So They Say; Diriat-on
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of the Dragon Ball Z characters. They are owned by those who own them. I do, however, own the original characters (if any) and the fic all of this is in. That is all.
Chapter Five
He saw them from the point where he was flying, a small smile coming to his lips. He was somewhat glad that there was someone waiting for him even though he knew that they were anxious to know what had happened when he had gone to Bulma for help. He figured that they wanted the full force of what she had said about Rose, what he had told her, and what Vegeta had thought of this situation. He could easily tell them two out of the three things that he knew they wanted to know with the only thing that he didn't know about being Vegeta. Personally, he didn't care what the Saiyan thought or cared about this situation. Once Rose was out of their hands, the less he would have to worry about her and any trouble she might cause him.
There was something inside of him that was glad that he had not come up with the idea to go to her for help while something else was nagging at him. It was probably the feeling of dread of having to tell the woman that she was going somewhere else to stay when she had been there only for a short time. Was it right to send her off to some place where she did not know about or anyone there? It wasn't like she really knew anyone at the island either, but that was something different altogether. At least she had been with them since the day before and looked comfortable with them, but that was just an assumption that he really didn't want to put on her.
After a short flight, Tien landed upon the shifting sand of the island, the bags from Bulma in his hands. He was somewhat glad that nothing fell out of them since he didn't want to trek all the way back to Capsule Corp. to get a replacement having already asked Bulma for too much already. Chaotzu was watching him with interest and intensity that he had never seen in him before while Roshi eyed the bags in almost a drooling state, which was to be expected of him to wonder. Tien raised an eyebrow at this, already knowing full well what the old man was wanting to take a peek at what was inside those bags. Chaotzu, on the other hand, was just staring at him intently with those eyes of his. The three-eyed being felt like he was being babysat by his friend as he placed the bags down onto the ground and straightened his back in order to see their reactions to his being away for such a long period of time.
"Sorry about taking so long to get back," He mumbled, his eyes shifted over towards the rumbling water. He suddenly felt uncomfortable under his friend's watchful gaze as Chaotzu continued to stare at him for no reason. He knew he had been too long to get something as small as clothing, but this was Bulma they were silently talking about in their minds. Besides, things like this took time to do and now he owed the blue-haired woman more then he ever would know or would like to admit. "She kept me waiting for a while. By the looks of it, she shouldn't have taken as long as she should have."
"Kept you waiting for what?" Roshi asked slyly, eyeing Tien with a small smile and a twinkle in his eyes. He didn't answer the question verbally as he broke his gaze from the water as he moved his eyes to the house in front of them. The only two people missing from the occupants were Oolong and Rose, whom he figured where still in the house. He knew that Rose was probably still on the couch, but the pig was a different matter. That sent a wave of worry over him that passed in a moment's notice.
"Where is she?"
"Inside, asleep for all we know. Although I doubt she is sleeping as good as she says she is. I heard her cries last night," The old man said simply before he eyed him more. "Why?"
"Bulma also offered for her to come and stay with her until she gets better. I think it is a good idea for....."
"Why?" Chaotzu demanded with a certain fierceness in his voice that hadn't been there before. Both Roshi and Tien turned to him with surprised on their faces and wide eyes to go along with it.
"Why, what?" Roshi asked calmly before Tien could say anything to him.
"Why doesn't Rose stay here with us? She would be more comfortable here then she would be with Bulma. And don't forget Vegeta either. You know how he is."
"I've thought about that already, Chaotzu. Vegeta is Vegeta and no one can change it except for him. Besides, he is the least of our worries right now. I--We--don't know what she has been through or what she is and I don't think anyone here has questioned her yet about it," Tien snapped, narrowing his eyes at the small being in front of him.
"Then why don't you ask her then? It would be easier to ask then to wonder."
"Why didn't you do that while I was gone?"
"I didn't want to ask her anymore then what you have. She needs to stay here despite us knowing little about her."
"She has no reason to be here. We don't know her nor what she truly is. After everything that has happened in the last ten years, I am surprised none of us has learned anything from it."
"Learned from what?" Chaotzu cried out shrilly, his voice rising some. "From watching everything go by us?"
