Moments can be frozen
Or fluid like melted chocolate
Flowing to us or away from us.
Gather the moments.
Taste the sweetness that is time.
One day those moments will be
The memories you carry in your heart.
She was afraid that'd be last time he'd touch her. He leaned back slightly and smiled at her. She smiled back.
"Come on. We have someplace to go."
"Where?"
"It's safe. I'll show you."
Chantisu rocked back onto her heels. For some reason, maybe because she'd just laid her soul before Goku, she was afraid. Why did they need to go somewhere?
"Trust me."
"I want to."
Goku knew she needed more than his words. He picked up one of her hands. He smoothed his palm against hers, measuring the size difference and feeling her pulse. Chantisu's eyes followed his every movement. She reached up and felt his cheek, cradling his face in her hand. He leaned into her and slowly drew in a breath as his lips grazed hers. Her heart flared in response, her lips crackling with the electricity she'd felt every time he was in her space.
Her hand snaked around his neck, pulling him closer. He responded by drawing her around the waist. Their kiss deepened, Chantisu opening beneath him. She tasted his tongue and his energy swept around her. Goku gently withdrew.
"Trust me?"
She nodded.
He helped her stand.
"You'd better put this on." She pulled handed him the tunic she'd had layered over her shirt. He pulled it on over his head. It was a little tight but it would do. They took off flying hand in hand.
"Please, Mom! Can I go?"
Chi Chi stood over her son and looked at his sweet, round face. He had been very good lately and worked hard at his studies.
"Oh alright Gohan. Just be home by suppertime."
"Yippee!" Gohan lept straight into the air and did a back tuck mid-air.
Yamcha and Krillin laughed and joined him above the house. They had come over to take Gohan out for hamburgers and shakes. Krillin only had $20, he hoped it'd be enough to feed them all. Yamcha, of course, had no money.
"Thanks Chi Chi. We'll take good care of him."
"More like he'll take care of you, Yamcha." Even though her words were harsh
her tone was playful. "Have fun you guys."
"We will." Krillin and Gohan answered together. And with that they took off towards town.
Piccolo was hovering by his favorite waterfall, meditating. It had been a few days since he'd been able to let go of all the concerns of his friends. He must be getting soft, he thought. He felt a rock whiz by his ear. Uncrossing his legs, he flew straight up to see who had been hurling stones.
"Finally! I've been calling you for what seems like an hour. That towel you have stuffed on your ugly head must be blocking your gigantic ears."
"Vegeta, what do you want?"
"I want you to come with me to investigate what this Jikan and Chantisu are up to. I have reason to believe they are here to cause trouble."
"What proof do you have?"
"None, idiot. That's why I'm investigating."
Piccolo grunted in reply. He knew that being called idiot by Vegeta was about the same as being called dude by Yamcha, but still it rubbed him the wrong way.
"Not today. I'm busy."
"Doubtful." Vegeta waited, his arms crossed. He knew Piccolo couldn't really leave a mystery unsolved.
Piccolo bared his teeth. Vegeta was really starting to annoy him.
"I have no time for you or this. Leave."
"Fine. But when I break into their pod and find the evidence I'm looking for, you will not be told about it. Then you can go on kissing their asses while they make a baka out of you."
He leaned back and his eyes twinkled mischievously. He knew that Piccolo had great pride and could not stand the thought of being made a fool of.
Piccolo gritted his teeth. "Which way is the damned pod?"
Mr. Po Po was not any where to be seen, so Goku led Chantisu to Kami's palace himself. Kami was resting in his chair when they walked in. He sat up and a smile came across his wrinkly face.
"Is he Namekan like Piccolo?" Chantisu whispered to Goku.
"More than you'll know."
"Come in my children, come in. Goku, you are a good boy."
"Hi Kami. This is Chantisu. Kami is the guardian of our planet."
"Hello. Welcome."
She felt humbled.
"Thank you." She extended her hand and Kami took it and held it for a moment.
"Goku, leave us now for a while. Then come back."
"Ok Kami. Sure."
He turned and walked straight out, intending to find Mr. PoPo. Maybe he'd have a few stories to tell him and some fruit from his wonderful garden. Goku was hungry of course.
"Sit child." He indicated a large, over-stuffed pillow on the floor.
"Tell me about yourself."
She hesitated a moment and then began to tell Kami about how she came to the Earth.
He listened kindly and nodded his head. When she had finished with telling him about how she'd met Goku and the others he said, "Now tell me about you."
"What do you want to know?"
"I want to know what you're feeling right now. How you see yourself as a person."
"Oh." Chantisu was used to obeying authority. She saw this wizened Namek as a great authority. Anyone who would be trusted with a whole planet must be very powerful.
