Chapter 14 Truth and Dreams
(Sunday night around 10:30 PM)
Ichigo woke with a start. "Am I dead?" She wondered aloud. She looked around. She was in a white void. There was nothing. Just an eerie white glow in the room? Planet? Space? whatever. She couldn't decided, and really didn't care. Ichigo then looked and felt herself over. Her bones were not broken, and she had no wounds. She was also wearing a light silver-blue dress.
"I must be dead. I don't even own a dress." She said in disgust as she looked down at herself.
*Pop* Suddenly, a man appeared right in front of her. He was tall with black spiky Saiyan hair. He was also smiling at her in a friendly caring manner that only her father had ever expressed.
"Ha, no, you are not dead." He said as he looked around. Raising his hands up and giving the void a good look over he continued, this is a dream. From what the Kaios tell me about dreams this is your vision of death." The smiling man said.
Ichigo didn't like the sound of that one bit. If this were a dream why was she able to think and affect it? And why was there a man she had never seen before in her life in it. And why was she in a dress? "Then why am I in a dress? And who are you?" Ichigo demanded.
The man reached out and laid his hand on her head. Normally she would not have allowed anyone to do such a thing, but for some unknown reason, she just trusted this man.
"Your mother died. This is the dress you wore when you were at her funeral." He said as he moved her bangs out of the way so he could look her directly in the eyes.
Ichigo's eyes opened in wonder as she suddenly remembered the dress, and that painful day.
"But why does it fit me? I was only a child then! It makes no sense!"
"I don't know, it is your dream." The man replied.
"Well if it is my dream, why are you here? Who are you? I have never seen a Saiyan like you before."
"Ha I am here because you need me to be here. You came looking for me, but you would not allow people to tell you how to find me."
"What do you mean I came looking for you! I don't know what you are talking about! I came looking for the Super Saiyans, but they are just a myth. They don't exist."
The man sadly shook his head and turned away. As he walked away, she realized that he did not have a tail. For a split second she wondered if her dream hadn't given him one since she herself no longer had a tail. But her mind couldn't accept the image of a Saiyan without a tail.
"Stop! What happened to your tail?"
The man stopped. He slowly turned back and looked at her.
"When you wake up, you will learn the answer to that last question." He paused as if realizing something. "If you allow the truth to be told that is. I have already interfered more then I should have, but the sometimes you have to do the right thing."
Suddenly the man looked off into the distance as if focusing on something. In a bright flash of energy, his hair turned golden and his eyes turned green.
When he transformed, Ichigo could feel the power radiating away from him. She had felt something from the guy who had beaten her. From this man, however, she felt POWER. It was staggering. It was more energy then she could imagine; yet she could feel it.
"The Super Saiyans are real Ichigo Kudamono, you just have to believe."
He knows who I am! How, Who, What is he? Ichigo was a flurry of questions. But then, the dream faded to black.
* * *
Roshi woke up with a jolt. He was choking on something. Try as he might, he couldn't get whatever it was out of his throat. Kneeling on the ground grasping his throat, he finally looked around.
What he saw would have taken his breath away. He was surrounded by utter and total devastation. Smoldering buildings were all that remained of cities. Huge gapping craters pocketed the landscape. People cried out in pain. Then someone saw him and pointed at him in terror. The crowds of people ran away from him in terror.
The utter wrongness of the situation would have been laughable to Roshi before his fight with that girl. Now he was not so sure. Could he have done this? Where was he? What was happening?
"No Roshi, you did not do this, and though you may be able to, I doubt you ever will." A voice said behind him. After a short pause it continued. "Although it is your fear."
Roshi whipped around. There was a tall man wearing the familiar orange Turtle school dogi. At first Roshi thought it was his father, then he realized that the face and hair was wrong. The man was incredibly familiar, but he could not place him.
'What is he talking about?' He thought to himself.
"You fear that you will lose control and hurt those you care about."
'He can read my mind? Who is he? What is going on?' Roshi thought.
"Ha, I guess you can say that you are dreaming. And yes I can read your mind."
'Well,' Roshi thought to the man, 'if you can read my mind and you say this is my fear, what is there to stop me from doing something like this?' He thought as he looked over the ruined scene.
"Simple. You lost control of your emotions during your fight. You were wounded and in pain. You were fighting to protect people and were afraid of failing. Because of this fear you became angry and your rage caused you to loose control of your actions in your fight. So you worry that you will do it again." The man calmly replied. "Gohan could do what you did. In times of great need he could reach into himself and draw on a well of energy far greater then he normally had. But because of this, he never became what he could have become. He was always afraid of hurting the wrong people. But he forgot that it was only in his desire to protect others that he could call upon that power. I know you will never do such things, because you, like my son are a protector, not a killer."
Roshi suddenly realize who the man was. 'Oh no! You're Goku!!! I am dreaming of Goku! That's it, I've lost it. No turning back. Talking to dead people in my dreams. Oh my, is Slip going to flip when she hears about this!'
"So you say, but, um I am not dead." The man pointed to his forehead. "See, no halo!"
'That girl must have kicked me in the head harder then I thought. This must be an effect of some concussion. This can't be happening.'
Goku looked like he was almost angry. "Fine, don't believe me. But what I say is true. You can let yourself go in times of need. Don't be afraid of your abilities. Trust in your feelings and your gut senses, not in your intellect. Now swallow that senzu and wake up before you choke on the thing!"
After hearing the man tell him to swallow, Roshi immediately swallowed.
As Roshi came to, he heard Goku say one last thing. "Trust in your feelings and senses, not your brain. It always worked for me."
The voice faded, and the next thing Roshi knew, he was laying on his back near a crater staring at the moon.
He lay there for several moments to let his head clear. "This has been one hell of a day. I think I need to go take a nap."
Roshi slowly got up and stretched. He looked himself over. "Man do I need a new gi." He said as he looked down at all the holes in his outfit over his chest, stomach, arms, and knees.
Roshi then poked himself in the side about where his liver would be as he felt for a scar from the hole that had been there moments earlier. "Ha, all healed. I never will get used to these things." He said as he bent to pick up the bag of senzu beans.
