DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ…. Aww…(or any music that may or may not appear)Please don' t mob me for being slow to update. I had 2 english projects, art homework, and completely computer hogging siblings. I will try to update faster, the next few chapters as an apology. No promises though.
When Alyss next saw Goku, he looked the same as he had before his training session with Vegeta. From what she heard the others say, Goku pretty much whipped Vegeta. A few days later, everyone split up and went their own way. Tien, Piccolo, and pretty much all the guys vanished to obscure corners of the world to train. The red-head trained on her own, mostly focusing on the energy attacks Krillen had tried to explain to her. The other focus of her training was to maintain her muscles and keeping her Ki hidden. She spent nearly every hour of every day alone, practicing. Even though Gokus' house wasn't that far away, nor was Capsule Corp, where Vegeta, Yamcha, and Bulma lived, Alyss preferred training on her own.
A few months into this isolation, a little dark haired boy showed up at her house. The red-head knew Goku had a son, and she couldn't help but wonder if this was him. Energetically, he asked: "Hey, are you Alyss?" With this question she became certain this was Gokus' kid. Slowly, the young woman nodded.
"Yeah. You're Gokus' boy, right?"
The kid bobbed his head. "I'm Gohan. I was wondering if you would train with me. My dad's busy, and I only just barely escaped my mom. So, will you?"
Alyss studied him for a moment, the smiled one of her small, rare smiles. "Sure. This should be fun. If you're really Gokus' kid you'll have me beat in 5 minutes flat. That is, if you can catch me."
And with those words, the two of them walked away from her house and commenced to spar. The red-head was right to say Gohan would have to catch her before he could beat her. 'It's like trying to hit smoke! She moves so fast! And she's so flexible!' he thought, about 10 minutes into the brawl. A couple hours later, a familiar face showed up. Goku stood on the sidelines watching the two of them silently. Neither noticed him until he spoke. "Come on, Gohan. We need to get home. Your mom is worried about you."
Gohan nodded. "Right."
Goku now turned to Alyss. "Thanks for training with him. Hey, you should come eat dinner with us. Then you can meet Chi-Chi."
The red-head considered his offer before replying. "Only if your brat here shows up once a week to spar with me." She teased, ruffling Gohans' hair. "How does that sound?"
Goku shrugged. "It's fine with me. It's Chi-Chi you've got to convince."
The kids' face lit up. "Really? That'd be so much fun!"
When the three of them arrived, there was a woman waiting for them.
"Oh, Gohan! Are you alright baby? I was so worried about you! Don't run off like that again!" she exclaimed. "Goku, where did you find him?"
Goku shrugged. "He was training with Alyss."
The woman burst out: "Not more martial arts training! You know how I disapprove of that! It's so dangerous!"
As she listened to this conversation, Alyss had a brilliant idea. "No."
They all looked at her. She winked at Gohan. "We were doing gymnastics." The red-head nearly keeled over at the look on her fellow 'conspirators' facial expressions.
Chi-Chi paused for a second, then said: "Well, I guess that's alright. I mean, gymnastics aren't dangerous. Or at least, nowhere near as dangerous as martial arts."
Biting her lip to prevent a smile, the younger woman replied with caution. "However, if there's to be any hope for this one, he has to come to my place at least once a week."
Chi-Chi smiled. "Well, isn't that just generous of you! Of course he can go!" then, turning to Gohan, "You're going to famous one day sweet heart!" With that she left to go make dinner.
Gohan turned on Alyss, embarrassed and angry. "Why'd you say something like that?"
The red-head shook her head. "You heard what she thought of martial arts. It's the only logical other explanation for you to be at my house. Besides, she'll figure the truth sooner or later."
"Yeah, but-but what if she says something to Bulma, who'll probably tell Vegeta, and he'll never let me hear the end of it." Gohan spluttered.
Now, Alyss smiled with a dark viciousness that was surprising, coming from her. "Why, then we have Goku here beat him up. And if that doesn't work, well, there are plenty of ways to embarrass people."
Goku glanced at her puzzled. "How are you going to do that to Vegeta, I mean he's got a heart of stone. And besides, Gohan, Vegeta left to go train a while ago. He'd already left when we were supposed to spar. Apparently Bulma thought he'd locked himself in the gravity chamber, when he'd actually left."
Gohan looked relieved at this revelation.
They all went inside and sat down. Alyss' eyes dilated in surprise. 'That's a whole lot of food.' Watching as Chi-Chi toiled, bringing more and more food to the table, the red-heads' surprise grew. And then it took all her might not to roll on the floor with laughter, as she watched Goku and Gohan eat. No wonder Chi-Chi had to make so much food! The girl turned to Chi-Chi to say as much. "Do those two always eat as if they've never seen food before?"
The dark-haired woman nodded. "And Vegeta's pretty much the same way when it comes to food. If you're going to eat, you'd better do it now, or else they'll devour everything."
Alyss nodded. She could see how that was true. It didn't take long for her to eat her fill. It seemed Goku and Gohan would just keep eating forever, or, at least, until the food ran out. And indeed it did. The red-head got the feeling the food ran out long before these two could sate their hunger.
When the meal was finally finished, there was a grand exodus out of the house. Goku gave a mischievous grin. "Hey, let's train!"
Chi-Chi grew furious. "NO! ABSOULTELY NOT!"
Goku shrugged. "Don't worry. It's just going to be me and Alyss. Gohan can stay here with you."
Chi-Chi turned her glare upon the red-head. "So you're in on it too, huh? I should have known better."
Alyss replied: "Yeah… I guess you could put it that way. Believe me; gymnastics is probably just as dangerous. Do you have any idea how many times a gymnast ends up in the hospital? I honestly will say that martial art seems less dangerous than that."
For a few moments they all stared at her like she was insane.
Then, at last Chi-Chi sighed. "Oh, alright. As long as you don't hurt my boy too bad I suppose there's no harm in it for now."
Goku looked amazed. "Not a lot of people can convince Chi-Chi that there's nothing wrong with martial arts."
The red-head shrugged. "I should probably get going. Thanks for everything. I'll see you later."
With a cheery wave, Alyss set off for home. 'What an interesting day.' she thought.
So, for the next two years or so at least once a week Gohan would come train with Alyss. The red-head showed him a few simple moves, in case his mother inquired about his 'gymnastics' training. The two of them had a lot of fun, and occasional Goku joined them. Alyss learned even more than she'd known before. Both Goku and Gohan picked up on some of her stranger habits. Goku told them of some the adventures he'd had as a kid searching for the mystical Dragon Balls. For the most part though, they just trained. Steadily, Alyss grew stronger, and got less beat up as time went by. Goku even taught her the Kamehameha.
The red-head noticed Gohan getting stronger as well. At some point in time, she realized that most of the others had weighted clothing. It hadn't taken long to put some weights in her jacket. For the first week or so her movement had been restricted, but then she got used to it. It was just so wonderful, that these people should accept her without question! Take her for what she was and seek no deeper answers. Her quirks were understood as well. She disliked having her picture taken, hated rain, and, if she even had one, did not put photos on display. The same photo that caused her such panic before was now returned to its frame and on her nightstand.
She'd grown used to the strange headaches that appeared whenever she thought about certain things.
Time flew by. Before they knew it, the prophesied three years had gone by. They all went to the appointed meeting place. Getting reacquainted was quite interesting.
