Forever Dying
Prologue
There was no hope left in this world. She felt utterly helpless as the events of the past years refracted in her minds eye. The sudden death of her most loyal friend, whom she loved like a brother, and the death of all her childhood friends and husband at the hands of Dr Gero's murderous androids. Ironically, shortly after the doctor gave his precious androids life, his beloved androids turned on him, and the result was his death. Now, there was little to no resistance against the Androids, and many an unreplaceable warrior was lost to the cause.
Thinking along these lines made her think of her husband Vegeta, who had once been a prince on his home planet Vegeta-sei. She remembered asking him once about his past, as a prince, and he had coldly reminded her that he still was a Prince and had brushed her aside saying he was busy and had no time for her foolish questions. On reflection, she suspected he was probably going off to train, as was always his want. Their relationship had not been a fairytale romance; she did not kid herself with that.
But, she believed that he did care for her. Maybe not love her, for who could say if a man that emotionally scared could ever love anyone, not growing up in an affectionate, loving family as he had. But she remembered the time when he had first laid eyes on his son, and she had defiantly seen a glimmer of something. She saddened at the thought that she had never told him that she loved him. Instead, she had taken the bait of his taunts and they would hurl insults at each other until they were red in the face. The fact they continued to live together despite these fights was evidence of love, so was their baby son Trunks, who would never know how much his daddy was proud of him, but she knew.
Bulma stood up from her silent vigil of the skeletal ruins of West city, a place where she once ran around and shopped as a carefree kid. Never again.
The sun was setting and Bulma turned to go down the secret passageway back to the Capsule Corp basement. In these dangerous times a curfew had been instigated for five o'clock for the civilian's protection, although most would have already been home now to keep their homes and family safe, even though there would be nothing they could do even if the Androids were to show up.
Bulma was heading down the slope of the cliff when a tremendous explosion rent the air into a thousand fiery pieces. Bulma ducked and threw herself in the hole that led to the passageway. The Androids were attacking again. She ran down the passage into the approaching light, cursing herself for leaving the wall's secret door open. Oh well, no more secret hiding place anymore. She ran into her office relived to find no-one there. She slid the door behind the bookshelf into place only moments before an army officer charged into the room.
"They're attacking the West City Memorial Hospital General!" the man barked. Bulma cringed at the title the Army had forced upon her. Because she was helping the army by researching advanced weapons and armour to use in combat with the Androids, using her company's vast array of materials and scientist's, they had felt honour bound to bestow on her the title of General. Hmph. She was no more a general than this man was a fluffy pink panda.
"Damn those moron's! I told them they shouldn't have established any more hospitals in the heat zone!" She yelled at no-one in particular. The heat zone was what the army called the vast area most visited by the Androids on their killing sprees. Bulma grabbed a thick coat from her desk and strode purposely towards the door.
"Tell those idiot's that I'm coming this time. I'm not missing a chance to enter the zone and collect some data on the Androids destructive patterns." She made for the door but the officer blocked her path.
"I've been given strict orders not to let you out of my site." He replied monotonely.
"Well, I guess you're coming too then." She countered tartly. She shoved him out of the way, but he grabbed her arm and didn't let go even when she shook it.
"Do I have to remind you," she began icily, narrowing her eyes, "That my husband and each one of my friends were ultimate fighters in their techniques, and each of them saw fit to instruct me in their art? I could break your arm in three places with the hold you're using." She added menacingly. The man visibly paled and immediately released her. Bulma brushed her arm and turned on her heal to race down the hallway.
"You may inform your superiors that I am on my way to the loading bay, and if they leave before I get there, there'll be hell to pay!" The officer nodded his head vigorously, but Bulma was already out of sight down the hallway.
Bulma stifled a smile at the thought of her beating up a big ox like that. But her bluff must have worked, as she saw how pale the poor man went. She had never shown any interest in the martial arts, except when she was younger so she could see all the hunks in just their Gi trousers. Goku had offered once, but she was too busy at the Company, and Vegeta had never offered.
She raced around a corner and smacked into a solid wall of muscle. Rubbing her forehead grumpily she glared at Gohan.
"Don't you ever watch where you're going?"