Shaking his head in resignation he continued to talk to himself. "Well, might as well find the girl so I can bury her."
Walking to the crater, he looked down into it. Roshi found himself gawking. If he wasn't seeing things, small bloody air bubbles were being made as she breathed out of her smashed nose.
"Is she still alive?" He said to himself as he flew down next to her.
Roshi couldn't believe what he was seeing. She was lying there like a broken rag doll. Her hips and legs were bent at an impossible angle to her upper torso. Both of her arms seemed to be broken. Her left bent back behind her head with the bones sticking out at the elbow and her right arm was flopped over her chest and then back onto itself. Her entire face was smashed in. There was no way she should be alive. Yet, she was breathing.
Roshi's first reaction was to kill her and be done with it. But, looking down at her lying there helpless, he couldn't do it.
"I can't do it. Life is precious and without knowing why she came here, I just can't kill her and live with it." he said to himself as he looked down at her.
'Which means I had better either take her to CC and stick her into one of the Regeneration Tanks, or give her a Senzu bean.' Roshi told himself as he pondered what to do next.
Her breathing was starting to become more irregular. "Shit!, she is dying I need to do something! Letting her die here in front of me when I could have done something to save her life is the same as killing her." He realized. "Well.. I don't know what would happen if I gave her a senzu with her body all bent up like that" He said to himself as he set about trying to re-set bones and get her looking half-way normal.
Roshi pulled her right arm off of her and quickly dropped it again.
Suddenly realizing what should have been obvious, he looked her over. "Ha, Ha... This is great. She has less covering her now then Niko's string bikini. There is no way I can wake her up like this, she will freak and try to kill me for being a pervert. Great... Just great!"
Roshi spent several moments panicking as her ragged breathing got worse and worse.
"Wait a second! I still have all my camping stuff in the Kintoun!" Roshi pumped his fist into the air, "Yes!"
Roshi quickly flew up to get a sleeping bag with which to cover the girl.
Still blushing cherry apple red with sweat drops the size of the moon, Roshi finally got her all straightened out.
"Man, she isn't all that bad looking if you forget all the wounds and broken bones and stuff," He said to himself.
Roshi then stood there blinking as if trying to figure out if he actually said that. 'Bad thoughts Roshi! She just tried to kill you!' After slapping himself in the face, he finally covered the girl with the sleeping bag and put the Senzu in her mouth.
"I sure hope this doesn't grow her tail back." He said as he forced her to swallow the bean.
Roshi turned around and ran out of the crater. Once at the top, he lied down and peered over the side to watch her. If she was going to go Ouzaru, it would happen almost as soon as she woke up.
* * *
Ichigo's eyes snapped open. She had been falling. She remembered the man. Then... Nothing. There was the moon. What was happening?
Ichigo jumped up and felt the blanket thing slide off of her.
"AHHH!!!" She looked down and immediately pulled it back up and wrapped it around herself.
She realized that her left arm and back were no longer broken. She felt her face. "What happened? Was it all a dream? Where am I? I thought I was dead." Ichigo patted herself down. She found everything except for her tail to be in perfect condition. Better in fact, then she had been feeling before her fight.
Bewildered, she looked around. She was standing in the bottom of a big crater. Then she saw HIM.
"YOU!!!" She said as she got ready to throw a ki blast.
"Wait! Don't!" He yelled as he jumped up and frantically waved his arms around.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blast you into the next dimension Bastard!"
He slowly walked down the slope of the crater to her. "I beat you once, I can do it again if you force me to." He said calmly.
Continuing to charge the ki blast, Ichigo replied. "I don't know who you are, but if you knew enough about Saiyans to rip off my tail, you should know that we get stronger after each battle." She said trying to sound calm and dignified.
'I may get stronger, but that guy is something else. I hope he buys my bravado. I really doubt I would be able to kill him.'
The young man sighed and shook his head. "Haaaahhhhh, Kinomi, please listen to me, I didn't heal you just to fight you again."
Ichigo's eyes jerked open and she let her mouth fall open. "You healed me? How? Why? Why would you heal me after the both of us tried to kill each other?"
"I was never trying to kill you. And as far as the why would I heal you goes, I don't know, because I guess. Because it was the right thing to do." He replied softly.
"The right thing to do?" Ichigo whispered back. She was suddenly in a flashback as she remembered her father talking to her about ruling once long ago.
"There are many ways to rule my daughter, but you will find as I have, that many times a true leader, a good leader is one who is willing to do the right thing. Not because the right thing is easy, or because the right thing looks good to the citizens, but because the right thing to do is the right thing to do." He had said.
Ichigo was lost in her thoughts for a little while. She snapped out of it when she realized he had just asked her something.
"Repeat that, what did you ask me?"
The young man cocked an eye at her. "The same thing I asked back at the tower. What were you doing here? Why are you attacking people for no reason?" He said coming a little closer.
Ichigo felt a bit of anger surge through her veins, but she calmed herself. "I had to."
"Why"
"Because I had to find the Vegeta Saiyans and that was the only way I could do it."
"What? What do you mean by that? Why do you think killing people would help you find Saiyans?" He asked almost angrily.
"You wouldn't understand. Besides, it doesn't matter. All of those filthy worthless rebels must have died out long ago." She said.
"What!?"
Ichigo shuddered, he seemed to be getting worked up about this. 'Fine' she decided, 'I might as well tell him.'
"Fine! Don't loose what little of your shirt you have left I'll tell you."
"Good, now tell." He said as he sat down on the side of the crater.
'He shows too much trust. I don't know about him.' She thought to herself.
"Well anyway. I was sent here to find the Vegeta Rebels. They were a traitorous bunch of savage murderers and bruits. Their leaders were the Vegeta family. Anyway, to make the long story short, long ago, the legitimate king of the Saiyan race fell ill at a young age and was crippled. One of his Generals a man of distant blood relation to the king attacked and claimed the throne." Ichigo paused to think for a moment. "Well, the Vegeta family and its followers were eventually defeated by m... er the rightful King. After being exiled, they did not change their ways, and became hired thugs for an evil being named Cold. The Vegeta Saiyans were merciless killers and terrible horrid honorles in their allegiance with Cold. Then one day they all vanished through a wormhole."
