Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Folly; A Bittersweet Symphony ❯ To Take Heed Of ( Chapter 17 )

 

The powerful ball of ki escaped from the small hands of its owner as it careened towards its target. From the opposite direction and heading towards the same target, came a different ki attack generated by another pair of small hands. The intended target gave a lighthearted smirk before blinking out sight to reappear in another spot just as the two balls of ki collided in the middle, creating a bright blast which sent waves of energy out in all directions.

 

The two attackers stayed momentarily where they were, panting slightly, before looking at each other. The small, lavender-haired one spoke first:

 

“Ready?”

 

“I'm ready, Trunks.”

 

Trunks nodded a silent affirmative as they glanced back at their opponent. Goku shot them both a grin before sliding into a defensive position. The two chibi's attacked again.

 

Gohan and Piccolo stood quietly off in the distance watching the spar between the two demi-Saiya-jin kids and Goku. After a short time, Piccolo noticed that Gohan seemed to not be actually watching the spar, but rather thinking. It was clear to him that there was something troubling the young Saiya-jin.

 

“What is it, Gohan?” Piccolo asked, breaking the silence. The question brought Gohan out of his reverie and turned his attention to his companion.

 

“I was just thinking back to the first time you trained me,” Gohan began. “It was the first real serious training I had ever had. Those first few months were the absolute worst. I don't remember how many times I kept thinking that I'd never survive, that I'd die from all the deprivation and training. But I did stay alive - and that was before the actual sparring with you got really started. There was a lot that I learned during that time...” Gohan paused, searching mentally for what he wanted to say.

 

“You discovered that you had a much deeper power reserve, one into which you could tap,” Piccolo clarified.

 

“Exactly! And that's what I think is going on right now.”

 

“I don't see that kind of power in either of those two,” the green-skinned Namek-jin said, shaking his head in reply. “If either of them had exhibited the same type of power that you had attained at that age, Gohan, I believe it would have manifested itself by now.”

 

“I'm not talking bout Goten or Trunks.”

 

“Then who? Azure?”

 

“No. Autumn and Asia; Autumn in particular.”

 

“Hnn.” Piccolo wasn't surprised at the observation. “What have you noticed?” he prodded.

 

“Between the two of them, Asia is more the fighter. She has amazing speed and she's very agile, but her sheer ki usage is nothing compared to Autumn's. By contrast, Autumn is generally weaker in fighting skill and speed as compared to her friend, but she makes up for with her ki strength and ability. Taken together, they seem to complement each other. Considering the limited skills they brought with them, I don't think that kind of advancement in such a short timeframe for, well…a human, is normal. Admittedly, their combined fighting skills aren't quite there yet, but their abilities are high enough to give Krillin a pretty decent workout.”

 

“When did you start to notice this?” Piccolo then asked.

 

“Almost two weeks ago. But I noticed the difference in their abilities almost from the start.”

 

Piccolo thought back to the presence he felt around the time to which Gohan had just referred. Could it have something to do with that? To make the difference so much more dramatic now?

 

“Piccolo? What do you know?” Gohan pressed knowingly.

 

“I'm not entirely certain, but my guess is that they are possibly tapping into some type of energy source, without being consciously aware of it.”

 

“What energy source? Or should I say whose?”

 

“I'm not sure,” Piccolo answered resolutely. “Where are they now?”

 

Both warriors jumped calmly into the sky as a stray ki attack shot past them and collided into the ground on which they stood just a moment earlier.

 

“With Trunks. We traded off training duties for today.” Gohan said as he observed the result of the ki impact.

 

“And what has Trunks to say about this?” Piccolo questioned.

 

“He thinks that if the Augin-jin can also sense this, then they will surely become a main target for the ki energy they need,” Gohan replied as he looked up at Piccolo. “It seems a little bit of a coincidence.”

 

“That it does,” Piccolo agreed thoughtfully.

 

“Energy source…” Gohan repeated. “No one has mentioned anything about feeling another significant energy presence. Are you sure?” he then asked.

 

“I'm sure. Dende and I can feel it. It's possible that it's a type of energy that can only be sensed by certain races.”

 

“So do you recognize its signature then? Is it a danger to us?”