Gohan smiled down at her. "I was. I just didn't expect to be hit by a flying blue torpedo in the hallway. Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Gohan put out his hand and hauled Bulma to her feet. She brushed herself off and continued running down the hallway to the Loading Bay, forcing Gohan to run after her to get an answer.
"They're attacking the West City Memorial Hospital as we speak." She yelled over her shoulder. "I'm going with the Clean up Crews to collect some Data…"
Bulma for the second time that day hit another wall of muscle as Gohan materialised in front of her.
"GOHAN! I'm going to have bruises everywhere at this rate!" Bulma's tirade was stopped short as Gohan picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder and started walking in the other direction.
"GOHAN PUT ME DOWN!!! You're going in the wrong direction! The Loading Bay's the other way!"
"You're not going anywhere. You're going to stay here and I'll go collect Data for you" he replied nonchalantly. Bulma clenched her fists and tried counting backwards from ten.
'Ten, nine…six…zero!'
No matter how much she yelled and pummelled him, he wouldn't let her down, so she tried reasoning with him.
"Gohan please! I need to go! You won't know what to look for or how to collect the Data! Just this one time would put my research forward a whole year! Please!"
Gohan hesitated a moment, then set her down on the floor. He ran his hand through his hair and looked at her worriedly. Looking at that gesture, Bulma realised just how much he was like his father.
"Bulma, I just don't want you to get hurt. What if the Androids are still there when the Crews arrive? You could be killed."
Bulma smiled up at him and patted his arm fondly. He was such a big man now, nothing like the little boy she knew before. He was the spitting image of his father, and had the same big heart. The only difference between Gohan and his late Father was that Gohan didn't have the same innocence as Goku had. Seeing his family and friends killed before him, practically one after the other had done that. Bulma and Trunk's were his only family now, as he was theirs.
"Why don't you come with me then?" Bulma smiled. "If anything happens, you can whisk me away!" She emphasised with a swish of her arm. Gohan smiled back.
"I still have a bad feeling about this."
"Relax. Nothing will happen." (…)
Bulma sat up straighter as they approached the heat zone and the hospital. She looked at the recent destruction and shook her head sadly. You would think that rubble could only be destroyed so many times. She looked over to her right and mentally started to place the buildings that weren't there anymore. Straight across used to be the West City Shopping Centre, where she had spent practically everyday when she was a teenager. A little further up was the restaurant where she and Yamucha had had their first date, where they had broken up, and where she had gone into labour. Bulma smiled at the memory of Vegeta blasting a hole in the wall to get her out of there because it would have taken too much time to weave through the tables. All those memories, dust.
Bulma was jerked back to reality as the army jeep stopped in front of a decrepit building, which she assumed was West City Memorial. Bulma hopped out of the jeep as Gohan landed beside her and she began to fiddle with the Gadgets in her bag.
"Damn! Where did I put that energy reader? Come on…Ah! There!"
She looked up at the old building. The left side of it was missing, and medical supplies where strewn everywhere, among other things. She averted her eyes from the bodies and turned to address the crews.
"Alright! Team 3 check for survivors. Team 2 administer to the wounded and get them loaded into the medical vans. Team 6 check through the rubble for medical supplies. Don't leave anything behind that can still be used, needles, bandages, insulin, everything! Everyone else come with me and bring your equipment!"
Bulma turned to Gohan and saw the raw pain in his eyes. She hugged him tight and took his hand to walk with her. They approached the building's entrance and Bulma confirmed if it was safe to enter.
"How many people do you think died Bulma?" He asked her quietly, not even looking at her. She shook her head sadly.
"I don't know. We probably won't ever know. It looks like they blasted the fifth floor and the top floors collapsed inwards. We probably won't find many bodies."
Gohan looked up sadly. "How many people died knowing it was inevitable? How many stayed behind as the Androids destroyed the building around them?" He suddenly became very angry and powered up to super saiyan, shaking the remains of the building, which was threatening to collapse.
"Why a Hospital?! How could they protect themselves?! They were defenceless!" He yelled. Bulma grabbed his arm and shook him desperately.
"Gohan!! Please stop! You'll make the building collapse! There could still be people in there!"
