Chapter Eight
Seeing as how Makoto was healed, Bulma kept her word and sent Makoto out to the Son household in the country. This secluded area was where the tea had decided to keep Makoto away from the city if danger did come. It was a secret about the hyperbolic time chamber but she knew Goten wouldn't ask how Makoto healed so quickly; it looked like there were a few bruises still in place along her knuckles and arms. Goten was excited to have the guests and so was ChiChi, eager to see if the stories Goten said about the woman was true. She always wanted a daughter-in-law that would help with the cooking for family events since it took so much out of here to prepare all the food.
"It's nice you're healing well," commented ChiChi, bringing out drinks and a snack tray into the living room.
"Thank you," replied Makoto a bit quietly; ChiChi inwardly frowned. Already she didn't seem very friendly but it wouldn't take time before she worked her out of that small box. Goten grabbed a handful of chips and quickly munched on them, looking between Makoto and his mom. Finally, he watched Makoto give a small smile to ChiChi. "I thought it would have taken longer but thank you for all your help with sending over the soup; it was delicious."
ChiChi blushed at the compliment, giving Makoto a smile.
"Whatever gets you stronger; I've raised three boys with my cooking and still hoping to raise more," said ChiChi proudly. "I understand you cook as well?"
"Mom, Makoto made that lemon and lime cake," said Goten, popping some more chips in his mouth a bit noisily. Makoto had almost forgotten about making that cake with Trunks, a few of the memories starting to rush back. She started to feel more on edge now that she put thought into about the weeks past events and staying away from saijins.
"It was too beautiful I didn't even want to serve it," said ChiChi, proudly looking toward Makoto. She did have some skills and ChiChi felt like she wanted those skills in her family. Now, she would make sure to talk to Makoto about Goten in every moment when he wasn't around so that they would get together.
"Make sure to let me know if you need help with cooking," replied Makoto, trying to find a way to escape the eyes of Goten as he watched the conversation between her and his mother. Trunks was unmoved and she made sure to keep her eyes away. Her mind was still numb with grief thinking of the feelings she kept pushing down for him, how she missed his presence, and musky smell…her mind blanked suddenly at the ringing coming from her pocket. Fumbling around, she caught attention quickly as she pulled out the pink communicator and flipped it open. "J here."
"That goodness I could reach you Mako; I've been trying for the past couple hours but there wasn't a signal to be found to your communicator," spoke a worried female voice. Makoto moved to her feet and quickly moved outside, ignoring the eyes watching her.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting an emergency. I'm out of town," replied Makoto only to see the blond woman nod.
"I know; Usagi is pregnant," said the female. Makoto mentally cursed as she wished this wasn't happening now. Timing couldn't have been worse. "We need you back here as soon as possible to start Crystal Tokyo."
Makoto was silent, pondering what she was going to do. How could she help build it while keeping them away from danger? If she went back to Tokyo, she was sure to be found quickly due to her energy spikes. There was a nagging at her as she looked down at the communicator, seeing the worry forming due to her not answering immediately.
"I can't," replied Makoto, seeing the hurt and shock on her comrades face. "I ran into some trouble I can't leave behind at this moment or else it will put everyone in danger. I can lend my powers to aid you but if anything happens, I will send all my powers fully over."
"Mako, what have you gotten into that we can't help?" asked the worried woman, hoping for the safety of her friend. Makoto just shook her head.
"I will return when it is safe, but for now drain me," she said jokingly and cracked a smile. This was going to be a dangerous process. Taking her powers would weaken her immensely, especially for the use of building a city. The woman gave a small smile and nodded, understanding.
"Please be safe," she said softly as Makoto cracked a grin.
"I will, with the future in mind," replied Makoto and then closed her communicator. Shoving it into her pocket, she knew the senshi would get right to work and were probably just waiting on her. Deciding to give them a heads up, Makoto moved into the room receiving full attention.
"Is everything okay?" asked Goten. ChiChi looked also worried; she knew that Makoto had special powers but not what was all involved in it. Trunks knew the story but Makoto knew she needed to pretend she hadn't told any of them.
"Crystal Tokyo is going to be underway since the heir to my queen is on the way; this city may take a week or more to complete by giving all our powers to the Silver Crystal. Since I cannot travel to be there for their safety, I will be sending my powers away. Once the city is finished, my powers will be sent back to me. I am unsure of the effects to follow. I am sure when I send my powers away, there is a possibility the enemy may be able to track it. Before I do this, are you sure this is the location we should be at for the enemy to find us in? I do not want to put anyone in danger that doesn't need to be," replied Makoto sternly, taking control. Goten looked over to Trunks for a moment nodded before glancing over to ChiChi.
"I don't want you leaving on my behalf. If one of them tries to touch one of you I will beat them up!" said ChiChi, flexing her arm muscle into a punching motion. Makoto gave her a kind smile and nodded.
"It would be safe if we moved out to a secluded area," replied Goten. "Dad is already waiting at a location if we needed to come out; he's camping with Vegeta so we have back up."
It was agreed and the group packed quickly and moved to the location where Goku and Vegeta waited. Vegeta didn't look too happy, as usual, while his face crunch and stood stand-offish around the fire. Goten and Goku were already stuffed and passed out in their tent. Since her powers sent away, Makoto had been feeling completely drained and weakened. She didn't know that almost all her strength came from being a senshi; mostly, she thought it was her hard work and dedication that earned her that strength. Her mind and body were tired, screaming at her to rest but she refused while staying awake with the other two. Vegeta looked to be on patrol on a high rock near the camp looking out into the bright night sky. Makoto hadn't realized this was what it looked like in real life since the chamber had seemed so realistic. Leaning her heavy head back to peer at the sky, Makoto didn't feel herself leaning back too far on the seat until the falling motion hit her.
