Disclaimer: None of the things you recognize belong to me. DBZ and everything involved with it belongs to Akira Toriyama. Anything you don't recognize belongs to me.
Warnings for this chapter: None.
Chapter XLIII: The Z-Sword.
775 A.D. May the 7th.
"Okay," Gohan said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's give it a go."
He grabbed hold of the hilt of the sword and started pulling. After a long moment, he let go of the sword.
"Gosh," he said, grinning. "That's really in there."
He spat in his hands, making Kibito wince and mumble angrily, repositioned his feet and grabbed hold of the sword again. He pulled with all his might, screaming at the effort but the sword refused to budge. Kibito took the opportunity to gloat.
"I thought as much," he sneered. "The z-sword is meant only for a true hero. You'll never be able to do it."
Chiara frowned but Gohan merely shrugged.
"We'll see," he said before turning Super Saiyan.
Kibito gawked as Gohan again grabbed the sword and pulled. It took a lot of effort but eventually the sword came flying out. Chiara applauded enthusiastically.
"Way to go, Gohan," she cheered.
Kibito glared at Chiara as she continued to applaud her brother.
"How does it feel to hold the z-sword?" Supreme Kai asked, looking fascinated.
"It's really heavy," Gohan said simply.
Chiara grinned at that. Trust her brother to state the obvious. She watched him proudly as he stood there, slowly gaining control of the blade. He really was a great fighter, and she wasn't surprised that he would turn out to be the one to pull out a legendary sword like that.
She watched as Gohan gave the sword to Kibito, causing it to promptly fall to the ground. Kibito was then unable to pick it up again. He embarassedly turned his back on them all, mumbling that it was very heavy.
"What about you, Chi?" Gohan asked. "Do you want to give it a try?"
"Oh no," she said, taking a step back. "I won't be able to hold it and I have no intention of making a fool of myself."
Kibito glared at Chiara again at that. She decided to try and cheer him up.
"You don't need to be embarassed," she said cheerfully. "It is very heavy."
But for some reason that just made him glare even more. Chiara shrugged.
'I give up,' she thought.
Gohan, meanwhile, had started swinging the sword, with difficulty at first but more easily as time went by. He swung the sword around, getting better at balancing it as he practiced. Chiara watched proudly, Supreme Kai watched happily and Kibito was in shock.
Suddenly Gohan swung the sword and came within a few inches of cutting Goku's head off as he suddenly appeared on Supreme Kai's planet. Goku cried out, a few strands of his hair flying into the air.
"Dad," Gohan said, looking at Goku, who was on the floor, clutching his head. "What are you doing? Dad?"
"Who? Me? Nothing," Goku said, before joking, "Just trying to keep my head."
He got up slowly and suddenly noticed Gohan's outfit.
"Hey, look at those fancy new clothes, wauw," Goku said, before looking over at Chiara. "And Chi too."
"Supreme Kai gave them to us," Gohan said, a slight smile on his face. "Cool, huh?"
"Huh? Kai's here?" Goku asked.
"Of course he's here," Chiara cut in impatiently. "It is his planet after all."
Goku looked at his daughter for a second before nodding. "Hello there, Supreme Kai."
"Greetings, Goku," Supreme Kai called back.
Kibito was still gawking at Goku.
"It defies all logic," he ground out. "How did he get here? It's not possible."
"How strange," Goku said, looking around. "What is this place?"
"It's a special sanctuary, dad, but why are you here?" Gohan asked. "24 hours aren't up yet."
"Yeah, dad, why aren't you with mom?" Chiara asked. "Unless of course even 24 hours is too long to spend with someone you supposedly love."
Goku frowned and went to dispute what she had just said, but Gohan cut in.
"Chi, dad, please," Gohan pleaded.
Chiara turned away with a scowl while Goku continued to look at her, the frown still on his face.
"What's going on down there?" Gohan asked Goku.
"Nothing good," Goku answered, his eyes still on Chiara. "Everywhere Majin Buu goes he leaves a path of death and destruction in his wake."
Goku finally looked away from Chiara as he and Gohan sat down.
"Goten and Trunks are trying to perfect the fusion technique," Goku continued. "But in the mean time millions and millions of innocent people are dying."
Chiara looked at the ground at that. She had had a hand in people dying that day, and she still couldn't get over what she had done. She wasn't a murderer, yet she had allowed Babidi to turn her into one.
"He won't stop," Supreme Kai said, looking angry. "Not until they're all dead. Every last one of them."
They sat in grim silence for a long moment, Chiara having her back turned at all of them, behaving an awful lot like Vegeta would. She had no idea how much she had begun to resemble her Senpai, but it wasn't lost on the people around her, Goku included. He looked at her with a frown on his face.
He had missed so much of his daughter's life. He had missed her first date, her first boyfriend, her first heartbreak. In the depth of his heart he acknowledged that her very first heartbreak had not been because of a boyfriend, it had been because of her own father. He wouldn't allow himself to think that, however, and he swiftly pushed all dark thoughts away when he caught sight of the sword at Gohan's side.
"Hey, can I check that sword out, Gohan?" he asked. "Gohan, hello?"
Gohan snapped out of his own dark thoughts and looked at his father.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry, dad," he said, holding out the sword to his father. "Here. Be careful though, it's kinda heavy."
Chiara snorted. "Kind of?" she repeated incredulously.
"Alright," Gohan conceded with a smile. "Very heavy."
"It sure is a beauty," Goku said, accepting the sword.
The tip of the sword promptly fell to the ground again and Goku cried out in surprise.
"Wow, you weren't kidding," he said. "You really could hurt yourself swinging this thing around. Unless you put your body behind it, like this."
They all watched as Goku swung the sword around, except for Chiara. She kept her back turned. She didn't feel the need to watch him show off.
'Only he doesn't do it to show off, does he?' a voice said.
Chiara started, turning slightly to look at Gohan, thinking that he had sent the thought. Gohan, however, was proudly watching Goku, not looking at her. She checked their link and noticed it was half-closed. The thought would have been vague if Gohan had sent it, yet it had been clear.
'Not all thoughts you hear need to be yours or your brother's,' the voice said.
She frowned, this time turning to Kibito and Supreme Kai. Kibito was watching Goku in disbelief but Supreme Kai was looking straight at her.
'So you're telepathic now?' she sent to him.
'When I need to be,' Kai confirmed.
'And why would you need to be now?' she thought.
'Goku isn't a bad person, he never meant to hurt any of you,' Kai sent, neither of them noticing that Gohan was now listening.
'What would you know of it?' Chiara snapped. 'How long have you known him? Less than a day. You know nothing about any of it. And even if you did, I will not stand for your interference.'
Supreme Kai nodded slowly and respectfully withdrew from her mind. She wasn't ready to talk about such a delicate subject yet, she may never be. It made Kai sad to see her so removed from her father. Whatever mistakes Son Goku had made, it wasn't worth losing their father daughter relationship over.
Chiara, in the mean time, seethed. How dare he tell her she was wrong? She wasn't wrong. She wasn't. She was the only who saw the truth, she was the only one who saw Son Goku for what he truly was. They were wrong. She was right.
