ChickFlick Chapter 24 - Epilogue
Pan opened her eyes. Patches of light and shade flickered across her face as the tree above her waved its leaves lazily in the gentle breeze. The sky was a deep, joyous blue, and the sun was pleasantly warm. Pan noticed rather vaguely that there was a bird singing somewhere.
Slowly, she sat up. She was lying near the edge of the forest clearing, back at Chichi and Goku's house. Obviously she had not been unconscious for that long. A smile lit up her tired face as she beheld the scene before her.
Her family and friends were rushing around, hugging each other, laughing, crying and grinning at the same time. Gohan was talking to Videl. Pan got that warm fuzzy feeling inside as she saw that they were holding hands. At that moment Gohan glanced over Videl's shoulder and saw his daughter sitting up. Calling out to the others, he ran to her and knelt down beside her
"Daddy!" Pan threw her arms around her father's neck. Now she was not a fighter with the ultimate power; she was just a girl, tired but happy, in the protective circle of her father's arms. Videl quickly joined them, and then in a rush the others were around her, congratulating her, asking her questions without waiting for an answer. She laughed happily.
It had been a long day.
* * * * *
Nobody wanted to be separated so soon after their reunion, so as the sun went down they flew to the Capsule Corporation building to make use of its dozens of guest rooms. Bulma let Chichi deal with the cooking.
Dinner that night was a noisy affair. There was always more to talk about. Around midnight, just as she was about to fall asleep face-down on the table, Gohan picked up his daughter and carried her through the halls to the room that would be hers for the night. Pan gave a wide yawn as he put her gently into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Gohan sat down on the edge of her bed, stroking her hair softly.
"That was an amazing thing you did today, Pan. Cell must have been quite annoyed at you."
"Yeah," she agreed, and a jubilant grin lit up her sleepy face, "didja see the look he gave me?" She let out a wicked little laugh, and her father laughed with her.
"He's probably very angry at our family right now. I think we kind of rubbed his defeat in his face a bit."
"Just following in your footsteps, Daddy." She replied glibly. Then she yawned and snuggled down deeper under the blanket.
"Besides, I love you." She told him sleepily. "I wasn't going to let him get away with it.
Gohan smiled at her.
"I'm glad to hear it. Now, you need to get some sleep, ok?" He waited for a reply, but he got none; she was already in a deep slumber.
As he stood up quietly he pondered silently on the power of love and everything it had done for them. He turned out the light with a click and stood marvelling in the darkness. In a voice so soft with wonder it could hardly be heard, he said to himself:
"I must be the luckiest father on earth."
Shaking his head in bemusement, he left the room and shut the door behind him.
In the darkness, Pan smiled in her sleep.
* * * * *
In the dim early hours of the morning Gohan and Videl could be found walking through the corridors of Capsule Corp. hand in hand, heading back to their guest room. There was a comfortable silence between them as they walked, the silence of two people perfectly content to be in one another's presence.
They reached the door and Gohan opened it for his wife. Videl smiled at him and stepped through. Together they sat on the edge of the bed in the darkness.
"Are you tired?" Gohan asked her softly.
"Yeah... just a bit." Shelaughed under her breath. "I was scared today. I thought that I was going to lose the two people I love most in the world."
"Me too." He replied sincerely. "But we're ok. We're all ok thanks to you guys. We would have been finished without you."
"I had something worth fighting for." She said simply.
"I mentioned to Pan that I think Cell has a bit of a grudge against this family now." He said, smirking rather uncharacteristically. Videl smothered a laugh with one hand so as not to wake up Pan, who was asleep in the room next to theirs.
"Maybe. Just a bit."
* * * * *
Bulma was glad to be home in her own room for the night. She flopped backwards onto the double bed she shared with her husband, waiting for Vegeta to finish in the shower.