"Ok, Kinomi, since you are setting yourself up as being an Honorable person in this story of yours. Why follow them? Why act like them?" He said while glaring at her in a way that made her think he did not believe her story.
Ichigo realized that she should tell him her real name... He deserved to know the truth, but since none of this mattered, she decided not to.
"Because, the Changelings, Cold's people attacked Saiya. They were, are killing all of m... all of us Saiyans. So, I was sent to find the worthless Vegeta Saiyans. We had heard a rumor about one of them becoming a Super Saiyan and defeating Frieza."
While she had been talking a massive storm front had moved in. It was beginning to rain. Ichigo wrapped the sleeping bag tighter around herself and started to shiver.
"Look, like I said none of this matters anymore, cause it was just a stupid myth, a children's story from long ago. But my f... ah my King decided that if we could not pass up the chance of a Super Saiyan existing in the Rebels. So I was sent to find them. But I couldn't just ask for their help, after what we had done to them, they would have just killed me. I had to win their trust and respect. So I had to act like them so that when I found them they might actually listen to what I have to say." She said while shivering. The sleeping bag was not very thick and the wind and rain were going right through it. Less then two weeks ago she had been living in the middle of winter, it was a lot warmer here even with the rain, but the sudden change in temperatures as the storm moved in and the soaking down pour was chilling her to the bone.
"Ok. I am not sure if I believe you." He said to her. "But I do know that you were wrong." He held up his hands to forstall any comments from her. "But that can wait. This storm came out of no where, I think our fight may have caused it, we need shelter. Come here." He said to her as he grabbed something from his stupid yellow cloud.
Ichigo watched him search through a bag. Then he grabbed what looked like a little bottle and after climbing out of the crater, threw it into the wind.
POP!!! A small domed house appeared and flopped onto the ground.
"Not exactly roughing it, but I am glad I left my camping stuff in the Kintoun!" he said over the wind as he walked inside.
Ichigo stood there. 'Should I go in? What is going on? First he rips my tail off. Then he laughs at me. Then he gropes me. Then he stops in the middle of a fight to apologize. Then he almost kills me. Now he has somehow healed me from what was surly fatal wounds and is acting so... well, he is is is... acting so trusting. Because it was the right thing to do he said? During our fight, he put himself in danger to save those people in the village? Maybe there is more to him then I thought, but would I have done the same thing? I didn't mean to endanger people who were not involved and I know I would have done just as much to protect them had the situations been reversed. The fact is the situations are not reversed. He is questioning me and my honor. I was fighting for the right reasons. That fact I am sure of. But were my actions that lead up to the fight right? No, I knew they were not when I was doing them. He has every reason to question my honor, but why does he trust me? Who is he?'
Ichigo needed her questions answered. She followed him into the house.
"Here," he said as soon as she hobbled through the door. "This is one of my old gis. It might be a bit big for you, but I think you will be more comfortable with something ah... more on." He said while turning a brilliant red.
'Pervert!' She thought to herself as she grabbed the orange thing and walked into the bathroom he had pointed to.
She was tying the belt when she realized that the symbol on the left breast of the shirt was the same symbol as what was on the front of that dream guy's orange outfit.
She rushed out into the main room to find a table with more food on it then it looked like it could support.
Ichigo stopped dead in her tracks. "What is this? Who are you? Why is this the same outfit as that guy was wearing?"
Roshi stopped eating long enough to look at her and reply. "This is my supper, I already told you I am Son Roshi, and what are you talking about?"
Ichigo was getting flustered. "I... Oh never mind! Just a stupid dream!"
Ichigo watched Roshi gag on his chicken and then finally start talking to her again. "Wait! Dream guy? You saw some guy wearing that outfit in a dream!!?????"
Wondering what the big deal was about she simply said "yes... Why?"
"Wait! Describe him, what did he say?"
Ichigo's stomach was starting to bother her. She started to reach for a large piece of chicken when his glare stopped her. "I'm hungry."
"Fine, eat all you want, those Senzues are supposed to fill one up for ten days, but it never seems to work when they heal injuries. But anyway, about this dream of yours?"
Ichigo glared at him. She was not used to taking orders or having questions asked of her. "Why should I tell you anything? I asked you my question first."
He got up and looked her directly in the eyes. "You will tell me because what you say now will determine just how much I can trust you. If I decide I can't trust you, I may be forced to kill you, and I would honestly much rather trust you." He said in a tone of grim determination.
"I don't believe you. Besides I am not about to take orders from the likes of you Jerk!"
"GRRRRR" he made a growling noise low in his throat. "So help me Kami, fine! Kinomi, please tell me about the man in your dream."
"I don't know why I am telling you so much, but alright, I will tell you, but only because you asked rather then demanded this time. He was tall had spiky Saiyan hair. He told me he was what I was looking for. Then He turned all golden haired and had green eyes. But he wouldn't answer my questions directly and he probably wasn't even a Saiyan so it was just a stupid dumb dream, why do you care?"
"Why do you say he probably wasn't even a Saiyan?" Roshi asked.
Almost to herself she mumbled "because he didn't have a tail."
"So"
Rage bubbled up in Ichigo. 'SO? SO? This Son Roshi knew so much yet he knew nothing!!!' "SO! SO! ARE YOU BRAIN DEAD??? NO SAIYAN IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD EVER BE CAUGHT WITHOUT THEIR TAIL!!! CRIMINALS ARE PUNISHED BY HAVING THEM REMOVED, AND ONLY THE STUPID LOSE THIERS!!! YOU TURNED ME INTO A WALKING DISCRACE TO MY NAME! A MOCKERY TO EVERYTHING I EVER HOPED TO BE! YOU RUINED ME! I CAN NEVER GO BACK NOW! THE PEOPLE WOULDN'T ACCEPT ME EVEN IF I COULD FIND THE VEGETA SAIYANS!!!" She screamed at him in vain. Forcing herself to calm down, she continued. "You don't know what it means to loose one's tail" she said as she sat down in a corner and hugged her knees to her chest.
