Chapter Two

ChiChi grinned up at her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck in an achingly missed gesture. He gave her a cunning grin in reply. He rarely instigated anything, let alone anything like that--

"Didn't know you were such a pervert, Goku."

"You didn't like it?" he responded simply.

"Didn't say that." She replied, just as simply. Truth be told, it was a well kept secret from most but despite his naive nature, Goku was quite adept at some adult things and rather dirty things at that. One would never have expected it from a man that had confessed he hadn't known what marriage was so long ago but it pleased her plenty enough.

She was beginning to think that the few months wait was worth it.

ChiChi looked up at her husband again, not saying much. Too many tears had been shed over the months and now was just not the time for words. Other things delivered so much and right now, she was content to lean against him and feel his heartbeat. It gave her a sense of pleasure. Her heart had shattered when he had been dead. Gohan telling her that he would not be coming home had sent her mind spiraling back to all the things she'd said and done that she could not undo.

She'd clung to Gohan for hours, just crying.

Part of her wanted to seal him from anything resembling training but she hadn't the heart to do it. She had been sure that his father's death would have driven that fighting spirit from him and made him content to stay home, with her, and study and explore but it had done no such thing. If anything, it had done the opposite. His determination had doubled.

She reasoned that she knew why.

Gohan had her husband's sense of protector and provider. Thus, he would study for her and train for himself and his father's memory. When Goku returned, after such a long absence, she hadn't the heart to bar or dissuade any of the two. The more she saw them train, the more she seemed to understand that much like she was a blend of protector, princess and mother and Goku was a blend of healer, protector and warrior, thus their son was a mix of warrior, learner and protector. She supposed it ran in the blood.

Still, it did not mean her heart did not race and she did not try and prod her child away from danger but after the events of Cell, she could not deny that Gohan had surpassed the need for protection. Nor could Goku.

It didn't stop her from trying.

Being a protector was something that had become into both her and Goku's hearts when they had conceived their son.

"ChiChi?"

She looked up, snapped out of her thoughts and met Goku's own onyx eyes. "Sorry…" she grinned, a sly grin of a young girl still deeply in love "Why, you waiting for me? Or are you too tired?"

Goku looked into her eyes and he smirked. Sometimes, especially when she was so hard on Gohan, he wondered what had attracted him to her after some time but now, and times like this, he didn't even question it. For all her faults, she loved him and she forgave him his many faults thus, he could forgive hers.

"I ain't tired." Goku responded. "I can go all night if you want to."

ChiChi eyed him. "Didn't you say you were taking Gohan out tomorrow?"

Goku pondered this a moment but then grinned "I'll let him sleep in a little bit." He drew away from her a little "Unless you're done."

ChiChi, a mountain hick at heart, yanked him back down by his hair and now, out of the range of children's ears, she pressed her face close to his eyes and hissed, "Oh, hell no." She smirked. "You've been gone almost half a year. Before that, you vanished for almost two years after that hell on Namek. You OWE me this, Mister!"

Goku grinned at her, leaning over so he ironed her to the bed. "I was training."

"Then you best be giving me somethin' from all that time away!"

Goku beamed, letting his eyes turn green and his hair blond. "I'll let you tell me if I did."

OOO

Gohan backed up, his eyes turned green and his hair blond. "My soul?"

The girl remained silent, merely running her hand over the rim of the silver mirror. The silk surface hummed with an unnatural white light, seeming so out of place in this place of dark and fire. The flames from the distance caused a reflection in her grey eyes, much like flame would reflect from a mirror. A mirror, which carried no image of its own, merely reflected that which shimmered upon its surface. That was this girl's eyes, without any inner motivation merely orders displayed upon her face. She spoke without malice, without mercy and without any affliction. It was like talking to a robot.

"Your soul. Surrender it." She said again. She never took a step towards him but Gohan's eyes caught the white shimmer in her mirror so in a split second decision, he took to the air. The shimmering gave him an odd feeling, a dark fear in his heart. He'd been in many battles where blood was shed and lives lost, ripped apart in front of his eyes. That type of battle he could cope with.