Gohan's eyes widened in recognition and he powered down. He hung his head.
"I'm sorry Bulma" he apologised.
Bulma smiled at him with tears in her eyes. "Don't be. It's not wrong to care."
He lifted his head and smiled at her, but it faded suddenly and Gohan looked around them and grabbed Bulma's arm tightly.
"I can sense a power, but it's fading rapidly. Whoever it is, is dying." He looked at her with a mix of shock and urgency. "It feel's like Tien."
Bulma's eyes widened. "But..but he died! You saw him!" she stammered
"I know!" Gohan yelled, "But it feels so much like him!" He let go of her arm and ran towards the building. " I need to find them before it's too late!"
Bulma went to follow him, but a cry was raised behind her and she whirled around. One of the soldiers was dragging a struggling lavender haired boy of seven over to her. The officer dumped the boy unceremoniously at his mother's feet.
"We found him in the back of one of the medical Van's" The officer reported. He then saluted and walked of.
The boy looked up at his mother cautiously and was greeted by a pair of flaming blue eyes.
"TRUNK'S!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" she screamed at him. Trunks hung his head again and mumbled something inaudible.
"WHAT WAS THAT!" she yelled again. The boy looked up at her with tears in his eyes.
"I wanted to make sure you didn't get hurt." He whispered. Bulma's anger vanished immediately and she fell to her knee's and hugged her son tight.
"Oh baby, I'm sorry I yelled. I was just so scared." She whipped his eyes and brushed his fringe out of his eyes. "It's dangerous here. You should have stayed home."
"I'm a strong fighter too Mom!" he said bravely. "Just like Gohan!"
Bulma smiled at him and frowned with mock severity. "Yes my brave Son! But while you are here, who will protect the house and women's?"
Trunks waved his hand at his mother. "The girls don't need my help. They have Grandpa to protect them."
Bulma laughed at her Son's temerity. She hugged him and ruffled his hair, as he squirmed out of her grasp. Trunk's looked around.
"Where's Gohan anyway?" He asked his mother. Bulma looked over to where she last saw Gohan and saw him running towards her. As he got closer she could see he was carrying two small bundles under his arms. He ran up to her and handed one of the bundles to her. Bulma noted the urgency on his face and her heart began to race.
"Gohan what's wrong?"
"We need to get out of here now! The Androids are still here! I don't know if they could sense me, but we need to evacuate NOW!"
Bulma raised the alarm, and within moment's the Clean up crew was ready to move out. Three survivors had been found, one a doctor who was in bad shape and may need to have an arm amputated, and two nurses. Bulma jumped into a jeep as the explosions began from the Androids who had finally noticed they were there. Gohan was following up the entourage, firing blasts at the building to cover their retreat. Trunks was sitting in the front of the jeep with the army driver, asking thousands of questions, which the driver was ignoring. It was then that she remembered the bundle that Gohan had handed her, that she had been holding unconsciously all along. She unwrapped the cloth and exclaimed in shock as she looked down into the face of a small girl around her son's age. She had a third eye. She was also dead.
Gohan stopped firing blasts when they were at a safe distance. He flew faster as an unnatural urgency gripped him, making him stretch his power to the limit. He shot past the clean up crew, knowing they would be safe enough to find their own way back. He looked down at the child in his arms and felt her Ki become shallower. There wasn't much time left.
It was dark. She coughed as the dust from the collapse choked her. Where was Ayame? She frantically tried to push the big piece of metal that had fallen on her off, but it was too heavy. That's when she heard Ayame.
"Yui? Where are you?"
Yuuki felt her hand out to her left side and clasped her sister's hand.
"Hold on Ayame. Someone's coming. I can feel it." She whispered.
"I can too, but I'm so tired…"
Ayame scrabbled frantically and managed to push the piece of metal down her body further so she could twist around to face her sister. She patted her hair and pinched her cheeks. "Don't you dare fall asleep at a time like this! What would mother and father say?" she said severely, but with a tinge of hysteria.
"I don't know. I'll ask them." Ayame laughed sadly.
"Ayame, please, that wasn't funny. We have to get out of here together. You can't leave me." She cried. Her sister put out her hand and Yuuki took it.
