The only character that is mine is Naa, all others belong to Akira Toriyama, FujiTV, TOEI and anybody else who has the paperwork to back up their claim. I'm a poor woman, so please don't sue.. you would only get my kids ^_^(). This is only for entertainment purposes. I'm not making any money off my stories.
Thanks to Laura for helping me with the story…she did the basic story of Gohan's return to Chikyuu! (I tweaked it to fit the story but it was a big help to me!)
Ku Areba Raku Ari
*Why did she look so familiar?* Gohan asked himself silently as he flew away from the impromptu battlefield and back towards the village. Shaking his head, Gohan tries to dispel his sense of familiarity and regret and focus on the current problem at hand. "I hope they can send me back." Gohan mutters under his breath while rubbing his hand across his jaw, which was sore from the punches the woman had gotten through his defenses. That backhanded blow was especially mean. His gi was all dirty and ripped up, his mother was going to kill him. Although he was 26 years old Gohan's mother still treated him like a child, and couldn't seem to understand he was an adult now. Of course Gohan was worried about if he was ever going to see his mother or getting back to Chikyuu again. The conversation Gohan had with the priest, Nagi, right before he took off still lingered in his mind.
"Gohan," Nagi says as he pulls him aside, "you can't be any longer than sunrise or the portal back to your world will close. Then you will have to wait weeks before we can reopen it again to get you back to your world."
"Why didn't you tell me this before I agreed to this Nagi-san?" Gohan says as a sweat drop appears on the back of his head.
"I'm sorry, but we really needed you and I wasn't sure you would agree." Nagi says quietly with his head bowed. "Gomen nasai, please, forgive me."
Gohan sighs and puts his hand on the priest's shoulder, "Of course Nagi-san, you only were looking out for your people. Don't worry I will be back." And with that Gohan had flown off.
Quickly approaching the village Gohan slows down and comes in for a landing. The crowd that had gathered at his approach opened in the center to reveal the chief and priest looking anxiously at him for some clue as to what had happened. With a scowl that would have startled Gohan at it's Saiya-jin likeness Gohan lands and approached the pair. The priest made a move to step forward but the chief placed a detaining arm in front of him and stepped up to Gohan himself.
"Well, Gohan-san, did all go well? Is the Hakai-sha destroyed? Is he gone for good?" The chief demands.
"Very aptly put my chief. Is the Destroyer destroyed Gohan-san?" Nagi, the priest asks also.
"Your Hakai-sha, as you put it, was defeated. I could not feel her ki at the end of the battle. She won't be bothering you anymore." Gohan says quietly. *Or at least won't be bothering you anytime soon.* Gohan finishes quietly to himself, wondering where that thought came from.
"WHAT!" The chief roars, "SHE! A mere female?"
Murmurs could be heard throughout the crowd at the announcement that the Hakai-sha was a female. Nagi approached Gohan and tries to get more information out of him. "What do you mean by 'she' Gohan-san?"
"That's just it Nagi-san, your Hakai-sha was a female, a very powerful one at that. You were right to bring me here to stop her; none of your warriors would have stood a chance against her. I didn't get to see her clearly but I could tell it was a female nonetheless."
"How can you be so sure that the Hakai-sha was a female Gohan-san?" Nagi asks but doesn't probe any further when he sees a blush creep up Gohan's face. With a slight cough of embarrassment Nagi continues, "Ahem, never mind. I take it that you were in close combat with her?" At Gohan's nod Nagi lets the subject drop. The chief's roars could still be heard as he rants and raves to his warriors on how they could have beat this "female" with no problem, which they didn't need an outsider to interfere.
"Come Gohan-san it's time to send you back to your world. I'm sure you will be happy to put this all behind you." Nagi says putting a hand on Gohan's shoulder and leads him back into the temple.
"No disrespect Nagi-san, but I will be glad to get home, my family will worry about me. I was in the middle of a spar session with otousan and my brother when you brought me here." Gohan looks around the corridors that they are walking through, turning towards Nagi he asks, "Will I ever see you again Nagi-san?"
Nagi sighs and looks at the past works of his people engraved in the walls of the corridors, finally after a few minutes he turns back to Gohan. "Gomen Gohan-san but I don't think we ever will see each other again. You have fulfilled your part of the prophecy. The Gods were merciful once when they allowed us to call you here, if they are so merciful again, maybe someday we will see each other." Seeing a man up ahead Nagi calls out, "Ask Haki-san and the other priests to attend us in the summoning chambers." The silent figure nods his head in affirmative and walks off to do the priests bidding. Gohan and Nagi continue to walk down the halls for several minutes until they approach a large set of double doors, made of a crystalline material with carvings engraved in them. Gohan sighs and walks up to them, running his hand over the cool surface.
