WAAIIITT...I have a really quick request. I know that I am in some of your email address books, but I ask that you make sure to not forward things to echohunter1@hotmail.com. This email address is solely for fanfic-related materials. That's it. Personal emails are okay (cause I write back and forth to people). FORWARDS...NOT OKAY.
Thank you,
Echo Hunter
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* LAST TIME *
The purple-haired prince couldn't understand why he felt so desperate to save this girl who lay bleeding on the bed, a girl he didn't even know.
"More! She needs more. That's not enough!"
Bulma knew that her son was able to sense energy levels so she trusted him and ran for another needle. In seconds she was back and injected Lita again with the green liquid.
By that time, both saiyans were exhausted and had to either stop or black out. Lita was healing slowly but surely, most of the major wounds were gone and the bones were no longer broken in her body. Bruises and light pink scars remained, but that was it. Both girls were resting peacefully and the three that were still awake decided to rest themselves. Before shutting the door behind him, Mirai looked one last time at the brunette that had invaded his mind...and dare I say, his heart.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER 25: THE HEALING
Lita woke up a few hours later and looked around at her surroundings. White walls met her eyes and lots of medical equipment. 'What happened?' she asked her self as her eyes searched for anything familiar. They stopped on the still body lying in the bed next to hers.
"Serena?" whispered the Amazon. She didn't stir. Lita remembered learning how much energy Serena would lose when they were brought back. 'She always did like sleeping.' Lita decided to follow her princess' example and lay her head back on her pillow. She was just as exhausted.
4 DAYS LATER...
Serena woke from a restful sleep. She felt her body resisting attempts to move, but her mind was refreshed and invigorated so all cries of pain were pushed aside. She looked around and realized that she was in the medical wing nicknamed C4.
'Looks like after all these years, Bulma hasn't really changed.' It was then that she saw Lita and then that she realized why the pain she felt during her drain was different this last time. Serena wiggled in her bed, still being hooked up to various tubes.
The Bulma, from *her time*, had taught her how to remove the tubes and iv after she woke up so that's what she did. After placing them neatly on the tray next to her, she stood up and made her way to Lita's bed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mirai and Gohan were awake and in the living room talking and 'snacking'.
"I dunno, Gohan. I know I saw a girl next to Serena, she had brown hair and bright green eyes and begged me to help her." His face wrinkled in confusion as he tried to grasp the fleeting memory of her appearance.
"I don't remember seeing anyone there." Gohan had been too busy healing Serena that he hadn't noticed when the other girl appeared, or when Mirai was screaming to his mother to help her.
"I know, I know. You keep telling me that...but she was so real." Bulma came trudging down the stairs in a pair of sweats and her hair tied up behind her.
"What's up mom?" Bulma smiled at her son as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Help me make some food. The girls are awake."
"How did you know?"
"Sam."
"The girls?"
The boys got up and helped Bulma prepare a rather large meal. Neither were really accustomed to Serena's eating habits and neither knew about the new girl's (assuming there was one), but they didn't voice it. With Bulma, they learned to just obey.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serena gently woke her sleeping friend. Lita opened her eyes and saw Serena standing above her. She blinked rapidly, making an attempt to adjust to the light of the room. When she saw Serena, she wasn't quite sure that she was actually, *technically* alive. Her arm reached out beside her and stretched to touch the image of her golden-haired friend.
Serena knew what she was thinking and put her own hand up.
"I can feel you!" Lita sat up and squeezed Serena, ignoring the complaints her body was making.
Bulma walked thru the metal sliding doors to find Serena talking to whom she suspected was one of her senshi. "Hi ladies," she said, making her presence known to them.
Serena jumped in surprise and smiled when she saw it was only Bulma. Lita, with as much strength she could muster, got off the bed and stood protectively in front of her princess as she followed the movements of the two men carrying trays of food. Serena knew that her friend was confused and was only trying to protect her.
Putting her hand on a shoulder, she spoke quietly to Lita, "They're friends." The small flame of battle in the tall girl's eyes, slowly went out as she relaxed. She trusted Serena, and sat back on the bed, not taking her eyes off of a certain purple-haired young man.
Young was right...
In fact, he was about 10 years too young.
Serena felt tension in the air...a sort of familiar tension that she, herself, had felt when first coming into contact with...
"We brought you food. I know how much you must like to eat and don't know how much your friend likes to eat, so we just brought a whole lot of everything."
Serena smiled and tried not to think of the lover she had left at home. 'Oh Goku...' her thoughts trailed off until the girl beside her nudged her softly in the side.
Lita saw the far off look in the blonde's eyes and knew what she must have been thinking about. She had been, after all, in Serena's mind for the last few months.
"He'll be just fine. I know he misses you too." Serena softly smiled and they turned their attention to the piles of food that lay before them.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 DAYS LATER...
Serena and Lita had finished their meal and felt stronger from the nourishment they just received. Her thoughts again wandered off to Goku, who she missed terribly. It had been a week...or had it? She had lost track of time. All she knew was that she couldn't be with him right now.
