On
the planet of Jurai, a young girl is playing in a field. It is Princess
Ayeka as a child. As she makes a crown of flowers, she spots a beautiful
purple bloom, and gives it to her half-brother Yosho. Yosho tells her
that the flower, a royal teardrop, is meant for sad occasions. The scene
jumps to a few years later, as Yosho is leaving to fight Ryoko. Ayeka
runs after him, begging him not to go, but as he turns he changes into
Tenchi, who tells her that Yosho is dead. Tenchi gives her the master
sword, and it bursts into flames as Ayeka wails with grief.
Ayeka wakes up screaming
from her dream. She gazes out of the window, and spots Ryoko strolling
across the surface of the lake. Ryoko is busy looking for something,
and she soon spots it; a large black egg in the middle of the wreckage
of her spaceship, Ryo-ohki.
A
short while later, Sasami has finally persuaded her sister to set foot
outside her bedroom. In the living room, they find Ryoko gleefully caressing
the egg, which she tells Sasami was laid that morning. Seizing the opportunity
to tease Ayeka, Ryoko tells her that Tenchi is the egg's father. Tenchi
is spared from further confusion when the egg hatches into a cute half-cat,
half-rabbit creature called Ryo-ohki; it is, of course, the offspring
of Ryoko's deceased spaceship. Ayeka leaves in a huff and bumps into
Tenchi's grandfather along the way. She is startled to notice a certain
familiarity about him. Meanwhile, with Ayeka out of the way, Ryoko asks
Tenchi where the sword is, and is distressed to find out that he has
given it back to Ayeka. Tenchi's grandfather enters and manages to cop
a feel of Ryoko. She tries to land a punch on him, but her attack is
blocked without any apparent effort, much to her confusion.
Outside, Ayeka mopes
at the lakeside where her spaceship crashed until her grieving is interrupted
when Ryo-ohki tries to comfort her. Annoyed, she tries to shoo Ryo-ohki
away, then walks off into the woods, closely followed by Ryo-ohki. In
the woods, she spots a flower similar to the royal teardrops found on
Jurai, and she breaks down in tears. However, Ryo-ohki brings her a
pretty flower to cheer her up, and Ayeka finally begins to warm to her.
A
little later, as Ayeka follows Ryo-ohki through the woods, she spots
Tenchi undergoing sword training with his grandfather. She notices that
the sword techniques Tenchi is learning are very similar to those taught
on Jurai, and she climbs a tree for a better look. Unfortunately, she
falls and twists her ankle, leaving her unable to walk. As Tenchi's
grandfather is dressing her wound, she asks him about the fighting style
she saw them using, but he quickly changes the subject and asks Tenchi
to carry her home. As they are walking back, a sudden rainstorm means
they have to shelter in a storage shed. As they wait for the rain to
ease off, Ayeka tells Tenchi why she was looking for her brother.
Once
the rain has stopped, Tenchi takes her to see the holy tree of the Masaki
shrine. Ayeka recognises it as the life tree belonging to her brother's
ship. Realising that if the tree is still alive then her brother must
also be alive, she cheers up slightly. She uses the sword to activate
the tree's memory, and it replays the events that led to Yosho being
stranded on Earth, and how he defeated Ryoko by drawing the gems out
of her and into the sword. When the playback ends, Ayeka gives the sword
back to Tenchi, asking him to use it to protect her until she finds
Yosho. Their conversation is interrupted by Ryoko and Sasami, who have
come to find them. Ryoko is delighted to see Tenchi has recovered the
sword, at least until Ayeka reveals that she gave it back. Ryoko storms
off in a temper, while Ayeka leads Tenchi back home, leaving Sasami
to wonder just what went on between them.
