Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Crossroads ❯ Interlude aka The chapter that refused to be written ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.

A/N: Another chapter, yay! Sorry it came out so late, and it probably sucks, but I had some serious problems with it. Anyway, enjoy :-)

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"Oh great. And now what?" Zura muttered as he looked down at the mop of tangled dark hair. Svenja's breathing had deepened into the steady rhythm of sleep, the violent sobs from before gone.

He didn't know whether he wanted her to wake so that he could ease the cramp he was getting in his leg, or to wish for her to stay asleep so he could delay the awkwardness, the headache-enforced grouchiness and the snapping that he knew always came after heavy crying. Though he wasn't sure whether that would apply here too.

He had never seen someone breaking down so utterly and completely as Svenja had, and it had made him feel somehow uneasy, as if he had seen something personal he'd had no right to witness. But there had been no denying the grief and desperation emanating from her in ever-increasing waves he had thought he could almost see. He had surely sensed them, the high level of empathy being a legacy of his race he'd gladly give away if possible. He had felt an irrational rush of guilt for being the one having caused her breakdown, something all bearers of bad news experience, no matter how irrational that sentiment was. In the end he had done the only thing he could think of, offering something substantial and real, the literal shoulder to cry on, and it had been accepted.

Cursing under his breath at the flashes of pain his movement induced he shifted until he supported her shoulders with only his arm, and eased her back to the ground. He tilted his head and looked down at Svenja's still and sleep-relaxed face, and as an afterthought he took off what was left of his jacket and put it carefully under her head.

He stood up slowly and rolled his shoulders, glancing down at his ship at the bottom of the slope. It didn't seem as if he'd be able to get away from here anytime soon, so he'd better go and salvage whatever he could. And he'd get the physical exercise he needed, too. Zura walked down the slope and got to work.

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Svenja woke disoriented, with a pounding headache and the feeling she had been run over by something heavy. With spikes. She opened her eyes only to squeeze them shut again when the daylight seemed to burn through her retina right into her brain, giving the throbbing pain in her head an additional boost. Groaning she lifted her hands to her head, the cool palms pressing on her face feeling like balm. What the hell had happened?

An instant later the memory rushed back and her arms fell nervelessy to her sides.

Stranded on a weird planet. Almost squashed by a spaceship. The strange guy who had stranded here too had no idea how to get out. And then she had completely lost it.

"Fuck!" The heartfelt exclamation came out as a croak but summed it all up pretty well.

"You're awake. About time," a voice floated to her from somewhere to the left. She turned her head and saw Zura sitting a few meters away and rummaging in a large bag next to him.

She grunted and rubbed a hand over her face. "Gods, I feel like shit," she muttered, disgusted at the bitter taste in her mouth.

"Fitting. You look like shit," came the prompt and rather cheery response. Svenja hissed in annoyance but had to admit he probably had a point. If she looked even half as awful as she felt… But still.

"Asshole." She growled and suppressed the urge to jump up and strangle him on the spot when he snorted in amusement.

"What are you…" She started to ask, getting up in a sitting position, when her hand touched something smooth that was definitely not rubble. She picked it up, a torn and ripped piece of cloth, sticky in places and with some strange drawing that could be writing of some kind or simple decoration on a sleeve. It was still warm where her head had lain on it.

Her eyes turned to Zura who hadn't stopped his rummaging except for a quick glance in her direction when she hadn't finished her question. "Thanks," she said.

He halted his search and blinked perplexedly . "Oh. Never mind," he said when he realized what she meant and continued his exploration into the depth of the bag with renewed vigour. "I could move more freely without it anyway." He muttered almost defensively, as an afterthought.

"Still, thank you." She repeated and had to grin at the uncomfortable and irritated expression he wore.

"What's so funny?" He asked suspiciously before she could say anything further, then, "here, catch!"
Something solid smacked hard at the arm Svenja had raised reflexively in defence. "Hey!" She yelled and rubbed her arm, shooting him an angry glare. She picked up the projectile and frowned quizzically at the cylindrical-shaped form. "What's that?"

