Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Errant Exile ❯ Times That Bind ( Chapter 6 )

Errant Exile

Chapter 5 - "Times that Bind"

"Live. Push yourself. Question. Learn. Take the challenges as they come and examine them once they've been conquered. Don't let others force you into a path they think you should take...If you can accomplish all that and still want to face me...I'll be waiting." - Khri's parting words to "Junior" *

Morning sunlight, unimpeded by a curtain or shade of any kind, blasted through the bedroom window, bringing a chorus of birdsong in with it. Khri rolled over onto her stomach and pulled the pillow tighter over her head. Gaah! Where did the Fleet Commander park the Aughenai this time, in front of a blue giant? She wished she could squeeze her ears shut too and block out the infernal, squeaking racket that had to be the product of a critically failing machine.

Then she remembered she wasn't in her quarters on the Aughenai.

Khri threw aside the pillow and sat up, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings. Last night's events had not been a stress-induced dream! She still lay on the too-short bed in the rustic but spotless bedroom, her uniform draped neatly over a chair. She raked her hair from her eyes and glanced out the window. There was only blue sky dotted with the occasional cloud and no sign of the tall, green man who had carried her here. Maybe Piccolo has left already, she wondered, but wrapped herself tightly in the bed sheet before creeping over to the window. Standing off to one side, she peered out and down into the Son's yard but still saw no sign of Piccolo. Now I feel really stupid, she thought irritably, reaching for her clothes.

As she got dressed, Khri mulled over the events of the previous night with more than a little wonder. Before she had left the Aughenai for exile, she never imagined she would make contact with Son Goku and his family so quickly and in such a "spectacular" manner. Today, however, was a new day and she had a lot to accomplish. She made the bed to billet standards, pulled on her boots, got her comb from her pack and put her hair back into its regulation-standard braid. She checked her slimpad for messages and was relieved to find none of them needed an urgent reply. According to its clock the day was newer than she had first thought; sunrise had only been a little more than an hour ago. Khri slid the pad back into her pack, hefted it to one shoulder, and quietly opened the door.

Distant sounds of a waking house echoed up the staircase. Khri heard the clang of cooking pots and the clatter of dishes from the kitchen, as well as the voices of ChiChi and a sleepy-sounding Goku. She walked softly down the stairs, made quick use of the bathroom, then followed the scent of food into the kitchen.

ChiChi was standing in front of the stove, pouring water from a steaming kettle into a waiting teapot. Seated at the table was Goku, his mouth stuffed too full with to say 'good morning,' so he waved at her instead. "You're up early!" ChiChi said, smiling in mild surprise as she carried the tea try over to the table. "After such a late night I thought you'd sleep in. Would you like some breakfast?"

Right on cue, Khri felt her stomach twinge in hunger. It had been a long time since her last meal, which had been a ship's ration bar softened with a glass of water. The miserable things were mostly tasteless protein and vitamins, complete with suspicious pseudo-vegetable bits, which were very nutritious if your stomach didn't heave them back out. The smells wafting from the pots and platters on the table were very enticing. She thanked ChiChi and Goku pulled out a chair for her, then he grabbed an unused plate and began heaping it with enough food for a Saiyan army. "I heard your tummy growl," he said with a grin.

Khri burst out laughing and startled herself. When was the last time I did that? Goku favored her with a goofy grin, rightfully oblivious to the fact she'd done something remarkable. I'm on Earth less than a day and not only do I get a soak in a real bathtub, a Saiyan - of all people! - has made me laugh. Accepting the offered seat, she tucked her pack between her feet. Khri started with the familiar rice and moved onto the "scrambled eggs" at Goku's enthusiastic prompting. After a few bites of toasted bread and fish, she gratefully accepted the cup of tea ChiChi offered her.

Goku stared at her, aghast. "You hardly ate anything!"

"I don't need much," Khri said, smiling at him over her cup. "Besides, I know that Earth food is very rich. It won't take many meals like this one before my uniform no longer fits!"

