Beginning with an End

Beginning with an End

Part 6

Chi-Chi had just returned from the doctor's office, and as incredibly ill as she felt, she couldn't wait to tell her husband her little piece of good news when he returned home. She had watched in terror as her baby Gohan and a strange girl had beaten that terrible monster Cell. She cringed at the thought, she couldn't believe that Goku had just stood by and let such a poor little girl fight, let alone his own son. Ooh…he would get a good talking to when he got home, but right now she just didn't feel like it. She sighed, letting out a deep breath, along with her negativity; she wasn't going to let anything spoil her good mood. She couldn't wait to see her precious little boy again, and in this mood, she even couldn't stay angry at Goku. She suddenly clutched her mouth in one hand and her stomach in the other, and ran for a bucket. She had been feeling absolutely terrible the past few days, and had only really noticed it when she had ceased worrying about Gohan. Trunks had been to visit Bulma, and had told her all about how her brave boy and that little girl had beaten Cell and collapsed with exhaustion. He, himself had almost died due to one of that monster's attacks, but the caped girls that she had seen through the crystal ball had healed him. That was where her little Gohan was now; at some lodge in the mountains with a bunch of strangers. Boy had she been angry that Trunks hadn't taken her with, but her father had somehow convinced her that Gohan would be fine…she had a feeling that both he and her husband were in good hands. She just hoped that those she-devils had kept their hands off her husband, but she couldn't worry about that right now…she had a feeling that Gohan would be coming home soon; probably tomorrow, she decided. With that comforting thought, she drifted into a peaceful slumber.

******

Goku, along with King Kai, Bubbles, and Gregory, made his way closer to the end of his journey.

The Five High Judges, hmm? he pondered, well I never.

"Hey King Kai," he voiced his thoughts, "What are these Five High Judges like anyway?"

King Kai paused for a second. "Well, Goku," he answered seriously, "I'm not really sure. But I should imagine that they are extremely stern and serious and don't miss a single detail." He ended in a foreboding climax, as they reached the crest of a hill.

"Well King Kai," chortled Goku, not at all phased by the warning, "I suppose I won't have to wonder too much longer…look!" He pointed down the descending path towards a massive cloud bank that crossed Snake Way. The clouds were bright orange and yellow and stood towering in the near distance. In the centre, where the road ended, pure gold glinted in the shape of a gigantic arch. King Kai, Bubbles and Gregory all gaped, their jaw hanging far lower than usual. Goku, goofy grin present, scratched the back of his head.

"Gosh King Kai," he said seriously, "I'm really sorry you had to be here and see this. Oh well, I guess that blowing up your planet was unstoppable, but if it hadn't been, then I never would have made you come to this place…Hey!" his voice suddenly brightened enthusiastically, "Bubbles, Gregory, race ya!" Goku took off towards the golden gateway, Bubbles and Gregory trailing; protesting at his head start.

King Kai's jaw dropped even further as he watched Goku shout words of encouragement to his comrades. That man never ceases to amaze me! He scratched his head…racing to the gates of the Other World to have his soul weighed by the Five High Judges…never in my life… he trailed off as he watched his crazy friends run off into the distance…Oh what the heck… "Hey you guys," he called, "wait for me!" and followed them at the fastest trot his stubbie legs would allow.

******

Gohan and Nahmi were once again exposed to the chill of the wintry air, beneath the shelter of the pillared terrace. Between them, they bore the weight of the tiny space capsule.

"Argh," Gohan grunted, "It's so heavy." He rested it on his leg, rubbed his hands together, and gave it a great heave so as to gain a better grip. "Come on, we have to get this to Bulma's quick." Nahmi gave him a small nod of determination and they quickly took to the chilly, night air. Gohan had no idea of what direction to take, and flew slightly slower in his confusion. Nahmi, noticing this, called out to him.