"Yui, I'm sorry. I know father and mother would be ashamed of me for leaving you. You're my sister, and I know it feels like your losing part of yourself. I know." She sighed heavily then and Yuuki panicked thinking she had died, but Ayame suddenly gripped her hand with a strength that Yuuki knew she didn't possess. A fiery sensation began behind her eyes and she collapsed to the floor until the pain subsided.
"Mother would have wanted me to give you this, just as she gave it to me…"
Yuuki heard her sister through the blackness and tears began to stream down her face.
"I, Shinhan Ayame, pass my power to you, as my last act of sisterly love…"
Ayame's grip on her sister's hand weakened, and it seemed the blackness became more ominous.
"Goodbye."
Yuuki sobbed and let go of her sister's lifeless hand.
"Goodbye Sister"
Then there was a bright light, and a dark figure looming over her…Then darkness.
There was a bright light burning her eyes, but she couldn't see anything. She whimpered and tried to get up of what she presumed was a bed, but was pushed back by gentle hands and a soft motherly voice. As they put something into her arm and she started to black out again, she heard another voice.
"She must be Tien's daughter."
"But she can't be more than a few years younger than Trunks! It's not possible!" the comforting woman voice said. "Anyway, she doesn't have a third eye! Tien would have told us if he had children!"
"Maybe he didn't know." The other voice, which Yuuki knew was a man.
"What? How could he not know?"
"Maybe he died before they were born"
Yuuki tried to pretend she was sleeping, but she couldn't listen to these strangers talk about her father and her family like they knew them. She struggled to sit up, and when a restraining hand was put on her shoulder she struggled more. Yuuki thrashed about on the bed until the hand let go and she tumbled off onto the floor in a heap of beading.
"Well young lady, do you want to sit on the floor and catch a chill, or get back in bed?" the woman voice said huffily. Yuuki couldn't resist anymore and opened her eyes. They burnt for a little while, but once they adjusted to the light, she saw them.
The man was really tall and looked like a warrior because of the scars on his face, and the other was a blue haired lady in a lab coat. Yuuki thought she was pretty, but no where near as pretty as her mother.
"Who are you?" The man said briskly. Yuuki, shocked out of her memory quickly glanced at the man and put her head down, suddenly very frightened. She didn't see the man soften his features, but she felt his presence as he came to kneel beside her on the floor.
"Gee that was rude of me wasn't it? If my mother was here, she'd give me a big spankin'!"
Yuuki stared at him, horrified that a warrior could be spanked, but she saw he was smiling, and gradually she smiled back. The man took her little hand in his and shook it.
"My name's Gohan, and this lady here is Bulma. What's yours?"
She was still a little hesitant but she said her name.
"Yuuki Shinhan. Tien was my father."
The man, Gohan, was taken aback a little, but he kept smiling and let go of her hand.
"Really? We knew your Father well, but who is your mother?"
"Miyaki Shinhan." Yuuki stated matter-of-factly.
Gohan looked over at Bulma but she shook her head at the name, neither of them recognised it.
Gohan watched the little girl fidget in the sheets, and he lifted her up onto the bed, much to her alarm.
"Well. We knew your father very well. He was a good friend of my fathers, and Bulma's friend too." He smiled at her, and Yuuki found herself believing him. Bulma leaned over and took her hand in hers.
"I'm sorry Yuuki. Your sister died before we could help her." She said sadly.
Yuuki bowed her head and tears welled in her eyes. She nodded.
"I know. We said goodbye."
Bulma found she was crying at the girl's hopelessness and she hugged her tight.
"We're going to leave now, so you can rest." She added the last part when Yuuki started to panic. "We'll be back soon." She smiled.
Bulma and Gohan walked out the room, and Gohan closed the door behind them. Bulma turned around and looked at Gohan.
"She's not Tien's daughter." Gohan said quietly.
Bulma nodded. "I thought so. She reminds me more of someone else…"
"My Father." Gohan replied. Bulma stared at Gohan in shock as he met her gaze bewildered.
"I think she's my sister."
"Explain to me again how that child can be your sister, Gohan?"
