A/N: Hiya everybody! Oh my gosh! The conclusion of Remember My Love is finally here! Well, first I have to thank everybody that is reviewing on ff.net. I love you all so much, and you can imagine my shock when I received my first review. Thank you Princess M-chan! Well, I'm not gonna hold you much longer. So read, review, and tell me if RML deserves an epilogue, cause I'm debating whether or not to write one. Oh, I'm gonna write another G/CC fic, except I don't know what to title it. If you review and give me suggestions for a title, I'll pick one title and give that person a large role in the fic. Well, peace!
Disclaimer: Do I, or do I not own Dragonball Z. That is the question. And the answer is... no *sob* . By some bizarre twist of fate, I was not born Akira Toriyama. I swear King Enma made a mistake.
Chapter 3: Proposal
Chi-Chi was running before the thought had registered in her brain. Shoving her way through the crowd separating her from the tall man, she took off, fighting the tears that were stinging her eyes. A million thoughts and words were racing through her mind, memories resurfacing and racing across her line of vision. So many words that she wanted to scream, and only one was able to make its way from her brain to her voice.
"Goku!"
Squirming past one last knot of people, she threw herself at him, barely noticing the surprised look that flitted across his face before she buried her face in his chest. Not paying any attention to the bewildered looks being shot at her from the group, she pulled away from Goku and, standing on her tiptoes, brushed her lips softly against his cheek Chi-Chi smiled up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears of joy.
'Oh God, Goku,' she thought. ' I finally found you.'
Chi-Chi was jerked out of her thoughts when Goku began speaking, and she barely heard what he said.
"Um, do I know you, miss?"
In a moment, it seemed as if the entire world had somehow grown dim, everything showing in tones of gray. Chi-Chi shook her head rapidly, shaking away the dizziness that had been caused by his question. 'I couldn't have heard him right,' she told herself. 'There's no way. Please kami, oh please, let me not have heard him right.'
"Excuse me," she whispered to him. "What did you say?"
Goku shot her a confused smile. " I asked you if I knew you. I don't think I do."
Chi-Chi took a step back, pain and anger written all over her features. 'No,' she thought. "Idiot," she whispered. Her eyebrows knitted together, before they shot upward in an uninhibited expression of hurt. 'No. No. Please no no nonononono.'
Yes.
She took another step backward, then another, before she spun around and took off through the crowd, slamming against numerous people before they got the message and parted for her. She could still hear the voices of Goku and his companions.
"Gosh, Goku, did you know that girl? She looked pretty upset."
"I don't think I did. I can't remember ever meeting anyone that looked like her."
"Well, she was really cute. It's a shame that you couldn't remember her."
* * * * *
Chi-Chi barreled through, not noticing anyone in her way until she crashed into him. Landing hard on her rear, she winced, rubbing her behind as she struggled to stand up. She closed her eyes and wiped a hand across them. "That hurt," she said in some mixture of anger and sadness. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see that the green man she had noticed earlier was offering her his hand. Frowning, she took the proffered hand and he hauled her up.
"I'm sorry, girl. You should watch where you're going."
Chi-Chi sighed angrily, then taking a deep breath, she smirked up at him. "Sumimasen, mister. I've got a lot on my mind, and I'm right about ready to take it out on somebody."
He smirked back at her. "You'd have a hard time, girl."
Chi-Chi sighed again, this time one of defeat and pain. "Sorry," she whispered, before turning, ready to take off running again. As she took a step, she was stopped when the man started talking again.
"That man is my enemy. I'll defeat him today. He has no business making little girls cry and I'll gladly use it as another excuse to beat him within an inch of his life."
Chi-Chi stared up at him, struggling to control her tears. She stood like that for an entire minute, using every bit of her superhuman willpower to force the salty water back into her eyes. Lifting her head proudly, she met his gaze angrily. "That's okay, Mister Green," she intoned, not bothering to hide the pride from her voice. "I'll beat him myself." Then, spinning around quickly so her new acquaintance would not see her quivering lips and the tears welling up in her eyes, she ran off again.
Less than a minute later, she found herself flat on her butt again. "Etai," she whined angrily. "Didn't this just happen?" she asked herself, standing up and rubbing her already sore rear.
"Chi-Chi? Why aren't you in the building?" Looking up in surprise, she found herself staring into the bemused face of her father.
"Tousan!" she screeched, before she threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "You're never going to guess who I just saw," she said between sobs and hiccups.
Gyuu Maou felt a cold feeling settle in the pit of his stomach. "Oh my goodness, it wasn't..."
"Hey, Mr. Maou, what happened? Hey, Chi-Chi, what are you doing here? Are they taking a break?" Turning around, Chi-Chi saw Bemi, Senche, and Omoshi striding toward her and her father. The three teens were laden with every type of food imaginable and were walking quickly to them. They dropped the food down onto a nearby table and plopped down, beckoning Chi-Chi and her father toward them. Immediately, the group knew that there was something wrong with Chi-Chi. She sat down, an empty look in the eyes that were normally so full of an angry fire. Grabbing a small loaf of bread, she nibbled absentmindedly on it, before she stood up and looked down at her hands.
"What's wrong, Chi?" Bemi asked hesitantly, reaching up to pat her friend's arm soothingly. Chi-Chi whirled on her, an angry look in her eyes before she collapsed in the chair, burying her head in her arms. Her shoulders shook with sobs, but no matter how hard she tried, tears wouldn't come. Her father picked her up and sat her on his lap, stroking her hair soothingly. Chi-Chi laughed softly, a bit embarrassed to having her father treat her like a baby.
"You'll never guess who I just saw. Who I just saw... and you know what? He didn't recognize me."
