Author's Note: ….Sorry about that before chapter of this,
when it had all that confusing stuff down the bottom….I'd wondered where I'd
put it!!…I have a habit of typing ideas, little scenes then building on them
later on…and I often put them down the bottom of the file I'm working on at
present. (which has done nothing for some of my school pieces I can tell you!)
and that's why it's all stuffed and yeah….bugger. Now I'm going to have to
change that part of the story…well, I've fixed it up. Keep Reviewing! =o)
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"Is Chi-Chi
alright?" Yamcha asked as Bulma emerged from the room.
"She's going to be
just fine," Bulma smiled. "By the way- 'iIt's a baby boy." She turned to
Teshya. "Chi-Chi wants to thank you for whatever you did bring Goku back and
get him here so soon."
During the wait for
news, Teshya had sat sullenly in a corner making irate comments to the nervous
occupants of the room- the whole Z team- as though it were meant to calm them
down. But now she was absolutely stunned as Bulma spoke to her. "I-ah, that is…oh,
Kami…" she rushed from the room, muttering, "I think I'm gonna hurl…"
Teshya made it to a
tree in the front yard before she ripped the lower part of her veil from her
face and proceeded to bring up the little she'd gotten round to eating that
day. She burst into tears, sobbing horribly.
"Typical woman," a
voice sneered.
Teshya glanced up.
Vegeta looked down upon her disdainfully. She was speechless as he continued,
"Hyped up over some baby? Got over-excited did you? Women are so weak. You're
worth nothing."
Teshya found her
voice. "You make a fool of yourself by saying that. My illness has nothing to
do with the baby. You could not begin to understand what I've been through. If
you will persist with your arrogant accusations- move elsewhere, heartless
Saiyan Prince."
Vegeta left her
strolling off self-importantly.
Teshya put her hand
on the tree, unable to yet another bout of sickness being brought up.
Her eyes filled
with tears again, and she began sobbing. Somebody pressed a cool cloth to her
forehead, and handed her a glass of water. After rinsing her mouth, Teshya
looked back to her saviour.
"Yamcha?" she
whispered.
"Hey, no problem,"
Yamcha replied with a smile. "You've been acting weird all day- I figured there
was something wrong, and after you ran from the room, I figured you could do
with a bit of help."
He helped Teshya to
her feet. "Thank you," she said quietly, still clutching her stomach. "It…it's
just too much for me…"
"What is?" He asked
puzzled.
"Everything," she whispered
disconsolately. Yamcha helped her inside.
"Not feeling well?"
Piccolo said.
"The long day's
taking its toll," Teshya answered with a weak smile. Yamcha helped her sit.
"Did I miss much?"
"Only Gohan's
excitement as he raced down the corridor to see his father, mother and baby
brother," Tien grinned.
Teshya chuckled.
"Yes, they deserve the time together. Being separated isn't something the heart
takes lightly." Her expression became solemn, and she felt uncomfortable under
the gaze of so many of the Z warriors. She replaced her veil across her lower
face, keeping her gaze to the floor.
"Still brooding
about your father and your family?" Piccolo asked.
"You have no
concept of confidant, do you, Piccolo?" Teshya replied, her voice edged like a
knife. "My pain is my own. I choose to share it with you, because I thought
you'd know to keep your mouth shut. Today is just a horrible day, and worst of
all, I'm stuck here with you lot." She crossed her arms angrily.
"Hey! What did I
do?" Yamcha wanted to know.
Teshya sighed.
"Damn it… mood swings. Sorry Yamcha. You've been really nice tonight."
"Wow, you really
are having a bad time tonight," Krillin commented.
"Thanks, Krillin, I
just love having that rubbed in my face," Teshya remarked back coolly.
Krillin blushed.
"Aw, oops…"
"You seem unable to
talk sense- or think it- when talking to women you haven't known for a decade
or more." Teshya commented lightly. "Android 18 might have some problems
conversing with you."
Krillin blushed
even more. "Well, I haven't seen her for quite sometime anyway…"
"Oh, I wouldn't be
too worried about that. She's probably just trying to get her life together
after everything's that happened…" Teshya continued casually. "I'd watch out
though- women tend to be really high strung, and we don't like being called
weak. To us, that's a sign that the man is the true weaker gender of the two. And
don't overdo any sympathy you might have. We fight just as much as guys do. Of
course, our battles a lot more dangerous."
"I've seen women
fight before- didn't do anything to me," Vegeta smirked.