"We'll follow the river downstream," she cried over the roar of the waterfall. The water churned loudly beneath them as they soon found themselves speeding along the icy depths of the gorge. Nahmi gazed at the stars as they flew low over the raging current. There were approximately two hours left until dawn; Indigo would be waking soon. The narrow ravine had slowly begun to widen noticeably, and soon they were between the more distant walls of what was almost a valley, flying over a wide and shallow river. Nahmi slowed hastily so as to grab Gohan's attention and silently pointed out their route. They soared upwards out of the ravine and took a course that continued forward, while the now wind-touched and snow covered valley curved to the right.

On they flew, away from the snow, past the barren, brown ranges, until they reached the forest vales of the mountains graced with evergreens. Here Nahmi paused and looked to the sky for guidance once more. Gohan too gazed at the beautiful, clear night sky, but all he saw were stars; billions of twinkling stars, shining like diamonds in a forbidden gem field. He sighed and turned his gaze upon Nahmi. Concentration was wrought on her face and her eyes darted from cluster to cluster. Relief suddenly swept through her eyes and she grinned at Gohan.

"That way," she pointed across a vast terrain of shallow dales and farming land.

"Where are we headed?" Gohan asked her, astonished by her capabilities to judge direction. He knew that they were going to Capsule Corporations, but he doubted that Nahmi knew in which direction it was situated.

Her brows furrowed and her eyes flashed with contempt. "To the desert where we battled Cell," she answered, her eyes suddenly gleaming with that familiar look of determination, "You should be able to find your way to Bulma's from there, shouldn't you? Because from there on; I'm lost."

"Well yeah," Gohan replied, slightly confused, "but how did you know the way to the battle field?"

She grinned at him, eyes closed, "The stars silly!" she giggled, "You didn't just think I was just admiring them this whole time did you?"

"Well no," Gohan replied, slightly unsure and obviously embarrassed. He thought it best to distract the attention from himself. "Wow, that's neat," he exclaimed hurriedly, "you'll have to teach me someday." Despite his shame, it was admiration that channelled itself through his voice. Nahmi smiled sweetly.

"Deal," she nodded, "but right now, we gotta hurry; this thing is killing me." She lifted her end of the pod slightly in indication, and grinned meekly.

"Yeah," Gohan agreed, suddenly remembering the immense weight of their burden, and their ki's blazed as they headed toward the battlefield. Gohan quickly found himself straining slightly to keep up with Nahmi's incredible pace.

She's amazing; he marvelled, as he gazed absentmindedly at the patchwork quilt of the fields below, her power may be equal to mine, but there's no way I could be equal to her. She can do everything! Man, I must look like a total amateur to her!

"Your not an amateur Gohan," he heard the familiar voice in his head and started. Nahmi giggled, like she tended to so often.

"Geez Nahmi," Gohan grumbled, slightly embarrassed, "I wish you wouldn't do that to me!" I hope she didn't hear anything else, he thought to himself.

"Sorry," she giggled, "I was just going to ask; where to now?"

"Huh!" Gohan stopped suddenly and peered more attentively at the ground. He hadn't even noticed that they had been slowing steadily from the time that Nahmi had seen the desert in the distance. "We're here already?" he exclaimed. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had barely even noticed his surroundings, but sure enough, the desolation of their battle with Cell now lay beneath them.

"Uh-huh," she grinned. She couldn't help but laugh at Gohan, but she quickly replied to his exclamation. "Cell wasn't too far from the branch of the low mountains that we just came from."

Gohan gazed at his surroundings in awe. The entire mountain that Cell had stood atop of had been completely destroyed. Great canyons scarred the land that was now littered with gigantic boulders. Gohan reflected on the attack that he had hurled at Cell. He couldn't help but think that he had been pushing some kind of limit, and that, had Cell been more powerful, he would have broken beyond the boundaries of it and become more powerful than he could have ever believed possible.

