfaction in the water.

And then it happened again, although the girl hadn't really
been a swimmer, and had succumbed to the undertow less than
twenty yards from the shore.

The oni had came back once again, this time holding the
dead, bloated body in one monstrous claw and stroking the
billowing hair in a parody of tenderness. It bit the head off in
one bite and silently thanked her for the treat as it chewed.

Miko didn't want to think about that. Any of it. Girls
had died as they tried to claim her many times over the years,
and it had all started to run together. She would look away
every time, unable to bear seeing their faces, of seeing them at
all.

Still, she felt her soul grow colder every time she heard
the awful silence that meant the struggle was over.

Miko's attention was jerked back to the present as she
heard a knock on the door. There was silence for a moment, then
she heard the handle click.


Hikari Fumimoto hummed tonelessly to herself as she opened
the door and backed into the room, pulling a small laundry cart
with her which she left in the doorway so that it was slightly
ajar. She stepped over the glass float laying on the floor
without noticing, its warm amber color blending in well enough
with the light tan carpet. Then she quickly began straightening
the room.

New plastic cups, still in their wrap, were left in the
bathroom, along with fresh soap. The used towels and washcloths
were gathered and dumped into a laundry bag, and everything was
wiped down with a combination of rag and mop. The beds were
made, but the sheets of this room weren't due to be changed until
the next day after these people checked out.

With the speed and surety of long practice, Hikari quickly
finished the room. She even picked up a fallen box of tissue and
put it back on the table she supposed it fell off of.

Then, as she started blithely walking out the door,
something _grabbed_ her attention and _forced_ it towards the
floor.

There, laying carelessly in the open like a dropped
diamond, was the glass fisherman's float.

Hikari looked around warily, but something about that float
made her want it. She picked it up by one of the stubs, holding
it up so that she could look at the pretty thing. It caught the
little light in the room and turned it golden amber, rippling and
refracting it off the many irregularities in its walls.

Looking at little else but the float, Hikari took a few
steps forward, blindly reaching for the handle to her cart.

"Ahem. Excuse me, Miss?"

Hikari's head snapped around, a guilty flush spreading on
her face. "Oh, excuse me, Ma'am, you startled me!"

Kiyone stood just in front of the laundry cart and gave her
a dark glare made even more frightening by the dark red sunburn
that lit up her face. "I'm sure I did. What's that in your
hand?"

Guilty, embarrassed panic forced her eyes wide. She'd been
working as a maid at this hotel for five years, and she'd never
once even been tempted to steal anything from a guest's room.
Now she'd fallen from grace, and sure enough there was someone
waiting to catch her.

"Umm, umm, umm!" she stammered, unable to say anything
else.

Kiyone sighed. This was not the face of a hardened
criminal. This was the face of a kid caught with her hand in the
cookie jar. "I'm sure you just found it lying on the floor. You
were going to put it back, weren't you?"

"Yes!" squeaked the maid in a high, thin voice. "I did
find it laying on the floor! I'll put it back, honest!"

"That's fine. We appreciate you cleaning up the room for
us," Kiyone said, pushing her way through the door and sliding by
the cart.

The maid, grateful that the guest didn't seem to be
inclined to press charges or have her fired or anything, quickly
pressed the pretty bauble into Kiyone's hands and pushed her cart
out the door. "Thank you, Miss! I'm done with the room! I'll
be going now!"

"Stay out of trouble," Kiyone said seriously, giving her
patented 'Policeman's Eye' to the terrified maid.

"I will! I will! I-"

Kiyone closed the door in the maid's face, unwilling to
deal with the pathetic eagerness to please the poor woman had
extruded. She'd take a hardened criminal over a petty thief any
day.

Then she smiled despite herself. She'd managed to get
inside the room, alone, without using her key or verifying her
identity in any way, all by, as her Intimidation 597 professor
had called it, 'bamfoozeling' someone. If she was a thief, or a
police officer without a search warrant, she would have free
reign to search or loot the room.

Kiyone smiled. It was nice to know she hadn't lost the
magic touch while on forced vacation.

Then she winced. Despite the copious amounts of sunblock
she'd used, she still had a bit of a sunburn, and felt rather ill
besides. She put the float back in its box and climbed into bed.

It was time for a nap.


****************


"Kiyone?" Sasami called as Mihoshi unlocked and opened the
door. The sound of running water reached her ears as soon as the
door opened, and she guessed that the older woman must be in the
shower. As Mihoshi sat down on the bed, the little princess
walked over and checked the box. Sure enough, Miko's float was
still inside. Sasami stroked it lightly with one fingertip and
whispered a soft hello.

Mihoshi, who, having little else to do at the moment, had
watched Sasami walk over, chose that moment to speak. "Gee,
Sasami, did you think it was going to just get up and walk away
while you were gone? Most inanimate objects don't do that, you
know."

Sasami jerked, startled. "Oh, uh, no..."

Kiyone walked out with her hair wrapped in a towel and
another around her body. "Actually, it very nearly did that. I
suggest you hide that thing from now on, Sasami, the maid nearly
walked off with it. I caught her with it in her hand as she was
walking out the door."

Sasami gasped. "Really? That's terrible!"

Kiyone chuckled and shook her head. "It's bad that it
happened, but I got a feeling that that was the first, and most
importantly, the last crime that girl ever thought about
committing." Kiyone laughed again, then sighed and shook her wet
head. "The look on her face..."