Gohan and Mirai took the two girls out for a walk, well, for a fly and they cheered up.
"When do you think you'll be fully recovered?" Gohan asked the woman in his arms.
"Oh I don't know," Serena said, nonchalantly. Suddenly she began to wriggle in Gohan's arms. "Gohan! Is that the lake you made?!" Gohan nodded as Serena pointed at it from above, signaling that she wanted to get closer to it. 4 people slowly descended from the blue sky and landed in the dirt next to the water.
"What happened here?" asked Lita, referring to the planet's state of being.
"Horrible monsters called androids came and destroyed my planet. We're slowly trying to rebuild it."
Lita couldn't say anything. No words of comfort, no apologies for things she couldn't prevent...nothing. She had gained enough strength in the last three days she had been...reawakened, we shall call it, and felt it was time to show Serena what she was capable of.
"Serena, watch this." Serena watched attentively as Lita knelt to the ground. A green aura began to surround her body and she concentrated it and sent it to her right hand, which was touching the sod. Lita could feel the power course through her being, into her hand and onto the ground and as she opened her green eyes, she watched as life began to appear around the large source of water.
Grass began to grow around the lake, looking like it was healing the damage that had killed all forms of life, except ocean-life, on the planet her purple-haired boy called home. As she stood up, Lita watched the green grass and pretty, little flowers bloom around the circumference of the lake, about 20 feet out-away from the water's edge.
Mirai was overjoyed to see his home slowly being reborn, and with the help of a stranger nonetheless. Serena asked Gohan to take her somewhere else, leaving Lita with Mirai.
Lita, he won't hurt you. I promise. Be nice to him, please? The aforementioned looked around to find her friend's face, but couldn't find it.
"Where is she?"
"Hmm?"
"Serena...I could've sworn I just heard her voice."
Mirai smiled. He knew about Serena from his family in the past. "She's a telepath. You probably heard her in your mind."
'Duh, retard! How do you think she's been talking to you the whole time you were in her head?' Lita blamed her lack of sense on the fact that she still wasn't completely whole.
Turning her attention back to Mirai, she asked, "Would you show me more of your planet?" They continued to fly around for the next few hours as Mirai gave Lita a tour of what him and Gohan had accomplished so far. It had been a year since the androids had been killed in his time and everything was still in disrepair.
While Lita was flying in the rather strong arms of a rather wonderful person, she couldn't help but think of her predicament.
She was 27.
He was 18.
But his eyes told her different.
Trunks may have had the body of an 18 year old, but with the horrors he had to live with, his mind had been forced to leave his body behind and mature at a different, faster pace.
Mentally, he was older than her.
Emotionally, it was a tie between boy and man.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serena was still considerably weak, but then again, she had 7 other people to take care of as well as herself. There were 2 more people inside of her that required vast amounts of energy and she already knew who was to be next.
Gohan had flown to a spot near a river that he and his father went to a lot in his time. They sat down on the bank and talked. "Yeah...we used to come fishing over here all the time. We'd catch huge fish and then we'd have to drag them home." His face lit up as the memories came. More memories came and his face sagged a bit.
"What's the matter sweetheart?" Serena put a hand on his arm to let him know she was there if he needed her.
"Nothing. Just thinking of how my mom used to yell at me and dad all the time." He shook his head. "Oh the memories." Gohan's heart healed as he told Serena stories of his mom and her magic frying pan, schoolwork, how she was the strongest woman in the world at one point in time.
As Gohan laughed and cried at the stories he was telling her about his mother, Serena comforted him as best as she could. She, in turn, told him about how she had to leave her family to find her love. Serena cried as she relayed to him how she had to wipe memories of her out of existence back home, and how only her senshi were able to remember her. She wasn't even allowed to leave memories with her best friend, Molly. To Serena, nothing in her eyes could have made him a weaker man after seeing his display of emotions. She now knew how he easily beat Cell and all those other monsters. He hadn't lost his sensitive side after all those battles, but increased them instead. Love equals power, Serena always told her scouts, and Gohan could easily be the most powerful out of all the fighters if he needed to be.
After their healing session, Serena and Gohan walked away from their spot and found that they had indeed grown closer. They had both loved, lost and lived and now they had a friendship that could rival anyone's. Gohan now trusted Serena with his father's happiness and was more than willing to welcome her into the family.
Someone smiled in heaven as they watched Serena listen to Gohan's life stories. She laughed, cried, got angry and felt pain and joy as his adventure tales went on and on. It was near dark when they realized what time it was.
Chi Chi smiled. One tear rolled down her cheek, then another and soon many tears followed down her face and gently onto earth. Her son was finally healing. After running away from her death this all these years, an angel had come and helped him to accept it and live on.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serena and Gohan barely stepped in to the living room of CC before a terrestrial downpour ensued. They were greeted by 3 faces at the table.
"I was wondering when you would come home! Come. Lita's made us *real* food!" Bulma laughed. It had been a long time indeed since she had eaten a hand-made meal. She was in heaven.