Senche and Bemi shook their heads in confusion. However, to Gyuu Maou and Omoshi, it was as clear as day. "You're not saying that you saw him," Omoshi whispered. "HE was here?" By this time, Bemi had started to catch on. "You mean, Goku was here?!" she cried tactlessly. At this, Chi-Chi almost began sobbing again. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she looked up. The group almost sighed with relief. The fire was back in her obsidian eyes and was burning with an incredible intensity. She smirked, the sadness almost completely gone from her features, though slightly visible in her eyes.
"That's right," she said in a low, silky voice. "Goku was here. The _man_ that I've been waiting for for the past seven years. And he didn't even recognize me." At this, she slammed her fist down on the table, sending the vast majority of the food flying into the air. The men let out a simultaneous cry of dismay and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying bravely to salvage whatever food they could before the ten seconds that had been allotted to them by the kind soul who had created the ten second rule (A/N: that's a mouthful!) had run out. Ignoring the men, Chi-Chi continued to talk.
"I can't believe I wasted seven years of my life waiting for someone who can't even remember me. I didn't really love him. It was just a simple childhood crush."
'That's not true,' a small inner voice whispered to her, trying to be heard over the fierce denial that Chi-Chi was screaming at herself in her mind. 'You love the boy,' it whispered continually. 'You always have and always will. You can't live without him. Tell him. Remind him.'
With a fierce effort, the demon known as pride pushed the tiny voice from her consciousness. Grinning fearlessly, she held her head high and stood on top of the stool, pointing at the sky. "Who cares about stupid men? I'll win that Budoukai even if I have to kill everyone! Hah, you can't beat me, I don't care who you are. I am a princess, and I'll pound you all so far into the ground you're noses will pop off! Whaa hahahaha!" Tossing her head back, she laughed insanely, everyone within fifty feet sweatdropping.
Her father recovered first, and laughed nervously. "Well, my little oujo, go back in that building and win that tournament. If you don't hurry, you'll be disqualified. Wouldn't that be an awful way to lose?"
Chi-Chi blanched, then sped off, waving back at them.
"Bye Tousan, Bemi, Senche, Omoshi! I love you! Cheer extra hard, especially when I beat that damn punk's face in!"
* * * * *
"Yes, Mister. I want to change the name that I was registered under."
The handsome, blonde tournament announcer blinked. "Well, miss, that's pretty strange. Why would you want to..."
"I said change it, damn it!"
The announcer jumped, and nodded hastily. "Sure, ma'am. Whatever you say, you're the boss. Please don't yell. What would you like the name to be changed to?"
Chi-Chi sighed. She didn't want to do this, but it would save her a lot of trouble if everyone, including Goku and his friends, didn't know that she was Maou Chi-Chi. After all, she was a princess.
"Tokumei Kibou. That's simple enough."
The blonde announcer raised an eyebrow. "Anonymous Desire? Well, it does have a nice ring to it." He raised a hand dramatically. "Ladies and gentleman, I present the beautiful Tokumei Kibou!" Chi-Chi sweatdropped, but chose to ignore him. "Whatever, just change it." He nodded quickly and scribbled vigorously on his clipboard. "Sure. Well, the preliminary rounds are about to begin. In fact," he said, glancing at his watch. "Would you hand me that megaphone?"
Chi-Chi cocked her head curiously and handed him the megaphone lying by her. "May I have everybody's attention!" the announcer screamed into the megaphone. Chi-Chi collapsed on the floor, holding her ears in pain, legs twitching in the air. The tournament announcer continued as if nothing had happened. "As you may have noticed, there are seventy-two participants in this year's tournament. You will all be assigned a number, and when your number is called you will climb onto the arena and begin fighting. Does everyone understand? Good."
By this time, Chi-Chi had made her way away from him, not being able to stand him screaming into a megaphone right next to her ear. She stopped when she noticed the familiar shock of raven black hair. Stopping hastily, she backed away into a position where she could observe them without being spotted. A tall, handsome bald man was standing next to a much shorter one, who gave the appearance of being a cute china doll. A bit to the side was a short, bald monk, who was talking animatedly with Goku. She could vaguely remember their names from watching the previous tournament on TV.
'Tenshinhan...that was the tall one,' she thought. 'Extremely strong. It might be tough to beat him, but I have no doubt that I can. The doll. What was his name? Chaozu. Yeah, that's it. Not extremely powerful, but supposedly telephatic. He was supposed to freeze opponents with his mind. That's what he did to the other one. The other one... Goku's best friend? Yeah, his best friend, but what was his name? It started with a K. Kuririn? Yep, Kuririn. Almost as strong as Goku himself, but I'll beat them all.
Chi-Chi's gaze drifted over to Goku, her small form quivering in pain as she drew her breath in a shuddering sob. She had given her heart to him, and he didn't even know. He couldn't even remember. 'No,' she thought again. Her eyebrows drew down, and she almost growled. Idiot. How could he not remember? She bowed her head and giggled evilly, cracking her knuckles audibly, everyone within hearing range sweatdropping and moving away. She would make him pay. They had started assigning numbers, and Kuririn had just been called up. It was strange, but the group was pretty spaced out, almost as if someone was trying to keep them from fighting each other in the preliminaries.
"Ma Jr.!"
Chi-Chi was jerked out of her thoughts when another name was spoken. Watching curiously, she saw the green man she had encountered earlier called up to receive his number. Strange, but Goku and his group didn't seem to thrilled to see him. They've met him before, Chi-Chi realized.
"Alright, you're number 51."
Chi-Chi tuned out again, lost in her angry thoughts, devising countless ways to torture Goku before she knocked him out of the ring. As of this moment, she was imagining a very vivid scene that involved him on the floor, his eyes in X's, while she laughed insanely above him.
"Tokumei Kibou!"
