"I don't understand why you helped him, but maybe you can explain it later. Now we gotta go help Goku, and Gohan." He said flatly. Raimi tried to walk unaided, but couldn't do it. She leaned on her angry friend, wincing at each step. When he stopped to gather little Gohan into his arms, she nearly fell over. They made their way slowly to Goku.BR
P
"Hey, I'm sorry, Kurilin. But, I think Raimi was right, we can't kill him. We'd be just like him... " Raimi raised her hand to stop him. Her fingers trembled from shock and exhaustion. They looked up at her as she spoke slowly.BR
P
"Kurilin, listen to what I have to say. Our friends are on the way to get the same training Goku got. I knew that they would be exempted, and I know something else. In less than six months time, we will need the training that they receive." She was lying, but only a little, to save the future. She was only telling Kurilin this because he needed to know that the deaths that had happened here were not in vain. "Also, we need Vegeta alive. When the menace that we will face surfaces, he will be excellent bait to distract Fri- The person who I know is our next challenge... " BR
P
"Another attack? When?" Goku gasped. His eyes were wide with alarm.BR
"Easy, Goku! Not for a while! Let's see... today is November 3rd. I say in the spring." She was lying again, but why alarm then needlessly. "You are a Saiyan, and you'll be better in no time, and you'll be much stronger too. The others will be real strong as well, after being in ten times Gravity." He stared at her blankly, and then smiled, as he understood what she meant.BR
P
"Yosh!" He laughed. Raimi had never heard him say it before, and laughed herself at the familiar exclamation.BR
"So, you let Vegeta go to use as bait for some new menace?" Kurilin asked. Raimi looked down at him and then looked away.BR
"Yes. And no. I had to let him live, or I would have had to kill you. All of you." She admitted quietly. They were stunned, staring at her sad expression.BR
"Kill us?! Kill us, why?" Goku asked, since Kurilin was speechless.BR
P
"Back on Vegeta-sei, after a Saiyan completed his off-world training, he might not know how to speak, how to survive in civilization, so to speak, because of his lack of normal education. The scientists developed a technique, called Immersion Therapy, which was used to "educate" these lost Saiyans. It could also be used to program behavior into you. I was initiated into the rank of Royal Guard, the same as Nappa; I was put into Immersion Therapy, though I didn't realize it until the Genki-dama." They watched her, fascinated by this story. Raimi leaned against a cliff face for support, hoping that Bulma and Chi-Chi arrived soon.BR
P
"When the Genki-dama hit him, I was too amazed to move, but when he was shot up into the sky, I had to restrain myself to not kill you right then, Kurilin. I realized why I felt that way, and only the knowledge that... " Raimi winced. Telling them that she'd known that the events that had just happened were fated, that the devastating injuries Goku had received, and all the pain they were feeling, was predestined was hard. "The knowledge that Vegeta would survive the hit saved you. I knew he would escape from here too. I'm sorry that I couldn't change anything, I really am, but it isn't my place to change destiny. King Enma was clear on that." Kurilin was staring at Goku, face hard with anger. Goku turned his eyes to Kurilins and looked just as serious.BR
P
"Kurilin, She's right, you know. You have to accept this stuff she says as true, even if it's not good to hear. Raimi is meant to help us, Enma and Kami told me so. I asked you to trust her before, and I still want you to, even if it's hard, Kurilin." Goku said softly. Kurilin looked up at her, and Raimi saw the pain in his eyes, the sadness that of all of the Defenders, he was the one left alive. Gohan was alive as well, but Kurilin had only escaped death because...BR
P
Because Raimi had caught him and shielded him from the blast that had killed Piccolo.BR
P
Raimi had saved his life, and he'd forgotten! He felt a blush of shame race over his cheeks. He couldn't meet her gaze from embarrassment.BR
"I... I'm sorry Raimi. You did what you could, and you even saved me from Nappa. I guess it's just hard to face everyone after all this, and be alive while Yamcha and Tien... " He said quietly. Raimi shushed him gently.BR
"Look, They are going to be back one day, I promise! And we will mend soon too. No one is going to mad at you for surviving this, Kurilin." She told him. Just then, they heard the whine of an engine.BR
P
"Oh, no, not him again!" Kurilin moaned. The shape above resolved itself into an air car, driven by Bulma, with Roshi and Chi-Chi hanging out the windows, waving madly at them.BR