This girl made him extremely uneasy.

Said child, looked upward, meeting his determined eyes with her empty ones. She raised her mirror over her head, never saying anything. Gohan darted to the side, behind the shattered buildings in the otherwise empty Time Chamber. He was in a predicament. He'd been raised to never attack unless someone else was a threat first. While what she was saying was quite disturbing, he wasn't sure if she was truly going to attack.

"Son Gohan."

Gohan screeched in surprise as the white haired girl was suddenly right in front of him, with a faint gleam of white light. He focused on her, trying to seek out her ki.

Nothing.

This girl was just like an Android. She had no ki.

He couldn't sense her.

That white light in the surface of the mirror again. Gohan, snapping into warrior reflexes drew his arms backward.

"Ka….me…ha….me….ha!"

No emotion as the light exploded into the girl's path. She lowered her mirror and that white light shimmered again. Gohan blinked then gasped in pure disbelief as his wave of ki shrank and like water sucked into a drain absorbed into the surface of her mirror. She looked down a moment, stroked the surface of her mirror and then looked back up, meeting his eyes once more.

"Give me your soul."

The surface of her mirror shimmered but not with white light this time. Gohan blinked, his eyes recognizing the blue white light of his kamehameha wave he'd just attacked with. The surface of the mirror turned blue then the attack he had seen absorbed was released right back at him. Had Gohan's reflexes not been so fine tuned by so many battles, he no doubt would have been overwhelmed by his own attack but as he was, he dodged it, if barely. The light still managed to scrape his bare feet, making them burn and blister but it missed him head on.

This small girl regarded him, as empty eyed as ever, still clutching that mirror. Gohan wouldn't launch another attack at her. He'd already figured out that any attack he sent at her would merely be absorbed and reflected back at him. Normally, he would have attacked physically then but he guessed she wanted him close so she could do something else with that mirror. For the moment, he was stuck, keeping his distance from her. He pondered the idea of destroying the door to the room after darting out, thus locking her in that dimension but if she could appear as effortlessly as she did, he didn't know if that would even do anything.

He didn't even know her name or what she wanted. All she ever said was that she wanted his soul! He didn't even know here, what did she want with him?

Her eyes, remaining so cold, focused behind him suddenly, "Kagura."

Gohan's senses picked up now on a new ki, not emptiness as he felt from the girl but full of power. Not overwhelmingly powerful but strong nonetheless. He whirled around to face the new attacker-

"Dance of Blades!"

Gohan didn't even get a chance to see his new opponent before dozens of curled white blades, similar to Krillin's attacks cut into his arms and upper torso, slicing pretty deep at that. He avoided the dangerous ones easily enough but it still hurt and it still burned. He darted backwards, landing on the ground, pondering if this opponent could throw his own attacks back at him as well. Blood dripped down his arms, not in dangerous amounts but the loss of blood would not help his strength nor his speed. He focused his dark eyes on the face of his new adversary.

This one was older, an adult, with her hair up in a bun, wearing a kimono of many colors and holding an ancient fan. Her eyes weren't empty like the younger girl's but they didn't seem to be full of malice either. He didn't know what he would call the emotion he saw in her dark red eyes but it wasn't malice. He summoned up one of his attacks, a small one, knowing if he had to dodge his own attack, it was better than just standing here.

"Kanna, get this over with."

A dark tickling appeared over Gohan's heart, making him feel light headed suddenly. His arms went limp, like someone had sucked the energy out of them. He whirled around, as fast as he was able and was completely absorbed in a blast of white light from the girl's mirror. He thought to jump out of it but as soon as it enveloped him, he felt like he was no longer part of his body. He saw his hands like they were foreign objects and he fell to his knees suddenly, unable to feel his legs nor control them any longer. He blinked once and when he opened his eyes again, he was looking back into his own eyes which were now empty and lifeless. An odd force was yanking him further away and he screeched when he saw his own body, still breathing, still alive come into view.

He stared down and saw himself as the white light of a soul.

Briefly, he saw those girl's eyes again and the surface of her mirror then that smooth circle of glass devoured him and he knew nothing else.