"Lita cooked?!" Serena ran to the table, amazing everyone with her speed. She devoured plate after plate, her Saiyan and Lunarian appetite conquering all rational thoughts.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bulma had informed the little group that it had been two weeks since their arrival and Serena felt it was time to go home. She missed her two little trouble-makers and her one big baby. She was ready. The group of 5 stood on the dirt lawn of CC and hugged Bulma goodbye.
Bulma, used to having her son and his friend come and go as they please, hugged them without tears. It was the two females that accompanied them that drew out the moisture in her eyes. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and sniffled.
"You come back and visit any time you want!" Bulma told each girl.
As Serena hugged Bulma with all her might, she whispered, "Don't worry, we will." As she slowly pulled away from the future version of her best friend, Bulma could have sworn she saw a slight glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Okay."
Serena remembered a certain gift that was given to her before she transformed into Sailor Cosmos.
'I, Princess of Pluto, Daughter of Chronos, Keeper of the Gates of Time and Space, bestow the gift of Foresight and the Power of Travel.'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sailor Pluto heard a voice whisper in her head, 'Pluto, we're coming'. She knew it was her princess. She watched the contents of a dimensional window very carefully. There was Serena and Lita, along with the future form of her best friend, Gohan-who looked a bit different, and her best friend's son, (who had been slipping back and forth through time).
Trista watched as Serena lifted and turned her palm outward, facing her (Trista). "Gates of Time, Open and grant us passage." To everyone's surprise, except Pluto's of course, a black warp hole opened before their very eyes. They could see a dark mist swirling on the other side of the hole.
Mirai and Gohan had never seen anything like this before. What kind of power did this girl have if she could command space and time? Mirai watched as Lita walked through without a second thought.
"Lita! Wait...don't go in there!"
Gohan watched as Serena walked in to the dark hole as well. Seconds later, her head peeked through. "Are you guys coming too, or would you like me to hold your hands?"
Of course, with their Saiyan Pride, they walked forward and very cautiously into the black hole, waving a final time at the blue-haired woman on the other side. The two demi-saiyans couldn't even see a foot in front of them, when something grabbed their arms.
Gohan and Mirai, out of sheer reflex, grabbed the hand that was clutching theirs and brought them around by the neck, a ki ball in hand.
"Jeez...*cough cough* you guys really need to lighten up. You know that?"
Gohan muttered apology after apology and made sure that Serena was okay. Lita on the other hand was not being so cooperative.
"Let me go! I said I was fine!"
"Fine then!"
Serena led the group through the mists, being able to see through them clearly. The Silver Crystal is what put this fog here in the first place. Now that it was *her*, she could see perfectly fine.
Gohan got nervous walking blindly while Mirai didn't seem in the least bit worried, and Lita just kept quite while walking beside Serena.
"I don't understand how you can see through all this stuff. I've been here how many times and STILL get lost!"
"Are you sure you know where you're going?"
Serena turned around and reassured Gohan that they were not lost. She knew exactly where they were. "Just a few more seconds and we should be there..." her voice trailed off as she saw what she was looking for.
On the ground were circles of different colors to represent the 9 different Senshi. Lita let out her sigh of relief when she saw the teleportation ring under her feet. There she stood on her own green circle with the sign of Jupiter. A large, ancient looking door loomed in front of them, one that was all too familiar to the girls, but very alien to the boys.
"Where are we?" Mirai asked. The two boys got in fighting positions when they heard an unfamiliar voice answer.
"You are at the gates of Time and Space. Here, there is no beginning and no end." There was an eeriness to the words she spoke because Mirai couldn't figure out exactly what she meant when she said that. Pluto kneeled on one knee before her princess. "Welcome your majesty."
Serena laughed. "Get up, Pluto! I can't believe you're still doing that!" The woman with jade-colored hair rose and chuckled.
"And I can't believe that you still think I'll ever stop." Gohan acknowledged her as a friend of Serena's and decided to loosen up a bit.
"I came this way because I'm too weak to teleport," she said getting right to the point.
"I know, princess. I've been waiting, though I'm rather surprised you didn't come a bit earlier. Someone's missed you quite a lot and has threatened my best friend to try to get to you."
Serena looked into her friend's wise eyes. "I know. We had issues to resolve before I could come home." She smiled and waved her friends over. "Let me introduce everyone. This," she said pointing to the guy with black hair, "is Gohan, and this is Mirai Trunks."
Pluto's eyebrow raised. "I am well aware of who this young man is. He seems to be racking up the frequent flyer miles, although why I never stop him is beyond me. I guess I'm not supposed to, everything has its purpose."
"How do you know me?" Trunks was curious and began to feel a little more wary of the situation.
"I am the guardian of the Gates of Time and you, my friend, have been traveling way too much. It is not safe for you to keep coming and going as you do. You need to learn a different way. Serena will teach you."
"I still don't understand how you know my name and that I travel through time."
"There are many things that you don't and will not know about me. I will tell you this, however. I watch things from my post, making sure that time keeps its balance. I am a watcher, a learner and I always see you slipping through the portals. Through the windows of time, I see all and am here to keep peace. That is all you need to know."
Oddly enough, Mirai found this enough to satisfy him. Weird.
