A/N – sorry for the delay, I've been busy these last few days, plus it's hard to write when my neighbors insist on playing VERY loud music every night. To make up for it, I added more than I usually do, 3 pages.
Changing Faces
Part 2 – Choices They Make
Chapter 13 – She Came Back
It had been the same scene she had stared at three years earlier. The clouds of white swirl with brown and blue between brought memories of the time she had spent on the planet. She sat paralyzed in the pilot's chair, hands unfeeling on various switches.
Then, she closed her eyes and felt. For him.
Gohan... Where are you...
An insistent red button blinked before her blind eyes, soft mechanical whirring fell on deaf ears. She brushed against every living thing on Earth with her mind. Nothing familiar.
A sudden mounting dread materialized out of her core. Is he... dead? No... I don't believe it.
And still she didn't. Her seemingly senseless body flew into motion as she calculated a new path.
"Princess, your injuries," a worried attendant voiced.
"I'm fine," she muttered.
I guess spending a year in isolation was something of a bad idea... At times people really annoy me now.
Her mind was perfectly healthy, but in body, she was still healing. Her left leg still limped, and she was limited to lifting activities due to a back injury. This would not put her down though.
I am Princess Videl, no, Warrior Videl. I fight, and I will not be stopped. They will pay for what they have done... I just need a little help, that's all.
And help she would get.
"I will be leaving for Earth now. I should be back within a standard Earth day, possibly less," she stated as she grabbed her bag.
"Princess," a crewmember hesitantly said, "Are you sure this 'great warrior' will help us?"
She stopped her hobble, contemplating the question she had asked herself many times during the trip, "I... I believe he will help our cause. He told me many stories of overcoming great battles and the ways they all survived. Obviously not everyone will behold our victory..." a silence overtook the ship.
Videl continued, "But I truly believe he will care... and since if the problem is not stopped soon, it will become the universe's concern. Those are my reasons."
She paused, looking for other doubters. None spoke, but she could sense it. Something she had become quite proficient at lately.
At least they respect my judgment.
"Then I am off. When I return, there will either be one or two of us in the pod."
She left without another word.
Son Gohan groggily rolled out of bed. It was the first time in weeks that he had had time to train. The stress of college was starting to eat at his will, and even the thought of exercise was a relief.
He looked at his clock; bold red digits read "7:04." He scratched his head and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Then he stood and stretched, leaving his bed an utter mess.
Gohan didn't normally toss and turn a lot when he slept, it had just recently started. Anyone questioning the strange behavior would have been answered stress because of tests. If he passed all of the exams, he would move on to his third year of college. If he failed any one, it would mean complete failure of the year. And he would repeat the year. A humiliation for both he and his family. It was a valid reason.
But Gohan knew it was something else. He sat back down on the edge of his bed and reflected that night's dream.
There was a group of people crowded around something I couldn't see. There was nothing around them, and everything was black and white. Then, they all stood at once. I counted six, all seemed to be female. One turned to me, her long hair shifted with the movement and her large eyes were forlorn, sad. She held out her left arm, as if beckoning me to follow. The rest of the group disappeared, and she was revealed to me in color.
Quite simply, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her hair was wavy and brown, and those eyes, a hue of deep green. Long bangs framed her heart-shaped face, and her gown sparkled blue. It fit her shapely adult body like a smooth glove, accentuating curves and shadows. She was perfect... but something was wrong. He could see it in her eyes...
Suddenly, her body went ridged and she seized in pain. She was obviously in pain, and then, she fell to a crumpled heap on the ground.
"What an awful dream," he murmured.
He had been having similar dreams for the past few weeks.
"Stress," he muttered, "It's gotta be stress. I think I remember that girl from class somewhere..."
Gohan dismissed the dream and pulled a plain white shirt over his head. No need to be seen half naked from windows, even if he was on the third floor. He walked out to the small living room of his apartment and pushed the couch aside. Two windows were on his left, and the kitchen to his right.
He took his time stretching taut muscles and warming up. Then, he dropped to the floor in push-up position. Let's go for... one thousand.
Ten minutes passed and Gohan finished counting, "Nine hundred ninety eight, nine hundred ninety nine, one thousand. Whew... that was a nice warm-up."
He felt a breeze as he looked up. A girl, no a woman, sat on the sill, one leg outside, the other leg and most of her body inside. She watched him with an impartial look to his thousand push ups, as if she had known he could do ten thousand.
Gohan kneeled on the rug, both hands resting on his thighs. She brought her other leg in the window, but remained seated there. Black knee boots and blue pants... he had seen those before. A black v-neck sleeveless vest was separated from the pants by an orange kerchief, and a smaller matching one tied around her neck. Two strands of hair hung by her cheeks to her neck, and a long black braid hid behind her back.
Blue eyes...