"I was born on Vegetasai. I grew up in a lower warrior caste. I was betrothed to a family slightly higher than my own. My father raised me in traditional Saiyan ways. For a long time, I lived that life. I traveled to planets and wiped out their population so other parasitic races could inhabit them. I never did mate with the Saiyan I was betrothed to. He became lost."
She was beginning to feel tears well up. She'd never told anyone things this personal before. Certainly not some one she'd just met. But Kami felt like a kindly grandparent to her. He posed no threat.
"Then I began to despise what I had become. There was nothing in me that was satisfied with killing innocents. I cut my tail and was travelling home to tell my father my decision. I knew that he'd probably kill me for it, for disgracing the family. But when I got home, the planet wasn't there anymore. I was devastated. I've been wandering the universe looking for my people. I only found Jikan on an already-conquered world. I took him along because he knew of a place that had many people. Maybe even Saiyans."
"What of your lost mate?"
She looked down at her hands and began to pick at her own fingers.
"Chantisu, you need to tell someone. It may as well be me."
She gazed up at Kami's smiling face.
"It's Goku. When he hit his head he forgot all he was supposed to do and be."
He nodded in response.
Piccolo and Vegeta landed near the campsite and scanned the area, looking for where a space pod might be hidden. Vegeta pointed off about thirty degrees Northwest. There was a large clump of trees. It was really the only wooded area around. It was the obvious choice.
They walked together silently. Neither was much for small talk with the other seeing how they barely tolerated each other. Once they reached the area and located the craft, Piccolo turned automatically to guard should anyone approach the area.
"Ah, I haven't seen one of these in some time. Its condition is despicable. They have no respect for the property of Vegeta."
Since he was the ruler of whatever was left of Vegetasai, he assumed ownership of all that came from that planet. It was a natural progression for him, whether the owners' of the property saw it that way or not. He ran his hand over the shell until he found the keypad. He quickly keyed in the royal code that only the monarchy possessed. It opened every Saiyan pod in existence. The door hissed open as expected.
He sat in the curved cushion provided for the pilot. Immediately he started pushing buttons and pulling levers. He'd spent most of his adult life in one of these things; he knew them inside out. Something odd caught his eye. It was a small badge, made with
a gold and silver inlaid cover. He picked it up and it beeped.
"Damn it! I knew they were lying. I'll kill them both and enjoy it!"
He leaped from the pod and showed Piccolo.
"What is it?"
"A communicator you stupid lunk!"
"Do you know who they've been communicating with?"
"No. But I can find out."
He fingered a minute button on the under side. The device hummed a second, then crackled, then
"What the hell do you want?"
Vegeta's eyes narrowed. He knew that voice. A black cloud of hatred passed over his face.
"Jikan, answer me you worm!"
He flipped the thing off. He raised is hand as if he would smash it but Piccolo quickly grabbed his arm to prevent it.
"We'll learn more if we keep it. Who was it, Vegeta?!"
Vegeta slowly turned his head. His face was consumed with rage.
"I didn't know that he somehow still lived. But now that I do know, I'll find him, gut him and blow him into a million tiny pieces." His voice was low. He was frighteningly calm.
"Who?"
"King Cold."
"You have a hard time expressing your feelings; it's very new to you."
Chantisu nodded. Kami leaned over and placed his gnarled hand on the top of her head.
"Just relax a bit and I will be with you for just a moment. It won't take long, ok?"
She nodded her assent.
He began to tell her what he felt in her; he knew she'd want to know.
"You feel alone, confusion and unrest. You have a deep yearning. Your heart is pure."
He lifted his hand from her and smiled.
"You two are intrinsically connected you know that, right?"
She was wide-eyed. Amazed that he knew her soul so well already.
She said quietly, "I guess so. I feel sort of tired and empty but when he's near me my heart hums and my mind is…somehow more awake. I don't feel so separate from the world."
"Chantisu, he is a soulmate of yours. The arrangement at birth was not an accident. The question is what are you going to do about it?"
She sighed heavily. "Kami, I want to be with him. But it could destroy his life."
"That is not for you to decide. How his family deals with this is up to them."
She took this in. Kami was so wise and kind. As a guardian, she didn't believe he would ever advise her to do something that would purposefully hurt another.
"Child, listen. You belong here now. I won't tell you what to do. But I will be watching over you and protecting you just as I do the others. You are part of the Earth family now."
She leapt off her pillow and hugged him across the waist.
"Thank you, Kami!"
He chuckled. "You're welcome, dear. You're welcome."
He noticed Goku standing at the entrance looking unsure. He waved him in. He gently removed Chantisu from their embrace. He placed her hand in Goku's and held them both for a moment.
"You are at a sacred crossroads now. Choose wisely. Be happy."
With that Kami got up and left.
She smiled shyly at him and he smiled shyly at her.
The decision had been made.