"No, I don't know what it meant to you to loose your tail, but there was no other way. In your arrogance you refused to even talk to the very people you were looking for." He replied to her from his chair.
Ichigo sprung up like she had been shot from a cannon and slapped him in the face. "Don't lie to me Jerk! I saw no Saiyans. There are no Vegeta Saiyans left anymore!"
Roshi got up and slowly rubbed the reddening mark on his cheek. "You're wrong. I am a Saiyan." He said back.
"LIAR!!! I refuse to listen to you lie to me!!!" Ichigo screamed as she threw open the door and took off.
Roshi looked on and shook his head. The storm was still raging fiercely. He decided she would be back once she had a chance to cool down. He sat down and started eating again.
Ichigo flew out of the domed house. 'I can't believe the arrogance of that jerk. He isn't the least bit sorry for his actions. He doesn't even have a tail and he claims he is a Saiyan!!! Stupid jerk I ought to kill him for his lies.'
Ichigo suddenly stopped in midair. "What had that dream guy said?
"When you wake up, you will learn the answer to that last question. If you allow the truth to be told that is."
'If I allow the truth to be told? Could the jerk be telling the truth?' "AHHHHHH DAMMMMNIT!!!!" She screamed to the air.
Ichigo turned around and flew back.
"Welcome back, that didn't take you long." Roshi said to her as soon as she floated through the door.
"Prove it" She said to him.
"Prove what?" he said back confused.
"Prove that you once had a tail."
"Oh, ok... I guess." He said. Ichigo noticed that he was getting progressively redder.
'This guy blushes at anything. He should almost be ashamed of his lack of control.'
Roshi turned around and pulled his shorts part way down. "There, you can see the stitches they gave me as a baby when they removed it."
Ichigo backed into the wall in shock. "Your tail was removed when you were a baby? Who would be so cruel? Why would anyone mutilate their child like that?" she said to the air."
"It seems it is time for me to tell my story." He said as he motioned her to sit down and eat.
"You really are a Saiyan?" She asked still sounding quite doubtful.
"Well yes, and no, I think I will start there. See, Frieza eventually took over from his father and grew frightened of his Saiyan minions. So he blew up the planet Vegeta. While I don't have the time to tell the whole story, in the end only two Saiyans survived, Goku and Vegeta."
"Goku is not a Saiyan name."
"Ah yeah... you're right um let me think. Kakarrot was his given name. He was sent as a baby to conquer this planet. Anyway, Goku was found by an old master of martial arts and after falling off a cliff and bumping his head, grew up as a human. The best master of martial arts who ever lived trained him. Goku eventually became a hero and saved the Earth many times." Roshi grabbed a muffin and ate it before continuing.
"Anyway, at this time there were things called Dragon balls on the earth. They could grant any one wish once a year. Vegeta learned of them and came here to find them. After a long battle, Goku managed to defeat Vegeta. So Vegeta went to the Planet Namek which is where the Dragon balls were from."
Roshi continued, "However, many of Goku's friends had died fighting Vegeta, and the dragon balls had been rendered useless. So Gohan, Goku's half- Human son, and two of Goku's friends had also gone to Namek to find those Dragon balls. To cut to the chase, Goku ends up on Namek only to find Frieza there as well. Vegeta was forced to work with Goku. Frieza kills Vegeta but losses to Goku. Goku fixes the dragon balls and wishes everyone Frieza had killed back to life. Vegeta settled on earth and also married."
"Many generations later you have me and my cousins. I am a descendent of both Vegeta and Goku. If what you had said about my ancestors had not been true I would be honor bound to avenge you, however, once settling on Earth, even Vegeta found his honor. The reason for the removal of the tails is simple and three fold. One, we wish to blend in with normal Humans, and humans do not have tails. Two, We like having a moon, and as it becomes full every 28 days having a few hundred Ouzaru rampaging amuck would not be good. And finally, the tail is a weakness, not a strength."
"WHAT?!?!! How can you say it is a weakness?!?! I would have pulverized you had I been able to go Ouzaru!"
"Yes, I am sure you could have, which is why I had no choice but to remove it."
"So you agree with me! Our tail is our strength, not a weakness!"
Roshi made a weird spinning disk of ki. "What would have happened had I cut your tail off tonight while you were Ouzaru?"
Ichigo realized the look on her face at that moment probably made her look like a caged animal. The question surprised her. "I don't know. I guess I would have turned back to normal."
"And you would have probably passed out on the spot. The Ouzaru transformation gives you a lot of power, but it also takes a lot." Roshi paused for a moment. "Besides, earlier today you were rendered quite helpless by the simple act of grabbing your tail and ripping it off. If it is that sensitive why were you so careless with it?"
Ichigo's blood boiled. It was one thing to be humiliated, but totally another to have it rubbed in her face. She tried to smash his face in only to have him catch her fist.
"Wait, sorry, please calm down. I didn't mean to insult you. I was just trying to point out that you really haven't lost anything by losing your tail."
'Haven't lost anything? I've lost EVERYTHING!' Ichigo screamed to herself in her mind. Realizing that he was still physically a lot stronger then she was however, she decided now was not the time to push the issue. "Fine!!! So what about Super Saiyan? The myth says that there is nothing stronger. So how strong is it?"
Ichigo saw him give a look of concern? Before he answered. If you scouter works the same as the ones we have, I think Goku was at like 15 million when he beat Frieza. And he got much stronger later on."
"That is impossible! Nothing has that much power!"
"Goku was far stronger then you could ever dream." Roshi replied.
"If the Super Saiyans are so strong, why didn't a Super Saiyan come fight me?"
"Ummmm, ah... there has not been a Super Saiyan for about 300 years."
"WHAT!!!" Ichigo said as she slumped down in her chair. "Then it was all for nothing. I've failed."
"I'm sorry Kinomi, I wish I could help. I do believe you had good intentions even if your actions were less then stellar. We can fix your ship and go back with you if you think it would make any difference."
Ichigo shuddered when he called her that name.
"It won't. You have no idea how strong the Changelings are." She said dejectedly. I am going to lie down, I can worry about what to do in the morning."