"Don't get cocky.
You think Bulma just simply let you use her to get Trunks? No way. She's gone
through a hell of a battle, arrogant Saiyan pig that you are…" Teshya retorted.
The other warriors
tried to contain their mirth, as Vegeta gritted his teeth and clenched his
fists.
"See, Vegeta? That
was a battle. Not physical, but it hurt you nonetheless- and straight where
it'll affect you most: your pride. Pity men have so much of that. Women usually
only have honour or vanity. That's the beauty of being part of the complex sex.
Your mind is opened to so many more possibilities…" Teshya said sweetly.
Bulma entered the
room. "Hey, Teshya, Chi-Chi and Goku would like you to go see their new baby
too."
Teshya stared at
her for a moment. "Kami- I wasn't expecting that. I was just starting to enjoy
arguing with these guys. There's no way they can win. Don't suppose you would
mind taking over for me- B-Bulma?" She shook her head, as though trying to
clear the stutter.
"I've got to tuck
Trunks in for the night…if it's alright with you, Trunks and I will sleep in
your room with you." Bulma replied.
"Sure," Teshya eyes
sparkled with life at the suggestion. "Just don't expect me to put up with
Vegeta- there's no way I'm getting within a thousand miles of him again."
Vegeta held his
head high haughtily. "I would not share my room with anyone."
"It's a wonder
Trunks came along then." Teshya threw back at him. "And if you're so damned
personal-space orientated, then what are you doing in this crowded room?"
Vegeta could only
gritted his teeth until they were almost breaking as she left the room. How
dare she make a fool of him!
Teshya anxiously
stuck her head in the bedroom door. Goku and Chi-Chi looked over, then back at
the bundle in Chi-Chi's arms. Gohan's attention was completely on the baby boy,
who was not quite so tiny as other babies were.
"We decided to call
him Goten," Chi-Chi beamed proudly.
Goku grinned at
Teshya. "Thanks for bringing me back, I wouldn't have wanted to miss this
moment. So what exactly did you do that got me back here?"
"Porunga," Teshya
smiled in simple explanation, hoping that Goku would be too distracted to ask
further. She gazed down at the baby. "So this is Goten," she covered her mouth
in a failing attempt to stop her growing grin. "He's so adorable."
"Bulma told me that
she's expecting another child too." Chi-Chi informed her. "She doesn't know how
to tell Vegeta though. They've drifted a little since Vegeta took a noticeable interest
in his son, Trunks…"
Teshya kissed
Goten's forehead. "Everything will work out for you all." She backed away
quietly. "I'll leave you now. I've got to clear out the lounge room of
warriors, or at the very least find blankets for them to bunk out in there. You
should rest Chi-Chi. Give Gohan the baby to put in the cradle…we'll take care
of anything that happens."
Goku followed
Teshya from the room. As they strode softly down the corridor, they heard Gohan
scuffle into his own room further on. Teshya stopped at a cupboard to pull out
some blankets, which Goku helped her with.
"I've been brought
back before; how did you convince Porunga to let me back a second time?" Goku
asked quietly.
Teshya almost dropped
her blankets, as she shut the cupboard. "I…well. Maybe I'm just lucky." She
suggested rather lamely.
"I'd like to know
the truth." Goku pressed.
Teshya shrugged.
"Tomorrow," she answered.
It seemed all the Z
warriors, except for Vegeta wanted to stay the night so they could see little
Goten the next day with any luck. Vegeta flew back to Capsule Corp. where he
was staying.
Teshya soundlessly
made her way to her room where Bulma was sleeping with a couple of blankets on
the floor. Not far from her, 3 year-old Trunks lay with his eyes open. Teshya
put a finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet.
Trunks crawled out
from under his blankets and held his arms out for Teshya to pick him up.
Feeling slightly awkward, she complied and took Trunks to her own bed, where
she hopped in, and tucked Trunks in next to her. The toddler cuddled up next to
the teenage girl, and they both feel asleep, smiling.
"Oh, isn't that so
cute…" Chi-Chi whispered to Bulma, as they watched Trunks and Teshya sleeping.
"I don't want to
disturb them." Bulma said softly. "But I need to get Trunks up for my mother to
take care of while I'm working today."
Teshya yawned, and
opened one eye. "You can trust me, Bulma. I'll take care of him." She managed
to open her other eye, and gently stroked Trunks' lilac hair. The toddler awoke
with a yawn that rivalled Teshya's. She giggled softly, sitting up, and holding
Trunks in her arms as she got out of bed. "If it's alright with you Bulma, I
think Trunks might like staying with us today."
