Standard CT Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this chapter!
Author's Notes: Hello minna-chan! Hope Chapter 10 wasn't too much of a disappointment to all of you :) All I have to say is, remember you're reading a Chibi Tenshi fic, and nothing, absolutely nothing is as it seems! As I'm writing the remainder of this fic, I'm shocking *myself*!! *grins* Anyway, the usual: italics denote thoughts and on we go!
Quick Side Note: Thanks to Mystical Jade for pointing out my error in Bardock calling Goku by his Earth name! I'm still having difficulty picturing Usagi calling him that though, so I'll have Bardock refer to him appropriately, and Usagi will call him Goku!
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Chapter 11
Heero's head snapped up and he uttered a soft sound, drawing attention to himself. The others looked at him in surprise as he glared at them. Selenity waved a hand at them as if beckoning them to back off and to Heero's surprise, they nodded almost subserviently. Even more surprising was Wufei's acceptance of a woman's authority. She moved to where Heero was and pointed off to a few feet away, indicating that was where they should talk to get some privacy. Her voice was low as they made their way over.
"You talked to Serenity… I mean Usagi didn't you?" She asked gently.
He turned around to look at her in surprise.
"You know?"
Selenity nodded as her face grew serious.
"Heero, I want to apologize for what I did. I know I have no excuses. I truly believed that I could somehow change destiny, change the future for everyone. I didn't want my daughter to remember all the sadness in her past life, so I chose to give her new memories." She paused as if trying to gather her thoughts. "I know you are the son of Ares. And I want you to know that it would not have mattered if you were just a common soldier. If the two of you love each other, that is all I would need."
His face grew agitated at her words. "We did, but that wasn't good enough for you, was it Selenity?" He took a deep breath, and tried to regain control over his emotions. "Gomen nasai, Selenity. I told you, I understand why you did what you did, but I don't necessarily have to agree with it." Moving away from her, he seemed lost in his thoughts for a moment before he suddenly spoke up. "You know where Usagi is, don't you?" Selenity nodded.
"She's with her father at the moment."
"This evil you spoke about before, can you tell me about it?"
(AN: I'm trying to make it fit the SM storyline somewhat, but heh, it's pretty hard when you've basically thrown the storyline all to hell. *giggles* So pardon me, as I change the story a wee bit!)
"It happened after you died, right before Metallica." A sigh escaped her lips. "The entity just appeared one day. It possessed the body and corrupted the souls of all it touched. My dear Serenity managed to seal it in another dimension but as you can plainly tell, it has managed to escape." Her eyes became sad for a moment.
"What is it?" He demanded. "There's more to the story than what you're telling me."
"Since your death…" Selenity seemed unwilling to continue.
"I have to know. Please," Heero came as close to pleading with someone as he ever had in his whole entire life. "Haven't you done enough already?"
"Serenity was not herself after you died. She was a empty shell of what she once was. My darling girl used to be so full of life; her laughter could be heard throughout the palace. Her smiles would make all those around happy. She had that type of effect on people, as I'm sure you're well aware of. But when you died, it's almost as if she died herself. All we ever got to see was this ghost. She would hardly eat, or speak. Even I could not draw her out, no matter how hard I tried. When the entity started to invade her court, something in her snapped. I don't believe it was a conscious decision on her part, but when she used the ginzuishou to put it away, she was weaker than she normally was. She knew that by doing so, she would either kill herself or come dangerously close to it." Her crystal blue eyes filled with tears in memory. "My precious daughter… she was barely alive when I discovered what she had done. She wanted to die."
Heero's eyes darkened in pain. Another memory popped into his brain, of the first time he had found Usagi. "Let me die," she had pleaded.
Gathering her composure, Selenity continued. "Not too long after, Metallica and Queen Beryl attacked us. With the last of my strength, I decided to erase the memories that Serenity had of the Moon Kingdom, and you. I gave her new ones as I sent them all towards Earth. I didn't want my child to remember that pain, that grief. She had tried to kill herself. Couldn't you see what I had to do??"
"So you paired her up with that idiot, Endymion." His eyes narrowed in accusation at the goddess.
"Something I've come to regret deeply I assure you. My daughter… she… the things she went through with him." Selenity's eyes were filled with pain, as her hand fluttered towards her cheek.
"He was one of the ones who hurt her physically, wasn't he?" He said with an eerie calm. Deep within him, the flame ignited. He was the son of Ares afterall. Eyes flashing blue fire, he promised, "If I ever get my hands on him, he will not live to regret it."
Nearby, the Gundam pilots shuddered as they felt the strength of Heero's wrath. He had changed somehow. Now he burned with a cold fury that seemed more frightening that his normal unemotional self. They also sensed a power emanating from his body, one that burned and chilled all at the same time. Hotaru stared at them, before glancing over to where Heero and Selenity were.
"Well, he is the son of the god of War." She remarked, causing everyone in the group to suffer from whiplash.
"NANI KU…?!" The rest of Wufei's words were muffled as Quatre quickly covered Wufei's mouth.