"Yes, watching everything. Watching as our friends died for something that they should not have gotten involved with. Watching as this damned planet was threatened several times by beings that were far more powerful then what we could handle. Watching what chance we had to have what Trunks has in his future!" Tien shouted out, not caring if his voice floated into the house at this moment. By this time, he figured the woman already knew more then this, then that might have a chain reaction to other people knowing if she would ever get out into the world. But, was secrecy so important now? He was becoming even more tired of hiding the things he was a part of like he had done so much so in the past. "Things will happen, Chaotzu, and she will be safer with someone who can defend her better then we can."
"Do you mean to tell us you know what is going to happen in the future?" Roshi whispered, looking up at Tien's third eye. It was known that this third eye was capable of seeing things that no ordinary people could see, but it had become useless since all could sense and know things that the eye used to see.
"No, I don't know what is going to happen, but I know if something does happen, it will come here as well. As much as I hate to admit it, Vegeta can fight better. Not us."
"If we train harder, then....." Chaotzu began before he was cut off.
"No, Chaotzu. No amount of training will ever have us at the same level as Vegeta or Gohan or even Goku. We can't do more then help where we can and then back off. We aren't Saiyans, you know. We can't do things the way they can."
"Are you giving up?"
"No, I am not. I am just telling myself that we can't protect her as much as someone else can."
"Tien, listen to what you are saying! Are you telling us that you rather have her be with a crazy, maniacal Saiyan that would probably kill her the moment he sees her instead of..."
"I never said he'd really do anything for her. It is just something that will be a precaution just in case something does happen," Tien cut in once again, becoming more impatient with him then he had been in the past. He then picked up the bags that he had placed on the ground, walking through them without a thought. Both moved out of the way, watching him move through the open of the house as he went in.
They stood there without word, wondering what was really going on with him.
****
He knew that he was going to get more complaining that day more so then he had gotten in the last few years of his life. Once Tien had gotten inside the house, he knew he'd be face an angry Rose at those words that he knew she had overheard being said between the three that had been outside. However, instead of being awake and listening to the conversation that had just taken place, the woman was asleep on the couch, the blanket pulled tightly over her. Tien stared at her, fluming silently inside about this situation that was unfolding in front of him. He was becoming more confused about her then he had when she first came to the island the day before. What was it about her that was making it worse then it should be? Was it because she was different then anyone else that they had met before her? Or was it because they didn't know what she was or where she had been before?
He placed the bags of clothing down onto the ground once again, his eyes upon the sleeping form of her. There were few people that he knew that could probably sleep through two voices that were shouting no less then twenty feet away and with the door open that would allow the intensity of those voices to float in even more. Yet, she could have that ability to sleep through that, but he didn't want to push his luck any more then he was already.
"I know you are awake, Rose, so don't pretend," Tien said sharply. "You heard what we were saying in some sense or another."
"Huh?" Rose muttered in a poorly tired voice, her emerald eyes opening slowly They fell upon the one that was standing before her for a moment or two then moved down to the bags by his feet. "Is that..."
"Yes, it is. Now answer me."
"Answer you what? You never asked me a question."
"How much did you hear of our conversation?"
"Um...." Rose started, pushing herself into a sitting position without dropping the blanket from her body. Her eyes darted around nervously like she was trying to figure out what to say to this question that was placed before her. Tien took in a small breath as he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for his answer no matter how long it took for her to give it to her. "Do you want the truth?"
"Yes, I do," He told her. "And try not to lie to me."
"Well, I heard some of it," She said slowly, dragging on so that she seemingly wouldn't have to answer it fully. "The voices were muffled for the most part, so I couldn't understand what was really being said out there."
"What did you understand?"
"The parts where you don't trust me," She said softly, her eyes dropping down to the ground. "You assume that I am one thing while I am another. Just like everyone else."
"People only assume to make up for what they do not know or understand," Tien replied simply, knowing full well of those words. "You haven't said much about yourself, so I can only assume as little as you tell us."
"Do you want to know the truth about me?" Rose hissed, her eyes quickly moving up towards him. "Do you want to know what hell I have gone through?"
"Yes, I do. It would save me and everyone else in this house the trouble of assuming."
"Trouble? Is that all that I am to you is trouble?"
