Jurai no Nozomi: Snippet "Nozomi and Kaede"
Self explanatory really. This scene was intended just as fun to give some idea as to what's happened with the Tennan family. Nozomi meets Kaede Tennan :D Junior, that is..;)

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The training ground was quiet when Nozomi reached it, pausing for a moment as she glanced all around her for any sign of the Prince or his entourage. Finding that they were not there, however, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe the Empress had an errand for him." She murmured. "This place is a minefield. Finding anywhere quiet to think and escape is just impossible. Why is it that tacking five letters to the end of my name makes me so much different from the girl who goes to school and lives a normal life on the Earth? Why is Nozomi Masaki Jurai not still Nozomi Masaki? I wish I knew. I wish I understood."

As she reached the furthest edge of the training ground, she became aware of the sound of a young girl's voice, seemingly reprimanding someone in a determined, firm tone. Half-fearing that Shigure had arrived at his favourite haunt unexpectedly, she tensed, approaching the source of the noise cautiously, but as she turned around the corner, she saw the speaker for the first time. A girl, no more than twelve summers old stood alone in the middle of the empty ground, a light sword clutched in her small, delicately crafted fingers. She was slightly built, yet somehow Nozomi realised that there was nothing fragile or feeble about this child. She was dressed in clothing not dissimilar to the style Shigure had been wearing the first time they had met, and yet it did not seem wrong for her to be wearing such a masculine, tailored outfit. Her thick wavy hair was pulled back from her face in a single tail, a bandana tied around her brow to keep the wisps that framed her face from getting into her eyes and distracting her concentration. Determination filled the distinctive teal gaze, and Nozomi had the strangest sensation that she had seen this girl somewhere before.

At this moment, the child seemed to register the fact she had company, and she turned, flickering her blade off as she offered the newcomer a slight, surprised smile.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." Nozomi held up her hands apologetically. "I was just looking for somewhere quiet to think. That's all."

The girl's features lit up with a sunny smile at this, breaking the image of the young warrior as she bowed her head, slipping the hilt of her sword into her belt.

"It's all right." She said amiably. "You're the Lady Nozomi, aren't you? My Father's told me a lot about you."

"That's me." Nozomi agreed. "I mean, well, yes. I'm Nozomi." She frowned. "Your father? I'm sorry, but..."

"My name is Kaede Tennan." The girl stepped forward, offering her hand in the peculiar Juraian greeting Nozomi had observed several times since her arrival on the planet. Hesitantly and clumsily she returned it, and her companion dimpled, tilting her head as she eyed Nozomi thoughtfully.

"Tennan?" That girl said now. "Oh! So your father...Lady Sasami's advisor is...?"

"Yes, that's right." Kaede nodded, her ponytail bobbing as she did so. "My Father is a member of the Empress's council, but most of the time he works for Lady Sasami. And Lady Sasami is interested in you, so so is Father. He told me that he was going to your Earth world to fetch you and bring you back to Jurai. Is it true that you're going to marry Prince Shigure?"

"Marry him?" Nozomi's amber eyes widened and she stared at the youngster in dismay. "Why would I do that? I mean, I only came here to see Jurai, and well, to help...I don't know how, but somehow. Noone's said anything to me about marriage."

"Ah, well, you're a stranger here, so you probably don't know all about it." Kaede said calmly, taking Nozomi's hand and leading her towards the side of the training ground. Nozomi, non-plussed, did not resist, inwardly confused by the self-possessed attitude of this girl so clearly not yet in her teens. "Your world probably isn't like this one. Father says that the Earth has some very beautiful views, but some strange ideas about people and stuff like that. So maybe you're not used to the way things work on planet Jurai. It's all right, though. I'm sure that Lady Sasami will make sure you understand everything soon, Nozomi-hime."

"I wish people would stop calling me Princess." Nozomi admitted. "I...I don't know how to take it, when they do. But what do you mean? What should I understand?"

"Well, you're a Princess." Kaede said slowly, and Nozomi had the impression that the girl thought her simple indeed. "And Lord Shigure is a Prince. And Lord Takeru, according to my Father, is always trying to find a bride of true blood to marry his son. Prince Shigure is a very strong fighter, you know. My Father trains him too, and I know he's the best soldier on Jurai at present, aside from Papa of course. But he can't marry just anyone. And if he hasn't got Jurai's power, well, he has to marry someone who does."

She dimpled again, seeming the young girl once more.

