2. No Need for Princess!

Aboard the spaceship Ryu-oh, Princess Ayeka finds herself bored by the monotony of her royal schedule- a schedule which duty demands she must not shirk. But that doesn’t mean that she can’t wish for something a little different, and it seems that her wish is soon to be granted.

Back on Earth, Tenchi attempts to get his usual chores done, despite Ryoko’s insistence that he forget about them and spend time with her instead. Meanwhile, Mihoshi is busy setting her Galaxy Police control cube to send a distress signal. Unfortunately, as Ryoko reminds her, on a distant planet like Earth, the chances of rescue are slim to none.

Fortunately for Mihoshi, her luck is in- Ayeka’s ship has picked up the distress signal, and the princess decides to investigate. Landing her ship in the nearby lake, Ayeka teleports out to meet Tenchi and the others, and Mihoshi starts to explain that she is the one who needs rescuing. Unfortunately, Ayeka is not listening- she has spotted her old rival and nemesis, Ryoko.

It is clear that Ayeka and Ryoko are far from pleased to see each other, and soon they are at each other’s throats to the extent that Ayeka decides to leave straightaway. In desperation, Mihoshi grabs onto Ayeka’s robes, pleading that she not be left behind right after receiving a response to her distress call.

Agreeing not to leave Mihoshi stranded, Ayeka decides to take a short break before leaving, and head to the shrine to share tea and cakes with Katsuhito. Whilst Ayeka tells Katsuhito about her home planet of Jurai, back at the main house, Ryoko is busy trying to convince the others of what an evil person Ayeka truly is. Their dislike for each other all began years ago, when a young and innocent Ryoko was busy making a garland in a flower field. The field was in Juraian royal territory, and young Ayeka was quick to drive Ryoko away- not even allowing her to take the flower garland with her.

Heartbroken at Ryoko’s story, Mihoshi decides that this one incident must have been the shaping point of her entire life, turning her to a life of a crime. The somewhat less moved Tenchi decides to take some tea to Ayeka and Katsuhito. Ayeka has just been explaining the weight of the obligation she feels to her royal duties, and Katsuhito suggests that it would do no harm to take a day off. She should enjoy the sights and sounds of planet Earth whilst she is here- and who better to show her around than Tenchi?

As Tenchi takes Ayeka for a tour of the shrine area, she finds herself moved by the unique beauty that Earth has to offer, not to mention strangely drawn to Tenchi himself. As they gaze out over the hills, Ayeka is moved to tears- this unexpected trip to Earth has indeed turned out to be the perfect day off.

Uneasy at not having seen Tenchi in a while, Ryoko sets out to look for him, and is far from pleased to catch up with him and Ayeka out near the lake. As Ayeka and Ryoko begin to argue once more, Mihoshi and Tenchi are forced to separate them. Ayeka quickly takes the opportunity to explain just how bad a person Ryoko is by telling her version of how they first met. According to Ayeka, she was the sweet and innocent girl making a garland in the flower field, when the mean bully Ryoko came and stole it away from her.

The two soon begin arguing over which over their stories is the truth, and when Tenchi tries to intervene, Ryoko cuddles up to him, knowing that this will annoy Ayeka. Angered at the thought of Ryoko being so close to Tenchi, Ayeka decides that it is time for the two of them to settle this once and for all. Whilst Ayeka teleports back to Ryu-oh (with Mihoshi clinging to her so as to not be left behind), Ryoko calls for her own ship, Ryo-Ohki. As Ryo-Ohki flies in from the crash site, Ryoko has it teleport her aboard, and she takes a reluctant Tenchi with her. It is time for a showdown in space.

In high orbit above the Earth, the two ships begin exchanging fire, each hoping to destroy the other. Mihoshi and Tenchi plead with them to stop, but Ryoko and Ayeka are not willing to back down- this is to be a battle to death.

With neither woman having a clear advantage over the other, the battle looks set to drag on for a while- until Ayeka activates visual communications and sees that Tenchi is with Ryoko. Despite Tenchi’s protests to the contrary, Ryoko manages to convince the paranoid Ayeka that she and Tenchi already share a close bond- and that means Ayeka will never have a chance with him!

Upset at Ryoko’s words, Ayeka decides that there is nothing left for her live for- and in that case, she has no compunctions about sending all three of them to their deaths. After ceasing fire, she rams Ryu-oh into Ryo-Ohki, and the two ships spiral out of control, falling into Earth’s atmosphere.

As it turns out, the ships crash into the lake, and fortunately for everyone, no one dies in the impact. However, now that both ships are wrecked, Mihoshi is once again stranded on Earth with little hope of rescue- and now Ayeka and her two ‘log’ guardians Azaka and Kamidake are in the same situation as well.

Unable to adjust to the situation straightaway, Ayeka elects to stay upstairs for a while, hiding herself under a blanket. Even though she does not want to join the others for dinner, however, she seems receptive to Tenchi’s offer that he bring her some hot soup later. And even as the princess calms down and gets over the shock, she begins to wonder if taking an extended vacation on Earth might not be such a bad idea after all.