"Nagi-san I would like to stay here and learn all I can of your culture. You see I am from both my okaasan and otousan's world. Okaasan wishes me to study and be a scholar. And otousan, even though he doesn't say it, wishes I were more like him, a fighter. I am continuously pulled in different directions between the two. At times I don't know what I want to be."
With a twinkle in his eye and a smirk on his face Nagi leans down and whispers in Gohan's ear, knowledge that every person would recognize if they just would stop and take note. "Why Gohan-san, who says you cannot be both?" With that he opens the doors and enters the summoning chambers. Gohan just stands there dumbly for a moment, and ever so slowly a smile comes over his face. Haki approaches Gohan to escort him into the chambers but Gohan just walks past him mumbling, "Now why didn't I think of that…it is so simple." Haki smiles, he too has had words of insight from Nagi-san that made him feel like an idiot for not realizing that it was so uncomplicated a child would have known the answer. With a smirk Haki follows Gohan into the summoning chambers.
With Haki in the room the ceremonial circle was complete. The twelve priests stood around the edge of the circle while Nagi stood in the center. "The ceremony is much simpler this time since we already made the initial connection with your world. All we need to do is focus our energy to open the portal."
Turning to face the portal, Nagi raised his arms to the portal and calls out in a voice strong and pure, the ceremonial chant of summoning, to open the portal. The other twelve priests join their voices to his and their chants fill and echo about the chamber. The inscriptions on the wall glow in response with the strength and power of their voice. After several minutes of chanting a bubble in the center of the portal slowly appears and glows, ever expanding with the next verse in their chant until finally, in a bright display of lights, it takes up the whole center of the portal, rippling with power. Nagi turns and walks to Gohan.
"Well, Gohan-san..." Nagi said as he patted Gohan's back, "…ganbaru." Gohan smiles and walks up to the portal, stopping just before the entrance. Before walking into the portal, he decided he would do something that his father would do when he leaves, a two-fingered salute to the wonderful people whom he had fought for and saved. "Sayonara." Through the murky tunnel of swirling light, Gohan disappeared from their world. Nagi looked on as he left, saying, "Sayonara, joubu..."
It was nightfall on his world when he found himself back on Chikyuu, directly on the spot where he was taken away. Or where he would have been had he of completed his descent, *At least this was a more pleasant landing.* Gohan thinks to himself (insert typical sweat drop here). The wind rustles Gohan's hair and gi as he looks around the peaceful landscape. "It's time to go home." He says with a sigh and takes off towards his home.
The grass made quite a 'ffsshh' sound as his booted feet touched the ground, causing someone in the Son house to stir. "Who's there? Gohan is that you?" Someone asked hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer. It was his mother, Chi Chi. *It's so good to hear her voice again even if she's worried sick and is going to nag me insistently. Otousan isn't around or he would have greeted me as soon as I got back.* He thought, sighing bracing himself for Chi Chi's greeting.
Chi Chi ran through the small bushes that lined the house, and sure enough, Gohan was standing there, looking at her with his warm eyes she knew so well. "Hello Okaasan, you are looking well. It's good to be home. I guess Goten is still asleep, he can sleep through just about anything." Chi Chi ignored the fact that his clothes were an absolute mess, blood dripping from various cuts and abrasions on his body, and rushed over to hug her eldest son with the biggest hug she had ever administered. "Ow, okaasan, not so hard ne?" Gohan says as he pulls back from Chi Chi rubbing his stomach. "Where is otousan?"
"He went off to discuss something with Kaiou-sama. Your father wasn't much help when you disappeared, he just kept saying you were fine and would return to us in time. Goten just grumbled that you got all the fun." Chi Chi answered trying sniffing back the tears, but in the end failing. "Gohan... I was so distraught..." she said, tears of joy running down her face. "What happened to you? I was worried sick at your disappearance." Chi Chi asked, hugging Gohan gently this time.
"It's a long story, okaasan, but..." he wiped the tears from his mother's face. "I think we have time." Putting his arm around his mother he hugged her close and together they walked back into the Son house.
__________
Naa tries to open her eyes and only manages to open her right eye but quickly shuts it against the blinding light. With a groan she lifts her right hand to inspect why she couldn't open her left eye. Her arm feels slightly heavy but she manages to lift it and bring it to her face. With her good eye closed she turns her wrist to inspect the left side of her face but gasped as a sharp pain shoots through her right wrist, making her drop her arm back down to the bed. Tentatively Naa tries to lift her left hand, and when she encounters no problems brings it up to the left side face of her face she where she encounters a thick bandage. With a tired groan Naa lets her left arm drop back to the bed.