Bulma looked at her
son holding onto Teshya's neck and smiled, "Sure!"
Trunks rested his
head back on Teshya's shoulder and dozed off.
"Morning Chi-Chi,
Bulma, Teshya," Goku greeted warmly, halfway about to shovel another load of
food into his mouth. "I've really missed real food. Especially your cooking,
Chi-Chi."
Chi-Chi looked down
at him. "And next time, you're going to come back if given the option, aren't
you?"
"Er, yeah," Goku
replied evasively. He turned his attention to Teshya. "Ok. You promised to tell
me what went on between you and Porunga that got me back here. Piccolo filled
me in on how you got to the Nameks, so I'm eagerly anticipating the rest of
this story."
Teshya occupied
herself with getting Trunks to eat. "I talked to him. We discussed a few
things, then Porunga and I came to an agreement."
"Discussed a few
things with the Namek dragon?" Yamcha repeated. "Wow, you must really have no
idea what's happening, if you can be so- so easy going about talking to Porunga
like that."
Teshya smiled
behind her veil. "Hardly, Yamcha. I think you'll find I know a lot more than
you'd realise. Porunga and I have been arguing for quite sometime. Every time I
think I've managed to gain the upper hand, I always lose in some way. It's
really getting quite annoying."
"Lose? So you
argued?" Gohan surmised.
"Well, I argued,
Porunga reprimanded and discussed a few issues." Teshya corrected deceptively.
"You asked Porunga
to bring Goku back, and he did, that much is clear. But how is it that you lost
if we gained Goku?" Piccolo asked.
Teshya sighed.
"Porunga made me promise something I'd rather forget, but I can't because if I
do, Goku takes a return trip to Snake Way…and that's pretty much it."
"Huh?" Yamcha
gawked blankly.
"What was your
promise to Porunga?" Goku queried.
"Porunga made me
promise I'd use my power, and in return he'd bring Goku back," Teshya said
irritably.
"What power do you
have?" Gohan asked. "We can't sense anything from you. It's like you're a
completely normal human being."
"How I wish that
were so." Teshya said miserably. "I suppress my powers and aura so that it seems
I'm just any other human. But I'm not. And I'm not going to go into detail about
all that, because I'm not proud of it."
"It was your power,
wasn't it?" Piccolo questioned. "Your father was trying to make you use your
power; that's why he confined your family in his power- so you would have to
use your own to see them again."
"I like to the think of the result as
stalemate," Teshya nodded in confession. "But nearly everyone I met thought I
was crazy. I loved my family very much, and my father tried to use them to
break through my barrier behind which my power was kept locked away. It didn't
work as he'd hoped, and what little respect we'd had for each other crumbled
completely. I hated him. I couldn't cry when he died. But I grieved for the
rest of my family, including those who had become my family." Tears welled in
her eyes but did not fall. "Nobody could see things like me. It was all
misunderstanding- that's all it was. And it destroyed my life."
"Except for now,"
Krillin added gently.
Teshya laughed.
"You're getting good at this comfort thing, Krillin. 18 won't be able to resist
you much longer; not if you learn everything this quickly."
Tien gripped
Teshya's shoulder. "We understand."
"Kami's bog, you
do. Just think about it." Teshya retorted. "It's stupid. Nobody wins; everybody
gets hurt…I play a losing game. Porunga knew it- that's why he's done this. And
I hate him for making me realise it." She clenched her fist into a tight ball.
"He purposefully keeps his calm, and tries to make me angry. It's so hard to
keep from flying off the handle whenever I have to deal with him. And he's
finally found a way to win. I don't have a chance anymore." Teshya calmed
herself, resting in her seat.
"We can help you,
Teshya. But you must do what you know is right- and not what you want." Goku intervened.
"We can teach you to control your power, no matter what you are."
"If you reckon you
can," she replied nonchalantly. Teshya looked down at Trunks, and Goku
concentrated on eating again.
"Goten looks just
like his father," Chi-Chi cooed over the baby she was holding.
"Well, that means
he's going to get really hungry, Chi-Chi," Ox-King chuckled. "Wow, that's
really going to up the food bill…"
Teshya laughed.
"Goten will probably get into more trouble than Gohan- I mean, think about it.
Trunks isn't so much older than him, and if Bulma…" She faded off suggestively.
