Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Another Time ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Another Time

By Karete-chan

Chapter 8: Maybe a plot will appear by accident?

A hundred feet below him the clouds parted and blended in a never ending dance. Dende found them calming. They were a pleasant change to the bustling people below them. The clouds were in no hurry to be anywhere or do anything. They just were and that was enough for them. Dende half wished that he was a cloud rather than the newest kami of Chikyuu-sei. But destiny was destiny and even at his young age he new he must rise to the challenge. Besides, he thought as he looked over his shoulder, he had Piccolo to help him; even if he was more than gruff at times.

Dende smiled. What better help could he have? The former kami, one of Chikyuu-sei's greatest warriors and his friend Nail. Conveniently rolled into one package. Convenient because imagine the arguments the three of them would get into if they were separate.

Still gazing down at the swirling clouds he let his senses taper outwards, searching for those he considered his friends. The light of their life forces flickered in his mind, reassuring him of their well being. He sighed happily and then sat up sharply. That had been…wrong.

For a split second there had been a disturbance in the flow. He checked again. It was gone now but…he shivered. The overwhelming feeling of loss, of loneliness had been so out of place within the contentment of most of the souls. Perhaps it had been ChiChi, in a moment of sorrow. He scanned her lightly, not wanting to seem prying. Dende sat back, frowning. Well, if it had been her she seemed fine now.

*****

In fact, ChiChi was more than fine. She was actually grinning as she walked down the dirt, country lane, humming one of her favourite tunes as loud as she could. She would have skipped if she could but the weight of the shopping bags made it impossible.

She was so happy; she was even contemplating inviting everyone to dinner, even Vegeta. Of course that meant she would have to go back to the store again but maybe she talk Kat into doing it when she dropped Gohan back home. They were going to be so surprised!

*****

Gohan ran ahead down the street as they exited the cinema. He liked the city, with its teeming amounts of people and large buildings. Trunks and Kat watched him go.

"I still can't believe that he's the strongest warrior in the world," she said as the boy stopped to pet the head of the dog that had just wandered up to him.

"Do you think he enjoyed the movie?" Trunks asked absently.

"I mean, I know he's only eleven," Kat continued, "but warriors don't skip! Hell, eleven year old boys don't skip."

"I've never been to the cinema before," Trunks said, ignoring her.

"Maybe it's a coping thing? You know, like denial? Second stage: Skipping. I…never?" Her eyes widened as she turned to look at him.

"Well not never," he answered, absently pulling her away from walking into a pole. "I've been inside cinemas, just never seen a movie in one."

"Your world seems a little…"

"Deprived?" he offered.

"No. I was leaning a little more towards…crap."

"What?" he asked scanning the street. "What's wrong?"

She grinned. "Nothing. I meant your world. It sounds like a crappy place."

He stopped walking and stared at her. "That's harsh Kat."

She shrugged and continued after Gohan.

Trunks didn't move. He couldn't believe she'd just said that. He watched as she caught up to Gohan and they spotted an ice cream store, practically racing each other as they made a beeline for it. Sighing, he slowly trudged after them.

It wasn't like she was trying to be cruel, he thought, she told things as she saw them but you'd think she could come up with a better word. His world wasn't crap, it was just…broken and in desperate need of some care.

Entering the store he spotted the two in a corner booth, three sundaes in front of them. He grinned slightly. She had obviously made Gohan wait as the kid was champing at the bit, wanting to eat. He sat down next to Gohan.

"Worked up a bit of a fan club haven't you?" Kat asked nonchalantly as she began to eat her own sundae.

He frowned at her and then looked about the room. He felt his face go red as he spotted the group of giggling girls, who, every five seconds, would turn around and look at him.

"You gonna eat that Trunks?"

Trunks immediately snatched the bowl away from Gohan's outstretched fingers and began to eat. Gohan pouted as Kat grinned at the two of them.

"Hopeless," she said, shaking her head. "Absolutely hopeless."

"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing," Trunks muttered between mouthfuls.

She shrugged. "At least I'd eat neatly enough so as not to gross out my fans." She tipped her head towards the door where the group of, now disgusted looking, girls were beating a hasty retreat.

"At least they've gone," Trunks said, swallowing the last of the ice cream. "And they weren't rude like some people I know," he added, staring pointedly at her.

"I say it like I see it," Kat answered plainly.

"That's just the point. You haven't seen it. You don't know anything about it!"

