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A Beauty from the Past Chapter 1

Gohan kneeled next to a small lake and cupped his hands together as he reached out for some much-needed water. Today had been a long day for the young demi-saiyan. He had failed to find any food while the sun was out and now that it was night time, it was even harder for him. He sighed as he stood back up and prepared to continue his search. His stomach basically roared as it demanded to be fed. He took a deep breath and continued walking with a handmade spear in hand.

Half an hour had passed and Gohan was still searching for something to eat. At this point, he didn't care what he found… whether it be meat or a leftover fruit. He walked through an area that was heavily surrounded by trees as he hoped one of them was able to provide something edible. The quarter-moon was high up in the sky as it was the only light source that he had which wasn't enough since he could barely see what was in front of him. After several minutes of futile searching, Gohan was about to resign and look elsewhere when all of the sudden, he heard something behind a nearby bush. Without hesitation, he prepared his spear and slowly crept towards the bush. He was ready for any animal that may be behind it; but to his surprise, as soon as he walked around it, he realized that there wasn't anything there. He lowered his spear and sighed in defeat, "Great." He turned around ready to leave when he suddenly fell back in shock.

"Can I help you with something?" asked a rather tall blonde-haired female who had her hands firmly placed on her hips as she showed a bone-chilling scowl that easily intimidated the boy. It was silent for a moment which only irritated the female even more, "Well…? Aren't you going to say something? Perhaps you could start with an apology after wanting to kill me with that stick."

Gohan was completely shaken by this, "y…y-you're a g-girl?"

The female rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, "I'm sorry, were you expecting some kind of animal?"

"I'm…sorry," responded Gohan as he gave a saddened look. "I didn't mean to…"

After seeing his apologetic look, she softened her glare and looked around. "It's whatever but do you mind telling me what you're doing out here in the middle of nowhere at 2:30 in the morning.

Gohan blinked for several seconds after hearing this. "Wow, is it really that late?"

"Yea," she responded. "Where are your parents?"

The demi-saiyan wasn't sure whether to respond or not. It was in that moment, that his stomach began to growl even louder than before.

The female stared at the boy as she couldn't believe how loud the noise was. She eventually turned to her backpack and pulled out a chocolate bar. "Here," she said as she handed it to him. Seeing as the boy didn't hesitate to grab the candy and devour it, she decided to wait a second before she spoke again.

"Thanks," he commented with a smile. In all honesty, that chocolate bar was the best food he had in a long time.

"No problem," she responded. "So what's your name?"

"Gohan," he replied deciding that he can trust her. "What's yours?"

"I'm Lazuli and are you going to tell me where your parents are now?"

"Well, my mom is back home in Mount Paozu."

The young adult instantly gave a puzzled look, "As in the East District…? Aren't you a little far away from home…? Is your dad around?"

"No," responded Gohan honestly. "It's just me."

Lazuli was highly taken aback with that response. "Are you telling me that you're here all alone?"

Before Gohan could respond, he felt his stomach ache for more food. "You wouldn't happen to have another chocolate bar would you?"

The female paused for a moment before searching her backpack. "I don't have another one but here you can take this leftover can of fruit."

The demi-saiyan gladly took the can and quickly gulped down all of its contents.

The blonde-haired female was truly surprised at how the kid was eating. As if he hadn't eaten in days. He looked no older than five and she couldn't believe that there is a possibility that he is here alone. "Why and how did you get here?" she found herself asking again.

"Mr. Piccolo brought me here," he responded.

"And where is he?"

Gohan thought about it for a moment before responding, "I… don't really know… I haven't seen him for a few weeks?"

Hearing this, the woman quickly became alarmed at the possibility that this boy might have been kidnapped or abandoned. "Do you know this Piccolo guy?" she asked.

"A little," responded the five-year-old. "He's training me to become a fighter."

"A fighter?" she quickly asked in disbelief. "Ok kid, c'mon I'm taking you to the nearest station so we can get you home." She grabbed the boy's arm and began pulling him with her.

"I can't leave," responded Gohan as he tried to free his arm.

Lazuli quickly stopped and looked at him. "What do you mean you can't?"

"I'm not ready…" he responded. "Mr. Piccolo said I have to learn to survive before he can train me than I can go home."

"Kid," she began as she kneeled down to his height. "You're too young to understand this but you might have been kidnapped or even abandoned and this Piccolo person that took you may have taken you with ill intent. Trust me and you will be home in a couple of hours."

"No," he replied much to her surprise. "I need to stay and train for the-" he immediately stopped himself as he wasn't sure if he can trust her enough to tell her about the Saiyan's.

"For what?" she asked.

"I just can't go home… not yet."

"Great," whispered the female. She wasn't too sure what to say that would potentially convince this kid to follow her. It all seemed bizarre for her. Kidnap or abandonment are the only logical explanations she could come up with… But if he hasn't seen the Piccolo guy in weeks than how has he survived all this time. Could it be true that he was left here to survive? All of this was so confusing to her, should she just grab the boy and take him to the station by force if necessary? Would that be wrong? Would it be even worse if she just left him here in the wilderness?

"So why are you here?" asked Gohan innocently snapping her from her train of thought.

"Well, I'm searching for my brother… He's been missing for a few days now. This morning I received a lead that he may be somewhere around here… Hey, you haven't seen him, have you…? He's approximately my height, blue eyes, and black hair. She sighed when Gohan shook his head. "Well, worth a shot. I suppose I will have to continue searching tomorrow morning."