"Wu-man, there is a young child here!" Duo exclaimed as Haruka and Michiru glared at the Chinese man. "I mean, it's shocking but still…"
Moments later, Quatre was rubbing his arm and shooting daggers (well, as much as Quatre can come to giving a death glare) at Wufei.
"I swear, if you call me Wu-man one more time…"
"There are children present…" Duo said, grinning at him.
"INJUSTICE!"
Trowa finally spoke up. "It would make sense that Heero would be the son of the god of War."
Quatre looked over and nodded in agreement. "Ever since he was young, he possessed a skill and ability that very few have seen. That's probably why Doctor J recruited and trained him at such a young age."
"Ares' son… of course, of course." Duo muttered as the other Gundam pilots turned around slowly to look at him. "What? I've been known to read…"
"Something other than those dirty mags?" Wufei snickered, as he crossed his arms smugly in front of him.
Duo turned beet red as Haruka and Michiru glanced at him.
"Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, what's a dirty mag?" Hotaru asked as six loud groans erupted from the group.
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Setsuna walked through the Time Gates, glancing back at the man following not too far behind her. He had a puzzled expression on his face, as he tried to take in his surroundings.
"Okay, I'm not sure why I'm following you right now."
Setsuna smiled gently. He was a lot easier to convince, unlike some other Saiyajin she had had to drag through.
"There's someone who needs you." She replied as she motioned for him to go through the dark hole that had just opened up.
"Who?" He asked curiously, just as he was poised to enter.
"You'll find out soon enough."
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Father and daughter looked at each other, not really knowing what to say to fill the awkward silence that had crept up when Setsuna had left. Bardock was still trying to recover from the fact that his daughter, this delicate, fragile-looking woman who resembled Selenity so much, was a super Saiyajin. Usagi herself was trying to connect the man in her memory, who appeared to have loved her so much, to this spirit standing in front of her. A black hole opened, and Usagi sighed wearily. Blinding lights, black holes, past lives… I'm going to need a vacation once this is all over with. Usagi's eyes widened as she realised who Setsuna had brought with her. She stared at the man stepping through, the resemblance to her father so uncanny it left no doubt in her mind who he was.
"Kakarrot…" She whispered.
(AN: I don't know a whole lot about the relationship between Bardock and Goku, so here I go with my umm.. artistic liberties.)
Goku's attention was immediately drawn to the young woman standing in front of him. Scratching the back of his head with one arm, he stared hard at her, as if trying to figure out how she knew his name. She was certainly pretty enough though nothing about her rang a bell. Suddenly, he sensed another ki, one so familiar that he whipped around to stare at the man who stood there.
"Father…"
Setsuna cleared her voice, interrupting the staring contests that had occurred between the three. Bardock was alternating his gaze between his son and daughter, Usagi was looking at Goku, and Goku was watching Bardock in shock.
"Usagi-hime," Setsuna said, ignoring Usagi rolling her eyes. "Use your time here wisely. The enemy grows stronger as we delay our own attack." Looking over at Bardock and Goku, she added gently, "Don't spend too much time on family reunions, ne?" With that, she took a step backwards and vanished into the black hole that had appeared behind her.
"Kakarrot, Usagi is your half-sister."
Usagi's head snapped around and glared at Bardock. This man certainly did not believe in beating around the bush. Goku just took in the whole scene in open-mouthed horror.
"You know, DAD. You could be a bit gentler, ease him to the idea. I mean, your son just popped up into this dimension, and sees his own father who's dead. Kami-sama, he has no clue what's going on!" She berated.
Bardock merely shrugged. Being tactful had never been his forte.
Usagi continued with her tirade. "Geez, you might as well just tell him that I'm half goddess while you're at it, that there's some crazy entity about to kill me, and I'm a super Saiyajin too." Her eyes widened as she realised what she just said. "Heh, ooops."
"Nani? You can turn super Saiyajin?" His expression clearly displayed his disbelief.
"That's what Dad tells me. He also said you can help me train, hopefully defeat this enemy, extract a bit of revenge, and live in peace." She grinned suddenly. "Or at least that's my plan."
Goku was starting to like this girl's spirit. He certainly couldn't detect her ki, so he doubted the truth of her claims.
"Why doesn't… uhh… Dad train you himself?" He asked slowly, catching the redness that covered Bardock's face and Usagi's widening grin.
Laughing, she replied, "Yeah, Dad. Why don't you train me yourself?" Bardock let out a growl at his daughter.
"Disrespect already?" He muttered, his dark eyes narrowing as Usagi giggled. Goku knew that he would never get the reason from the two.
Usagi's faced quickly sobered up.
"Let's begin," she announced, as her body took on a battle stance. Her face was serene, unreadable at the moment. Her eyes however were a different story. Goku quickly noted with surprise that her eyes had already assessed him, as well as the void that they were in. Very good, he thought to himself. He began throwing a series of punches at her, and to his amazement, she dodged them pretty rapidly. For a moment, she was just content to continue as she was. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, and with a speed that astounded both Goku and Bardock, Usagi began retaliating. One of her punches came a little too close to his head and Goku jumped back. With an admiring smile, he began removing his shoes and his wrist bands.