"Ah, at last, the cavalry!" Raimi sighed. As it set down, the door opened before it really touched ground, and Chi-Chi leapt out, racing towards them. Raimi stepped back slightly, and hid her smile at the other woman's anxious face.BR
P
"Chi-Chi!" Goku said happily, thinking she was worried about him, lying there all battered and bleeding. He was understandably stunned when she jumped right over him and screeched to a halt in front of Kurilin and Gohan.BR
"Gohan! Gohan!!" She snatched the boy from Kurilins arms and laid him on the ground. "Wake up baby!! Wake up, mommy's here! Oh, my baby, what did they do to you?!" She grabbed him into her arms and kept trying to wake him up.BR
P
"Uh, Chi-Chi, Gohan is fine, really, it's Goku who's badly... " Chi-Chi turned to the ship, ignoring Kurilin. "Um, Chi-Chi... your husband?" Kurilin said, and then gave up. Raimi didn't though. She stepped into Chi-Chi's path and frowned at her.BR
"Chi-Chi, I know you're concerned about Gohan, but he's fine. Goku is decidedly NOT FINE!" she said. Everyone looked at them in amazement, since no one EVER confronted Chi-Chi! Dead quiet fell over the group as the women stared at each other. Chi-Chi glared down at Raimi. BR
P
"My baby is injured and he's only five years old! Goku is a grown man! He dragged Gohan into this, he is to blame!" Chi-Chi snapped. Raimi shook a finger in Chi-Chi's face.BR
P
"Chi-Chi, that's bull! Piccolo brought Gohan here, not Goku; he was dead at the time! And for that matter, I watched him myself, like I swore to do. He is only bruised, not BROKEN like Goku is!" Raimi's voice rose in volume, and the last of her IKi/I flared around her. Weak as she was right now, she was still stronger than any human. Chi-Chi's jaw dropped in shock. "Now, then, I think you should show some concern for your husband, Son Chi-Chi!" Raimi turned and walked over to Bulma and Karin who stood next to the broken Goku. They began exclaiming over his obvious injuries, covering their astonishment at the dressing down Chi-Chi had just gotten. Roshi shook his head in wonder. No one should be alive after being hurt so bad... Or after facing Chi-Chi that way!BR
P
Chi-Chi looked down at her small heavy son, and then over at her husband. She noticed his sad eyes and felt ashamed of herself. He had just saved the world after all. She looked away, and swallowed heavily, and then turned back, but he had looked away...BR
P
"Oh, Goku, are you okay?" Bulma asked him. He smiled and tried to nod.BR
"Yep... I'm okay, but the Saiyan... he got away... sorry guys... " He said, his voice weak.BR
"Don't be sorry for such a victory." Karin said. Goku rolled his eyes up to see the fat white cat.BR
"Oh, hi... Master Karin... " Kurilin walked back to the group now gathered by Goku.BR
P
"There's no way to describe power like his... B-Bulma, I'm sorry, but they got everybody but the five of us... including Yamcha... " he said gently. To his surprise, she smiled.BR
"I thought so. But that's okay. We'll use the Dragonballs in a year and wish them all back!"BR
"Um... " Kurilin didn't know how to break this to her.BR
"... " Karin obviously didn't know what to say either.BR
P
"Right? I-I'm right, right?"BR
"Bulma, I'm sorry... but Piccolo is dead... and so, well... the Dragonballs are gone... " Goku told her. Bulma's face froze into the expression that said, 'I'm not listening to you!'BR
P
"Oh, c-come on, this isn't funny!" She turned to Raimi, who was standing next to her now. Raimi's face was full of sorrow, and Bulma knew why, but couldn't believe it. She stood and grabbed Raimi's shoulders, not noticing the smaller woman wince in pain. "You said that five survived, so the other one must be Piccolo! Right!?" Just then, Yajirobei walked out and frowned at her.BR
P
"Oh, it does, does it?" He humphed at her, and she nearly fell in horrified shock. It cost Raimi a lot to catch Bulma, and help her to stand, but she did it. Raimi watched as her friend's eyes filled with tears, and felt again her own pain at the loss of her training mates, her friends.BR
P
"But... But... " Finally, Bulma burst into tears, her body shaking as she willingly fell to her knees. Raimi didn't dare to bend over her, and had to keep Bulma from hugging her in her grief. She looked up at Roshi helplessly.BR
P
"You knew?" He said to Karin, who nodded. Roshi sighed and looked down at his star pupil, broken by a power beyond their imagining.BR
"I can't believe it... I just assumed that Piccolo was still alive too... " He said pensively, very serious.BR
P
