Author's Note – Zett – MUWAHAHAHAH! Chapter 4!! I hope everyone is enjoying the fic so far, hehe. I know I've been gone for a while, but I was busy for a bit over summer vacation, and now with classes resuming (Classes, ugh) I haven't had a whole hell of a lot of time to write, but I've been doing my best to MAKE time. And here it finally is, the next chap! So I hope you all enjoy it, and if you do, please review!! (Heh, that kind of rhymed…)
Chapter 4 –To Make Things Right
No… It's him!! What is he doing here!? I hadn't planned this. What if I'm not strong enough to defeat him? Could Shin? Could… Gohan? This could change things… For the worse. If we can't- If we don't… Everyone is dead! No, I can't let it happen. I WON'T let it happen.
"Shin?" Zoa frowned, tossing her hair behind her shoulder and walking out towards the kitchen, her eyebrows knitted together in a serious and somber expression. She let out a heavy sigh as she noticed her brother appear around the corner and gave him a worried glance. "I-I had some of those dreams again…"
Shin nodded and gestured for her to sit down at the table. She did, watching as he poured some water into a glass and put the jug back in the refrigerator. "I know what haunts you. It's the future you're seeing. Or, at least a possibility of what the future may be." He explained, sitting across from her and staring down into his glass, moving the water around as he did so. Zoa's eyes widened slightly at this statement and she sat up a bit. "Does that mean you've seen it too? You know who I saw!? If he's only one of the warriors Babidi's recruited, we're going to-"
"We're going to do our best." Shin interrupted. He tilted the glass to his mouth and downed half of it, thudding it down on the table and giving her a hard look. "I know what I'm doing. And these Earthlings are a lot stronger than we first guessed."
Zoa clenched her hands into fists, getting up and shoving the chair to the side. "This is not some game!! I hope you realize how serious this is! You may be the Supreme Kai, but that doesn't mean you can ASSUME your 'clever' little plan is completely flawless! If we can't do this, everyone will die!! You hear me!?!? We'll all be DEAD!"
"Well, that's an optimistic approach to things."
"Gohan!!!!" Zoa spun around at Gohan's comment to see him standing placidly in the doorway, his arm resting against the frame. I got so emotional just then I didn't even sense him approaching… She thought, a little angry with herself for her little outburst. She put one hand behind her head, playing with her hair, which was still hanging freely down past her shoulders. "Hey, I, didn't see you there! … I was just, talking about some stuff with Shin, and uh…"
Gohan smiled, a slightly cynical tone to the look on his face. He walked past her to the fridge, grabbing the jug of water back out of it and pouring some for himself. He finished the glass in one shot and squeezed it so tightly in his fist that it shattered to pieces. Zoa frowned at the display as he dusted off the shards of glass from his hands and turned his gaze back to them. "Don't worry, I've kind of figured out the 'gravity' of the situation." He explained, looking past them to the doorway. Piccolo stepped in, noticing the glass on the floor, and the look on Gohan's face.
"Wow. You're here early." Piccolo stated, not moving from the door, his gaze holding Gohan's. Gohan looked away however, nodding and letting out a heavy breath.
"Yes. I left a note for my mother. She won't like it, but I didn't want to argue with her about coming. And I've talked to most of the others. Yamcha doesn't believe he's strong enough to help out, so he's not coming. Krillin said he'd help out, but Eighteen is staying behind. I don't know, but Krillin did say he'd be here soon. I asked Vegeta also, but he never gave me a straight answer." Gohan frowned as he said this, raising an eyebrow and looking down at the floor, "So I'm not sure if he's coming or not."
Shin listened carefully, thinking deeply to himself. After a few moments he spoke up. "And Piccolo said he'd help out as well. So, our list of allies is short, but should be able to get the job done. Don't you think Gohan?"
Gohan said nothing, walking out of the kitchen and leaving them all to decipher any hidden meaning to his silent treatment. Zoa shook her head and gave Shin and Piccolo both a somewhat frustrated glance as she stormed towards the door after him. Before she left she paused in the doorway and stood, trying to relax her tensed muscles.
"I know what he thinks." She stated lowly, "The same thing I do. That YOU should all start appreciating the gravity of this situation."
