All I'm saying is this chapter is BIG, the next will be better, and the one after that is even better—trust me I written them already.
I also feel proud of myself for updating all of my stories today! Go and read them all.
Unforgettable
Written by the somewhat infamous Goku's Daughter
Chapter 8: Walking Amongst the Dead
Question: "If you could live forever, would you and why?"
Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live
forever,
because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever,
but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever."
-From some Miss Universe thing
Goku's eyes wavered from an unsettling blend of fear and confusion. "What? Vegeta is training you?"
Chika nodded, looking guilty, her body hunched, clothes torn and bloody.
Goku paced in the kitchen, something that Chichi would normally do if one of the kids got in trouble, but for once, it was Goku's turn to do the worrying. He seriously didn't know what to say.
Chichi sat beside Gohan, who had his head casually resting on his arms, watching his father fret over her well-being. Of course he knew that she was going to C.C. to be tested by Bulma, and he even knew that she was going there to spar with Vegeta. He knew because, well his sister trusted him with that and she trusted him enough to tell him not to tell their mother and father. Unfortunately his father found out when she came home with all kinds of bruises and cuts. They must have really had an intense battle, because when Goku saw her, he immediately panicked, thinking someone attacked her. Or worse, Gero had got to her.
Chika hesitated to say anything but when Goku accused her to wander off into the darkness, the alleys, places where little girls shouldn't have been, she snapped. She blurted out that she wouldn't go there for any good reason.
Gohan observed that Goku looked terrified and he impatiently waited for an answer out of her mouth.
His sister replied calmly, "I was with Vegeta." Her response was maybe a little too calm for his father's liking.
Goku didn't know what to think at that moment. He never knew he could and would flip like this before. He understood why Chichi would flip out when Gohan would be gone after curfew, but this was different. She was small, so fragile—a girl. So why did you care so damn much that Chichi didn't even opened her mouth?
Chichi shifted in her seat and fought not to smile. Even under the circumstance, it did greatly amused her that he finally felt what she feels when she got worried over one of them. I guess that what happens when you care so much. Of course she wanted to join him in his tirade, but it wasn't fair that both parents were against her? Now was it? She then realized why Goku always picked up for Gohan, and she guessed now she had to be on her daughter's side for this matter. Of course she knew that Chika would be Daddy's little girl, and her precious little boy, Gohan, would always be Momma's boy.
"How could you? Ack," Goku squeaked and dropped into the chair, sighing to himself. His heart sang a peculiar rhythm as he thought how hurt this little girl could get and if anything went wrong it'd be my fault!
Chika nervously rubbed her arm, watching his father go on about little girls shouldn't be getting hurt. "Would it help if I told you that I got better at fighting?"
Goku could almost laugh at that remark. "No, well, maybe yes. But no—why Vegeta?" He began to laugh—it was funny that she would go to Vegeta to get better.
She glanced at Chichi, and then looked back at Goku. She had guts when she walked up to him. She spoke with a whisper, "I'm sorry if I hurt you. I didn't mean to."
Goku could have laughed, but suppressed it in a groan. He snapped at the chair in a fast slap, not visible to the eyes, and rubbed his eyes for a moment. He then rolled his neck in a semi-circle. "So why didn't you tell me before?"
She didn't say anything for a moment. She thought about it, before responding. Her voice was still in a small whisper, "Because you wouldn't have let me spar with him."
Goku considered this for a moment and grasped her hands lightly and held it within his. He couldn't get over the fact how tiny and soft if was. Even Chichi's hands were like that; her's was small, delicate, soft, and just…lovely. Yet, their hands were capable of nasty things. Chika's used her hands to choke the life out of King Cold, those same small hands he was holding. "I was scared that's all. I was scared that Vegeta would really hurt you."
"He wouldn't." She backed Vegeta up.
"He might…he could, he could kill you if he wanted to." Aw, how he hated this conversation.
"He wouldn't. He doesn't possess the power or guts to do it." She replied very decently.
"…He can hurt you in other ways." Was he thinking about rape?
She looked up at him and snapped as her eyes flickered between two different unsettled colours. "Not as much as Gero would."
It became silent, a little too silent. And oh how Gohan wanted to sneeze.
Breaking the silence. Goku said, fighting not to be rude or upsetting her even more. "What exactly did Gero do to you?"
Chika fiercely pulled her hands away from Goku's and walked towards the door. She kept her eyes on him, even though she can see her mother approached Goku for some sort of support. "No, it hurts to much. Stay away from me. It hurts too much to think about it." She sounded really hurt as the tears in her eyes choked her.
She sounded strangled—sounded as if her voice changed to match with his tone. "You're fighting to destroy him," he whispered back to her. She still was in hearing range.