She calmly walked to the front, head held high. Reaching into the little box, she picked a number. Looking down, she frowned and handed it to the man. She was in one of the last matches. She sighed angrily. Damn. She was going to have to wait a while before it was her turn to fight.
"Son Goku!"
Barely managing to avoid walking into him, she turned around, watching him walk to the front.
"Alright, Goku, you're number two. That puts you in the first block against Chyapa-Ou."
Chi-Chi settled back against the wall, standing in a position where she could clearly see the arena. Everyone had already been assigned their numbers, and the fights were about to begin. Goku and his opponent had just been called to the ring, and were facing each other. Chyapa-Ou was in a completely guarded position, hands raised in front of him, taking up a perfect sparring stance. Goku, on the other hand, was simply standing there, open from every angle.
Chi-Chi frowned. What was he playing at? Did he intend to lose this match? All of a sudden, Chyapa launched himself at him, leg drawn back to deliver a stunning kick. Chi-Chi winced. When that kick connected, it would hurt. Something flew in her eye, and she blinked. When her eyes reopened, Chyapa-ou was looking around, bewildered, and Son was nowhere to be seen. Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on any trace of his ki. She had never completely mastered the technique of narrowing her senses onto a person's ki, but her skills were defined enough to be able to slightly sense a flicker of his energy behind Chyapa-Ou. Suddenly, Goku seemed to materialize out of nowhere, and his hand shot out to lightly tap Chyapa's neck. He staggered, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and collapsed. The other fighters were silent for almost an entire minute, before a low rumble filled the entire room as everyone quietly spoke about what had just occurred. Goku was announced the winner, and the next matches were under way.
* * * * * *
The following matches took place almost as expected. Goku, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan completely dominated all of their opponents. Chaozu, however, had been defeated by a tall man who looked vaguely familiar, and not in a good way. She, on the other hand, was completely wrecking anyone who got in her way. Absentmindedly backhanding her opponent, she sent him crashing into and through the wall about thirty feet away, barely missing a group of fighters that had been cloistered around, watching her in awe. Narrowing her eyes, she surveyed the remaining fighters. Beside herself, there were maybe fifteen fighters left, and only half seemed as if they could offer any sort of challenge.
In the end, it was fairly predictable. Goku, Tenshinhan, Kuririn, Ma Jr., and the man she now recognized as Tao Pai Pai, had all won their matches. She was up again, this time against a man who was over half a foot taller than her, and at least a hundred pounds heavier. He leered at her, and began to take a step forward. His foot hadn't even descended when he was kneed in the gut, and then punched out of the ring. Frowning, she jumped out of the arena, and walked back to her position on the wall. Turning, she noticed the gazes of Goku and company on her, and her frown increased. There was one more fight left, a short, stocky looking man with a mask against a much slimmer, nerdy one named Shen. Strange, she would have thought that the former would win no problem, but her instincts were screaming that if the nerd had gotten this far, he was probably fairly decent, and might even present a problem for the much heavier man.
The small man rushed toward the masked fighter, fists raised. Just as he was about to reach him, he tripped and fell. Chi-Chi almost burst out laughing. Shen leapt back up and punched the other man. The large fighter staggered, and then fell back, swirls in his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, the entire crowd of fighters burst out laughing.
* * * * * *
The first match in the quarterfinals was definitely the most exciting one Chi-Chi had ever seen, and that was saying something. Tenshinhan and Tao Pai Pai had seemed almost evenly matched in the beginning, but after a few minutes it had seemed that Tenshinhan would win. However, Tao Pai Pai's quest for revenge had only by coincidence ended up at the Boudaki, and he wasn't about to be limited to it's rules. Somehow, he had built various weapons into himself, and held no reserve in using them, even when he was disqualified. In the end, Tenshinhan had managed to knock Tao out, and he was declared the winner.
The fact that her match was now up did nothing to help Chi-Chi's temper.
She breathed in deeply, struggling to calm her nerves. 'All right, Chi,' she told herself. 'You can do this. You have to. You gotta pay this jerk back for all the pain he's brought to you.'
"And now, ladies and gentlemen! The second match in the 23'd Tenkaichi Budoukai. Son Goku, the runner up in the previous two tournaments, has proved himself time and time again to be among the best in the world. He will be facing the beautiful, talented, lovely Tokumei Kibou! Not much is known about her, so I can't make a prediction, but she has so far completely demolished all of her opponents. Will she be able to do the same to Goku?"
Chi-Chi walked up the steps to the arena, eyes boring into those of Goku. He stared back at her unfazed, but confused. He knew that she was mad at him, but he couldn't figure out why. She had kissed him on the cheek, and he didn't even know her! Why was she mad, if he didn't know her?
"Why are you so mad at me?" he asked, looking every bit like a little boy. Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed and flashed angrily. "Why do you think I'm mad at you?" she said angrily. "You forgot about me! You promised!"
Goku frowned and shook his head confusedly. "But we've never met before. How can I have forgotten you if we've never met?"
Chi-Chi growled and balled her hands into fists. "We have met, Son Goku!"
The blonde announcer raised his microphone to his face. "All right! You may begin!"
Chi-Chi launched herself at Goku, leg raised to deliver a kick. He dodged the kick, and stepped to the side. Chi-Chi swung at his face with all her strength, but her fists connected with nothing but air. Goku twisted and raised arms to block and dodge her attack as well as he could. "We really have met?" he asked.
Chi-Chi grabbed him and kneed him in the stomach. "Yes, of course we've met!"
Goku again began avoiding her blows. "Really? Around what time?"
Chi-Chi renewed her attack with as much strength and speed she could muster. "You forgot! That's why I'm mad; you forgot about me! You kept me waiting for my entire life, and you never came! You promised!" She aimed a kick at his legs, and he leapt into the air to avoid it.