"About what?" Gohan asked.

"Well I'm so sorry, Mr. High and Mighty. But it can't be that bad if you've got the time to come and visit everyone here." She scowled as she lent back in the booth chair.

"This is the first and only holiday I've ever had in my life!" he hissed. "Don't make it sound so trivial!"

They glared at each other for a moment.

"Gohan," Kat said standing. "I think it's time for us to leave." The young boy nodded. Looking between the two older Saiya-jins he scrambled over the table and followed Kat out the door.

They were halfway down the street by the time Trunks decided to follow them. It looked as if Gohan was trying to talk to her but he could tell by the way her body moved that she cut the young boy off every time he opened his mouth. Trunks scowled. She shouldn't take out her frustration on a kid.

"Have a nice flight, Karete!" He yelled down the street after them, knowing that however childish it was that it would annoy her to no end.

"Up yours, Trunks-Ouji!" she yelled back, not turning around.

*****

Hoping ChiChi didn't blow her top at the kid, Kat ditched Gohan halfway back to his house. She giving him an excuse that even she found lame but she wasn't in the mood for thinking up one that sounded even remotely plausible. Besides the woman should know that the strongest person on Chikyuu-sei wasn't really going to run into too much trouble with muggers.

Skimming the treetops, she flew towards a rocky crag in the distance. The wind buffeted her as got closer and managed to toss her against the cliff face before she could right herself. Winded, she regained her balance and landed softly on the edge and walked away from the tearing winds. She hopped over the boulders strewn here and there as she made her way over to the smoother side of the mountain. After a few minutes she found what she was looking for.

The pterodactyls glanced nonchalantly up at her. She was no threat to them, as they well knew after several weeks of her simply sitting and watching them. Which is what she did now. A few days ago the large eggs of the couple had hatched and they were both busy trying to keep their youngsters mouth full.

Overhead the sun dipped lower in the sky as the two enormous creatures worked. Kat sat silently, taking in each detail, relishing the silence and the peace that the small family gave her. A sudden tingling jerked her to attention and she pulled the small cell phone from her pocket. It was Bulma.

"Hey boss, what's up?"

"Just checking up on you my loyal employee. And also I want to speak to Trunks, can you put him on?"

"I haven't seen Trunks for a couple of hours Bulma."

There was silence. "Oh but I thought you guys had gone to the pictures."

Kat sighed. "We did but I took Gohan home early and then went to check up on something." She smiled as she watched one of the baby pterodactyls clamber awkwardly around their nest. "Hasn't he come back yet?"

"If he'd come back I wouldn't be calling you now, would I?"

Kat idly picked at a loose thread in her t-shirt.

"Kat, are you all right?"

"Fine. Why?"

"It's just not like you to be all quiet like this. What happened?"

"Nothing but…I've been thinking."

"Thinking. Oh no what a terrible thing to have done," Bulma replied sarcastically. "You make it sound like you killed someone." There was a pause. "You didn't, did you?"

"Of course not!"

"Sorry, sorry, standard question for a Saiya-jin. So what were you thinking about?"

Kat looked back down at the small family in front of her. "You know, I think it will be better if I tell you face to face."

*****

ChiChi viciously stirred the batter for the cake she was making. "I can't believe she did that! Has she no idea of responsibility at all? What if something had happened? When I see her again I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!"

Gohan sat at the kitchen table. He had come home and long given up any thought of trying to study. As soon as ChiChi had seen him - alone - she had started and with his mother yelling, there was no way he could concentrate.

Why'd she and Trunks have to start fighting anyway? She was acting like he was Vegeta or something and Trunks looked so angry; I've never heard him yell before. At least not to anyone who wasn't Vegeta. The young boy sighed. Quantum physics is easier to work out than this.

"What if there was an emergency? How is anyone supposed to find her?" ChiChi continued.

"She has her cell, Kassan."

"Do you have the number?"

"Uh, no."

"Irresponsible! How could Bulma have given her such an important job? She can't even look after one boy for four hours!"

Gohan sighed and settled in for a night of it.

*****

Light flashed as Vegeta batted away a stray ki blast. It bounced off a reflector and he flipped to dodge it. His back was bathed in warmth as it exploded against the inner shell of the gravity machine. He grinned. Today was a good day. He had overheard one of the most pleasing conversations of his life. Not that he eavesdropped all the time - that would be dishonourable. But this, this had been too good an opportunity to pass up.

