Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Folly; A Bittersweet Symphony ❯ Life: Inauguration ( Chapter 15 )

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Chap 15*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

After repeatedly trying to assure the two women, mostly Chi-Chi, that neither of them was anything like Azure, Autumn and Asia now switched their attentions to Gohan, who had been standing quietly a few feet away, lost in thought. The two girls watched as Bulma guided a none-too-convinced Chi-Chi away from them into the house.

 

Autumn put a hand on Asia's shoulder. “Well `A', you ready?”

 

Asia took a deep breath. “What a morning!” Autumn nodded as Asia continued. “I sure could do without anymore…surprises.”

 

Autumn turned around to glance at the house behind her. “I know what you mean,” she agreed, before returning her gaze to Gohan.

 

“But there can't be anything more, right? For today? It's just being taught by Gohan… Wow, what a thing to be able to say!” Asia babbled on, seeking reassurance from her friend, who gave a small smile in return.

 

“I guess it's time to get this started,” Autumn said. Asia nodded. “Um, Gohan?” Autumn called out tentatively.

 

Gohan pulled himself out of his reverie and looked over at the approaching girls.

 

“Oh, yes?” he replied quickly, scratching his head reflexively. “I suppose we should get started,” he said softly, more to himself than to them. “Keep in mind that the main goal of our training you is to strengthen your ki's and teaching you how to use them properly. The first step is awakening yourself to your own ki's.” The two girls glanced at each other with raised eyebrows.

 

Gohan scanned around. “We'll have to go elsewhere for this.”

 

“It'd be kinda hard to concentrate here,” Goku suggested needlessly from behind him.

 

“Right, Dad. Where do you think we should go?”

 

“I have the perfect place,” Goku stated, before motioning to the two girls. “Grab hold of me. It will be easier and faster to get there since you can't fly yet.” Asia and Autumn quickly moved to stand on either side of him, reaching up to touch a spot on either of his muscular arms and giving giddy smiles to each other. Gohan joined them and rested a hand on his father's shoulder. Goku then raised one of his hands, placed two fingers on his forehead, and the group was gone.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Goten and Chibi Trunks watched from the roof of Capsule Corp as Mirai took off like a bullet into the sky.

 

“He sure looks mad,” Goten remarked on the older Trunks's hurried departure. Chibi silently nodded back as his friend continued to ponder aloud. “I wonder what he's mad at?”

 

Chibi only shrugged as Goten continued. “Everyone's gone now.”

 

“Let's follow him!” Trunks suddenly said and stood up. Goten also scrambled to his feet. Exchanging mischievous grins, the two boys leapt into the sky.

 

<><><><><><>

 

The only sounds heard around the group of two Saiya-jin and the two cross-dimensional girls were coming from their natural surroundings. Gohan had taken his place a few paces in front of the girls, both of whom were sitting Indian-style on the ground with their eyes closed in concentration. Autumn and Asia had been instructed to sit as relaxed as possible with their hands held out in front of them while imagining that they were holding something.

 

Note to self: I need to find out all that these girls might already know about this world, and especially what else they might know about us. Just the idea that they recognized a Saiya-jin trait - or that they know what a Saiya-jin is…Gohan thought, remembering their first reactions upon seeing the boys and Vegita.

 

It's awfully strange how neither of them displayed much of a reaction when Vegita insisted that Azure and Trunks fight each other. And judging by their initial reactions to seeing them for the first time, I would have thought those two girls would've had a more… dramatic reaction. Especially after spending a night with them, they would have known something about Trunks' strength… But first, let's see how this ki lesson goes… Gohan glanced at Asia, who he could see was tensing up a bit.

 

“Stay relaxed, and don't tense up,” he directed her in a low, comforting tone. She nodded slightly, inhaled and exhaled very slowly, and resumed her relaxed state. Hm. Nevermind. I guess these two should check out fine. But that still leaves Azure…He turned his head to see what his father was doing.

 

A few feet away, Goku sat quietly with his back against a tree, his eyes closed, his mind deep in thought:

 

Man, that Azure has a lot of power! Her ki shot up so quickly from out of nowhere. Plus, she was able to hold Trunks' blast at bay, if only for a few seconds, right before she passed out. She must have attained some knowledge of ki, in one way or another, but there was definitely something strange in how she used it, though. Maybe she can feel it, even channel it a little, but doesn't know how to completely handle it. If Gohan hadn't stepped in to cancel out their blasts, she would have surely died.

 

Goku smiled to himself. Vegita must see it. That's what that whole thing with Trunks was about - he was testing her. He wanted to see what she was capable of doing right away. Training under him will really bring out her true power, he paused, suddenly concerned about Vegita's motives, but I can't help but wonder why he volunteered to train her. What's in it for him do something like that? What else could he be hiding? What do you suspect about that girl, Vegita? Or are you only interested in testing out her abilities?

 

His racing thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Gohan's voice calling out, “Krillin!”

 

Grinning with pleasure at seeing his long-time friend, Goku stood up and said, “Hey, Krillin!”

 

Autumn and Asia stopped in mid-concentration to check out the newcomer, who waved to everyone as he alit on the ground.