"Promise? What promise did I make? I don't remember."
Chi-Chi caught him in the chest with her fist, and he went sailing back. Managing to turn the fall into a neat backflip, he landed on his feet, barely able to blink before Chi-Chi was pressing him back with her attack.
"When we were kids!" she shouted. She was again renewing her onslaught with the power born of frustration. 'Why can't I beat him,' she thought to herself. "When we were kids, you promised we would get married. You promised I would be your bride!"
She paused her furious onslaught to gauge his reaction. She could hear astonished yells come from every one of Goku's friends, but it wasn't their reaction that she was searching for. Goku's mouth hung slightly open and he was speechless. A small glimmer of hope was starting to dawn in her. "Do you remember now?"
Goku turned around to face Kuririn. "Hey, Kuririn? What's a bride? Can you teach me real quick?"
Everyone within hearing distance facevaulted. Finally, Kuririn struggled up and leaned on the wall for support. "Goku, a bride is someone you spend the rest of your life with through marriage! Is that what you promised her?!" Yamucha continued for him. "Goku, she wants to be a couple. A bride is a girl who you live with forever! Boy, what were you thinking?"
Goku scratched his head and turned toward Chi-Chi. "Is that what you want? You want to live together? Is that the promise I made? What's your real name?"
Chi-Chi frowned and took up her stance again. "Fine. I'll tell you my name, but only if you win." She struggled not to let her emotions through, the frightening mix of anger, sadness, and joy. If he won, then she would have to tell him her name. Maybe he would remember, and he would marry her! Chi-Chi shook her head. No. He would never marry her, and she would never lose.
Goku held his head up defiantly. "Okay. If it's true, then I'll do it after the fight. We can live together."
Chi-Chi held in a gasp, her mind racing. If he won, they would get married! They would be able to live together for the rest of their lives! Another thought once again entered her mind, and she growled angrily. There was no way she was going to let him beat her. She was stronger. There was no way her pride would let her lose.
"Are you implying that you can beat me? Well, you're wrong, it won't be so easy to beat me. You're just arrogant."
Goku grinned happily. "Okay. Well, we should start then."
Chi-Chi ground her teeth together. "I'll win this!"
Chi-Chi was right about to launch another attack at him, when Goku brought his hands together in some kind of attack. Almost before she could comprehend what was happening, a wind had picked up around and bodily thrown her out of the ring into the wall. She slid down the wall and landed on her rear heavily, definitely out of the ring. The entire crowd was silent as they watched her struggle to get up.
Goku frowned worriedly and ran toward the edge of the ring. "Oh no, I should have done it softer." He reached the end and jumped off. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
Chi-Chi rubbed her head and, using the wall for support, she got up. 'He beat me,' she thought. 'I didn't even see it coming. I lost. But it's okay. I lost to _him_. So it's okay.'
Chi-Chi adjusted her ponytail. "You're actually kinda strong. I'm glad I picked you. You still can't remember me? I'm Gyuu Maou's daughter, Chi-Chi."
Goku's jaw dropped. "Chi-Chi!" he screamed. A small cartoon panel popped out of nowhere, depicting Chi-Chi and Goku when they were smaller. Goku pointed to it, stammering out, "You're Chi-Chi?!" He gasped and pointed at her. "I remember now! We DID talk about marriage."
Chi-Chi grinned. "I'm happy you finally remember."
Goku thought for a while. "Gosh, I thought marriage was a type of food. But you're real pretty and you look awful nice, and a promise is a promise." He grinned goofily. "All right. We'll get married!"
This caused a very happy Chi-Chi to go hysterical. She squealed and latched onto his arm. The Budoukai announcer wasted no time and got to doing his job properly.
"Ladies and Gentleman! It has just been announced that Son Goku will be marrying the lovely Tokumei Kibou, whose real name is apparently Maou Chi-Chi!"
The crowd erupted in wild screams. Goku and Chi-Chi walked in to the building, Chi-Chi still latched onto his arm. Goku frowned. "Hey, could you let go of me, please? I can't walk." Chi-Chi smiled up at him, and his frown dissapeared. "Silly, this is what married couples do."
Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamucha, and Chaozu stared at them, mouths hanging open. Kuririn was the first to speak. "Is it true?" he blurted out. "Are you two really gonna get married?"
Chi-Chi smiled at him. "Yep! We're going to get married!"
The group gradually began smiling, and then laughing happily.
Chi-Chi layed her head on Goku's shoulder and smiled up at him. Goku looked down at her, not being able to help smiling back, if only momentarily. He looked up and began giving advice to Kuririn, who was about to fight Ma Jr. Chi-Chi buried her head in his head and sighed happily. She couldn't understand it, but somehow Kami-sama had managed to grant her one wish. She had spent the past seven years in limbo, barely managing to get through life. Every day she had wanted to cry, simply because she had once met a boy, and in the short time they were together, he had quietly taken a bit of her heart. For seven years she had lived in pain, because the boy who carried a bit of her soul with him had never come back. Seven years of pain and hurt, but now it was okay, because she had her Goku, and she knew that whatever happened, he would always carry that piece of her soul with him, and she would always carry a bit of him. Seven years of suffering, of tears and of hurt. But you know what? It was honestly worth it.
A/N: Oh...my...GAWD! I can't believe I have finally finished my story. I cannot believe that Remember My Love has been completed. *wipes away a tear* It's finally over, I really finished it! And you know what? I love it! I am so completely happy with the way that RML turned out, I could cry. I am crying! Oh wow, you have all got to e-mail me with your comments! Should I write an epilogue? I'm not sure, but I'm so happy I don't really care. Now that I think of it, I'm kind of sad. If I don't write an epilogue, it will really be the end of RML. Oh well, I have so many more projects in the works. Please, review and give me suggestions. BTW, If you don't already know, after I write a B/V fanfic, I'm gonna write another Goku/Chi-Chi fic, except I don't know what to call it! Please, when you review give me suggestions for what to entitle the fic. If I choose your title, I'll give you a large role in the fic. I luv ya!