The onna had definitely not been happy with Kakarott's sister; that had been plain as soon as he had entered the house. If the onna had been any louder he would have had to cover his ears. The girl was probably half deaf already and having his son screaming `Creet!" at the top of his lungs didn't help much either.

He floated over to the console and increased the gravity again before setting the parameters for the next exercise. None of them would be happy with her by the time the news got around, which meant he would be seeing a lot less of the brat. Hope wasn't something he'd been taught to hold onto but the thought of the girl actually moving out wouldn't leave his mind.

The small reflectors moved into position. He was in such a good mood that he might even let Trunks use the gravity room on his own tonight.

*****

The sun had just dipped below the horizon as Trunks landed in Capsule Corp.'s back yard. He glanced over at the Gravity machine. Lights shone through the windows telling him that Vegeta was still inside. He thought about asking to spar, and then thought better of it, knowing full well the futility of that. Sighing he turned and trudged inside.

After he had left Kat and Gohan in the city he had wandered around for a good three hours, doing absolutely nothing. He had walked through several malls and he knew that more than a few girls had followed him only giving up when their feet had gotten tired. He had wanted to be alone but that wish wasn't granted as he had run into Krillen. The short man had obviously been up for a conversation and had held him up for the longest half an hour Trunks had ever lived through. He hadn't taken in a word and had been saved only by chance.

Krillen had spotted Juuhachi-gou walking by through the large glass windows of a department store and had excused himself hurriedly to follow her. Trunks was so distracted that he hadn't even felt disgust as his friend chased after his enemy.

Eventually after his hours of wandering Trunks had found himself back outside the theatre they'd been earlier that day. The place was alive with light and people laughed and talked loudly as they walked in and out of the heated building. They passed him by without noticing. I should have known better, he'd thought as he watched the people around him, she is only sixteen after all, no matter how smart she is; just like Gohan's only a kid under all his strength. A girl Kat's age walked past dragging her father by the hand. I shouldn't have expected her to understand. He had turned and looked down the street at the ice cream store. She couldn't have understood. She probably wondered why I was so angry. He smirked. And was annoyed because I reminded her of Otousan. He stood for a while longer, until the crowds had disappeared inside. Then he decided to go home.

As he walked through the back door into the kitchen he met Bulma coming the other way. She was all dressed up and hurriedly trying to put an earring on.

"Oh, Trunks. Thank goodness." Now she was hopping on one foot, trying to get her shoe on. "The baby's upstairs and asleep. If he wakes up there's food in the fridge. Vegeta's dinner is in there as well. I won't be back till late and you know where the emergency numbers are." Now she was applying lipstick using the fridge as a mirror.

"What about the others?"

Bulma grabbed her bag off the table. "Kassan dragged Tousan to some society ball," her face pulled into an angry scowl, "and Kat won't be back for a couple of weeks." Composing herself she sighed. "Have fun," she called as she ran out the door.

Trunks stood in the kitchen, struck dumb and was still standing there when Vegeta walked in, smiling. A couple of weeks? But…I'll be gone by then.

Author's note:

I am so, so sorry for how long it has taken for me to get this chapter out. *hangs head in shame* I just couldn't find the way to link through to the end of the story (of course it doesn't help that I just spent a month in Alaska).

I write quite badly you see. No planning ever really occurs within my head and it definitely never makes it down on to paper. I wrote those first six chapters in a row, and then wrote a bunch of stuff for the end of the story. Chapter seven was lucky as I had a flash of inspiration for the second half.

Another thing I shouldn't be trying to do is write…let me think…I think it's eight fics at the same time. *sigh* Bad planning! Bad! You see the sad thing is I prefer the sequel to this story than I do this one. Yes that's right! Groan loudly! Kat won't disappear after this is ended! *laughs evilly as she crushes dreams of all young fic readers everywhere* Unfortunately I have to finish this one first grr. I daresay not many people will like me by the end of this first instalment but do not let that put you off reading! It won't be happening for a while yet.

I have to thank all of those who reviewed. It has been months since they were posted but I reread them again just before I wrote this and they made me cringe in shame because they liked my story and I failed them by not writing anything for four months.

Once again I apologize and beg you to keep reading and reviewing (because otherwise you'll never get to see the sequel which, in my opinion, is better) and I hope you all have a lovely day.

Sayonara,

Karete.