 

As soon as his feet touched down, he looked over at the seated girls and asked with a smile, “So, are you the girls Dende was talking about?”

 

“Yea, we are. Well, two of the three anyway,” Autumn replied, smiling back at the former monk.

 

“Autumn, Asia, this is Krillin. He's a real talented fighter. You could learn a lot from training with this guy,” Goku stated as his friend approached the group.

 

Krillin gave a humble laugh. “Sure, as long as neither of them is Saiya-jin I think I'll do okay.”

 

That earned a good chuckle from everyone.

 

“We'll look forward to it then,” said Autumn.

 

“We should probably get back to training; they're learning how to call upon their ki,” Gohan explained.

 

“Oh, yea, yea! Of course! Sorry for interrupting,” Krillin said, still smiling, as the girls brushed off his apology with a grin and a wave.

 

Goku signaled to Krillin to follow him, while Gohan returned to instructing the girls.

 

“So, if there's three of them, then where is the other one?” asked Krillin in a low voice to his friend as they walked away from Gohan's group.

 

“Still at Capsule Corp. She fainted earlier and is recovering.” Goku said simply. The two ended up walking back to Goku's tree, where Krillin sat down next to the trunk and Goku lay down on the ground and stretched out on his back.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Mirai soared through the sky, feeling much more relaxed after flying around aimlessly than he had earlier - but for how long he didn't really know. “Now, where is Gohan?” he asked aloud. “And where did those kids go off to?”

 

Once Mirai had shaken off most of his pent-up anger and tension, he realized that he had lost track of the kids' whereabouts after Azure had fainted. The last time I saw them, they were sitting off to the side, talking amongst themselves, Mirai remembered. Then he searched into his memory a bit more. “Ah, the roof! So that's where those two rascals snuck off to. And now, they're…”

 

Mirai cast a look over his shoulder and saw the two boys cruising about fifty feet behind him. Smiling, he eased back on his speedy flying to let them catch up, but his expression creased into one of curiosity.

 

Chibi's eyes flinched briefly as he felt…that weird something coming from inside his head. The feeling was familiar in and of itself, but he couldn't recall where he had felt something like it before. What's going on with me? He looked over to his side at Goten, who was returning his look with a puzzled one of his own, his dark eyes tinged with hint of worry. Chibi answered him with a silent shrug before facing forward again.

 

“He knows we're following him,” he casually announced to Goten.

 

“He does? How do you know?”

 

“I...just do. He had to feel us catching up to him anyway.” Just at that moment, the older Trunks turned around long enough to give them a little smile. “See?” Trunks said, with his proof.

 

“Ooooh!” was Goten's reply as they caught up with Mirai, who was slowing down for them.

 

“I don't suppose either of you would know where Gohan is, would you?” Mirai asked, just as they caught up with him.

 

“Nuh-uh! But I bet it's somewhere near my house. They said that they needed to be someplace quiet,” Goten figured aloud. Mirai nodded as he looked over at Chibi, who had a very inquisitive look on his face, one that held a million as-of-yet unasked questions.

 

Mirai gave a small smile, knowing he had just as many questions swimming around his head as his younger self. I wonder just how much like Dad he really is? What I really want to know is all of what happened during that Majin Buu crisis. Did Father really die? And for what? And who else, besides Gohan and the kids, could tell me more about it? Mirai turned back to watch where he was flying. Goku?

 

Goten looked at his best friend curiously when he saw the corners of Chibi's eyes flinch. It was the second time in the past few minutes that he saw it happen. He wondered briefly what Trunks was trying to pull; if he was trying to pull anything. Then Chibi returned his look. He looks fine enough…

 

Chibi motioned a quick, reassuring nod at him - a sign that he was fine and was just thinking. Satisfied with that, Goten nodded back and let it drop from his thoughts, which now directed themselves towards his big brother and the two girls he was assigned to train. The path of his thoughts soon wandered backwards, remembering all the times when he learned how to fly, training with Gohan, before Majin Buu became a known threat.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Goku gaze turned upwards, tracking the presences of the two Trunks and Goten coming ever closer towards them. Seeing Goku look up, Krillin did the same, eventually seeing the trio.

 

“Hey, Trunks!” Mirai smiled and waved back at the smaller man's greeting, while Chibi glanced at him briefly before turning his attention elsewhere. Krillin laughed. “Looking good! You've certainly have grown a little bit!” he added as Mirai landed right in front of him.

 

“Thanks, Krillin! I've been training a lot. I see you have hair now,” he remarked with a grin.

 

Krillin chuckled again. “Thought It'd be fine to let it grow after all these years. Goku told me all the things that happened since you arrived but, how are things back home?”

 

“We're improving a lot, so it's good, until recent events led me here.”

 

“Man, this situation's pretty crazy. I mean, we just get over Majin Buu and all the problems that came with him, and now we have to prepare for yet another alien group coming to Earth,” Krillin reflected as he stood crossing his arms and shaking his head.

 

Mirai looked to his side as Gohan approached the group. “So what's their ki ability?” he asked, motioning with his head towards the still-seated girls.