"Yeah," Nahmi agreed solemnly, causing Gohan to snap to attention, "I felt that too." She paused for a second as she gathered her thoughts. "If we had have pushed ourselves any further…" she paused again as though concentrating. "Well," she sighed disappointedly, "I can't explain it, but if either one of us had been forced to fight him alone, I think we still could have beaten him…"

"Mmm," Gohan nodded, "I could feel a strange power inside of me when I burst out with rage, but I never even began to touch on using it…"

"Me neither," Nahmi agreed and turned her gaze to the stars. She noticed that they were slightly dimmer than the last time she had stared into their fiery depths. "Gosh Gohan," she cried aloud in shock, breaking the telepathic link, "we've got to hurry. No one knows where you are, right?" She didn't allow him time to answer, her voice hinting her panic. "So you have to get back to them before they wake up; they would never leave without you." With that, Gohan peered at the landmarks and swivelled decidedly to the left.

"This way," he shouted, pointing. They were quickly flying in the direction of Capsule Corporations, and more importantly, Bulma. "It's not far now," Gohan cried, turning to Nahmi, and gave her a reassuring grin.

******

Gohan and Nahmi landed lightly on the dewy grass out the front of Capsule Corporations. Holding the pod between them, they swiftly ran up to the door. They placed it carefully on the doormat, and sighed with relief as they were finally released from the burden of the weight of the capsule. Gohan raised his fists to bang on the door, but suddenly paused.

"On second thoughts," he exclaimed and took a step backwards, "Hang on a second, I won't be long." He grinned and waved as he took to the air and flew around the curved building and out of sight.

Nahmi gazed around in wonder. Everything was so unfamiliar to her; the strange buildings; the artificial lights; the unwholesome smells that had wafted throughout the air; the annoying noises that penetrated every corner of the mind; and the sheer size of what Gohan had called the city. Now that she was alone, she couldn't help but reflect upon what she had tried so hard to ignore. She bitterly thought the sight of the city to be the most horrible experience of her entire life. It appeared to be quite pleasant at Capsule Corp, but in the city everything had been so terrible. They hadn't even flown near it; they had remained quite a distance above it, but Nahmi had somehow seen everything. People covered in dirt and dressed in shabby clothes slept dreamlessly in the gutter while others lurked in alleyways brandishing what looked suspiciously to be knives. It had suddenly occurred to Nahmi how selfish humans must be, to allow their garbage to litter their disgusting cities, and to hide like cowards in alleys with weapons of destruction. She didn't understand how she had seen all this; it was impossible for her eyes to have focussed on objects at such a distance. It had seemed to be in her mind, flashes of horror that corrupted her peaceful heart. With one glimpse of the city, she had somehow been exposed to all the horrors of the human race. Her mind was in torture; she couldn't comprehend how humans could do such things to their own world and their own race. Indigo had shown her love, saving her from the evil that had engulfed her heart long ago, but a dark shadow had lingered. Something from her past was awakening inside of her; an old feeling that she had managed to contain for so long. She shut her eyes; terrible images flashing before them, and a silver tear rolled off her cheek and landed on her capsule. A terrible feeling of mistrust was creeping over her, which she struggled to suppress for fear of awakening her feelings from the past. She trembled with fear as tears streamed from her sapphire eyes. She should never have come; she should have stayed in the mountains like Indigo had always told her. She couldn't return to what she had been long ago; she couldn't allow herself to hurt Indigo, or any of her race, like that again…

******

"Whoa man, check it out!" A man with a dopey voice stopped short with surprise.

"Keep your god damn voice down!" his partner scolded in a harsh, rusty voice.

"Alright, alright, don't get your knickers in a knot…" the first man conceded, "I was just gonna say; what do you reckon that is?" He pointed towards something, around the corner of the illuminated street, that glinted in the light.

His partner gaped at the object and suddenly smirked. "I don't know what it is, but godammit, you don't get anywhere in this business without being able to tell what that stuff is…even if it is…" he lowered his sunglasses, "…covered in some clear, protective coating."

The first man laughed stupidly. "Gee Boss, you're good."

His smirk grew. "That's why I'm the Boss."

"Yes Sir!" the first man said, chuckling. His expression suddenly changed as he appeared to notice something else. "Uh Boss?"

