Eye Opening

The morning sun was finally visible over the horizon. From where you stood, on the side of the mountain, you could see for miles. A hundred paces ahead was a nearly vertical cliff. Thousands of feet below was a narrow river, flowing from a cave at the base of the mountain. Flowing through forest below you could see slight glimmering where the sun broke through the canopy both as it went down, and met your eyes.

He faced away from you, kneeling towards the horizon. Turning back the strange classmate smiled at you. He came out of nowhere, and turned your world upside down. Now, he was going to do it again. It was one thing to watch him fight crime, fly, and manipulate energy. It was another to experience it first hand.

Stepping forward you awkwardly placed one hand on his left shoulder. Raising and swinging your right leg you sank your heal into the crux of his thigh and belly. Wrapping your right arm around his neck, you hesitantly lifted your left leg off the ground. Nervous that the two of you would tumble, that this was all a dream, that you were in fact just going crazy, you were only a little surprised he held your weight easily.

Reaching back he wrapped his hand under each of your thighs, holding you securely. Your hands instinctively tightened around his neck as he stood. You should be choking him. He should be struggling to breathe. He barely noticed the weight on him as he slowly stood up.

"Are you ready?" Gohan asked over his shoulder. Meekly, you nod.

This was stupid. This would literally be suicide. What would your father say? Energy? Flying? Lasers? All tricks. All nonsense. But, here you were, taking a leap of faith.

He began to walk. One foot in front of the other. Slowly, steadily, for the first ten paces. Then, he accelerated. You felt him swaying side to side as he ran. You felt like you were riding a horse, no, a dinosaur, no, a titan. The power beneath you, the coiled spring that was about to burst …

At the half way point he began to run. Not fast, not by his standards, but you left your stomach behind where you started. The wind was already blowing your hair back. The edge was getting closer. More and more green was becoming visible as you approached the moment of truth.

Five steps, four, three, two … You slammed your eyes shut.

Gohan released the stored energy. Like a spring, he launched over the edge, out, away from the cliff. This, this was it, you were flying. The ground was beneath you. The river, the trees, the cliff, all below. Opening your eyes, you saw the rising sun, rising skyline, ahead of you.

Falling.

Looking back at the cliff, wanting to jump off, it was too late. Safety was close, only a few dozen feet away, but straight up. Gohan curled and you flipped. Your feet were over your head. The narrow stream was in front of you, growing with every second.

Gohan released your legs. He lifted his hands over his head and dove towards death.

Opening your mouth you let out an unheard scream. The wind was rushing. Your heart was racing. You knew you screamed, you knew it echoed, but even if you could hear yourself, you would not. Your eyes clamped shut, your brain blocked out all external information. This was going to be painful, and you should shut off to keep yourself sane for the last second you would be alive.

Clamping your arms tighter around Gohan's neck, you felt him shift. His shoulders lowered and spread. You felt yourself shift forward as his arms spread. A wave of warmth ran over you.

Feeling gravity throw you into Gohan, twist you, you opened your eyes in renewed fear. The stream was below you. You were flying parallel to it, inches above the water. Beside you the trees and leaves were blurs as you flew through the forest. You had not slowed from the fall, but your speed was redirected.

Carefully removing one arm from Gohan's neck, while you tightened the other, you reached one hand towards the water. Turning your palm upward, you extended one finger. Inch by inch you approached the water, until Gohan took your hand in his.

Slowly he turned your hand over. Your palm faced your toes. Your finger was still extended. He put his hand in the water first. Two curtains of water shot up on either side of you as his wrist cut through the water. Your hand was there, in the water, in the low pressure zone. He slowly lifted his hand, the undercurrent forcing yours up as well. In a flash he lifted his, leaving yours unprotected. You could not hope to hold it there. The force of the water shot your hand out, against Gohan's chest. If you had gone in palm up, it would have snapped your wrist.

The water retreated as you lifted into the air. The canopy was thick, completely covering the water where you were. It was not thick enough though. Gohan expertly wove his way between branches, skimming several, but never quite hitting any. Up, down, left, further left, and right, he snaked his way forward and skyward.