Bulma and Gohan were sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria in Capsule Corp. Bulma watched as Gohan stared at his lukewarm coffee, as if to find answers hidden there. She was about to repeat the question, thinking he hadn't heard her, when he spoke.
"Because I know my mother had another child."
She nearly dropped her cup in shock, the coffee had spilled on her skirt, and she absently wiped at it with a napkin.
"But…how?...I mean…even you said she doesn't look anywhere near the age of Trunks, and he was born the year your father died!"
Gohan sipped the coffee, but put it down rather quickly. By the way he was wiping his mouth on his sleave, she guessed it was a little old. He quickly got over it though and continued.
"I know what I feel Bulma. Her Ki is so much like my father's. There's no way she could be anyone-else's child."
Bulma couldn't feel Ki, so she assumed Gohan knew what he was talking about, but something else was bugging her.
"How do you know Chichi had another child? She wasn't showing when I saw her last."
Bulma saddened at the memory of the last time she saw her friend. It was at Goku's funeral, and Chichi wouldn't say anything to any of them. Even though Goku had died of a heart disease, she blamed them and the lives they lead.
"She wouldn't have. She'd only just found out." Gohan said.
Bulma's eyes widened at the realisation. She remembered back to the last conversation she ever had with Chichi;
"How are you Bulma? Feeling well?"
Bulma waddled over and sat down on the bench beside Chichi. She patted her hugely swelling stomach smiling.
"He's going to make a dent in my stomach with all this kicking, but at least I know he's healthy."
Chichi smiled sadly at her friend, absently brushing her stomach.
"Your so sure he's a boy?"
"Oh yes! Nothing less can be expected from a child fathered by the Prince of Saiyans. I hope he's nothing like his father. I don't even want him to have anything to do with him " She added testily. She was shocked however when ChiChi stood up abruptly and slapped her cheek. Bulma pressed a hand to her face as she looked up at chichi in all her furious glory.
"All sons' take after their fathers. Be grateful your son has a father! What would you do if he didn't? Would your selfishness deny your child even the memory of a father!"
They were the last words they ever spoke to each other, prophetic words Bulma realised now. Bulma glanced over at Gohan who was now stirring his undrinkable coffee.
"Why didn't she tell us? We would have looked after her, and she wouldn't have died when the androids destroyed your house…but wait…she didn't die! She must have gone to Tien!"
Bulma leaped up and began pacing in the cafeteria.
"That makes sense. We never saw Tien again until the last fight, and he died before we could talk, so he couldn't have told us ChiChi was alive. And this other woman who Yuuki thinks is her mother, must have been Tien's wife, so maybe she thought that because ChiChi must have passed on when she was young…" Bulma stopped talking when Gohan stood up and began to leave.
"Where are you going?"
Gohan kept walking out the door and Bulma went after him.
"Instead of guessing, which is getting us nowhere, let's do some asking."
She followed Gohan out of the hallway and into the reception room in the infirmary.
"Are you sure you want to know?" She asked softly. Gohan smiled down at her, that smile that was so much like Goku's and yet so different.
"Yes I do, but I think we'll wait a sec."
Trunks made sure no-one was looking before he snuck into the infirmary. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere near here, in fact his mother had grounded him for sneaking out with the Recon team yesterday. Trunks grimaced at what his mother would do if she found him here, but he had heard rumours of a child that was rescued yesterday, and he wanted to meet them.
He ducked passed the desk where a nurse was busy catching up on sleep and quietly snuck into the children's ward. He hadn't made a noise, but the girl on the bed sat bolt upright anyway. Trunks stared at her and she stared back at him. He guessed she was about six, nearly the same age as him, and she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.
"What? What are you staring at?" She glared at him. For some reason he made her nervous.
"Uh…I dunno." Trunks said sheepishly. "You're just really pretty."
Her eyes widened and she blushed furiously.
"What's your name? Mine's Trunks. Like the underwear." He grinned. "My Mom has a weird sense of humour."
The girl looked at him strangely, but she started giggling at his silly grin.
"Yuuki."
"Hi Yui! We're going to be best friends from now on Okay? Good! You wanna play cards?"