Her eyes settled to pitch, dark, ebony black but still were unsettled, mixed with a disturbing blend of fear and confusion. "I live to…kill him." She choked on the last part of the sentence and struggled to get to the door.
Goku got up slowly, trying to calm her down. She flew out of the door before he could get a hold of her.
Chichi muttered something to him. "Don't go after her. She's a girl…she needs her space."
Goku hesitantly listened to Chichi's remark. She was a female after all.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Chika sighed happily as she stroked the fluffy, yellow coat of the cloud she knew all too well. She calmed down after blowing up some mountains nearby and decided to call upon the cloud. "Well Nimbus, what do you want to do today? Vegeta is getting ready to leave Earth to catch up on some training, and I'm sure he wouldn't want some company at the moment. I really have nothing to do, because I learned all I need to know, except for the IT technique and I know daddy is purposely avoiding me, because he doesn't want to teach it to me. Especially what happened before, I'm not sure if I want to approach him when he's still mad at me. As for Bulma, well, she's busy with Baby Trunks, and mom, well I'm not in the mood for chores. I bet Gohan is gone with Piccolo to some mountain place, where it's cold, and I'm not in the mood for cold places at the moment. Icarus and Seripa went hunting I guess, I couldn't pick up on their ki from here, so they must far. I guess that leaves us two." She paused speaking to the cloud. She cocked her head back for a moment, narrowing her eyes, looking up at the sun, and feeling its warmth, realizing, in a long time, this had been the best year of her life. She hopped onto the cloud, and sat down cross-legged. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, and gave a signal to Nimbus to fly away.
*-*-*-*-*
He punched into the air, about two times, then round housing off the ground, and performed a neat turn, incorporating a flip as he settled back onto the ground, with one knee bent forward. He re-tied his black bandana back around his head, remembering his red bandana for a brief moment, which was lost in space somewhere, after that battle with Freiza. After the attempt of saving Planet Vegeta he was dead. Dead for many, and many of years, but he realized he'd never would wish for immortality, because that was too abnormal. Of course he wished he were alive, but then what would he live for? If he was alive, it'd almost be like as if he was immortal, even for a brief moment. With Saiyan blood running through his veins, he had absolute youth for a very, very long time…
And it had greatly pleased him that his son, Kakarott, had destroyed Freiza—well that's what he thought. When he saw Freiza in Underworld the first thing he told him was, "I told you my son would defeat you and he did."
Freiza snarled at him and replied aggressively, "Your poor excuse for a son didn't finish me off. A little brat did."
Bardock was a little dumbstruck at first, but then snickered at this alien. Both ways had amused him. Whether it was his son, or a little girl, it was still funny that Freiza was destroyed by one of them. A little girl…
Since Freiza had arrived, Bardock had avoided him—just not to bruise Freiza's pride, and/or start a fight. He would like to know who the winner would be.
So even if Bardock was dead for countless years, he still had a hungry and ravenous desire to be strong—so he continued to train, even though his power would not equivalent if he was on Earth. He even feared for himself at times, when he still kept getting visions of the future. He watched his son, his mirror, get married, he watched his son battle in tournaments, he even saw his grandson. Sometimes it doesn't bother him, since much was of peace (or revenge on Freiza), but lately, he received stranger and more violent visions. He saw images of two reckless beings, a purple haired boy, and old wrinkly guy…and that little girl. That same little girl he saw shredding Freiza into shreds, the same little girl he saw crushing King Cold's skull. The same little girl that was connected to all of this madness he was seeing. The same little girl that was part of Kakarott… He had an eerie feeling that maybe, just maybe, this girl was his granddaughter? He sniffed the air of darkness and couldn't help but it felt like he was being watched…
He ran through many activities and katas he could think of when his stomach growled. He rubbed his natural blank spiky, untamable hair and with the other he wiped the sweat off his face.
"I'm hungry too!"
Bardock spun around and found a little girl floating on a yellow cloud. "What?" He studied her for a moment. Holy shit…that same little girl. "Y-you!" he was able stuttered, wide eyed.
She looked innocently at him, and pointed at herself. "Me? What about me?"
He blinked, "You're that same girl…I saw you!" He pointed at her. Was he hallucinating?
She smiled slowly. "Really?" she asked slowly, as if she was interested.
He nodded and then narrowed his eyes while pondering. "Who are you?"
She stood up on the cloud, and then floated down, executing a flawless flip in the air. She didn't land, as she floated in the air, about a foot shorter than he was. "That's what I want to figure out," she muttered to herself. She then looked up at him, "I'm Gochika. People call me Chika." All of her attention was focused at him. "And who are you?"
He crossed his arms and faced her, narrowing his eyes. "My name is Bardock."
She studied him for a brief moment, she almost gasped. "You look so much like my father!"
He almost chuckled. "Really, who is your father?"
She playfully grinned, "Goku."