 

Gohan shook his head. “The complete opposite of Azure. It's pretty much a pair of clean slates we're working with, as far as I can tell.” That observation helped to give some much-needed reassurance to the listeners, who visibly relaxed a little. “And Azure's status?”

 

“She ended up slipping out of consciousness for a few minutes, but once she recovered, I took her to Father,” said Trunks.

 

Hmm, so that's what that was, mused Goku. After arriving and situating himself under the tree, he had searched out and coincidentally picked up on the brief, faraway ki spike, and its subsequent drastic drop. Then he kept a steady check on it until he was satisfied that it had reached to a healthy level again. Once that was done, he finally let it go so that he could focus on his more recent thoughts.

 

Krillin glanced at the girls, then at Gohan and Mirai in surprise. “Wait, so the other girl is training with Vegita? Did I hear that right? How the heck did that happen? And are you crazy? It's Vegita, for crying out loud!”

 

“She'll be fine, Krillin,” Goku stated with cool confidence. “It will probably really bring out some interesting results. I think she'll be able to handle it.”

 

“Yes, in other words: completely crazy,” Gohan muttered under his breath. Overhearing the sarcastic mumble, Mirai raised an eyebrow while shooting a glance his way.

 

“I'm getting hungry!” Goten whined as he situated himself near his father.

 

Goku chuckled. “Now that you mention it - I am, too! I think it's time that we head home. Our training starts first thing tomorrow,” Goku announced brightly as he patted his rumbling stomach and stood up. “You gonna join us, Krillin?”

 

“Sure! I'll catch ya later, Trunks?”

 

Mirai smiled and nodded. “Yep! Bye, Krillin…Goku…you guys!”

 

Goku lifted off into the air followed by Goten and Krillin. “You're doing good, you guys! Keep at it! Gohan is a good teacher!” he called down to the girls encouragingly. The two girls waved and smiled back at him as he turned off to head home.

 

Mirai looked down at Chibi, who had also landed with Goten, and was now looking up at him with a curious face. A few moments of them staring at each other preceded Chibi's next declaration. “I want to spar with you.”

 

Mirai, seeing curious expectation on the youngster's face, grinned back. “Sure!”

 

Gohan and the two girls watched the two Trunks take off towards an area off to the side of them; far enough to be out of the way but close enough so that they could still somewhat see the fight.

 

“Well, shall we start again?” Gohan asked. The horizon was beginning to be colored with pale streaks of oranges and pinks, heralding the coming of nighttime in a few hours' time. “Although, we can't say out too much longer; my mother would go insane if I don't get back on time!”

 

“Why don't you go home then, Gohan? We basically live at Capsule Corp. now, so there's no sense in your flying back with us all the way over there,” Autumn offered. “We'll just catch a ride when those two have finished their spar. There isn't anything more you can teach us today.” He then looked at Asia, who quickly nodded in agreement. He thought about this for a moment.

 

“Okay, then. I'll let Trunks know,” Gohan said, giving a quick wave and lifting off into the sky towards Mirai and Chibi.

 

<><><><><><>

~~ Just before dawn ~~

 

She fainted earlier because she inadvertently pushed her ki past its limits. That one has a lot more ki than her body can handle…Her usage of it appeared instinctual, but yet she couldn't control it properly. She can feel it and is somewhat aware of it, but it's still quite foreign to her. Well, all that is about to change. And this speculation about your origin will not go on any longer. I will find out your true identity for you.

 

Vegita looked up lazily at Azure. There was no question that she had already shown remarkable progress. Within the past ten minutes of his meditation, albeit with some marked strain, Azure had reached the minute mark of creating and sustaining a ball of ki, the size of a half a soccer ball, which she had levitated and kept in place a few feet above her head. It had taken her until a little over two hours after dusk to summon enough power to push her body into an upright sitting position, then another six to actually pull out her ki and form it into a sphere, half of the size of the one she now had. She had also managed to create a series of small ki balls, maintaining each one for extended stretches of time, with hardly a word of instruction from him at all.

 

There was one more thing he wanted to test her on before the actual training would begin. He noticed her quick reflexes when he pitted her against Trunks, but her reactions were gauged under normal gravity. This time she would be under the 12x level, which, for an untrained human, would be quite an undertaking, even for the amount of strength he suspected she possessed. Vegita idly raised his arm to shoulder-height and pointed two fingers in her direction. Two, small, low-powered ki beams suddenly shot out from his fingertips.

 

Azure had not been paying attention to Vegita's presence. She was so focused on the ki ball above her head that she was caught completely off-guard by his lazy movements. The first couple of ki beams hit her square-on, knocking her forcefully to the side and causing her to immediately lose the hold on her ki ball. To his amusement, she recovered quickly enough to block the rest of the follow-up blasts he sent her way and answered with a short blast of her own, while still channeling enough energy to stay upright in the intense gravity.

 

By leaning just a few inches to the side, Vegita effortlessly dodged the weak beam as it came at him. It was obvious to him her energy reserves were rapidly depleting and that her strength would not be holding out for much longer. Smirking, and quite aware of her still-injured arm, his fingertips glowed briefly as he began his barrage once more.

 

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