"Possibly. I don't know who you are or if you are even human."
"Why do you have to understand someone by asking about their past?" She wondered to him with narrowed eyes.
"It would give me and everyone else more understanding about who and what you are."
"I'll tell you when you are ready," She said, standing up with the blanket still wrapped around her. She took several steps forwards, a little bit more painfully then she had done so before as she came closer to Tien. "Right now, your mind could not understand what has happened to me and to the things that I once knew."
"I have seen things of mine lost in battles that should not have been fought. I have seen what the Androids have done to my friends and their families. I have watched from a distance at what damage Frieza did to a race that did not deserve his wraith. I have seen more then what you know of," He snapped, gazing into the darkness of her eyes. "So, do not tell me that my mind is not ready to understand what you know."
"Do you...." Rose's voice stopped short as she turned her head to the side, her eyes going wide. She listened for several moments, her mouth opening and closing several times like she was trying to say something to an invisible person Tien watched her with more interest then he should have showed, his posture not moving from what it was.
"What is it?" He asked, wondering if he should even know what was going on with her now.
"How many Androids did you defeat?" She asked, a question that took him back.
"Excuse me?"
"The Androids. How many?"
"I......" He started, staring at her without really knowing what to say. Why did she want to know about the Androids so suddenly? It wasn't like they were any of her concern to know about them.
"Answer me, damn it!!!"
"Six. Five of them had been created either organically, by fusing humans with cyborg technology, or were totally mechanical. The last one was Gero himself."
"Liar," Rose growled, her head not turning back to the same position that it had been before. "There weren't six of them."
"Look, I was there. I saw all of them. Unless everyone there couldn't count how many there were, there were six of them. Cell, Gero, Androids 16, 17, 18, and 19. Six."
"Six that you know of. Gero didn't stop at Cell. He wasn't that stupid, you know."
"Rose, what do you know about Gero and his Androids?" Tien demanded, uncrossing his arms from around his chest and putting them upon her upper arms. By this time, Roshi and Chaotzu had come into the house, their ears listening in on the conversation with startled expressions on their faces. Oolong had come out of the back rooms where he had been before at some point during the time that Tien himself had come in and this point. All of them were staring at Rose, who had now turned her head back towards him. "Rose, please answer me because this is important. When Trunks came from the future the second time around, things were different then what he originally thought it was. Because of his traveling from the future, our time line became different then his. There were four more Androids then what there were during his time. How many more Androids did Gero create?"
"One more. One more then what you know of," She said in a deadpan voice, her eyes staring into his.
"And you are the one that he created?"
"No, I am not," Rose said in a low voice.
"Then how do you know of this then?"
"I just do, alright?" She snapped, tears forming at the base of her eyes. "Please, I beg of you. Don't ask any more questions or send me to any other place. I don't want to repeat what had happened before. Let me stay here for another couple of days then I can go back to collecting the Dragon Balls so that I can get this all over with."
"Why do you want the Dragon Balls, Rose?" Chaotzu asked from behind Tien. "Why are they so important to you?"
"Do you want me to explain? Do you really want to know?" She asked, putting her hands upon Tien's wrist so that both of them were now bound together tightly. He stared at her, taking note of the fear that was in her voice and on her face. There was something that was not right about her that made him think she was trying to weasel her way back into the outside world and to the Dragon Balls. For whatever reason she had for using them, she wasn't going to get them. It was too dangerous for someone to use the wish to resurrect someone or something that had been killed in the past.
And knowing was something he did not want to put into his mind.
To Be Continued
Author's Note: Yes, I managed to do another chapter of this fic. The only thing I have left to do with my papers for college is to do the final draft of my Research Paper for English and I will be done. I will, however, still be moving to the beach (three blocks from the nice, warm beach. THREE BLOCKS!! Warm weather. Good looking guys in bathing suits. *drools* Um, okay......I suppose I'll be getting death threats now.....you know my email address) soon, so I don't know if the next chapter will be out before I lose my 'Net connection.
Next, I want to know if I am making Rose too much of a Mary Sue character. I don't want her to be this all-knowing, all-powerful bitch that no one wants to have in a fic. Just a little bit of feedback is all I am asking. : ) Thanks in advance!!!!