Disclaimer: Do I, or do I not own Dragonball Z. That is the question. And the answer is... no *sob* . By some bizarre twist of fate, I was not born Akira Toriyama. I swear King Enma made a mistake.
Chapter 3: Proposal
Chi-Chi was running before the thought had registered in her brain. Shoving her way through the crowd separating her from the tall man, she took off, fighting the tears that were stinging her eyes. A million thoughts and words were racing through her mind, memories resurfacing and racing across her line of vision. So many words that she wanted to scream, and only one was able to make its way from her brain to her voice.
"Goku!"
Squirming past one last knot of people, she threw herself at him, barely noticing the surprised look that flitted across his face before she buried her face in his chest. Not paying any attention to the bewildered looks being shot at her from the group, she pulled away from Goku and, standing on her tiptoes, brushed her lips softly against his cheek Chi-Chi smiled up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears of joy.
'Oh God, Goku,' she thought. ' I finally found you.'
Chi-Chi was jerked out of her thoughts when Goku began speaking, and she barely heard what he said.
"Um, do I know you, miss?"
In a moment, it seemed as if the entire world had somehow grown dim, everything showing in tones of gray. Chi-Chi shook her head rapidly, shaking away the dizziness that had been caused by his question. 'I couldn't have heard him right,' she told herself. 'There's no way. Please kami, oh please, let me not have heard him right.'
"Excuse me," she whispered to him. "What did you say?"
Goku shot her a confused smile. " I asked you if I knew you. I don't think I do."
Chi-Chi took a step back, pain and anger written all over her features. 'No,' she thought. "Idiot," she whispered. Her eyebrows knitted together, before they shot upward in an uninhibited expression of hurt. 'No. No. Please no no nonononono.'
Yes.
She took another step backward, then another, before she spun around and took off through the crowd, slamming against numerous people before they got the message and parted for her. She could still hear the voices of Goku and his companions.
"Gosh, Goku, did you know that girl? She looked pretty upset."
"I don't think I did. I can't remember ever meeting anyone that looked like her."
"Well, she was really cute. It's a shame that you couldn't remember her."
* * * * *
Chi-Chi barreled through, not noticing anyone in her way until she crashed into him. Landing hard on her rear, she winced, rubbing her behind as she struggled to stand up. She closed her eyes and wiped a hand across them. "That hurt," she said in some mixture of anger and sadness. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see that the green man she had noticed earlier was offering her his hand. Frowning, she took the proffered hand and he hauled her up.
"I'm sorry, girl. You should watch where you're going."
Chi-Chi sighed angrily, then taking a deep breath, she smirked up at him. "Sumimasen, mister. I've got a lot on my mind, and I'm right about ready to take it out on somebody."
He smirked back at her. "You'd have a hard time, girl."
Chi-Chi sighed again, this time one of defeat and pain. "Sorry," she whispered, before turning, ready to take off running again. As she took a step, she was stopped when the man started talking again.
"That man is my enemy. I'll defeat him today. He has no business making little girls cry and I'll gladly use it as another excuse to beat him within an inch of his life."
Chi-Chi stared up at him, struggling to control her tears. She stood like that for an entire minute, using every bit of her superhuman willpower to force the salty water back into her eyes. Lifting her head proudly, she met his gaze angrily. "That's okay, Mister Green," she intoned, not bothering to hide the pride from her voice. "I'll beat him myself." Then, spinning around quickly so her new acquaintance would not see her quivering lips and the tears welling up in her eyes, she ran off again.
Less than a minute later, she found herself flat on her butt again. "Etai," she whined angrily. "Didn't this just happen?" she asked herself, standing up and rubbing her already sore rear.
"Chi-Chi? Why aren't you in the building?" Looking up in surprise, she found herself staring into the bemused face of her father.
"Tousan!" she screeched, before she threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "You're never going to guess who I just saw," she said between sobs and hiccups.
Gyuu Maou felt a cold feeling settle in the pit of his stomach. "Oh my goodness, it wasn't..."
"Hey, Mr. Maou, what happened? Hey, Chi-Chi, what are you doing here? Are they taking a break?" Turning around, Chi-Chi saw Bemi, Senche, and Omoshi striding toward her and her father. The three teens were laden with every type of food imaginable and were walking quickly to them. They dropped the food down onto a nearby table and plopped down, beckoning Chi-Chi and her father toward them. Immediately, the group knew that there was something wrong with Chi-Chi. She sat down, an empty look in the eyes that were normally so full of an angry fire. Grabbing a small loaf of bread, she nibbled absentmindedly on it, before she stood up and looked down at her hands.
"What's wrong, Chi?" Bemi asked hesitantly, reaching up to pat her friend's arm soothingly. Chi-Chi whirled on her, an angry look in her eyes before she collapsed in the chair, burying her head in her arms. Her shoulders shook with sobs, but no matter how hard she tried, tears wouldn't come. Her father picked her up and sat her on his lap, stroking her hair soothingly. Chi-Chi laughed softly, a bit embarrassed to having her father treat her like a baby.
"You'll never guess who I just saw. Who I just saw... and you know what? He didn't recognize me."
Senche and Bemi shook their heads in confusion. However, to Gyuu Maou and Omoshi, it was as clear as day. "You're not saying that you saw him," Omoshi whispered. "HE was here?" By this time, Bemi had started to catch on. "You mean, Goku was here?!" she cried tactlessly. At this, Chi-Chi almost began sobbing again. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she looked up. The group almost sighed with relief. The fire was back in her obsidian eyes and was burning with an incredible intensity. She smirked, the sadness almost completely gone from her features, though slightly visible in her eyes.
