Woot! It's a day early but who cares? Please enjoy the next chapter!
A pounding headache is what brought Kiwi back to life several hours later. "Ugh, my head." She opened her eyes and struggled to sit up. Thankfully she was in a bed that felt extremely comfortable instead of on the hard ground. She managed to sit up but instantly felt nauseous. Taking a deep breath she glanced around at her surroundings. The room she was in looked oddly familiar. Then it hit her. She was at Capsule Corps. It was strange how she could feel so at home in a room she had never technically been in before. Shoving off the blanket that covered her body, Kiwi swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She needed to find Trunks to discover what had happened after she blacked out. Forcing herself to move slowly the young woman stood and took a few shaky steps towards the door. .
At that moment the door opened and Trunks walked in, just in time to see Kiwi's legs fold underneath her. He was at her side instantly, an arm sliding around her waist and then lifting her up. As Trunks set her on the bed he pinched her arm gently "What's the matter with you? Can't you see you're too weak to be moving around?"
Kiwi rolled her eyes. "Get a grip. I was just trying to find you." She brushed some strands of hair out of her face and asked curiously, "So what are we doing here at C.C.? What happened with the androids?"
"You, ahem, fell off the cliff. Thankfully, the drop was only a couple of feet so you weren't hurt...too badly." Trunks replied as he sat beside her on the bed.
Kiwi scowled at her brother. "Oh really? I'm so happy that no thanks to you I survived."
Trunks pouted slightly, "Hey, I did what I could to help you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny chunk of something green. "Here, eat this." He held it out to his sister and looked at her expectantly.
Kiwi's eyes widened. "Is that a senzu bean?" she asked in a hushed tone as she lifted her hand up.
Trunks nodded and put it in her outstretched hand. "Yeah, I never thought I'd ever see one of these in my life."
Despite the fact that it was only a piece of the bean Kiwi instantly felt better after eating it. A sad smile flitted across her face. "Can you imagine what things would be like if these hadn't died out in our time?" Trunks nodded and when he glanced at his sister he was surprised to see her eyes filled with tears.
He reached out and brushed a hand across her cheek, "Hey, there's no need to look so sad. We did the best that we could."
"If we had these then maybe Gohan would still be alive." Kiwi replied, looking down.
Trunks slid his arm around his sister's shoulder and gave her a side hug. She leaned into him and the two siblings sat their quietly. Just as Kiwi was beginning to feel sleepy Bulma burst into the room. "Trunks!" she stopped short y when she saw the two teens. To the two sibling's horror Bulma winked at them. "Oh. I'm sorry; I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Trunks turned bright red and dropped his arm. "I-it's not what you think. She's, I-I-I…"
Kiwi's mouth dropped when she realized what Bulma, who despite being just a few years older was still her mother, was insinuating. "What! No way, Trunks is my brother!"
Immediately Bulma's expression changed to one of joy. "Oh wow! You mean I get to have a daughter too? That's great!" She grabbed Kiwi's hands and continued gleefully, "So who's your dad? Vegeta?" Bulma paused, her expression becoming one of alarm. "Oh no, don't tell me that Yamcha is your dad."
"Ah…I can't say." Kiwi replied with a shrug.
Bulma nodded sagely. "Oh right, can't mess too much with the time stream."
Trunks, still looking a bit disgusted, said, "Is everyone ready to head out now?"
At Kiwi's curious expression Bulma explained, "We were going to visit Goku. You're coming aren't you?"
Half an hour later Kiwi sat in a plane with people she barely knew. Trunks was on the phone with Bulma, who, at the last minute, had to stay at CC. Gohan and his mother, Chi Chi, were sitting quietly next to each other. The last time Kiwi had seen the older woman in her time had been when Gohan died. Kiwi quickly averted her eyes away from her. Thoughts of Gohan were more painful here with so many reminders of his death. Idly Kiwi turned her gaze to her left and found Krillin, who had stayed with the small group, studying her.
"So you're Kiwi right?"
Kiwi turned red when Chichi and Gohan turned to look at her. Rubbing the back of her head she replied, "Yeah that's me."
. "How do you know Trunks?" continued Krillin curiously.
Kiwi smiled slightly. "I'm Trunks' younger sister."
Krillin laughed. "I'm surprised Bulma named you after fruit instead of going with something more traditional like Bra."
"Well I'm not Bulma's biological daughter," explained Kiwi. "The androids killed my parents and Bulma adopted me shortly after."