"Was it that look where they can't decide to laugh or cry
or wet their pants?" Mihoshi asked in morbid curiosity.

Kiyone brightened. "You've seen it?"

Mihoshi nodded happily.

"You haven't told me about that one," Kiyone noted as she
started rubbing her hair briskly. She stopped abruptly and
interrupted Mihoshi mid-breath. "But not now, okay?"

Mihoshi deflated like a pool mattress with a cat on it.
"Aww..."

"You should get a shower, Sasami."

Sasami glanced at Kiyone.

Kiyone gestured at the little bathroom. "It's free, unless
you'd rather go last."

Sasami shook her head. "No, I'll go now."

A bit less than an hour later, Sasami was dressed and
ready, and Mihoshi was fastening buttons on a nice suit dress.
Kiyone had already called Nobuyuki and Katsuhito to let them know
that they were about ready, and had turned on their TV and
channel surfed while she waited on the other two.

Deciding that guileless innocence, which wasn't really now
that she'd thought about it, was better than trying to be sneaky,
Sasami openly announced her intention of carrying the float with
her to dinner.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Kiyone asked. "It's
already fell out of your pocket once. If Mihoshi hadn't stumbled
across it, you'd have lost it."

Sasami nodded. "I'll be careful which pocket I put it in.
But if I leave it here, I won't be able to keep an eye on it."

Kiyone shrugged. "It's your decision. Personally, I'd
just hide it in my suitcase."

"Oh, don't worry so much, Kiyone," Mihoshi protested.
"It's like a good luck charm. Remember that dried pracibunny
foot I used to carry?"

"The one that weighed two pounds?"

"I know it was a little large for me to put in my pocket,"
Mihoshi admitted.

"Yeah, I remember it," Kiyone replied. "That was the one
you had on a strap around your neck. It made you look like a
Vinhart hunter-gatherer in uniform. I also remember that we
ended up eating it when the engine gave out near Kenji's Nexus
and we starved for two weeks."

Mihoshi nodded. "And it was a very lucky thing I had it,
too."

Kiyone grimaced and shuddered. "Yeah. Lucky..."

There was a knock on the door. Mihoshi, being closest,
opened it to show Nobuyuki and Katsuhito, both looking very
spiffy in tailored suits.

"Wow!" Mihoshi enthused. "You both look great! I didn't
even know you owned suits like those."

Nobuyuki exchanged a glance with his father-in-law before
he answered. "Well, we don't get to use them very often. But as
this is your second to last night on Earth, we wanted to make it
special. I've made reservations, like I said, but we're making
an occasion of it. It's not often we get a chance to escort two
young, beautiful girls out to dinner." He grinned widely and
nudged his father in law in the ribs.

Katsuhito also had an amused smile on his face, although it
wasn't nearly as obvious as Nobuyuki's. "Both of you look very
beautiful as well.

"Thank you," Kiyone replied, blushing.

"Oh, thank you," Mihoshi replied as well, then looked to
her partner for guidance. "Ano, Kiyone? You're blushing. Does
that mean you're embarrassed?"

Kiyone's eyes narrowed to hard, mean slits and she glared
at her partner, even as her blush deepened. "No, Mihoshi, I have
a sun burn. My face has been red all day," she growled, daring
Mihoshi to deny it.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Mihoshi looked embarrassed herself. "I
didn't know that sun burns got worse after you went inside for a
few hours, because you're a lot more red now than you were- see?"
Mihoshi cried, pointing. "It's still happening. I don't know,
Kiyone, do we need to put some cream on that before it gets any
worse? I know you've never been able to handle the sun very
well..."

Suddenly, Mihoshi blinked and stepped back. Kiyone was
standing less than a foot from her without seeming to have
occupied the intervening space. As Mihoshi opened her mouth
again, her partner's hand blurred and the inhalation of breath
cut of with a grunt.

"Put a sock in it, Mihoshi."

"Mmmph!"

Kiyone turned to her charge. "Sasami? Are you ready?"

The princess nodded, smiling. "I sure am."

"Gahh!" Mihoshi complained, making a face as she pulled the
wadded up sock out of her mouth and laid it on the bed. "That
tasted terrible."

"Come on, Mihoshi," Kiyone said as she guided Sasami out
the door to the waiting men.

Shaking her head, Mihoshi followed.


****************


"Wow, that was wonderful, Mr. Masaki," Mihoshi enthused
after she swallowed the last bite of well-seasoned steak and
wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Thank you so much!"

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it," Nobuyuki replied, not
letting himself think about how much it all had cost him. It was
money well spent.

"Yes, thank you," Kiyone said in a voice that was entirely
too girlish for her tastes. "It is a delicious meal." Unlike
her friend, Kiyone ate much slower, and still had some meat and
vegetables left.

Sasami, too, was still eating, although she
enthusiastically mmmhmmed in agreement. She was sitting between
Mihoshi and Kiyone, with Mihoshi on her left, closest to
Katsuhito. Kiyone was sitting beside Nobuyuki, taking care not
to get anything on her pale tan skirt and button up blouse. Her
jacket had been put across the back of her chair.

Soon everyone was finished and making conversation,
discussing the events of the day and of the past, especially the
time since Mihoshi and Ryoko first came to Earth.

They laughed again at some of the things Ayeka and Ryoko
had gotten into, and there were many thanks all around for the
hospitality, help, and excitement that had been brought into
everyone's lives.

Nobuyuki nodded wisely as he mentioned that. "You girls,
including Ayeka and Ryoko, have been the best thing to happen to
our household in a long, long time."