"And you are Lord Tenchi's daughter, Nozomi-sama. So that's why it's going to be you, I suppose."

Nozomi stared at the child, aghast.

"You mean that I was...that they...they brought me all the way here to marry me off to Shigure?" She asked faintly. "Are you serious? Is that truly what they want me to do?"

"Father says so. I've heard him discuss it with Mother." Kaede seemed amused by her discomfiture. "Didn't you know?"

"But I'm only sixteen!"

"That's nothing." Kaede dismissed this with a flick of her fingers. "Sometimes Princesses get married as young as thirteen, so I've been told. Once they've come of age, and all."

She grinned, revealing a row of perfect white teeth.

"Next summer, I will be old enough to marry, if Father and Mother permit it." She added. "But I don't want to marry yet. I think boys are kind of disgusting, really. Besides, I don't think Papa would allow it."

"I should hope not." Nozomi gathered herself, then, "How old are you then, Kaede-sama?"

"I'm twelve. But I will be thirteen." Kaede said with a grin. "And you don't have to call me Lady, Princess Nozomi. It's all right. I mean, you're a Princess, and I'm younger than you are. So you can just call me Kaede. I shan't mind. I don't like being called Lady Kaede anyway. It makes me sound old, and besides, Kaede was my Grandmother's name. When people say Kaede-sama, they usually mean her. I'm not that Kaede, so I don't like to be called it."

Nozomi was silent for a moment, her mind in a whirl, and Kaede tilted her head on one side, absorbing her companion's demeanour pensively.

"Your world must be really, really different, huh?" She asked at length. "But you know, I think you're pretty. And Prince Shigure is very handsome. A lot of the older girls at court would like to marry him, if they could. So it'll be all right, in the end. Won't it?"

"I'm not here to get married." Nozomi said slowly. "I came to visit Jurai, not move here! That's the last thing I expected to find...I don't even have a boyfriend back home, let alone..."

She faltered, then shook her head.

"And Prince Shigure feels the same way." She added. "He doesn't like me very much, and I'm sure he'd rather not be forced into a match that just isn't going to work out. It's crazy! When I tell Mother..."

"Your Mother and Father probably know all about it." Kaede shrugged her shoulders, and Nozomi had that impression of self-possession once again. "Parents usually do, you know, when their children are going to get married."

She grinned.

"I know you're Lord Tenchi's daughter, and the child of the Lady Ryoko, the Pirate Princess." She added. "I know you must have been training too, Nozomi-hime. Will you help me train? It's so boring on my own, and most of the girls aren't interested in learning to use a sword. The boys are all older than me, except my brother, and he's only seven years old even now. They don't like fighting with a girl."

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Papa is so busy at the moment, since the Honoured Emperor's death, and Okaa-san is away from Jurai right now." She added. "It's so dull here, on my own. Will you stay and talk to me?"

Nozomi stared for a moment, then she gathered her wits, offering the girl a smile.

"You really must want to be like your father, huh?" She asked softly. Kaede pinkened, nodding her head.

"I love my Father." She admitted. "Mother too, of course. But...but in a way...Father more. That sounds really bad, I know, because I do love my Mother a whole lot. She's the kind of person people respect, because she's so smart and everything, and she's kind, too. But Father and I have always...always been close. And I was named after his mother, who he loved so much - I guess that's why. When I was five, I saw him training the Prince and I wanted to learn too. So he taught me, and I've worked so hard ever since. He says one day I'll be as good as any soldier, and I know I will be. But some people are so silly, here. They don't think girls should fight with the Juraian light-sword. They think that it's a man's weapon, and it sucks."

"So it does." Nozomi mused. "Jurai seems to have rules for everything."

"Well, Father says that it's a drawback of being born as nobility." Kaede sighed, as if the weight of the world was on her young shoulders, and despite herself, Nozomi smiled.

"One day, then, you'll be Lady Tennan, will you?" She asked gently. Kaede started, then she nodded her head.

"Yes, one day. But not for a very long time, because Father's not so very old yet." She replied seriously. "But when I am, I'll have to do all the things he does, like go to the Council and swear loyalty to the Prince and the Empress and do all those things. And I want to be able to do it properly, Nozomi-hime. It's always been a man, before. I mean, Papa's a man, and Grandpa was, and his father was one too. So I'll be the first girl in a long time."

Nozomi blinked for a moment, then grinned as she understood the child's meaning.