The three listening winced and offered murmured apologies. Krillin said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It must be hard to lose a loved one." Gohan added sympathetically..
Kiwi looked at him and felt herself being drawn back into old memories."Yeah…"
Flashback
"Gohan! You're home." Kiwi, who had been pouting in her room, beamed when she saw the demi saiyan standing in her door way. She threw herself off her bed and onto the man before he had a chance to blink. Gohan laughed and gave her a tight hug before gently pulling away.
Leaning against the door frame he said easily "Of course I came back. You and your mom are two of my favorite people."
Kiwi' brow wrinkled. "I'm always scared when you and Trunks leave to find the androids." She confessed. "What if you two never come back? Then mom and I will be by ourselves."
Gohan's face softened and he reached out with his hand and tweaked the end of Kiwi's nose. "Don't worry about the kinda stuff kiddo."
"I am not a kid!" Kiwi protested, folding her arms across her chest. "I'll be 15 in a few weeks."
The two of them talked for a few more minutes until Kiwi yawned. Gohan immediately looked guilty. "Sorry, I just wanted to tell you goodnight. I'm going to visit my mom for a few days."
Kiwi's face fell. "You're leaving so soon?"
"I'm afraid so." Gohan laughed. "But don't worry, I'll be back soon." He gave her a pat on the head and left the room.
The room felt cold and empty now without his presence. Kiwi climbed into bed and sighed deeply. Under her breath she whispered, "I like you a whole lot Gohan. Don't go and get yourself killed."
Unknown to the young woman, Gohan, who had paused outside her door to search his pockets for something, heard the whole thing.
End of flashback
"Kiwi!" Trunks' voice jarred Kiwi out of her thoughts and she jumped nearly a foot off the chair.
"Kami, Trunks! You scared ten years off my life! "
Trunks rolled his eyes. "I called your name three times." He held out a photograph to her. "Here check this out."
Kiwi took the picture from him and gasped as she saw what it was. "Hey! That's the time machine. Why does it look so old in this? Don't you have it in the capsule?"
Trunks nodded grimly. "Yeah, I have it right here. C'mon, we're going to meet Mom there to check things out."
Trunks helped Kiwi to her feet and the two teens made their way to the back of the plane.
"I'm going too!" Gohan leaped to his feet and ran after them.
Immediately Chichi exclaimed, "Gohan, get back here now! It's too dangerous… Gohan!"
It was too late. They were already gone.
"Have the androids really messed up your world?" Gohan asked curiously.
Kiwi's lips pressed tightly together as she allowed her brother to explain things to the overly curious demi saiyan. Gohan, she thought, was just a little too curious for her liking. The three of them flew side by side as they made their way to where Bulma waited. Kiwi did her best to keep Trunks between her and Gohan. No offense to the kid but seeing him only reminded her of what she had lost. She had fallen deeply in love with the Future Gohan at the tender age of 13.
For the better part of a year Kiwi had pinned after the older man dreaming of the day when she would be grown up enough for him to notice her. That day had never come. Instead, shortly before her 15th birthday, Gohan had been killed by the androids. In the four years that had passed since then, Kiwi had never let go of her first love. Seeing him now, young, innocent and alive broke her heart. She sighed; it was past time that she moved forward with her life. .
Brushing some hair out of her face, Kiwi noticed a collection of buildings. Squinting she could see a sign near the highway leading into the city.
"Hey Trunks, isn't that Ginger Town?" Kiwi felt anxiety twist her stomach into knots. . Trunks shrugged. "It might be. Why do you want to know?"
Before Kiwi could reply, Gohan yelled out. "Look there's the Time Machine! Oh and there's Bulma; I'll go flag her down." He veered to the right and the two siblings landed on the ground before what was clearly a very beat up version of their Time Machine.
Trunks opened his mouth to speak but was overpowered by Bulma's voice from behind them. "Trunks! Honey, it's me; your mother! What's this? I don't get hellos anymore?"
Trunks blushed from embarrassment and went to greet Bulma while Kiwi giggled. The giggle turned into a squeak as Bulma walked up to her and hugged her tightly. "Don't think I forgot about you missy. Now, what do we have here?" Bulma turned to the Time Machine and planted her fists on her hip.
Kiwi walked over to the Time Machine and wrinkled her nose as she saw how rusty it looked. Gingerly she wiped some grime off the side revealing the words Hope scrawled in large block letters. Just under it was a frowning stick figure.
