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Life's Like ThatChapter 6 - Downtime
Written by RJ =)
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Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.
Author's Notes: Soz it took so long to update. I've been pretty busy working and stuff. Also, my brother bought a game programming kit and he said that for practice, he'd make a game out of my fic, but before I did that, I had to draw a pic of Tora…harder than I thought, but I think I've come up with a reasonable drawing of her, although she's still a work in progress. She kinda came out all cute and sweet… =P typical eh?. If you want to see the pic of her, email me with 'Tora' as the subject. I'd appreciate some feedback too.
Thanx.
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Gohan walked back to his room in a daze. His mind kept on showing pictures of the day's events, but he just wanted to forget that this day even happened. He tried to numb his mind by thinking of happier times, but whenever he was in the middle of thinking about something good, the menacing picture of the girl dying always ripped through the image and played over and over in his head. Her pained cry haunted Gohan's mind, but the scariest thing was that he was expected to do this kinda thing all the time.
Gohan hit the side of his head a few times, hoping to preoccupy himself with pain, he'd have to make his own pain now, seeing as he was totally healed from his battle wounds.
He broke into a run as he got nearer his room, he couldn't wait to get back to the quiet sanctuary which was his own.
Just as he reached his room, Tora came out of hers. She must have sensed his ki coming.
"Gohan, are you okay?" she asked softly
"Yeah, I just don't wanna kill people," Gohan said, opening his door and motioning for Tora to follow him into his room.
They both sat down on his bed, side by side.
"Neither do I" Tora said "But Raion told me that if we didn't do that then we'd get killed" she paused then added quietly "I don't wanna die"
"Neither do I" Gohan agreed
They sat in silence for a while, then the door suddenly hissed open revealing a guard.
"Master Frieza wants to have a word with you two" he growled, then turned around and walked off.
Gohan and Tora looked at each other and swallowed loudly, but they decided that it was probably better for their health if they did go and see Frieza and see what he wanted.
They walked quickly down the many hallways, stopping before the throne room.
Gohan hesitated a second, then pressed the red button and the door hissed open.
"Come in, come in" Frieza prompted them, but funnily enough, he didn't sound angry with them, but you never know, it could all be a trick.
Gohan and Tora inched towards Frieza and stopped a couple of metres away from him and bowed their heads.
"I heard about what happened earlier today," Frieza said "Raion gave me a full report"
"I'm sorry, Master, it won't happen again" Gohan said, interrupting before Frieza could go further.
"No, no, it's fine, all it showed was that you have untapped potential and you have strong power when you're pushed. Could be interesting in the future," Frieza said, then added more menacingly "Just so long as you stay loyal to me"
"Yes, sir" Gohan and Tora chorused
"Good. You may leave now," Frieza said
Gohan and Tora turned and practically ran out the door.
"Well, that wasn't so bad" Gohan said
"Yeah, but I still don't wanna kill people," Tora said
Gohan shook his head sadly and they walked the rest of the way in silence.
Instead of going to Gohan's room, like they'd usually do, they each went to their own rooms in silence, both knowing that they needed to give the other some space for a little while.
Tora walked over to the bed in the middle of her pale yellow room. She flopped down on the hard bed and sighed. Never in a million years she thought that she would be expected to kill people in cold blood, she just didn't want to do something like that. And the thought of having to do that for possibly the rest of her life frightened her.
She rolled over on the bed and noticed that there was a tray of food on the table, and proving true to her Saiyan heritage, she jumped up and gobbled down the tray of food.
Once she was full of food, she flopped down on her bed once again and fell asleep, totally and utterly exhausted.
~*~Tora's Dream~*~
The sun was shining brightly through her bedroom window and streaming onto the covers of her bed. It was a nice, comfortable bed. Her parents didn't believe in all the junk that most Saiyans did about treating their kids roughly so they'd be prepared for the worst.
Tora was roused by the birds singing their morning song outside. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash of light and the early morning chorus suddenly stopped.
Tora giggled, her dad didn't like the birds singing in the morning. He definitely wasn't a morning person.
Then she remembered. It was her 5th birthday today.
Her face was suddenly plastered with a broad smile and she jumped out of bed and raced down the hallway to her parent's bedroom. She pushed open their door and took a running leap, somersaulted and landed in the middle of her parent's bed.
"Showing off all the new stuff you've learnt eh, Tora?" her dad teased. Normally he would behave according to the Saiyan custom and not treat his daughter like that, but it was a special day.