"Things had been somewhat dull," Katsuhito agreed, but
let Nobuyuki speak his piece.

"Ever since you and Ryoko came, Tenchi has been growing up
faster than ever," he said, looking at Mihoshi. "You've showed
him that there is more to life than the simple things; that
there's a whole universe out there waiting to be explored. I
think both of you," he continued, but gave a significant look to
Kiyone, "have been wonderful role models for responsibility and
duty." He turned to Sasami. "And you, Sasami," he paused,
blanking his expression for a moment as he fought his emotions,
"You've been like the daughter that we never got a chance to
have."

Sasami blushed and looked down at her lap.

"Achika had always said she wanted a boy and a girl,"
Katsuhito said quietly, using one long finger to wipe beneath his
glasses.

Nobuyuki nodded, his face set in a mixture of happiness and
regret. "In a way, I suppose you're all like family to us now."
He grinned. "We didn't get one daughter, we got many, and it's
been good on both of our old hearts to see so many young people
around the house."

"If nothing else, the exercise we get just trying to keep
up," his father-in-law said with a smile.

"Yes, those were some adventures." Nobuyuki didn't seem to
mind.

Sasami suddenly realized that she hadn't checked the pocket
of her formal kimono in a while, and Miko had been awfully quiet,
even the few times she'd whispered to her. Her questing fingers
quickly found the smooth glass tucked inside her kimono, then,
without conscious decision, closed around it and drew it out so
that she could look at it.

Miko's ghostly form was still etched on the inside of the
glass, hugging her knees to her chest and pressing her face into
them. She looked miserable.

Sasami stroked one light fingertip over the glass and
thought a wordless hug.

"Sasami? I thought you were going to leave that in your
room?" Nobuyuki asked when he noticed her toying with it.

Sasami shrugged. "I was. But it was nearly stolen by the
maid earlier today, and I decided the safest place would be where
I knew where it was."

"Stolen?" Tenchi's father asked.

Kiyone nodded and told the story as Sasami continued to
look at it.

Sasami kept looking into the glass, watching Miko. The
etching moved slightly, and Sasami thought she saw the girl
shudder. "Miko? Miko, are you okay?" she thought as loudly as
she could, her muscles tensing reflexively.

"No," Miko whispered back.

"Hmm," Katsuhito replied. "Well, the more valuable a
treasure is, the more easily it is lost."

Sasami jerked, realizing that she hadn't been paying
attention. She nodded, thinking about the night before when she
first met the ghost, and all the other times she'd nearly lost
it. "It's almost like it's trying to get away, but that's
silly," she said in a subdued tone of voice.

"May I see it again?" he asked. When Sasami nodded he
stretched out his hand and accepted it.

Miko stirred and looked around for the first time in hours,
sensing the change as the gentle old man touched the glass and
Sasami's cool, vibrant energy faded. The man had a warm,
comforting feel, but a wave of hatred washed over her, making her
gasp in her mind. Once again, she felt the oni's distant anger,
and her vision changed.

Katsuhito no longer looked like an elderly but still fit
gentleman. His cheeks sagged and flapped as he talked, and the
fingers which caressed her prison were like sticks stuck through
rotten pieces of meat. His rotten, putrid face loomed large in
her vision as he held her close, and she could see the torn flaps
of skin where his nose had been flap as he sniffed deeply.

Miko couldn't stand the horror and quickly looked away,
unable to understand when or how he had drowned.

Katsuhito nodded after a moment. "Yes, I can see how you
might think that," he said to Sasami as he handed it back. "Have
you smelled it? It smells strongly of the sea, despite having
been washed." He glanced at Mihoshi. "Repeatedly."

The scene was no less horrible for Miko when she looked
away. Where Sasami had been sitting was a bloated, pasty white
corpse, the once lustrous hair snarled and tangled as it floated
around her head, and as she watched one matted clump tore loose
from her scalp, taking a piece with it as it floated across the
table. Her eyes were gaping, bloodless holes ringed by the
tattered bits of her eyelids, and her nose, lips, and one ghastly
rent in her left cheek all showed signs of constant nibbling from
fish. The fingers on the hand she withdrew back across the table
were skeletal, ragged things that belonged on a zombie, not a
vibrant young girl.

Sasami did as he suggested and held it close to her nose.
She took a deep breath. "That's right!" she exclaimed. "It does
smell like the ocean!" She frowned and took another breath.
"And something else... Kind of like rotten fish."

Miko shuddered and buried her head in her arms, hoping,
praying, asking for anyone, anyone at all, to make it stop.

Katsuhito nodded. "Something about that float makes me
think it still belongs to someone. It has a foul taint to it."

Sasami frowned. She'd felt nothing like that from Miko.

"Anyway, I suggest you be careful with it."

Sasami nodded, still looking at it.

"So," Nobuyuki began, changing the subject to something
lighter. "What would you girls like to do now?" he asked with a
grin.

The trio looked at each other questioningly. "Well, I
don't know," Kiyone replied for them all. "Did you have
something in mind?"

Nobuyuki nodded and shot a look at Katsuhito. "Dancing?"

"Dancing."

"I think we'd like to carry you all out dancing," Nobuyuki
said as he returned his attention to the girls.

Kiyone laughed softly to herself. "We'll, I guess we're
going dancing."