"Well, this is our machine. See? I remember Trunks writing that and I drew that when he got home."
Bulma laughed softly as Trunks made a face and shook his head. Gohan went around the machine and said "Hey look! It's been melted from the inside." The others moved to where he was and found Gohan poking his head into a large hole in the glass dome.
Kiwi rubbed the back of her head and felt her attention drifting off as Trunks and Bulma began to theorize on how this machine had appeared. She glanced in the direction of Ginger Town and bit her lip. With some hesitation she lifted up into the air. "Hey guys, I'm going to head into that town we passed to pick up some food. I'll uh, meet up with you later."
Without waiting for a response Kiwi flew off.
It took Kiwi ten minutes to fly to Ginger Town. She had taken that time to steel her nerves for what was ahead. A sighting of her mother. When she had been little her mother had mentioned several times that before the Androids she had lived in Ginger Town. Kiwi landed in an alley way and bit her bottom lip. She didn't need to talk to her mom; she just wanted to see her. To see if she was happy. Kiwi pressed her damp palms against her thighs and took a deep breath before moving out of the alley.
Almost immediately she felt that something was wrong. Kiwi looked around and was confused by the sight of clothing strewn around all over the place. And not just random items, each pile contained the full makings of an outfit. Pursing her lips Kiwi brushed hair back from her face and tried to remember if her mother had ever mentioned a festival involving clothes. For thirty minutes Kiwi wandered around, fear filling her as she realized that there was no one in the city.
Feeling cold Kiwi rubbed her arms. If her mother had been here when this happened…Tears pricked her eyes. The short life she had had before meeting Bulma had been difficult, her mother had been miserable before dying at 17's hands. If she had died now…
Flashback
"You'll see Kiwi, as soon as I get rid of you, I'll go back to Ginger Town and start over. You won't be there to harass me every five minutes and that man who called himself my husband is finally gone." The young woman directed her words to the small child stumbling beside her as they walked at a fast pace in the direction that screams were coming from.
The little girl, Kiwi, looked up at her mom and felt frightened. In the short years of her life Kiwi had often seen her mother looking morose or angry but this was the first time Kiwi had seen the crazed look on her mother's face. The fear overwhelmed her and she stopped walking and started crying. Her mom looked down at her and scowled. Angrily, she grabbed Kiwi's tiny hand in hers and yanked her forward; ignoring the wails coming from her small daughter.
Through tears, Kiwi saw that they reached the monsters that filled many of her dreams. She let out a thin wail as her mother picked her up roughly and screamed, "YOU! Take this thing away from me!" The androids, who had been fighting a boy several years older than Kiwi, loved over in the two female's direction with amusement. Gohan, 16 years old, was shocked to see a woman offering her daughter to the androids. "Take her!" The woman pleaded again. She stumbled forward and tossed her daughter at 17.
The android caught the girl out of reflex and said coldly, "Are you crazy woman? Throwing your daughter at me like she was some kind of rag doll?"
The woman laughed hysterically. "Ha! You think I care? I hate that thing! Kill her for all I care; I just want to be free."
Kiwi immediately began shrieking."Mama! Mama! Don't leave me here! Mama!" She struggled against the monster, reaching short arms out for the woman who called herself mom. Kiwi burst into tears when her mother merely turned and walked away.
"17, will you just kill the brat and get it over with?"18's voice was like ice.
17 frowned down at the crying child in his arms and sneered, "That woman actually thinks I would listen to her?" He lifted his hand and sent a chi blast at the woman.
She died instantly. Seeing his chance Gohan leaped up and slammed his foot into the android's face. Surprised he dropped the girl into Gohan's waiting arms. "Thanks! I'll be seeing you guys around." He was gone before either of the androids could react.
End on Flashback
Kiwi brushed the tears from her eyes at her last memories of her mother. Only one other day matched that one for terribleness; the day Gohan died. More tears fell from her eyes but Kiwi's pity party was interrupted but the sound of gunshots. For a moment she stood there stunned but realizing that this meant someone in the town was still alive she ran in the direction the shots had come from. She stopped short when she found only more clothing and what appeared to be a television camcorder on the floor.
"Help…me…" Kiwi turned and saw a man lying down on the ground. To her surprise and dismay his flesh began to hang around his bones and his voice became Softer. "P-pleas…" then to her utter horror he melted away into nothing.
"Hehehe… surprised? Don't be. You're next." Kiwi barely had time to dodge the green thing that came at her.