* * *
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(Sunday night around 10:30 PM)
Ichigo woke with a start. "Am I dead?" She wondered aloud. She looked around. She was in a white void. There was nothing. Just an eerie white glow in the room? Planet? Space? whatever. She couldn't decided, and really didn't care. Ichigo then looked and felt herself over. Her bones were not broken, and she had no wounds. She was also wearing a light silver-blue dress.
"I must be dead. I don't even own a dress." She said in disgust as she looked down at herself.
*Pop* Suddenly, a man appeared right in front of her. He was tall with black spiky Saiyan hair. He was also smiling at her in a friendly caring manner that only her father had ever expressed.
"Ha, no, you are not dead." He said as he looked around. Raising his hands up and giving the void a good look over he continued, this is a dream. From what the Kaios tell me about dreams this is your vision of death." The smiling man said.
Ichigo didn't like the sound of that one bit. If this were a dream why was she able to think and affect it? And why was there a man she had never seen before in her life in it. And why was she in a dress? "Then why am I in a dress? And who are you?" Ichigo demanded.
The man reached out and laid his hand on her head. Normally she would not have allowed anyone to do such a thing, but for some unknown reason, she just trusted this man.
"Your mother died. This is the dress you wore when you were at her funeral." He said as he moved her bangs out of the way so he could look her directly in the eyes.
Ichigo's eyes opened in wonder as she suddenly remembered the dress, and that painful day.
"But why does it fit me? I was only a child then! It makes no sense!"
"I don't know, it is your dream." The man replied.
"Well if it is my dream, why are you here? Who are you? I have never seen a Saiyan like you before."
"Ha I am here because you need me to be here. You came looking for me, but you would not allow people to tell you how to find me."
"What do you mean I came looking for you! I don't know what you are talking about! I came looking for the Super Saiyans, but they are just a myth. They don't exist."
The man sadly shook his head and turned away. As he walked away, she realized that he did not have a tail. For a split second she wondered if her dream hadn't given him one since she herself no longer had a tail. But her mind couldn't accept the image of a Saiyan without a tail.
"Stop! What happened to your tail?"
The man stopped. He slowly turned back and looked at her.
"When you wake up, you will learn the answer to that last question." He paused as if realizing something. "If you allow the truth to be told that is. I have already interfered more then I should have, but the sometimes you have to do the right thing."
Suddenly the man looked off into the distance as if focusing on something. In a bright flash of energy, his hair turned golden and his eyes turned green.
When he transformed, Ichigo could feel the power radiating away from him. She had felt something from the guy who had beaten her. From this man, however, she felt POWER. It was staggering. It was more energy then she could imagine; yet she could feel it.
"The Super Saiyans are real Ichigo Kudamono, you just have to believe."
He knows who I am! How, Who, What is he? Ichigo was a flurry of questions. But then, the dream faded to black.
* * *
Roshi woke up with a jolt. He was choking on something. Try as he might, he couldn't get whatever it was out of his throat. Kneeling on the ground grasping his throat, he finally looked around.
What he saw would have taken his breath away. He was surrounded by utter and total devastation. Smoldering buildings were all that remained of cities. Huge gapping craters pocketed the landscape. People cried out in pain. Then someone saw him and pointed at him in terror. The crowds of people ran away from him in terror.
The utter wrongness of the situation would have been laughable to Roshi before his fight with that girl. Now he was not so sure. Could he have done this? Where was he? What was happening?
"No Roshi, you did not do this, and though you may be able to, I doubt you ever will." A voice said behind him. After a short pause it continued. "Although it is your fear."
Roshi whipped around. There was a tall man wearing the familiar orange Turtle school dogi. At first Roshi thought it was his father, then he realized that the face and hair was wrong. The man was incredibly familiar, but he could not place him.
'What is he talking about?' He thought to himself.
"You fear that you will lose control and hurt those you care about."
'He can read my mind? Who is he? What is going on?' Roshi thought.
"Ha, I guess you can say that you are dreaming. And yes I can read your mind."
'Well,' Roshi thought to the man, 'if you can read my mind and you say this is my fear, what is there to stop me from doing something like this?' He thought as he looked over the ruined scene.
"Simple. You lost control of your emotions during your fight. You were wounded and in pain. You were fighting to protect people and were afraid of failing. Because of this fear you became angry and your rage caused you to loose control of your actions in your fight. So you worry that you will do it again." The man calmly replied. "Gohan could do what you did. In times of great need he could reach into himself and draw on a well of energy far greater then he normally had. But because of this, he never became what he could have become. He was always afraid of hurting the wrong people. But he forgot that it was only in his desire to protect others that he could call upon that power. I know you will never do such things, because you, like my son are a protector, not a killer."
Roshi suddenly realize who the man was. 'Oh no! You're Goku!!! I am dreaming of Goku! That's it, I've lost it. No turning back. Talking to dead people in my dreams. Oh my, is Slip going to flip when she hears about this!'
"So you say, but, um I am not dead." The man pointed to his forehead. "See, no halo!"
'That girl must have kicked me in the head harder then I thought. This must be an effect of some concussion. This can't be happening.'
Goku looked like he was almost angry. "Fine, don't believe me. But what I say is true. You can let yourself go in times of need. Don't be afraid of your abilities. Trust in your feelings and your gut senses, not in your intellect. Now swallow that senzu and wake up before you choke on the thing!"
After hearing the man tell him to swallow, Roshi immediately swallowed.
As Roshi came to, he heard Goku say one last thing. "Trust in your feelings and senses, not your brain. It always worked for me."
The voice faded, and the next thing Roshi knew, he was laying on his back near a crater staring at the moon.
He lay there for several moments to let his head clear. "This has been one hell of a day. I think I need to go take a nap."
Roshi slowly got up and stretched. He looked himself over. "Man do I need a new gi." He said as he looked down at all the holes in his outfit over his chest, stomach, arms, and knees.
Roshi then poked himself in the side about where his liver would be as he felt for a scar from the hole that had been there moments earlier. "Ha, all healed. I never will get used to these things." He said as he bent to pick up the bag of senzu beans.