 

“It doesn't seem to be a danger, but I don't yet recognize it.”

 

Gohan sighed in frustration. “What else is going to crop up?”

 

A small barrage of ki disks flew past them down to the ground below, not to far from the impact of the first. Both warriors looked into the general direction of the originator of the barrage; Gohan particularly at his father, whom he could see quite clearly with his vision.

 

“They've gotten better,” Gohan observed of the chibi's.

 

“By the way, I overheard a particularly enlightening conversation that Trunks had with you when you two were sparring a couple weeks ago,” Piccolo stated.

 

“You did, huh?” Gohan replied, a little sheepishly. “I know. What he said was true,” he admitted, thinking back to Trunks' accusatory words. Piccolo only nodded.

 

Gohan looked over at the ongoing spar, seeing the two SSJ Chibi's as they engaged with an SSJ Goku, all three locked into furious, stalemate battle. While Goku could obviously hold his own, the two kids did manage to get some key hits on the elder Saiya-jin. Gohan smiled at the sight then looked back at Piccolo, who was eyeing his smiling look with curiosity.

 

“Let's spar, Mr. Piccolo.”

 

Piccolo scoffed lightly at the title. “I can't teach you anything more, Gohan,”

 

Gohan kept his smile intact. “You need a sparring partner right now, just as much as I do.” Piccolo grunted with some annoyance at that comment. “For old time's sake? Unless you rather I'd get Krillin…”

 

Piccolo rolled his eyes in feigned annoyance. “Fine, let's go.”

 

Gohan smile turned into a smirk as the two slid into their fighting stances.

 

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

 

- That evening -

 

Asia lazily braided her long, highlighted brown hair while Autumn twirled random strands her own wavy reddish-brown hair between her fingers.

 

Both were currently lounging in the downstairs living room, having switched out of their usual fighting outfits to more casual sweats and short-sleeved tee shirts.

 

“My hair has gotten a little longer,” Autumn remarked offhandedly, noticing that her hair was now just past her shoulders.

 

“Yea, you're right,” Asia agreed as she finished with her braid and lay back against the couch cushions.

 

For once, they were alone in the living room. As far as they knew, all the Saiya-jin residents of the household were still out sparring. At this moment, there was a quietness shared between them, mostly from being tired and finally having a relaxing minute to themselves. A few hours earlier, Gohan had taken them aside to give them a little more detail regarding their possible roles in the upcoming Augin-jin threat to the Earth.

 

“Asia, what are you thinking bout?” Autumn asked after the silence persisted a few minutes.

 

“Everything.”

 

Autumn nodded with understanding.

 

“One the one hand, it's awesomely exciting,” Asia said, “a real, action-filled adventure. Up `til now, I didn't think anything like this would ever be possible to experience personally.”

 

Autumn nodded at Asia's statement, adding, “And now this adventure is happening to us, in real time. And not only are we going to witness it, we're going to be active participants as the whole thing unfolds,” she sighed. “It's actually a little scary too, because we could be risking our lives.”

 

“I've just started to wrap my mind around that,” Asia said softly. Only after their earlier conversation with a very serious Gohan, had the sobering realization dawned on her since their arrival into this world - both their lives might end up in real danger.

 

“Well, maybe…just maybe,” she continued to muse aloud, “it won't be as dangerous as we think? I mean, with the Saiya-jin and everyone else on our side…they always find a way to get through it all, don't they? I mean, do you really think we may die?” Asia asked her friend, her eyes filled of uncertainty.

 

“It's true they always found a way to get through, but it doesn't necessarily take away the possibility of someone getting seriously hurt or even killed. Even though they have the Dragon Balls, we can't be so sure that the Dragon would be able to bring everyone back, right? And if it's out of the Dragon's power to lift the barrier that's keeping us here, it may not be such a smart idea to rely on that, either.”

“Damn it,” Asia swore quietly. What Autumn was saying only make sense, but still it was none too pleasant to hear. “Suddenly, I'm very nervous,” Asia fretted in a low, anxious voice.

 

“Yea,” Autumn replied, just as softly.

 

“Don't worry yourselves too much,” said a calm, confident voice.