Serena was getting a bit impatient. She wanted to return to the home of Goku's arms. In his arms, she felt safe and loved. Every time they were apart, she could feel the strain on her heart. It was the beginning of a bond and she knew it, and could do nothing to keep it from happening, not that she wanted to.
"I need to go home Pluto. I am too tired to teleport."
"Understood your Highness."
Pluto walked into the center of the circle and waved her long staff in the air while chanting something in a foreign tongue that no one seemed to understand but the blonde woman. A large rectangle appeared in front of them, slowly showing them Capsule Corp's front lawn. The rectangle took the shape of a door and Serena inched closer.
The portal back home was level on the ground, guaranteeing there would be no 30 foot drop like normal. "It's safe this time princess. I promise. You won't fall from the sky."
Lita had been looking at this new world she would be calling home soon, although the title of home had been somewhat claimed by the battle-scarred earth that Mirai came from. Being strong for her princess and best friend, Lita stepped through the portal.
Serena could feel Mirai stiffen as he watched Lita walk through the portal. The lens bended as she walked through and waved to Serena, showing her that it was perfectly safe.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SOMEWHERE DEEP IN THE FOREST...
Goku was out beating himself for letting her escape him. It had been 2 weeks since he had seen her and he was suffering without her. The power of the growing bond had taken its toll on the strong warrior and he sparred every day for hours with his friend, Vegeta, to try to make him feel better. Goku would go home at the end of the day, too tired to think of anything but sleep.
He decided to take a rest from his self-torture and just as he sat down, he felt something strange happening by his home. Goku lifted into the air and headed for the cluster of dome-shaped buildings. Slowly but surely, he felt a strange new ki, very weak, the stronger ki of his son and Mirai and finally, the one he had been waiting for.
* FLASHBACK *
Goku had been searching frantically after he felt Serena's ki disappear. He rushed into the house looking for the one person that would probably know her location.
"Bulma! Where is Serena?"
Bulma was wiping down the kitchen table and straightening the chairs. "She went away for a bit," Bulma replied indifferently, not moving her gaze from the wood work.
She could hear Goku growling and the frustration in his heart. Bulma knew that he would *never* hurt her, but being in the presence of an angry full-blooded-in-a-rut Saiyan was not on her list of favorite things to do.
"Where is she! Tell me now or I'll..."
Bulma cut him off, anger taking over her mind. "Or you'll what, huh? That's what I thought. The reason she went away in the first place was because of you. She went after Gohan because she knew he was hurt and needed help to heal, something that you've neglected to do! All your son has done was love you and help the girl that you love when she passed out! And what do you do to repay him? Accuse him of trying to steal your mate, who by the way isn't even your mate." Bulma sucked in air before starting up on him again. "I can't believe you...being blind to your own son's pain. What kind of a father are you? When he comes back, the first thing I want to hear come out of your mouth is an apology! DO YOU HEAR ME, KAKKAROT!" Bulma was steaming angry, but knew that if anyone could get Gohan to open up and relax a bit it would be the golden-haired tenshi that Goten had found the very first day he met her.
* END FLASHBACK *
Goku's senses overflowed as he felt her love and warmth wash over his body that had grown cold without her touch. As he neared the clearing of CC's property, he saw 4 people, the two boys and 2 females.
Serena could feel him coming, she could always feel him. The strength that was her soul was getting nearer. Her heart did flips and she grew weak in anticipation of him being near her again.
Goku landed about 5 feet away from her and slowly walked, afraid that if he moved too fast, she would fade away like she did in his dreams. "Serena." It was barely audible, yet she heard it and all the underlying passion in it.
He was in arm's length of her, but something smelled different to his nose. *She* smelled different...like another man...
...his son!
Goku growled and Serena realized what it was about.
"Why does she smell like you! Did you touch her?" he said glaring at his son. Gohan stepped back, forgetting his father was like that. Gohan had also told Serena about the last break-out his father had and Serena was beyond mad at him for that already.
"Back off, Goku!" Serena's angry eyes stopped Goku from doing anything, including breathing.
He couldn't believe that she had just yelled at *him* of all people.
"The reason I smell like him, JERK, is because I ran out of clean clothes, so he let me use some of his! Do you have a problem with that?!" Everyone could clearly see how she was related to Vegeta with that temper. Serena knew that Gohan needed to be protected even against his own father sometimes. "Now what do you say to Gohan?"
Lita was beyond amazed that Serena even had the guts to stand up to a man so large in stature. She wouldn't have even *thought* about doing such a thing and here was her best friend, who was quite smaller than she, yelling at someone who could easily beat her down.
If looks could kill, Goku would have been dead a long time ago. He sat there trying to decide whether to submit to pride or love. It was an easy decision, especially since he wasn't Vegeta.
He cleared his head and spoke slowly. "I'm sorry son. I just can't help it sometimes...its like something else is taking over me and I can't control it yet." Goku growled in frustration as he held back the overwhelming desire to battle against his son. All aggressive thoughts subsided once Serena launched herself into his arms.
