Disclaimer: I do not own DB/Z.

Chapter 10: A true magical place

ChiChi knew Goku was very much capable of taking care of himself. But after she had sent him away to go and wash himself she didn't think it would take him nearly an entire hour to get back. So there she was, venturing into a lush and dark forest she had never been to. Hoping it would not take too long to find him.

Four hours ago they had boarded the tiny boat belonging to the Professor. Roamed over the ocean that seemed to go on forever. In the distance they could hear the volcano rumble but it seemed that it was just shaking off its intruders for it never came to an explosion. They kept their wary eyes on it until the island disappeared from the horizon.

In the long minutes that followed after that Goku had told her that the Fire Eater Bird had truly gone extinct.

With pleading eyes she turned to the Professor. "Are you certain…?" she asked, her eyes on the verge of tears.

The Professor gave one firm nod, his hands steady on the wheel. His old eyes overlooking the outstretched ocean in front of them.

"So what do we do now?" ChiChi managed to ask out loud. Her hope of coming closer to saving her father and home seemed to vanish all together.

Goku placed his hand on her shoulder. An innocent touch that sent a warm wave through her body. "Don't worry Chi, we'll find a way." His voice so certain.

She had looked up at him and although the sky had taken it's dark shade of the evening, his face was still as bright as day to her. She could not help but smile at him. No matter how dark the path that lay ahead of them was, Goku managed to lighten it up and find a way to go through it.

It was a moment she realized that there was no time to let go of hope. She owed it to her father and Ré to hold on and keep on fighting till they had found a way to save them. They still had time.

They will find a way.

ChiChi looked up at the skies at that moment, thanking Kami or whoever was in charge up there for sending Goku her way. She would have been nowhere if it weren't for the young hero.

Two hours later they had located another deserted island, one filled with a lush forest and a wide beach.

"We will camp out here for the night." The Professor announced. It was all that Goku needed to hear. He immediately jumped off the boat and disappeared in a matter of a few seconds.

ChiChi chuckled as she remembered how quickly Goku had come back over and over again with a fresh kill. His empty stomach had led him to capture and kill enough animals that could supply an entire army of one hundred hungry soldiers with a fresh load of meat.

Another hour later ChiChi recalled the horrified expression belonging to the old Professor. Both he and ChiChi were forced to witness how Goku devoured all the animals. He did not cook a single one of them, his hunger didn't give him the patience of gutting or cooking the meat. In all, the young warrior was a complete mess once his hunger was finally stilled.

"Goku!" ChiChi scolded.

The young teen cringed, "What?!"

"Just… ulgh, would you please clean up after yourself?!" she gestured at the animal graveyard that lay carelessly thrown about behind him. "And please, please, clean yourself up! You look like a mess… and… it's disturbing."

"But… I am tired!" he whined.

"You can sleep after you've cleaned up! Haven't you learned any manners?!" By then she had already jumped up and leaned over him. One hand on her hip the other pointing her index finger at him.

"You clean up now Goku, end of discussion!"

Looking back at it now, she was certain she had scared the crap out of him. For his wide eyes and his hurry in picking up the bones and rushing of to get rid of every single one of them told her this much.

"Maybe he's more sensitive than I thought?" she wondered out loud as she made her way through the forest. It had almost been an entire hour. One that passed with her convincing the Professor that it would be better if he did eat. She had prepared a quick meal over the fire for the two of them.

By the time they had finished and cleaned up. Goku still had not returned.

She was going to go out and look for him sooner had it not been for the Professor, "You haven't told me yet why you were looking for the Fire Eater Bird's feather."

ChiChi told him their story, about her father and how their village was now held as a prisoner in a fiery prison. How the only way to rescue her loved ones was to use the Bansho Fan.

"But the Fan is with my father and can't be used from the inside. So we have no choice but to make a new one. One of the ingredients we need is the feather of the Fire Eater." ChiChi had finished.

The Professor had listened to the story with a contemplating look on his face, "It does make sense. The Fire Eater was a magnificent bird that lived on fire. Its' entire body could with stand any kind of heat."

ChiChi looked at her hands, "You don't suppose we could…" she took a deep breath, "I do not wish to be disrespectful of course. But…"

The Professor gave her a sad smile, "If we could help the egg hatch? Whatever is inside is still alive."

ChiChi looked up and nodded.

"Like I have always said, these birds were magnificent beasts. They had something magical about them. They held mysteries that has kept many men like me in the past wonder about." His eyes twinkled at the thought.