"That's right," she said in a low, silky voice. "Goku was here. The _man_ that I've been waiting for for the past seven years. And he didn't even recognize me." At this, she slammed her fist down on the table, sending the vast majority of the food flying into the air. The men let out a simultaneous cry of dismay and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying bravely to salvage whatever food they could before the ten seconds that had been allotted to them by the kind soul who had created the ten second rule (A/N: that's a mouthful!) had run out. Ignoring the men, Chi-Chi continued to talk.
"I can't believe I wasted seven years of my life waiting for someone who can't even remember me. I didn't really love him. It was just a simple childhood crush."
'That's not true,' a small inner voice whispered to her, trying to be heard over the fierce denial that Chi-Chi was screaming at herself in her mind. 'You love the boy,' it whispered continually. 'You always have and always will. You can't live without him. Tell him. Remind him.'
With a fierce effort, the demon known as pride pushed the tiny voice from her consciousness. Grinning fearlessly, she held her head high and stood on top of the stool, pointing at the sky. "Who cares about stupid men? I'll win that Budoukai even if I have to kill everyone! Hah, you can't beat me, I don't care who you are. I am a princess, and I'll pound you all so far into the ground you're noses will pop off! Whaa hahahaha!" Tossing her head back, she laughed insanely, everyone within fifty feet sweatdropping.
Her father recovered first, and laughed nervously. "Well, my little oujo, go back in that building and win that tournament. If you don't hurry, you'll be disqualified. Wouldn't that be an awful way to lose?"
Chi-Chi blanched, then sped off, waving back at them.
"Bye Tousan, Bemi, Senche, Omoshi! I love you! Cheer extra hard, especially when I beat that damn punk's face in!"
* * * * *
"Yes, Mister. I want to change the name that I was registered under."
The handsome, blonde tournament announcer blinked. "Well, miss, that's pretty strange. Why would you want to..."
"I said change it, damn it!"
The announcer jumped, and nodded hastily. "Sure, ma'am. Whatever you say, you're the boss. Please don't yell. What would you like the name to be changed to?"
Chi-Chi sighed. She didn't want to do this, but it would save her a lot of trouble if everyone, including Goku and his friends, didn't know that she was Maou Chi-Chi. After all, she was a princess.
"Tokumei Kibou. That's simple enough."
The blonde announcer raised an eyebrow. "Anonymous Desire? Well, it does have a nice ring to it." He raised a hand dramatically. "Ladies and gentleman, I present the beautiful Tokumei Kibou!" Chi-Chi sweatdropped, but chose to ignore him. "Whatever, just change it." He nodded quickly and scribbled vigorously on his clipboard. "Sure. Well, the preliminary rounds are about to begin. In fact," he said, glancing at his watch. "Would you hand me that megaphone?"
Chi-Chi cocked her head curiously and handed him the megaphone lying by her. "May I have everybody's attention!" the announcer screamed into the megaphone. Chi-Chi collapsed on the floor, holding her ears in pain, legs twitching in the air. The tournament announcer continued as if nothing had happened. "As you may have noticed, there are seventy-two participants in this year's tournament. You will all be assigned a number, and when your number is called you will climb onto the arena and begin fighting. Does everyone understand? Good."
By this time, Chi-Chi had made her way away from him, not being able to stand him screaming into a megaphone right next to her ear. She stopped when she noticed the familiar shock of raven black hair. Stopping hastily, she backed away into a position where she could observe them without being spotted. A tall, handsome bald man was standing next to a much shorter one, who gave the appearance of being a cute china doll. A bit to the side was a short, bald monk, who was talking animatedly with Goku. She could vaguely remember their names from watching the previous tournament on TV.
'Tenshinhan...that was the tall one,' she thought. 'Extremely strong. It might be tough to beat him, but I have no doubt that I can. The doll. What was his name? Chaozu. Yeah, that's it. Not extremely powerful, but supposedly telephatic. He was supposed to freeze opponents with his mind. That's what he did to the other one. The other one... Goku's best friend? Yeah, his best friend, but what was his name? It started with a K. Kuririn? Yep, Kuririn. Almost as strong as Goku himself, but I'll beat them all.
Chi-Chi's gaze drifted over to Goku, her small form quivering in pain as she drew her breath in a shuddering sob. She had given her heart to him, and he didn't even know. He couldn't even remember. 'No,' she thought again. Her eyebrows drew down, and she almost growled. Idiot. How could he not remember? She bowed her head and giggled evilly, cracking her knuckles audibly, everyone within hearing range sweatdropping and moving away. She would make him pay. They had started assigning numbers, and Kuririn had just been called up. It was strange, but the group was pretty spaced out, almost as if someone was trying to keep them from fighting each other in the preliminaries.
"Ma Jr.!"
Chi-Chi was jerked out of her thoughts when another name was spoken. Watching curiously, she saw the green man she had encountered earlier called up to receive his number. Strange, but Goku and his group didn't seem to thrilled to see him. They've met him before, Chi-Chi realized.
"Alright, you're number 51."
Chi-Chi tuned out again, lost in her angry thoughts, devising countless ways to torture Goku before she knocked him out of the ring. As of this moment, she was imagining a very vivid scene that involved him on the floor, his eyes in X's, while she laughed insanely above him.
"Tokumei Kibou!"
She calmly walked to the front, head held high. Reaching into the little box, she picked a number. Looking down, she frowned and handed it to the man. She was in one of the last matches. She sighed angrily. Damn. She was going to have to wait a while before it was her turn to fight.
"Son Goku!"
Barely managing to avoid walking into him, she turned around, watching him walk to the front.