"You know," Nobuyuki said as they all stood and he left a
stack of bills on the table, including a tip, "It's not often a
man gets to go dancing along with his father-in-law, especially
when none of the girls they're dancing with are either his
daughters or his wife. I think there are rules against this sort
of thing."

They all laughed as they left for the dance floor. Except,
of course, for Miko.


****************


Several hours later, tired but not exhausted, the men
escorted the girls back to their hotel room and retired to their
own for the night. Both had danced surprisingly well, Nobuyuki
because he'd danced more while he was young and Katsuhito because
he was a fast learner.

The GP officers giggled and laughed, reduced back to
schoolgirls by the occasion, and Sasami fit right in. They had
all had a wonderful time on this, their second to last night on
Earth.

"Sasami," Miko said suddenly, startling the young princess
with her tone of voice. "We need to talk. Can you find
somewhere where the others can't hear you?"

"Yes," Sasami whispered under her breath, her laughing mood
gone in an instant by the intensity of the question. "I can go
out onto the balcony."

"No!" Miko hissed. "Stay inside. Stay close to your
guardians."

Sasami looked around. Kiyone and Mihoshi were still
talking animatedly as they discussed the night, and both were
sitting on their beds and changing into more casual wear. Her
eye fell on the bathroom, and she slipped inside.

"Okay, we can talk now, as long as we do it quietly,"
Sasami said as soon as she closed the door to the small bath.

"Good, because this is important," Miko said quickly. "All
day, strange things have been happening. Like you said earlier,
it's like I'm trying to escape. I _was_ on the floor when the
maid found me. You bumped the table when you left, and I fell.
I shouldn't have, but I did anyway. I keep slipping out of your
hands when I shouldn't. And every time something like that
happens... I can feel him. He wants me back."

"Slow down, please," Sasami protested. "Who? Who wants
you back?"

"The oni," Miko said fearfully. "And I can feel him right
now. It's like your Grandfather said, he wants me back. I can
feel his anger all around me. He hates you so much..." There
was a choked sob.

"It's okay, Miko," Sasami assured her. "I'm here, and so
are Mihoshi and Kiyone. We won't let him take you." She started
to take the float out of her pocket.

Suddenly, it jumped rather forcefully in her hand. Despite
the surprise, the little princess was able to keep her fingers
wrapped around it. She held on with all her might as it twitched
and jerked in her hand, and was forced to hold it to her chest
with both hands to keep it from getting away.

"What's happening?" Sasami whispered in fear, her arms
straining with every jerk.

"He wants you to let go," Miko said, also frightened.
"He's telling you to let go, that he's going to drown you and
make fish eat you and, on and on!"

"I won't let go," Sasami replied fiercely. "Tell him I
won't let go."

"Sasami, please!"

"No."

And then she could feel it, see it in her mind's eye, hear
the voice that was not a voice, a sound like the roar in a
seashell, like bubbles in the depths. She hated herself, wished
she would die painfully, wished she'd spend eternity alone-

"No!"

-she would drift on the currents, watching as fish ate her
eyes, chewed off her fingers, and stripped her flesh. She would
float on the water and no one would care. She saw something huge
swimming below her. Something with dark scales and wicked claws,
something with malice in its heart, which opened a cavernous
mouth full of teeth and swam up at a frightening speed-

Sasami shrieked in fright.

-Mihoshi and Kiyone were pounding at the door, wanting in,
but it was locked somehow, and even a powerful kick from Kiyone
couldn't splinter the frame. There was no one who could save
her, not now, not ever, Miko would be alone again, this time
forever-

Sasami sobbed and forced her eyes closed against the
visions, but it wasn't something she saw, it was something she
knew.

The float grew hot in her hand, the heat of the hot sun on
the open ocean multiplied by all the hatred and pain the oni had
wrought.

Her skin started to blister, but Sasami held on, even
against Miko's repeated pleas that she let go, that she was
hurting. Sasami let go with one hand and resisted the powerful
urge to open the other, choosing instead to turn the water in the
sink on and plunge her hands beneath it, anything to cool the
burning glass.

The water heated in an instant, scalding even more of her
hand. The visions were gone, all of the evil power going to make
her drop the glass-

Something inside her awoke. A part of her that had long
been quiet was now speaking out, and she knew that she had won.
"No," she insisted quietly, ignoring the heat of the glass which
no longer had the power to burn. "I will not let you have Miko
_ever_ _again_."

The presence faded, leaving her to sag to the floor,
exhausted by her efforts. The door burst open a moment later,
having never been locked at all, and Mihoshi and Kiyone ran in.

"Sasami, what happened?" Kiyone demanded, her GP pistol in
her hand.

Mihoshi was quick to drop to her knees and hold Sasami,
examining her for injuries with a competence born of fright and
fear for her charge.

Sasami was silent for a moment, then gently slipped the
float back into her pocket and held her hands out for inspection.
"I burned myself," she admitted, averting her eyes and wiping
tears from them with one long sleeve. "I accidentally turned the
hot water on and put my hands in, see?" She winced when Mihoshi
touched the red skin, causing the blonde to apologize and hurry
away to find some cream.

Kiyone nodded and put away her gun before she walked over
to the sink and turned the water off, noting silently that only
cold water was running into the sink. "Well, you certainly
scared the both of us. Why did you lock the door, Sasami?"

Sasami looked at her in honest confusion. "But I didn't.
Was it stuck?"

Kiyone shrugged. "I suppose it must have been."