"You'd better not leave your towel on the floor like you always do!" She growled in the general direction of the ensuite. At that moment the door opened and he returned, wearing a pair of dark blue baggy pants. Bulma could clearly see the soggy towel on the floor through the open door of the bathroom.
She wriggled down under the covers and the two faced each other, their eyes inches apart. A slow smile grew across Vegeta's face.
"Did you have fun today?" His dark eyes glittered in the dim light.
"Did YOU?" she countered, struggling to repress the urge to poke her tongue out at him.
He reached out and touched her face with gentle fingers. The gesture was so unexpected and unusual coming from him that her heart wanted to explode and she felt like bursting into tears.
"Look under your pillow." His breath tickled her ear as he whispered softly.
"What is it?" She started to say, but he lay one finger across her lips for silence. His eyes were unreadable.
Curiously she slipped one hand under her pillow, and her fingers came in contact with something cold and hard. The familiar shape made her heart beat faster. Carefully, she drew it out.
A miniature dragon ball glinted on its delicate golden chain.
She couldn't find words to express how she felt, so she kissed him instead.
* * * * *
Eighteen couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning for a long time now, and still her exhausted mind would give her no rest. Blank faces turned towards her behind her closed eyelids.
"Krillin?" She whispered quietly, not really expecting an answer at this time of night. But a sleepy 'yeeees?' came back to her. She turned on her side to face him, propping herself up on one elbow.
"Do you think what happened today was my fault?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
"WHAT?" He suddenly sat straight up and looked at her in shock. "What gave you THAT idea?"
"Well, if it wasn't for me, Cell would never have become perfect." She stated matter-of-factly.
"But that doesn't - "
"He made me an offer." She cut him off abruptly. "And I remembered how it felt to have that power, and I was so scared, because there was a part of me that still wanted that." She fell silent, and her hand crept into his. When he spoke, she was surprised by the force in his voice.
"How dare you blame yourself for what he did to you, to all of us! He has no right to make you feel like this. I only wish I had the power to make him pay for it." His hands were balled into fists. She couldn't help thinking that he was so cute when he got angry, and it happened so rarely that it always caught her unawares. She was touched by his anger on her behalf.
And suddenly, with the power of Krillin's words, those blank, hopeless faces that had been staring at her inside her mind blurred to become eyes and lips and noses, and they smiled at her. She laughed softly, and held him close.
"Thankyou."
And she meant the universe in that one simple word.
* * * * *
Her bones were tired. She was getting too old for this, she thought with a wry smile. Goku just laughed at her when she told him that.
They had made it. The relief was so enormous that it seemed to fill her up and overflow into everything around her.
And now there were no more words left to tell. For now, at least, their story was over.
Chichi reached over and turned out the light with a click.
* * * * * * * * * *
AN: THE END!!!!!!!!
I can't believe I've done this. I'm going to ramble for a good long while now, so if you can't be bothered don't worry, just skip this bit and go straight to the review box (not-so-subtle-hint).
First of all, thankyou to anyone and everyone who has ever read or reviewed this. This is the longest by far of anything I've ever posted on fanfic or fictionpress. I started writing this story four years ago. For four years of my life it's been in the works, and now it's finished. I feel kind of funny about that. Looking back on it now, it's amazing to see how far my writing's come in four years' time. I'm not saying this story is good quality writing, really, but it's come such a long way. And now I'll never write it or type it out again. It's done. If I could be bothered I would go back and edit all the really crappy bits that I wrote years ago, but I really don't have the effort in me. I'm leaving it like it is.
I'm not sure what I'm going to write next. I have a lot of half-formed ideas in my head, but nothing has ever hit me with the force this story did. I spent hours, when it first came to me, thinking about it, hashing out the plot in my mind and madly scribbling it down trying not to forget anything. For me, who is usually a short, descriptive story-writer, an epic action/adventure fic was certainly something out of the ordinary.
But even though I got sick of it sometimes, I had fun. And I hope everyone else did, too.
So, til next time, this is a goodbye.
