Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Redemption ❯ Emotion ( Chapter 9 )

I'm greeted with a barrage of emotions, which I can only describe as a heat wave rushing up to caress my face. They're all centered around me, lifting me up and holding me there. Even if I wished to, I could not break free of them. But luckily I do not wish to at the moment. I concentrate on them and they reveal themselves. Worry. Affection. Pride. Fear. Love.

I try to focus on things beyond them now. I begin sifting through thoughts and memories like I'm swimming through water. It's thick, slow-moving water, but liquid nonetheless.

Flashes of memories present themselves to me. Meeting Bulma, seeing the Eternal Dragon for the first time, finding his home and adopted Grandfather smashed flat, meeting all of his human friends, the birth of his eldest son, holding him in his arms and feeling so proud and happy, the turmoil of emotions associated with Raditz's botched attempt at recruiting him, the afterlife, training, learning the Kamehameha wave, me.

There's an entire patch of memories with nothing but myself in them. Seeing me for the first time, through his eyes. I'm standing at a distance, watching idly as Nappa is about to crush his son's head. Killing Nappa, I can feel his dismay. Our first battle, fighting on Namek, myself, dying on Namek. Burying me. Coming back to Earth to find me wearing a pink shirt with the words "Bad Man" emblazoned on the back. Thought it hilarious. My being possessed by Babidi, killing those people, fighting you, giving you that speech, pouring my soul out for the second time since you've known me, waking up to find that I had sacrificed myself, and in vain… that hurt you, didn't it? Why? Why did you care that I had died?

Something ripples through his mind, trying to reach me. Another memory? I reach out and touch it. Affection nuzzles against me, but I ignore it.

Fusion. You didn't think that I would come back, so you had planned on fusing with your son… but that didn't work out. You were getting desperate, when I showed up. Throwing the earring over to me, you told me to put it on. We argued back and forth… but I yielded. We flew at each other. I was terrified, but you… you were smiling. Why? We collided and fused together. The point of fusion… it was odd, wasn't it? If the earrings were what caused the fusion, shouldn't our heads have connected first?

Nevertheless, I convinced myself that the tingling sensation was caused by the magic of the damned earrings.

But now I'm seeing it through your eyes, feeling your emotions. You were… happy? Happy with becoming one person with me? Even though you would cease to exist… you knew that you would continue to live… with me. Closer than you could ever be normally, you could be with me forever, closer than just physically. We were sharing souls, weren't we? I had forgotten…

It had been warm then. Not unpleasantly so; just enough warmth to always be warm. It was a simple as that. There was no unnecessary thought, only feeling. Thought was for the creature we had given birth to. Heh. What an odd way to phrase that…

But what we felt was safe. We knew that nothing could really harm us within there. And no one would be able to disturb us, and neither of us could break the fusion and tear themselves away from the other. It didn't matter. The difference in personalities, in ranking, in power, in backgrounds: none of it mattered. Because we were two sides to the same person, cautiously poking and prodding each other in curiosity, exploring and discovering unknown territory.

Abruptly, Affection smothers me and Love sticks itself to me in its fervor. Fear slinks back a bit, and Worry just hovers nearby, awaiting my reaction. Kakarrotto is waiting to see what I'll do.

I can feel myself breaking, slowly. I withdraw myself from his mind, shaking and trembling.

There was no malice in his mind. No pity, no anger, no hatred. Fear, yes, but not of me. He feared for me. Everything in him is honest in his love for me, and I can barely stand it.

My heart won't slow down. I think I'm going to break again if he doesn't do something…