With
Tenchi still in Tokyo, Ryoko gallivanting about deep space, Washu holed
up in her lab, and Mihoshi and Kiyone on assignment on Pluto, the Masaki
house seems emptier than ever, and the princesses are feeling lonely.
That night, Ayeka
has a nightmare. She is running through a misty forest when she comes
across Ryoko, who has been turned to stone. As the mist parts, she sees
that everyone else, even Ryo-ohki, have also been petrified into stone
statues with expressions of terror on their faces. She hears a wicked
laugh and turns to see Yugi standing over the scene cackling. With a
horrified scream, Ayeka herself is turned to stone, and she topples
to the ground.
Unable to sleep
from the distressingly lucid dream, Ayeka wanders out to the lake shore,
wondering why she feels so apprehensive, when she meets Tsugaru again.
He warns her that her dream may have been a premonition, and disappears
before she can ask him anything else.
The
next morning, Ayeka decides she has had enough. Desperate for a little
company, she resorts to trying to coax Washu out of her lab. As Washu
is not responding to simply knocking at the door, Ayeka tries to knock
down the door with progressively greater force, but to no avail. Having
had no luck with Washu, Ayeka borrows Ryo-ohki so she can fly to Pluto
to speak to Mihoshi and Kiyone.
Somewhere else in
space, Ryoko and Hotsuma are engaged in combat with the Galaxy Police,
who are losing badly. In the heat of battle, Hotsuma tries to flirt
with Ryoko, but she knocks him back.
Meanwhile,
Ayeka commands Ryo-ohki to head for Pluto at top speed. It isn't long
before she encounters a Galaxy Police ship, and as chance would have
it, Mihoshi and Kiyone are aboard. 
Ayeka thinks that their deep cosmic
connection must have drawn them together, but it actually has more to
do with Ryo-ohki exceeding the speed limit. Mihoshi and Kiyone board
Ryo-ohki to issue Ayeka a speeding ticket. Their duty done, Ayeka begs
them to come back to Okayama, telling them about her fears,
but Kiyone refuses to give up her new assignment. Before she leaves,
Kiyone tells Ayeka that Ryoko has been put back on the most-wanted list,
and that she would rather forget her time stuck on Earth.
With no other options,
the downtrodden Ayeka resorts to 'phoning Tenchi to ask him if he can
come home. Tenchi plays down her concerns, telling her she is worrying
too much. Before Tenchi hangs up, Ayeka swallows her bashfulness and
confesses her love for Tenchi. However, Tenchi is distracted by his
boiling kettle, and doesn't hear her. When he gets back to the 'phone,
Ayeka misunderstands his thanking her for calling, and thinks she has
managed to get him back. Her mind set at ease, she becomes ever more
determined to reunite the family.