Tora nodded eagerly.
It's my birthday today, remember, daddy?" she said cheerfully.
"So it is" he said, nodding to his mate, who reached down beside the bed and picked up 2 gift-wrapped packages.
Tora's eyes widened with surprise and she smiled broadly.
"Are these mine?" she breathed.
"No. They're for me" her dad teased.
"Daddy" Tora scalded then took the top present off the top of the pile that her mother offered her.
She ripped off the wrapping and gasped in surprise, it was a brand new gi. Her favorite colours too.
In the other present was a small locket with a picture of the three of them inside it.
"Oh, thank you!" Tora exclaimed and gave each of her parents a huge hug.
Suddenly, the side wall of the house seemingly disappeared. In it's place stood three burly warriors wearing scouters and a rough imitation of Saiyan armor.
Her father jumped out of bed and sank into a fighting stance in front of the three men.
Meanwhile, Tora's mother picked up Tora and turned to run out of the room, trying to protect her daughter.
One of the warriors phased out and appeared by the door.
"And where do you think you're going?" he growled, and when Tora's mom didn't move, he shoved her roughly back onto the bed.
Tora watched her father with wide eyes. He seemed to be faring well against his opponents, but in reality, he was slowly weakening.
"Come on, daddy, you can do it!" Tora yelled, one side of her admiring his fighting power and the other side worried about what would happen if the unthinkable happened...if he lost.
The rest of the fight was much of a blur to Tora and suddenly it was all over. But the next things she saw, she would never forget no matter how long she lived.
One of the warriors held his hand out, forming a ki blast, aiming it towards her father.
Tora's father, bloody and battered, looked up with his one good eye as the other was partially closed from a direct hit, at the threatening warrior from his ungraceful position slouched against the one remaining wall. He swallowed. He knew what was coming. But he took what was coming as a true Saiyan would, staring death right in the face and not worry about what it would bring.
Tora cried out loudly as soon as the ki beam was released from the warrior's hand. It traveled, it seemed, in slow motion towards her father and pierced him in the heart.
"DADDYYYY!!!" she yelled as she struggled against her mother's grip.
"No Tora" her mother ordered.
Tora stopped struggling.
Suddenly, her mother fell forward onto Tora, her body resting heavily on the young girl.
"Mama?" Tora said, anxiously, quickly turning around to see what was going on.
She wriggled out from under her mother and her mother's body flopped lifelessly onto the bed.
"Mama? Mom! Mommy!" Tora cried, getting more and more frantic as she tried to shake her mother awake.
She looked at her mother's face, her eyes were still open, her now lifeless obsidian eyes. Tora burst into tears, not caring about how a true Saiyan should behave, not caring about anything but her now dead parents. She just let the tears flow freely.
Suddenly, she felt hands drag her roughly from the bed. She struggled against their grip, but they were as firm as her father's grip, although not as gentle.
She thrashed around, waving her little fists around, still tightly clutching her locket, trying to get a hit in somewhere, but in her state, she forgot everything she'd been taught by her father and was attacking with absolutely no form at all.
That's when things turned black.
~*~End of Dream~*~
Tora sat upright in her bed, panting loudly, her heart beating so hard that she thought it would leap right out of her chest.
"It was just a dream. Just a dream" she whispered, trying to reassure herself.
She slipped soundlessly out of bed and opened the drawer in her desk. Inside was her precious locket. She opened the locket carefully and lovingly looked at the picture inside. Once she was satisfied, she replaced the locket then padded softly through the dark room, towards the door.
She opened the door and walked softly down the hallway to Gohan's room.
She entered the demi-Saiyan's room and quietly slipped into the bed next to him. She always felt safe with him. He was like a big brother to her. Someone she could always count on and someone who would always be there for her.
Gohan rolled over in his sleep, giving Tora more room. Tora shifted closer to Gohan and snuggled up to his back, falling back asleep in a mere instant.
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Author's Notes: Well, how'd ya like that? Loved it? Hated it? Let me know. Review pleeeez.
Oh, and just to let you guys know, I think I'll make a sequel to this story, and I may turn it into a trilogy, depending on whether I lose interest in it or not.
Just a little end note, I think I have proof that Frieza's gay. In one episode when Goku and Frieza were fighting, Goku collapses against Frieza and Frieza says "And I thought you hated me"…proof enough?
~RJ~