"Hey, wait a minute! I almost get the feeling that you all wish it were ME who'd got killed! If I hadn't been here, these guys'd all be dead you know! Would a little thank you hurt?! Man!" Yajirobei said, pissed. He was right on both counts, but no one was in the shape to give him a medal...BR
P
"Hey, I'm sorry, Kurilin. But, I think Raimi was right, we can't kill him. We'd be just like him... " Raimi raised her hand to stop him. Her fingers trembled from shock and exhaustion. They looked up at her as she spoke slowly.BR
P
"Kurilin, listen to what I have to say. Our friends are on the way to get the same training Goku got. I knew that they would be exempted, and I know something else. In less than six months time, we will need the training that they receive." She was lying, but only a little, to save the future. She was only telling Kurilin this because he needed to know that the deaths that had happened here were not in vain. "Also, we need Vegeta alive. When the menace that we will face surfaces, he will be excellent bait to distract Fri- The person who I know is our next challenge... " BR
P
"Another attack? When?" Goku gasped. His eyes were wide with alarm.BR
"Easy, Goku! Not for a while! Let's see... today is November 3rd. I say in the spring." She was lying again, but why alarm then needlessly. "You are a Saiyan, and you'll be better in no time, and you'll be much stronger too. The others will be real strong as well, after being in ten times Gravity." He stared at her blankly, and then smiled, as he understood what she meant.BR
P
"Yosh!" He laughed. Raimi had never heard him say it before, and laughed herself at the familiar exclamation.BR
"So, you let Vegeta go to use as bait for some new menace?" Kurilin asked. Raimi looked down at him and then looked away.BR
"Yes. And no. I had to let him live, or I would have had to kill you. All of you." She admitted quietly. They were stunned, staring at her sad expression.BR
"Kill us?! Kill us, why?" Goku asked, since Kurilin was speechless.BR
P
"Back on Vegeta-sei, after a Saiyan completed his off-world training, he might not know how to speak, how to survive in civilization, so to speak, because of his lack of normal education. The scientists developed a technique, called Immersion Therapy, which was used to "educate" these lost Saiyans. It could also be used to program behavior into you. I was initiated into the rank of Royal Guard, the same as Nappa; I was put into Immersion Therapy, though I didn't realize it until the Genki-dama." They watched her, fascinated by this story. Raimi leaned against a cliff face for support, hoping that Bulma and Chi-Chi arrived soon.BR
P
"When the Genki-dama hit him, I was too amazed to move, but when he was shot up into the sky, I had to restrain myself to not kill you right then, Kurilin. I realized why I felt that way, and only the knowledge that... " Raimi winced. Telling them that she'd known that the events that had just happened were fated, that the devastating injuries Goku had received, and all the pain they were feeling, was predestined was hard. "The knowledge that Vegeta would survive the hit saved you. I knew he would escape from here too. I'm sorry that I couldn't change anything, I really am, but it isn't my place to change destiny. King Enma was clear on that." Kurilin was staring at Goku, face hard with anger. Goku turned his eyes to Kurilins and looked just as serious.BR
P
"Kurilin, She's right, you know. You have to accept this stuff she says as true, even if it's not good to hear. Raimi is meant to help us, Enma and Kami told me so. I asked you to trust her before, and I still want you to, even if it's hard, Kurilin." Goku said softly. Kurilin looked up at her, and Raimi saw the pain in his eyes, the sadness that of all of the Defenders, he was the one left alive. Gohan was alive as well, but Kurilin had only escaped death because...BR
P
Because Raimi had caught him and shielded him from the blast that had killed Piccolo.BR
P
Raimi had saved his life, and he'd forgotten! He felt a blush of shame race over his cheeks. He couldn't meet her gaze from embarrassment.BR
"I... I'm sorry Raimi. You did what you could, and you even saved me from Nappa. I guess it's just hard to face everyone after all this, and be alive while Yamcha and Tien... " He said quietly. Raimi shushed him gently.BR
"Look, They are going to be back one day, I promise! And we will mend soon too. No one is going to mad at you for surviving this, Kurilin." She told him. Just then, they heard the whine of an engine.BR
P
"Oh, no, not him again!" Kurilin moaned. The shape above resolved itself into an air car, driven by Bulma, with Roshi and Chi-Chi hanging out the windows, waving madly at them.BR