All through breakfast Khri had been covertly watching ChiChi. The small woman had started the meal in a happy mood, but the expression in her eyes went from guarded worry to outright anger as she cleared the plates from the table. To Khri it was obvious that Goku was pretending not to notice, but when it came time to leave the kitchen he did so with shoulders hunkered and a painful expression on his face. He walked through the living room and over to the door, where he picked up a duffle bag she hadn't noticed earlier. Goku shoved a cap down over his hair and lifted his jacket from its hook.

"Is that it, then?" ChiChi stood in the doorway to the kitchen, casually drying a clean frying pan with a dishcloth. "You're leaving? You're not even going to wait for Goten to come home so he can say goodbye?"

Goku's face reddened and he smiled weakly. "ChiChi, I told Uub I'd meet him back at the training grounds today! He's doing so well, I don't want to ease up on his training! I'll be back here in just a few weeks, I promise!"

Moving as unobtrusively as possible, Khri shifted her pack to her shoulder and inched towards the door. This was one fight in which she would never get involved! Goku's strength, as formidable as it was, was no match in a contest of wills with ChiChi. She reached for the doorknob and escaped outside just as the storm hit. "You promise!?" The furious screech echoed far beyond the walls. "What did you promise me the day we got married, Son Goku? Have you kept that promise!? No, you haven't! And if you think you're going to..." Khri shut the door but it didn't entirely muffle the tirade. She jumped back when ChiChi's frying pan, which she'd probably aimed at Goku, hit the backside of the door instead with a loud bang.

"It looks like you got out of there just in time."

Khri snapped around to see Piccolo standing several feet away from the house. His arms were folded across his broad chest as he favored her with a smug smile, completely unconcerned with the battle raging inside. Another big thud hit the door and Khri flinched. "I take it this happens often?" she asked him.

"Every time Goku leaves for long periods. He never gets away with fewer than three or four lumps on his thick skull."

Maybe I should ask her if she'd train a few of the Aughenai's cooks in both cuisine and cutlery combat skills, Khri wondered, only half joking. Her amusement faded when she realized that Piccolo's attitude towards her had changed overnight. He appeared to be in complete control of himself this morning, and any signs of nervousness and discomfort were either gone or hidden behind a mask of calm resolve. "I'm surprised you're still here," she ventured, head cocked slightly. "If Goku and ChiChi make a habit of armed combat every time he walks out the door, why would you stay to listen to it?" She cringed as yet another pot-turned-projectile weapon banged against the wall.

"I need to talk to you," Piccolo said. "Away from here. Someplace a little more...quiet."

"Immediately?"

Piccolo nodded. "Now," he replied, with a little more intensity.

"It would only be polite to leave a note for ChiChi. I'd rather not interrupt their 'discussion' right now."

"Don't worry about it. They'll figure it out." His snort was almost a laugh. "She'll just blame Goku for driving you out and then blame me for kidnapping you."

Khri stared at him, trying to ignore the maddening itch at the back of her neck. He must have come to terms with whatever had been upsetting him and was ready to talk, and she was more than a little curious to find out what he wanted to say. She remembered her armor, probably caked with dried mud outside the back door; she could retrieve it later. "I will go with you," she said, "but would you prefer to bring me back here or take me to Satan City? I have business there I can't leave waiting."

His reply was quick, almost too quick. "I'll take you to the city. Its not far from where we're going." He closed the few steps that remained between them and raised his right arm. "Will you allow me to carry you?"

Her eyes widened in surprise at his unexpected respectful manner. She had pegged Piccolo as the strong, silent type that spoke only when necessary and even then sparingly, and that type usually didn't waste words on niceties like courtesy. "Yes." Khri stifled a gasp as his arm curled around her waist again. "I suppose you're not inclined to tell me where we're going," she asked, looping her arms around his neck.

"We'll get there soon enough," he rumbled, then took off.