"Thank you Goku." She teased him with her lips and pulled away before things got too hot. "Let's go home."
Goku easily lifted her into his arms princess style. "As you wish, princess."
Thank you,
Echo Hunter
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* LAST TIME *
The purple-haired prince couldn't understand why he felt so desperate to save this girl who lay bleeding on the bed, a girl he didn't even know.
"More! She needs more. That's not enough!"
Bulma knew that her son was able to sense energy levels so she trusted him and ran for another needle. In seconds she was back and injected Lita again with the green liquid.
By that time, both saiyans were exhausted and had to either stop or black out. Lita was healing slowly but surely, most of the major wounds were gone and the bones were no longer broken in her body. Bruises and light pink scars remained, but that was it. Both girls were resting peacefully and the three that were still awake decided to rest themselves. Before shutting the door behind him, Mirai looked one last time at the brunette that had invaded his mind...and dare I say, his heart.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER 25: THE HEALING
Lita woke up a few hours later and looked around at her surroundings. White walls met her eyes and lots of medical equipment. 'What happened?' she asked her self as her eyes searched for anything familiar. They stopped on the still body lying in the bed next to hers.
"Serena?" whispered the Amazon. She didn't stir. Lita remembered learning how much energy Serena would lose when they were brought back. 'She always did like sleeping.' Lita decided to follow her princess' example and lay her head back on her pillow. She was just as exhausted.
4 DAYS LATER...
Serena woke from a restful sleep. She felt her body resisting attempts to move, but her mind was refreshed and invigorated so all cries of pain were pushed aside. She looked around and realized that she was in the medical wing nicknamed C4.
'Looks like after all these years, Bulma hasn't really changed.' It was then that she saw Lita and then that she realized why the pain she felt during her drain was different this last time. Serena wiggled in her bed, still being hooked up to various tubes.
The Bulma, from *her time*, had taught her how to remove the tubes and iv after she woke up so that's what she did. After placing them neatly on the tray next to her, she stood up and made her way to Lita's bed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mirai and Gohan were awake and in the living room talking and 'snacking'.
"I dunno, Gohan. I know I saw a girl next to Serena, she had brown hair and bright green eyes and begged me to help her." His face wrinkled in confusion as he tried to grasp the fleeting memory of her appearance.
"I don't remember seeing anyone there." Gohan had been too busy healing Serena that he hadn't noticed when the other girl appeared, or when Mirai was screaming to his mother to help her.
"I know, I know. You keep telling me that...but she was so real." Bulma came trudging down the stairs in a pair of sweats and her hair tied up behind her.
"What's up mom?" Bulma smiled at her son as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Help me make some food. The girls are awake."
"How did you know?"
"Sam."
"The girls?"
The boys got up and helped Bulma prepare a rather large meal. Neither were really accustomed to Serena's eating habits and neither knew about the new girl's (assuming there was one), but they didn't voice it. With Bulma, they learned to just obey.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serena gently woke her sleeping friend. Lita opened her eyes and saw Serena standing above her. She blinked rapidly, making an attempt to adjust to the light of the room. When she saw Serena, she wasn't quite sure that she was actually, *technically* alive. Her arm reached out beside her and stretched to touch the image of her golden-haired friend.
Serena knew what she was thinking and put her own hand up.
"I can feel you!" Lita sat up and squeezed Serena, ignoring the complaints her body was making.
Bulma walked thru the metal sliding doors to find Serena talking to whom she suspected was one of her senshi. "Hi ladies," she said, making her presence known to them.
Serena jumped in surprise and smiled when she saw it was only Bulma. Lita, with as much strength she could muster, got off the bed and stood protectively in front of her princess as she followed the movements of the two men carrying trays of food. Serena knew that her friend was confused and was only trying to protect her.
Putting her hand on a shoulder, she spoke quietly to Lita, "They're friends." The small flame of battle in the tall girl's eyes, slowly went out as she relaxed. She trusted Serena, and sat back on the bed, not taking her eyes off of a certain purple-haired young man.
Young was right...
In fact, he was about 10 years too young.
Serena felt tension in the air...a sort of familiar tension that she, herself, had felt when first coming into contact with...
"We brought you food. I know how much you must like to eat and don't know how much your friend likes to eat, so we just brought a whole lot of everything."
Serena smiled and tried not to think of the lover she had left at home. 'Oh Goku...' her thoughts trailed off until the girl beside her nudged her softly in the side.
Lita saw the far off look in the blonde's eyes and knew what she must have been thinking about. She had been, after all, in Serena's mind for the last few months.
"He'll be just fine. I know he misses you too." Serena softly smiled and they turned their attention to the piles of food that lay before them.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 DAYS LATER...
Serena and Lita had finished their meal and felt stronger from the nourishment they just received. Her thoughts again wandered off to Goku, who she missed terribly. It had been a week...or had it? She had lost track of time. All she knew was that she couldn't be with him right now.
Gohan and Mirai took the two girls out for a walk, well, for a fly and they cheered up.
"When do you think you'll be fully recovered?" Gohan asked the woman in his arms.