Yuuki stared at him still trying to take in all he'd said. 'Best friends'? She'd never had a 'best friend' before. Trunks jumped up on the bed and pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket.
"My Grampa taught me how to play Black jack. I'll teach you too. Okay first, I'm the dealer…"
Gohan and Bulma looked in through the window of the children's ward.
"I see Dad taught him how to play Cards. I'll have a word with him." Bulma said menacingly. Gohan laughed at her and walked back out of the infirmary.
"Where are you going? Aren't you going to ask her about your mother?" She called to him. Gohan sighed.
"Maybe it's best if we forgot that. She's lost her whole family, and they were her family because they raised her, not my mother. There's no point in confusing a child that young, who needs time to heal. Maybe later there will be a right moment for her to know, but it isn't now."
Bulma nodded, accepting his decision. He wouldn't tell her, and neither would she, but she couldn't help feeling this would all end badly.
Chapter 1
"The Artificial humans have destroyed the communications tower in central city and wreaking havoc on the town's people. Sources estimate over a hundred casualties…"
Bulma angrily switched off the radio and picked up speed. She, Trunks and Yui had just come back from grocery shopping; only to find out they had narrowly missed the Android attack on the city.
"Dammit! Why the hell do they keep killing?! They never stop! I'd like to drown those bastard robots! See if their circuits like water!"
Bulma turned to look at trunks on the passenger side. He had a tense look on his face and he was gripping the armrest. Bulma frowned.
"No. Don't you dare! I swear…!!" She didn't get to finish her sentence because Trunks shot out of the car and flew off in the direction of the city.
"Damn it Trunks!!" She yelled and screeched the car to a halt, causing Yui who was sitting in the back to nearly fall into the front seat. She rubbed her head as Bulma let lose a string of curses that would have made a sailor blush.
"I knew I shouldn't have let Gohan teach him to fly! I can never keep hold of him anymore." She sighed exasperated. "At least you're not going."
Yui grinned sheepishly and took off after Trunks before Bulma could grab her. She stared after them and started the car.
"Damn teenagers"
Yui landed on a big chunk of…something and looked around for a sign of Trunks. He had a tendency to fly off at a whim whenever he got angry or upset, and she'd become pretty good over the years at locating his ki quickly. She sensed him over to her left and took off. She found him sitting in the rubble, holding a ragged teddy and staring at it intently. She came and landed beside him, but he didn't even look up at her.
"They never get any warning. They just come, destroy and leave. They don't even care if they kill children."
They both just sat there for a while until they felt a large ki approach. They both sprang up, but then relaxed when they saw it was Gohan. He came and stood in front of them. Trunks leapt to his feet and began yelling.
"Why weren't you here?! You could have stopped them! You could have stopped the killing!" Tears began to fall down his face, Yui put a hand on his shoulder.
Gohan shook his head at him.
"No. I couldn't have stopped them. Not by myself."
"I wish I could do something." Trunks said furiously. "I want to kill them."
Gohan smiled grimly at them.
"I can teach you. Both of you, how to fight. You both come from great fighting lineages," He glanced at Yui then and she was confused by what she read there. "And you both have the potential to become great warriors."
Trunks and Yui both stared at Gohan in surprise. Fight? They had never fought or trained before in their lives. They glanced at each other, and grinned in determination. Gohan could teach them to fight!
"Yeah! Please teach us Gohan!" Trunks whooped. Yui began to do some mock punches in the air laughing.
"Watch out Androids! The unstoppable Duo are gonna kick your metal butt's!
Gohan laughed at their antics and put his hands on top of their heads.
"My first students!" He smiled. "All right. Let's get back to Capsule Corp before Bulma sends out a regiment looking for you two!"
They both looked at each other in alarm, remembering how they had taken off. Bulma was not going to be happy, and that was an understatement.
"Block! Dodge! Jump! Kick! Come on! You can do better than this! The androids would have killed you five times over by now!"
Yui dodged a blow to the head and promptly slumped to the ground. Gohan had been training them constantly over the past three months, and although she and Trunks had remarkably improved in their techniques, they were bone weary.
"C'mon Gohan!" Trunks gasped hunched over. "A five minute break would be good about now!"
