Eternal Journey

Part 8

By Debs-dragon

Unaware that Goten and Trunks had left Chi Chi continued in her attempts to get Gohan and Videl more enthused in making wedding plans. It had only been two days since Gohan had asked Videl to be his wife and he was beginning to think maybe it hadn't been such a good idea. Not the proposal bit and the marriage but telling his mother.

Oh he knew she meant well and not having a daughter of her own it was only natural she should want to be involved in all the arrangements and therein lay the problem. It was Videl and his wedding, not Chi Chi's and here she was trying to take over the whole affair. He looked across at Videl and gave her a cheeky wink. He could see that she was having problems containing her anger at his mother's interference. Only her manners stopping her from exploding... well that and the fact that Gohan had to live with her and she didn't want Chi Chi taking out her annoyance on Gohan.

Gohan leaned back and stretched, hearing the bones of his spine pop as the kinks came out. "I think we need a break." he said firmly.

Videl smiled at him in appreciation.

Chi Chi looked up from the pictures of wedding cakes. "What do you mean you need a break? This wedding wont plan itself you know. There are so many things to organise, cars, cake, dresses, tuxes, reception, menu, flowers, invitations, guest list......"

"Lets just elope." muttered Gohan.

Videl caught the words and giggled.

Chi Chi missed the quiet exchange. "What was that Gohan? You really need to speak up son."

"Nothing mom. I just said we really need a break, get some fresh air and then we can do some more planning later."

Chi Chi glanced at the clock. "Oh my is that the time? I had better start preparing dinner." She stood up and began to place the various magazines back into a neat pile on the table. "Goten!" she called.

No reply.

"Goten! Where are you?"

"I think he did what you suggested and went over to Trunks' place with him." said Gohan.

"Oh." Chi Chi went to make a phone call.

Gohan reached across the table and took Videl's hand in his. Softly stroking the pad of his thumb over the back of her hand he stared into her eyes. "Lets take a walk." he whispered huskily.

"I'll be in that." came the gentle reply.

"Mom, Videl and I are just going to take a walk. Won't be long." Gohan informed his mother as he escorted his fiancee out the door and down the path to the forest.

Chi Chi waved to them as they left and then turned her attention back to the phone. The ringing was halted as the connection was made and a voice barked down the line.

"What do you want!"

"Hello Vegeta. Still the same pleasant greeting I see."

"I'm busy woman so spare me the small talk."

"Can I speak with Bulma please?"

"If I can drag her away from that alien."

The phone clunked loudly in Chi Chi's ear as Vegeta tossed it down on the stand. She winced slightly as the noise hurt her eardrum and then her brain processed what Vegeta had said... Alien?

"Hello Chi Chi." Bulmas voice came down the line.

"Oh Hello Bulma. What's this about an alien?" During the course of the excitement of Gohan's proposal the alien had been forgotten. Chi Chi vaguely remembered Gohan and Goten mentioning something about a space ship and crashing but she had been distracted at the time and so the information hadn't registered properly.

"Oh, hasn't Gohan and Goten told you about her?" asked Bulma.

"I'm not really sure, I remember them mentioning something about a ship crashing and finding someone but it's all a bit hazy. I was a little distracted with Gohan & Videl's wedding plans."

"WHAT! Gohan and Videl are getting married?" Bulma couldn't prevent the shock in her voice. "When? How? I mean... Oh what do I mean?"

Chi Chi chuckled softly. It wasn't often that Bulma was lost for words. "Hold on a second Bulma. Gohan has only just proposed and Videl accepted. They haven't set the date yet and we are only just in the early stages of planning it out."

"Well that's great news Chi Chi, please pass on my congratulations to them both."

"I will Bulma, now what I really rang for is to see if Goten was over there."

"Yes, yes he is. Trunks and Goten got here a short while ago. They're playing in Trunks' room at the moment."

"Thanks. Could you send him home in about an hour or so for his dinner?"

"Sure. If you want he can stay over. I'm sure you have a lot of planning to do and if it would make it easier he's welcome to stay overnight."