"Oh I don't know," Serena said, nonchalantly. Suddenly she began to wriggle in Gohan's arms. "Gohan! Is that the lake you made?!" Gohan nodded as Serena pointed at it from above, signaling that she wanted to get closer to it. 4 people slowly descended from the blue sky and landed in the dirt next to the water.
"What happened here?" asked Lita, referring to the planet's state of being.
"Horrible monsters called androids came and destroyed my planet. We're slowly trying to rebuild it."
Lita couldn't say anything. No words of comfort, no apologies for things she couldn't prevent...nothing. She had gained enough strength in the last three days she had been...reawakened, we shall call it, and felt it was time to show Serena what she was capable of.
"Serena, watch this." Serena watched attentively as Lita knelt to the ground. A green aura began to surround her body and she concentrated it and sent it to her right hand, which was touching the sod. Lita could feel the power course through her being, into her hand and onto the ground and as she opened her green eyes, she watched as life began to appear around the large source of water.
Grass began to grow around the lake, looking like it was healing the damage that had killed all forms of life, except ocean-life, on the planet her purple-haired boy called home. As she stood up, Lita watched the green grass and pretty, little flowers bloom around the circumference of the lake, about 20 feet out-away from the water's edge.
Mirai was overjoyed to see his home slowly being reborn, and with the help of a stranger nonetheless. Serena asked Gohan to take her somewhere else, leaving Lita with Mirai.
Lita, he won't hurt you. I promise. Be nice to him, please? The aforementioned looked around to find her friend's face, but couldn't find it.
"Where is she?"
"Hmm?"
"Serena...I could've sworn I just heard her voice."
Mirai smiled. He knew about Serena from his family in the past. "She's a telepath. You probably heard her in your mind."
'Duh, retard! How do you think she's been talking to you the whole time you were in her head?' Lita blamed her lack of sense on the fact that she still wasn't completely whole.
Turning her attention back to Mirai, she asked, "Would you show me more of your planet?" They continued to fly around for the next few hours as Mirai gave Lita a tour of what him and Gohan had accomplished so far. It had been a year since the androids had been killed in his time and everything was still in disrepair.
While Lita was flying in the rather strong arms of a rather wonderful person, she couldn't help but think of her predicament.
She was 27.
He was 18.
But his eyes told her different.
Trunks may have had the body of an 18 year old, but with the horrors he had to live with, his mind had been forced to leave his body behind and mature at a different, faster pace.
Mentally, he was older than her.
Emotionally, it was a tie between boy and man.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serena was still considerably weak, but then again, she had 7 other people to take care of as well as herself. There were 2 more people inside of her that required vast amounts of energy and she already knew who was to be next.
Gohan had flown to a spot near a river that he and his father went to a lot in his time. They sat down on the bank and talked. "Yeah...we used to come fishing over here all the time. We'd catch huge fish and then we'd have to drag them home." His face lit up as the memories came. More memories came and his face sagged a bit.
"What's the matter sweetheart?" Serena put a hand on his arm to let him know she was there if he needed her.
"Nothing. Just thinking of how my mom used to yell at me and dad all the time." He shook his head. "Oh the memories." Gohan's heart healed as he told Serena stories of his mom and her magic frying pan, schoolwork, how she was the strongest woman in the world at one point in time.
As Gohan laughed and cried at the stories he was telling her about his mother, Serena comforted him as best as she could. She, in turn, told him about how she had to leave her family to find her love. Serena cried as she relayed to him how she had to wipe memories of her out of existence back home, and how only her senshi were able to remember her. She wasn't even allowed to leave memories with her best friend, Molly. To Serena, nothing in her eyes could have made him a weaker man after seeing his display of emotions. She now knew how he easily beat Cell and all those other monsters. He hadn't lost his sensitive side after all those battles, but increased them instead. Love equals power, Serena always told her scouts, and Gohan could easily be the most powerful out of all the fighters if he needed to be.
After their healing session, Serena and Gohan walked away from their spot and found that they had indeed grown closer. They had both loved, lost and lived and now they had a friendship that could rival anyone's. Gohan now trusted Serena with his father's happiness and was more than willing to welcome her into the family.
Someone smiled in heaven as they watched Serena listen to Gohan's life stories. She laughed, cried, got angry and felt pain and joy as his adventure tales went on and on. It was near dark when they realized what time it was.
Chi Chi smiled. One tear rolled down her cheek, then another and soon many tears followed down her face and gently onto earth. Her son was finally healing. After running away from her death this all these years, an angel had come and helped him to accept it and live on.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Serena and Gohan barely stepped in to the living room of CC before a terrestrial downpour ensued. They were greeted by 3 faces at the table.
"I was wondering when you would come home! Come. Lita's made us *real* food!" Bulma laughed. It had been a long time indeed since she had eaten a hand-made meal. She was in heaven.
"Lita cooked?!" Serena ran to the table, amazing everyone with her speed. She devoured plate after plate, her Saiyan and Lunarian appetite conquering all rational thoughts.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bulma had informed the little group that it had been two weeks since their arrival and Serena felt it was time to go home. She missed her two little trouble-makers and her one big baby. She was ready. The group of 5 stood on the dirt lawn of CC and hugged Bulma goodbye.
