Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Little Slave Girl ❯ Reunited At Last! ( Chapter 20 )

(A/N: I would like to apologize for the lateness of this update. Sorry, sorry, sorry!! Oh, by the way, this is NOT the end, so don't worry! ~ Skayda )

Frighted and extremely tired, Rowyn held onto Ryven's hand as the older, lighter-hued elf held Yarrah's small hand with the other, as the three of them picked thier way through the hallway in the darkness. Every few seconds Ryven would feel Rowyn squeezing her hand and sent her mental images of calmness to put her at ease.

Looking up, for she could still feel Piccolo's ki nearer and nearer and that gave her hope, Ryven gasped at what she saw.

"Papa!" She cried aloud as the glowing orb came into view, Piccolo's beloved green features illuminated behind it. Understanding, Rowyn let go of Ryven's hand and pulled Yarrah back as Ryven stumbed forward, running towards the light and used her own ki to boost herself into the air high enough to be caught up into a strong one-armed embrace, hugging Piccolo highly. "I thought I'd never see you again..." She cried, tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Don't talk that way, Little One..." Piccolo said, before turning to Rowyn and Yarrah, "Come on, let's get the hell out of here..."

He paused for half a second at the sight of Yarrah, but at a sudden shuddering of the ship, decided that it wasn't time for any questions. He had to get them back aboard the Blue Beauty and fast! He could teleport himself and Ryven, he thought, igoring the suggestions and just plain yelling, from Nail and Kami inside his head, but he'd never tried....

** Knock it off, Piccolo! ** Nail screamed, as the ship shook again, ** They're too small to be of much trouble! Just try it and let's get off this death-trap!**

** Why don't you ask Goku if he'd..."

That's it! He closed his eyes and conjured up an image of the smiling, happy-go-lucky saiyan, focusing on calling him telepathically with his request. Before he could finish his sentence, there was a change in the air current beside him and the dark-haired warrior appeared, picked up a gaping Yarrah, grabbed Rowyn's hand and said; "I'll take these two back to The Blue Beauty and wait for you there." and flickered out of sight.

A mere second later, Piccolo and Ryven joined them.

***

In a panic, Caption Belcourt cried and threw himself down onto the floor, crawling under a console that was shooting sparks everywhere. Wailing like a baby he cried; "We're all doomed! Doomed! I don't wanna die! Mommmieeee!"

Ensign Tel, standing among those of the crew who knew they were about to die and did not to do so without dignity, could not believe what she was seeing, or actually, since the lights hadn't yet been restored, hearing. She had grown up among tales of Caption Belcourt's bravery and goodness. She had placed him as a hero in her mind and heart. In fact, he was the very reason she'd enlisted in the first place. She had wanted the chance to serve under her hero and perhaps grow to be as brave and good as he.

Now, though, as she listened to him bawling on the floor, she felt all her hopes and dreams shatter like a glass vase thrown off a high building. Nothing would put the peices back together after this. She felt all the admiration in her heart leaking out, replaced by a new feeling she suddenly had for him; disgust. She looked around, as if suddenly shoved out of a trance and realized the danger the ship was in, the danger she was in.

She was young, in her twenties still, and everything in life that she'd wanted, dreamed, hoped for someday, came flooding into her mind. As if to taunt her with what she could not have, what might have been, had the ship not been about to blow up and kill her and the rest of the crew. Swiftly, she tried to think of all she could do to save them all and came up short. There was simply no way! Trying to hold back tears, she felt her way across the room to the `lift, slipping inside and slamming her hand down on the wall-buttons.

It began to move, jerkily and once she reached the floor she thought was the correct one, she waited for the doors to open and half ran, half-stumbled through the dark corridor, shoving past the remaining people who hadn't had time to get into escape pods and made her way towards an empty pod that had not yet been boarded or jettisoned. Punching in the code that would open the hatch, she crawled inside and closed herself tight, flicking the switch and typing in the code that would set her free from the shaking, dark mass that had been her home for so long.

***

Hugging the girls to her as she knelt down, Chi Chi's tears fell into thier hair, "You don't know how worried I've been!" After that, she held Rowyn out as arm's length as Ryven quickly stepped backwards towards Piccolo, "How dare you allow yourself to be kidnapped, Rowyn! Don't you know much..."

Instead of continuing to scold her, Chi Chi broke down into a fresh round of sobs. Rowyn, not knowing what else to do and clearly ill-at-ease, patted the human woman lightly on the shoulder, "Please stop crying, Chi Chi-san!" She said, "I'm all right now, see, nothing broken...though I am very tried..."

At the same time, Ryven yawned and Yarrah screamed; "What is this place!? I want to go home! I want my Mommy!"

Vegeta looked over at her and said; "So, who's the brat?"