"Alright, Goku, you're number two. That puts you in the first block against Chyapa-Ou."
Chi-Chi settled back against the wall, standing in a position where she could clearly see the arena. Everyone had already been assigned their numbers, and the fights were about to begin. Goku and his opponent had just been called to the ring, and were facing each other. Chyapa-Ou was in a completely guarded position, hands raised in front of him, taking up a perfect sparring stance. Goku, on the other hand, was simply standing there, open from every angle.
Chi-Chi frowned. What was he playing at? Did he intend to lose this match? All of a sudden, Chyapa launched himself at him, leg drawn back to deliver a stunning kick. Chi-Chi winced. When that kick connected, it would hurt. Something flew in her eye, and she blinked. When her eyes reopened, Chyapa-ou was looking around, bewildered, and Son was nowhere to be seen. Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on any trace of his ki. She had never completely mastered the technique of narrowing her senses onto a person's ki, but her skills were defined enough to be able to slightly sense a flicker of his energy behind Chyapa-Ou. Suddenly, Goku seemed to materialize out of nowhere, and his hand shot out to lightly tap Chyapa's neck. He staggered, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and collapsed. The other fighters were silent for almost an entire minute, before a low rumble filled the entire room as everyone quietly spoke about what had just occurred. Goku was announced the winner, and the next matches were under way.
* * * * * *
The following matches took place almost as expected. Goku, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan completely dominated all of their opponents. Chaozu, however, had been defeated by a tall man who looked vaguely familiar, and not in a good way. She, on the other hand, was completely wrecking anyone who got in her way. Absentmindedly backhanding her opponent, she sent him crashing into and through the wall about thirty feet away, barely missing a group of fighters that had been cloistered around, watching her in awe. Narrowing her eyes, she surveyed the remaining fighters. Beside herself, there were maybe fifteen fighters left, and only half seemed as if they could offer any sort of challenge.
In the end, it was fairly predictable. Goku, Tenshinhan, Kuririn, Ma Jr., and the man she now recognized as Tao Pai Pai, had all won their matches. She was up again, this time against a man who was over half a foot taller than her, and at least a hundred pounds heavier. He leered at her, and began to take a step forward. His foot hadn't even descended when he was kneed in the gut, and then punched out of the ring. Frowning, she jumped out of the arena, and walked back to her position on the wall. Turning, she noticed the gazes of Goku and company on her, and her frown increased. There was one more fight left, a short, stocky looking man with a mask against a much slimmer, nerdy one named Shen. Strange, she would have thought that the former would win no problem, but her instincts were screaming that if the nerd had gotten this far, he was probably fairly decent, and might even present a problem for the much heavier man.
The small man rushed toward the masked fighter, fists raised. Just as he was about to reach him, he tripped and fell. Chi-Chi almost burst out laughing. Shen leapt back up and punched the other man. The large fighter staggered, and then fell back, swirls in his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, the entire crowd of fighters burst out laughing.
* * * * * *
The first match in the quarterfinals was definitely the most exciting one Chi-Chi had ever seen, and that was saying something. Tenshinhan and Tao Pai Pai had seemed almost evenly matched in the beginning, but after a few minutes it had seemed that Tenshinhan would win. However, Tao Pai Pai's quest for revenge had only by coincidence ended up at the Boudaki, and he wasn't about to be limited to it's rules. Somehow, he had built various weapons into himself, and held no reserve in using them, even when he was disqualified. In the end, Tenshinhan had managed to knock Tao out, and he was declared the winner.
The fact that her match was now up did nothing to help Chi-Chi's temper.
She breathed in deeply, struggling to calm her nerves. 'All right, Chi,' she told herself. 'You can do this. You have to. You gotta pay this jerk back for all the pain he's brought to you.'
"And now, ladies and gentlemen! The second match in the 23'd Tenkaichi Budoukai. Son Goku, the runner up in the previous two tournaments, has proved himself time and time again to be among the best in the world. He will be facing the beautiful, talented, lovely Tokumei Kibou! Not much is known about her, so I can't make a prediction, but she has so far completely demolished all of her opponents. Will she be able to do the same to Goku?"
Chi-Chi walked up the steps to the arena, eyes boring into those of Goku. He stared back at her unfazed, but confused. He knew that she was mad at him, but he couldn't figure out why. She had kissed him on the cheek, and he didn't even know her! Why was she mad, if he didn't know her?
"Why are you so mad at me?" he asked, looking every bit like a little boy. Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed and flashed angrily. "Why do you think I'm mad at you?" she said angrily. "You forgot about me! You promised!"
Goku frowned and shook his head confusedly. "But we've never met before. How can I have forgotten you if we've never met?"
Chi-Chi growled and balled her hands into fists. "We have met, Son Goku!"
The blonde announcer raised his microphone to his face. "All right! You may begin!"
Chi-Chi launched herself at Goku, leg raised to deliver a kick. He dodged the kick, and stepped to the side. Chi-Chi swung at his face with all her strength, but her fists connected with nothing but air. Goku twisted and raised arms to block and dodge her attack as well as he could. "We really have met?" he asked.
Chi-Chi grabbed him and kneed him in the stomach. "Yes, of course we've met!"
Goku again began avoiding her blows. "Really? Around what time?"
Chi-Chi renewed her attack with as much strength and speed she could muster. "You forgot! That's why I'm mad; you forgot about me! You kept me waiting for my entire life, and you never came! You promised!" She aimed a kick at his legs, and he leapt into the air to avoid it.
"Promise? What promise did I make? I don't remember."
Chi-Chi caught him in the chest with her fist, and he went sailing back. Managing to turn the fall into a neat backflip, he landed on his feet, barely able to blink before Chi-Chi was pressing him back with her attack.