Bulma, used to having her son and his friend come and go as they please, hugged them without tears. It was the two females that accompanied them that drew out the moisture in her eyes. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and sniffled.
"You come back and visit any time you want!" Bulma told each girl.
As Serena hugged Bulma with all her might, she whispered, "Don't worry, we will." As she slowly pulled away from the future version of her best friend, Bulma could have sworn she saw a slight glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Okay."
Serena remembered a certain gift that was given to her before she transformed into Sailor Cosmos.
'I, Princess of Pluto, Daughter of Chronos, Keeper of the Gates of Time and Space, bestow the gift of Foresight and the Power of Travel.'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sailor Pluto heard a voice whisper in her head, 'Pluto, we're coming'. She knew it was her princess. She watched the contents of a dimensional window very carefully. There was Serena and Lita, along with the future form of her best friend, Gohan-who looked a bit different, and her best friend's son, (who had been slipping back and forth through time).
Trista watched as Serena lifted and turned her palm outward, facing her (Trista). "Gates of Time, Open and grant us passage." To everyone's surprise, except Pluto's of course, a black warp hole opened before their very eyes. They could see a dark mist swirling on the other side of the hole.
Mirai and Gohan had never seen anything like this before. What kind of power did this girl have if she could command space and time? Mirai watched as Lita walked through without a second thought.
"Lita! Wait...don't go in there!"
Gohan watched as Serena walked in to the dark hole as well. Seconds later, her head peeked through. "Are you guys coming too, or would you like me to hold your hands?"
Of course, with their Saiyan Pride, they walked forward and very cautiously into the black hole, waving a final time at the blue-haired woman on the other side. The two demi-saiyans couldn't even see a foot in front of them, when something grabbed their arms.
Gohan and Mirai, out of sheer reflex, grabbed the hand that was clutching theirs and brought them around by the neck, a ki ball in hand.
"Jeez...*cough cough* you guys really need to lighten up. You know that?"
Gohan muttered apology after apology and made sure that Serena was okay. Lita on the other hand was not being so cooperative.
"Let me go! I said I was fine!"
"Fine then!"
Serena led the group through the mists, being able to see through them clearly. The Silver Crystal is what put this fog here in the first place. Now that it was *her*, she could see perfectly fine.
Gohan got nervous walking blindly while Mirai didn't seem in the least bit worried, and Lita just kept quite while walking beside Serena.
"I don't understand how you can see through all this stuff. I've been here how many times and STILL get lost!"
"Are you sure you know where you're going?"
Serena turned around and reassured Gohan that they were not lost. She knew exactly where they were. "Just a few more seconds and we should be there..." her voice trailed off as she saw what she was looking for.
On the ground were circles of different colors to represent the 9 different Senshi. Lita let out her sigh of relief when she saw the teleportation ring under her feet. There she stood on her own green circle with the sign of Jupiter. A large, ancient looking door loomed in front of them, one that was all too familiar to the girls, but very alien to the boys.
"Where are we?" Mirai asked. The two boys got in fighting positions when they heard an unfamiliar voice answer.
"You are at the gates of Time and Space. Here, there is no beginning and no end." There was an eeriness to the words she spoke because Mirai couldn't figure out exactly what she meant when she said that. Pluto kneeled on one knee before her princess. "Welcome your majesty."
Serena laughed. "Get up, Pluto! I can't believe you're still doing that!" The woman with jade-colored hair rose and chuckled.
"And I can't believe that you still think I'll ever stop." Gohan acknowledged her as a friend of Serena's and decided to loosen up a bit.
"I came this way because I'm too weak to teleport," she said getting right to the point.
"I know, princess. I've been waiting, though I'm rather surprised you didn't come a bit earlier. Someone's missed you quite a lot and has threatened my best friend to try to get to you."
Serena looked into her friend's wise eyes. "I know. We had issues to resolve before I could come home." She smiled and waved her friends over. "Let me introduce everyone. This," she said pointing to the guy with black hair, "is Gohan, and this is Mirai Trunks."
Pluto's eyebrow raised. "I am well aware of who this young man is. He seems to be racking up the frequent flyer miles, although why I never stop him is beyond me. I guess I'm not supposed to, everything has its purpose."
"How do you know me?" Trunks was curious and began to feel a little more wary of the situation.
"I am the guardian of the Gates of Time and you, my friend, have been traveling way too much. It is not safe for you to keep coming and going as you do. You need to learn a different way. Serena will teach you."
"I still don't understand how you know my name and that I travel through time."
"There are many things that you don't and will not know about me. I will tell you this, however. I watch things from my post, making sure that time keeps its balance. I am a watcher, a learner and I always see you slipping through the portals. Through the windows of time, I see all and am here to keep peace. That is all you need to know."
Oddly enough, Mirai found this enough to satisfy him. Weird.