"Kakarott," he muttered. It was his turn to look shock.
"So you know him, how?" She cocked an eyebrow up.
He faintly frowned. "I'm his father."
She leaned against the cloud, casually, "So you're my grandfather."
He nodded, "I guess so."
It was uncomfortably silent.
"So how about we get something to eat." She said simply.
Bardock grinned and lightheartedly wrapped an arm around her shoulder and headed to the diner. "Yeah, let's get something to bite on."
*-*-*-*-*
"So Bardock, this is your granddaughter? She's cute." She scoffed.
"Ahahaha, very nice of you, Seripa. Did you know I named my dragon after you."
"Oh so that's what I remind you of, a dragon, great." Seripa muttered sarcastically, pretending to look hurt, crossing her arms over chest.
Bardock munched on something, about to choke on his fries. When he swallowed, he faced two of his members of his crew, Toura and then at Seripa. "You guys think she can stay with us?"
They willingly nodded. "Yeah, she seems nice, even though I'm not sure why she is in Underworld." They both stared at her as she hungrily munched on the food. They wondered why she ate so much if she was dead, especially in the Underworld.
She swallowed hard, and then looked up at them. She simply stated, "I'm not dead."
All of them were dumbstruck. Bardock cleared his throat. Twice. "How did you get here?"
"Get where?" she replied honestly.
Bardock was getting a bit annoyed now. He wanted answers. "Get here, to the Underworld."
"Oh," she was able to whisper. "I'm not sure really. I just wanted to disappear—to get away, and then I flew off with Nimbus. We were really high and flown between layers of clouds, we reached snakeway, or where the realm splits. I think that because we tried to get through and it burned, so we couldn't. I-I then created a shield around us, and then it was black. Nimbus kept going I guess. Some other things happened, then I ended up here." She explained it as if it was nothing as she shrugged it off, not mentioning someone else in the act.
Bardock's eyes were flickering with uncertainty, as he expressionless for a moment. He tried to act calm, truth was, he was scared. Was this girl immortal? How strong was she? How exactly did she get here? Can she get back? He was scared to think anything else, as he nervously glanced at his crew. They were still speechless. He blurted out something like, "Are you immortal?"
She looked up at him, all attention on him. She laughed, oh she laughed. It was full with amusement and youthful energy. She blinked a couple of times before answering. She flatly replied. "No. I wouldn't live forever and I'll die someday. I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever." She looked up realizing she might have confused him, and then brushed it off, and continued to devour her food. "That's one of the reasons why I killed Freiza. He'd defiantly look for the dragonballs that I'd heard of, that can grant immortality. I couldn't let him do that."
Bardock laughed, he laughed his ass off. Not with amusement, but with fear. His stomach hurt—damn how his stomach hurt. He stroked her hair and looked up at Seripa and laughed as he shook his head, with wonder and belief, "She. Isn't. A goddess. She isn't, a goddess." He was going to lose his mind.
Chika glanced up at him. "Grandpa can we—it is okay if I call you that? Right?"
Bardock nodded. He wanted to say, "Yes," but oh damn how much he laughed.
Chika grinned again, her eyes full of mischief, "Do you think we can spar?"
*-*-*-*-*-*
"Where were you?" Chichi screeched. "We were worried sick! How come you never told us where you were going?"
Chika looked wide-eyed at this hysterical woman. She had to admit; she was beaten up a bit. Even when the last time she sparred with Vegeta, she still had numerous bruises and cuts.
Gohan watched again—he noticed these days he didn't get into much trouble, maybe, just maybe he should help her out. "She told me where she went." He but in and oh boy did Chichi give him a death glare.
"Then where did she go?" she snapped.
Gohan looked at his dad, wanting him to step in anytime he wished. He was a little worried for him when Goku's face was unreadable. "Uh…"
Chika intervened, "I went off with Nimbus."
This made Chichi feel a little better, only a little better. "You could have said something to one of us!"
Chika frowned. "I never knew I would be gone for a day."
Chichi nibbled on the inside of her lower lip and then looked at Goku. She faced him and threateningly pointing at him. "And you mister, I asked you to use the IT technique to track her down, BUT YOU DIDN'T!"
Goku eyebrows snapped together. "I tried Chichi, honestly, I did, but I couldn't find it." His attention went back to his beaten-up daughter who had hunched shoulders, and a guilty expression he came to know all too well.
Chichi looked back at Chika and sighed. "Where did you go?" she tried to say calmly. She miserably failed to do so.
Gohan looked at his hesitant sister. And yes again, she trusted him again with this. Why him? After hearing what she said he didn't believe her, didn't want to believe her—but when she went on and on about Underworld, he actually believed her. Did he have any reason not to? He understood the significance of a secret of trust that he dared not tell anyone, not even Piccolo, who even tried to beat the information out of him. He then saw his mother's cold eyes back at him and he squirmed in his chair. She had asked him where she went—he not-so-simply-replied, "Ask her." And he would risk being punished.