Shaking his head in resignation he continued to talk to himself. "Well, might as well find the girl so I can bury her."
Walking to the crater, he looked down into it. Roshi found himself gawking. If he wasn't seeing things, small bloody air bubbles were being made as she breathed out of her smashed nose.
"Is she still alive?" He said to himself as he flew down next to her.
Roshi couldn't believe what he was seeing. She was lying there like a broken rag doll. Her hips and legs were bent at an impossible angle to her upper torso. Both of her arms seemed to be broken. Her left bent back behind her head with the bones sticking out at the elbow and her right arm was flopped over her chest and then back onto itself. Her entire face was smashed in. There was no way she should be alive. Yet, she was breathing.
Roshi's first reaction was to kill her and be done with it. But, looking down at her lying there helpless, he couldn't do it.
"I can't do it. Life is precious and without knowing why she came here, I just can't kill her and live with it." he said to himself as he looked down at her.
'Which means I had better either take her to CC and stick her into one of the Regeneration Tanks, or give her a Senzu bean.' Roshi told himself as he pondered what to do next.
Her breathing was starting to become more irregular. "Shit!, she is dying I need to do something! Letting her die here in front of me when I could have done something to save her life is the same as killing her." He realized. "Well.. I don't know what would happen if I gave her a senzu with her body all bent up like that" He said to himself as he set about trying to re-set bones and get her looking half-way normal.
Roshi pulled her right arm off of her and quickly dropped it again.
Suddenly realizing what should have been obvious, he looked her over. "Ha, Ha... This is great. She has less covering her now then Niko's string bikini. There is no way I can wake her up like this, she will freak and try to kill me for being a pervert. Great... Just great!"
Roshi spent several moments panicking as her ragged breathing got worse and worse.
"Wait a second! I still have all my camping stuff in the Kintoun!" Roshi pumped his fist into the air, "Yes!"
Roshi quickly flew up to get a sleeping bag with which to cover the girl.
Still blushing cherry apple red with sweat drops the size of the moon, Roshi finally got her all straightened out.
"Man, she isn't all that bad looking if you forget all the wounds and broken bones and stuff," He said to himself.
Roshi then stood there blinking as if trying to figure out if he actually said that. 'Bad thoughts Roshi! She just tried to kill you!' After slapping himself in the face, he finally covered the girl with the sleeping bag and put the Senzu in her mouth.
"I sure hope this doesn't grow her tail back." He said as he forced her to swallow the bean.
Roshi turned around and ran out of the crater. Once at the top, he lied down and peered over the side to watch her. If she was going to go Ouzaru, it would happen almost as soon as she woke up.
* * *
Ichigo's eyes snapped open. She had been falling. She remembered the man. Then... Nothing. There was the moon. What was happening?
Ichigo jumped up and felt the blanket thing slide off of her.
"AHHH!!!" She looked down and immediately pulled it back up and wrapped it around herself.
She realized that her left arm and back were no longer broken. She felt her face. "What happened? Was it all a dream? Where am I? I thought I was dead." Ichigo patted herself down. She found everything except for her tail to be in perfect condition. Better in fact, then she had been feeling before her fight.
Bewildered, she looked around. She was standing in the bottom of a big crater. Then she saw HIM.
"YOU!!!" She said as she got ready to throw a ki blast.
"Wait! Don't!" He yelled as he jumped up and frantically waved his arms around.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blast you into the next dimension Bastard!"
He slowly walked down the slope of the crater to her. "I beat you once, I can do it again if you force me to." He said calmly.
Continuing to charge the ki blast, Ichigo replied. "I don't know who you are, but if you knew enough about Saiyans to rip off my tail, you should know that we get stronger after each battle." She said trying to sound calm and dignified.
'I may get stronger, but that guy is something else. I hope he buys my bravado. I really doubt I would be able to kill him.'
The young man sighed and shook his head. "Haaaahhhhh, Kinomi, please listen to me, I didn't heal you just to fight you again."
Ichigo's eyes jerked open and she let her mouth fall open. "You healed me? How? Why? Why would you heal me after the both of us tried to kill each other?"
"I was never trying to kill you. And as far as the why would I heal you goes, I don't know, because I guess. Because it was the right thing to do." He replied softly.
"The right thing to do?" Ichigo whispered back. She was suddenly in a flashback as she remembered her father talking to her about ruling once long ago.
"There are many ways to rule my daughter, but you will find as I have, that many times a true leader, a good leader is one who is willing to do the right thing. Not because the right thing is easy, or because the right thing looks good to the citizens, but because the right thing to do is the right thing to do." He had said.
Ichigo was lost in her thoughts for a little while. She snapped out of it when she realized he had just asked her something.
"Repeat that, what did you ask me?"
The young man cocked an eye at her. "The same thing I asked back at the tower. What were you doing here? Why are you attacking people for no reason?" He said coming a little closer.
Ichigo felt a bit of anger surge through her veins, but she calmed herself. "I had to."
"Why"
"Because I had to find the Vegeta Saiyans and that was the only way I could do it."
"What? What do you mean by that? Why do you think killing people would help you find Saiyans?" He asked almost angrily.
"You wouldn't understand. Besides, it doesn't matter. All of those filthy worthless rebels must have died out long ago." She said.
"What!?"
Ichigo shuddered, he seemed to be getting worked up about this. 'Fine' she decided, 'I might as well tell him.'
"Fine! Don't loose what little of your shirt you have left I'll tell you."
"Good, now tell." He said as he sat down on the side of the crater.
'He shows too much trust. I don't know about him.' She thought to herself.
"Well anyway. I was sent here to find the Vegeta Rebels. They were a traitorous bunch of savage murderers and bruits. Their leaders were the Vegeta family. Anyway, to make the long story short, long ago, the legitimate king of the Saiyan race fell ill at a young age and was crippled. One of his Generals a man of distant blood relation to the king attacked and claimed the throne." Ichigo paused to think for a moment. "Well, the Vegeta family and its followers were eventually defeated by m... er the rightful King. After being exiled, they did not change their ways, and became hired thugs for an evil being named Cold. The Vegeta Saiyans were merciless killers and terrible horrid honorles in their allegiance with Cold. Then one day they all vanished through a wormhole."