Gohan glared at his sad and sorry pupils sitting in ungainly heaps at his feet and promptly burst out laughing.
"Okay. I think that's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
Trunks and Yui playfully grabbed his feat and began to grovel and kiss him and he shook them off good naturedly.
"Go on! Get off! Go dunk yourselves in the river and cool off!"
They needed no further bidding and ran towards the river bank, where Yui made to push Trunks into the river, but he grabbed her Gi and she fell in with him. They both came up spluttering and laughing at each other. Gohan laughed at them, then started to practice his Kata.
"Hey Gohan! Aren't you 'gonna come in too?" Yui yelled out to him.
Gohan smiled and continued the kata's sweeping movements.
"Just because you slackers are finished, doesn't mean I am"
Trunks and Yui both shrugged, then continued splashing around.
Yui sat down on the grass under a tree and after a while, Trunks joined her. They both watched Gohan, who was still doing the Kata even after the long swim they had.
'He's great isn't he?" Trunks grinned at her. "I want to be as good as him. He said he's going to teach me how to be a super saiyan when he thinks I'm ready."
Yui nodded at him absently, as she was mesmerised by the grace of Gohan's Kata, and slowly a memory surfaced within her;
She watched the woman's graceful movements as she extended her hands and swept them behind, then in front of her. The woman walked over to her. She was very beautiful with her pitch black hair that she always wore in a bun and her face was kindly, if a little gaunt.
"Did you see that Yui? That's called a Kamehameha wave. Your father's ultimate technique…"
"…Kamehameha." Yui whispered.
"Huh? What's a kamehameha?" Trunks asked confusedly.
Yui looked at him and shook her head and raised her hands
"I..I don't know…I just remembered something someone told me once."
Trunks looked at her, then Gohan called out to them.
"The Kamehameha is the ultimate move of the kamesenin style of fighting. Anyone who has mastered the style knows the technique."
"Did my father know it?" Yui asked puzzled.
Gohan shook his head. "No. His style was completely different. The only masters of the Kamehameha are Krillan, Kamesenin, Myself, and my father, Son Goku."
Yui stared at him quizzically and he looked back.
'This doesn't make sense!' She thought. 'The woman in my memory knew the kamehameha, and she said my father used the same move. But Gohan said he didn't know how to use it…
"Are you okay Yui?" Trunks asked her worriedly. She smiled at him reasurredly.
"I'm fine! I'm just tired I think. Let's go back!"
Gohan nodded in agreement, and they started back for capsule corp., but Yui couldn't shake that niggling feeling that she was missing something important.
That night Yui dreamt of the woman again;
The woman was stroking her hair and they were looking at the stars. The woman's hand was bony and thin, but was nonetheless gentle and soothing to her. She snuggled into the woman's arms and listened to her soothing voice.
"Then the warrior spared the evil Freeza's life, because he believed in his heart that all beings could change for the good. But Freeza fired a blast at the warrior, intent on killing him. But he turned just in time and propelled the blast back to Freeza, destroying him, saving the universe again."
"He saved the universe more than once?!" she exclaimed. The woman laughed softly.
"Yes. And the earth a goodly number of times as well." She sighed wistfully.
She patted the woman's hand and looked up at the stars. They were so bright.
"Was that another story about Daddy?" she asked.
The woman sighed and continued stroking her hair.
"Yes, it was."
Yuuki was jerked awake as a hand shook her. Trunks grinned down at her from the dark of her room.
"Time for training! Let's go!"
They flew out to the grounds behind the Corp. They held their secret training sessions here every night and sparred with each other. Trunks landed opposite her and raised his hands.
"I wont go easy on you like last time hear?" He taunted. Yui grinned in the dark.
"Puh-lease! I kicked your butt!" she taunted back. They were safe from discovery here, as all the sleeping quarters were below the actual buildings, in the bunker.
"Quit stalling! Let's go!" He yelled at her. They flew at each other and began the training.