"I don't want to impose..."

"It's no imposition, really. Trunks would love to have him stay and they might be able to cheer our guest up a bit."

"Ahhh yes, the alien. So tell me Bulma, who is she? Where is she from and what happened?"

Bulma sat in the little chair next to the phone stand and proceeded to give Chi Chi all the information she had at the moment on the strange house guest.

~ oOo ~

Goten and trunks sped through the sky on their way back to the Capsule Corp dome.

"How is the girl?" asked Goten.

"She seems to be okay but I haven't had much of a chance to see or speak to her much. Mom spends a lot of time with her and when moms not in there she's usually sleeping."

"Oh. Do ya think she will tell us where she's from and how come the ship crashed?"

"Dunno."

Goten thought a bit more. "I reckon she's a space pirate and she was being chased 'cause she robbed someone."

Trunks looked at his best friend. "I don't think so. She don't look like the pirate type to me."

"Umm... maybe she's a princess then. She could be going to get married like Gohan and Videl are and didn't want to go through with all the fuss and stuff and so she ran away."

"Could be." replied Trunks. "Only one way to find out."

"Huh?"

"We can ask her."

"Oh."

"Come on Goten, lets hurry up and see if she's awake, I'm sure mom won't mind if we spend some time with her."

The pair continued to fly and a short while later landed in the grounds of the golden dome. Sauntering up to the door Trunks pushed it open and called out to his mother. "Mom.... I'm home and Goten's with me."

Bulma's voice came out from the kitchen. "In here dear."

Goten and Trunks made their way to the kitchen. Bulma was preparing a snack. "Hungry boys?"

"Yeah, sure am." replied Goten as he hefted himself into a chair.

Trunks sat across from his friend as Bulma placed a large plate of sandwiches on the table. "Dig in." she said.

Not waiting to be told twice, the pair did just that. Two glasses of orange juice followed and the pair made short work of the snack.

"Thanks mom." said Trunks as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Yeah thanks." Goten added his own benediction.

"So what are you two going to do?"

"I though we could see how the girl is doing, if that's okay?" replied Trunks.

"She's sleeping at the moment but when she wakes up you can see if she would like some company."

"Cool. Come on Goten, lets go play in my room until she's awake."

The pair got down from their chairs and scampered off to Trunks' room. Bulma watched them go, a small smile tugged at her lips. The roar of Vegeta's voice demanding to know where his snack was jolted her back to the task at hand. Muttering under her breath she proceeded to make up another batch of sandwiches.

~ oOo ~

Trunks and Goten played with Trunks' model cars in the sanctuary of his room for a while. Then their curiosity got the better of them. Hearing the phone ringing and Vegeta answer it they snuck to the door and listened.

"It's your mom." whispered Trunks.

Goten nodded as he heard Bulma take over the conversation from Vegeta. Knowing Bulma would be occupied for some time with his mother he whispered to Trunks, "Lets go see if the girl is awake."

Trunks grinned and motioned for Goten to follow him. They crept along the hallway for a short distance before Trunks stopped outside a door to one of the many guest rooms of the dome. "She's in here."

Quietly Trunks knocked on the door. There wasn't a reply. Softly he turned the door knob and pushed the door open. A pair of heads peeked around the jamb and took in the sight of the girl lying on the bed. She appeared to be asleep. Feeling braver the pair crept into the room and approached the bed. Suddenly the girls eyes flew open.

Goten and Trunks stopped dead in their tracks as a pair of silver eyes raked over them.

"Who are you?" came the soft melodic voice.

"Ummm I'm Trunks and this is my best friend Goten." Trunks elbowed Goten in the ribs.

"Ow! Wha'cha do that for?" scowled Goten as he rubbed the rib where Trunks' elbow had caught him. He stared at the girl. She was a little different to what he remembered. Bulma had cleaned her up and she was dressed in a pair of shorts and red t-shirt. A bandage adorned her wrist and there were colours of black blue and yellow scattered about her skin, evidence of healing bruises from the crash no doubt.

