So They Say; Dirait-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 Six

Time seemed to move more slowly then it had before for him as Tien sat on the couch where Rose had been sleeping not too long ago. The bags in which Bulma's 'donated' old clothing were in sat behind the couch itself, waiting for their new owner to go through them once again. Rose had gone through them about twenty minutes ago, picking out what she wanted before she disappeared into one of the back rooms with the clothing in hand. Chaotzu had to refrain both Roshi and Oolong from bothering her while she changed from the blanket and into her new clothes. He had glanced over at the one that was sitting upon the couch for some help in this with no such luck.

Tien had spent the last ten minutes thinking over what Rose had told them when he had asked her what she knew. More androids? Now? Of course it was impossible to think that there were any more to worry about since Trunks had been wrong about how many that was in his timeline. It hadn't been his fault really; he just didn't know that his time traveling was going to change a different timeline as much as it had done so. Maybe he had changed time once again. That could happen. Maybe.

"She has been in there for a while," Chaotzu commented wearily a few moments later like had had just noticed that fact. "Shouldn't one of us go check on her in case she tries to do something we don't know of?"

"I'll go!" Roshi exclaimed excitedly from his position in front of the TV. He and Oolong had given up trying to get past Chaotzu and settled down in front of the screen. He had only broken away from the scantly clad women on the screen to answer the question, but was given a hard look instead of an actual answer.

"Tien?" Chaotzu whispered, walking to the end of the couch meekly as he stared at his friend.

"Yes?" Tien replied, his eyes darting over towards him.

"Are you going to make sure Rose is okay? She has been in the back for a while now and it shouldn't take her this long to get dressed."

"She is fine. Not like she is going to get away or anything of the sort." He then turned his eyes back forwards with a light sigh. "There are hundreds of miles of ocean around the island itself. Even if we don't know who she is or what she can do, it would be near impossible to swim away even if she wanted to. Unless, of course, she can swim long distances."

"That is not why I want you to check up on her. It is for a different reason entirely then what you think it is, Tien."

"Then why do you want me to check on her if you are so damned worried about her?"

"She isn't in the best of moods right now and she might try to do something to herself," Chaotzu said in a hushed voice as he looked down at the ground. Tien looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, an interested look appearing on his face. If Rose had wanted to do something to herself, wouldn't shave done that something already? It wasn't like she was and had been alone at other times in the house to do things to herself or to other people that were around her. There had been plenty of chance to do that, so why didn't she do it already?

"Chaotzu, if you are so worried about her, why don't you check upon her yourself? It would be a lot easier for you to do it then to ask someone else to," Tien asked him. Chaotzu looked up, his eyes meeting the others. He was about to say something when another voice interrupted.

"I can tell that you two are talking about me again. Shame on you," Rose said from behind the couch. Tien jumped up from his sitting position, turning around to face the woman. He hadn't expected her to be standing there, listening to what the two had been talking about. She was now wearing a light blue shirt with a pair of black pants that was a size too big for her. Her hands her upon her hips with her lips in a thin line as her eyes stared daggers at Chaotzu and Tien.

"Uh, Rose.....how long have you been standing there?" Chaotzu stammered out a minute later, his eyes flickering away from her and Tien and then back again.

"Long enough to understand what you two were saying."

"Chaotzu was just worried that was something was wrong with you," Tien said first before the other could, finding his voice. Rose moved her eyes solely upon him as they flickered with some interest. For a single moment, he felt a twinge of fear run through his veins before it had passed just as quickly as it had come.

"And why is that?" She wondered icily before she nodded towards the two that were glued to the TV and had not noticed that she had come out. "Did you think that they were going to do something? That I was going to do something to myself? Or do you think I could actually swim from here to wherever else I would want to go by myself?"

"Well....." Chaotzu started, glancing over towards Tien before looking at her once again. Rose raised an eyebrow at this, a soft chuckle coming from her lips.

"I figured as much," The woman said as she leaned forwards on the couch.

"What, he isn't allowed to wonder what you are doing? Can't he try to keep those two from trying to peek at you?" Tien asked defensibly. Rose rolled her eyes at this.

"You've been doing nothing but wonder what I am, what I am looking for, or any other kind of information that you don't know since I have come. Why is that?"

"We need to know who you are and why you were under those rocks. Without information, we start to make assumptions. Those assumptions might lead to something more then what you, I, or anyone might like."

"Which I don't want to hear right now," Rose grumbled, her eyes moving downwards. "But I don't want to give too much information."

"Why not?" Tien demanded sourly.

"Then I would have to kill you over it."

Tien and Chaotzu stared at her, their mouths dropping open some. Rose shifted uncomfortably in her position against the couch, her eyes darting over the top of the couch nervously. They didn't understand what was going one; why couldn't she tell them more then they already knew? What was she so afraid of that she couldn't tell them?

"Kill us?" Chaotzu inquired a little bit nervously. By this time, Roshi and Oolong had broken away from the TV and were staring at her with more interest then they had before. "All over information?"

"The universe revolves around several things, information and power being the major ones of them all. If one person knows something that will benefit him and that would possibly destroy everything else, he will keep it to himself. To hell with everyone else is that person's motto," Rose said, looking over at Chaotzu. "If someone else knows, then things are different and that person would lose the security he had before. It would be different in a sense that a person has to keep quiet about something even though he knows it will kill him if he told."

"Who? Who are you afraid of? Gero?" Tien asked, kneeling onto the couch so that he wasn't that far away from her face. Rose nodded slightly, her eyes meeting hers in a fearful glance. Then Tien burst out laughing.