"When we were kids!" she shouted. She was again renewing her onslaught with the power born of frustration. 'Why can't I beat him,' she thought to herself. "When we were kids, you promised we would get married. You promised I would be your bride!"
She paused her furious onslaught to gauge his reaction. She could hear astonished yells come from every one of Goku's friends, but it wasn't their reaction that she was searching for. Goku's mouth hung slightly open and he was speechless. A small glimmer of hope was starting to dawn in her. "Do you remember now?"
Goku turned around to face Kuririn. "Hey, Kuririn? What's a bride? Can you teach me real quick?"
Everyone within hearing distance facevaulted. Finally, Kuririn struggled up and leaned on the wall for support. "Goku, a bride is someone you spend the rest of your life with through marriage! Is that what you promised her?!" Yamucha continued for him. "Goku, she wants to be a couple. A bride is a girl who you live with forever! Boy, what were you thinking?"
Goku scratched his head and turned toward Chi-Chi. "Is that what you want? You want to live together? Is that the promise I made? What's your real name?"
Chi-Chi frowned and took up her stance again. "Fine. I'll tell you my name, but only if you win." She struggled not to let her emotions through, the frightening mix of anger, sadness, and joy. If he won, then she would have to tell him her name. Maybe he would remember, and he would marry her! Chi-Chi shook her head. No. He would never marry her, and she would never lose.
Goku held his head up defiantly. "Okay. If it's true, then I'll do it after the fight. We can live together."
Chi-Chi held in a gasp, her mind racing. If he won, they would get married! They would be able to live together for the rest of their lives! Another thought once again entered her mind, and she growled angrily. There was no way she was going to let him beat her. She was stronger. There was no way her pride would let her lose.
"Are you implying that you can beat me? Well, you're wrong, it won't be so easy to beat me. You're just arrogant."
Goku grinned happily. "Okay. Well, we should start then."
Chi-Chi ground her teeth together. "I'll win this!"
Chi-Chi was right about to launch another attack at him, when Goku brought his hands together in some kind of attack. Almost before she could comprehend what was happening, a wind had picked up around and bodily thrown her out of the ring into the wall. She slid down the wall and landed on her rear heavily, definitely out of the ring. The entire crowd was silent as they watched her struggle to get up.
Goku frowned worriedly and ran toward the edge of the ring. "Oh no, I should have done it softer." He reached the end and jumped off. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
Chi-Chi rubbed her head and, using the wall for support, she got up. 'He beat me,' she thought. 'I didn't even see it coming. I lost. But it's okay. I lost to _him_. So it's okay.'
Chi-Chi adjusted her ponytail. "You're actually kinda strong. I'm glad I picked you. You still can't remember me? I'm Gyuu Maou's daughter, Chi-Chi."
Goku's jaw dropped. "Chi-Chi!" he screamed. A small cartoon panel popped out of nowhere, depicting Chi-Chi and Goku when they were smaller. Goku pointed to it, stammering out, "You're Chi-Chi?!" He gasped and pointed at her. "I remember now! We DID talk about marriage."
Chi-Chi grinned. "I'm happy you finally remember."
Goku thought for a while. "Gosh, I thought marriage was a type of food. But you're real pretty and you look awful nice, and a promise is a promise." He grinned goofily. "All right. We'll get married!"
This caused a very happy Chi-Chi to go hysterical. She squealed and latched onto his arm. The Budoukai announcer wasted no time and got to doing his job properly.
"Ladies and Gentleman! It has just been announced that Son Goku will be marrying the lovely Tokumei Kibou, whose real name is apparently Maou Chi-Chi!"
The crowd erupted in wild screams. Goku and Chi-Chi walked in to the building, Chi-Chi still latched onto his arm. Goku frowned. "Hey, could you let go of me, please? I can't walk." Chi-Chi smiled up at him, and his frown dissapeared. "Silly, this is what married couples do."
Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamucha, and Chaozu stared at them, mouths hanging open. Kuririn was the first to speak. "Is it true?" he blurted out. "Are you two really gonna get married?"
Chi-Chi smiled at him. "Yep! We're going to get married!"
The group gradually began smiling, and then laughing happily.
Chi-Chi layed her head on Goku's shoulder and smiled up at him. Goku looked down at her, not being able to help smiling back, if only momentarily. He looked up and began giving advice to Kuririn, who was about to fight Ma Jr. Chi-Chi buried her head in his head and sighed happily. She couldn't understand it, but somehow Kami-sama had managed to grant her one wish. She had spent the past seven years in limbo, barely managing to get through life. Every day she had wanted to cry, simply because she had once met a boy, and in the short time they were together, he had quietly taken a bit of her heart. For seven years she had lived in pain, because the boy who carried a bit of her soul with him had never come back. Seven years of pain and hurt, but now it was okay, because she had her Goku, and she knew that whatever happened, he would always carry that piece of her soul with him, and she would always carry a bit of him. Seven years of suffering, of tears and of hurt. But you know what? It was honestly worth it.
A/N: Oh...my...GAWD! I can't believe I have finally finished my story. I cannot believe that Remember My Love has been completed. *wipes away a tear* It's finally over, I really finished it! And you know what? I love it! I am so completely happy with the way that RML turned out, I could cry. I am crying! Oh wow, you have all got to e-mail me with your comments! Should I write an epilogue? I'm not sure, but I'm so happy I don't really care. Now that I think of it, I'm kind of sad. If I don't write an epilogue, it will really be the end of RML. Oh well, I have so many more projects in the works. Please, review and give me suggestions. BTW, If you don't already know, after I write a B/V fanfic, I'm gonna write another Goku/Chi-Chi fic, except I don't know what to call it! Please, when you review give me suggestions for what to entitle the fic. If I choose your title, I'll give you a large role in the fic. I luv ya!