"So normally there's a boy to inherit, but not in your case?" She asked. "I suppose that I'm in the same boat." As Kaede nodded soberly, unaware of how amusing her explanation had been. "I mean, they've talked about me as a claimant to a throne that should really be Prince Shigure's, just because of Jurai's power. And the only reason they're interested in me is because I'm descended from Lord Azusa. There hasn't been an Empress on Jurai before Lady Ayeka in a long time, has there? It seems kind of strange."

"Men are silly. Boys, too." Kaede said categorically. "All except Prince Shigure, and my Father. All the others are silly. And a lot of them smell really bad after they finish their training, but they don't go take a bath unless they're made to. I don't know what's so great about them, really. They don't seem to be all that smart."

Nozomi laughed.

"I see." She said playfully. "But not Prince Shigure?"

"No." Kaede looked thoughtful. "No, he's really nice to me, usually. He encourages me, whenever he sees me training. Only he's too busy, as Prince, to do much with me. But he respects Papa, and he respects me too. He knows I'm taking after Papa, so he isn't rude to me like the others are. Even though my mother isn't Juraian, Prince Shigure's never mean to me."

"Your mother's not from Jurai? Like me?" Nozomi was taken aback. Kaede shook her head.

"No." She replied. "Her family are farming folk, from a rural planet some way out West. Sometimes people say things...and I don't like it, when they do. But Prince Shigure never does. He always talks of Mother with respect...and that's how he should talk about her, so he's a good Prince, isn't he? He must be, considering that. Mother is important in the Galaxy Police, you know, and Papa used to be an Elite there - that's how they first met, I think. She's better than a lot of the Ladies on Jurai. But some people are stupid. They just don't get it."

She spread her hands in a helpless shrug.

"But your mother is like mine, isn't she?" She continued. "She's not from Jurai, either. Not really. So you understand...and if you're going to be the Prince's wife, Lady Nozomi, I'd like to be friends with you."

"I never said I was going to be Shigure's wife!" Nozomi said hurriedly. "Believe me, I'm not in any hurry to be that, now or ever! But you are right, about my mother. And whyever Prince Shigure respects your Lady Mother, Kaede - he doesn't share the same view of mine. You've been lucky - but he might not like you spending time with me, in the long run."

"Oh, he wouldn't care." Kaede shrugged her shoulders. "Papa calls me Kae-chan, and you can too, if you like. I mean, I am younger than you. And you're a Princess, so I can't call you Oneesan, not really. But I still want to be friends with you, Lady Nozomi!

"I won't object to that." Despite herself, Nozomi smiled. "And...and if you want to call me Oneesan, I'd sort of like that. I don't have any brothers or sisters...so noone ever calls me Oneesan."

"But you're a..."

"On my world I'm just Nozomi Masaki." Nozomi shook her head. "And surely it's all right, if I've said I don't mind?"

"I guess so." Kaede seemed to be thinking this over. Then she grinned, nodding her head. "All right then. I'll call you Oneesan. I've never had a big sister either."

"So you have one brother, and that's it?" Nozomi questioned. Kaede shook her head.

"I have a sister as well." She replied. "Sumi. But she's only just a baby really - she's only five and she's more interested in flowers and girly stuff than learning how to fight like Papa and Kamidake-san and the others who serve Lady Sasami. I think I'd like to serve Tsunami one day too, you know. After all, the Tennan family have a really long history of serving their Emperors and being fighting people. I want to be like them - a true Tennan, like my ancestors."

She swung her blade experimentally.

"I know I'll be good enough, with a tutor like Papa." She added. "And I'd like it if you'd train with me, today. Papa says you have some training - that Lady Ryoko has taught you since you were small, and I know you have Jurai's Power. Will you help me? It's lonely, working out here on my own."

"Well, I suppose so." Nozomi frowned, but nodded her head. "I'm not really a swordswoman though. I mean, Father has taught me a little, and Great Grandpa has, too. I know a lot of basic moves with sticks, but I was never all that good at it. I rely more on my other power - but my magic...isn't quite like Okaa-san's in that respect. She can make hers into a light sabre, but I can't do that with mine. I'm not really used to, well, battling that way."

"So your magic is pirate magic too?" Kaede's malachite eyes became huge. "For real? How cool is that?!"

"I guess I don't really know what it is." Nozomi admitted. "A mix of a lot of things, I think. Mongrel magic - whatever it is, it's not pure anything."