"One of them is the fact that the animals can preserve their eggs, they only hatch until their parents are with them and tell them it's time by pecking on the shell. Don't ask me why or how that is even possible. The hatchling can stay within its' egg for decades! Maybe even longer. I think it's due to the diamond inside. I believe it holds energy enough to keep the hatchling alive for a very long time."

The Ox Princess looked down, "I see…"

After that the conversation had stopped. The Professor went back to the egg which Goku had placed on the beach moments before he had rushed off to get food.

It was then ChiChi decided to search for Goku.

And still she had not found a single trace of him.

And suddenly she felt ridiculous for searching for Goku in the depths of the night. In a lush and very dark forest.

"Goku?!" she called for him, certainly he should be able to find her.

Wait… did she even know where she was?!

"Stupid, stupid ChiChi!" she yelled at herself, "What on Earth were you thinking?! Looking for him in this forest?! He probably already came back to the camp site and is now peacefully sleeping while you are now lost in the forest!" she scolded at herself as she stumbled through the treacherous grounds filled with insanely large roots and thick bushes.

"Or maybe, maybe he actually found a perfect quiet place to sleep. After all, I did yell at him, I wouldn't blame him from wanting to stay away from me for the rest of the night! Me and my loud mouth, why do I always have to scare people away like that?!"

She would have continued to yell at herself for being an idiot had it not been for a tiny rock standing in her way. Tripping her and sending her face first down on the ground. She had no time to yelp or respond in any sense for her face was now buried deep in the mush mud.

"Need help?" a male voice called which she immediately recognized as no other then the true hero that went by the name of Goku.

He took her arm and swiftly brought her on her feet.

Spitting out chumps of mud and greenery, "It's okay!" she coughed her face disgusted as the foul taste seemed to hold her tongue in a death grip. "You can laugh…." She coughed and tried to clean her face.

"It was funny." Goku said, she could hear the humour in his voice.

"Ha. Ha." She said, the darkness of the forest and the skies above them shielding both their faces.

But Goku did not laugh. He remained silent and walked away. "Where are you going?!" ChiChi called after him.

"You look like a mess Chi! You need to wash yourself, I know a good place to bathe!"

ChiChi paused for a short while but as she saw his silhouette getting smaller and smaller she quickly followed. She was extremely thankful for him leading the way, his eye sight was after all better than hers in the dark. He was able to direct her through the forest and avoid any danger of tripping and eating a face full of mud all over again.

Slowly the darkness around them disappeared as a blue clear light seemed to take its' place. She could hear a waterfall crashing down on rocks and as she followed Goku she could see the flickering light of moving water shine through the leaves.

Goku stopped and reached out, pushing the branches that stood between them and the light aside.

Revealing a clear picture perfect lake in front of them. A water fall crash landing on the water sending shockwaves across the entire lake. The reflection of the bright stars shining in the dark skies above them reflected a twinkling blue light.

ChiChi's mouth was wide open, her eyes not believing the sight in front of her.

It was the most beautiful scenery she had ever seen in her entire life.

"I suppose this is what they would call magical, right?" Goku's voice interrupted her thoughts.

She could only nod in agreement.

"You were here the entire time?" she asked.

"Yup! You won't believe how big the fishes are in these waters, I just ate two whole ones!" he exclaimed proudly. "And I cleaned up right away!" he quickly added.

ChiChi chuckled, "Is it cold?" her eyes never left the clear surface of the water.

"Not really."

She got down on her knees and bent over slightly. The water greeting her with her own clear reflection. Hesitatingly she reached out and cupped her hands, noting the cold tinge it brought to her. Closing her eyes she washed her face with the water.

She could hear Goku step up behind her as she took another cup of water with her hands.

Aside from the waterfall crashing in the water on the other side ChiChi noted how quiet it actually was. Deciding she was clean she stood up, but it didn't go exactly the way she had hoped it would.

For she stood up, lost her footing, yelped yet managed to turn around in panic to grab Goku. In slow motion she saw his wide eyes and felt him react by trying to catch her.

Except he didn't catch her. His quick and strong hands pushed her straight back and sent her flying into the cold clear water.

Within seconds she went head under and reached back to the surface, her eyes wide and mouth wide open in shock from the cold.

"Holy Kami this is COLD!" she screamed.

Goku was a noble man, ready to help wherever it was needed. But as ChiChi watched him double over in laughter she grew angry, "How dare you laugh at me!" she screamed at the male teen.

"I guess you're really clean now!" Goku said jokingly.

"You pushed me in!"

"I tried to catch you!" Goku tried to defend himself in between the laughter.

She huffed and managed to get back on the shore, reaching out her hand at him she scoffed, "At least try to help me!"

The pure hearted teen right away took her hand and pulled her out.