The morning was clear, bright and warm, and Khri was able to see from horizon to horizon. Small white clouds and the occasional aircraft shared the sky with them as a patchwork landscape scrolled out below. Unlike Home, Earth's population seemed to have a preference for round, domed buildings that ranged from small homes all the way up to sphere-capped skyscrapers. She lost track of time as she closed her eyes and let the wind rush past her face, ruffling her bangs and the shorter wisps of hair that curled in front of her ears. Long months spent confined in a battle cruiser made it easy to forget just what living on a planet could be like...if flying through the air with a tall, green fighter counted as 'planetside living.' Khri opened her eyes when the airflow shifted in what she was coming to recognize as landing. Piccolo brought her down on a small, grassy hilltop and set her on her feet just as gently has he had the previous night. Before she could ask him the obvious question of 'where are we,' Piccolo turned and walked a short distance away.

Another game? One called 'stalling for time'? All right, I'll play this one too...for the moment.

The hilltop he had selected as a landing spot overlooked a small valley packed with neat, identical houses, all lined up on pristine streets with manicured lawns and gardens. A few mature trees had been allowed to keep their sentinel posts as long as they lived within the confines of private yards. A major road tying all the streets together headed towards the towers of a distant city. On the other side of the hill loomed a large public stadium surrounded by a parking lot. The lot was completely empty of aircars and busses except for a couple of security vehicles, and no sounds of a crowd cheering for favored tournament fighters carried on the breeze.

Cheering? Crowd? Fighters?

Khri felt her mouth go dry as she whirled around to look back at the street-lined valley. It had once been a lush park, full of scenic paths, large trees and benches, and at one time had served as a landing pad and hiding place for a combat shuttle from the Aughenai. The paths and the park were gone, stripped away by progress and time. Khri felt her knees start to go mushy as she slowly turned around to stare at Piccolo's back, his white cloak rustling softly in the wind. Her tongue formed the only two words her brain could come up with. "Oh...shit!"

"Someone once gave me a challenge," Piccolo said roughly, his attention seemingly focused on the empty stadium. "'Live,' she said, and I did. She told me to push myself, to question and learn, and I've done all of those. Challenges have come and gone, and I'll be damned before I let anybody force me down a path I don't want to take. And as for my accomplishments..." Piccolo slowly turned to face her, reached up and removed his turban, revealing what she'd suspected all along; a pair of slender, green antennae. He dropped the turban and removed his weighted cloak, tossing it aside as well, then moved gracefully into a battle stance. "I think I'm up to that fight now." His eyes had narrowed to slits, but his mouth hinted at a wicked smile. "Are you?"

Khri stared at the tall, muscular Namekian, able to do nothing more than blink. All rational thought ground to a halt like a broken engine as she gained an appreciation of just how powerful Piccolo had become. Only years of discipline had let her face keep an expression of total calm instead of the complete shock she now felt, but it did nothing for the weakness in her knees. She took a deep, steadying breath, then took a tentative step forward. When he knees didn't buckle, she clenched her fists and walked directly up to Piccolo and stepped inside his stance. His eyes widened when she leaned in until they were nose to nose but he didn't give any ground. Khri swallowed, searching his face for something to recognize and whispered a single word. "Junior?"

The Namekian scowled, crinkling the skin over his nose between his eyes ridges. "I'd appreciate it if you never, ever call me that again." Junior's face had worn those same wrinkles when he frowned!

Khri eased back, tightly folded her arms and fought to keep her smile as small as possible. All she wanted to do was throw her arms around him in a big hug, but she doubted it would be well received. I don't think another kiss between the antenna would go over well either, she thought, so she reluctantly settled on being neutral. "It's...its good to see you. When I knew I was coming back to Earth I couldn't help but wonder if I might find you. I was going to look for you, to see how you had fared. I expected it to take days, possibly weeks, but I never imagined it would be so soon." He must not have expected that statement either because he relaxed a bit and raised one eye ridge. "As for that name..." Khri let her eyes run down him quickly before bowing her head and closing them. "Its easy to think of you as Piccolo and an adult. You don't resemble Ju....er...that little Namekian I met here years ago." She grinned. "Except, perhaps, for a bit of your attitude." Weathering another scowl, Khri took a few steps away, then paused to look at him over her shoulder. "I'll admit, I'm very impressed you remembered what I said to you all those years ago. As for my answer to your offer of a fight...I concede the match. You win."