Just then Mihoshi came back with a jar of coco butter and a
couple of pain relievers. Sasami obediently swallowed the pills
and took a drink from a plastic cup of water Kiyone offered her,
then allowed herself to be carried back into the bedroom and
fussed over. The cool cream stung a little at first, but quickly
soothed her hands. She closed her eyes and lay back on the bed
with a sigh, putting one arm over her eyes so that the sleeve
covered her face.

Kiyone sat on the edge of the bed. "Does it feel better,
now?"

Sasami nodded simply. She was tired.

"Tell me, Sasami. What's wrong?" Kiyone insisted a little
more firmly.

The young princess frowned beneath her sleeve. She didn't
want to try and explain all that had happened with the ghost,
Miko, so she tried to think of something more plausible to
explain for her odd behavior. "I don't know what you're talking
about," she replied.

Kiyone gave her a frank look. "Sasami, you haven't been
yourself all day. You've been acting strange, talking to
yourself, going off alone..."

Sasami shrugged again. "I keep thinking that I'm going to
have to leave soon," she admitted truthfully.

Kiyone patted her leg. "I know you don't want to go back
to Jurai, but Sasami, I'm sure your parents miss you..."

"No they don't," she replied petulantly, startling herself
with the vehemence of her reply. She would rather have tried to
explain the ghost than try to have this talk about her parents
grownups seemed to want to have about once a year.

"Of course they do. You're their little girl."

Mihoshi piped up from a nearby chair. "Mommies and daddies
always miss their little girls when they're gone, that's what my
Mommy and Daddy always told me when I was little."

"Not mine." Sasami rolled over suddenly, accidentally
kicking Kiyone's arm with her foot. "All they ever saw in me was
more status. I'm not their daughter, I'm their second princess."

"Oh, come now, Sasami," Kiyone replied. "While I'm sure
that you have to go to a lot of private schools and special
tutors to prepare you for your rank and station, they still love
and care about you, and miss you when you're gone."

"How would you know?" she replied angrily. "I've never
even seen Mommy or Daddy for more than a week at a time. As soon
as I come back they send me somewhere else."

Kiyone nodded unseen. "They want you to know your duties
and be loved by the Empire. I've seen the videos and heard the
reports. You're always going to some other part of the Empire to
spend time, bless a new park, meet lots of people... Princesses
have to do these things if they're to be a good princess."

"I'm tired of being a good princess," she groused. "I
always have to worry about what everyone will think about me. I
have to be nice, and responsible. I have to be perfect! If I'm
not then someone, usually Mommy, will sit down and tell me that
I'm being immature and that I had better stop, or else."

Kiyone started to put a comforting hand on her, then
reconsidered. "I guess..." she started, then trailed off. "I
guess it just goes with the job, Sasami. It may not be fair, but
is it fair for someone to be born into a poor family, or to be
born handicapped? These things happen." Kiyone use her hands
for emphasis, her voice full of sympathy. "You may have all the
money you'll ever need, and you don't have a brain defect that
makes you autistic, but you were born the second Princess of
Jurai. Just being a princess puts you in a glass prison. You
can't get out of it and everyone can see in."

"Sometimes I just want to make everybody mad so they'll
leave me alone." Sasami paused for a moment, but just as Kiyone
started to reply she interrupted her. "That, and I think it'd be
kinda fun," she admitted. "Ryoko sure does enjoy it."

Kiyone winced. "Ah, Sasami, I don't think Ryoko is an
appropriate role model for a young girl."

Sasami twisted around to look at her. "So? Why does
everything have to be appropriate? Can't something just be fun?"

Kiyone nodded, thinking about the past two days and her
last one tomorrow.

"Lot's of things are fun," Mihoshi added. "I think being
on Earth has been kinda fun. Being a GP officer is fun. The
amusement parks on Happyworld are fun."

"Fun is where you find it," Kiyone agreed. "But you've got
to do your duties first." Her eyes flicked in Mihoshi's
direction involuntarily. "I know how you feel about your
parents, because I felt the same way about mine."

Sasami's eyes narrowed and she quickly buried her face in
her pillow. Not another 'I've been there because I'm so much
older and more experienced so chin up.' talk. She hoped she'd
never be like that when she grew up.

"Both of my parents worked full time jobs," Kiyone
continued, unaware of her less than sympathetic audience. "The
only time I did see them was when they interrogated me about my
grades, activities, what kind of career I was working toward..."
She smiled a wan little smile. "My parents were very achievement
oriented. Much like yours."

Sasami allowed that she may have a point. "I still don't
want to go back. I like it here."

Mihoshi nodded sadly. "So do I. It's a nice planet, I
think it'll make a great vacation spot when they finally lift the
'hands off' warning. But you can always come back to visit
again, like Mr. Masaki said."

Sasami shook her head, fighting the tears that welled in
the corners of her eyes. "No I won't. I'll be too busy running
around the galaxy again, being a princess."

"Of course you'll be back," Mihoshi said like it was the
most obvious thing in the universe. "How could you not come
back? Unless you decided you really didn't like it and told
everyone that you didn't want to go, or something. I know I'll
never go back to Rewlnair. That planet smelled like a bathroom.
A bathroom that really needed cleaning."

If it had been Kiyone to say that, Sasami probably wouldn't
have believed her. But Mihoshi never lied, and she spoke like
she knew something Sasami didn't.

"Why would I be allowed to come back?" she asked, sitting
back up and turning around.

"You travel with your sister often, don't you?" Kiyone
asked. "She's getting married to Tenchi, right?"