Thankyou.
Pan opened her eyes. Patches of light and shade flickered across her face as the tree above her waved its leaves lazily in the gentle breeze. The sky was a deep, joyous blue, and the sun was pleasantly warm. Pan noticed rather vaguely that there was a bird singing somewhere.
Slowly, she sat up. She was lying near the edge of the forest clearing, back at Chichi and Goku's house. Obviously she had not been unconscious for that long. A smile lit up her tired face as she beheld the scene before her.
Her family and friends were rushing around, hugging each other, laughing, crying and grinning at the same time. Gohan was talking to Videl. Pan got that warm fuzzy feeling inside as she saw that they were holding hands. At that moment Gohan glanced over Videl's shoulder and saw his daughter sitting up. Calling out to the others, he ran to her and knelt down beside her
"Daddy!" Pan threw her arms around her father's neck. Now she was not a fighter with the ultimate power; she was just a girl, tired but happy, in the protective circle of her father's arms. Videl quickly joined them, and then in a rush the others were around her, congratulating her, asking her questions without waiting for an answer. She laughed happily.
It had been a long day.
* * * * *
Nobody wanted to be separated so soon after their reunion, so as the sun went down they flew to the Capsule Corporation building to make use of its dozens of guest rooms. Bulma let Chichi deal with the cooking.
Dinner that night was a noisy affair. There was always more to talk about. Around midnight, just as she was about to fall asleep face-down on the table, Gohan picked up his daughter and carried her through the halls to the room that would be hers for the night. Pan gave a wide yawn as he put her gently into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Gohan sat down on the edge of her bed, stroking her hair softly.
"That was an amazing thing you did today, Pan. Cell must have been quite annoyed at you."
"Yeah," she agreed, and a jubilant grin lit up her sleepy face, "didja see the look he gave me?" She let out a wicked little laugh, and her father laughed with her.
"He's probably very angry at our family right now. I think we kind of rubbed his defeat in his face a bit."
"Just following in your footsteps, Daddy." She replied glibly. Then she yawned and snuggled down deeper under the blanket.
"Besides, I love you." She told him sleepily. "I wasn't going to let him get away with it.
Gohan smiled at her.
"I'm glad to hear it. Now, you need to get some sleep, ok?" He waited for a reply, but he got none; she was already in a deep slumber.
As he stood up quietly he pondered silently on the power of love and everything it had done for them. He turned out the light with a click and stood marvelling in the darkness. In a voice so soft with wonder it could hardly be heard, he said to himself:
"I must be the luckiest father on earth."
Shaking his head in bemusement, he left the room and shut the door behind him.
In the darkness, Pan smiled in her sleep.
* * * * *
In the dim early hours of the morning Gohan and Videl could be found walking through the corridors of Capsule Corp. hand in hand, heading back to their guest room. There was a comfortable silence between them as they walked, the silence of two people perfectly content to be in one another's presence.
They reached the door and Gohan opened it for his wife. Videl smiled at him and stepped through. Together they sat on the edge of the bed in the darkness.
"Are you tired?" Gohan asked her softly.
"Yeah... just a bit." Shelaughed under her breath. "I was scared today. I thought that I was going to lose the two people I love most in the world."
"Me too." He replied sincerely. "But we're ok. We're all ok thanks to you guys. We would have been finished without you."
"I had something worth fighting for." She said simply.
"I mentioned to Pan that I think Cell has a bit of a grudge against this family now." He said, smirking rather uncharacteristically. Videl smothered a laugh with one hand so as not to wake up Pan, who was asleep in the room next to theirs.
"Maybe. Just a bit."
* * * * *
Bulma was glad to be home in her own room for the night. She flopped backwards onto the double bed she shared with her husband, waiting for Vegeta to finish in the shower.
"You'd better not leave your towel on the floor like you always do!" She growled in the general direction of the ensuite. At that moment the door opened and he returned, wearing a pair of dark blue baggy pants. Bulma could clearly see the soggy towel on the floor through the open door of the bathroom.