"What? What is so damned funny?" Rose growled out, glaring at him angrily. "Gero isn't someone to laugh about."

"Unless he has been dead for two years," Tien said, his laughter subsiding after a few moments. At this point, Roshi, Chaotzu, and Oolong were staring at him like he was going crazy or sprouting a new head. The woman just had a horrified look on her face like he had just sprouted a second head. "Rose, Gero was killed two years ago by two of his own creations. There is no threat to you or anyone else for that matter."

"Tien, Gero lives through his machines that he has created! Even if he is killed physically and mentally, there is always the things he has left behind. The things that he knows, his ties to the Red Ribbon Army, the information he has collected through the years--if I tell you what I know now, bad things might happen. Terrible things."

"They can't be anything worse then what we have been through already. We've seen the destruction of a planet, Frieza's death--twice if that much, and what the androids have done," Tien informed her after his laughter had stopped. "If a child can defeat something with tremendous power, then there is nothing to worry about now. There is nothing that harm this planet again."

Rose gave him a look of disbelief as she moved around the couch and stomped towards the doorway. She moved out of it without much of a look behind her to see the confused and wondering looks they were giving her. Tien took in a deep breath, a sigh escaping his lips as he slowly turned around towards the door to stare out of it. Chaotzu was staring at it as well, confused at what had just happened. He then moved his eyes back to his friend, a blank look on his face.

"Maybe one of us should see if she is okay," Chaotzu offered, inching slowly over towards the doorway. Tien shook his head on that.

"No. Let her be alone for a while," He instructed lightly, sitting back down onto the couch. "Once she calms down, then maybe she can tell us what she knows."

"Is that all you want from her? Don't you care if she doesn't want to tell us what might be true?"

"If it helps us know more then we do, then yes. Even if it is not true, then we would be prepared anyways. Chaotzu, there may be something out there that she knows about and won't tell us about it. Would you rather have her be silent about it and let things happen the way they shouldn't have to or should we keep asking so this planet won't repeat what it went through two years ago?" Tien demanded curtly. Chaotzu did not answer the question, his eyes forming a glare towards him before he stepped towards the door. He lingered there for a moment or two before walking out the door. Tien stared at the doorway even more so then before, anger flowing through his eyes. All he wanted was to know what was going on with her, but it was becoming more trouble then what it was worth to him.

****

She now stood at the mouth of the ocean, her bare feet holding onto the sand tightly. She wanted to jump into the blue water and swim somewhere far away from the island no matter how far away it was. Any place was better then this part of the world, even if it was at the bottom of the deep ocean. It would be better then living a lie for a life that she had been living for far too long.

"You know he doesn't mean a lot of what he says, right?" A small voice commented from behind her. She didn't acknowledge his presence, ignoring him as she closed her eyes gently. She listened to the ocean's wind, a free feeling washing over her.

She knew that the small being was still behind her, waiting for her to answer his lingering question. Yet, she continued to ignore him, the untold secrets whispering to her through the wind. It wasn't that she didn't hate him or feel any dark emotions towards him at all; it was the question that she didn't like. She didn't want to think about the one who was inside that she felt anger towards.

"Rose?" The voiced asked again, this time with a response to it. Rose opened her green eyes, her body moving around to face the other. She had to look down to watch him, her gaze shifting over him.

"Chaotzu, right?" Rose asked, kneeling down in front of him. He nodded, a forced smile coming onto his lips. "Listen, your friend asks too many questions. He is going to get himself killed one day."

"We just want to know if there are any more androids out there."

"You are starting to sound like him, you know that?" She said hastily, standing up quickly. She crossed her arms over her chest as she turned to face the ocean once again, her eyes moving over the water. "Just because I know something doesn't mean that I need to tell anyone. What you don't know won't hurt you.

"What we didn't know did kill us, but not in this timeline. If Trunks hadn't come from the future, we wouldn't be here now," Chaotzu said, walking next to her. "Tien doesn't want what happened two years ago to repeat itself. No one does."

"What happened?" Rose asked, glancing down at him before returning her gaze to the sea.

"People were killed by 17 and 18 before they were absorbed by Cell. Cell then challenged the Earth to a tournament in which Tien, myself, and our friends were a part of." Chaotzu took in a deep breath before continuing. "Before he was defeated, Cell took the life of one of our friends. Although he did it to save us and to give his son a chance at fighting, Goku still was killed."

"Goku?" She wondered, turning her head towards him. Chaotzu nodded slowly. "He is dead?"

"Yes, he is," A voice said from the doorway of the house. Rose and Chaotzu turned their heads over their shoulders to see Tien standing there, his eyes watching them. "You suddenly want to know things as well. Why is that?"

"T\You can't be the only one who can ask questions," She said mysteriously, turning around to face him. "Now can you?"

"No, but we would also like to know about the other androids. Where are they?"

"I'll tell you in time, but first I'd like to take your friend up on her offer. Perhaps things will revel themselves in time," Rose said, a light smile coming onto her lips. Tien watched her for a moment, wondering if this was the right thing to do before sighing.

"Very well. I am sure Bulma will be happy to have you there," He muttered under his breath, turning around before walking back into the house. They watching him go, a fog clouding their vision. Only time could truly tell what was going on, but did they have any to spare?

To Be Continued

Author's Note: Things will pick up in the next couple of chapters, but everyone is going to have to wait until I actually finish my finals (two down, two to go), get to where I am moving to, and get the 'Net connection. Hopefully, I will have my own computer with 'Net connection in my room (I have a computer already, but that thing is about 10 years old......) so that I won't have to worry about anything. Anyways, please be patient with everything. This will be the last chapter I write for a while. Ja'ne!