Goku finally stood up and walked to her, kneeling down, facing Chika. His forehead rested against hers. "Can you please tell me where you went? I wouldn't tell anybody." He felt her shift, still hesitating to say anything.
She simply replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Goku then turned at Gohan. "Do you believe where she went?"
Chika shot a distrusting glance at Gohan before he responded. "I do."
Goku then turned back at Chika, ignoring Chichi's tirade. "If you can trust Gohan, why can't you trust me?"
Her voice was soft and low, "I do."
"Then why can't you tell me?" He was getting a little annoyed.
"Because you won't believe me."
Aw, he wasn't going anywhere. "Try me," he simply stated, the standing up, giving her a trusting smile, a Son smile we fans of DBZ know all too well.
She again, nervously shifted and then spoke with the little confidence she had left inside of her. "I saw Grandpa."
Chichi almost fainted, but instead plopped onto the chair. "So you went to see papa—you could have told us and not get into trouble."
It was silent after that. Gohan dared not to speak. Goku was just silent, waiting for Chika's response.
She timidly responded. "Not Ox-King. Bardock. Daddy's father."
Chichi sighed and this time fainted.
Goku on the other hand was able to laugh, oh what an imagination she had. But then looked at the intensity of a glare Gohan gave Chika and vice versa. "You're not joking…" His eyes shifted at both siblings, then settled on Chika.
She shook her head in response. "I was in "Underworld". I'm not really sure how I got there though…Nimbus was with me though."
Goku sat on the closet chair he saw. He sighed and fiercely thought. "My Kami," he muttered.
About a minute or so later Piccolo came in and he definitely noticed the stiffness of this household. "What happened," he growled.
Goku muttered something, which sounded like, "She was in Underworld."
Piccolo froze there, and fumbled to the closest chair in the room. He muttered a string of Namekian curses. Chika heard it and glared at him. "Don't curse at me Piccolo," she said accusingly.
"Grasshopper, I was not cursing at you. You just scared the living shit out of me."
Goku perked up a bit and then chuckled, "Wait till Vegeta hears about this." His head was resting on his palm, which his elbow was shivering and resting on his thigh.
Piccolo's grim expression didn't change, "You believe her?"
"Yes, I do."
Piccolo looked at Goku blankly and then at the girl. "Give me proof that you've been to Underworld."
Chika shook her head. "See that's why I didn't want to tell you guys in the first place."
"Grasshopper, when you are gone for at least a day, people around you are going to wonder where the hell you've been, and saying nothing is not going to help. So you can either tell me or I'll find more violent ways to get it out of you."
"Piccolo, don't threaten me." She then looked at Gohan, giving him a look to say something.
"She saw Grandpa—dad's father." He spoke solemnly.
Piccolo couldn't believe these people. "I said proof, not words. Did you take something with you?"
"She took Nimbus," Goku numbly replied.
Piccolo let out an exasperated sighed, he wasn't going anywhere with this. "If you were to go again, would you take me?"
She finally sat down, not daring to look at him. "I would, but I'm not sure if I can hold so much power around all of us to enter through. Besides, Shin might not let me."
"Shin?" Piccolo and Goku asked.
She nodded, "Well people call him Shin, he told me to call him that. He's a purple guy. I met him before when Freiza came, and he helped me cross to the Underworld I think. I think there was a moment where I was stuck, then I saw blackness—I'm guessing he's the one who helped me out."
Piccolo muttered some more curses.
Goku sank lower into his chair. "Piccolo, do you know who Shin is?"
Piccolo nodded, "Yeah, he's the Supreme Kai." Both men were silent for the longest, scared to say anything.
Gohan perked up and decided to strike up a conversation with his counter-part. "So how many were against you?" He handed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and anesthetic.
Chika gladly accepted it. She opened the bottle and poured some of it on the cloth. Having a little trouble to clean some her wounds in unreachable places, Gohan helped her. "Well, Grandpa's whole crew fought me, and there was a time where I thought I was confident to fight all of them at once."
"…and how many were them?" Goku looked up at his son and daughter, knowing that he really didn't want to here the answer.
She happily answered, "I think there were 5 Elites."
Piccolo and Goku muttered something like, "Oh Kami," and sank lower in their seats.
*-*-*-*-*
AN/ well how do you like that? I told you there would be surprises, and defiantly more coming up grins. But I'm not giving it away.
I'm still depressed and depending on the number of reviews I get, the faster I'll post up my next big chapter. *Rubs hands together* I so cannot wait!
Hope you guys don't miss me too much while I'm in NYC for the week.
-Goku's Daughter