"Ok, Kinomi, since you are setting yourself up as being an Honorable person in this story of yours. Why follow them? Why act like them?" He said while glaring at her in a way that made her think he did not believe her story.
Ichigo realized that she should tell him her real name... He deserved to know the truth, but since none of this mattered, she decided not to.
"Because, the Changelings, Cold's people attacked Saiya. They were, are killing all of m... all of us Saiyans. So, I was sent to find the worthless Vegeta Saiyans. We had heard a rumor about one of them becoming a Super Saiyan and defeating Frieza."
While she had been talking a massive storm front had moved in. It was beginning to rain. Ichigo wrapped the sleeping bag tighter around herself and started to shiver.
"Look, like I said none of this matters anymore, cause it was just a stupid myth, a children's story from long ago. But my f... ah my King decided that if we could not pass up the chance of a Super Saiyan existing in the Rebels. So I was sent to find them. But I couldn't just ask for their help, after what we had done to them, they would have just killed me. I had to win their trust and respect. So I had to act like them so that when I found them they might actually listen to what I have to say." She said while shivering. The sleeping bag was not very thick and the wind and rain were going right through it. Less then two weeks ago she had been living in the middle of winter, it was a lot warmer here even with the rain, but the sudden change in temperatures as the storm moved in and the soaking down pour was chilling her to the bone.
"Ok. I am not sure if I believe you." He said to her. "But I do know that you were wrong." He held up his hands to forstall any comments from her. "But that can wait. This storm came out of no where, I think our fight may have caused it, we need shelter. Come here." He said to her as he grabbed something from his stupid yellow cloud.
Ichigo watched him search through a bag. Then he grabbed what looked like a little bottle and after climbing out of the crater, threw it into the wind.
POP!!! A small domed house appeared and flopped onto the ground.
"Not exactly roughing it, but I am glad I left my camping stuff in the Kintoun!" he said over the wind as he walked inside.
Ichigo stood there. 'Should I go in? What is going on? First he rips my tail off. Then he laughs at me. Then he gropes me. Then he stops in the middle of a fight to apologize. Then he almost kills me. Now he has somehow healed me from what was surly fatal wounds and is acting so... well, he is is is... acting so trusting. Because it was the right thing to do he said? During our fight, he put himself in danger to save those people in the village? Maybe there is more to him then I thought, but would I have done the same thing? I didn't mean to endanger people who were not involved and I know I would have done just as much to protect them had the situations been reversed. The fact is the situations are not reversed. He is questioning me and my honor. I was fighting for the right reasons. That fact I am sure of. But were my actions that lead up to the fight right? No, I knew they were not when I was doing them. He has every reason to question my honor, but why does he trust me? Who is he?'
Ichigo needed her questions answered. She followed him into the house.
"Here," he said as soon as she hobbled through the door. "This is one of my old gis. It might be a bit big for you, but I think you will be more comfortable with something ah... more on." He said while turning a brilliant red.
'Pervert!' She thought to herself as she grabbed the orange thing and walked into the bathroom he had pointed to.
She was tying the belt when she realized that the symbol on the left breast of the shirt was the same symbol as what was on the front of that dream guy's orange outfit.
She rushed out into the main room to find a table with more food on it then it looked like it could support.
Ichigo stopped dead in her tracks. "What is this? Who are you? Why is this the same outfit as that guy was wearing?"
Roshi stopped eating long enough to look at her and reply. "This is my supper, I already told you I am Son Roshi, and what are you talking about?"
Ichigo was getting flustered. "I... Oh never mind! Just a stupid dream!"
Ichigo watched Roshi gag on his chicken and then finally start talking to her again. "Wait! Dream guy? You saw some guy wearing that outfit in a dream!!?????"
Wondering what the big deal was about she simply said "yes... Why?"
"Wait! Describe him, what did he say?"
Ichigo's stomach was starting to bother her. She started to reach for a large piece of chicken when his glare stopped her. "I'm hungry."
"Fine, eat all you want, those Senzues are supposed to fill one up for ten days, but it never seems to work when they heal injuries. But anyway, about this dream of yours?"
Ichigo glared at him. She was not used to taking orders or having questions asked of her. "Why should I tell you anything? I asked you my question first."
He got up and looked her directly in the eyes. "You will tell me because what you say now will determine just how much I can trust you. If I decide I can't trust you, I may be forced to kill you, and I would honestly much rather trust you." He said in a tone of grim determination.
"I don't believe you. Besides I am not about to take orders from the likes of you Jerk!"
"GRRRRR" he made a growling noise low in his throat. "So help me Kami, fine! Kinomi, please tell me about the man in your dream."
"I don't know why I am telling you so much, but alright, I will tell you, but only because you asked rather then demanded this time. He was tall had spiky Saiyan hair. He told me he was what I was looking for. Then He turned all golden haired and had green eyes. But he wouldn't answer my questions directly and he probably wasn't even a Saiyan so it was just a stupid dumb dream, why do you care?"
"Why do you say he probably wasn't even a Saiyan?" Roshi asked.
Almost to herself she mumbled "because he didn't have a tail."
"So"
Rage bubbled up in Ichigo. 'SO? SO? This Son Roshi knew so much yet he knew nothing!!!' "SO! SO! ARE YOU BRAIN DEAD??? NO SAIYAN IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD EVER BE CAUGHT WITHOUT THEIR TAIL!!! CRIMINALS ARE PUNISHED BY HAVING THEM REMOVED, AND ONLY THE STUPID LOSE THIERS!!! YOU TURNED ME INTO A WALKING DISCRACE TO MY NAME! A MOCKERY TO EVERYTHING I EVER HOPED TO BE! YOU RUINED ME! I CAN NEVER GO BACK NOW! THE PEOPLE WOULDN'T ACCEPT ME EVEN IF I COULD FIND THE VEGETA SAIYANS!!!" She screamed at him in vain. Forcing herself to calm down, she continued. "You don't know what it means to loose one's tail" she said as she sat down in a corner and hugged her knees to her chest.