Breaching the tree cover you continued to climb. The mountain began to recede behind you as you tried to keep pace with the sun. To the north you could almost see the ocean. To the south you would soon see the beginnings of a desert. He could not have picked a more beautiful place to introduce you to his world. You went for walks, you saw movies, experienced theme park rides, ate ice cream. He flew, he saw the world, he experienced life. Your eyes were opened, and you could never close them again. Tightening your grip you held onto the boy, the man. Your safety net here, and now. Your way forward, always. You would never let him go, you would not fall, and you could not be normal again. Nothing would be enough, not after this.

Watching him curve back, now flying vertical, you looked down once again. Below you was a hilly green carpet. To the north was blue, and the south was brown. Behind you the mountain you met on was nothing more than a hill. You were high, higher than you had ever been before.

He continued to climb, and the green carpet became smaller and smaller, as more of the word became visible. The mountain was low, a bump on the smooth surface of the blue marble. This morning the city on the far side was hours away, now, it was there, a light in the mountains shadow. Soon it would be brought into fresh sunlight.

The warm feeling that rushed over you as you fell, vanished. It was cold, and each breath you took burnt your lungs. You inhaled deeply, as deeply as you could, but you did not feel like you were getting enough oxygen. The world grew a tint darker as you slowed, and stopped. Hanging there, atop the planet, you took in the beauty of your home.

Gohan shifted in the air once more, laying flat, belly down. You could have stood on his back if you saw fit.

Then, the world approached.

Once more you opened your mouth to scream. And just as the time before, you heard nothing. This time though, your senses sharpened instead of dulled. You saw the city, you saw buildings, and you thought you could see streets. You saw the forest, you could see the stream, or, you thought you could. You heard your heart in your ears, as well as felt your tearing vocal cords.

Reaching up, Gohan took your hands in his. Effortlessly he pulled your arms away from his neck and in a flash there was nothing between you and the Earth. Gohan was beaming, a youthful, joyful, smile. This was safe. He knew what he was doing. You were falling towards the Earth, but, it was okay. He lifted his chin, pushed his hips slightly forward, and he slid against the current of the air, out of your reach.

You reached towards him, and could not reach. He continued to smile, reaching a hand in your direction as well. When they connected, his fist bumped your open palm, and he drifted away once again.

No, no no. This was safe, for him. This was exciting, for him. This, this was skydiving, without a parachute. You could do this. You could absolutely love this. But, not now, not yet. You needed time to adjust, and being dropped from thin air was not the first step you wanted. No, a flight, you were going for a flight, not, not a fall.

You shut your eyes again. He would catch you. He could catch you. But, if he got distracted. If he lost track of where you were, where he was, in relation to the ground. You could survive the fall, for minutes, hours, days, if you had to. The landing though, in a split second, if he was not ready, there would be nothing he could do.

Your right hand was taken out of the freezing air, and wrapped in warmth. A rock hard hand wrapped in soft flesh gently entangled its fingers around your own. Your left hand followed suit. You opened your eyes, and there he was. He smiled at you, he was with you. You could not help but smile as well. You were safe. Here, there, anywhere, anytime, with Gohan here, you were safe.

You spread your arms, and he lets you spread his as well. As your hands reach into the distance, your bodies grow closer, your faces grow closer, your lips grow closer. Refusing to close your eyes, refusing to miss this moment, you turn your head to the right, and he does so as well. Slowly you push your arms slightly further apart, and yourselves closer together. Your lips brush his before the wind pushes you apart. You try again, this time pushing your hips down, arching your back, and pushing yourself forward, much as he pushed himself backwards moments ago.

Your lips press against his, and you feel his smile on yours. You part your lips, guiding him to do the same. Slowly your tongues approach, before finding and caressing each other. Seconds later, the ground is still approaching. He pulls away, you try to hold him close, you try to pull him closer with your lips, hold the seal, but he is insistent.

Pulling you towards him, he dropped his feet under himself, before flipping entirely onto his back. You were above him. He was between you and the fast approaching forest below.

He continued pulling you closer. He pulls you against him, against his chest. His arms wrapped around you as the overpowering breeze began to slow. Moments later, barely below the height of the mountain, the air stopped moving entirely. The world was still. You were hanging from an invisible thread in the middle of a dome. It was impossible, but here you were, laying atop a man who casually defied gravity.

"Welcome to my world."

Author's note: I have not given up on my main story, Dragon Ball Z: Darkness, but I am unable to write for it at the moment, so I figured I would at least write something in the meantime. Hope you enjoyed this short one shot, and I hope to be back to posting Darkness very soon.