Angrily she turned in the direction it had come from and discovered a tall green insect like person. The thing studied her for a moment before saying, "Hmmm…you seem familiar. I can sense that you are stronger than the other humans in this pitiful town." The area that comprised his mouth twisted into a smile. "I shall enjoy sucking the life out of you."
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but you aren't going to kill me any time soon!" Kiwi jumped up and roundhouse kicked the creature in its face. Caught off guard, he went flying backwards.
Slipping into a defensive pose, Kiwi growled, "Who are you and what did you do these people?"
The thing laughed as he stood. "Since you're going to die in a moment I shall indulge your curiosity. I am Cell, a biological android created by Dr. Gero. I came here from the future to search for the Androids 17 and 18."
Kiwi's mouth dropped. "How did you get here from the future? There's only one time machine!"
An evil hiss-like laugh slipped from the creature's lips. "I stole it of course; after I killed the fool who owned it." At Kiwi's horrified gasp a light of recognition crossed Cell's face. . "I recognize you now. Just before I stole the time machine you came running out of a house nearby. There was a little girl hoisted on your hip. Ah yes…it was a pleasure killing the three of you. The energy you supplied me with was delicious. Since you no longer have a future, allow me to have your energy." His tail whipped forward, the sharp point aimed at Kiwi's throat.
Barely dodging the attack Kiwi lifted up her arms and released twin balls of energy at Cell. To her dismay he knocked them right back at her. There was no time to dodge. The chi blasts hit her hard and she was sent flying backwards. Her body went through the side of a building and she didn't stop moving until she hit a mirror in a men's bathroom. Lying amidst the broken glass, her body screaming with pain, Kiwi thought dimly, Is it me or am I getting knocked around quite a bit?
Kiwi struggled to get up but the movement caused darkness to tinge the edges of her vision. Her eyes fluttered close in defeat. After a moment, something caressed her cheek and Kiwi forced her eyes back open. Everything was bright; everything except for the dark figure of a man kneeling over her. Although she couldn't see his face Kiwi could tell he was smiling. You have to wake up.
His voice filled her mind and for a moment Kiwi was frightened. As he touched her face again the fear melted away and she felt oddly comforted. She reached up and her hand connected with air. "Trunks?"
The person ignored her question. Firmly, they said You have to wake up Kiwi. She felt a hand brush hers and, after a moment's hesitation, Kiwi grasped their hand and felt herself being pulled up. It was like she was flying. Upwards she went until the light faded away and the warmth of the other person's hand disappeared.
Kiwi woke up with a loud gasp. Her arm was outstretched, her hand curled as if she had been holding something. Whatever had happened had brought her back. Slowly Kiwi's arm lowered and she sat up. She felt woozy still but nowhere as bad as before. She glanced around and realized that she was still in the building sitting on a pile of glass. Small cuts peppered her arms but Kiwi ignored them. Something dripped down her face and reaching up with her hand she discovered a larger cut on her forehead. With a wince Kiwi stood up and gingerly began the walk back outside. Her ribs ached but she forced the pain away.
As Kiwi limped back towards were she had left Cell she heard a familiar voice laugh. "The pathetic human girl? You are too late. Her energy already flows through my veins. BWHAHAHAHA!"
Kiwi rounded a corner and found Piccolo standing before a triumphant looking Cell. Piccolo growled angrily but before he could speak Kiwi croaked out, "Cell, didn't Gero ever teach you about lying?"
Cell turned around, his green skin flushing purple. "What! You're supposed to be dead; I knocked you through that building!"
Kiwi smiled grimly. Steadying herself on the building she stood beside she said, "I guess this pathetic human girl is stronger than she looks." She turned her face towards Piccolo and continued weakly, "Watch out for his tail. He stabs it into people and sucks them dry." Her senses picked up a familiar chi. Breathing a sigh of relief Kiwi allowed herself to slide to the floor. Thank Kami she thought, leaning her head against the building. Her eyes closed. Trunks was here.
It seems to me that Kiwi kinda sucks at keeping her eyes open in these situations hahaha. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this latest update! Leave a review!
Just wanna take a moment to promote two other fanfics! If you're a fan the Justice League I highly encourage you to check out my other fanfic Fates Intertwined.
If you're more of a Kingdom Hearts type person then head on over to Puja723's page and give Unbreakable Connection a read.
There! Now you guys have plenty to read and review while you wait for the next update of Days of our Past :)