Yarrah paused, sniffled, raised her face, folded her arms across her chest and said in her most haughty tone, "I am not a brat! I am The Princess Yarrah of Redshale..." They didn't catch the rest as laughter filled the bridge of the Blue Beauty at the sight of Vegeta's shocked expression.

"Hmph!" Vegeta finally managed, "You sure sound like a brat, Your Highness!" He added a mocking bow with great flourish to this last part and Yarrah glared at him.

"Oh, Great!" Bulma complained, before turning back to the ship's controls, "Don't tell me I have to put up with two of them now..."

She punched in a series of numbers and other things that were too hard to see due her fast typing and a moment later the previously cloaked ships had veered off and disapeared.

"The other ship!" Ryven cried and Piccolo fell to his knees, clutching his head. Rowyn gasped and turned towards the viewscreen, where all that was left of the once majestic ship was a sudden fireball. (A/N: I know fire would be impossible in space, but this IS fan-fiction...) Ryven caught something falling away from the ship and cried out; "Look! An escape pod!"

"Someone's aboard!" Piccolo said, "I can feel them...scared..."

"We can't just let whoever it is be killed!" Rowyn cried, "Please! It wouldn't be right...not if we can save them! I feel bad about all those people who hadn't time to escape...I know there were alot more still on board..."

"I know," Ryven said, and shuddered, turning her face away, buring it within the folds of Piccolo's cape, "I felt them..."

"Don't worry," Goten and Trunks said, at the same time, which was kind of weird, but no one thought anything of it since they were normally stuck to each other like glue, "It'll be all right, watch!"

Bulma steered the ship around so that the end was in front of the falling escape pod, flicked on the tracker beams and opened the rear enterance, sucking the pod into the ship and closing it all up tight once more.

"I'll stay here," Bulma said, "The rest of you..."

Before she could finish everyone was racing down to the hangar to greet the newest passenger.

"Always left behind to do all the dirty work," She pouted, but secretly smiled, looking forward to a hot fudge sundae once they got home again. And, she thought, an overdue birthday celebration to put in order! That would fun, she loved to orginize parties!

***

"Y-your Ensign Tel, aren't you?" Rowyn asked, recognizing the pale, dirty face with a few scratches on it, "I remember you, you were always lurking in Captian Belcourt's shadow..."

"Be careful!" Piccolo growled, "She might be here to get revenge for her fallen captain..."

Shaking her head violently, Tel said; "No! I swear it, I am not here to cause trouble! I simply wanted to..." She hung her head, ashamed at herself for running away, "I simply wanted to stay alive..."

Pulling away from the others, Rowyn stepped foward and helped the woman from the roundish-shaped pod. "So did I."

In the breif moment it took to touch her hand, Rowyn read all she could from the woman's emotions and proclaimed her honest to the surrounding group. She'd have been able to recognize if she'd been lying from the moment she touched her hand.

"I used to believe in Belcourt and our Queen and...everything they told me...grew up believing in it all," She said to them, "But now...after what I saw, after all that happened..I just...don't know what to believe any more..."

** Looks like another one for Dende...** Ryven whispered mentally to Piccolo, she'd told him and the rest of them about Yarrah and the reason she was with them, of course.

Piccolo nodded, understanding.

"I don't know about you," Chi Chi said at last, "But I am beat! Come with me, Rowyn, Ryven, Yarrah..." She paused, looking at Tel.

"Wren," Ensign Tel said, "My name is Wren Tel...I don't mind if you all call me Tel, though, it's what I'm used to."

Chi Chi smiled and Tel added, "And sleep never sounded so good!"

"You'll all feel a hundred times better after you've gotten some rest and then, when we get back to Earth, baths are in order for each of you!"

***

Tel fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, the back of mind flickered over a thought that mentioned something about people coming after her because she's basically a.w.o.l. but she was too tired to think about it further. She'd been given a cot right beside two three others that slept the little Princess, snoring away loudly, and Rowyn and Ryven.

Before Rowyn could fall asleep, Ryven reached over touched her shoulder. ** I have something for you.**

She knew Ryven was speaking mentally to avoid waking Tel and Yarrah. ** What?**

** This.* Ryven reached around her neck and pulled out a necklace, undoing the latch and handing it over to Rowyn, who gasped in shock and pleasure at the sight.

"M-my locklet!" She whispered, holding it to her breast lovingly, "How did you ever..."

"Shh!" Ryven said, smiling, "Let's just say Bulma's not the only one with a few aces up her sleeve."

With that, Ryven climbed from the cot and made her way to where she knew Piccolo was mediating. Without a word, he opened his arms and arranged his cloak around them both as she curled up in his lap and, floating in a quiet corner of the ship, slept soundly, feeling more protected than she had in days.

Piccolo smiled softly, relieved to at last have his daughter with him once more.