Closing her eyes for the hard impact with the dirt, Makoto opened her eyes to see Trunks staring at her sternly.
"This isn't the time to act brave," he said in a low voice, swinging her lightly into his arms. She lifted her heavy hand to point into the starry night sky.
"I just wanted a better view," replied Makoto softly, finding his look soften at how she actually spoke to him.
"You need to rest, you're too weak," commented Trunks, slowly walking over to her tent. Carefully he managed to open it, and slipping to his knees laid her on the semi-open sleeping back. Pulling off her shoes, he helped her into the sleeping bag and felt her hand gently rest on his hand for a moment.
"You're such a good person," she whispered, catching him off guard. Trunks simply nodded and then left her to rest. He was sure she would need it. When he came back to the fire, he looked to see his father had come down from his post and stood staring at him. Trunks wasn't sure what it was he wanted to say since these days he spent most of his time away and spoke even rarely to his mother. Their family was slowly growing apart it seemed, unless his sister came home from being overseas at school. She was daddy's girl and would get Vegeta to do anything for her. He almost hadn't seen his sister in a few years due to their conflicting schedules for classes. Trunks tended to the fire, lowering the lights of the coals on this warm night; there was no reason to give their location away.
"When you find that one woman, she is always worth the fight," spoke Vegeta, eerily making Trunks suddenly look up at his stern father. Vegeta stared into the night sky looking at the moon still; it's full glow sending a chill through all of them as they remembered what the moon did to them if they still had their tails. Goku and Gohan had both went through the trials of seeing the full moon transform them into a large disfigured raging ape with almost unlimited power. It seemed that even at this time, which power was wished to be possessed. Now, upon the first sight of a newborn having this tail it was immediately removed especially before the mother noticed the strangeness of their race.
Trunks understood the words and seemed to think about them too literally as he peered over to the tent where Makoto rested. Did his father know of their time in the chamber? Although Vegeta never spoke a lot or had a bad temper, he was still a very intelligent man. If he could see this, then Trunks wondered what else his father had witnessed. Looking over to the snoring tent house, he wondered how Goten would react if he told his feelings about this woman. It would certainly have to wait until after this fight. For now, they would prepare for the arrival of the enemy.
Makoto was still weak in the afternoon when she awoke from the long sleep; building Crystal Tokyo must have zapped everyone else's energy as well. She wished she could be there to help out since it felt like she was ditching out. This was something they were supposed to do as a team; but as she understood from the small updated messages left to her by her friends, everyone was in the medical ward being looked after while they gave the Crystal all their powers. It would be the prime time for an enemy to attack. So far, the palace had been constructed first on the basis that there would be four surrounding smaller cities where the towers would reside. The outer senshi would begin to be the palace's personal guards. With the inner senshi in the towers, automatically it would build a barrier around the city from aerial attacks and give promised protection. All one person had to do was storm one of the towers and everything would fall. Makoto found that as a flaw to the design but then again, if they all went to the center of city, it would be protected by the Silver Crystal and their powers combined.
In peaceful times, it was rather unlikely though. Makoto let out a sigh and decided she would stay in her tent to keep out of their way. Still her body felt tired and she didn't want to be moved; curling into her sleeping bag and closing her eyes for a moment against the bright sun streaming through the small holes of her tent. Hearing a zipper, Makoto's eyes popped open to see the cheerful Goku.
"Are you feeling alright kiddo? I thought you would be hungry," he said cheerily and held up a rope line holding at least a dozen fish.
"Kakarot. Her readings are in the negatives, let her be," said Vegeta from somewhere behind him, his voice making Goku cringe and turn a look over his shoulder.
"Doesn't mean someone can't eat; I know I'm always hungry so why not her?" asked Goku, only to hear a chuckle from Goten.
"Come on dad, you know as well as I do we're endless pits that can bottom out on anything," said Goten. Makoto listened to the three keep the fun argumentative conversation going and then the smell of roasting fish start to fill the air around the tent. Makoto felt her eyes become heavy as they closed once more, her breathing steady out and she felt like she was dreaming; or rather floating. This dream was peaceful as she felt the support of her friends in Tokyo through the distance as they went through the same situation. There was a bit of a light in the darkness as she peered through a window, following it and noticing she was in a long silky green gown. Where was she? Looking around at the white washed palace walls with the lush green gardens blooming pink, yellow, red, blue, and violet flowers made Makoto smile.
Come here, darling. She followed the sound of the voice moving across the grey cobble stone pathway to where a tall woman sat at a white bistro table under the curved arches of a large shade tree. Her green and white gown flowed around her as she wore a large white sun hat that covered her face. Come to me sweetheart.
Makoto continued, quicker as she moved into a run while lifting the skirts of her gown; instead it felt like she was running in place before the scenery around her turned into squares while the image began to disappear. Trying her hardest she was soon unable to speak or feel. Darkness finally seemed to become her home.
AN: Okay sorry for the HUGE update all at once but what can I say? I'm busy with work and studying so I write in my free time between each. I actually revised and added more to the previous chapters since I didn't want it moving to slowly and I'm not a fan of going over 10 chapters if I have to ." I'll try to get more out soon and still have tons of folders I'm trying to clear out on my computer. Too many ideas at once make me crazy. LASTY, thank you for all the reviews everyone!!! Much 3 your way ^^