"Stop laughing!" she yelled in a high pitched voice, her hands pushing his shoulder in a disappointing attempt to throw him into the water.

The fact that her push against him didn't even sent him off balance by an inch only angered her more.

"What are you doing?" Goku asked her hands still on his shoulders. She was pushing her entire body against him just to make him move. But nothing happened and Goku only looked at her in wonder. At least the laughing stopped.

"You are unbelievable!" she yelled, "How could you just toss me in the water like that?!"

Goku chuckled, "I tried to help you!" he then jokingly narrowed his eyes at her, "Were you just now trying to push me into the water?"

A glare from her gave him his answer. Crossing her arms she stubbornly looked away from him.

One would expect that a man could tell a lot about a woman who wore an angry scowl very similar to ChiChi's. For example, they would apologize. But Goku was a one of a kind and was completely oblivious to her anger as the grin on his face widened.

She huffed, turned around and was ready to storm off.

"Hey!" Goku called after her, she was only inches removed when all of the sudden ChiChi went through her knees and gave a swift round kick directed at Goku's legs. A yelp and loud splash later Goku was in the ice cold water and ChiChi jumped up with a wide grin on her face.

"Ha!" she yelled, "Serves you right Goku!" the words of triumph had not even left her mouth when Goku stood right behind her in a matter of seconds.

"You asked for it!" he playfully yelled as he took her arms, picked her up and quite carelessly tossed her back in the water.

ChiChi. Was. Furious. She huffed and puffed and was ready to storm straight out of the water and into the forest. Back to the camp site and not talk to him for several long hours.

But a loud splash only a few feet removed from her distracted her, Goku had jumped right back in to the water and stood tall on the un-deep rocky shore of the lake. He moved into a fight stance and with a grin motioned for her to come at him.

Her anger got the better of her, against her better judgement she followed his moves. She was no match for him, she knew this but her anger forced her to at least give it a try.

Moments later they were fighting, Goku laughing and ChiChi close to growling. No matter how hard she punched him, how quickly she moved it seemed that Goku was always one step ahead of her. She was giving it her all yet he didn't even seem to have to try and block all of her attacks.

Water splashed around them, several times she lost her footing and had to watch how Goku playfully kept on challenging her. Jumping to her feet each time she felt the urge to at least hit him once giving her a surge of energy. Keep on trying, do not stop. Keep on fighting.

She didn't know how much time had passed. But she did know that as they went, her scowl turned into a grin. Her anger had slowly ebbed away, excitement taking its' place. His smile took care of that. Goku was after all a noble young man and a pure hearted warrior. He was not making fun of her, he actually saw a challenge and took it face first.

ChiChi guessed she should feel flattered, her fighting techniques were at a level that a man such as Goku wanted to see more of it.

One final kick aimed high at his head was blocked, Goku moved swiftly and grabbed her leg. Held it there for a few seconds only to use his own foot and trip her. ChiChi was lying on her back in the cold water, her lungs trying their outmost to regain a normal amount of oxygen.

It was then that Goku sat down beside her, ignoring the water that was now going up to his waist. "That was a good work out." He announced and nodded. "You fight good!"

ChiChi turned her head to look at him, her body welcoming the cold layer of water surrounding her. Water seeping into her ears as her hair floated in the water. She must have lost the hairband that kept her hair up in a tight pony tail somewhere during the fight.

"Thank you." She said breathlessly. Goku looked at her with a smile, his eyes wide and still holding a twinkle of excitement in them.

"Wauw…" she said. Noticing the blue light touching his face in all the right places. High lighting his handsome features, "This place is magical." She said as a very warm feeling went through her body. The cold water completely forgotten, feeling the warmth of a blush reaching her cheeks.

Goku blinked, he must have noticed her staring at him for he tilted his head in question. "More than the one your fiancé took you to see back then?"

And with those words Goku managed to break the magical moment as if it was nothing but a mere bubble. She sat up straight the moment he mentioned Ré's name. An image of her fiancé popped up and gave her an awful feeling.

What on Earth was she doing?! Ré was stuck in a fiery prison along with her father and the villagers. Yet here she was, sitting in icy cold water ogling at the world's biggest hero as if she was some random teenager with a huge crush.

"Hey, you okay?" Goku asked.

Before she could answer a huge shadow covered them as something flew over them high in the skies. Both teens looked up in surprise and quickly jumped to their feet.

"What was that?!"

"I don't know," Goku said, "But something tells me we need to get back at the camp right now!"

With that both teens took off in the wilderness of the forest, leaving their magical place behind.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Yes people, I am proud for posting two chapters belonging to the same story with in a week's time. Tell me what you think by leaving me a lovely review!