"What?!" Piccolo roared. "You can't concede! I lived up to your challenge, now I demand you keep your end of it!"

A trickle of irritation helped Khri revert back to her Battle Commander personae. "You're in no position to demand a thing from me, Namekian," she said, turning back to glare at him, her own fists clenched. "Any fight between us would be a joke! Not only are you a powerful chi user, you're easily twice my mass and could lay me flat with one blow. I can't risk using blackfire because of its incompatibility with chi. Even the smallest impact would take out this hill and probably that entire neighborhood." She uncrossed her arms and clasped her hands behind her back. "If you still want to pound me, go ahead, but any fighter of your caliber would find it boring."

Piccolo stared at her for a long time, then he relaxed and unclenched his fists. "You are the most damned strange woman I've ever met."

"Would you prefer it if I screamed at you and threw pots and pans like ChiChi? I'm sure she'd lend me some if you were the target."

"No!"

Now that his temper was defused - at least for the moment - Khri felt a strange sense of disappointment settle over her like a cold, damp blanket. She never imagined she'd find him this quickly, so she hadn't spent any time thinking about what she would say. I knew he probably wouldn't be thrilled to see me, but I never expected a confrontation like this. I always imagined I'd be the one to find him first, not the other way around. Khri walked around Piccolo and sat down in the grass, hugged her knees to her chest, and stared at the tidy little houses and streets nestled in the small valley. I miss the park. I haven't thought about it once in all these years, but right now I really wish it was still there.

A shadow briefly blocked the sunlight. Piccolo had seated himself on the lawn beside her, legs crossed and arms folded. The silence was awkward but Khri had no intention of filling it first. She didn't know what to say and fumbling for small talk wasn't one of her favorite past times. She doubted the Namek bothered with it at all.

Piccolo broke the silence by clearing his throat. "I...don't have good memories of when we first met. My life then was...difficult. I'd forgotten completely about it until last night, and since then I've been remembering more and more."

He was making her a peace offering and she accepted it. "Memories from such a young age are usually hard to dredge up, and rarely make sense because of their perspective. Forgetting about it is completely understandable."

"So, what do you remember?"

Khri stared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Everything."

His voice became a hoarse growl. "I was afraid you'd say that."

She ducked her face behind her arm to hide a smile. "You weren't that rotten! Do you remember the battle with the Telkarri and how you tried to help? When the situation went critical you seemed to understand what was going on."

"I remember." Piccolo let another long pause pass before he spoke again. "I'm...I'm sorry I bit you."

Resisting the urge to rub her wrist, Khri slowly turned her head to look at Piccolo, who's eyes were downcast. "Ah...when you were misbehaving and I made that threat to...well...deal with your head through your backside? I really wouldn't have done it. Honestly."

He opened his eyes and gave her a fang-filled grin. "You would have regretted trying it."

"I don't doubt that," she grinned back. "I know there hasn't been much time, but have you told anyone about this story since last night?"

"Just Gohan. He's Goku and ChiChi's oldest son. He was my student and is now a good friend."

He must be a good friend for Piccolo to trust him with this. Khri leaned back and stretched her long legs out in front of her. "If he prompted you to talk with me quickly, he's definitely a good friend who's also very wise. I don't think Vegeta will give a second thought to your behavior, and I really doubt Goku has enough thoughts to waste at all, so your nervousness last night might not ever be mentioned by them again. ChiChi and Trunks, however, are a different matter. It might take a little obfuscation on our part, but I think we can keep the topic from coming up again. If I'm asked about it I'll just say 'Piccolo thought he recognized me from somewhere.' Truth but not the whole story." She looked expectantly at him. "Is there a different excuse you think would work better?"

"I'd usually just tell them to mind their own business, but your idea might work better. Quick thinking."

Leaning back on her elbows, Khri twined her fingers through thick blades of grass and clover. "It's all part of my job, Piccolo," she sighed. "At least it was part of my job."

Piccolo looked down at her; this time his frown was a puzzled one. "Exactly why did you come back to Earth?"

To Be Continued...