Serena was getting a bit impatient. She wanted to return to the home of Goku's arms. In his arms, she felt safe and loved. Every time they were apart, she could feel the strain on her heart. It was the beginning of a bond and she knew it, and could do nothing to keep it from happening, not that she wanted to.
"I need to go home Pluto. I am too tired to teleport."
"Understood your Highness."
Pluto walked into the center of the circle and waved her long staff in the air while chanting something in a foreign tongue that no one seemed to understand but the blonde woman. A large rectangle appeared in front of them, slowly showing them Capsule Corp's front lawn. The rectangle took the shape of a door and Serena inched closer.
The portal back home was level on the ground, guaranteeing there would be no 30 foot drop like normal. "It's safe this time princess. I promise. You won't fall from the sky."
Lita had been looking at this new world she would be calling home soon, although the title of home had been somewhat claimed by the battle-scarred earth that Mirai came from. Being strong for her princess and best friend, Lita stepped through the portal.
Serena could feel Mirai stiffen as he watched Lita walk through the portal. The lens bended as she walked through and waved to Serena, showing her that it was perfectly safe.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SOMEWHERE DEEP IN THE FOREST...
Goku was out beating himself for letting her escape him. It had been 2 weeks since he had seen her and he was suffering without her. The power of the growing bond had taken its toll on the strong warrior and he sparred every day for hours with his friend, Vegeta, to try to make him feel better. Goku would go home at the end of the day, too tired to think of anything but sleep.
He decided to take a rest from his self-torture and just as he sat down, he felt something strange happening by his home. Goku lifted into the air and headed for the cluster of dome-shaped buildings. Slowly but surely, he felt a strange new ki, very weak, the stronger ki of his son and Mirai and finally, the one he had been waiting for.
* FLASHBACK *
Goku had been searching frantically after he felt Serena's ki disappear. He rushed into the house looking for the one person that would probably know her location.
"Bulma! Where is Serena?"
Bulma was wiping down the kitchen table and straightening the chairs. "She went away for a bit," Bulma replied indifferently, not moving her gaze from the wood work.
She could hear Goku growling and the frustration in his heart. Bulma knew that he would *never* hurt her, but being in the presence of an angry full-blooded-in-a-rut Saiyan was not on her list of favorite things to do.
"Where is she! Tell me now or I'll..."
Bulma cut him off, anger taking over her mind. "Or you'll what, huh? That's what I thought. The reason she went away in the first place was because of you. She went after Gohan because she knew he was hurt and needed help to heal, something that you've neglected to do! All your son has done was love you and help the girl that you love when she passed out! And what do you do to repay him? Accuse him of trying to steal your mate, who by the way isn't even your mate." Bulma sucked in air before starting up on him again. "I can't believe you...being blind to your own son's pain. What kind of a father are you? When he comes back, the first thing I want to hear come out of your mouth is an apology! DO YOU HEAR ME, KAKKAROT!" Bulma was steaming angry, but knew that if anyone could get Gohan to open up and relax a bit it would be the golden-haired tenshi that Goten had found the very first day he met her.
* END FLASHBACK *
Goku's senses overflowed as he felt her love and warmth wash over his body that had grown cold without her touch. As he neared the clearing of CC's property, he saw 4 people, the two boys and 2 females.
Serena could feel him coming, she could always feel him. The strength that was her soul was getting nearer. Her heart did flips and she grew weak in anticipation of him being near her again.
Goku landed about 5 feet away from her and slowly walked, afraid that if he moved too fast, she would fade away like she did in his dreams. "Serena." It was barely audible, yet she heard it and all the underlying passion in it.
He was in arm's length of her, but something smelled different to his nose. *She* smelled different...like another man...
...his son!
Goku growled and Serena realized what it was about.
"Why does she smell like you! Did you touch her?" he said glaring at his son. Gohan stepped back, forgetting his father was like that. Gohan had also told Serena about the last break-out his father had and Serena was beyond mad at him for that already.
"Back off, Goku!" Serena's angry eyes stopped Goku from doing anything, including breathing.
He couldn't believe that she had just yelled at *him* of all people.
"The reason I smell like him, JERK, is because I ran out of clean clothes, so he let me use some of his! Do you have a problem with that?!" Everyone could clearly see how she was related to Vegeta with that temper. Serena knew that Gohan needed to be protected even against his own father sometimes. "Now what do you say to Gohan?"
Lita was beyond amazed that Serena even had the guts to stand up to a man so large in stature. She wouldn't have even *thought* about doing such a thing and here was her best friend, who was quite smaller than she, yelling at someone who could easily beat her down.
If looks could kill, Goku would have been dead a long time ago. He sat there trying to decide whether to submit to pride or love. It was an easy decision, especially since he wasn't Vegeta.
He cleared his head and spoke slowly. "I'm sorry son. I just can't help it sometimes...its like something else is taking over me and I can't control it yet." Goku growled in frustration as he held back the overwhelming desire to battle against his son. All aggressive thoughts subsided once Serena launched herself into his arms.
"Thank you Goku." She teased him with her lips and pulled away before things got too hot. "Let's go home."
Goku easily lifted her into his arms princess style. "As you wish, princess."