 

Autumn and Asia looked up in to see a spar-tattered Gohan, who was standing next to an equally disheveled Mirai. Seconds later, the two chibi's bounded into the living room, never once noticing the usual quietness lingering in the air. However, Bulma did pick up on somber atmosphere as she followed them into the room.

 

She overheard the last part of their conversation right before Gohan had spoken. Ignoring the rambunctious youngsters for a moment, she instead focused on the two other-world girls. Bulma walked to the back of the couch where the girls sat as Mirai tried to reassure them.

 

“We'll do our best to try and keep you two as far away from any fighting as possible -“

 

“It's okay,” Autumn interrupted. “We do understand the significance of what is going to be happening. And we know that if we have to fight then we have to fight. It's just that it's…it's been almost a complete change of life for us. Our Earths are so different… I thought I'd be more used to the idea, being here for about two months now, but I guess not.”

 

Asia nodded as Autumn continued: “Thanks to you, we've both grown in strength, and we know that some powerful people will be protecting us.”

 

“We're determined to grow as strong as possible and help out as much as we possibly can,” Asia confirmed.

 

“But the shock is just starting to hit,” Bulma offered gently.

 

“Right,” they both confirmed softly before going quiet.

 

Bulma's looked at them and shook her head a bit. She felt badly for them, knowing they had been unceremoniously uprooted by unknown forces beyond their control and had tried their best to adjust to all of the changes in this world. But they were still teenagers…and they were far away from their homes and families.

 

“Gohan,” Bulma announced suddenly. “You'd better get home before Chi-chi blows a gasket at you.”

 

Gohan chuckled lightly. “When you're right, you're right, Bulma. I'll go get Goten.” He gave a soft smile to Autumn and Asia before following Mirai to the stairs to collect his brother and head home.

 

The remaining females in the room watched the boys leave.

 

“Don't worry bout us -” Autumn began.

 

“Yea, we just need some time to let things settle,” Asia added in reassurance.

 

Thought not entirely convinced, Bulma flashed them a sympathetic look. “Well, okay,” she said reluctantly.

 

“Promise,” Asia said with a soft smile.

 

Sighing, Bulma decided to honor their wish. “Nonetheless, I'm going to be checking up on you guys. After all, you aren't Saiya-jin, and you should still be able to enjoy yourselves a little bit, even with all that's happening,” she warned.

 

They both chuckled. “Thanks, I'd appreciate that, actually,” Asia said with a gentle grin. Bulma nodded then bid them both goodnight before leaving upstairs to find her little Trunks.

 

After she left the room, Autumn turned to look at her friend. “You seemed very confident when you said all that, Asia.”

 

“Well, I guess I was. You wouldn't agree?”

 

“I would very much agree,” Autumn confirmed. “But, I was just a little surprised that you said it so forcefully.”

 

“It just kinda came out,” she said with a shrug.

 

“It's what you were thinking?”

 

“Pretty much. I guess I kinda just made the decision as we were sitting here really thinking about the situation,” she replied as Autumn gave her a smile.

 

“I'm glad that you did, because I also came to the same conclusion,” Autumn then added.

 

“I had figured that you did, `A',” Asia said knowingly, and the two girls smiled at each other. “So now that we're in agreement…here's to a new life?” she offered with a resigned shrug.

 

Autumn chuckled. “We don't have anything to toast with.”

 

“Oh, yea. Umm, well …” Asia looked around. Finally she picked up a small pillow and held it up. “Here, we can use this.”

 

Laughing, Autumn reached around and picked up another pillow. “To a new life!” she declared then paused briefly before adding in a softer tone, “Good luck, Mother. I miss you.”

 

Asia nodded. “I miss her, too.”

 

The two girls stayed quiet for a few moments, each with their own thoughts about how far they had come and what the type of uncertain future they were about to face. Then they looked at each other and their faces mirrored their shared determination

 

“No more dwelling -” Autumn said simply.

 

“I know,” Asia replied.

 

“Okay then!” Autumn finished.

 

There was a pause, and then they simultaneously hit the two pillows together as a silent toast to their joint decision to make the best of whatever what going to come. With that, all of the tension was released and they fell back, giggling and laughing with all their might.

 

*~*~*~*~*