"Well, maybe," Sasami said doubtfully. "If she gets
permission. Mommy could still say no."

"Oh, I'm sure that won't matter to Ayeka," Mihoshi said,
giggling. "I've never seen her take no for an answer. Why,
there was this one time, she had Tenchi tied down to a pole and
she-"

"Mihoshi!" Kiyone exclaimed, scandalized.

Mihoshi clapped both hands over her mouth. "Oh, right! I
wasn't supposed to ever tell anyone I'd saw that, because
Grandfather was going to be so mad that they'd broken the-"

"Shut up, Mihoshi!" Kiyone started replying, but stopped
when Sasami put a hand on her arm.

"No, wait! I want to hear this story," pleaded the
princess.

"But, you shouldn't be listening to this sort of thing,"
Kiyone replied, blushing.

"Let her talk and I'll tell you where Ryoko's secret
hideout is," she offered.

"You will?" Kiyone blurted before she could stop herself.

"Well, no," Sasami admitted. "But I will tell you why we
don't have any more feather pillows in the house."

"Ooh, is it a funny story?" Mihoshi asked excitedly.

Sasami giggled. "Ayeka sure laughed a lot."

Kiyone leaned forward. "Do tell."


****************


Sasami slept lightly until well after midnight, tossing and
turning, still plagued by dreams of dark, swimming monsters and
drowning. She felt Miko's loneliness, and shared it. She saw a
man, tall, strong and rugged, his face lined with equal parts
hardship and laughter. He picked her up and laughed, then faded
away. He was replaced by a woman, pretty and slender, her dark
black hair tied away from her face as she worked at some unseen
task. She looked up and smiled at Sasami, motioning for her to
come over, but she faded as the princess ran. A powerful sense
of loss filled her, because Mommy and Daddy were gone, and they'd
been gone a long, long time.

Sasami woke up with tears in her eyes.

"I think... I think I'd like to go home now," whispered
the ghost of the long dead little girl, her glass prison still
tucked away in the pocket of Sasami's sleepwear.

Sasami nodded. "Before the monster gets you again."

The ghost silently agreed.

Slipping out of bed without waking Kiyone was easy. Sasami
quietly put on her shoes and snuck out of the room into the dim
yellow light of the hall. She wasn't sure why, but she knew she
needed to do this where it all started.

The ocean.

The hotel was quiet at this time of night, with only a few
dozen people walking its cavernous rooms and long hallways,
mostly security guards and staff, and a steady trickle of
partygoers staggering to their rooms. None of them noticed the
small girl hurrying behind plants and around corners to avoid
being noticed as she steadily made her way to the lobby.

There she almost had some trouble, as she didn't think the
door security staff would be inclined to let a young girl roam
the streets alone. Instead, she found a large group of laughing,
rowdy people actually leaving the hotel and stuck close behind
them, looking for all the world like child following neglectful
parents.

This worked well, and she was soon able to get out and
free. Sasami lost no time running toward the sounds of the waves
splashing against the shore.

Once she neared the water, Sasami paused to kick off her
shoes and revel in the cool sand on her feet. She walked forward
more, and soon the waves were washing in around her, chilling her
toes and erasing the prints she left behind her. She didn't stop
until she was knee deep in the water and the froth of the waves
almost touched the bottom of her gown.

"Thank you, Sasami." Miko didn't need to say what for.

"You're welcome." Sasami stared out over the moonlit ocean
at a ship's lights, one of several traveling close to the
horizon. "I miss my parents, too."

"He's out there, you know."

Sasami nodded. "I know. I can feel him."

"I think you should hurry and get away," Miko cautioned.
"I don't want you getting hurt."

"Okay." Sasami grabbed at the material of her gown,
twisting the mouth of the pocket closed and wadding the material
up around the glass. She grabbed it in both hands, then
hesitated. "Miko?"

"Yes, Sasami?"

"I'll remember you. I love you, and I hope you find your
parents."

Miko sighed, crying softly. "I love you, too, Sasami,
thank you. I'll never forget you."

Sasami wiped away a tear and nodded. "Goodbye, Miko."
Then she squeezed the float in the material with all her
strength.

Despite it seeming to be as thin as a soap bubble, the
glass refused to break. Sasami shook it, and hit her hands
together repeatedly, anything to break it. Nothing she tried
worked.

"Sasami! He's coming!" Miko shouted out in warning.

Sasami stopped her futile attempts to bust the float and
looked around, noticing for the first time that the ocean had
turned as flat and still as glass.

Something big and dark broke the water in the center of the
patch of water that reflected the moon's image back up at her.
Something with a humped back, misshapen, horned head, and burning
yellow eyes.

"litttlehuman foolissshgirl..." it said in a voice like the
roar in a seashell, like the bubbles in the depths, "didyou
tthink iwould lett myttreasssure go soeasssy?"


****************


High up in the hotel room shared by the three girls,
Mihoshi's eyes snapped open. "Sasami!"

Kiyone bolted upright an instant later, already realizing
that she was the only one in bed. "Sasami? Mihoshi, find her!"

"She's at the beach!"


****************


Sasami gasped in fright at the demon's appearance, her
heart thudding in her chest. This wasn't how it was supposed to
go.

"ohyesss... thississ how ittalwayss goesss..." the evil
creature bubbled. "come littletthing," it crooned, subtly
beguiling her. "comeswim witthme."

Sasami took a step forward, trembling. "I don't want to,"
she whispered.