He grunted in reply.

"So what do we do about the girl?"

The Boss simply smirked even more widely, and pushed up his sunglasses with a fingertip. He reached inside his cloak and the other man grinned evilly in acknowledgement and did likewise. The Boss revealed a long knife; his partner pulled out a baseball club.

"I'll go back-up," the boss replied, and they both melted into the shadows.

******

A sudden rustle of leaves registered on Nahmi's senses. She wiped the tears from her eyes to clear her vision and swung around to the direction of the noise…but it was too late. A sudden whoosh separated the air and something of a pale brown colour contacted painfully with her head. She fell to the ground in excruciating pain and reached her hand to her head, blood trickling over her eyelids. She wiped it away, struggling to remain conscious, and gazed blearily at her attacker. A massive, bald hulk of a man kicked her out of his path. She couldn't move; she could feel herself slipping away. Suddenly, a tall, thin man in a black cloak and black sunglasses, with brown hair pulled tightly away from his face in a ponytail, stood over her with a knife. Her eyelids were so heavy, but she forced them open, only to see him smirk in her face. A cruel, rusty voice echoed faintly in her head "Anything for that much silver…you understand, don't you hon?" She heard a cruel and deceitful laugh and saw the man's hand reach towards her forehead, before she could no longer hold her eyelids up and slipped into unconsciousness.

******

"Bulma! Bulma Wake Up! Wake Up!" Gohan banged his fists on Bulma's window. "Bulma!" His shoulders slumped in disappointment. This had been about the hundredth time that he had called her name and his fists were growing sore and his voice raspy. There's no use, she'll never wake up…hey, wait a minute… an idea had suddenly struck him. He swiftly decided to act upon it and rapped lightly on the window. "Hey Mom. Wake up; it's me, Trunks."

The window opened so suddenly that Gohan jumped back.

"Trunks?" a bleary-eyed, messy-haired Bulma questioned.

"Hi Bulma!" Gohan greeted her casually as though hovering at her window was a common practice.

"Gohan?" she questioned, now confused. She leaned out her window, placing one hand to her forehead, and peered in every direction. "Where'd Trunks go?"

"Ah," Gohan was put on the spot. He hadn't considered how Bulma would react if Trunks weren't there as promised. If he told her the truth, she would slam the window shut on him. If he told her that Trunks left, she would slam the window shut on him. He had to think quickly. "He'll be back in a minute – can I come in?"

Her senses were awakening; she wasn't as stupid as Gohan was treating her. She raised an eyebrow suspiciously; something was definitely fishy about his story. "What are you two doing back here this early anyway?"

"Look Bulma," he said, slightly annoyed that she was slowing the operation down, "this is urgent. I had to pretend I was Trunks so you would wake up." Why didn't I just say that it was urgent in the first place? Gohan scolded himself.

"Oh, okay then, come in," she said, astonished. Gee, it must be urgent, she thought as she stepped aside to let Gohan through the window, Gohan wouldn't play a cheap trick like that without a good reason. Poor little thing was probably banging on my window for ages before he decided to do something like that.

Gohan hurriedly explained everything to Bulma.

"So you're her only hope of finding out about her family," Gohan finished solemnly.

"Oh," she gazed at the ground, chewing her thumbnail, "that's so sad."

"Will you do it Bulma?" asked Gohan in a pleading voice, "will you find a way to find out what the message is?"

She looked up at him and smiled, "Let's have a look at this thing shall we! Meet you at the front door!" Gohan nodded and gave her a small grin, and took off out the window.

Such a sweet little kid, Bulma thought to herself.

******

Bulma opened the front door to her home, to find a sight that was enough to terrify any mother.

"Someone attacked her!" Gohan turned to Bulma, tears in his young eyes. He was bent over Nahmi and had obviously been trying to wake her. Blood was smeared across his hands from when he had wrapped a pink cloth around the girl's head. "She's unconscious and hurt pretty bad," he revealed Nahmi's bleeding head, "and the pod's been stolen!"

by Lolli