"Weights," he murmured, by way of explanation. "Now we'll see just how fast you can be." The grin that appeared on her face threw him off somewhat. "I was waiting to see when you would really start fighting," She said knowingly.
Goku flew towards Usagi in a speed that took her by surprise. He had caused her to back up a bit as he began alternating between punches and kicks. She continued to block and dodge every one of his shots, almost as if she had anticipated all his moves. Her face still remained dispassionate though her eyes were shining with excitement. She was enjoying this, Bardock mused, as he tried to follow their movements around the void. Their speeds are incredible, much faster than I ever was. Secretly, he was proud to call the two son and daughter. Usagi jumped back suddenly, not even the least bit out of breath. A smile appeared on her face.
"You're very fast," she commented.
"So are you."
"Let's see if we can pick up the pace even more, shall we?"
Goku's eyes widened in astonishment as he struggled to avoid the flurry of kicks, punches, and jumps that came his way. She was fast. Very fast. Much faster than he had ever seen. Putting his hand up, she came to a halt, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Ki blasts," he panted. "Have you gotten to that level yet?"
She shrugged. "I'll deal with it."
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Usagi leapt backwards as she avoided blast after blast of energy that came from Goku. He was really powerful, she thought to herself. His hair had turned blond, and his eyes a glazed green. His power levels had sky-rocketed and it took all that she had to prevent herself from getting hurt. She had gotten some scratches from a few narrow misses. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get to the next level, to what she had transformed to not too long ago. As Goku let another energy blast in her direction, she jumped away from it, noting with shock as he came after her with his fist. Her eyes narrowed at him and he froze, his fist scant millimeters from her nose. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, she backed away from him as he stared at her in astonishment.
"What… did… you… do… to… me?!" Goku exclaimed as he struggled to move. It looked as if Goku was magically suspended in time, Bardock thought as he grinned at his son.
"I don't know. I can somehow freeze you. That's all I know." She blinked in his direction as his fist followed through, managing to connect with thin air only. With sudden insight, he laughed at his father. "So this was how she got you, ne?" The grin left Bardock's face as he scowled at Goku.
"You're a very good fighter. You have great instincts. I don't know why I can't sense any ki from you but man, you had me on the go for a bit there!" The smile on his face was genuine. To his surprise, she frowned.
"I have to be better. I need to become more powerful to defeat my enemy. I don't feel prepared," Usagi muttered in frustration. "How do you turn Super Saiyajin?" She asked suddenly.
"It depends. Anger is usually the most common trigger."
Her eyes flashed in understanding. "Help me better control my ki blasts and build speed, won't you Goku-niisan?" For some reason, Goku didn't find it too strange to hear those words.
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Usagi and Goku were trying to catch their breath. They had just gone through the past two days training the areas that she was weak at. He was amazed at how quickly she picked up the skills he had mentioned and the speed at which she could now throw her attacks required him to transform to SSJ in order to avoid them. She also had a few ki blasts that he had never seen before, though that didn't really surprise him. She wasn't full Saiyajin so it wasn't reasonable to expect that her ki blasts would be the same as his. He knew from their brief conversations that anger and rage were emotions that she still found difficult to call upon, and despite everything he threw at her, she still couldn't power up enough. He silently hoped that during the battle for her life, she would be able to transform.
Without warning, Setsuna appeared through a portal.
"Gomen nasai, Usagi-hime. I know you didn't have a lot of time to train but we must go now."
Usagi surprised Bardock as she threw a hug at him. "Thank you, tousan." Turning around, she hugged Goku as well. "Thank you for everything, Goku-niisan." As she flew towards the portal, she looked backwards. "If all goes well, this won't be the last you see of me." She called out with a wink. And then, just like that, both women were gone. The men stared at where she disappeared to for a while. All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Goku.
"Wait a second! How am I supposed to get home??"
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Well minna-chan? What did you think? Please review and let me know! I definitely appreciate feedback! *smile* Anyway, more about this chapter, action scenes are definitely not my forte so I tried as best as I can. Apologies to those who were looking for long, meaningful, brother-sister moments between Usagi and Goku, it just didn't happen! Goku's personality… I captured that to the best of my abilities… he's easy-going, yet he's a warrior. To all you die-hard romantics, don't worry! I will have more cute and sappy moments between Usagi and Heero soon enough! And if you find yourself wondering about time and what not, just give me a bit of leeway here. Time works differently in different dimensions, and I'll leave it at that! So if you have any suggestions, ideas for this or ANY of my other fics, do not hesitate to contact me! And just a note, I'll be starting work on January 2, and I'm going to do all the New Year's festivities for the next few days. I'll hopefully have Chapter 12 by the end of this upcoming week! If not, *ducks all sorts of things being thrown at her* you've been spoiled so hehe next week! Honest! Promise!
And as my new year's gift to you, no cheesy cries for reviews. *everyone cheers*
Happy New Year, minna-chan!