"No, I don't know what it meant to you to loose your tail, but there was no other way. In your arrogance you refused to even talk to the very people you were looking for." He replied to her from his chair.
Ichigo sprung up like she had been shot from a cannon and slapped him in the face. "Don't lie to me Jerk! I saw no Saiyans. There are no Vegeta Saiyans left anymore!"
Roshi got up and slowly rubbed the reddening mark on his cheek. "You're wrong. I am a Saiyan." He said back.
"LIAR!!! I refuse to listen to you lie to me!!!" Ichigo screamed as she threw open the door and took off.
Roshi looked on and shook his head. The storm was still raging fiercely. He decided she would be back once she had a chance to cool down. He sat down and started eating again.
Ichigo flew out of the domed house. 'I can't believe the arrogance of that jerk. He isn't the least bit sorry for his actions. He doesn't even have a tail and he claims he is a Saiyan!!! Stupid jerk I ought to kill him for his lies.'
Ichigo suddenly stopped in midair. "What had that dream guy said?
"When you wake up, you will learn the answer to that last question. If you allow the truth to be told that is."
'If I allow the truth to be told? Could the jerk be telling the truth?' "AHHHHHH DAMMMMNIT!!!!" She screamed to the air.
Ichigo turned around and flew back.
"Welcome back, that didn't take you long." Roshi said to her as soon as she floated through the door.
"Prove it" She said to him.
"Prove what?" he said back confused.
"Prove that you once had a tail."
"Oh, ok... I guess." He said. Ichigo noticed that he was getting progressively redder.
'This guy blushes at anything. He should almost be ashamed of his lack of control.'
Roshi turned around and pulled his shorts part way down. "There, you can see the stitches they gave me as a baby when they removed it."
Ichigo backed into the wall in shock. "Your tail was removed when you were a baby? Who would be so cruel? Why would anyone mutilate their child like that?" she said to the air."
"It seems it is time for me to tell my story." He said as he motioned her to sit down and eat.
"You really are a Saiyan?" She asked still sounding quite doubtful.
"Well yes, and no, I think I will start there. See, Frieza eventually took over from his father and grew frightened of his Saiyan minions. So he blew up the planet Vegeta. While I don't have the time to tell the whole story, in the end only two Saiyans survived, Goku and Vegeta."
"Goku is not a Saiyan name."
"Ah yeah... you're right um let me think. Kakarrot was his given name. He was sent as a baby to conquer this planet. Anyway, Goku was found by an old master of martial arts and after falling off a cliff and bumping his head, grew up as a human. The best master of martial arts who ever lived trained him. Goku eventually became a hero and saved the Earth many times." Roshi grabbed a muffin and ate it before continuing.
"Anyway, at this time there were things called Dragon balls on the earth. They could grant any one wish once a year. Vegeta learned of them and came here to find them. After a long battle, Goku managed to defeat Vegeta. So Vegeta went to the Planet Namek which is where the Dragon balls were from."
Roshi continued, "However, many of Goku's friends had died fighting Vegeta, and the dragon balls had been rendered useless. So Gohan, Goku's half- Human son, and two of Goku's friends had also gone to Namek to find those Dragon balls. To cut to the chase, Goku ends up on Namek only to find Frieza there as well. Vegeta was forced to work with Goku. Frieza kills Vegeta but losses to Goku. Goku fixes the dragon balls and wishes everyone Frieza had killed back to life. Vegeta settled on earth and also married."
"Many generations later you have me and my cousins. I am a descendent of both Vegeta and Goku. If what you had said about my ancestors had not been true I would be honor bound to avenge you, however, once settling on Earth, even Vegeta found his honor. The reason for the removal of the tails is simple and three fold. One, we wish to blend in with normal Humans, and humans do not have tails. Two, We like having a moon, and as it becomes full every 28 days having a few hundred Ouzaru rampaging amuck would not be good. And finally, the tail is a weakness, not a strength."
"WHAT?!?!! How can you say it is a weakness?!?! I would have pulverized you had I been able to go Ouzaru!"
"Yes, I am sure you could have, which is why I had no choice but to remove it."
"So you agree with me! Our tail is our strength, not a weakness!"
Roshi made a weird spinning disk of ki. "What would have happened had I cut your tail off tonight while you were Ouzaru?"
Ichigo realized the look on her face at that moment probably made her look like a caged animal. The question surprised her. "I don't know. I guess I would have turned back to normal."
"And you would have probably passed out on the spot. The Ouzaru transformation gives you a lot of power, but it also takes a lot." Roshi paused for a moment. "Besides, earlier today you were rendered quite helpless by the simple act of grabbing your tail and ripping it off. If it is that sensitive why were you so careless with it?"
Ichigo's blood boiled. It was one thing to be humiliated, but totally another to have it rubbed in her face. She tried to smash his face in only to have him catch her fist.
"Wait, sorry, please calm down. I didn't mean to insult you. I was just trying to point out that you really haven't lost anything by losing your tail."
'Haven't lost anything? I've lost EVERYTHING!' Ichigo screamed to herself in her mind. Realizing that he was still physically a lot stronger then she was however, she decided now was not the time to push the issue. "Fine!!! So what about Super Saiyan? The myth says that there is nothing stronger. So how strong is it?"
Ichigo saw him give a look of concern? Before he answered. If you scouter works the same as the ones we have, I think Goku was at like 15 million when he beat Frieza. And he got much stronger later on."
"That is impossible! Nothing has that much power!"
"Goku was far stronger then you could ever dream." Roshi replied.
"If the Super Saiyans are so strong, why didn't a Super Saiyan come fight me?"
"Ummmm, ah... there has not been a Super Saiyan for about 300 years."
"WHAT!!!" Ichigo said as she slumped down in her chair. "Then it was all for nothing. I've failed."
"I'm sorry Kinomi, I wish I could help. I do believe you had good intentions even if your actions were less then stellar. We can fix your ship and go back with you if you think it would make any difference."
Ichigo shuddered when he called her that name.
"It won't. You have no idea how strong the Changelings are." She said dejectedly. I am going to lie down, I can worry about what to do in the morning."
* * *
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