"Water. You have to open it here." he demonstrated with another one.

'Water!' The mere mention of it made her realize how thirsty she was. Mimicking his movements she managed to open the can-shaped thing and drank in hurried gulps, relishing in the soothing sensation of the liquid running down her parched throat. "Thanks, I really needed that!" She sighed happily when she was finished.

Zura put his own drink down and looked at her with a serious expression.

"How do you feel?" He asked, and Svenja knew at once what he meant. She looked down for a moment and plucked at the fabric of her former pillow. She had managed to avoid thinking about it for the few moments she'd been awake. Now that she had no other choice but to face the issue she felt curiously empty, kind of detached, as if she was looking inside herself from the outside. Whether it was some kind of healthy mental self-protection or just simple cowardice - she had no idea, and she didn't really care. Trying to analyse her emotions from this disconnected position was a bit creepy and felt very weird, but she tried to do it as thoroughly and honestly as she could.

"I don't know," she said quietly, "okay, I guess. I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel. I mean…." She struggled for words and shrugged, raising her head, "I never had a nervous breakdown before. If that's what it was. I feel… weird, confused, empty, angry… But if you want to know whether I'm going to lose it again - no. At least not right now."
She gave him a piercing look. "I want to get away from here. I want to know what happened and why. I want to go home!" She cursed the quavering her voice betrayed in the last words and swallowed.

Zura had watched her silently throughout her speech and nodded in confirmation. "You're not the only one. When I find the one responsible for this shit he's going to regret it," he said darkly.

"And I'll be right behind you." Svenja promised savagely. "But to do that we have to get away from here. Any ideas?" she asked, clearly expecting a negative reply and blinked perplexedly at the sudden grin on his face.
"I think so," he said smugly. "While you were sleeping I picked up some things." He indicated the small pile of bags a short distance away. "I think I can make one of the transmitters work and send an emergency signal."
Svenja jumped to her feet, elation washing though her. "Really? Oh cool! Someone's going to pick us up? When?" she asked excitedly.

"It's only a middle range transmitter, only someone close will hear it. This part of space doesn't have a lot of traffic though. But I guess we'll be out of here in about three or four weeks."

On Svenja, that statement had the same deflating effect pulling the plug on an air-filled ball had. "Three or four weeks?! We're going to starve! Or do you have food for several weeks?"

"Actually, yes."
She ignored his answer and sat down rather abruptly. "Three or four weeks…"
"Um… maybe earlier." Zura said quickly and slightly panicked when she suddenly started to giggle. "Uh…"
"Sorry...that's just too…. " she managed to get out before breaking out in laughter, amplified by his bewildered expression. She didn't even know what was so funny in the beginning, but she couldn't help it. Probably some after-effect of the collapse earlier, but she didn't give a damn. Laughing just felt damn good

"You're completely insane," he stated and shook his head, failing to suppress a grin.

"Maybe," she grinned when she had calmed down a little

"Since you're feeling that good now, you can help me with getting those bags back to the building." Zura said and stood up slowly.

"Right. Just don't throw them at me, okay?"

"It's not my fault you're so slow."

Svenja snorted and scrambled to her feet, walking over to the pile and grabbed several bags.

"Say," she said between gradually subsiding bouts of sniggering, "what about your ship? Can't you fix it somehow?"
"Nope. Not without the right equipment. It's not even habitable." He grunted, clearly off-balance with the rest of the bags in one hand and the other cradling his tail.

"What's in them?" she asked when they reached their destination and dropped their load. "Food, water, some tools to gain clean water from rain if necessary, some other stuff…. The food's concentrated. Not filling but enriched with vitamins and other stuff needed to survive for a longer period."

"How come you're so prepared?" she asked dubiously. He shrugged. "I've had to stay in rotten places for some time before, once or twice. I like to be prepared."

Svenja nodded thoughtfully. She had no idea what exactly he was talking about, but it made sense.