"It must be really cool to have magic." Kaede looked wistful. "My family don't have any. Father says he's glad of it - that working for Lady Sasami brings him as close to magic as he ever wants to be. But I'm not sure. It must be really neat...I wish we did."

"I don't know." Nozomi looked pensive. "On the Earth, none of the other people my age have anything like it. And I usually have to keep it a secret. Sometimes I wouldn't mind not having it at all, to be honest. And especially if it meant I could go home now, instead of being here."

"Are you homesick?" Kaede asked softly, her malachite eyes big with curiosity and compassion. Nozomi nodded.

"Yes." She agreed. "It's summer on my world too, and the mountains are so nice in the summer time. I keep wondering what all my friends are doing - where they're going, if they're hanging out at the beach...I really don't want to stay on Jurai forever, Kae-chan. It's a beautiful world, but it isn't my world."

"You might get used to it." Kaede said pragmatically. "Papa says there's nowhere in the universe as good to live as within Jurai's borders. I'm sure you would, when you'd had time to make friends here and everything."

"But my family and everything I've always known is there." Nozomi bit her lip. "And if you're right - if they really do want me to marry Shigure - does that mean that Mother and Father might leave me here? That I might have left the Earth without saying goodbye to anyone or anything like that? I don't think I could stand that...I really hope you're wrong. He doesn't like me anyway...and I don't want to marry anyone unless I'm in love with him."

Kaede looked thoughtful at this, then she shrugged her shoulders.

"Papa married Okaa-san because he loved her, even though she wasn't a lady." She acknowledged. "And he always says he doesn't regret it. Maybe you're right. Maybe you should fall in love with Prince Shigure first. But it's all right, Nozomi-neesan. He's handsome and he's kind, so I'm sure you will, when you know him better. That's how it works, isn't it? And you are the same age. You should just give it some time. I'm sure it will work out. Papa thinks that it could, because I heard him and Okaa-san talking before she headed off to the Galaxy Police base yesterday morning. And Papa is always right."

"Is he?" Nozomi looked doubtful. "I don't know. I'm not sure that it's as simple as that."

She pursed her lips.

"So what does your mother do, exactly? I mean, for this Galaxy Police?" She asked. Kaede grinned, pride glittering in her expression.

"She's a Senior Judiciary Agent based in the Jurai division." She said importantly. "It means that she's pretty much in charge of the whole of the Juraian space sector and so she's very important. She's like a commander but she has to process evidence, hear complaints and make all kinds of decisions as well as investigate problems and write reports. And she's tough at her job, too. I mean, she's always fair. She never shows favouritism, no matter what the case is."

She giggled.

"Once or twice she's made Lord Haru cross because of it." She remembered. "Have you met Lord Haru? He's Prince Shigure's Grandfather."

"Vaguely, perhaps." Nozomi nodded. "Why would he be cross? Because she made a decision he didn't like?"

"Because Mother can't be bribed." Kaede said simply, then she flushed, realising what her words had implied. "Not that Lord Haru would bribe her or anything, but what I mean is, even if Jurai is involved, Mother doesn't play favourites. It means that everyone in the Galaxy Police really respects her to get the job done. Like I said, she's really important and smart, too. And Lord Haru gets frustrated by it - he's so funny when he's angry, and Lady Ayeka just tells him to calm down and chalk it up to diligence on Okaa-san's part. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I know Lady Ayeka likes Mother a lot, and so does Lady Sasami. I guess it must be because she's so fair."

"But it means she's away a lot?"

"Sometimes." Kaede frowned. "I mean, when she's at base, it's usually for three or four days at a time. But it's okay. It just makes it better, when she comes home. And it's not like noone else is at home. Papa is usually there, and even when he's not, Tokimi's there."

"Tokimi?" Nozomi blinked, then, "My grandmother's sister is called Tokimi. Is that...?"

"Yes." Kaede agreed. "That's right. She's always lived with us, and she's always there to play with even if Papa or Okaa-san aren't home. And there's the servants as well, of course, but Mother never wanted us to have nannies or anything impersonal like that. In a way Tokimi was like that person, although she's...well, she's just Tokimi. She's not an Aunt, a sister or a nanny, really. She's all three somehow. Have you met her yet? If not, I'm sure I can introduce you. In a way, I suppose, you're her great niece, aren't you? I'm sure she'd love to meet you - I know she's very fond of Lady Washu."

"Maybe later." Nozomi responded with a grin.