"No, Sasami!" Miko cried in her mind. "Get out of the
water!"

"come," it commanded. "you cannottwillnott ressisstt me!"

Sasami stopped. It was surprisingly easy.

"COME!" it roared, and the sea boiled around her.

"No," she replied simply. She could feel the trees she
shared a link with, and the still young sapling that would one
day be her true ship spread its comforting, many-hued power
through her mind and body. No, this little fish could not hurt
her.

"YOU," it roared again, this time not with sound.

"You see, Miko? He's not so scary. He's just all talk."
Sasami glared as fiercely as she was able at the monster in the
sea, who still hadn't gotten any closer to shore.

"isssee..." it said, calming down. "icannot force
littlehumanyou."

"That's right," Sasami said bravely, nodding. "You can't.
The trees protect me."

"Is that what that is?" Miko dared ask, feeling some of the
power channeling into her young protector. "I've never felt
anything like this!"

The ugly, deformed head rose up enough for her to see the
water dripping off its foul teeth and rounded chin. "but ifyou
wantt my ttreasssure... youmusttt _take_ itt fromme..." The
threat given, it slowly slipped back beneath the surface, not
even leaving a ripple in the glassy smooth water to show it had
been there.

Doubt entered Sasami's mind. She didn't know if she could
do that.

"Sasami?" the ghost asked uncertainly.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted, a little scared.
She blinked in astonishment as a perfectly smooth bubble grew out
of the water a few yards out from her, where it was deeper. The
bubble grew bigger and bigger, far beyond anything normally
possible in water.

And then it popped, releasing the sound contained within.

"DIE."

With a horrible sucking sound, a huge area of the ocean
surface dropped out of sight, leaving a crater in the water two
dozen feet across about fifty yards from shore. The surrounding
water began to rush into the hole, but it, too, disappeared.
Soon it was a powerful whirlpool, sucking at everything nearby.

Including Sasami.

The water rushed away from the shore in a torrent, knocking
the little girl off her feet and dragging her kicking and
screaming toward the gaping maw.

"AAAH!" she screamed. "Someone help me!"

"Sasami! Swim hard!" Miko cried encouragingly. "You've
got to make it to shore!"

"I can't!" Sasami cried, panicking. The shore got further
and further away, no matter how hard she kicked and paddled. The
water sucked and pulled at her gown, almost like hands were
dragging her away. Salt water stung her eyes and made them cry,
and the undertow threatened at any moment to carry her beneath
the surface.

"You've got to try! Don't let him get you!"

"Sasami! Saasaamii!"

Her heart leapt, and she caught sight of two figures
running as fast as they could over the beach through her blurry
eyes.

"Hold on, Sasami!" Kiyone called, running down the now
exposed sand where the water should have been.

Hope renewed, Sasami kicked even harder, and soon two pairs
of strong hands were grabbing onto her, helping her keep her head
above water.

"I've got you, Sasami!" Mihoshi said, pulling her back
towards shore.

"But who's got us?!" Kiyone wanted to know.

"AHHH! We're all going to drown!" Mihoshi cried, splashing
about futilely.

"Calm down, Mihoshi! Use your control cube!" Kiyone
ordered.

"Ahhh! We're going to drown!" Sasami cried, finally
panicking.

Mihoshi grabbed it from where it had been clinging to her
waist with one hand and paddled hard with the other. A quick
check showed that they were now only a little ways from the
whirlpool, and picking up speed fast.

"Hurry!"

By sheer chance, or maybe it was some nugget of training
that had actually sank in, Mihoshi twisted it just right the
first time. A big yellow ring materialized around them, and they
found themselves splashing frantically in a foot of water on the
rubbery floor that made up the inside of the ring.

"Quick! Grab the ropes!" Kiyone said, grabbing Sasami and
wrapping a length of rope handhold around them both. Mihoshi
grabbed one as well.

"Miko!" Sasami yelled, letting go with one hand and
grabbing for the glass in her pocket. Amazingly, it was still
there.

"Here we go!" Kiyone cried as their craft pitched over the
rim of the whirlpool and started a short spiral down.

"Whee!" Mihoshi added, caught up in the moment.

They dropped ten feet below sea level, then simply stopped
at the bottom, spinning in time with the water circling around
them.

"Hey, we stopped." Mihoshi looked around in surprise and
wonder.

"We stopped?" Sasami asked, also looking around.

"But, how?" Kiyone wondered.

The water rushed down, nearly to the sea floor, which
wasn't very deep here, and somehow dissipated. But the life raft
was far too buoyant to be pulled beneath the water, and it simply
hung there as the water rushed past to foam and disappear just
below.

"Take THAT you stupid oni!" Sasami called.

The water stopped.

"Uh oh," Mihoshi said, voicing her opinion.

With no force to keep it in shape, the water rushed in from
all sides, nearly drowning them. But despite now being
completely full of water, the super light craft simply popped
back to the surface, actually taking to the air for a moment
before it splashed back down with a chorus of screams.

"Whew! What a ride!"

"Yeah!" Mihoshi agreed. "But, umm... What just happened?"

Kiyone nodded. "Yes, Sasami? Would you mind telling us
why you were out here, alone, nearly getting drowned? And what
made that whirlpool in the water?"

Sasami squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. "It
was the oni."

"What's an oni?" Mihoshi asked.

Sasami shrugged and decided to tell all she knew. "I don't
really know. It's a kind of Earth monster, I think. There was a
girl in that fishing float that I found. The oni put her spirit
in there a long time ago. I was just trying to let her out, but
the monster came and tried to get me."