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Some minutes later they sat in silence, with Svenja still having the strange taste of Zura's so-called food in her mouth. They had settled near the corner the increased wind reached the least, Svenja clutching the wine bottle she had found, the only thing left from what she had originally brought to this cursed place, miraculously still intact. Besides that she had only found empty containers still releasing a delicious scent, left-over crumbs and a damp and torn paper bag. She felt adrift again, without any clue of what to do or where to go. Only this time the feeling was threaded with angry determination. She would get back, somehow. She hoped Zura was right and they would be rescued from here soon. And if, no, when this happened she was one step further down the road home.

She wondered at their change of behaviour to each other. It felt more… easy, more like an unspoken truce. The suspicion of before was still there, dormant and faintly in the background. Not much time had passed since she had woken up, but the general mood wasn't as strained and hostile as it had been before. She didn't know what had caused it on his side, and herself…. She hadn't have enough time to really digest what had happened, to clear her thoughts and sort out her feelings. There were just too many more pressing matters to deal with for her to spend any energy in maintaining a wary stance that was probably unwarranted. She remembered the reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, and the gratitude she had felt, clutching him as a solid substitute for the ground that had been ripped out from under her feet. For that she was grateful, and it had raised her opinion of him considerably. Which didn't mean everything would be completely different now, she was more than ready to deal with any smart-ass comments from him or anything else.

"What are you thinking of?" His voice ripped her out of her musings.

"Huh?" She blinked. "Oh. Nothing important. What about the transmitter? Does it take long to make it work?"

"No, not very, but I need better light for it. In a few hours…" he sighed, and Svenja looked closely at him. She had been so busy with her own problems and thoughts to take notice of his state. There were signs of strain and exhaustion clearly visible on his face, its colour considerably paler than when he had woken up.

"Need another session with your Healing Enhancer thing?" She asked, not liking the idea one bit. It was selfish, sure, but she didn't like to be alone with herself right now. With guilty relief she saw the him shaking his head. "No, it wouldn't work. It did all it could, the rest is up to my body."

"Say," she said hesitatingly after a moment, "do you think I could use it?" She had already been exposed to whatever bacteria this planet's air had, had consumed both water and food of which she had no idea whether it was poisonous or having weird side-effects on her metabolism, but she was far beyond caring and worrying about it. So what harm could that healing device possibly do? A lot, her mind answered her but she ignored it.

"I mean… I'm not as injured as you were, but…" she trailed off, suddenly thinking the idea ridiculous. She was bruised, had several flesh wounds, numerous scratches and grazes and it all hurt like blazes, but nothing she couldn't handle, she told herself.
She lifted her head to see Zura's eyes looking thoughtfully at her. "You can try, but I can't guarantee it'll work 'cause it's calibrated to my metabolism."

"Wait… do I need an injection?" she asked alarmed, remembering him jamming the needle in his arm. She'd rather keep her current injuries and let them heal the usual way than suffering through the same treatment, thanks very much.

"Problems?" he raised his eyebrows and grinned slightly. "Not yet…" she muttered darkly and gave him a suspicious look, trying to shift away a bit but being hindered by the pile of bags next to her.

"No, the injection was for another purpose. Give me your arm." he instructed her, picking up the device and pressing buttons. She hesitatingly held out her arm, feeling weirdly vulnerable and froze in apprehension when cold fingers and the pads came in contact with her skin. She had been sure it wouldn't hurt in any way, but there are some basic fears one can't fight with logic.
Relaxing slowly she watched him adjust the buckles with practiced movements and then letting go of her arm.

"What happens now?" she asked, moving her arm a little to test the feeling and weight of the H.E. "Do I fall asleep suddenly like you did or what?"
"No, not necessarily," came the answer. "But sleep helps. I need some in any case." And with that he laid back against the wall, cradling his tail and closed his eyes.

"Great," she muttered. "Sleeping on command, as if that ever works…"

But despite her grumbling she felt the lethargic numbness that always came before sleep envelop her and gladly gave in, hoping her sleep would be dreamless.