The girl smiled as she took in the pair. Her inner sense telling her she had nothing to fear from these two. Slowly she sat up. "What are you doing in here?" she asked.

"Ummm... well we was the ones that found you."

"Yeah we saw your ship crash. It was quite a speccy sight." added Goten as he recalled the burst of flame and smoke that had indicated the ships sudden collision with the immovable barrier of the earth.

Anori's eyes darkened slightly. The painful memory coming back. Before she could stop it a tear leaked from the corner of her eye.

"Now look what you done." growled trunks.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think...." whined Goten.

"It's okay." said the girl.

"So what's your name? Where are you from? and how come you crashed here?" The questions were fired off in rapid succession from Trunks.

Goten opted to move further into the room and sit at the end of the bed where he studied the girls features a little better. The silver eyes set into a slightly heart shaped face. High cheekbones and full red lips. The nose turned up slightly and the eyebrows matched the cascade of hair. Oh the hair. Goten sat entranced. never had he seen such hair before. It looked silver and yet black as it shimmered in the natural light of the room reminding Goten of moonlight.

"My name is Anori and I come from a planet far away from this galaxy. My planet is called Mystica; I am a mystic. I don't know why we crashed." Her face took on a distant look. "I can't remember much. I know we were being chased by some horrible beings called Santorians. We had to leave our planet and get away from them." Her brow furrowed as she thought.

"See I told ya she was a princess who was running away from some person that wanted to marry her." Goten said with a smug expression.

Trunks just glared at his friend. "So you can't remember anything else Anori?" asked Trunks. "I mean what about your mom or dad, or the rest of your race?"

Pain flashed through Anori's heart as she recalled Bulma's words of her parents death. "My mom and dad were on the ship with me. They... they were killed in the crash."

"I'm sorry." said Goten as he reached forward and touched the girls hand. "I know what it's like to lose someone. My dad died as well but now he's back."

Anori looked a little confused.

"I'll explain it later to you if you like." offered Goten shyly.

"So you can't remember anything else?" said Trunks impatiently.

"No. All I can remember is leaving the planet with my parents, we travelled for ages trying to get away from the Santorians. They were the ones that shot us down."

"Oh."

Suddenly Anori smiled. "But you weren't far wrong with your guess Goten."

"Huh?"

"I am a princess. My Father was the ruler of the Mystic race. I know the Santorians have been at war with my people for some time. It seems we have something that they want. Sorry to disappoint you but it wasn't marriage as you call it."

"So I was right." Goten bounced on the mattress with glee.

Trunks frowned. "You were only half right buddy."

"Can't you remember what it is they want?"

Anori had done a lot of thinking as she lay recovering. Her mind had surrendered some fragments and she had slowly begun to piece them together. The sceptre her father had passed to her just before his death was the key to the whole thing. She knew it held the power and secrets of her race and therefore must not be surrendered at any price. She had hidden the item safely away and at this stage wasn't about to reveal anything of it to anyone. She needed to work out a little more about it and it's importance as well as get to know these strange people that had rescued her. She could sense a strength about them as well as a gentle peacefulness, but she needed to learn more about them before she would trust them with anything more.

"I asked you a question." said Trunks a little impatiently.

"Sorry Trunks. No I don't know what it is they want but I do know that once they are aware that I am still alive they will come back for me."

Goten thought for a moment. "Don't worry Anori. We will protect you. We won't let any Santa thingys take you anywhere you don't want to go."

Anori smiled. It was nice to know she had made some new friends and ones that were prepared to protect her. "Thanks you guys, I appreciate that but I really don't think there will be much you can do about it if the Santorians return. They are a pretty powerful race."

"So are Saiya-jins. Why my father is the strongest person on this planet.... In fact I think he is the strongest in the whole universe." said Trunks.

"No he isn't. My dad is." countered Goten.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

Anori watched the argument progress between the two, a small smile played on her lips as she thought about her life now. It certainly wouldn't be dull if these pair were her friends and any indication of what this planets inhabitants were like. How many times had she wished for adventure in her seemingly boring life? Well it seemed as if she had got it now.