Trunks was always the better fighter, and today was no different. Although he was gentle on her. By not knocking her into a wall. Yui grinned at him as he let her knock him to the ground, while trying to make it appear like he hadn't. Yui never liked fighting much. She wanted to help Gohan and Trunks fight the Androids and help people, buy she never had the heart in her to enjoy fighting, except these sparing lessons with Trunks.
They had always been close, ever since she came to live with them, and they had alway's gotten into trouble when they were kids. Now that they were older, they spent even more time together, and Yui had grown to love him. She was too afraid to tell him, in case he thought of her as a friend only. Yui watched as Trunks began to speed up his attacks so she had to pay more attention.
He was everything she believed a man should be, and he was a man at sixteen. He was tall and had built his muscles up, due to all the training they had done over the past three months. But Physical aspects weren't all she loved about him. He was determined to be the best he could be, and whenever he could, he would train to be ready for Gohan to teach him how to be a super saiyan. He always made her happy. They joked around and hung out together constantly, but Yui sometimes found it hard to keep her feelings hidden, like now. He was trying hard not to hurt her, but eventually she just had to raise her hands in defeat.
"I give up! You are way too good!"
Trunks laughed at her and lowered his fists.
"I knew it. You wussed out again." He smiled.
Yui sat down and looked out over the compound.
"I don't think I'm meant to fight, you know?" she sighed. "I mean, I don't enjoy fighting as much as you and Gohan. I guess I'm just meant to be a healer."
She leaned over and healed a bruise on Trunks' cheek, almost shivering at the close contact. But he didn't notice, and kept staring ahead. She lowered her hand and looked at the ki residue glowing there. Her last gift from her sister. The ability to heal. She smiled ruefully.
"I suppose deep down, I know I'd most likely die anyway if I tried to fight the Androids."
"Don't ever say something so stupid again!" Trunks yelled at her.
Yui stared at him, shocked that he would yell at her. He had never yelled at her.
"Don't. All you have to do is try harder. Besides, do you think that I would ever let anything happen to you?" he said more quietly.
Yui was afraid that she might read something into what he said that wasn't there, so she didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry Trunks." She whispered. " But the fact is, I know in my heart, I'm not meant to fight. I guess I've always known."
They both sat there quietly for what seemed like ages, when Trunks sat up and started stretching."
"I've been thinking about that Kata Gohan was practising today, The Kamehameha. I think I could do it."
Yui sat up, thinking again about the woman from her memory.
"Are you sure? I mean, what if something goes wrong and you hurt yourself?"
Trunks grinned at her. "You just said you want to be a healer, didn't you? I'll be your first patient."
Yui blushed. Luckily it was dark enough that Trunks couldn't see it. He started flexing his arms and Yui stepped away. She felt his Ki rise as he copied Gohan's movements, but when he reached the end, arms outstretched, nothing happened.
"I guess I'm not as good as I thought!" He laughed, scratching his head. "At least I didn't blow myself up!" He turned to smile at Yui, but he frowned at the faraway look on her face.
"Yui? What's wrong?" He reached out to touch her, but she moved away in a trance. He watched her stop a little ahead of him, and began the movement's of the Kamehameha. He went to stop her, but froze in horror as he felt the tremendous increase in her Ki.
Something was very wrong.
Yui was caught up in the memory-dream, watching the woman move. She seemed to be waiting for Yui to mimic her movements. Yui pushed her hands forward and created a Ki ball similar to the woman's. They both pulled the energy back to their sides, and raised the energy focused in the Ki ball. Yui's mind swam and she thought she hears a voice yelling at her to stop, but she couldn't. The energy she had built was enormous and she couldn't hold it anymore, she had to release it. The woman seemed to smile at her encouragingly. Yui let it all go and the world erupted in a fiery white light.
Trunks cradled Yui's head as the siren's continued to blare. Someone had seen the Kamehameha and thought they were being attacked. Trunks stroked Yui's hair out of her face and waited for someone to find them. He stared at the gapping whole in a research lab that happened to be in the way of the blast. Everything had just disintegrated.
Trunks looked at Yui who was unconscious in his lap. How had she done that? He was 10 times stronger than her and he couldn't do it. Trunks felt Gohan's Ki approach. He stood up and placed Yui's head gently on the grass. Something had happened to Yui, and he wanted to know what.