"I'm sorry," commented the five-year-old. "So are you leaving?"

Lazuli considered the thought for a moment before answering. "Nah, I guess I can find a place around here to rest."

Hearing this, Gohan immediately lit up in excitement, "Hey! I got an idea! Why don't you spend the night with me! I made a shelter that's about a mile away. What do you say?"

Lazuli was silent for a moment, She wasn't to keen on accepting his offer since she preferred being alone; but, the more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself to take him up on the offer. There was definitely something to this kid in front of her. Either he's not saying something or he is in more danger than she thought. Perhaps if she accepted his offer he could shed some light to her hanging doubts. "Alright," she eventually responded. "Lead the way."

"Really?" asked Gohan surprised that she accepted. "Ok!" he quickly voiced as he turned around and headed for his shelter. "This way."

After about half an hour of walking, the two of them finally reached the five-year-old's campsite. Lazuli walked around the site. It wasn't much in all honesty. Just a tent-like shelter made out of branches and foliage. 'Strange,' she thought. There was no sign of someone else around besides the boy. 'Could he actually be here all alone?' she began to wonder. The shelter barely looked to fit one person so she can only imagine how uncomfortable it would've been if it was shared. "So this is where you sleep?" she asked.

"Yep," responded the young demi-saiyan. "I made it all by myself," he said proudly.

"Alright, well I guess I should get some rest," began Lazuli as she pulled out a sleeping bag.

"You're right," he agreed with a yawn. He walked in his shelter and prepared his area to sleep, "Goodnight,"

The female finished setting up her sleeping bag and looked around one final time. For some reason, she felt like she was being watched. 'Could that Piccolo guy be around here?' she thought to herself. She was about to lie down when she thought she heard the faintest sound of a twig snapping. "Who's there?" she asked rather loudly.

Having heard, Gohan quickly got back up and walked out. "Is something wrong?" he asked with a look of confusion.

Lazuli took out a flashlight from her backpack and flashed it around. It was quiet again and she couldn't see a trace of anything. She immediately turned to the boy who still looked puzzled, "I guess it was just a squirrel or something…" She told him to go back to sleep before getting in her sleeping bag. She made one final look before turning off her flashlight. At first, she had mentally decided to stay awake all night just in case something shady was going on and she would need to make a hasty escape, But it wasn't even twenty minutes before she dozed off into a deep sleep.

Within a couple of hours, morning had arrived. The sun was rather high up in the sky beaming its light on the wilderness. Lazuli was sound asleep before she felt a strong heat on her right cheek that jolted her awake. She quickly sat up and realized that it was morning. Taking the position of the sun, she figured it must've been fairly late and she needed to continue searching for her brother. She turned to the shelter where Gohan was but quickly became alert when she noticed it was empty. "Gohan…?" she called out as she got up and started to pack her stuff. As she was finishing, she swore she heard something a couple feet away. She faced the direction of the sound and was about to go investigate when she suddenly heard the young boy's voice.

"Hey, you're awake" quickly came the child from a few steps behind startling the female.

She immediately turned around and saw that he was carrying a large fish in his shoulders. "Where did you get that?"

"Isn't it great?" asked the boy cheerfully. "The river was full of them today!"

Lazuli was amazed as she had never seen a fish that big before. It was hard to believe that a boy of that size could actually be able to get an animal of that size.

Gohan dropped the fish to the ground and picked up two sticks next to a pile of wood, "Just give me an hour and breakfast will be ready."

"Listen," began the female. "I appreciate your help, but I should really get going…"

"Why?" asked the child with a look of disappointment.

"Did you forget that I'm looking for my brother?" she asked as she picked up her backpack. "I should really start searching again."

"Oh…" voiced Gohan before an idea suddenly came up. "Hey! How about if I help you look for him?"

Lazuli raised an eyebrow, "Would you really?"

"Yea! I know a lot of places where he could be… There's a cave several miles over there" he said as he pointed to the direction of the cave. "We can go after breakfast."

"A cave…?" she asked. 'It could be worth a shot' she thought to herself. A smile rose on her lips as she accepted the offer. She noticed that the boy was going to use the sticks to try and start a fire, "Why don't I help you with that?" she asked.

"You can start a fire?" he asked.

Again, Lazuli opened her backpack and pulled out a lighter, "I got it covered." She kneeled next to the pile of wood and realized that they needed more wood for the fish. "Why don't you head out and get some more wood while I start this fire."

"Ok!" cheered Gohan as he immediately ran into the woods. He was truly excited that he was going to get some company today.

A few minutes have passed and Gohan already had a huge pile of branches on his arms. He figured he could get a few more just in case. As he was walking around, he suddenly heard a scream coming from the campsite. "Lazuli…?" asked Gohan as he immediately dropped the wood and ran to the origin of the scream. He reached the campsite but was surprised when he realized that she was missing. "Lazuli…?!" He called out hoping for an answer. He noticed that all of her belongings were still there, but she wasn't. "Where are you?!" he asked again as he started searching around the area. He looked and looked for the next hour until he came to the realization that she was just gone.

A/N: And that's it for this chapter. Hope all of you enjoyed it. Special shout out to RFK22! You're awesome!

As always, reviews are accepted and greatly appreciated. Thank you for giving this story a chance and hope that you will stay for the ride. Take care.