With that, she disappeared around the corner of the door. Shin sat quietly, a little bit of worry suddenly starting to sink in. What if Zoa was right? What if his plan didn't work? What if Buu somehow was revived…
Zoa shook her head, making her way quickly across the smooth tile floor of the Lookout towards where Gohan was looking over the edge. His hands were in his pockets, and his shoulders slumped as he peered down at the endless sea of clouds and blue sky. He heard her footsteps approaching behind him, but made no move to speak or even turn to her. She sighed heavily, taking a place beside him and looking over the edge also, simply staring down through the sky as he did. After a while he shifted his weight, and Zoa took this slight opportunity to break the suddenly unbearable silence.
"I know what you're going through." She said softly, reaching into her pocket and producing her gemmed metal hair band. She pulled her long purple hair behind her and tied it with an elastic, clipping the band into place over it. She turned to Gohan as she noticed he was watching her and gave him a sympathetic smile. His features suddenly pulled up in a frown, and he jerked his head back towards the sky. "How would you know!?" He demanded, "You just sit around on your little 'Kai' planet in Other World, watching and hearing about everybody else's troubles. I can't believe you even came to Earth. You seem powerful, but when's the last time you ever fought in a real battle!? Or have you even? I bet you've never lost a friend. Or lost a loved one…"
Zoa made no response to this, and after a strangely long period without either of them saying a word, Gohan let his gaze return to her. He was more than a little surprised to see that, though she was completely silent, tears were rolling freely down her cheeks, and her entire body was shaking slightly. She turned her back to him suddenly, not wanting to be seen in such a condition. She smiled cynically to herself and nodded slightly, studying the tiles on the floor. "Oh. So that's what you think…" She mumbled, bringing her hands up to her face and roughly wiping away her tears. "And how would you know what I've been through!?!?"
She spun around angrily, her hands tightened into fists. Gohan took a step back, startled, but unable to find the words to say anything, he simply stood there blinking and waiting for her to speak again. She choked back a sob and continued, her expression full of some kind of disbelief. "You think you're the only one who's suffered a tragedy?? The only one who's cried? Well I've cried…"
She doesn't know all the things you've gone through. Don't get angry now Gohan…
Despite his attempt to convince and calm down, Gohan shook his head, unable to contain himself. He gritted his teeth, clenching them down hard as he felt his own eyes begin to water up. "Well were you responsible for the death of YOUR father!? Look, don't talk to me about tragedy!! You have NO IDEA!!"
Zoa's entire façade changed in an instant. Her entire body stilled, and fell somewhat. She looked almost, defeated and tired suddenly, her eyes falling partially closed and her hands relaxing out of fists. She looked up sadly at him and blinked the tears out of her eyes. "I didn't say you haven't suffered. But I was wrong about you. You obviously don't care too much about the troubles of others. Why am I even trying to talk to you?"
After she had finished saying this, Zoa took off over the side of the Lookout Point, plummeting quickly out of view through the clouds as she let herself fall downwards.
"DAMNIT!" Gohan yelled to no one in particular, his body shaking, and his hair suddenly bursting blonde as he went Super Saiyan. He fell to his knees, smashing the tile with his fists in an outburst of emotional rage. Don't care?!?! I'm acting as their lead fighter to save the UNIVERSE, and she thinks that I don't CARE!? FUCK her!! What does SHE KNOW!?!?!
He stopped abruptly, looking through glassy eyes at the cracked and broken parts of the floor where his fists had impacted. He sat up, his golden aura dissipating as he returned to his normal form. Holding his head in his hands he sobbed quietly, not knowing and not caring any more if anyone might be watching. I accused her of not knowing what happened to me without even knowing what happened to her… She's right. I don't care… I've let my emotions get the best of me, to the point they're blinding me to what's going on. There's still a chance to win this and bring my friends back, if I stop moaning and wallowing in self pity and actually do something. My dad never would have acted like I just did… What am I becoming?? Well, I'll make things right…
Gohan got up, rubbing his face on his sleeve. "I'll make things right."
Piccolo watched as Gohan took off over the side of the Lookout Point only moments after Zoa had. He shook his head and walked back inside, where Shin still sat calmly at the table. Shin looked up as Piccolo sat down beside him, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "Did they say where they were going?"
Piccolo smiled slightly as he looked out through the open door.
"To make things right."