"Its surprising
Gohan hasn't gotten into more trouble- I mean, you're just a bit older than him
aren't you?" Yamcha quipped.
Teshya fixed her
piercing stare on the strange warrior. "For you information, no I'm not. I
happen to be a lot older than you'd think. Besides- girls mature faster than
boys. And after all I've been through- there's no way even Gohan can compete."
She replied pointedly.
"Well, Gohan lost
his father in the battle against Cell," Ox-King stated.
"Gohan was able to
accept it though. Goku's nice, and made sure everything was fine on Earth
before he stopped communicating with his son. My father wouldn't think of me
with the most ideal thought he could muster." Teshya countered.
"So when do you
want to start training?" Goku asked, changing the subject.
"Tomorrow; just
keep in mind that I'm not using my power for anything violent; power I will
use, but I refuse point blank to fight. I've got Trunks in my care today. I was
thinking about going for a walk with him." Teshya answered, letting Trunks onto
the floor and standing up.
"Can I come with
you?" Gohan asked her.
"Have you finished
your studies?" Teshya replied.
Gohan sighed. "Not
yet…"
Teshya chuckled.
"When you do, I doubt it'll be hard for you to find us. You know how to follow
Trunks' aura, yeah? Then we'll see you later." She took Trunks' hand and slowly
walked the little boy out.
"You're not
flirting with her, are you Gohan?" Chi-Chi questioned warily.
Gohan froze caught
off-guard then laughed. "You've got to be kidding me, Mum! I mean- I'm only 12
years old; and she's Kami-knows how old? There's no way I'd do that. She's way
too nice, and too, um, weird for me to even consider that." He looked at his
mother's disbelieving face. "I think I'll go finish off my homework now…"
Gohan could sense
Trunks just beyond the bushes, where Goku used to take Gohan a lot. He crawled
through and found no sign of Trunks or Teshya. But Trunks was here. That was
for sure. Gohan heard giggling and looked down to the water, where Teshya was
treading water, Trunks in her arms, both of them fully clothed.
Disappointment went
through Gohan's mind before he mentally slapped himself. How embarrassing would
it have been if they had been naked??
"Teshah!" Trunks
squealed as she lifted in the air. His gaze caught the spying Gohan.
"Go'anne!" he
called out in his little voice, unable to pronounce the young Saiyan's name.
Teshya turned
sharply in the water. Gohan smiled weakly and waved. Teshya had let her
veil-mask drop while she was swimming, but her hair was still covered. She held
Trunks close. "You could have given me some indication that you were there. I
don't sense people like you do."
"So you don't know
how to use your powers at all?" Gohan queried.
"Not consciously."
"Not even to fly?"
"Can we just drop
the subject? This is my last day a normal human being. I'd like to be left just
as that. Tomorrow I can wake up and dread the rest of my life, but today, I can
revel in the joys of living." Teshya requested resolutely. She smiled at the
boy in her arms. "And Trunks doesn't seem to mind a bit."
Gohan managed a
laugh and jumped down with them. After a few hours of swimming about, Teshya
clambered out on the shore of the pool not far from the waterfalls. She held
Trunks close as she turned over and gasped for breath. Gohan followed suit.
He laughed. "That
was fun."
"It looked like it
from here," a voice said.
"Trunks!" Gohan shouted
in surprise and joy. He leapt to his feet and turned around to find the future
Trunks smiling.
Trunks patted Gohan
on the back. "And who's your girlfriend?" He asked looking down at Teshya, who
was holding his younger-self close. "It's strange- I don't remember this
moment."
"Well, do you think
it's because you began a new future for us?"
Gohan suggested, still excited.
"Yeah, that could
be it. Anything happened since I was last here?" Trunks asked.
"Dad's back and Mum
had another baby- a boy called Goten!"
"That sure didn't
happen in my reality," Trunks commented. "Hey, where are you going?"
Teshya glanced back
at Trunks. "This is abnormal- impossible. You see your past, and your past sees
your future self?"
"Hardly abnormal,
Teshya," Another masked person, looking almost identical to Teshya, stepped out
of the bushes. The icy blue eyes sparkled. "Don't just stand there like an
idiot. You're making my younger self look even more stupid than I remember
feeling when I was in your position."
The newest veiled
arrival to the little group, rushed forward to catch little Trunks as Teshya
fainted. Trunks raised an eyebrow at Gohan. "Are you sure I didn't miss
something really big here?"