"Ah, at last, the cavalry!" Raimi sighed. As it set down, the door opened before it really touched ground, and Chi-Chi leapt out, racing towards them. Raimi stepped back slightly, and hid her smile at the other woman's anxious face.BR
P
"Chi-Chi!" Goku said happily, thinking she was worried about him, lying there all battered and bleeding. He was understandably stunned when she jumped right over him and screeched to a halt in front of Kurilin and Gohan.BR
"Gohan! Gohan!!" She snatched the boy from Kurilins arms and laid him on the ground. "Wake up baby!! Wake up, mommy's here! Oh, my baby, what did they do to you?!" She grabbed him into her arms and kept trying to wake him up.BR
P
"Uh, Chi-Chi, Gohan is fine, really, it's Goku who's badly... " Chi-Chi turned to the ship, ignoring Kurilin. "Um, Chi-Chi... your husband?" Kurilin said, and then gave up. Raimi didn't though. She stepped into Chi-Chi's path and frowned at her.BR
"Chi-Chi, I know you're concerned about Gohan, but he's fine. Goku is decidedly NOT FINE!" she said. Everyone looked at them in amazement, since no one EVER confronted Chi-Chi! Dead quiet fell over the group as the women stared at each other. Chi-Chi glared down at Raimi. BR
P
"My baby is injured and he's only five years old! Goku is a grown man! He dragged Gohan into this, he is to blame!" Chi-Chi snapped. Raimi shook a finger in Chi-Chi's face.BR
P
"Chi-Chi, that's bull! Piccolo brought Gohan here, not Goku; he was dead at the time! And for that matter, I watched him myself, like I swore to do. He is only bruised, not BROKEN like Goku is!" Raimi's voice rose in volume, and the last of her IKi/I flared around her. Weak as she was right now, she was still stronger than any human. Chi-Chi's jaw dropped in shock. "Now, then, I think you should show some concern for your husband, Son Chi-Chi!" Raimi turned and walked over to Bulma and Karin who stood next to the broken Goku. They began exclaiming over his obvious injuries, covering their astonishment at the dressing down Chi-Chi had just gotten. Roshi shook his head in wonder. No one should be alive after being hurt so bad... Or after facing Chi-Chi that way!BR
P
Chi-Chi looked down at her small heavy son, and then over at her husband. She noticed his sad eyes and felt ashamed of herself. He had just saved the world after all. She looked away, and swallowed heavily, and then turned back, but he had looked away...BR
P
"Oh, Goku, are you okay?" Bulma asked him. He smiled and tried to nod.BR
"Yep... I'm okay, but the Saiyan... he got away... sorry guys... " He said, his voice weak.BR
"Don't be sorry for such a victory." Karin said. Goku rolled his eyes up to see the fat white cat.BR
"Oh, hi... Master Karin... " Kurilin walked back to the group now gathered by Goku.BR
P
"There's no way to describe power like his... B-Bulma, I'm sorry, but they got everybody but the five of us... including Yamcha... " he said gently. To his surprise, she smiled.BR
"I thought so. But that's okay. We'll use the Dragonballs in a year and wish them all back!"BR
"Um... " Kurilin didn't know how to break this to her.BR
"... " Karin obviously didn't know what to say either.BR
P
"Right? I-I'm right, right?"BR
"Bulma, I'm sorry... but Piccolo is dead... and so, well... the Dragonballs are gone... " Goku told her. Bulma's face froze into the expression that said, 'I'm not listening to you!'BR
P
"Oh, c-come on, this isn't funny!" She turned to Raimi, who was standing next to her now. Raimi's face was full of sorrow, and Bulma knew why, but couldn't believe it. She stood and grabbed Raimi's shoulders, not noticing the smaller woman wince in pain. "You said that five survived, so the other one must be Piccolo! Right!?" Just then, Yajirobei walked out and frowned at her.BR
P
"Oh, it does, does it?" He humphed at her, and she nearly fell in horrified shock. It cost Raimi a lot to catch Bulma, and help her to stand, but she did it. Raimi watched as her friend's eyes filled with tears, and felt again her own pain at the loss of her training mates, her friends.BR
P
"But... But... " Finally, Bulma burst into tears, her body shaking as she willingly fell to her knees. Raimi didn't dare to bend over her, and had to keep Bulma from hugging her in her grief. She looked up at Roshi helplessly.BR
P
"You knew?" He said to Karin, who nodded. Roshi sighed and looked down at his star pupil, broken by a power beyond their imagining.BR
"I can't believe it... I just assumed that Piccolo was still alive too... " He said pensively, very serious.BR
P
"Hey, wait a minute! I almost get the feeling that you all wish it were ME who'd got killed! If I hadn't been here, these guys'd all be dead you know! Would a little thank you hurt?! Man!" Yajirobei said, pissed. He was right on both counts, but no one was in the shape to give him a medal...BR