She wriggled down under the covers and the two faced each other, their eyes inches apart. A slow smile grew across Vegeta's face.
"Did you have fun today?" His dark eyes glittered in the dim light.
"Did YOU?" she countered, struggling to repress the urge to poke her tongue out at him.
He reached out and touched her face with gentle fingers. The gesture was so unexpected and unusual coming from him that her heart wanted to explode and she felt like bursting into tears.
"Look under your pillow." His breath tickled her ear as he whispered softly.
"What is it?" She started to say, but he lay one finger across her lips for silence. His eyes were unreadable.
Curiously she slipped one hand under her pillow, and her fingers came in contact with something cold and hard. The familiar shape made her heart beat faster. Carefully, she drew it out.
A miniature dragon ball glinted on its delicate golden chain.
She couldn't find words to express how she felt, so she kissed him instead.
* * * * *
Eighteen couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning for a long time now, and still her exhausted mind would give her no rest. Blank faces turned towards her behind her closed eyelids.
"Krillin?" She whispered quietly, not really expecting an answer at this time of night. But a sleepy 'yeeees?' came back to her. She turned on her side to face him, propping herself up on one elbow.
"Do you think what happened today was my fault?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
"WHAT?" He suddenly sat straight up and looked at her in shock. "What gave you THAT idea?"
"Well, if it wasn't for me, Cell would never have become perfect." She stated matter-of-factly.
"But that doesn't - "
"He made me an offer." She cut him off abruptly. "And I remembered how it felt to have that power, and I was so scared, because there was a part of me that still wanted that." She fell silent, and her hand crept into his. When he spoke, she was surprised by the force in his voice.
"How dare you blame yourself for what he did to you, to all of us! He has no right to make you feel like this. I only wish I had the power to make him pay for it." His hands were balled into fists. She couldn't help thinking that he was so cute when he got angry, and it happened so rarely that it always caught her unawares. She was touched by his anger on her behalf.
And suddenly, with the power of Krillin's words, those blank, hopeless faces that had been staring at her inside her mind blurred to become eyes and lips and noses, and they smiled at her. She laughed softly, and held him close.
"Thankyou."
And she meant the universe in that one simple word.
* * * * *
Her bones were tired. She was getting too old for this, she thought with a wry smile. Goku just laughed at her when she told him that.
They had made it. The relief was so enormous that it seemed to fill her up and overflow into everything around her.
And now there were no more words left to tell. For now, at least, their story was over.
Chichi reached over and turned out the light with a click.
* * * * * * * * * *
AN: THE END!!!!!!!!
I can't believe I've done this. I'm going to ramble for a good long while now, so if you can't be bothered don't worry, just skip this bit and go straight to the review box (not-so-subtle-hint).
First of all, thankyou to anyone and everyone who has ever read or reviewed this. This is the longest by far of anything I've ever posted on fanfic or fictionpress. I started writing this story four years ago. For four years of my life it's been in the works, and now it's finished. I feel kind of funny about that. Looking back on it now, it's amazing to see how far my writing's come in four years' time. I'm not saying this story is good quality writing, really, but it's come such a long way. And now I'll never write it or type it out again. It's done. If I could be bothered I would go back and edit all the really crappy bits that I wrote years ago, but I really don't have the effort in me. I'm leaving it like it is.
I'm not sure what I'm going to write next. I have a lot of half-formed ideas in my head, but nothing has ever hit me with the force this story did. I spent hours, when it first came to me, thinking about it, hashing out the plot in my mind and madly scribbling it down trying not to forget anything. For me, who is usually a short, descriptive story-writer, an epic action/adventure fic was certainly something out of the ordinary.
But even though I got sick of it sometimes, I had fun. And I hope everyone else did, too.
So, til next time, this is a goodbye.
Thankyou.