Kiyone frowned. "A ghost? Does this have anything to do
with what happened earlier?"

Sasami nodded. "Unh huh. It was the oni. It can control
water."

Mihoshi nodded. "Makes sense to me. I've heard of beings
that could do that."

Kiyone glanced at her with an unreadable expression.
"Well, we'd better get back to shore before it attacks again."
Kiyone looked around the small craft. "Mihoshi, where're the
controls?"

"Umm, I don't know. They're here somewhere..."

The two of them started feeling around the sides,
eventually stopping when Kiyone found a small box attached on the
inside of the ring. By pushing at the controls through the
rubbery material, she was able to make the raft move towards
shore under its own power. It was a short trip, and soon they
were standing on sand again while Mihoshi tried to de-materialize
it again.

"Now, Sasami, we need to do something about the spirit,"
Kiyone began.

"Her name is Miko," Sasami said, fishing out the float and
holding it up for inspection. "She wants to thank you for saving
her from the maid."

"Hello, Kiyone," whispered the high, girlish voice in
Kiyone's head.

She jumped.

"Thank you for saving me. And Sasami. You're very brave."

"Oh, err, well," she stuttered, not sure if she liked the
idea of talking with the dead. Such things were strictly taboo
in her home culture.

"Do you have any idea how I can break the float, Kiyone?"
Sasami asked in concern. "Miko says the oni will keep trying to
take her away until he gets her, and she wants to move on."

"Yes, that's a very good idea," Kiyone agreed. "We should
break the seal, somehow. Hey, here's an idea. Let's give it to
Mihoshi. She can break anything."

Mihoshi looked up from a small mountain of building canvas
that had somehow gotten materialized on the beach. "Huh?"

"No, wait, I think I know how," Sasami replied
thoughtfully. "I think I'm old enough, now." She brought the
float back down and cradled it in both hands. She looked up.
"Kiyone? Mihoshi? Will you come with me?"

The dark haired GP officer could only nod.

The two of them walked back into the water, this time
stopping when it covered their ankles. Mihoshi quickly joined
them, picking subspace lint out of her hair.

Sasami stood between them, but separate, her hands clasped
as in prayer with the amber glass trapped between them.

She prayed.

Sasami asked the trees to help her, to give her strength as
she asked. She prayed that Miko would find her parents, wherever
they went. She asked that the evil magic be broken.

A small, floating log appeared in front of her face,
quickly followed by another, and another. Soon there were dozens
of logs surrounding her, hanging motionless in the air.

"Yes," the princess of Jurai said aloud. "I can do this."

"Goodbye, Sasami," Miko whispered. "And thank you, Kiyone,
Mihoshi."

"I'll miss you," Sasami whispered back.

The ocean whirled and splashed around her-

and Sasami crushed the prison between her palms.


****************


"Aren't you going to swim, Sasami? It's your last day on
Earth, you know," Nobuyuki prodded.

He, Katsuhito, and Sasami were still seated in beach chairs
high up on the beach, sipping colas and watching Kiyone and
Mihoshi race to out swim each other along the beach.

"I will," Sasami replied thoughtfully. "But I think I'll
just sit here for a while."

"Well, okay, if that's what you want." Nobuyuki's
expression clearly showed that he'd never met a little girl that
would rather sit and watch others play than actually have fun on
the beach herself.

"Now, now," Grandfather said. "She's probably tired. She
has been swimming for the past two days, you know."

Sasami shook her head. "It's not that. I just want to
remember everything, so I'm looking really hard."

"Ah, you seek to 'etch the image in your mind forever'."
Katsuhito nodded. "Yes, I can understand that."

"Well, Sasami," Nobuyuki said after a moment, "I just want
you to remember that we'll never forget you, and we hope you'll
come back to visit us when you get the chance."

Sasami nodded. "Yes, I'm sure I'll see you again at the
wedding. I'm looking forward to it."

"Our family joined as one..." Tenchi's father said
lovingly. "You know, I've always considered you and Ayeka as if
you were the daughters Achika and I never had."

Sasami smiled. "Thank you. I can't thank you enough for
letting us stay. I've really felt at home here on Earth."

They watched as Mihoshi pulled ahead of Kiyone by about ten
feet, then collided with another swimmer in a tangle of arms and
legs. Kiyone raced by, doing the backstroke so she could laugh
at her partner. Mihoshi's hasty apologies barely made it to
their ears over the spray of water and shrieks of the gulls.

Sasami giggled.

Katsuhito chuckled at the sight. "You know, I bet
traveling with those two is an adventure in its own right.
There's no telling what they'll get into."

Sasami giggled. "Don't worry, Grandfather. I'll look out
for them." More quietly, she added, "Just as they looked out for
us."




Washu: The next chapter is an experimental work where you,
the reader, get to see everything from a first person POV, inside
their head.

Ryoko: In Aurora of Rainbow Fire chapter six part A, ride
along with me as I return triumphantly to my favorite hangout and
show my new pets to my old friends, and take care of a few things
that popped up in my absence.

Ayeka: In AoRF chapter six part B, see things as I when we
visit a notorious den of sin and corruption. Grandmother will be
so excited when she meets _my_ pets.

Tenchi: In part C, you'll get a glimpse of what it's like
to be me.

Washu: Try not to be too critical of Aurora of Rainbow Fire
chapter six, because remember, it's all very experimental.