"Chikushoume!" Naa moans, as she tries to sit up in the bed, "Shimatta, I hurt. What hit me?"
"That's what we would like to know tou." A voice says from the doorway. "And I wouldn't try moving anytime soon. You may be healing at an astonishing rate but you are far from being fully healed."
"Che.." Naa says as she tries to roll off the bed into a battle crouch but got no further than a quarter roll before she succumbed to the pain. "Arrghh.. what did you do to me old woman!"
"Nothing, tou you came to us like this, we took you in, bandaged you up and have been looking after you for the three days you have been here, unconscious."
"Nani?? Three days I've been laying here when I should have been out taking my revenge on the man who did this to me! I must get out of this bed, I'll never find him if his trail has gone cold." Naa pauses and asks, "Eh, what do you mean by we?"
"My two sons and I having been looking after you. And thank the gods that they were here; I wouldn't have been able to keep you in bed otherwise to heal. You are a very strong young lady." Oba said.
"Old woman, you don't know the half of it." Naa mutters under her breath.
"Now behave, we have brought you in our house and have taken care of you. Manners must be observed. Now...uh, miss...what is your name young lady?" Oba asks.
For a minute Naa thought of not answering her, why should she? She's a Saiya-jin; she does not answer to anybody but the Saiya-jin no Ouji. But Naa had a feeling that the old woman would not let up until she gave her name. With a sigh, she answer's reluctantly, "Naa."
"Oh my such an enthusiastic response. And what an unusual name." Oba comments.
"My otousan named me, but I don't want to talk about it." Naa snaps.
"And why not tou?" Oba asks.
"I have nothing else to say on the subject." Naa snaps again.
"Oh, tou, you don't get along with your otousan? I'm so sorry."
"I don't want your pity! And quite calling me 'tou'." Naa shouts from her bed and once again tries to get up and the pain renders her helpless once again. "Aragh! This is no way for a Saiya-jin to heal, lying helpless in a bed." Naa pouts.
"And how do 'Saiya-jin's' heal?" Oba asks.
"We have regeneration tanks, I would be healed and been back in fighting condition and on my next mission within hours." Naa states proudly.
"What about doctors, nurses, the loving care of a healer?"
"Pfft, sentimental stuff like that is unnecessary." Naa scoffed.
"Oh my dear, things like that make life worth living." Oba comments.
"It's nothing less than I would expect from a lesser and weaker species." Naa proclaims disdainfully.
"Well, a member of the lesser and weaker species on this planet is going to get lunch unless it's beneath you to accept something so basic and necessary as food from one such as me? The person who, may not have necessarily saved your life but a least advanced your speedy recovery."
"Che, woman, just go get the food, and I hope you got plenty cause I eat a lot." With a mischievous smile Naa looks at her 'rescuer'. "Because Saiya-jin can eat twice our body weight in food and that's when we are healthy. I'm healing so I'm going to need twice as much food to help my regenerative process." Naa chuckles at the astonished look on Oba's face.
"I can tell you're going to be expensive patient." Oba says as she picks herself up from the floor (face fault joke). "What do I get to make it worth my while?" She comments jokingly.
"Your life and the lives of your two sons." Naa says, all humor aside. "In appreciation for, 'saving' me and helping me in my recovery I won't kill you and your sons. You should be honored, because I'm sparing your lives I won't be able to destroy this planet when I leave. But I can promise you this, I will have some fun before I leave."
Oba stares at Naa, wondering if she's serious or just joking about her threats. After a few moments, mumbling beneath her breath Oba leaves the room to go get lunch.
With a slight laugh Naa lays back down on the bed, going over the battle with the other mysterious warrior in her mind trying to see where she went so wrong as to lose. But all the facts point to, however impossible to think of, that he was simply too powerful and strong for her. Her, Naa, daughter of Nappa an Elite who was a member of the Saiya-jin no Ouji's personal guard, was defeated at the hands of an unknown warrior. She laughs bitterly; her illusion of being one of the greatest warriors of the mightiest warrior race of the known universe has just been shattered into a million shards of glass, all mockingly laughing back at her. Taunting her with her failure. Sighing, she closes her eyes and even as she drifts off to sleep she plans her revenge against that other warrior who defeated her with seemingly ease.
( Originally written 11.06.99 )